Chapter V
The Wedding
Months had passed, and the season changed. Days were shorter and time flew. The dull afternoon sun cast a shadow over the peak of the tower, and puffy white clouds moved slowly in rhythm with the autumn wind.
The fresh green leaves of the delightful spring and dreadful summer were turning red, orange, yellow, and brown all at once, leaving a small fraction of it's green members behind still resting peacefully on few of the bony branches.
The big day was coming closer and closer as winter approached. The day had been set back so that she could recover from her unspeakable injury. Her wound had closed up properly, but still scars were left behind. Her pain and memory were still as fresh and vivid as yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and so on.
The love was gone, disappeared, vanished into oblivion, but the emotional scars that were left behind had never left her side.
The world was cruel and cold. At least that was the way she saw it. People said one thing, but did another. "Hypocrites," she bitterly spat, followed by a forceful chuckle. She laid her right hand on her stomach, clutched it tightly and took in a deep breath.
Sure, the wound had healed and returned to normal, but the excruciating pain was within her internal organs and trapped in her conscience. She could feel a light twinge now and then. She could feel it in her sleep, in her dreams, and in her mind.
Time had surely passed, but the taunting cries certainly had not. It seemed as though it wanted to hurt her, to get revenge on what she had done, through no fault of her own. It wanted her to suffer as much as it did. Its life that had been taken away by her mother's hand because she hadn't protected it, its tiny life that she had destroyed.
Ever since that day, her life had taken a drastic turn: Her once sweet, innocent look had turned sultry and lustful. Her manner was more demanding and direct. She was aggressive and destructive. If things didn't go her way, the target of her anger was sure to never see the light of day again. Her gentleness had turned into bitterness. She had used all her anger towards Amador and the loss of her baby, and turned it against everyone.
Her enchanting smile was now orbed with pure evilness. Her angelic voice was roaring with immorality. She was a completely different person.
Her parents were worried for her, but at the same time they were glad to see she was out of the dark. Everything they'd planned for her ever since she was born was finally arriving.
She was only days away from the wedding.
Lifting her head up high, she leapt onto her feet and walked to her wardrobe cabinet.
Opening the doors, she smiled to herself and pulled out a luxurious wedding gown made completely out of Chinese silk and see-through flower-patterned lace forming along the long sleeves.
She then pulled out a veil that was about several feet long from her heels down which also connected to the second veil on the front to hide her face.
Placing it gently on her head, she swirled around in it, and suddenly was interrupted by her future husband.
"Henrik," she chimed, quickly removing the veil.
"What are you doing, darling?" he asked with a smirk, seeing how beautiful she was.
"I was just trying on the veil, that's all." She hung it back in the cabinet along with the dress.
"So, I see." He stepped in further.
"What are you doing here so early?" she questioned, turning her attention to him. "I thought you wouldn't arrive until tomorrow afternoon."
"I wanted to surprise you." He walked closer and kissed her cheek.
"Better luck next time," she said with lack of enthusiasm.
"What do you mean? Weren't you surprised?"
"I saw your men from the window entering the gate."
"Oh." he said, with slight disappointment. "Can you imagine, the happiest day of our lives is just days away." He changed the subject.
"Yes, happiest," she intoned, looking down on the ground.
"What's the matter, my dear?" Henrik asked in concern. "Aren't you happy?"
Pacing around and looking out the window, she saw the same smoky puff from the forest that she had seen months ago when she was thinking about Amador. Amador! God, that name! She now despised it as much as she had despised Henrik months ago and still did. Turning her head around, she looked up at him and replied casually, "Why shouldn't I be?" she mocked him. "I'm getting married," she added, with a hint of bitterness hidden underneath her jolly voice.
"I'm glad you feel that way." He came closer to her and kissed her cheek again. "I was worried for a minute there." He then lifted up her face. "You know how much I hate rejections."
She gave him a weak smile and turned her face out of his touch, walking past him. If only you knew. She thought, laughing in her mind at his stupidity.
I wonder if he has any concept of how much I despise him, how much I hate him, she thought as she walked out of the room.
***
The credit was running through the dark screen as Piper clicked the stop button, and ejected the DVD out of the machine.
"Ok, I'm really tired now," she yawned, and stretched like a cat and headed up stairs. "Night," she waved her hand weakly out at Phoebe and Cole.
"Yeah, we should go to bed, too." Cole responded, and patted Phoebe's lap telling her to get up.
"Go ahead, I'll be up in a minute." Phoebe said, resting the side of her head on the palm of her hand, and her legs curled up on the couch.
"Phoebe you need your rest. Especially a person in your condition." Cole insisted, standing in front of her.
"It won't be long. I just want to be alone for a minute," Phoebe said avoiding his eyes.
"What's wrong, honey?" Cole knelt down next to her, and cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look at him.
"I'm just thinking about the dream and how it related to the movie."
"Serendipity?"
"No, the movie before that," Phoebe answered. "What if that really did happen to us in the past?"
"I'm just happy we're together now." Cole kissed her forehead. "What happened in the past stays in the past; we're here and together now, and that's all that should matter." He offered her his hand, she clasped them together, and Cole helped her up and led her upstairs.
***
Wedding bells rang as a massive horde assembled around the outside gate of the château hoping to get a glimpse of the bride and the charming prince.
An army of guards was released to remove the people away from the château, protecting it from having psychos barging into the gate and causing disruptions.
Far from the enchanting estate sat a mindless Amador against the brick wall. He could hear people cheering from afar, clapping, and chattering to one another.
Chuckling bitterly to himself, he picked out the bark from the wood in front of him, knowing what the day was.
She didn't belong to him anymore, never did, never would. She belonged to her own group of people.
Heading down the aisle, trying to balance herself, she stiffly paced forward. Each step was like a step closer to hell. She couldn't turn back now, not now—not in front of a room filled with innumerable people who were joining her and Henrik in celebrating their holy matrimony.
Heads turned and gasps of amazement and astonishment thundered through the hollow chamber. Her big brown eyes suddenly took in her surroundings, and the more she looked at the people, the more nervous she became. She could feel her hands sweating against the stems of the bouquet. Shaking the image out of her head, she refocused herself on walking down the aisle.
Henrik stood tall and proud on the podium, as he swiftly turned his head to face his alluring bride, a smile of victory forming on the corner of his mouth. Standing next to him was a chubby priest.
Everything was in order; they're about to be married. Nothing could go wrong after this. The plan was about to be sealed with a kiss.
Having no idea how she felt about this, she continued to walk forward, looking blankly at the guests and up ahead her proud parents.
It was time.
Slowly stepping up onto the podium, she drew her last breath of life, in a sense of leaving her childhood life—and the small portion of life she had shared with Amador—behind. She turned and faced Henrik, who was smiling excitedly at her.
The priest's voice was roaring and throaty. She guessed it was because he had to speak loud enough for everyone to hear him. He nearly blew out her eardrums.
It's time for the vow, and that's what you're thinking about? Delphine cursed herself. Focus Delphine, it's almost over. Turning her attention back to the priest and Henrik, she gave Henrik a fake assuring smile that she was still in reality and not off in her fantasy world again.
Outside, Amador looked vacantly at the deserted street. He sucked in a breath of fresh air and gripped tightly onto the timber that was in his hand. Immediately crumbs of barks fell onto the ground, and he smashed the log down onto the concrete ground, causing bark to litter all over the place.
Drawing another breath of air to calm himself down, he felt a teardrop fall onto the ground. Trying to pull himself together, he sat back onto the small wooden stool, and thought of their happier times together.
Which brought him to a lingering thought that he'd been having for a while ever since their separation: He wondered how she would explain the baby to Henrik, or even better, how would she explain it to her parents. And those bruises—those nasty bruises that covered her flawless skin that had been beaten until the blood got clogged up on certain spots of her body from the brutal night, which he had never forgiven himself for.
He would have never in a million years thought that her parents would be cruel enough of take a life of a child, especially one that belonged to their daughter. Sure, Delphine had told him about her mother, but he was certain that she had been exaggerating because she'd been worried for her own well-being as well as the unborn child's if she had to face her mother, so he assumed she had made up lies so she wouldn't have to go home.
He always imaged the baby would look like Delphine, especially if it were a girl. She would inherit her mother's soft brown eyes, her wavy, silky honey-brown locks, that to-die-for smile, her light beige complexion, her spunky attitude, and her charming charisma. His kid would definitely be the talk of the town. If it were a boy, he would have his blue eyes, his mother's hair colour, and not so much of his personality that had gotten him to the point where he wanted to kill himself because of a girl he can't have.
He guessed they must have kept it hush-hush since he hadn't heard anything from the townspeople. This was a small town, and things go from one's ear to one's mouth quite speedily. If it was your business, it was everyone's business. Somehow, someway people always managed to find one thing and linked it to another that made it out to be their business. Things weren't moderately secretive here, as everyone liked it to be.
Cheers erupted throughout the entire castle as Henrik and Delphine stepped hand-in-hand off the podium and walked out of the chamber.
A few days later, Delphine was up in her new room in her new home, staring out the window like she always used to when she was alone in her old room.
Things were so definitely different here, the language, the food, and the customs. How would she ever adapt to this kind of life? People expected certain things from her, and when she couldn't or wouldn't meet up to their expectations, they gave her weird and disapproving looks, mainly Henrik's older sister, Gabrielle; she always criticized her.
And Henrik had been a pretty good sport, sticking up for her. Even to the point where he had to argue with her. His sister's approval of the things he did was always important to him, but ever since they had gotten married, things had changed…for the better if not the worse.
To think about it, Henrik wasn't all that bad. He had been pretty good to her.
However, sibling rivalries were constant, and the hatred towards Delphine was growing. It seemed like Gabrielle had gotten the whole town to hate her… though Chloë had been very supportive of her and stood up for her, which only got Gabrielle more upset.
Despite what her husband told her, Gabrielle refused to calm down and accused Delphine of being a home-wrecker who had her own family turned against her, even her own husband.
"Gabrielle, listen to yourself. You're going mad," Leonardo pleaded, in their room.
"I will not have that little gypsy walk into this family and have them all turn on me," Gabrielle protested, gesturing her hand all over the place.
"But there's a sensible way of approaching her," Leonardo reasoned. "You don't have to jump on her back every time she walks pass you."
"Shows how much you know about the home-wrecker," she spat. "Ever since mother died, I have tried my best along with father to keep this place in order. I'm not going to let her march in here and think she can rule this place. She even induced Chloë to take her side. My little sister, who always looked up to me."
"She still does."
"Not since that little gypsy got here," she bitterly spouted.
"Why don't you let it go, and try to make peace with her?" Leonardo asked. "I think she hates this as much as you do. You're older than her; you know better."
"How dare you say that? You of all people should know that I am not the type to person who cleans up messes!"
With that, she swiftly turned, and walked away, leaving Leonardo behind. He sighed and let her be; there was no use trying to knock any sense into her anyway.
Wandering around in the back yard, Delphine looked up in the clear sky and spotted the Polaris. She remembered when she was younger, she used to look up at the starry sky and name all the stars she could find and played connect the dots. Sometimes she made up the strangest picture, and then named it the strangest of names.
She had once spotted a shooting star and quickly made a wish upon the star. It's not likely for anyone to spot shooting stars, since they're so rare. And no one paid attention to them anyway.
She recalled that she had wished to be swept off her feet by a charming prince, and then they would live happily ever happier.
Is this supposed to be part of my wish? she questioned the sky. I wished for a charming prince, right? And I got it, so why am I so ungrateful? Next time watch what you wish for, she noted to herself.
Her view of Henrik may have changed, but her ideal man hadn't.
Henrik had been wonderful to her, but something in her kept nagging. This isn't right, this whole charade. It's a set-up. Get out. Run!
Run where? she asked, and then snickered bitterly. This is my life now. My home. My imprisonment.
"Delphine?" Chloë called, interrupting her thoughts.
Startled, she jumped and turned about face. "Oh, hello, Chloë."
"Hello. What are you doing out here so late?" she asked.
"Just looking up at the sky." Delphine answered.
"Anything interesting?"
"A few," she answered tentatively. "What are you doing out here?"
"Henrik asked me to come check on you," Chloë replied. "He thought it might be some girl-girl problems."
"How thoughtful," she replied, cynically.
"He can be." Obviously Chloë hadn't paid attention to Delphine's tone of voice. "I'm sorry about Gabrielle," Chloë said sincerely. "I guess she just feels threatened that you might take her place in the family. She's very protective of this family, you know."
"Threatened?" Delphine screeched, then burst out laughing. "Threatened."
"Yes, what's so funny about that?" Chloë questioned, a bit annoyed.
"What is it about me that she feels so threatened by? If anyone should feel threatened, it should be me. After all, she did get the whole town to hate me," Delphine informed her. "Thank you for supporting me."
"That's what family is for," Chloë declared.
Delphine welcomed her into a warm embrace, and then they headed inside.
While walking into the castle a vague rhythmic sound caught Delphine's and Chloë's ears. It was mellow and rich in melody. The way Delphine enjoyed a piece of classical music, soft yet powerful in tune.
"Who's playing?" Delphine paced toward the sound of the music and entered the next room. Twirling herself toward music room, she saw Leonardo sitting in front of the ancient grand piano, playing it gracefully and loyally like the piece of equipment was his best companion.
Heading toward the room, Chloë abruptly stopped her, "I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
"Why not?" Delphine asked, daring to take another step toward the door, tempted to follow the sound of the music.
"Gabrielle gets really infuriated if anyone disrupts Leonardo's practice," Chloë said.
"Well, Gabrielle is just going to have to get used to the fact that not everything is her way." And that said, Delphine marched for the entrance and Chloë hurriedly followed her.
"Delphine!" she begged.
"That was beautiful," Delphine complimented, startling Leonardo and ignoring Chloë's cry.
"Huh? Oh, thank you," he replied, looking up at her smiling face.
"Did you compose that yourself?" she took a step closer and leaned against the piano.
"Yes, I---" Right before he was about to finish the sentence, a choleric voice interrupted him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gabrielle shrieked, standing next to the door with outrage.
No one answered.
The room was filled with silence, and as Gabrielle took a few steps closer, Chloë moved out of her way to let her fiery sister pass.
"I asked you, what do you think you're doing?" she reiterated, this time with a little less aggravation.
"I---I was just admiring his beautiful work." Delphine stammered.
"We all know that Leonardo shouldn't be bothered during his practice. He needs complete concentration." she walked over to her husband's side and placed her arm on his shoulder protectively as if she was marking her territory. "The concert date is near; we do not have time for child's play."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea." she lied, with a pretentious sincere smile. But deep down inside she was quite disturbed by Gabrielle's last comment. Child's play? she shrieked to herself. The nerve of her, I'll show you child's play!
"I'll let it slide this time, but next time there'll be consequences." she affirmed. "Now, run along. Henrik is worried sick about you."
Nodded her head subordinately, she exited followed by Chloë.
Strolling up the staircase slowly, she picked up her pace. She wasn't too eager to see Henrik; she would much rather spent any night alone than with him. He had no skill whatsoever. Even his attempts to surprise her were lame, weak, and dull.
It was only their first week of marriage, and she was already bored with him. What was she supposed to do until the day she died? Drown with boredom?
Hesitatingly, she pushed the door open and let herself in. Gasping with surprise, she walked into the dimly lit room.
She twirled around in it, and suddenly Henrik appeared behind her.
"You like it?" he huskily asked, as she whirled around to face with him.
"I love it," she smiled, and turned her attention back to her surround.
Rose pedals filled the room from the floor to their bed, and red and white candles flamed up the romantic scene.
"Wow, I don't know what to say." Delphine was so amazed, she could barely utter a word. I guess he isn't so predictable and dull after all.
"Were you surprised?" Henrik questioned in hopefulness that she'd say yes.
"Was I surprised? Yes!" She gave him lingering kiss and parted away to ask him. "How did you get all this done?"
"All the stuff was ready, all I had to do was scatter the roses all over the place and light the candles," he answered quickly and couldn't wait to kiss her again. He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her to him to devour her with sweet kisses.
Delphine wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her up from the ground, carrying her to the enormous bed and gently laying her down on the bed without breaking their kiss.
For as long as she had known Henrik, it was the first time she was enjoying his company and his touch.
That wasn't to say that she loved him or anything that was between that line, but he did grow on her and she had accepted him as part of her life now.
The Wedding
Months had passed, and the season changed. Days were shorter and time flew. The dull afternoon sun cast a shadow over the peak of the tower, and puffy white clouds moved slowly in rhythm with the autumn wind.
The fresh green leaves of the delightful spring and dreadful summer were turning red, orange, yellow, and brown all at once, leaving a small fraction of it's green members behind still resting peacefully on few of the bony branches.
The big day was coming closer and closer as winter approached. The day had been set back so that she could recover from her unspeakable injury. Her wound had closed up properly, but still scars were left behind. Her pain and memory were still as fresh and vivid as yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and so on.
The love was gone, disappeared, vanished into oblivion, but the emotional scars that were left behind had never left her side.
The world was cruel and cold. At least that was the way she saw it. People said one thing, but did another. "Hypocrites," she bitterly spat, followed by a forceful chuckle. She laid her right hand on her stomach, clutched it tightly and took in a deep breath.
Sure, the wound had healed and returned to normal, but the excruciating pain was within her internal organs and trapped in her conscience. She could feel a light twinge now and then. She could feel it in her sleep, in her dreams, and in her mind.
Time had surely passed, but the taunting cries certainly had not. It seemed as though it wanted to hurt her, to get revenge on what she had done, through no fault of her own. It wanted her to suffer as much as it did. Its life that had been taken away by her mother's hand because she hadn't protected it, its tiny life that she had destroyed.
Ever since that day, her life had taken a drastic turn: Her once sweet, innocent look had turned sultry and lustful. Her manner was more demanding and direct. She was aggressive and destructive. If things didn't go her way, the target of her anger was sure to never see the light of day again. Her gentleness had turned into bitterness. She had used all her anger towards Amador and the loss of her baby, and turned it against everyone.
Her enchanting smile was now orbed with pure evilness. Her angelic voice was roaring with immorality. She was a completely different person.
Her parents were worried for her, but at the same time they were glad to see she was out of the dark. Everything they'd planned for her ever since she was born was finally arriving.
She was only days away from the wedding.
Lifting her head up high, she leapt onto her feet and walked to her wardrobe cabinet.
Opening the doors, she smiled to herself and pulled out a luxurious wedding gown made completely out of Chinese silk and see-through flower-patterned lace forming along the long sleeves.
She then pulled out a veil that was about several feet long from her heels down which also connected to the second veil on the front to hide her face.
Placing it gently on her head, she swirled around in it, and suddenly was interrupted by her future husband.
"Henrik," she chimed, quickly removing the veil.
"What are you doing, darling?" he asked with a smirk, seeing how beautiful she was.
"I was just trying on the veil, that's all." She hung it back in the cabinet along with the dress.
"So, I see." He stepped in further.
"What are you doing here so early?" she questioned, turning her attention to him. "I thought you wouldn't arrive until tomorrow afternoon."
"I wanted to surprise you." He walked closer and kissed her cheek.
"Better luck next time," she said with lack of enthusiasm.
"What do you mean? Weren't you surprised?"
"I saw your men from the window entering the gate."
"Oh." he said, with slight disappointment. "Can you imagine, the happiest day of our lives is just days away." He changed the subject.
"Yes, happiest," she intoned, looking down on the ground.
"What's the matter, my dear?" Henrik asked in concern. "Aren't you happy?"
Pacing around and looking out the window, she saw the same smoky puff from the forest that she had seen months ago when she was thinking about Amador. Amador! God, that name! She now despised it as much as she had despised Henrik months ago and still did. Turning her head around, she looked up at him and replied casually, "Why shouldn't I be?" she mocked him. "I'm getting married," she added, with a hint of bitterness hidden underneath her jolly voice.
"I'm glad you feel that way." He came closer to her and kissed her cheek again. "I was worried for a minute there." He then lifted up her face. "You know how much I hate rejections."
She gave him a weak smile and turned her face out of his touch, walking past him. If only you knew. She thought, laughing in her mind at his stupidity.
I wonder if he has any concept of how much I despise him, how much I hate him, she thought as she walked out of the room.
***
The credit was running through the dark screen as Piper clicked the stop button, and ejected the DVD out of the machine.
"Ok, I'm really tired now," she yawned, and stretched like a cat and headed up stairs. "Night," she waved her hand weakly out at Phoebe and Cole.
"Yeah, we should go to bed, too." Cole responded, and patted Phoebe's lap telling her to get up.
"Go ahead, I'll be up in a minute." Phoebe said, resting the side of her head on the palm of her hand, and her legs curled up on the couch.
"Phoebe you need your rest. Especially a person in your condition." Cole insisted, standing in front of her.
"It won't be long. I just want to be alone for a minute," Phoebe said avoiding his eyes.
"What's wrong, honey?" Cole knelt down next to her, and cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look at him.
"I'm just thinking about the dream and how it related to the movie."
"Serendipity?"
"No, the movie before that," Phoebe answered. "What if that really did happen to us in the past?"
"I'm just happy we're together now." Cole kissed her forehead. "What happened in the past stays in the past; we're here and together now, and that's all that should matter." He offered her his hand, she clasped them together, and Cole helped her up and led her upstairs.
***
Wedding bells rang as a massive horde assembled around the outside gate of the château hoping to get a glimpse of the bride and the charming prince.
An army of guards was released to remove the people away from the château, protecting it from having psychos barging into the gate and causing disruptions.
Far from the enchanting estate sat a mindless Amador against the brick wall. He could hear people cheering from afar, clapping, and chattering to one another.
Chuckling bitterly to himself, he picked out the bark from the wood in front of him, knowing what the day was.
She didn't belong to him anymore, never did, never would. She belonged to her own group of people.
Heading down the aisle, trying to balance herself, she stiffly paced forward. Each step was like a step closer to hell. She couldn't turn back now, not now—not in front of a room filled with innumerable people who were joining her and Henrik in celebrating their holy matrimony.
Heads turned and gasps of amazement and astonishment thundered through the hollow chamber. Her big brown eyes suddenly took in her surroundings, and the more she looked at the people, the more nervous she became. She could feel her hands sweating against the stems of the bouquet. Shaking the image out of her head, she refocused herself on walking down the aisle.
Henrik stood tall and proud on the podium, as he swiftly turned his head to face his alluring bride, a smile of victory forming on the corner of his mouth. Standing next to him was a chubby priest.
Everything was in order; they're about to be married. Nothing could go wrong after this. The plan was about to be sealed with a kiss.
Having no idea how she felt about this, she continued to walk forward, looking blankly at the guests and up ahead her proud parents.
It was time.
Slowly stepping up onto the podium, she drew her last breath of life, in a sense of leaving her childhood life—and the small portion of life she had shared with Amador—behind. She turned and faced Henrik, who was smiling excitedly at her.
The priest's voice was roaring and throaty. She guessed it was because he had to speak loud enough for everyone to hear him. He nearly blew out her eardrums.
It's time for the vow, and that's what you're thinking about? Delphine cursed herself. Focus Delphine, it's almost over. Turning her attention back to the priest and Henrik, she gave Henrik a fake assuring smile that she was still in reality and not off in her fantasy world again.
Outside, Amador looked vacantly at the deserted street. He sucked in a breath of fresh air and gripped tightly onto the timber that was in his hand. Immediately crumbs of barks fell onto the ground, and he smashed the log down onto the concrete ground, causing bark to litter all over the place.
Drawing another breath of air to calm himself down, he felt a teardrop fall onto the ground. Trying to pull himself together, he sat back onto the small wooden stool, and thought of their happier times together.
Which brought him to a lingering thought that he'd been having for a while ever since their separation: He wondered how she would explain the baby to Henrik, or even better, how would she explain it to her parents. And those bruises—those nasty bruises that covered her flawless skin that had been beaten until the blood got clogged up on certain spots of her body from the brutal night, which he had never forgiven himself for.
He would have never in a million years thought that her parents would be cruel enough of take a life of a child, especially one that belonged to their daughter. Sure, Delphine had told him about her mother, but he was certain that she had been exaggerating because she'd been worried for her own well-being as well as the unborn child's if she had to face her mother, so he assumed she had made up lies so she wouldn't have to go home.
He always imaged the baby would look like Delphine, especially if it were a girl. She would inherit her mother's soft brown eyes, her wavy, silky honey-brown locks, that to-die-for smile, her light beige complexion, her spunky attitude, and her charming charisma. His kid would definitely be the talk of the town. If it were a boy, he would have his blue eyes, his mother's hair colour, and not so much of his personality that had gotten him to the point where he wanted to kill himself because of a girl he can't have.
He guessed they must have kept it hush-hush since he hadn't heard anything from the townspeople. This was a small town, and things go from one's ear to one's mouth quite speedily. If it was your business, it was everyone's business. Somehow, someway people always managed to find one thing and linked it to another that made it out to be their business. Things weren't moderately secretive here, as everyone liked it to be.
Cheers erupted throughout the entire castle as Henrik and Delphine stepped hand-in-hand off the podium and walked out of the chamber.
A few days later, Delphine was up in her new room in her new home, staring out the window like she always used to when she was alone in her old room.
Things were so definitely different here, the language, the food, and the customs. How would she ever adapt to this kind of life? People expected certain things from her, and when she couldn't or wouldn't meet up to their expectations, they gave her weird and disapproving looks, mainly Henrik's older sister, Gabrielle; she always criticized her.
And Henrik had been a pretty good sport, sticking up for her. Even to the point where he had to argue with her. His sister's approval of the things he did was always important to him, but ever since they had gotten married, things had changed…for the better if not the worse.
To think about it, Henrik wasn't all that bad. He had been pretty good to her.
However, sibling rivalries were constant, and the hatred towards Delphine was growing. It seemed like Gabrielle had gotten the whole town to hate her… though Chloë had been very supportive of her and stood up for her, which only got Gabrielle more upset.
Despite what her husband told her, Gabrielle refused to calm down and accused Delphine of being a home-wrecker who had her own family turned against her, even her own husband.
"Gabrielle, listen to yourself. You're going mad," Leonardo pleaded, in their room.
"I will not have that little gypsy walk into this family and have them all turn on me," Gabrielle protested, gesturing her hand all over the place.
"But there's a sensible way of approaching her," Leonardo reasoned. "You don't have to jump on her back every time she walks pass you."
"Shows how much you know about the home-wrecker," she spat. "Ever since mother died, I have tried my best along with father to keep this place in order. I'm not going to let her march in here and think she can rule this place. She even induced Chloë to take her side. My little sister, who always looked up to me."
"She still does."
"Not since that little gypsy got here," she bitterly spouted.
"Why don't you let it go, and try to make peace with her?" Leonardo asked. "I think she hates this as much as you do. You're older than her; you know better."
"How dare you say that? You of all people should know that I am not the type to person who cleans up messes!"
With that, she swiftly turned, and walked away, leaving Leonardo behind. He sighed and let her be; there was no use trying to knock any sense into her anyway.
Wandering around in the back yard, Delphine looked up in the clear sky and spotted the Polaris. She remembered when she was younger, she used to look up at the starry sky and name all the stars she could find and played connect the dots. Sometimes she made up the strangest picture, and then named it the strangest of names.
She had once spotted a shooting star and quickly made a wish upon the star. It's not likely for anyone to spot shooting stars, since they're so rare. And no one paid attention to them anyway.
She recalled that she had wished to be swept off her feet by a charming prince, and then they would live happily ever happier.
Is this supposed to be part of my wish? she questioned the sky. I wished for a charming prince, right? And I got it, so why am I so ungrateful? Next time watch what you wish for, she noted to herself.
Her view of Henrik may have changed, but her ideal man hadn't.
Henrik had been wonderful to her, but something in her kept nagging. This isn't right, this whole charade. It's a set-up. Get out. Run!
Run where? she asked, and then snickered bitterly. This is my life now. My home. My imprisonment.
"Delphine?" Chloë called, interrupting her thoughts.
Startled, she jumped and turned about face. "Oh, hello, Chloë."
"Hello. What are you doing out here so late?" she asked.
"Just looking up at the sky." Delphine answered.
"Anything interesting?"
"A few," she answered tentatively. "What are you doing out here?"
"Henrik asked me to come check on you," Chloë replied. "He thought it might be some girl-girl problems."
"How thoughtful," she replied, cynically.
"He can be." Obviously Chloë hadn't paid attention to Delphine's tone of voice. "I'm sorry about Gabrielle," Chloë said sincerely. "I guess she just feels threatened that you might take her place in the family. She's very protective of this family, you know."
"Threatened?" Delphine screeched, then burst out laughing. "Threatened."
"Yes, what's so funny about that?" Chloë questioned, a bit annoyed.
"What is it about me that she feels so threatened by? If anyone should feel threatened, it should be me. After all, she did get the whole town to hate me," Delphine informed her. "Thank you for supporting me."
"That's what family is for," Chloë declared.
Delphine welcomed her into a warm embrace, and then they headed inside.
While walking into the castle a vague rhythmic sound caught Delphine's and Chloë's ears. It was mellow and rich in melody. The way Delphine enjoyed a piece of classical music, soft yet powerful in tune.
"Who's playing?" Delphine paced toward the sound of the music and entered the next room. Twirling herself toward music room, she saw Leonardo sitting in front of the ancient grand piano, playing it gracefully and loyally like the piece of equipment was his best companion.
Heading toward the room, Chloë abruptly stopped her, "I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
"Why not?" Delphine asked, daring to take another step toward the door, tempted to follow the sound of the music.
"Gabrielle gets really infuriated if anyone disrupts Leonardo's practice," Chloë said.
"Well, Gabrielle is just going to have to get used to the fact that not everything is her way." And that said, Delphine marched for the entrance and Chloë hurriedly followed her.
"Delphine!" she begged.
"That was beautiful," Delphine complimented, startling Leonardo and ignoring Chloë's cry.
"Huh? Oh, thank you," he replied, looking up at her smiling face.
"Did you compose that yourself?" she took a step closer and leaned against the piano.
"Yes, I---" Right before he was about to finish the sentence, a choleric voice interrupted him.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gabrielle shrieked, standing next to the door with outrage.
No one answered.
The room was filled with silence, and as Gabrielle took a few steps closer, Chloë moved out of her way to let her fiery sister pass.
"I asked you, what do you think you're doing?" she reiterated, this time with a little less aggravation.
"I---I was just admiring his beautiful work." Delphine stammered.
"We all know that Leonardo shouldn't be bothered during his practice. He needs complete concentration." she walked over to her husband's side and placed her arm on his shoulder protectively as if she was marking her territory. "The concert date is near; we do not have time for child's play."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea." she lied, with a pretentious sincere smile. But deep down inside she was quite disturbed by Gabrielle's last comment. Child's play? she shrieked to herself. The nerve of her, I'll show you child's play!
"I'll let it slide this time, but next time there'll be consequences." she affirmed. "Now, run along. Henrik is worried sick about you."
Nodded her head subordinately, she exited followed by Chloë.
Strolling up the staircase slowly, she picked up her pace. She wasn't too eager to see Henrik; she would much rather spent any night alone than with him. He had no skill whatsoever. Even his attempts to surprise her were lame, weak, and dull.
It was only their first week of marriage, and she was already bored with him. What was she supposed to do until the day she died? Drown with boredom?
Hesitatingly, she pushed the door open and let herself in. Gasping with surprise, she walked into the dimly lit room.
She twirled around in it, and suddenly Henrik appeared behind her.
"You like it?" he huskily asked, as she whirled around to face with him.
"I love it," she smiled, and turned her attention back to her surround.
Rose pedals filled the room from the floor to their bed, and red and white candles flamed up the romantic scene.
"Wow, I don't know what to say." Delphine was so amazed, she could barely utter a word. I guess he isn't so predictable and dull after all.
"Were you surprised?" Henrik questioned in hopefulness that she'd say yes.
"Was I surprised? Yes!" She gave him lingering kiss and parted away to ask him. "How did you get all this done?"
"All the stuff was ready, all I had to do was scatter the roses all over the place and light the candles," he answered quickly and couldn't wait to kiss her again. He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her to him to devour her with sweet kisses.
Delphine wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her up from the ground, carrying her to the enormous bed and gently laying her down on the bed without breaking their kiss.
For as long as she had known Henrik, it was the first time she was enjoying his company and his touch.
That wasn't to say that she loved him or anything that was between that line, but he did grow on her and she had accepted him as part of her life now.
