No, this is not what you think it is. At least not if you think what I think you think it is.
...
Okay, maybe it is. But I'll be trying very hard to convince you otherwise!
The title is stolen from Cradle of Filth and might not even be fitting, but it has been the working title for so long now, I don't want to change it.
Main characters are property of Sunrise, all the rest is belong to me.
Well then, enter at own risk and expect nothing.
It was a cold and grey afternoon in Mid-November, the crimson disc of the sun was already hanging low over the cleft ridges of the Arkhynian mountains and mist was rising from its valleys.
A sole coach was travelling on the uneven dirt road meandering through the vast wilderness, rattling and clacking, the hooves of the four horses whirling up the fallen leaves as they were speeding through the autumnal woods.
In the dim interior of its cabin, the sole passenger of the stagecoach, a dark-haired woman of twenty years, wearing black leather trousers and a dark grey tweed jacket more suitable for a man, was jerked out of the light slumber she had been in for a short while. Groggily, she brushed a long strand of raven hair out of her face and shifted a bit, trying to find a more comfortable position in the corner of the cloth-covered seating bench. Tired, she closed her eyes again, wanting nothing more but to sleep but finding it almost impossible on this jolty ride.
When the coach went through another pothole, Natsuki Kruger opened her eyes with an annoyed groan, reluctantly accepting that her wish for rest would not be granted until they reached better roads.
Shifting again, she leaned a bit forward, moving her head closer to the window. Emerald eyes peered through the dusty glass, trying to find some diversion, but in the quickly fading light, the trees and everything starting from a few metres distance were not much more but fuzzy shadows flitting by.
Wind was soughing in through the many chinks of the old coach, the cold more perceivable than ever, and shivering, Natsuki wrapped the coarse horse rug closer around her. It was not the best season for travelling, but the last leg of her journey appeared to be by far the most cold and uncomfortable, or maybe it were just the strains of the previous days telling on her.
They were just hitting another pothole when suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound and then one rear corner of the coach was simply sacking down with a dull bang, directly followed by the other side.
The panicked neighing of the horses mixed with the driver's yelling as the coach was skidding, sliding to the side and almost tumbling over, and Natsuki found herself jumbled across the cabin together with her luggage that had not been fastened properly.
Eventually, the coach came to a halt in a slanting position, and then there was a moment of deadly silence before she could hear the horses again. A sudden yank went through the vehicle and it moved once more, then stopped again.
Natsuki freed her battered self from the mailbags that had lost part of their contents during the involuntary slide, and on wobbly legs, she teetered through the mess, towards the door, relieved that it could be opened without any problems. She carefully climbed outside and quickly scanned her surroundings, trying to adjust to the new situation.
The coach had slid off the road, and was now standing on the slanted, grassy wayside, the rear end sitting on the ground, slightly driven into the soil, the wheels missing. The horses were nervously snorting and neighing, erratically pulling at their harness, trying to move the coach or free themselves, but to no avail.
Her eyes darted back to the road, where a few metres away, she could make out the body of the driver lying motionless on the ground, not far away from the broken and splintered wheels and rear axle. She started walking towards the driver, her pace quickening, relieved when he started to move, slowly sitting up.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
The middle-aged man didn't answer immediately. Dazed, he was looking around, only after some time clumsily scrambling to his feet. He made a few limping steps, to where she could see his grey flat cap lying on the ground. Bending down, he picked up it up, beating and brushing off the dirt a bit before putting it back on.
"Ya...," he answered slowly her earlier question, his eyes wandering over the ground again. "...broken axle, now of all times."
He lifted his gaze to the western horizon, where the sun was nothing more but a thin band of blood red light, setting the dark silhouettes of the pine trees ablaze.
"What 'ave I done to deserve this fate?" muttered the man, and seemingly awakened from his daze, he hobbled quickly towards the coach and the horses.
Natsuki followed him, watching how he lightly patted the discomposed animals, one after the other, and talked to them in a soothing voice.
"You can ride?" he asked then, looking up to the slightly taller woman, and she nodded. "Without a saddle?"
"Yes."
"Good," he replied and started to deftly unharness one of the front horses. "We'll take the horses an' what we can carry an' get out of 'ere. Bloody darkness..."
After partly unharnessing the first horse and freeing it from the drawbar, the coachman motioned Natsuki to come closer and gave her its reins to hold. "Don' let go," he said, "an' watch that it doesn' push you."
The dark-haired woman just nodded. He didn't need to tell her that, she knew how to handle horses.
The man walked to the front of the coach, past the wheelers, fumbling in his pocket and bringing out a box of matches. After opening the carriage lamp there, he lit the candle inside, and then closed the lamp again.
"Better," he said with a content voice and then quickly returned to the other front horse to unharness it, too.
"What about the collars?" asked Natsuki, sidestepping to evade her horse who was trying to nudge her again in the back with its nose to get her attention.
The man shook his head. "No time, no time..." he mumbled, leading the other front horse to her, handing her its reins as well.
The procedure was repeated with one of the wheelers, and now Natsuki literally had her hands full with holding the reins of the three horses and keeping them under control.
When the coacher was busy with unharnessing the last of the horses, her ears caught a faint, familiar sound in the distance, from the direction they had come from. She closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating solely on the sound. Yes, without doubt... "Another carriage is approaching!" she exclaimed with excitement.
"What?" Alarmed, the driver looked up from his task. "You sure? Where?" he spluttered, his voice agitated.
"Down there," she answered, carefully motioning with one of her arms down the road, surprised by the man's reaction. "I can see its lamps now," she added, her eyes intensely staring into the gloomy twilight, observing the little lights flickering now and then in the distance. Soon, she could make out the shadowy silhouettes of the horses and the coach itself.
She was so absorbed in watching the other carriage approach, that she took no notice of the coachman who had removed the last horses traces in great haste and was now moving it a few steps away from the coach's drawbar just as hurriedly. Holding on to its collar, he vaulted onto the horse, and as soon as he was on top, he gripped the reins tighter and shortly rammed his heels into the animal's flanks.
"HEYAH!"
Startled by the sudden yell of the coacher and the neighing of its horse as they were dashing off, Natsuki spun around. She was still trying to register what was happening, when the remaining horses she was holding started to bolt and teared at their reins, making her trip and fall onto the hard ground, dragging her along a few feet until she eventually managed to let go.
For a moment, she lay completely immobile in the dust and dirt of the stone cold road, dazed by the sudden shock and pain of the fall, the sound of the horses running off reaching her ears only muted.
But there was another sound, the sound of hoofbeats quickly approaching, and that was the sound that roused her, making her jump onto her feet and get away from the middle of the street and hurry to the wayside.
There she stood, her eyes fixed on the unknown coach coming closer, its flickering lights illuminating two huge, black horses, darker than the night around them.
The coacher on the perch was wrapped in a black overcoat, a top hat of the same colour adorning his head, and even though he was sitting, it was evident that he was of imposing built. He made the horses slow down, the coach eventually halting in front of her.
It was an enclosed carriage with two doors at the sides, just like the stagecoach, but it was much smaller and most likely with only two seats and not four. And it was black like everything else.
The coacher was looking at her but remained silent, and now that he was relatively close, Natsuki realised that he was already quite old, his hair silvery grey under his hat.
Just when she was about to ask for help, the door of the coach opened, and a woman - probably of her own age - appeared, with one gloved hand lifting her black coat and the dress underneath a bit while climbing out of the vehicle, shortly revealing elegant high-heeled laced boots.
She was slender, almost fragile looking, and tall - maybe even a bit taller than Natsuki herself, and she was already of quite tall built for a woman. The majority of the stranger's long, light brown hair was tied up in a complicated looking bun, only the bangs and two long strands were framing an extremely pale face, and her eyes were of an even in the dim lanterns' light amazingly bright crimson. And even though she appeared to be a bit sickly, Natsuki couldn't help but think that the woman was of unearthly beauty.
The lady shortly looked at Natsuki's battered self and the broken carriage, quickly judging the situation while closing the coach door behind her. "Oh my, it seems you are in quite a bit of trouble here. Can we be of any help?"
She spoke softly, yet her words reached the dark-haired woman's ears clearly, like a gentle melody resonating with warmth floating through the crisp autumn air.
"Ye-yes," stuttered Natsuki, inwardly frowning afterwards. What the hell was the matter with her? Why was she suddenly stuttering like that?
She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the blush that was creeping onto her cheeks, and started anew. "Yes," she repeated with a firm voice. "Maybe you could take me with you? Are you going to Andoire?"
The lady didn not answer directly, instead she vaguely nodded and then said, "You are alone?" It was half question, half statement.
"The coacher... left without me...," replied Natsuki, not wanting and not being able to explain the past events exactly. "And I was the only passenger. So yes, I'm alone."
There was another, understanding nod from the lady. "Well," she began, "it is already quite late and we travelled a long way, I am afraid we will not be able to bring you to Andoire this evening. But my estate is not far away, I can provide you with accommodation for tonight, and Igor will then bring you to town tomorrow."
Natsuki breathed with relief, she had already feared she would have to spend the night in the forest, walking for hours in the dark and cold until she got somewhere. "That's very kind of you," she replied thankful, "I gladly accept your generous offer."
"Well then." The other woman gave her a gentle smile. "Did you bring any luggage with you?"
"Yes, it's still in the coach."
The lady nodded once more. "Igor?" she asked, looking up to the coacher.
"Yes, Milady," answered the man with a deep and hoarse voice. He put the reins out of his hands, letting them loosely hang over the carriage perch's front panel, and climbed swiftly down.
When he was walking over to the crashed coach, the brunette came closer and then went past Natsuki, up to the horses. She took one's reins close to the bridle, and lightly patted its neck, then stroking it, and the thought that she would in no way be able to hold the horses if they should bolt flitted through Natsuki's mind. As if she had noticed the other woman's gaze, the lady turned her head, her crimson eyes curiously looking at her, and that entrancing smile appeared on her lips again.
Found out, Natsuki felt her cheeks starting to glow, and embarrassed, she quickly turned her head, averting the other's looks.
She had completely forgotten about Igor and the luggage, and as she saw how he was trying to open the large box at the coach's rear, she started to move, shouting, "No, my luggage's not in there, it's inside the coach."
The tall man stopped his efforts and turned to her, a surprised expression on his face.
"The box was already full with goods to transport and since I was the only passenger, I was told to take it inside," she explained.
Igor nodded and then went to open the coach door, Natsuki on his heels. "The holdall and the duffel bag?" he asked.
"Ya," came the raven-haired woman's surprised answer as she was peering into the dark interior of the coach past his shoulders. She could barely see anything and yet Igor had found her bags immediately with just one short glance.
He climbed inside, cowering to not bump his head at the ceiling, and threw the duffel bag over his shoulder, then took the holdall, and a few seconds later, he was standing outside again. Motioning with his head to the coach, he asked "Could you close the door and put out the candle?"
Nodding, Natsuki shut the carriage door and then moved over to the lamp, out of the corner of her eyes watching how Igor carried her things to their coach. It was not only the ease with which he handled the not so light luggage, but also the way he walked, the way he moved, that made her think that he was not an ordinary coachman. There was probably a reason why he and his mistress dared to travel this deserted roads all alone and were even taking along strangers.
She hurried to extinguish the candle and then went back to the other coach where Igor was already putting her bags into the luggage box at the rear end.
The crimson-eyed lady, who had been with the horses all the time, let go of the reins when he was finished and coming back, ready to climb up to his seat and take the reins again. She then went to the coach door and opened it, but Natsuki had not much time to wonder why she was opening it herself anyway because the lady looked at her again, smiling. "Pray, do enter," she said, with a gesture of her hand inviting her to climb into the coach.
And Natsuki stood nonplussed for a moment, she had thought she would have to sit on the box seat, next to the driver who had so much of a bodyguard. That would be a far safer place to put a complete stranger she had picked up in the nocturnal woods, wouldn't it?
Crimson eyes still watched her expectantly, and the raven-haired woman hurried to follow the invitation, quickly climbing inside the coach.
She couldn't see much, but it was a two seater, just as she had assumed earlier, though a very spacious one. The seating bench offered likely enough room for three normal sized people, and there was lots of space for the passenger's legs.
She was about to sit down on the diffuse shadow that was the bench, when the brunette, who had entered behind her, suddenly exclaimed, "No, not on my hat!"
Natsuki froze, bottom half hanging over the seat.
"I am sorry, I forgot that I put it there," continued the lady while Natsuki slowly straightened up - as much as that was possible with the low ceiling of the coach. The former took her hat from the seat, and as she was holding it in her hands, the raven-haired woman could make out the silhouette of something round with feathers attached to it.
"Pray, sit down," said the brunette, and upon noticing the other's hesitation, she added with mirth in her voice, "I only have one hat, it is safe now."
"Okay," mumbled Natsuki and, still a bit suspicious, she carefully took her seat, thankful that it was so dark in the carriage that the flush on her cheeks would remain unnoticed.
The other woman then knocked twice at the coach's front wall - the sign for Igor that he could drive off. But he waited a bit and she had enough time to sit down, laying the hat on her lap.
And then the coach started moving, rumbling over the jolty road, quickly gaining speed, and Natsuki turned to her hostess, abashed saying, "Pray forgive my rudeness, I have not yet introduced myself. My name's Kruger, Natsuki Kruger."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms Kruger," replied the other cordially. "I am Lady Shizuru Viola. And pray do not worry, I do not consider you as rude. After all, I forgot to introduce myself as well."
"Hm," was the raven-haired woman's taciturn answer. So she was indeed of nobility, she mused, although the lady had not given her full title and rank. Viola... she couldn't remember having heard of a house of that name, but you can't know them all, can you?
After a short while of silence, Natsuki turned to Lady Viola again and asked, "Do you often pick up strangers from the wayside?"
"No, there are not many strangers on the wayside, waiting to be picked up."
"No, I meant... I mean...," spluttered Natsuki, only then noticing that the other had misunderstood her on purpose. "You never know who you meet," she ended half-heartedly.
"That is true," admitted Lady Viola thoughtfully, "you never know." There was a short pause, and then she asked in a mischievous voice, "Why, does that mean I should be worried about your presence here, Ms Kruger?"
"No! No... of course not."
A mirthful chuckle was the answer, and frowning, the dark-haired woman crossed her arms, deciding that, if the other was just bantering with her, she would not talk anymore. For the moment.
That intention was thwarted, however, when the brown-haired lady continued their conversation. "To answer your question," she said, "no, I do not often pick up strangers. In fact, I have never picked someone up before."
Natsuki cast an inquiring glance at her. "Why me then?"
"Well... you were all alone in the woods with a broken carriage and no horses... I could not just leave you there without offering my help, could I? The woods can be a rather... hostile place at night."
"Yea... I guess I can consider myself really lucky that you came by."
"Yes, probably... Not many coaches travel these roads. And during the winter months, the stagecoach is pretty much the only carriage that you might encounter. It is not very likely to get help if something happens."
"Hm," made Natsuki, trying to suppress a yawn.
"Tired?"
"A bit," she admitted, though this was sheer understatement.
"We will be on the road for at least another half hour. I will not mind if you take a nap until we arrive. Actually, I feel a bit sleepy myself, it hass been a long day."
"Oh, I don't really think I'll be able to sleep... I tried to sleep in the stagecoach, but it was plainly impossible, every minute we went through another pothole."
The lady let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, it can be quite unnerving."
They both fell silent after that, and maybe it was that the roads had got better or maybe that the springs of this coach offered better suspension, but Natsuki was sound asleep shortly later.