Buy Out Your 'Indenture', And "Cost" Is A Relative Term...

One of the first things you did upon becoming a Count was go to a Guild 'loan officer' and get money to buy out you and your sister's indentures. and you didn't have to borrow much either, you were within a year of paying them off anyway. The price he demanded was not the usual "Costs and 50% compounded interest per-anum", but rather something much more unusual, a wedding. Seems he himself has debts and ties, and to wipe the slate clean on one of them he has arranged a match between you and another catfolk, a healthy but unattractive young woman, and any minute now you are going to meet your soon-to-be-bride for the first time...

Your sister gives your shoulder a squeeze, each of you will be chaperoned by your opposite gender sibling for this meeting, though the prospective bride's brother will enter with her, and you smile weakly back at her, lips pressed. You have been told that the girl is very unfortunate in appearance, bug-eyed, face squashed flat as though struck by a frying pan at birth, and her coat 'witch-faced' with one half of her face black and the other orange and striped. The question is can you get passed all that, or is she as ugly emotionally as she is made out to be physically?

A human butler comes in and announces: "Sir Carruth Vostroyan and Dame Hoya Vostroyan!" and you get a good look at your intended for the first time.

She's not as bad as you have heard.

OK, sure, each particular is accurate, in so far as it goes, but they all were vastly exaggerated. Yes, she is witch-faced but it is a very EVEN witchface, it looks like someone just drew a line right down the middle of her face and on one side dyed her fur black, and it's not like her EYES are different colors or anything, just her fur. Yes, her face looks rather flattened, but certainly not like someone smashed it with a frying pan! It's more like the "Exotic Shorthair" breed of house-cat, scrunched up and flattened but perfectly functional. As for that bug-eyed thing, OK, her eyes are a bit big for her face, but it only serves to make her look youthful and innocent, not like a circus freak.

"Hello, I am very pleased to meet you." You begin, extending your hand to take hers and laying a kiss across the back of it. then resuming your seat. "And this is your brother, yes? A pleasure to make you acquaintance as well. Please let me introduce my sister, Kathrine Penny Zithembe, she is here for much the same reason you are, to prevent any; 'indiscretions' on my part, though I assure you I intend to be the perfect gentleman with your sister, at least until our wedding night, should that be in the cards." You assure him, but he frowns...