Death's Grasp

Izayoi:

The walls were covered with radiant decorations. There were handmaids and man servants running around trying to prepare for the wedding. I stared in utter awe as my mouth dropped open. Before I had time to recover, I was being dragged across the room by a handmaid. I was in a completely different world as they fitted me for my dress and going around making many other arrangements. It was all a hectic blur.

When I finally got my bearings back about me, I headed for my parents quarters. I was about to do something unheard of. In those times, and still much practiced today, a marriage arrangement was made by your parents, and you did not change that.

"Mother? Father?" I asked meekly as I entered the room were they bedded.

My mother answered with her usual cheerful greeting, as my father sat working at his desk. My mother jumped right into talking and laughing giddily about the wedding. She talked so happily, yet I couldn't help myself.

I just yelled out, "I don't want to marry that womanizing jerk! I'm in love with someone else."

When I'd finished I could hardly believe those words had come out of my mouth. No one dared to defy their parents in such a way, but what really astounded me even more was the fact that I had said I was in love with someone else. I honestly had no idea why I had said that. Who was there for me to possibly be in love with?

The only people I knew were the servant boys of the castle and the village boys, and the princes I'd often seen at the balls, but then a picture of that demon came to my mind!

I saw him smile at me in that goofy way that only he could, and I knew he was the one! My mother and father stared at me with their mouths wide open. I had shocked them, but it was my mother who recovered first, and spoke softly, "Dear, what do you mean you're in lo…"

"What the hell do you mean? In love! Ha! Ha ha ha! Stupid child! You don't know what love is! You do not have a choice in the matter! You are going to marry to marry Prince Ferdson and I will not hear another word about this silly love of yours!" Father busted out saying.

His words left me speechless and gapping at him.

It was Mother who finally broke the silence, "Dear, I don't think that was called for. She's just a young girl."

Then I added, more calmly, "Besides, I'm sure that my younger sister would be happy to marry him."

He may have been a jerk, but he was rich and powerful, and she would go for that.

Father just started yelling at me again.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "I'D RATHER DIE THAN MARRY THAT JERK! I'M IN LOVE AND THERE'S NOT A FORCE ON THIS EARTH THAT WILL KEEP ME AWAY FROM HIM!" I yelled so loud it hurt my throat. The second I finished speaking, I took to my heels, and ran blindly out the door, through the dark of night, into the woods.
I tripped over stray roots and ran into tree braches, but nothing else mattered as long as I was to be with him. It didn't matter if I was to be rich or poor, or a pheasant or a queen. I didn't care if he was a noble or a lowlife, if he was a demon or a human, or whatever else he could have been. I just wanted to be with him.

I stumbled into the place were he had just a few hours ago lain. As I looked upon it, I saw that he had departed, and I felt hot tears stream from my eyes. Images of him flashed in my mind, as my heart was ripped to shreds. Then something hit me like a rock, not only had I lost him forever, but I had never asked him his name. I had been referring to him as him, or that demon, or such similar names.

The knowledge that I lacked was a darkness that consumed my soul, and there were ropes that cut deep into my skin. If this knowledge remained unfound, I would surely die. I stood there, in motionless shadow, unable to move, unable to breathe. I had no idea how long I stood there. There was no time. Everything stood still. I saw nothing, I felt nothing. Death was reaching its long, cold hand towards me, and there was nothing I could do to avoid it.