Authoress's Note: Hey to all!! Sorry this update took abnormally looong...musical's started at school, so I have, like, no life till april...but i will try hard to still update...i just wasn't here last weekend!!! BUT...it's a good chapter, so it should be worth it...yup yup...yet another one that i cried at when I reread it...oh well...enjoy all!!
O...many, many kudos bars to *ahem* Jacqueleine Schaeffer (no eggs...and one princess, who's mentioned in this chap, i think...), eThErEaLAnGeL (thanx!! never read patricia wrede, BUT...), Rae (yes, you were right....it's the norse version of cupid and psyche...up to about this point, then it's a lil bit different...), hemlock (here it is!), and sopraniluna (I CONQUERED THE BUNNY SLOPES BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!) *whew* anyhow, without yet further ado, I present...Chapter Eleven!!!!!
~Jenny the chica~
Chapter Eleven: In Which All is Lost...
Celia began to open her mouth to say something, but the stern and completely crushed look on his face made her shut it as if someone had hit her jaw.
His eyes were filled with sadness and--could it be?--tears. They did not overflow, but they were clearly dangerously close to doing so. After a few moments of blinking, he sternly said, "Oh, Celia! Had you waited merely one more year, I would have been free from this curse, but now, all is lost."
Celia was completely baffled. What curse? Why is all lost? Why...Celia's questions went on and on, but her husband never even paused.
"I was cursed by my stepmother, a troll, when I refused to marry the troll princess that she had wanted me to marry. She made me a bear by day, a man by night."
The bear! Oh, if only Celia had known! It all seemed perfectly logical now, but something was terribly wrong.
"If I could find someone to marry a horrible bear, then after two years I would be set free. But now that cannot happen, and I will have to travel back to her castle, which lies east of the sun and west of the moon. The conditions were also that my wife could not see my as a man, but simply trust me. Was that too difficult, Celia? Did you not love me enough?"
Celia wanted to cry out that she did, that she was so, so sorry for all that she had done, not only to herself, but to him as well! But her voice was caught in her throat, although she doubted later that she could have spoken anyway.
"Celia, now I must go back there and marry that awful troll princess, and live there, secluded from the rest of the world, for all my days!"
Celia's voice was finally discovered once more. "No! You can't leave! Even if you do, I can come with you, and-and somehow, we'll--you and me--figure out something to do about it, and we'll-"
"No, you cannot come with me. I am so sorry. But love cannot exist among distrust."
Celia broke down and wept, but the treacherous candle burned on, mocking her pain. "At least let me follow you or come after you. I could find the way."
He gave a slightly encouraging smile, and said, "Well, perhaps you can. The road is long and dangerous, however, and the few who make it will not find a welcome within."
When Celia asked what he meant by that, he shook his head, but even in his pain at her betrayal, he kissed her quickly.
Celia tried to kiss back, but their lips had barely met before the room resounded with bloodcurdling shrieks.
Celia looked at her husband, and screamed. In the now eerie glow of the candle, he was surrounded by fierce goblins and trolls and demons that Celia had always believed did not exist. But this was all too real. They grabbed him, though he put up a reasonable fight, but he finally realized that it was all for nothing, and Celia saw how physically and spiritually drained he really was. He surrendered to the dark powers around him, but gave his last look to Celia, mouthing, "I love you."
His urgency and the hopelessness of his situation drove Celia once more to her tears. She tried to hide them, for his sake, but in a fiery swirl, man and demons vanished, and the house and room continued to swirl until Celia found herself alone, without even the house, garden, stables. Nothing. Celia looked around for a moment to find herself beneath the willow that had been near the past location of the stables. A weeping and mourning tree. Celia almost laughed at the irony, but the tears were too strong, and she collapsed in the midst of the knarled roots, weeping.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Celia came to at the first break of dawn, and it took quite a while for her to get her bearings. She looked down to find herself clothed in rags very similar to those that she had worn the day her father had returned to the cottage for the last time. The day, unbeknownst to her then, that had changed her life forever.
She knew what to do, of course. She was going to find her husband, there was no doubt of that. But she had no idea where to begin. Indeed, the only piece of information that she had was a fool's set of directions, telling her to go east of the sun and west of the moon. What did that mean?
Celia sighed in despair, feeling her hopes ebb away. There was no way that she could find her husband, not by herself. She hated this feeling of complete aloneness. One could not bear it for very long at all.
Celia decided to try and find Camille. To her dismay, the mare was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the house, the stable, or any other structure that had been before. Nothing had been clear last night, but now reality had hit her painfully hard.
Her husband's last words before he was taken away echoed in her ears. I love you.
She wept bitterly once again, respecting him so much for being able to tell her that in spite of the pain she had just poured down on both of them. And what had she done? Only been naïve enough to ruin both her husband's and her chance of happiness. If she had only listened to him!
But regrets were getting Celia nowhere. She would have to be much more alert and ready for anything now. She would find her husband. There was no longer any doubt of that.
Celia felt very drained from last night, which was expected. Her fatigue was already catching up with her, as she debated on where to try first. She wished to Heaven that there was someone else here who could help, but she was finished with raising false hopes, for fear that they were all destined by some cruel fate to be shattered.
Even as Celia was telling herself that there was nothing there, she once again had that strange feeling that she was not alone.
For one wonderful instant, she thought that it just might be her husband. She turned, but saw only a little old hag, a few feet away under the willow tree where Celia had spent the night.
The hag was nearly toothless, but she had a huge smile and seemed to constantly be chuckling, at what, Celia could hardly begin to guess.
What shocked Celia most was that the woman beckoned her closer, which she obeyed. Overcome by curiosity, Celia asked, "Do you know of the prince who lived here who now has been taken to a castle that lies east of the sun and west of the moon?"
The crone smiled her toothless grin. "Why, dearie? Are you the lassie that ought to have him?"
"Yes, that I am."
"Well, as a matter of fact, I do."
O...many, many kudos bars to *ahem* Jacqueleine Schaeffer (no eggs...and one princess, who's mentioned in this chap, i think...), eThErEaLAnGeL (thanx!! never read patricia wrede, BUT...), Rae (yes, you were right....it's the norse version of cupid and psyche...up to about this point, then it's a lil bit different...), hemlock (here it is!), and sopraniluna (I CONQUERED THE BUNNY SLOPES BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!) *whew* anyhow, without yet further ado, I present...Chapter Eleven!!!!!
~Jenny the chica~
Chapter Eleven: In Which All is Lost...
Celia began to open her mouth to say something, but the stern and completely crushed look on his face made her shut it as if someone had hit her jaw.
His eyes were filled with sadness and--could it be?--tears. They did not overflow, but they were clearly dangerously close to doing so. After a few moments of blinking, he sternly said, "Oh, Celia! Had you waited merely one more year, I would have been free from this curse, but now, all is lost."
Celia was completely baffled. What curse? Why is all lost? Why...Celia's questions went on and on, but her husband never even paused.
"I was cursed by my stepmother, a troll, when I refused to marry the troll princess that she had wanted me to marry. She made me a bear by day, a man by night."
The bear! Oh, if only Celia had known! It all seemed perfectly logical now, but something was terribly wrong.
"If I could find someone to marry a horrible bear, then after two years I would be set free. But now that cannot happen, and I will have to travel back to her castle, which lies east of the sun and west of the moon. The conditions were also that my wife could not see my as a man, but simply trust me. Was that too difficult, Celia? Did you not love me enough?"
Celia wanted to cry out that she did, that she was so, so sorry for all that she had done, not only to herself, but to him as well! But her voice was caught in her throat, although she doubted later that she could have spoken anyway.
"Celia, now I must go back there and marry that awful troll princess, and live there, secluded from the rest of the world, for all my days!"
Celia's voice was finally discovered once more. "No! You can't leave! Even if you do, I can come with you, and-and somehow, we'll--you and me--figure out something to do about it, and we'll-"
"No, you cannot come with me. I am so sorry. But love cannot exist among distrust."
Celia broke down and wept, but the treacherous candle burned on, mocking her pain. "At least let me follow you or come after you. I could find the way."
He gave a slightly encouraging smile, and said, "Well, perhaps you can. The road is long and dangerous, however, and the few who make it will not find a welcome within."
When Celia asked what he meant by that, he shook his head, but even in his pain at her betrayal, he kissed her quickly.
Celia tried to kiss back, but their lips had barely met before the room resounded with bloodcurdling shrieks.
Celia looked at her husband, and screamed. In the now eerie glow of the candle, he was surrounded by fierce goblins and trolls and demons that Celia had always believed did not exist. But this was all too real. They grabbed him, though he put up a reasonable fight, but he finally realized that it was all for nothing, and Celia saw how physically and spiritually drained he really was. He surrendered to the dark powers around him, but gave his last look to Celia, mouthing, "I love you."
His urgency and the hopelessness of his situation drove Celia once more to her tears. She tried to hide them, for his sake, but in a fiery swirl, man and demons vanished, and the house and room continued to swirl until Celia found herself alone, without even the house, garden, stables. Nothing. Celia looked around for a moment to find herself beneath the willow that had been near the past location of the stables. A weeping and mourning tree. Celia almost laughed at the irony, but the tears were too strong, and she collapsed in the midst of the knarled roots, weeping.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Celia came to at the first break of dawn, and it took quite a while for her to get her bearings. She looked down to find herself clothed in rags very similar to those that she had worn the day her father had returned to the cottage for the last time. The day, unbeknownst to her then, that had changed her life forever.
She knew what to do, of course. She was going to find her husband, there was no doubt of that. But she had no idea where to begin. Indeed, the only piece of information that she had was a fool's set of directions, telling her to go east of the sun and west of the moon. What did that mean?
Celia sighed in despair, feeling her hopes ebb away. There was no way that she could find her husband, not by herself. She hated this feeling of complete aloneness. One could not bear it for very long at all.
Celia decided to try and find Camille. To her dismay, the mare was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the house, the stable, or any other structure that had been before. Nothing had been clear last night, but now reality had hit her painfully hard.
Her husband's last words before he was taken away echoed in her ears. I love you.
She wept bitterly once again, respecting him so much for being able to tell her that in spite of the pain she had just poured down on both of them. And what had she done? Only been naïve enough to ruin both her husband's and her chance of happiness. If she had only listened to him!
But regrets were getting Celia nowhere. She would have to be much more alert and ready for anything now. She would find her husband. There was no longer any doubt of that.
Celia felt very drained from last night, which was expected. Her fatigue was already catching up with her, as she debated on where to try first. She wished to Heaven that there was someone else here who could help, but she was finished with raising false hopes, for fear that they were all destined by some cruel fate to be shattered.
Even as Celia was telling herself that there was nothing there, she once again had that strange feeling that she was not alone.
For one wonderful instant, she thought that it just might be her husband. She turned, but saw only a little old hag, a few feet away under the willow tree where Celia had spent the night.
The hag was nearly toothless, but she had a huge smile and seemed to constantly be chuckling, at what, Celia could hardly begin to guess.
What shocked Celia most was that the woman beckoned her closer, which she obeyed. Overcome by curiosity, Celia asked, "Do you know of the prince who lived here who now has been taken to a castle that lies east of the sun and west of the moon?"
The crone smiled her toothless grin. "Why, dearie? Are you the lassie that ought to have him?"
"Yes, that I am."
"Well, as a matter of fact, I do."