Chapter Six
Angel?
The chapel was silent as the priest read the vows that would forever bind two people that had only met by pure coincidence. Fate had decided that they would become one in the eyes of the Lord and man and no one dare argue with that. Christine stood stiffly beside the towering man at her side. His face was expressionless and he had yet to say anything to her since she had told him that she had chosen him. It had been obvious from both Marc and Raoul's faces that they were beyond surprised she had chosen Erik over one of them.
They could not understand it, nor could anyone else for that matter. It was obvious the two loathed eachother, Christine probably more so then Erik. So it did not make sense that she would choose him. When the priest told them it was time to kiss it was done rather emotionlessly. Although both Marc and Raoul could see the way Erik's body stiffened. They knew he was a man, and any man would react when he had a beautiful woman kissing him. And Christine was beautiful. To bad such beauty had to be wasted on so black a beast.
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"My lady?" Marie whispered. Christine did not answer as she quietly packed the things she wished to take with her. After the ceremony Erik had told her to prepare her things, they would be leaving that evening. Christine had wanted to tell him that it would probably be wise to travel in the morning but decided against it. Was it strange that she was slightly elated to be leaving? She just needed to get away from her fathers constant presence or she would surely go mad.
She had heard him whispering to her in the graveyard, it could not be healthy. She did not like the fact that she was now Erik's wife, but she was rather anxious to meet his daughter. She had been the only reason she had decided to chose Erik over Raoul or Marc. She just prayed that the little girl truly did want a mother and was not a little heathen bent on tormenting her. Although she found that idea rather unlikely. Erik's eyes always seemed to soften when he spoke of her and she knew that he loved her. He would not love a heathen, she was sure of it.
"My lady? Am I going with you?" Marie asked softly, not wanting to talk out of place. Christine finally glanced at her and could see that Marie did not want to be left here, with no one to tend to. Christine needed someone familiar to come with her because the idea of her new home was still frightening to her.
"Of course! Pack your things," Christine instructed. Marie nodded and bowed before quickly leaving the room. When Christine was ready she sat down on her bed for the last time. The weight of the ring on her finger caused her eyes to find it and she let out a long sigh. It was a simple gold band that Erik had seemingly produced out of no where at the wedding. She would have never believed a few days ago that she would be marrying a man she truly did not like and who had brought her father home, dead.
But her father had asked that they be wed, which meant there must be something about the Dark Prince that her father thought was comendable. She had yet to see it but surely it was there? Perhaps if she saw him with his daughter...their daughter now, she would be able to come to a different conclusion about the man. Although she doubted it highly. A soft knock on the door tore her from her thoughts and Marc's head appeared.
"My lady, Lord Desslar is waiting outside for you."
She could tell by the sound of his voice that he was disappointed but what was done was done and she had no way of turning back time. He gathered her things and silently followed her out of the room. The courtyard was filled with Erik's men-at-arms and the servants that would be coming. Erik came to her silently and helped her to mount his horse, quickly coming up behind her. Christine's shoulders stiffened slightly when Erik wrapped one arm around her to take the reins and make sure she did not fall off. Both Marc and Raoul were silently as Erik shouted at the men to ride out. Christine's eyes lingered over the only place she had ever called home. The fact that she might never come back here finally sunk in. The men were riding quickly and she knew that it was going to disappear from her sight soon. She put her hand lightly on Erik's and felt him stiffen.
"Is there something you require, my lady?" he growled softly. She turned her face as much as she could to see him.
"May I say goodbye to my father?" she whispered so softly he almost did not hear her. He said nothing but he yanked roughly on the horse's reins, pulling them to a stop. Both Marc and Raoul slowed down and turned to look at him in question.
"Ride ahead!" Erik commanded. They looked surprise but did as they were told. Erik steered them towards her fathers grave and they rode in silence until they got there. Erik helped her dismount and stayed by the steed, allowing Christine some privacy. She walked slowly to the enternal resting place of her father and got down onto her knees in the cold snow. She bowed her head and began to speak softly.
"Papa...I miss you terribly! None of this was supposed to happen. You were supposed to come back to me safe and alive, just like you promised. But Fate had other plans...this is goodbye, Papa, forever. I do not know when I will come back here but I know that you will always be with me. I love you...I hope that you knew that. I tried every day to be the kind of daughter a man would be proud of and I know sometimes I failed you but you were always there to pick me up when I fell. Thank you for that, Papa, thank you..."
Christine was unable to finish because she broke into tears, pressing her face into her hands as she sobbed. Her entire world had shattered around her with her fathers death and she was doing everything in her power to keep going. Erik said nothing although he had heard everything she had said. He could not contain his surprise when Christine softly began to sing...it sounded like an old lullaby and he could only assume that it was one her father had once taught her when she was a little girl.
He had never heard a voice like hers in his life. He had been to many different places over the coarse of the last ten years and her voice was the purest he had ever heard. She had talent, and he wondered if she was aware of it. Nicolette often spoke of angels, surely this was what one sounded like? And all it was was a simply lullaby. When the song slowly came to a close Christine stood and wiped the tears from her eyes, unable to meet Erik's gaze. She went to the horse and he lifted her up onto it. She was slightly embarrassed, she knew he had heard her singing and she never sang for anyone other than her father. But he remained silent.
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"My lady, here are some blankets," Marie said, handing her mistress the remaining blanets. They had been forced to make camp in a thicket of trees because it had become far to dark to ride without endangering themselves and the horses. So now they were stuck and the snow had softly began to fall and Christine knew they could very likely freeze to death. She shook her head at the blankets offered her, knowing that as a servant Marie would not get much and she would not see the woman cold throughout the night.
"No, Marie, you take them," she said. Marie immediately began to protest. Christine put a hand on her shoulder.
"Take them, please," Christine insisted.
"Thank you, my lady," Marie said, meaning it. She probably would have suffered most of the night without any sort of warmth. Christine wrapped her arms around herself, looking for a place to lay down, suddenly exhausted. Erik was with Marc and the other men, getting the horses ready for the night and preparing the fire that someone would watch throughout the entire night. She blamed Erik for the fact that they had to sleep in the snow because he was so stubborn he could not even let them wait until morning to ride out. She was startled out of her thoughts when a cloak was dropped onto her shoulders. She spun around to see Erik standing behind her. She pulled his cloak tightly about herself, thankful that it was still warm from his body.
"Come, we need to get some sleep," he murmured. She said nothing, curious to see what he was going to have them do. He led her to where several blankets had been laid out and he waved a hand at it, telling her to lay down. She took off both of the cloaks before laying down so she could lay them on top of her for warmth. Her eyes found her husbands as he came to lay down next to her. She had not been expecting that. She glanced over at Marc and Raoul and noticed both men seemed surprised. Erik said nothing as covered himself with the cloaks and put a couple blankets that had obviously been given to him being the lord. He was lying on his visible cheek so she was faced with the mask and his gleaming gray green eye.
"If you would prefer to freeze tonight I could move," he said, seeing the way she stiffened. Christine took a deep breath. He was right, but she would never admit it. And besides, his body was so warm...unlike everything around her. She shook her head and forced herself to relax.
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Later that night Erik truly wished that he had made a better impression on Christine when they had first met because he would suddenly give anything for her not to hate him. He woke up in the middle of the night to find Christine pressed against him, obviously with the intention of getting warm. But of course his body reacted differently and he was suddenly very uncomfortable. The entire length of her body was pressed against him and her head was resting on his shoulder so he could smell her hair. Sometimes he wondered what was wrong with him. He was so caught up with the feel of Christine against him that he did not even notice the soft sounds coming from the trees around them, signaling strangers were approaching.