ISOLDE LAURENCE.
ft. MAJOR SPOILERS for the lyonesse trilogy by sierra simone
β£β£ isolde always intended to join the monastery as a girl, following in her maternal uncle mortimer's footsteps, who was a cardinal in the catholic church. she trained, to do secret work and undercover missions for the catholic church in a secret collection of women spies known as "saints." a lot of her missions involved planting evidence and spying on people βΒ rarely, but absolutely, they also involved killing problematic people within the church.
β£β£ isolde was trained in martial arts and various hand to hand combats, and is a very skilled fighter, with a focus on quiet, intentional work. it's noteworthy that isolde also has a very sacred relationship to her own pain and suffering/sees kneeling and corporeal punishment as a pathway closer to god.
β£β£ still, isolde was not allowed to join the monastery. being the daughter of a powerful banker named geoffrey laurence, her marriage instead got leveraged to an american business man and retired cia agent named mark trevena. mark had very interesting taste βΒ all explainable through his most lucrative business of lyonesse, a tailored bdsm club hosting very elite clientele.
β£β£ the price of admittance to lyonesse is some worthy secret, making mark's secure network one of the most significant bases of worldwide secrets in the world. isolde's acceptance of the marriage was in part to get her close to mark, to find a way to break into his files and sort through all the many, many secrets he holds for his clientele.
β£β£ being a very visible part of his own club, it came with the territory that isolde would sub for him. thus, the sexual education of a previously completely chaste isolde, who was headed for a lifetime of celibacy with the church. although the church would never approve of isolde's masochistic inclinations, mark had no reservations βΒ isolde bloomed under his pain.
β£β£ before their marriage, the two of them saw each other sporadically, under the guise of training isolde to be the perfect submissive. eventually mark showed her off at lyonesse to the approval of the masses, and then took her virginity, before disappearing for the next few years until their wedding. it left a deep wound in isolde, who believed their connection to be genuine for as long as it took for mark to take her virginity βΒ a request made by her father, to entrap isolde permanently in the engagement.
β£β£ there was a brief collaring ceremony after that, but essentially it was the last time isolde saw mark before their marriage two years later. while mark meant to fetch isolde from her uncle's home in ireland and engage in what could be considered a pre-marriage honeymoon for three weeks on a yacht, mark instead sent his nephew-in-law and bodyguard tristan thomas to deliver her instead. this upset isolde, but she was familiar with mark's games at that point β another knife to stab her with, that's all.
β£β£ during the journey, isolde found herself getting closer to tristan βΒ mark's complete opposite, a total open book, smiling and happy and flirty. while the two were sparring one day, things accidentally got heated, and they ended up exploring each other sexually. tristan would then admit that he and mark were sexual with each other while isolde was away, and didn't actually know the two were engaged until just before the trip. isolde confirms they agreed being faithful was not part of their relationship until their wedding, and the pair decided that meant they could have all the fun they wanted until arriving back at lyonesse.
β£β£ tristan said he would probably quit his job once they returned. having sex with his assignment meant he wasn't doing his job as a bodyguard, and seeing mark and isolde together would probably be the death of him. isolde asked him, very selfishly, not to quit. tristan said if she wanted him, she would have him.
β£β£
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