Author's Note: AngelOfMusic387, thank you for your review. I am very glad that you liked my story enough to read it all in one sitting. :) I appreciate it and think that you DO deserve a quick update...unfortunately that wasnt this time...I usually update quicker than this and I apologize for that. So, I dedicate this next chapter to you! I also would like to thank all the rest of my loyal fans... or phans if you prefer... : ) : JosephineGracie, Phantominhell, xxXGoddessXofXdeadXloveXxx, proudmaxfan, Gerry's Girl,Charlie Quill, Laivine Rosc-Hend, Phantomforever, Queen of Perfectionism, Scorpiochick103, Juliya, AmyLauren, BringMeLife, and Alatariel Maris Telcontar. I thank you all! Enjoy this EXTREMELY long chapter...(I would have made it into two, but I couldnt do it.. : )
Remember Me Once in a While
-Please Promise Me You'll Try-
We rode swiftly and silently through the black abyss of night. I had never taken well to being out at night ever since I was forced to live my nights on the street where anyone could come upon me, but Erik was with me and I knew that he would never let anything happen to me. Because of his protection, the night was my new ally, concealing both he and I from any meddling eyes. Our horses seemed to never grow weary as they relentlessly flew across the seas of grass and gravel.
Erik had remained silent since we had left our meadow. My mind and soul were roaring with excitement, urging me to release the ecstasy I felt over being engaged to Erik. I longed for us to quit this impulsive flight. I wanted nothing more than to pull him off his horse and shower his entire body with my tender kisses. I pushed these thoughts from my head as my cheeks flushed with shame. We were being pursued and all I was thinking about was my own wishes.
I turned my attention towards attempting to read Erik's thoughts. What a hopeless endeavor it turned out to be. His face was set in a expression of thoughtful resentment. I could not make out anything more than that. His anger had been aroused causing his entire body to take on the appearance of a granite statue. He had once again been forced to turn into the clever fox eluding hunters, only this time, the fox had a mate to consider and this caused him to be more agitated. I knew that had he not been so consumed by his thoughts of flight, he would have remembered that I consented to become his wife, but as it seemed his thoughts were one tracked. We rode on silently until the horizon began to turn to a light shade of burgundy, consuming the black blanket of night that had been concealing our escape. For the first time in hours, Erik spoke to me.
"We must hide in these woods up ahead for the daylight hours…we can continue again once the sun sets…Come!…"
With that, he led me into the sea of pine trees that stood before us. After another twenty minutes of riding, we came to a small clearing deep within the forest. I watched as Erik gracefully dismounted his charcoal stallion and remove the lead from it's magnificent head. I followed suit and was soon on the ground once again. As I did so, It suddenly became apparent how long we had been riding. My body ached from the journey and fatigue began to set into my every limb. My head spun slightly but I shook the dizziness off easily enough.
Erik had laid out a blanket I had put into his saddle bag and then placed a bottle of cheap wine and a small loaf of bread out for us to eat. The meal was small and inadequate, but neither of us had had enough time or money when we had left Paris to buy any decent food. Neither of us complained about the food and I promptly choked it down with only slight difficulty.
Erik continued to be bothered by some ruthless thought and he remained quiet and distant. I soon learned that being shut out from his mind, especially given the situation we were in, was something that I couldn't endure for much longer. Tears began form but I appallingly brushed them away. It seemed that because of Erik's eagerness to take on the role of the protector, I had found it easier to simply become weak, knowing that Erik would resolve the problem. What had I let happen to my strong will?
I must have sniffled a little too loud because Erik's thoughts were snapped back to me. I refused to meet his gaze with my own tear-filled eyes, but he was soon sitting closer to me on the blanket. I could feel the heat radiating from his powerful body. I now felt even smaller and pitifully weaker than before. He placed the back of his hand under my chin and raised my eyes to meet his.
"Whatever is the matter, love?…Are you ill? Have your memories returned to haunt you?"
I shook my head slowly. "No…It's not that…"
"Than please…tell me…don't shut me out from your heart…" He took my hands and held them delicately.
For some reason anger grew inside of me as he spoke those words. I pulled my hands out from his grasp and stared at him. "Shut you out from my heart? So I cannot do that, but its acceptable for you to do so to me? Oh, how perfect for you…whenever the attention gets placed upon your shoulders, it's perfectly understandable for you to sink into your solitary and disguising shadows, but when I do not voice my thoughts, you shine a light over my head, so that there are no shadows for me to disappear into! How wonderfully convenient for you!"
I turned my back on him and let the tears fall silently down my cheeks. I heard him shift uncomfortably behind me, before he answered.
"Gabrielle, I…I admit that I do not take well to being the topic of discussion…nor do I enjoy speaking about my emotions and thoughts…But I do not purposely force you to do so yourself."
I turned to face him, my eyes heated with the fires of outrage. "Oh, don't take me for a fool! I know perfectly well that you DO purposely focus on me…sure, I admit that you may be doing so only to enable you to abolish whatever ailment consumes me. I know that you enjoy comforting me, but you forget that I would like to be able to experience that joy myself. I want to be able to destroy whatever terrible thoughts infest your troubled mind. It angers me that you will not entrust me with your mind, heart and soul as I do you."
His eyes dropped from mine and began inspecting the fabric of our blanket with great interest and concentration.
"Erik! Might I point out that NOW would be a marvelous time to respond…," I said mockingly.
He suddenly looked like a shy child who was being reprimanded for disobeying his mother. Very quietly he spoke. "I apologize and am truly sorry that I made you feel this way…I should have not allowed my thoughts to be distracted from you…Those men were dense and I should not have taken in a word they uttered." Realizing that he had said too much, he immediately clamped his mouth shut.
"Men? The men who were searching for us?" He nodded gravely. "What did they say?"
"Nothing…please…forget I ever mentioned them…they're not important…"
"Not important? Well! If they are as unimportant as you say, and yet you still thought about them for hours, I must be extremely meaningless to you…since you were able to ignore me for that amount of time with such great ease!" I got up and stormed off. I knew that he would follow me, beg for forgiveness, and then tell me everything. Now that I knew I would hear all, I didn't want to hear a single explanation or apology escape from his luscious lips. He had every right to conceal his thoughts from me and I was suddenly angry at myself for forcing him to be uncomfortable. DAMN IT! WHY CAN I NOT THINK OF MYSELF FOR ONCE! NO MATTER WHAT I DO, MY SYMPATHIES BETRAY ME AND FALL UPON MY APONENT!
"GABRIELLE!"
My pace quickened.
"GABRIELLE!"
I was now running
"GABRIELLE! PLEASE!"
I darted between the trees as if I were trying to escape the angel of death himself. My poor Erik! What was I doing to you? He would be so hurt and worried over my choice to run from him and I hated the thought of punishing unjustly. If I wasn't so angry at myself, I would have changed directions entirely, and run straight into his arms, but I continued to flee from him because I knew that before I could say a word to stop him, he would have told me every last detail. I would feel so despicable for prying his thoughts out of him in such a way, and I could not allow myself to return to hear those treacherous words.
I soon came upon a field dense with tall and full plants. I threw myself to the ground and hid in the underbrush, immediately becoming silent as I heard him approaching. I could see him from where I remained hidden and I watched his reaction to my escape.
Once again I felt ashamed beyond all reason. Everything about his appearance was frantic. His eyes desperately searched the forest for any signs of what route I might have taken and he was trembling out of panic. The musical quality his voice almost always contained disappeared completely as he called out my name.
"GABRIELLE! I BEG YOU! COME BACK GABRIELLE! I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING…YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME! GABRIELLE!" His voice began to shake as he spoke the last few words. I closed my eyes and my body also began to tremor from the attempt to control my urge to run to him. He continued to follow the nonexistent trail I left, his head bowed and his elegant and strong shoulders slumped from despair. He passed me without knowing and soon was out of my sight.
If only I could take it all back! What had I done? All this because of my damn self-centered thoughts… I knew that blaming myself would do just about as much good as blaming Erik's horse, but I continued to reprimand myself anyway. Great Gabrielle! Just perfectly GRAND! Treat him like this! Run away when things get difficult! That will make him trust you for certain! Idiotic move! Damn it! Damn YOU!
I was so angry with myself that, had I held a knife in my hand, I would have lacerated my flesh and allowed all the soiled blood flow from my body. What I had done was nothing less than sinful! I had betrayed my lover and fiancé. Had we been a couple in a high social class, I would have been considered as being lower than dirt. Oh, how the mighty hath fallen? I could never intentionally hurt Erik…I hoped he knew that… I was completely exhausted from the combination of the ride and my crazed outburst at him. Despite my better judgment, I fell asleep in the field.
I awoke to the call of a nightingale. So sweet was it's voice! It filled my veins with a delightful sensation and it continued to flow throughout my entire body. Some part of me expected the voice to belong to a man standing over me as my eyes opened slowly. Immediately the weight of what had happened before sleep had consumed me filled me with distress. I looked up and saw the starlit sky instead of the man I had imagined. My heart dropped into the depths of my feet and I slowly got up.
I must have been asleep for hours! OH MY POOR ERIK! What have I let happen? My head immediately turned to the opposite trail of thoughts. What if Erik had thought I ran off somewhere else and isn't where I left him…Or what if he gave up, thinking that I had left him for good…what if he has left me? Where will I go? How will I ever evade the police without Erik's keen mind? HOW WILL I LIVE!
My feet seemed to grow wings and I flew as fast as I could to the clearing in which we had parted. My mind pictured it empty and desolate and I began to cry. I closed my eyes as I breached the final veil of trees that separated our clearing from the vast density of the forest. An idiotic move. I stumbled on a tree root and fell to my knees. My eyes snapped open but no matter how hard I urged them to, they would not break away from the dirt and sand underneath my hands. My breathing was harsh and coming out in half sobs. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity I raised my eyes to look around. I small gasp escaped from my mouth as my eyes connected with his.
My sobbing grew wilder as a laugh blended into the sound. He had been sitting around a fire, but as I looked at him, he instantly stood up and stared at me with something like disbelief in his gaze. I couldn't think rationally anymore. All rational thoughts had vanished from my head the moment I realized that Erik might have left me. I tried to stand up but collapsed back onto the ground with a soft thud.
The sound of footsteps hurrying towards me filled my senses, and were then replaced by the sensation of a strong and familiar pair of hands wrapping gently around my waist and pull me into an upright position. I tilted my head so that I could see his face. The mask glistened in the moonlight and I immediately pulled it off. He made no move to stop me but his body stiffened slightly due to instinct, I assumed. I looked into his eyes and noticed that his were glazed by the threat of tears. I was completely taken aback and my mouth gaped open faintly. His hand moved to the side of my head and he then placed his mouth over my open one.
He had never kissed my like this before. The way his mouth moved over mine spoke silent messages and I was completely baffled as to how I could decipher it's meaning. My head was filled with his voice although he was obviously not speaking. I love you completely…I am so completely regretful for ignoring you…never again will I do so…life without you is nothing…you are my entire world and if you are absent from my life, the world stops on it's axis and plunges into a pit of despair and horror. I love you completely and will never treat you poorly again! I responded to him immediately by desperately trying to keep up with his passionate kisses.
When he finally pulled away, both sides of his face were stained from tears. I ran my thumb along the track they left on the deformed cheek to dry them.
He rasped out quietly, "Gabrielle…I thought…I thought you had left me…left me forever!"
"No, my love…I would and could NEVER do that! I am so sorry for punishing you for a crime you did not commit!"
"What! I am as guilty as sin! I had neglected you…and without reason…"
"Yes, but I had no right to pry your thoughts from you…and once I realized that I had done so, I couldn't allow you to explain anything…I didn't want to hear why you hadn't spoken to me that day…it wasn't important…I had betrayed your trust by saying those things to you…I knew you would tell me if I said the correct sequence of phrases…and so I ran out of shame for what I did. You did nothing…I am sorry that I caused you so much pain…I was merely punishing myself for mistreating you!" Before he could reply I forced my mouth onto his. The surprise he experienced lasted less than a second before he began to explore my mouth with his tongue. I wrapped my arms around his neck and continued to kiss him feverishly. After awhile, I had lost my breath entirely and when he removed his mouth from mine, I gasped in as much oxygen as my lungs could hold. His melodious laughter filled the air joyously.
"Too much for you?" He mocked playfully.
"HA! Never! I only worried for your exhaustion!" I teased back.
He laughed again, this time more genuine than ever. "But of course! How very presumptuous of me! Luck seems to be on your side though, miss…for my will is so much stronger than my body which, if I may say so, is very capable of endurance as well…" He smirked sinfully and swatted at me mischievously.
I sighed deeply and he seemed to sense that I was tired of playing games and wanted to be serious once more. He took my hand and led me back to where he was sitting next to the fire. He led me once again so that we were standing on a blanket. He then placed his hands on my waist and turned me so that my back was against his chest. He released me and sat softly on the ground, still holding my hand while doing so. His grip on my hand remained firm as he pulled me delicately down next to him. We both shifted, he more onto his back, his head propped up by another blanket and I, so that my head could rest on his stomach. We both laid together like that throughout the night. The last thing I remember before I fell asleep was him stroking my hair softly and singing charmingly above my head. A song of love sounded so enchanting coming from his wonderful mouth.
