Chapter Twelve: When Life Is Empty
And so, two days later, Erik and Christine left the comfort of Degardeau cottage and set off for Paris.
Leaving had been a somewhat tear-filled affair, as Marie was sad to see her young friend leave. The dress hunting of the day before had gone well, and Christine had picked what she thought would be the perfect dress for marrying the love of her life. Marie had been thrilled with the choice as well, and would be picking the dress up as soon as it was finished. Erik and Christine had promised to return to Rouen within two weeks, and Gerard once again insisted that they bring their guests with them.
As if he knew what that would entail, Gerard also made sure that the couple took his carriage with them, to make the ride a bit more pleasant, he had said. Erik had tried to dismiss the thought, but Gerard would hear nothing of it. Although he did give in when Erik said that use of a driver was unnecessary.
The comfortable camaraderie that Erik and Christine had shared on the way to Rouen was not diminished in any way, in fact, if anyone had taken notice of them, they would have said the couple was positively glowing.
The peace continued until after they had stopped for the night.
The carriage was of an open air type, but it at least provided a place for them to rest without sleeping on the ground the way they had on the first leg of their journey. They pulled into a clearing in the woods, off the side of the main road, and made camp. And after eating a quiet supper, they settled into the carriage for the night.
The quiet of the night was suddenly shattered as the moon hit the high point of it's ascent, by the sound of three rather loud, drunken voices.
"I say, Remy, a carriage! You know what that means, my friend."
"I do at that, Tas," Remy replied into the night. "So, what do you think, Alain?"
"Let's go," Alain voted, and the three men moved slowly toward the carriage.
Remy was the first to peer his head over the top, and saw the sleeping woman. His hand reached out towards her, but was quickly pulled back as the Punjab lasso found it's way around his thick neck. Remy sputtered for a mere moment before he fell.
Tas and Alain, who had crept up on the other side of the carriage, did not see their friend's quiet fall, so quite unwittingly Alain made his way up as well, but did not even have the chance to reach out when he too was pulled back.
Tas saw this time, saw the glint of the mask in the moonlight as his friend fell to the ground beside him. His gasp came loud in the still night air, and he dropped to his knees before the shadowy figure in front of him.
"We weren't going to hurt her, I swear we weren't!" Tas supplicated in his native Romany tongue
Erik rounded on the swarthy man, the Punjab Lasso still in his hand as the burning rage lighted in his eyes. "Then what were you planning to do?" he answered in the tongue he had not spoken in nearly thirty five years.
Tas was taken aback by the man's words, and his cultured, yet very accurate use of his native language. "How . . ." and without finishing his sentence, he dropped further to the ground. "I never thought to ever see you again!"
"And it may well be the last thing you see."
"Erik?" Christine called out from the carriage as she glanced around in the shadows, and finally saw the tableau in front of her, the man on the ground who was quite obviously dead, the man on his knees before Erik. Her gasp of surprise was quick, loud, and drew Erik's attention away from Tas long enough for the Romany to make his move. In one pounce, he was on Erik's back, and the knife came from his pocket.
"Erik, look out!" Christine cried out at the same moment that Erik's hand made purchase with the same knife and wrenched it from Tas's hand.
The Romany grasped his obviously broken hand as Erik stepped back, the knife in his own hand now. Out of the corner of his eye he could still see Christine, the look of horror on her face, and he turned to the wounded man.
"Get out of my sight before I see to it that this is your last night on Earth!" Erik shouted in Romany.
Tas, realizing that his best bet was to heed the man before him, stood up without thought, and still grasping his broken hand, ran out into the night.
After Tas was out of sight, Erik finally dropped the knife to the ground and hung his head. He slowly turned to Christine, his head still very near his chest, and the tears streaming from his eyes as he heard her soft sobbing. And yet, he couldn't move, found himself rooted to the spot where he stood.
It was Christine who finally broke the spell of the dreadful night, as she ran to Erik's side and wrapped her arms around his middle.
"Forgive me," she whispered.
Erik's arms found their way around her as well, and when he met her eyes, the question was written within, "Forgive you for what? It is I who should be asking your forgiveness."
"If I hadn't called to you, he wouldn't have nearly stabbed you," Christine replied, her voice not much more than a whisper.
"I never wanted you to see that side of me, Christine, but when they came up like that . . ."
"I know you were only protecting me, Erik," Christine quietly responded as the reason for his guilt finally occurred to her. "Can we . . . can we get away from this?"
Erik nodded, the motion going undetected but was unneeded as he lead her back to the carriage.
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The rest of the journey continued in silence, as they were both filled with their own thoughts. Erik dared not stop again, for fear of a repeat performance. So, they rode straight through the day and the next night, and finally arrived in Paris shortly after mid-day. The carriage made its way down the narrow side streets, and finally turned and stopped near the Opera. Erik handed Christine the reins, and pulled a purse out of a secret pocket of his cloak. Christine took it silently and put it in her own pocket, and then reached over and laid her hand on his arm as he was about to climb out of the carriage.
Erik paused and his gaze rested on her eyes. They stayed like that for a silent moment, before Christine leaned over and gave him a small smile.
Erik returned the smile, the first sign of reassurance either of them had shown since the incident the previous night, and his hand sought out hers and gave it a gentle squeeze before he continued his exodus.
Alone now, Christine drove the carriage around to the Opera stables, and after taking care of the stable hand, slowly made her way into the Palace Garnier.
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Author's Notes: Yes, another somewhat short chapter. Next chapter, I'll be getting away from the lyrics again, as Erik and Christine will return to Paris to deliver their invitations, and perhaps create a little more mayhem along the way!
Emmy: I've read about half of "Candle In The Darkness" and am so far enjoying it (I want to finish it before leaving my review) but this phic keeps calling me to write, so I'm saving the rest for a treat for writing what I need to.
Marianne: Working hard so that you will have plenty of chapters to come back to, and possibly (gasp!) the end. I'm thinking right now that there can't be much more than five more chapters, but then, my Muse is a VERY fickle creature, so we shall see! (And do you think people will be too upset if I did put the "Kiss the Bride" part in? Even if it's not totally authentic?)
Deirdre: Hope that Geometry test came out okay! And yes, the Daroga's coming back very soon (I think that will be about two chapters from now or so!)
And to the blank reviewer: I don't know about Mamma Valerius, but we shall see. I'm afraid I based this off of Kay so far, and Mama wasn't there ::: Sigh ::: hmmm, maybe . . . *Thinks hard*
angelofnight: I should HOPE I hear first! You know I can't wait!
Everyone Else: Hope you're enjoying as this tale starts to wind down . . . the end is near at hand! Hmmm, should I tell you I've already written what will be the final chapter, just have to write what's in between first?
And you can all thank the US Touring Cast of POTO for my little spurt here . . . I got to see them again tonight!!!!! Very impromptu decision, and I am just sooooo speechless about that, so it's coming out here!
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