moments away from her fate Celeste waits hoping for the aching heart in her chest to stop beating. She sighed closing her eyes; she had to go though with this there is no other choice the deal has been made her parents have been paid. There was no arguing with them or with the laws and customs of the land. Though everyone has said that her future Master Duncan is a wonderfully man, thoughtful and compassionate. He has been kind to her so far, letting her keep her name and letting her wear one of her own designs for their union ceremony. Despite all of this, she did not want to get bound to him; he was not the man whom she desired. She pictured Marcus there standing by her reflection, she gently lean over and bushed the side of his cheek with her lips. The door opened and her vision was lost, they had come for her. In Celestes alien culture, the men buy their companions; the girls have no say it is a deal that is discussed between the parents and the gentleman. When the deal is set the girls are then presented to the buyers friends in a union ceremony, the gentleman also design the gowns for the girls to wear in the ceremony, the normally outfit is very revealing and risqué (almost like parading around your trophy girlfriend to all your buddies but having a giant part to do so) the richer the gentlemen is the more girls he can afford, they usually name a girl after a precious stone in order to keep track of them its also easier to remember their names that way. (Celeste would be renamed Pearl) The girls always wear a collar of some sort its to show that you are taken, its also a status symbol of your gentleman. I was reading an article about child brides, and thats kind of what inspired me to draw this, what if you couldnt be with the person you wanted to, but you had to be with someone else. i am so pleased with the way it turned out, i think i ruined it with the inking but i put alot of time in to this. i love it.