Authors note: These are the first three chapters in my sequel to Romeo and Juliet. I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it. ^_^
Chapter one: One hand, one Heart
My name is Ariadne I am young and quite wild. I am also a little shy and have a funny dimple when I smile; I am told that my lips are as soft as petals. I have hair the colour of the sun and I am in love. The man I love is called Romeo and we live together in the city of Verona and this is the tale of our life together.
I was standing in the graveyard in the Capulet crypt, there were three bodies on the floor one was my beloved Romeo and the other was that whore Juliet. How I hated that manipulative bitch she had tried to steal away my handsome Romeo, I was glad she was dead she deserved it, I spat on her pale and ugly face she deserved that too. I walked away from her corpse and over to my Romeo even in death he was gorgeous although he wasn't really dead anyway so maybe that was why. I took out the small vile of smelling salts from the pocket of my beautiful purple dress with gold embroidered roses and popped the cork and placed them under Romeo's nose. He awoke with a gasp "is she gone?" he asked. "Yes my love now we can be together forever" I replied. He grabbed me and pulled my face close to his I could smell his musky manliness, it made me feel a little faint his scent was heavenly, he then began to kiss me passionately his tongue began to probe my mouth. I really wanted him my body ached with longing but I knew we couldn't do it here I had to wait until we were married. Romeo managed to pull away from our lip lock and stood up.
"I'm so glad our plan worked" I said "Yes" he replied "I knew that sleeping potion from the apothecary would make her think I was dead and I knew if she thought that I was dead she would kill herself with my dagger, The Plan worked perfectly". Now all we needed to do was replace Romeos body so that it would look like a tragic suicide pact "I did as you asked Romeo and brought Mercutio's body you'd better change clothes with him and I'll cut his hair so he looks more like you". Romeo quickly swapped clothes with his dead best friend who looked surprisingly like Romeo and we both ran out of the Crypt just in time to avoid bumping into Prince Escalus and the two families who were for some reason visiting the crypt. "My love we'd better skip town before news gets out about my death" Romeo said to me "what's wrong dear?" he asked me, I was sobbing; I had never been out of the city walls and was quite scared about leaving "where will we go?" I asked trying to disguise the panic in my voice. Romeos answer surprised me "we will go to...New York City" he said "but first we will be wed; we must go down south to...London"
Chapter two: Run, freedom, run!
The next day after packing my array of beautiful clothes and jewellery Romeo and I left my grand East Verona town house with its ornate art deco exterior and headed from the north of England to London in the south. For the journey I had decided to wear my scarlet silk dress with it regal high collar its sleeves came down to my elbows and it was covered with intricate embroidered butterflies, on my head I placed my gold; diamond encrusted diadem that Romeo had bought me for my birthday. Romeo said I truly looked like a princess, I had always thought I was quite ugly but somehow he was in love with me and I wasn't going to complain. We placed all of our suitcases onto the back of the carriage. The carriage was covered with gold leaf and had beautiful carvings of cherubs and fawns on it "it's a bit conspicuous, isn't it?" Romeo said "Nah it'll be fine whose going to be looking for us anyway? and even if someone is, hide in plain sight I always say" I replied. Romeo helped me into the carriage by holding my hand as I climbed into it, he himself went and sat on the driver's seat and with a loud "hyah" and the crack of a whip we were moving. I sat there on the lovely leather interior seats surrounded by the beautiful mahogany walls of the carriage contemplating what we had accomplished in just a few days. We had freed Romeo of that contemptuous, vulgar, leeching, harlot of a wife of his. How I had hated her with her slutty ways she made me feel sick.
The carriage jerked to a stop which brought me from my thoughts of hatred. "Is everything alright Romeo?" I called poking my head out of the carriage window "Yes we're at the city gate and they want to see out travel papers" Romeo shouted back. My stomach sank, we didn't have any travel papers what where we going to do. "So do you have the papers or not?" said a rather grotesque looking guard in a sandpaper bass. "Umm...well...no" Romeo reluctantly admitted "then there isn't a hope in hell of you leaving town, turn back NOW!" said the gargoyle of a guard. It was then that Rome did something that rather shocked me; he took out his rapier and slashed across the guard's throat causing a spray of red to come from the guard. The guard's hands grasped at the wound and he fell to the ground making horrible gargling sounds.
I couldn't believe what Romeo had just done, he had killed another man for me, it proved that he loved me; he was the best fiancé a girl could have. "Hold on tight Ariadne we need to escape this town and fast, so I may have to drive a little recklessly" and with that and a crack of his whip we were on the move again and when he had said fast he had certainly meant it. I glanced back towards the town that had been my home for eighteen year and bode it farewell, it was then that I noticed the angry mob coming toward us from the city. They were riding horses and carrying torches, pitch forks and some even had bows and arrows "ROMEO! THEY HAVE FLAMING ARROWS QUICK PUT A FOOT ON IT!" I shouted "yes dear" he replied and he cracked the whip again. We were going at an incredible speed now, too fast for the mob. A few arrows nearly hit the carriage but none of the mob seemed to be great archers so we escaped unscathed.
After six hours of travel and with Verona fifty miles behind us we decided to stop at a quaint little inn somewhere near Nottingham. We asked a gentleman standing outside the inn if there was anywhere to put the horses and carriage and he very kindly offered us the use of his stables and more kindly still told us to leave them with him to take care of while we went and got a room for the night. I offered him payment of three gold sovereigns but he refused and told me that he couldn't take that sort of money from such a beautiful lady, he then told us his name was Aristophanes and that he and his wife Amalthea ran the Inn. So with the horses safely being put into stables we went into the Inn and where greeted by a plump and matronly looking woman with a beaming smile "welcome to the Richard III Inn" she said "you must be Amalthea nice to meet you" said Romeo "Yes" she said "Nice to meet you too. You two look hungry and you must be cold, I mean with the weather what it is, get yerselves by the hearth and I'll bring ye a bowl of our famous eternal stew we haven't emptied the pot since 1256 ya know". Eternal stew sounded odd, a stew that had been around for over two hundred years couldn't taste nice could it? Romeo and I sat by the fire warmed ourselves, he put his arm around me. "Wow I can't believe it; we finally did it we have finally escaped that awful town and that stupid feud between my family and the Capulets and that conniving bitch Juliet" Romeo Said "I love you, you know Romeo, I don't think I could have lived another day with you married to that poisonous cancer of a woman" we then kissed; his wet lips touching mine, his warm mouth was mine and no one else's. We kissed for what seemed like forever until we heard a "ahem" from behind us we both turned to look it was Amalthea with two large wooden Bowls filled to the brim with stew. She passed us the bowls "it may not be gourmet cuisine but it's filling and tasty and I'm sure ye'll enjoy it. After ye've finished that ye can go up to room three a've made up two beds for ye. A know it's not ideal but it's all we have on such short notice, Please enjoy ye stay" she said. We thanked her and she left us to eat the stew which after a little apprehension we both had a taste of and found to our surprise to be quite delicious. We then went to bed eager to get to London the next day.
The next day I awoke to find Romeo's bed empty I guessed he'd left me sleeping so I would have enough energy for today's travel. I had a quick bath in the steel bath tub at the foot of the bed which had been filled with piping hot water while I had been sleeping, God Romeo was thoughtful, no man was as perfect as him. I then got dressed. I put on a gorgeous flowing cream dress with lots of silver lace embellishments, it was encrusted with various different gemstones; emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, rubies and malachite. The dress was low cut so it showed off my décolletage, I placed two lovely pearl earrings into my ears and placed a silver diadem on my head the outfit was complete. "You look like a goddess" said a voice from behind me, it was Romeo "I feel like one" I replied. He kissed me passionately "come on sweetie Amalthea and Aristophanes have made us breakfast" I followed Romeo down stairs. When Amalthea and Aristophanes saw me their jaws dropped "your look simply divine darling" said Aristophanes "and you're such a nice person, I wish I was so lucky" said Amalthea "with a body like yours I could run a very different business" "don't be so hash on yourself you have a great body" I lied. She laughed and ushered us to the table where we ate scrambled eggs and bacon it was like sex, well I guessed it was since I was still a virgin, what Amalthea lacked in looks she sure made up for in culinary prowess. "Where are you two heading today then?" asked Aristophanes "were going to London" said Romeo "what's a handsome man like you going to London for?" Aristophanes queried "we're getting married" I told him. He seemed disappointed "Is something wrong" I asked him "I was just hoping to see more of Rom...err the two of you" he answered. I suddenly realised he was clearly a homosexual I wondered if Amalthea knew. I didn't think it wise to tell her. So I just shut my mouth.
After breakfast we were escorted by Aristophanes to the stables where he had already set up the horses and carriage. Before we left I once again offered Aristophanes the money which I insisted he take and he gave me a peck on the cheek. He then proceeded to hug Romeo for a little too long. Aamlthea then came from the inn and gave us some lunches wrapped in some cloth "they're for the journey my lovelies we'll miss you. Hope to see you both again sometime". "We'll miss you both terribly sweethearts" said Aristophanes a tear rolling down his cheek. "Bye thanks for the hospitality and the lunches" I said and as the carriage pulled away from the Richard III inn we waved farewell to its two peculiar owners. On the long journey from the inn to London I fell asleep when I awoke it was twilight and I could see the great city of London not too far in the distance. "We're nearly there my love" I shouted. "We will be married on Sunday at Saint Dunstan's, noon".
Chapter Three: No place like London
When we arrived in London it was already dark, the warm glow of the gas street lights was the only thing preventing us from being in complete and total darkness. The first thing we needed to do was to find a place to stay, we visited several grand hotels but all were too big and fancy for my liking so we eventually settled on The Ritz which in comparison was fairly quaint. We were of course given the honeymoon suite which had very modest décor with its Chrystal chandelier, polished oak furniture and Egyptian cotton bed sheets. The bathroom was even worse with a huge marble bath tub and solid gold toilet seat. "I don't think I can stay here long my love" I said to Rome "It's far too common" "don't worry sweetie it's only for the time being and then we'll set sail for New York and the new world" he replied. I decided that if it was only for a short time then I could put up with it. I told Romeo that I would go to Saint Dunstan's in the morning to book it for the wedding. We then fell to sleep in each other's arms.
For my visit to the church I wore a very modest grey dress showing next to no cleavage and yet I still looked sexy as hell or at least that's what Romeo told me. On my to the church I stopped at a very nice little pie shop "Mrs L's" the pie I had was wonderful the meat was so succulent and juicy; if I was fat I may have said screw the wedding and stayed at the pie shop all day but no onto the church. When I arrived at the church I discovered to my surprise that the door was locked "excuse me" I said to a rather grim looking judge who happened to be passing by "but do you know if the reverend is around anywhere? I need to ask him a question?" "what dear?, no not the reverend but I do know that friar Laurence is at "Mr T's Parlour" having a tooth pulled". I couldn't believe what I had just been told, friar Laurence here in London it had to be a coincidence.
Sadly for me it wasn't a coincidence the friar was in town, when I entered the parlour an expression of shock crossed his fat bearded face. "Ariadne my child how the devil are you?" I felt sick Laurence was the old fool who had married Romeo and Juliet in Verona; he was simply a pawn in my plot to get rid of that despicable harpy and not someone I wished to see again, I had no choice but to dispose of him he couldn't know that Romeo was alive. How would I kill him? I had no idea what I could do I was a good person and I couldn't hurt a fly. "OH MY GO friar Laurence I can't believe you here in London, I was hoping someone would show me around Saint Dunstan's" " Of course I will my child just let Mr T pull this tooth and I'll be right with you. By the look on Mr T's face he wasn't too pleased to have me watching the tooth pulling I wondered what his problem was.
After we left Mr T's the friar showed me around the church it certainly was perfect I asked if I could use it for the wedding on Sunday and he said yes for a small fee of one hundred pounds. I handed over the money and then asked Laurence if he would mind showing me the catacombs, I had plan for getting him out of the picture. He obliged and took a torch from one of the sconces on the wall and showed me the way. It was dark and there were a lot of cobwebs, the wooden steps were covered with a thick layer of dust, the catacombs seemed like the perfect place for that moron of a friar to meet his demise. When we reached the bottom of the stairs we came to a small oak door it was covered in dust just like the steps, Laurence took a large iron key from his pocket and unlocked it. When we were both in I slammed the door shut "what are you doing my child?" he asked "I thought we would have a little drink in celebration" "celebration of what?" "oh just our reunion" I replied. I took out two small bottles from my dress pockets and passed one of them to him. "Thank you my child" he said and took a gulp from the bottle. I began to cackle at his foolishness, he looked shocked "what's so funny my child?" I didn't answer the question. While he stood looking puzzled I grabbed the torch from his hands, I then thrust it into his face. He screamed in agony, I kept on thrusting the torch at his body, luckily his robes eventually caught fire and he began to run around the room. He ran and ran all the time still ablaze it was a morbidly comical thing to see I really couldn't help but laugh. After about fifteen minutes of burning, running and screaming he finally ran into a wall, good, at last he was dead. I left the catacombs and locked the door behind me. I decided I would throw the key into the sewer no one would find friar Laurence anytime soon and when they did I would be happily living in New York with my handsome hunk Romeo.
After all the excitement of this morning I decided to go shopping for the wedding, I knew that I wanted it to be as lavish as possible so I decided to go to Harrods. Harrods was a beautiful shop with its many Egyptian themed areas and its beautifully set out products, all were too expensive for any normal person but I was far from being a normal person I was amazing. This place was truly heaven for any materialistic person. First of all I went into the magnificent clothing department where I loaded my shopping cart with dozens of expensive fur coats; mink, fox, otter, beaver, rabbit and grey wolf just to name a few. I then proceeded to the wedding dress section and looked through what they had to offer. None of the dresses caught my eye I was about to give up when...there it was the most beautiful gown I had ever seen. It was a long white (because I am a Virgin) dress with lots of pink ruffles, the top part was corseted and was tied with silky pink ribbon, the skirt had pink bows all over it. It came with a beautiful veil which was covered in delicate silk roses; it would attach perfectly to one my diadems. I knew this was the dress for me; I got so overwhelmed by its beauty that I began to cry. I plonked it into the cart without even trying it on. I knew it would fit. I also grabbed a few other dresses and put them in the cart too. I then moved onto the jewellery section of the store it was even more impressive than the dress section. I was surrounded by all my dreams; diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls, gold, silver, platinum, tin, tiaras, crowns, diadems, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, belly bars, rings and even some ornate jewellery boxes, none however were big enough for my collection, I would need a chest. I put all the jewellery could into the cart and went to look at the china and cutlery. After that I went to pay. My shopping came to the grand total of £105,456,387 which was a little much. "Oh don't worry about paying" said the cashier "You seem like such a nice person and it's your wedding I'll pay" I wasn't complaining so I let him pay.
I returned to the hotel room exhausted by the day's events. I slumped into a chair. "You look tired, what have you been up to?" asked Romeo "Oh I booked the church, went shopping and killed Friar Laurence" I replied "That's nice dear I hope you didn't spend too much on the wedding" "don't worry the cashier at Harrods paid for the whole damn thing, I hope you don't mind? I invited him to the wedding".