p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"TKAM Chapter 8/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emThe night of the wedding several months ago…/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" Brody and Kaylie wandered around the garden until they found a comfortable place on a bench near the fountain. Heavy sighs and anticipation passed between them in the silence of the night. The wedding was beautiful, and it reminded them that time is short, even for immortal beings. They could no longer wait to share their feelings. The time was now. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""My story?" Brody was caught off guard and unprepared by her request to regale him with his long and painful past, but he was relieved to have a distraction from the distance that seemed to be ever narrowing between them./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""Yeah, your story. Like, how did you become the servant of a king and queen, the king and queen of the goblins, no less." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""Well, it's kind of a long story, we may be 'ere all night."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""That's alright," she encouraged, "I've got time. And if it gets too late, I'm sure there's someplace else we can go if you like."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" Brody took a deep breath and exhaled. He didn't like having to face his past again, but he faced it once with Elizabeth and she was able to help him to become the man his late wife hoped he would be. Perhaps Kaylie would, too. He didn't want to waste time thinking about whether or not she would be accepting. At this point in his life, it was too late for that. No, he would plunge right in, because she either loved him or she didn't. She would either accept him with all of his baggage or not. Any woman who didn't love him through his past wasn't worth his time, or at least, that's what he knew Liz would say to him about it. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" emHe began at the beginning. It was his wedding day. Rebecca looked so beautiful in her white dress. It had the longest train he had ever seen. No one in the region could afford such an elaborate gown, but his patron, Lord Rupert, would not have no for an answer. He funded the entire wedding. He even took pride in decorating and planning the event for them. It was a beautiful day. It was the happiest day of his life. Until, about four years later, some bandits working for the Evil Queen ransacked their home. His beautiful Rebecca was murdered, and his house burned to the ground. Not being able to stand being told to leave the bandits be, he went out in search of them. His aim was to get vengeance, but eventually, he ran out of money and found himself a bandit and renegade. The very men he sought to kill took him in and taught him the trade. Without a voice of reason and compassion in his life, he had nothing to hold him back. He gave himself over to his vile and dark passions that grew from the pain within his soul. It was when he attempted to kill Elizabeth and Jareth that his life began to be illuminated with goodness again. He tried with all of his might to resist the kindness and compassion of Liz, but something about her was and is just too compelling. Something about her not only attracts people to her but calms even the most violent tempers. True also, was the fact that her kindness could also be so cold and calculating with a violent storm of its own brewing behind it. If one were to look in her eyes while she was angry, you could see fires of passion and fury within. It was this that brought him back to the light, this, and her…/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em"Wow," Kaylie responded with tears staining her face with running eyeliner and mascara. "I had no idea your past was so…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "Colorful?" Brody interrupted./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "I guess. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. I wish I could take your pain away."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "You already 'ave, Love. Just seein' your beau'iful face makes my 'eart sing like it never 'as before."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" Kaylie giggled as she wiped more tears from her face. He was so handsome, and nothing like the rugged vagabond that he portrayed himself to be. But now it was her turn. It was time to share her dark and painful past. She wondered if he would be horrified or gracious./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "Well," Brody cut off her train of thought. "I suppose it ain't all bad. I wouldda neva met you if I 'adn't."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "True," she said with a smile./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" emShe didn't wait for another moment of silence or for the subject to change, she plunged right into her story. It began on a dark night about 200 years ago. She was out walking the perimeter of her father's estate where a beautiful pond lay near a tree line. It was her place of escape. She was prearranged to marry a duke from England who had given up his title to settle in the New World. He was very rich, and her family was very poor. So, the Duke and her father made an arrangement for the two to marry. She didn't like the idea, but no other man had made her an offer. Being an only child to their financially strained family meant that she had already become a burden on them. Marriage was the only way for everyone to come out on top. Sulking in her sorrows and predicament, she sat by the pond staring into it. The silvery moon glistened on the water and shone bright on her. It wasn't long before she heard the howling of nearby wolves and started for the house, but before she could take two steps yellow eyes were already watching her from the tree line. She didn't make it. She ran as hard as she could, but she didn't make it. She was down, pinned, and bleeding before she could even think to call for help. In her dying breath she looked up and saw that she was not attacked by any mere pack of wolves, but feral, savage, and lustful werewolves. Over and over again the beasts tore at her clothing, and ripped away her innocence until her spirit was crushed and her body useless. Then they took her life. They drained her of nearly every ounce of blood and left her to die by the pond. No one heard a thing. No one saw a thing. The next morning her father found her lifeless body, naked and destroyed. They performed the funeral, they mourned her loss. Her father sold the estate to the Duke and moved west to start a farm. He could no longer bear the sight of the old place with his daughter gone. It took about three days, but the mistake of the werewolves not taking the last of her blood had taken effect. Her body healed, her life was restored. Out of the grave she dug herself furiously. The first thing she did was track those murderous rapists down and tore them limb from limb. Then she picked up her father's scent and went to see him. Knowing that he would die from shock and horror, she kept her distance, but was satisfied with knowing that they were safe from harm and doing well. Over time, she became something of a weresswolf version of a black widow. She lured men in with her pheromones, then took their lives before they could cop a feel. That is, until Jareth found her. She tried to lure him in, but he was trying to lure her also. He could sense that there was something different about her, and when she made her move to attack, he countered. By the end of the night they were laughing and had become friends. He showed her where she could be free from her pain and where she could find a safe place. The very moment she stepped foot Underground and in the land of the Okami, all of the canine creatures from far and wide came to bow at her feet. They taught her about love, forgiveness, and healing. They showed her life could be beautiful even when someone steals the beauty away. They made her their queen. For the first time in all of the histories, a weresswolf had become more. No longer did she take on a hideous humanoid wolf form, but stood as a beautiful, sleek, elegant, and strong wolf. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /emBrody just sat there staring at her. His mouth was nearly agape. He couldn't believe that this strong, sexy, and modest woman was ever as vicious, pained, and broken as he was. His attraction to her suddenly grew manifold. He couldn't find the words. After a few moments she began to stand and walk away. It appeared to him that she thought he disapproved of her. She wouldn't face him. He had to do something. He had to show her how beautiful that he thought she was. How extremely attractive, strong, and courageous she was! /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" He grabbed her by the arm just as she opened her mouth to speak and whirled her around to face him. He took her face in his hands and brought his mouth down to bear on hers with passion and love. His tears mingled with hers on her cheeks and she didn't resist him. Together they passed into a blissful state that neither of them had known existed. For the first time in forever, their worlds finally made sense!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"emThe night of the wedding several months ago…/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" Brody and Kaylie wandered around the garden until they found a comfortable place on a bench near the fountain. Heavy sighs and anticipation passed between them in the silence of the night. The wedding was beautiful, and it reminded them that time is short, even for immortal beings. They could no longer wait to share their feelings. The time was now. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""My story?" Brody was caught off guard and unprepared by her request to regale him with his long and painful past, but he was relieved to have a distraction from the distance that seemed to be ever narrowing between them./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""Yeah, your story. Like, how did you become the servant of a king and queen, the king and queen of the goblins, no less." /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""Well, it's kind of a long story, we may be 'ere all night."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;""That's alright," she encouraged, "I've got time. And if it gets too late, I'm sure there's someplace else we can go if you like."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" Brody took a deep breath and exhaled. He didn't like having to face his past again, but he faced it once with Elizabeth and she was able to help him to become the man his late wife hoped he would be. Perhaps Kaylie would, too. He didn't want to waste time thinking about whether or not she would be accepting. At this point in his life, it was too late for that. No, he would plunge right in, because she either loved him or she didn't. She would either accept him with all of his baggage or not. Any woman who didn't love him through his past wasn't worth his time, or at least, that's what he knew Liz would say to him about it. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" emHe began at the beginning. It was his wedding day. Rebecca looked so beautiful in her white dress. It had the longest train he had ever seen. No one in the region could afford such an elaborate gown, but his patron, Lord Rupert, would not have no for an answer. He funded the entire wedding. He even took pride in decorating and planning the event for them. It was a beautiful day. It was the happiest day of his life. Until, about four years later, some bandits working for the Evil Queen ransacked their home. His beautiful Rebecca was murdered, and his house burned to the ground. Not being able to stand being told to leave the bandits be, he went out in search of them. His aim was to get vengeance, but eventually, he ran out of money and found himself a bandit and renegade. The very men he sought to kill took him in and taught him the trade. Without a voice of reason and compassion in his life, he had nothing to hold him back. He gave himself over to his vile and dark passions that grew from the pain within his soul. It was when he attempted to kill Elizabeth and Jareth that his life began to be illuminated with goodness again. He tried with all of his might to resist the kindness and compassion of Liz, but something about her was and is just too compelling. Something about her not only attracts people to her but calms even the most violent tempers. True also, was the fact that her kindness could also be so cold and calculating with a violent storm of its own brewing behind it. If one were to look in her eyes while she was angry, you could see fires of passion and fury within. It was this that brought him back to the light, this, and her…/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /em"Wow," Kaylie responded with tears staining her face with running eyeliner and mascara. "I had no idea your past was so…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "Colorful?" Brody interrupted./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "I guess. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. I wish I could take your pain away."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "You already 'ave, Love. Just seein' your beau'iful face makes my 'eart sing like it never 'as before."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" Kaylie giggled as she wiped more tears from her face. He was so handsome, and nothing like the rugged vagabond that he portrayed himself to be. But now it was her turn. It was time to share her dark and painful past. She wondered if he would be horrified or gracious./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "Well," Brody cut off her train of thought. "I suppose it ain't all bad. I wouldda neva met you if I 'adn't."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" "True," she said with a smile./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" emShe didn't wait for another moment of silence or for the subject to change, she plunged right into her story. It began on a dark night about 200 years ago. She was out walking the perimeter of her father's estate where a beautiful pond lay near a tree line. It was her place of escape. She was prearranged to marry a duke from England who had given up his title to settle in the New World. He was very rich, and her family was very poor. So, the Duke and her father made an arrangement for the two to marry. She didn't like the idea, but no other man had made her an offer. Being an only child to their financially strained family meant that she had already become a burden on them. Marriage was the only way for everyone to come out on top. Sulking in her sorrows and predicament, she sat by the pond staring into it. The silvery moon glistened on the water and shone bright on her. It wasn't long before she heard the howling of nearby wolves and started for the house, but before she could take two steps yellow eyes were already watching her from the tree line. She didn't make it. She ran as hard as she could, but she didn't make it. She was down, pinned, and bleeding before she could even think to call for help. In her dying breath she looked up and saw that she was not attacked by any mere pack of wolves, but feral, savage, and lustful werewolves. Over and over again the beasts tore at her clothing, and ripped away her innocence until her spirit was crushed and her body useless. Then they took her life. They drained her of nearly every ounce of blood and left her to die by the pond. No one heard a thing. No one saw a thing. The next morning her father found her lifeless body, naked and destroyed. They performed the funeral, they mourned her loss. Her father sold the estate to the Duke and moved west to start a farm. He could no longer bear the sight of the old place with his daughter gone. It took about three days, but the mistake of the werewolves not taking the last of her blood had taken effect. Her body healed, her life was restored. Out of the grave she dug herself furiously. The first thing she did was track those murderous rapists down and tore them limb from limb. Then she picked up her father's scent and went to see him. Knowing that he would die from shock and horror, she kept her distance, but was satisfied with knowing that they were safe from harm and doing well. Over time, she became something of a weresswolf version of a black widow. She lured men in with her pheromones, then took their lives before they could cop a feel. That is, until Jareth found her. She tried to lure him in, but he was trying to lure her also. He could sense that there was something different about her, and when she made her move to attack, he countered. By the end of the night they were laughing and had become friends. He showed her where she could be free from her pain and where she could find a safe place. The very moment she stepped foot Underground and in the land of the Okami, all of the canine creatures from far and wide came to bow at her feet. They taught her about love, forgiveness, and healing. They showed her life could be beautiful even when someone steals the beauty away. They made her their queen. For the first time in all of the histories, a weresswolf had become more. No longer did she take on a hideous humanoid wolf form, but stood as a beautiful, sleek, elegant, and strong wolf. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"em /emBrody just sat there staring at her. His mouth was nearly agape. He couldn't believe that this strong, sexy, and modest woman was ever as vicious, pained, and broken as he was. His attraction to her suddenly grew manifold. He couldn't find the words. After a few moments she began to stand and walk away. It appeared to him that she thought he disapproved of her. She wouldn't face him. He had to do something. He had to show her how beautiful that he thought she was. How extremely attractive, strong, and courageous she was! /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: medium; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" He grabbed her by the arm just as she opened her mouth to speak and whirled her around to face him. He took her face in his hands and brought his mouth down to bear on hers with passion and love. His tears mingled with hers on her cheeks and she didn't resist him. Together they passed into a blissful state that neither of them had known existed. For the first time in forever, their worlds finally made sense!/p
