Chapter 9:
A/N: This chapter is pretty dark, just a warning.
As they walked down the hall together Winry debated within herself just what she would say. After the final bend in the winding stretch of paintings and tapestries she caught sight of a man sitting in a rather elegant chair, a glass in his hands. Turning at their approach, she stiffened as the Duke stood to their presence.
He bowed slightly, his expression vague. Nodding to both of them, he let his gaze linger on Winry.
"My darling what brings you all the way here?"
Edward stood his ground allowing her what she assumed was the space to speak the truth. She noticed a man remained in the hallway, his eyes glued to them. She wondered if Roy could be so cruel, if he would really use this man to hurt them. Roy waved the man away as he approached them.
"Breda if you would." He gestured towards Edward. "Please escort Mr. Elric here to the common room. I do wish for a moment of privacy with my beautiful bride." He winked in her direction, effectively stunning her into silence.
Edward looked as if he might protest but he managed to keep face as he bowed to the Duke. "Of course my dear duke, Lady Rockbell."
She was not a stupid or foolish woman; the Duke was up to something. Biting her lip pensively through her teeth, she tried to gauge the expression on his face. Perhaps he really did want to be alone with her. That thought was hardly comforting.
He stood up from his chair and began to pace the width of the room. "Well I suppose I owe you an explanation as to my sudden departure." He paused to gently caress her face, "I do wish I could have stayed for some time longer. But we mustn't hold onto such things, after all you will be sharing my bed in less than three weeks time. We must not fret about things that will be of no importance in the future."
A hundred deaths, each more painful than the next seemed like a better outcome than the thought of her impending future, especially the future he was thinking of. Feeling faint she decided it would be wise of her to spill her thoughts quickly.
"I lied."
His confident smile wavered for a moment, the contours of his jaw becoming rigid. "What would you lie to me about?'
An agonizing silence stretched on as she fought to keep her wits about her. The strength of his stance and the power that radiated from his stare made her skin crawl. Taking a deep breath she managed to clear her head. She was strong and this was important. No matter the consequence, she could not prolong this any further. "I cannot marry you."
Roy's lips pressed together in a straight line his forehead creasing until his eyes hardened over in anger. Winry didn't catch the amount of time it took for him to pull her up to her feet. His hands jerked her up by the front of her laced bodice. At least she could be thankful that he had asked for them to be alone, surely Edward would have taken the brunt of this anger. She would be grateful that she could take the burden which was entirely hers to bare. This was her mess after all.
Yet no matter which way she thought about it, she could not fool her body into a calm. Her chin trembled as her eyes began to water, his eyes were full of an anger she was sure no one could match.
His hands moved from the front of her dress to her shoulders as he had pulled her to her feet.
"You are refusing me?"
The answer came quick, but the words failed to reach her lips in time to satisfy his patience. He freed one hand from her shoulder to tangle itself into her golden locks. Grasping her scalp he pulled her face up to his. His entire body was now trembling in rage. "You think you can make a mockery of me! Say it! Say the words again."
The consequence of having a questioning mind, the consequence of feeding ones desires was said to lead a women to a place she could not return from. Perhaps this was the place they, or rather her mother meant. She was at the mercy of a powerful man who could at the snap of his fingers, will her dead. Then, as if someone had lit a candle in a dark room, she remembered the reason why she had pursued such things. Edward. Her mind began to whirl with emotion until it blurted from her lips.
"I COULD NEVER MARRY YOU!"
The duke's mouth dropped open in shock, he had obviously never been screamed at by a woman. The defiant look on her face as he held her in such a powerful and destructive stance appeared to have taken him by surprise.
He lowered her down to the ground, letting her hair fall from his fingers. Winry crumpled to her knees, her dress flowing out in a puddle of fabric around her. Her chest heaved with the breath she had been holding, her eyes cast down in fear.
"You are a foolish girl. Certainly you must realize what this will do to you, to your family. Without your dowry I hardly think your family will be worthy of their title for much longer. Think of your mother, I would think she would rather take her own life that fall to a lower level. Will you bare their blood on your hands?"
These things were nothing knew to her young mind. She was well informed of what their union meant and what would result if she did not secure it. It had become clear to her over the past couple of weeks that she did not care for this refined life. A hard labored life seemed quite blissful in its simplicity. Her parents would survive; her mother was far too vain to leave this world by her own hands.
"Why do you care so? I am nothing to you; why not follow your pride to a better woman."
If she had not been looking, she would have thought it was a lie. A gentle stretch of expression revealed itself before it split into chagrin. "You are beautiful; I will not begrudge you that. The women of this court are too plain for my taste."
Slowly rising to her feet, she met his gaze evenly. "Beauty fades."
The dark color of his raven hair seemed to mirror the blackness in his eyes. He extended his hand out to stroke her cheek in a possessive gesture. "I have already won your hand in marriage; you no longer have a choice in the matter."
Her protests were stifled under his lips as he forced himself upon her. Shaking violently she tried to push him off. This only succeeded in antagonizing the already infuriated man. His hands ran themselves down her front and up her back. The feeling of his hands on her elicited a heartbreaking cry from deep in her throat.
She didn't want to be his object. The difference between his touch and that of Edwards was like the moon and the sun. His lips smothered hers in a brutal show of power and lust. The tears began to fall slowly down her cheeks as she realized her failure.
When he pulled back briefly for air she managed to chock out a strangled plea. "Please stop."
Roy's eyes narrowed in a vengeful sort of reverence. "You are my bride, I will do as I please."
Winry shuddered and prayed that his rage would desist, that his mind would right itself before she lost her innocence. How long had they been in this room, what had become of Edward? Surely his suspicions should have been aroused. So why had he not come to save her?
Maybe he was the one that needed to be saved. Closing her eyes she decided it was better that the duke remain her torment than Edwards.
Seeing the fight drain from her limbs the Duke pulled back.
"Ah, I should have realized. You are a noble thing aren't you? I should have known, that letter of yours was a mess of martyred love." He chuckled darkly. "You are going to sacrifice yourself to save your Edward. Now if I remember the wording correctly you did say you would marry me; though your little voyage here would elude differently."
His eyes blazed into hers, daring her to disagree. "I thought I could keep my temper…but you should watch your tongue. Now, I only wish that I could turn that letter over to its rightful owner. Perhaps we shall have a little talk?"
His words conveyed her worst fears. He was going to taunt her with his power, to remind her that he could hurt not only her but Edward as well. "No, please...."
"Then you will marry me without another word of disagreement."
Winry felt the tears continue to stream down her cheeks in frustration. "But I do not love you, I am sure you do not love me. What is a life without love?"
"Love…do you even know what such a word means? You are hardly eighteen years and yet you think you know of such things! I have lived for far longer, and have seen more than you could ever see in your most vivid nightmares. Oh do not misunderstand me, love does exist. But where there is love there is hate and jealousy. Love keeps company with wrath and vengeance, greed and lust. You can not tell me that you know of love. You know of nothing."
The duke was in his rights to hurt her in unimaginable ways, he had the power and the means. So why had he taken his hands off of her? Why did he continue to argue with her? He had turned from using the force of his muscles to that of his words. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of the man in front of her. What were his intentions?
"What do you want from me?"
"I want you to leave this room and go straight to that man. I want you to lie to him, lie as you did to me. I want you to trick him into believing you don't love him anymore."
She hung her head in shame. "What makes you think I could do such a thing?"
The duke's face shadowed as he bent it down to stare into her eyes. He spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable to its fullest. "If you do not, I will have him killed."
Was there a choice in his words? For she knew there was only one answer. She could not live knowing he had died by her selfish hands.
The duke appeared to have seen her resolve as he continued on. "Once he is freed of your love, he will go to the Americas along with his brother and you will never see him again. So my dear, what will you do?"
Winry sat weakly on the ornate piece of furniture. Her voice came out in a dead monotone, her features breaking from sorrow to nothing at all. The beautiful haze she had been looking through with Edward had cleared. Her race with fate had been lost and its victory had come with vengeance.
"How…" Her voice cracked with pain. "He won't believe me."
The duke remained unfazed, "Then might I suggest you say your goodbyes while you can."
"No, please!" She held up her hand as if to halt his move. "I just need time."
A knock at the door alerted the tense room to the presence of another. Wiping her face quickly, Winry turned her face as the door opened. The servant who had been present in the beginning walked in, closely followed by Edward. Winry's eyes traveled to the sword hanging off the man's hip; her decision was made. Standing up she stared lifelessly up at the Duke as she walked the distance between them.
"I suppose the next we meet will be of a grand occasion, no?"
The Duke's smile stretched broadly across his hardened features as he kissed each of her cheeks followed by her forehead, "Yes my bride, until then."
Winry walked silently by Edward, barely catching his confused and hurried goodbye to the man who held a hidden dagger. Once they were free of prying eyes he reached for her hand.
"Winry, I don't understand. What happened?"
She would not speak…she could not speak. Closing her eyes she steadied herself before allowing words to spill from her lips. "The duke has extended a wedding invitation to you and your brother. However I would not wish for you to come. It would be best if you found somewhere else to stay, your time here is up."
As the stable hand led two horses towards them, Edwards face clenched in confusion and hurt. "Winry, what did he do to you?"
She ignored his question. "The Duke has offered me one of his horses, there is no need for us to ride together."
Edward grabbed her shoulders in a desperate attempt to understand, the anger licking at his words. "Winry, what did he do to you!"
It had to be the hardest lie she ever had to tell. She jerked out from under his gentle hands. "Edward leave it be, you just can't give me the kind of life that he can. I don't love you and I never will."
She didn't see his reaction because she couldn't look him in the eyes. She mounted her horse quickly and began to ride away. If she turned back now, he would see the truth falling down her cheeks. He would see that she had been willing to give up her happiness, her life, to save him.