I Won't Give Up
I love this Jason Marz song, I Won't Give Up and this was the perfect title for this story. This is a story that I've been envisioning. Since I can't post for my 'He's Mine' story, I've decided to work on another until they give me the go ahead to post. I hope that you enjoy.
I own on the story idea. The characters belong to Charlaine Harris.
Prologue
The last three nights of his life were the best three nights of his life. He knew that he shouldn't have gone to see her but he'd always been a headstrong young man but tonight was the night that he should've heeded his father's orders. How he wished he could tell his father that he should have obeyed him. His father would have liked hearing that after twenty-eight years of disobedience. As his life drained from within him, he thought of his father's final words. His final orders.
"My son, you are not to visit with your betrothed until the day of your marriage. She is to be unknown to your eyes and to your touch until after you've married. That is the only way the marriage will be permitted. For once in your life, my son, listen to me."
He had never listened to what his father had to say. He'd always assumed that he knew what was best for him. He was a man that was to be married. If he was capable of becoming a married man, he felt that he was capable of deciding on whether or not he should see his intended. He couldn't imagine marrying the most unattractive girl in the village. That would be a punishment that he could not bear to face.
When he saw her, he never expected to see the beauty that stood before him. He watched her as she stood by the North Sea and the breeze blew through her hair and over her body; a scent that would stay with him for a lifetime. The sight of the wind blowing against her body made her dress cling to her every voluptuous curve. There were no words to describe her. She was a gift from the gods and she was to belong to him. She was to bear his children. She was to be his and only his. His breath caught in his throat. Her full bosoms and her hips were perfect to carry his children. Her tanned skin was like no other. Her beautiful eyes and smile were going to make her the envy of his people. The women would want to be her. The men would want to have her.
"You can come out," she called as she watched the waves crash against the rocks.
Erik stepped from his hiding place began walking over to her. He stopped directly behind her as the scent of her traveled through the wind. "I am to be your husband."
She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled. "So I've heard," she replied.
When he saw her smile, he knew that he would never love another. She was simply breathtaking. "I'm …"
"You can't tell me your name. We are to be strangers until we are wed. My father would not be pleased if he knew of your visit. If he knew that you were here, we would no longer be promised to one another." She sat on the boulder that was behind her and patted the seat by her side. "Sit with me, stranger."
Erik did as his new wife ordered and he never wanted to leave her. For the next three nights, they talked and got to know each other. He learned a lot about her. He was fascinated with her. She told him of her greatest wishes and dreams. She wanted to be more than just a wife. She wanted to be a warrior; something that many women of their time could not be. She wanted to stand by her husband's side when he went to battle; until they had a family of their own. Many Vikings would find this quality in their betrothed as unbecoming. He wished that he could move up the date of their marriage.
On their final night together, he begged her for a kiss. Every night since meeting her he'd done what he'd never had to do before. He begged for a kiss. On that final night, he kneeled down before her and offered her his hand. "Please. You will be my wife and for the remainder of our lives you can say no to me if you wish but tonight, don't do it. Please, my wife, grant me this one wish before I must go."
She smiled at him. Deep down she liked it. She looked at him and coyly batted her eyes. "What would my father think if he saw us?"
He looked around and saw no one. "There's no one here but us. Kiss me, my wife. Let me go home an even happier man tonight. Let me taste the sweetness of your lips."
Offering him her hand, he helped her to her feet. He pulled her into his body and kissed her with all that he was worth. The future lovers were enjoying the lingering tastes of one another until the masculine voice called to her through the winds.
Stepping back from him, her face flushed from the kiss, her lips pinker than before, she said, "I must go. Father calls to me."
"I love you, my wife."
"And I love you, my husband." Giving him one last kiss before running home, she said, "Until tomorrow."
As she ran away, he called behind her, "Only death could keep me away."
As he lay dying, the only thought that came to his mind was that death was going to keep him away from her.
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It had been a week and she hadn't stopped looking for him. She refused. He said that only death could have kept him away but she knew that he was not dead. When their families got together to look for him, they found no body. She knew that he had to be alive. She could only think that an enemy could have possibly captured him and as his wife there was only one thing for her to do. She had to go and find her husband. Her future husband.
She didn't care that they never married. In her eyes and heart he was her husband and she was his wife. She had to do what needed to be done in order to find him. She packed her belongings; lantern, bread, and sword. Against her father's wishes, she went on her journey. She had to. She knew that he would have done it for her.
She'd spoken to the townspeople and no one had seen him. Many said that they'd seen him walking the night. He was dirty and disheveled and he wasn't alone. He looked lost and afraid. That didn't sound like the man that she was to marry. He was a true warrior. He did not know fear but if were true, it was up to her to find him and to take away his fear. Since setting out on her journey, she'd done everything she could to find him. No matter how far she reached with her mind, she couldn't find him. She knew one thing though. She knew that she wasn't alone. The voids where thoughts were supposed to be, told her so.
As she walked the dirty and graveled road night after night, the voids followed her throughout the nights. The final night of her journey, she was no longer the tracker. She was the huntress. She heard the breaking of twigs and the rustling of the leaves but fear never entered her heart. Using her lantern to light her way, she called out into the night. "I'm not afraid. If it is fear that ye seek, it is fear that ye will not find. I only want one thing and that's Erik. He is my husband. Give him back to me and I will let you live."
There was no response.
She placed her lantern on the ground and reached over her shoulder and withdrew her sword from its sheath. She was ready to fight for what rightfully belonged to her. She was ready to die for him. Just as she took her fighting stance, a young girl emerged from the woods. Instantly she knew that the young girl was the one that had been following her and the huntress was now facing her prey …or so she thought. Even though it was a young girl, the huntress never let her guard down. The girl reeked of evil.
"Where is he?" she asked the young girl.
"Do not fear me. I only want to be of assistance you." The young girl had a French accent but the huntress could see that the young girl's looks were deceiving. She was deadly and vicious. The huntress could smell the blood on her. "If I may ask, who are you looking for, again?"
"My husband. I am searching for my husband."
The young girl walked in the direction of the huntress; her dangerous smile spreading wider with each step that she took. The young girl looked into the huntress' eyes. "Put down your sword and come with me. I will help you find your husband and I can give you so much more. I can give you eternal life. Put down your sword and your every wish can come to pass."
The huntress never lost her fighting stance and never returned her sword to its sheath. "I shall not and eternal life is not what I seek. There is only one thing that I want and that is my husband. Where is Erik?"
A quick flicker of surprise ran across the young girl's face. She couldn't believe that the huntress didn't do as she ordered. The dangerous smile was no longer on her face. It had been replaced with curiosity. "What are you?"
"Angry," the huntress replied.
"Tell me now and I will let you live."
"Come one step closer and I will kill you where you stand."
"Grab her!" the young girl called out.
The huntress was quicker than the young girl had anticipated because the one that was supposed to grab her was no more. The huntress had beheaded him or her …or whatever it was. She'd killed many things before and they never died in such a manner. Whatever it was, was now a bloody mess in the middle of the dirt road.
The young girl screamed out in agony. It was a sound that the huntress had never heard before in all of the twenty-three years of her life. For the first time since going on her long journey, she was afraid.
"My dearest child," the young girl said as she cried over the bloody mess in the middle of the dirt road. "Andre; my dear Andre." She looked up at the huntress and dropped her fangs. "You owe me a life for the life that you have taken; therefore, yours is forfeit."
The huntress returned to her fighting stance; ready to fight to the bitter end. Before she could swing her sword in the direction of the young girl, she was lying on her back. She didn't scream. She felt no fear. She waited.
"You will be of great use to me. You will be mine," the young girl said. "Forever, you will walk this world with me."
The huntress was once again the hunted.