Chapter 13 : Beauty in the Snow
Snow cascaded over his dark armor, cape dragged on the frozen ground as he passed the ice imprisoned pines and neared the stone altar, surrounded by thorny blue poppies with fragments of fresh snow on their petals.
All around dark knight were marble tombstones of those who did not prevail. They became ghosts to the shroud of winter. He listened to their haunting knells as he moved closer. He stopped, becoming frozen as stone, narrowing his piercing hazel- green eyes at her through the silts of his mask. His gaze became still with tenderness and his wounded heart fluttered inside the confines of his chest, he was becoming a captive to her.
The knight felt her beauty curse him with an enchantment, making his smooth lips become apart for as the snow painted his mouth with soft moisture. His gloved hand stroked through her silky ringlets of auburn and chocolate, the touch of him melted the coldness from her still body.
He bowed his head down, drinking in the visage of her, a maiden dressed in black garments with a lace mask covering her closed eyes. His fingers tumbled as they neared her curved jaw, but he paused and removed his glove, letting the garment slip off his fingers and land into the cluster of poppies. He caressed his touch over her frozen skin, bringing in warmth a he watched her intently with his hooded eyes.
He lowered his head down, with the inch of coldness ghosting over his lips and he placed his hands on each side of his mask, easing it off his handsome face, only to reveal the smooth curvatures and chiseled features of the noble prince of Gotham, Bruce Thomas Wayne, heir of King Thomas and Queen Martha.
He felt the freedom enter the abyss inside his punished soul, for years he wore the mask, became the dark wraith of shadow and menace. He spent many nights trapped behind the walls of his castle, until he caught a glimpse of her in the torch light. An alluring maiden of darkness and shady emotions. He held her inside his gaze for that moment they shared when they felt both heart connect and then she was gone. Vanished like a cat in the night.
When he put on the mask, and became the darkest of the Knight's, the cursed prince made a vow to find her heart. Prince Bruce searched for her, and he found pieces of her soul along his journey, broken shards of regrets and stolen memories of a distant and darker past. She had captivated him, making him become consumed by her mystery.
Now, he had found her, his true love. He kept his shadowy gaze settled onto her until he looked down at the nightmarish mask in his hand, the face of dread, and he placed it on the stone.
Moonlight shone over his still form and curled his finger under her laced mask, the face of a cat. He removed the feline semblance off her creamy skin, his eyes became softer and messy dark hair hung over his deep hazel orbs as he dropped his warm lips and pressed them softly on her red petals. He felt the spell break and when she opened her eyes slowly, he was trapped within her gaze of true beauty. Her misty dark coffee pools looked up at him and the corners of her mouth formed a slow beautiful smile of scarlet and youth.
" Hello, Dark Knight," the maiden said with a faint whisper.
He smiled with a genuine beam down at her and placed his hand gently on her cheek and replied, " Hello, my lady."
The prince kissed the maiden again with passion, and he felt the his own spell that was cast over him since he was a boy lift, as the darkness he once concealed himself with shredded off his body and he held his true love in his solid arms.
Both cursed hearts finally felt the warmth their love that was hidden by the darkness.
