-1The water was cold, so very cold, chilling her flesh and striking her bones marrow like tiny needles. Freezing drafts of wind blew in behind her, making her clothes cling to her wet back and settle in a cold hard way like stale bread. It was dark, so dark her eyes could not pierce the gloom that seemed to be a shadow from hell looming to swallow her. The wall she kept her shaky hand to was icy and wet yet it was slimed over. The stones under her feet were slippery.
Its been a while since she last heard the bustle of the street she had left over an hour ago. The sounds had followed her, terrifying her as if it was them rushing to catch her. La Rue Scribe had seemed the only escape after running so long from them. The open tunnel into the sewers under the streets had seemed a haven. How idiotic was she? She was freezing slowly and lost in a pitch black underworld. Somehow it still seemed preferable to what she had left behind.
The only way she knew she was leaving the world above was the cold wind that gusted at her spontaneously from the wintry land above. As she headed deeper it became colder but in a more horrifying way. It felt like the icy chill of death, heavy and teeming, paralyzing not only the body but the soul.
Evelyn's teeth clicked continually as they shuddered from the frosty bite, cooling her face into a mask. Her satin slippers were ruined and gave practically no hold under the water as she waded, mid-thigh high up in the sluggish murk. Her sea gray eyes darted in the dark, trying vainly to see anything beyond the blankness.
As her foot landed on a stone she felt it slip out from under her. Flailing her arms she struggled with her mostly dead legs to stand but to no avail. With a yell she landed in the freezing water, submerging herself completely. Coming up she rubbed her eyes, gasping for air with pinched lungs. Evelyn gave a frustrated, despairing scream and smashed her fist into the water, splattering herself more. A sniffle escaped her, followed by a desperate sob. Hot tears filled her eyes despite the fact the rest of her was frozen. Their heat died quickly though as they streaked her icy cheeks.
Standing up wobbly she pushed her wet, red curls from her face and rubbed her blind eyes again. She paused when she felt the solid touch of her ring on her left hand. Actually she was vaguely surprised she could feel anything considering everything was numb, including her chattering teeth.
Trembling Evelyn slipped it off and turned it over in her fingers, blankly staring at the darkness. Her wedding…she almost laughed bitterly at the thought. Oh, the sudden wedding wasn't a surprise; she had known of the arrangement since birth. When she was a little girl she used to dress up and giggle, imagining to be a bride. To be honest she was looking forward to it until…well, until mother died, she supposed. That's when everything went downhill, the chip that made the castle crumble. Not to mention that's when she realized how much of a lecherous pig, her fiancé, Marquis de Laterr, was.
Wearily Evelyn patted the soaked dress she wore, still holding the ring with a finger. The snake couldn't even buy her a decent ring, she snorted. Just a plain band. She wasn't greedy or materialistic, in fact she would have hated a grand wedding ring. But the fact he didn't care enough to try drove the stake home to the idea that she loathed the man.
The dress had been quite pretty, actually. It was more than likely ruined now but she didn't care. It was sleeveless, the rim hugged tight to her bosom, the corset pinching her waist uncomfortably. The ivory colored gown reached the floor, its folds loose, not blooming out like the older models. Tiny blue sequins danced in an elegant pattern along the bust and back. The veil clasped by the pins in her hair had fallen off when she ran from the chapel to escape her fate.
Evelyn choked on her tongue. But she hadn't escaped. When they had stood at the altar, her lips could not form the words she wanted to scream, her legs would not carry her away before it was too late. To her utter horror, it was. She had watched in mute anguish as Laterr leaned in to place a suggestive kiss on her unresponsive lips. Finally when they turned to walk down the aisle, her nerves finally reacted to the truth, kicking in to send her flying out of the church.
The heavy pound of running boots echoed in her ears as she remembered how Laterr's men chased her, the marquis yelling for someone to stop his wife. A muscle in her stomach twitched at the thought.
With an angry, loud yell Evelyn hurled the little golden ring as far and hard as she could, panting for breath. Her joints were stiff and sore but she smiled when the sound of a plop reached out to her ears.
"I-I am no-no one's wife," she declared bitterly, through shaky lips. With her sudden anger exhausted she reached out to find the wall even though she could no longer remember which way she had came. Touching the slimy stones she came closer to it but found herself stopped. At first she had thought that her legs had finally died before she realized that her thighs had bumped into a stone ledge that rose an inch above the cold water. It felt like the beginning of a walkway.
Tiredly Evelyn sat down, finding enough weary strength to pull her legs up after her. Wrapping her arms about her legs she sniffled and sneezed, feeling no longer truly cold but rather heavy and sleepy. Huddling into a little ball Evelyn shivered violently.
Alright, so there were two possibilities as she thought about it, her mind dumbly fumbling to think. One was to die of cold or wander blindly through the tunnels blindly forever. Or be caught by Laterr's men and taken back to her upset 'husband'. She shuddered inwardly when she thought of his temper.
One time they had been dining on one of his few political meetings with her father over the engagement when Laterr had snapped. A servant had tripped on a rug and sent a plate of desserts clattering to the floor. The girl tried feverishly to apologize but it had not mattered. Laterr stood and promptly punched her, sending her reeling to the ground. Father laughed.
Evelyn trembled in fear. If his men did find her, she was afraid to witness his rage. She had publicly embarrassed him, in front of the monarchy and city. He would beat her senseless. Despite the threat she privately felt proud that she could hit his ego so hard.
She'd definitely rather die than stay married to him. So she sat there, trembling in the dark, waiting to die of pneumonia.
If only father hadn't been such a greedy bastard, her weary mind spat. Evelyn had never been close to father. He never noticed her existence unless it came to the marriage. And for the last few years he was on her needs, hand and foot. It wasn't any source of fondness for his sudden devotion. No, mother had died in childbirth with her sister when she was sixteen.
The next three years were spent in paying off gambling debts as father drank and wasted his life away. Evelyn couldn't really guess if he had loved mother or if it was the dowry he had lost in her death. After they had lost their fortune, the family had been plunged into social purgatory, leaving nothing but a large, empty mansion on the outskirts of town.
She remembered when Laterr had questioned the loss of furniture, father replied that he didn't like to waste money on extravagance. The marquis found that perfectly marvelous and mentioned he hoped the daughter shared similar likes of barrenness. Pig…
Evelyn was just her father's ticket to getting rich again. And to help pay off debts to the monarchy. It was so funny how much he believed she would just demurely go into this marriage. So confident was he that he hadn't even come to the wedding. No, he was off in London on a luncheon with nobility. Won't he be surprised when he hears the news?
Tiredly she rested her head on her knees and shivered badly. Her poisonous recollections left her miserable. Large tears welled in her hazel eyes and she sneezed forlornly. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was not what she had planned for her future. Weddings were supposed to be happy and full of laughter and smiles. They're not meant for money and resentment. Her family should be there and she should smile at her groom, her love.
"Amour(love)?" she gasped through a sob. Love was the one thing she could never have. Not ever. Not after Louis. Evelyn cried pitifully, burying her face in the stiffened, frozen folds of her dress. Her body was utterly numb to her now and her tears were freezing to her face with the river water. Evelyn didn't know how long she sat there, quietly slipping in and out of sleep. She'd rather die than live in a lovelorn marriage. But another part still did not want to die.
Slowly she felt her mind and could feel her mind drift and could feel her heartbeat loudly beat in her chest. She almost laughed but coughed instead. Its not like it mattered if she died now, she supposed. Her illness wouldn't allow her to live beyond the age of twenty-six anyway.
A sudden bright light flared, burning the back of her eyelids. When had her eyes closed? The lashes were frozen together, forcing her to fight to open them. At first she thought it to be the glow of heaven but then she heard the water and the dripping from the ceilings. Heaven shouldn't be in a tunnel!
Evelyn's eyes fluttered open, the tiny ice crystals on her eyelashes reflecting and blurring her gaze. To her right, deeper down where the darkness had been deepening there was now the brilliance of golden light.
Blued lips moving weakly Evelyn tried to call out but her lungs felt frozen to where she couldn't breathe. Her sight darkened to nothingness. She sighed in relief. They didn't find her. She will die before Laterr could touch her again.