"Beleth." Araceli purses her lips, says Beleth's name simply to buy herself a moment to breathe, to think. Yes there are Dalish traditions to think of but there are things that go deeper than that though she would take the gamble and place a bet on Beleth not being so willing to hear her there; merchants marrying their children off to secure the future of profitable shipping routes or to procure acquisitions to expand, nobles of course rising up the ranks and securing their status in the same breath, the complicated games of keeping the peace when it came to other nations. Leandra's marriage as a teenager like that of her mother before her had been less about love, and far more about politics but that had been Leandra's choice. She had drawn up her own contract, she had chosen a husband and he had been a friend.
"If neither of you wish a child - and I feel that is jumping the-" she's going to say gun, catches herself with a wave of the hand because Araceli doesn't bed many men but she knows this. Knows all of this so well because she grew up talking about it. Race wasn't the issue but class? Class was certainly the problem for her. "Allow me to start again. Thedas as a whole? It's very different about these things.
"There is no shame in seeking pleasure where you find it, for however long you wish to, so long as neither party is being hurt by it and both consent to it. Anyone that judges you for it does it for their own reasons and though the words sting - you cannot imagine for a second what people have called me since I came of age - they have their petty narrow-minded reasons for it. It hurts. Sometimes you will argue with them, sometimes you will shame them and they will change their opinions, sometimes you are best to walk away with your head held high to show them that they will never hurt you. It takes practice. I...have had a lot of practice when it comes to that. And if you do go to bed with him or any man, not everything involves what leads to pregnancy, there are so many other perfectly enjoyable things that don't involve that. There are precautions too - witherstalk here, I am told that it should be fresh. I am sure there are more but seeing as I am with Korrin and have no plans to take a man to my bed? I hardly need concern myself with that. Besides, if children are needed where I am from, and say two men are together, or two women, and something stipulates that a child of blood is required? So long as all parties agree? Once, maybe twice is all it takes and there is a child of blood."
There isn't any shame or embarrassment to be found in Araceli as she speaks confidently and very matter-of-factly about all of this, the same way her mother did when Araceli was old enough to start learning about the world (younger, she suspects, than most would learn in Thedas but Castileos has never shied away from sex and love and passion.) Marriage is the business of alliances, not the common, not unless it's the act of faith where the Sons and Brides take on the roles of the sea and the moon though how she would begin to explain that, she isn't entirely sure since it's a lot.
The history is the part that gives her pause since true, this is very different from home, and she's a human, not an elf, but there are always plenty of ways to look at things. "Cultural relations are important. People cannot be divided forever; say the Inquisition is the future, say that change comes from it, you will have played a part in that. You cannot say for certain what the future might hold when the Dalish are there same as mages, templars, Grey Wardens, city elves, dwarves, elfblooded folk, people from every country in Thedas, from the common to the nobility. No one can say how much might change. The past is set, but to look to the past always never allows us to look ahead and to all the possibilities that there might be."
Still, a part of Araceli wants to scream. Even before she trained to be a bard she knew how to rule her face at the tavern table playing cards. "My people live a life where we seek out our own passions with freedom, yet we are all expected to pull together as a crew when times are rough. Sailing is in my blood and I have worked upon my father's ship. I have always thought that those best at helping their communities are those who are happy and contented in their lives, those who in a place of such peace that they require nothing themselves and thus are able to give freely." She shrugs as if to say 'what do I know, I am only a rifter'. She doesn't know what opinion Beleth holds of them collectively or of Araceli herself but she's quiet, considering, pursing her lips in thought.
"Do you wish me to speak to him on your behalf? To spy on him? To observe discreetly when you and he speak? To give you advice on flirtations and seductions? My mother is a whore, closer to a courtesan if we must use terms from Thedas; you will need to be specific in what you wish of me here since I grew up in her brothel until I was old enough to live alone."
no subject
"If neither of you wish a child - and I feel that is jumping the-" she's going to say gun, catches herself with a wave of the hand because Araceli doesn't bed many men but she knows this. Knows all of this so well because she grew up talking about it. Race wasn't the issue but class? Class was certainly the problem for her. "Allow me to start again. Thedas as a whole? It's very different about these things.
"There is no shame in seeking pleasure where you find it, for however long you wish to, so long as neither party is being hurt by it and both consent to it. Anyone that judges you for it does it for their own reasons and though the words sting - you cannot imagine for a second what people have called me since I came of age - they have their petty narrow-minded reasons for it. It hurts. Sometimes you will argue with them, sometimes you will shame them and they will change their opinions, sometimes you are best to walk away with your head held high to show them that they will never hurt you. It takes practice. I...have had a lot of practice when it comes to that. And if you do go to bed with him or any man, not everything involves what leads to pregnancy, there are so many other perfectly enjoyable things that don't involve that. There are precautions too - witherstalk here, I am told that it should be fresh. I am sure there are more but seeing as I am with Korrin and have no plans to take a man to my bed? I hardly need concern myself with that. Besides, if children are needed where I am from, and say two men are together, or two women, and something stipulates that a child of blood is required? So long as all parties agree? Once, maybe twice is all it takes and there is a child of blood."
There isn't any shame or embarrassment to be found in Araceli as she speaks confidently and very matter-of-factly about all of this, the same way her mother did when Araceli was old enough to start learning about the world (younger, she suspects, than most would learn in Thedas but Castileos has never shied away from sex and love and passion.) Marriage is the business of alliances, not the common, not unless it's the act of faith where the Sons and Brides take on the roles of the sea and the moon though how she would begin to explain that, she isn't entirely sure since it's a lot.
The history is the part that gives her pause since true, this is very different from home, and she's a human, not an elf, but there are always plenty of ways to look at things. "Cultural relations are important. People cannot be divided forever; say the Inquisition is the future, say that change comes from it, you will have played a part in that. You cannot say for certain what the future might hold when the Dalish are there same as mages, templars, Grey Wardens, city elves, dwarves, elfblooded folk, people from every country in Thedas, from the common to the nobility. No one can say how much might change. The past is set, but to look to the past always never allows us to look ahead and to all the possibilities that there might be."
Still, a part of Araceli wants to scream. Even before she trained to be a bard she knew how to rule her face at the tavern table playing cards. "My people live a life where we seek out our own passions with freedom, yet we are all expected to pull together as a crew when times are rough. Sailing is in my blood and I have worked upon my father's ship. I have always thought that those best at helping their communities are those who are happy and contented in their lives, those who in a place of such peace that they require nothing themselves and thus are able to give freely." She shrugs as if to say 'what do I know, I am only a rifter'. She doesn't know what opinion Beleth holds of them collectively or of Araceli herself but she's quiet, considering, pursing her lips in thought.
"Do you wish me to speak to him on your behalf? To spy on him? To observe discreetly when you and he speak? To give you advice on flirtations and seductions? My mother is a whore, closer to a courtesan if we must use terms from Thedas; you will need to be specific in what you wish of me here since I grew up in her brothel until I was old enough to live alone."