Riding carefully
through the forest, Erik and Christine traveled through the day
miserably. Their good fortune of having nothing but sunny or slightly
clouded skies was no longer with them. Now, rain poured down in
buckets and sheets. Despite being under a canopy of the heavy forest,
they received nature's fury just the same. Christine was clinging
onto Erik as if for dear life, even though they were going slow
enough that she wouldnt have to hold on at all. Everything but her
shoes and ankles were covered by Erik's long cape. Still on him,
she wrapped one side of the cape around her, and plunged her head
under.
Lightning lit up the dark skies, loud, booming thunder soon
following it. Christine cringed and trembled as she clung tighter to
Erik's middle. A cry rose in her throat, but she pushed it back
down. She had stopped screaming at every lash of thunder an hour ago,
much to Erik's great relief.
She could feel one of his brass
buttons from his coat burying into her cheek, causing much pain, but
she refused to yield to it. If she was to get through this storm, she
would have to remain as she was.
"Sure you don't want to go
back?" Erik asked her in humor, teasing to see if her fright would
get the better of her, even just for a moment. But he was not
rewarded - instead, she instantly screamed no from inside the ruffles
of his cape.
A smile spread across his lips, but along with the
smile came a low chuckle. Feeling his chest rise and fall quickly
made her smile, knowing he was laughing, even in such a grim
situation. She was filled with warmth; knowing that even with what
they had been through, she had the power to make him laugh; to make
him happy.
Thinking this, she pushed her forehead against his
shoulder, getting close to comfortable for the first time.
"Keep
moving in there and you're going to knock me off this horse,
Christine! Then you really shall be the death of me!" Erik
exclaimed, wobbling slightly as she wiggled to find a good spot.
She
immediantly stopped, seeing that where she was would be all the
comfort she'd be able to get.
When she was still, Erik could
hear her muffled giggling. But once she stopped, she could feel
something linger lightly on the top of her head for just a moment,
then lift. A kiss? Had Erik really shown true emotion when both of
them were awake? When usually he'd be hesitant to show anything?
Laying her head down again on his shoulder, making Erik look like he
had a large bump coming out of his shoulder, Christine closed her
eyes, and with a smile, drifted off into a contented sleep.
"Listen now. Are you awake? Stay awake." Erik
said in an urgent voice that forced Christine's fluttering heavy
eyelashes up.
"Like I said to you before, Nadir and I will not
be on the best of terms. Perhaps the worst. This will not be a
pleasant stay, not just for me, but for you also. He wont believe a
word I say, especially about you. It'll be you who'll have to do
the convincing. You convinced me several times on why you should stay
with me; now work that magic into him. We'll stay one night, to
freshen up and get food, if he allows. Even if he may wish me to
hell, however, he will not let you starve. He'll give us enough
food to last us a few days, which is all we can carry. Christine?
Christine, you best not be sleeping!"
Christine's eyes
fluttered open once more. She nodded her head; having heard
everything, even if only faint. For once, she wished silence to him
so she could rest, but that was not so. As soon as she told him she
had heard, he was pulling her off the horse and onto her
feet!
"Erik?"
"We're almost there. We'll walk the
rest of the way, leading the horse. Now, did you hear what I said
before?"
Christine nodded. Erik put the reins of the horse in
her hands, then put his arm around her, standing like he was half
crippled. Grabbing the cane that they managed to keep with them, they
went walking in to the deserted, sleepy town.
Soon enough, they
came upon the only house with candles still flickering behind it's
thin curtains.
"This is it?" Christine asked
softly.
"...Think so. Haven't been here in years, and all the
houses look so alike in this dark."
"You think?" Christine
exclaimed. What if he was wrong?
An odd chuckle rose in Erik's
throat as he said, "Guess we'll have to hope I'm right, or else
we'll be in a bit of a mess, now wont we?"
Had she not known
better, she would have deemed Erik drunk with such a statement as
that, and with his type of humor at a time like this!
Erik walked
to the door, pushing her behind him as he knocked. Christine peeked
from behind his one shoulder to see a heavyset man with olive colored
skin answer the door. Immediantly his eyes were on flame. "What is
the meaning of this?" The man that Christine took as Nadir
exclaimed. "Surely you do not come to my own home for help! Surely
I am dreaming this horrid nightmare."
Christine saw Erik wince
at the words, yet his face remained sober. "I just need a room,some
food, and your understanding."
"My understanding?" Nadir
exclaimed. "Understanding that you have made many wrong turns over
the years, but this one? Trying to kill the famous Vicomte? No,
Erik."
With that, Erik took grabbed Christine's wrist and
pulled her forward. She stumbled, but managed a weak, helpless smile
as she looked upon the stern, yet slightly surprised face.
"So
it is true? For your sake, I was hoping that this missing
mademoiselle had run off in hiding from you...I had hopes that you
didn't go so far as to really steal the Miss Christine Daae."
"Let
me in, Nadir; I promise to make you understand."
"You mean
you'll persuade me to believe you by pulling some horrid sorrow
story? Tell me, do you have a punjab lasso with you to add to my
understanding? No more, Erik. I wash my hands of you. I am too old to
be following after you to try and help; as you are too beyond
help."
"So you'll turn us away and let her starve,
Nadir?"
"No, never. You will leave now, but the girl stays
with me. I'll return her, make sure she is kept safe from all, and
that her reputation is not ruined."
"You cant!" Christine
suddenly cried out, even though Erik's disapproving eyes were on
her. "Don't send me back, please! Erik, don't make me go. Not
now, not after all this. Make him understand. Please, tell
him."
Nadir's already large eyes went wider as he stared at
both of them - looking at one, then the other, then back at the
first. "You...you want to stay with him? What did you do to her to
make her say such, Erik?"
"Let me in, let us stay for just one
night, and I'll explain it all to you."
Nadir kept looking
back and forth, trying to decide if he wanted to involve himself in
anyway in this. Then, with his shoulders suddenly drooping, he
realized he had no choice in it at all.
"May Allah help us all
and get me through this night." Christine heard him mutter as he
shook his head and retreated back into his house, indicating for them
to follow.
Erik put his arm around her and helped her weary form
up the stairs and through the doorway to keep us with
Nadir.Once they were all in a large room
with a roaring, warm fire, Nadir stopped and turned to his unwelcomed
visitors.
"Erik, if you will be so cooperative, would you
follow this maid to your room and...freshen up while I have a
little...chat with Miss Daae here?" Nadir asked, looking at
Christine. Erik quickly stepped in front of her, along with
outstretching his arm to her side as if protecting her.
"Now
listen here, Nadir; I am very grateful that you open your home to us,
but there are conditions that I will have you aware of. I know it's
second nature to you to interrogate everyone that comes within a
mile's radius from me, but be merciful - Christine has been
traveling through terrible storms for the last day and a half. She's
exhausted, to the point of falling right off her feet. I'll tell
you all you need to do, but allow her to get some sleep."
"I
only ask a few minutes with the lady, Erik. I will not keep her up
all night. I just want to 'understand' from her point of view
before yours."
"No, you want to compare our separate stories
to see if one of us is lying!" Erik snapped back angrily.
"If
neither of you is lying, then you have nothing to worry about, now do
you?"
Erik glared angrily at Nadir, wondering if he shouldn't
just grab Christine and run at this moment. But he knew that it was
already to late, and they'd have to go through with it all. They
were in the mercy of Nadir now, which could be a deadly thing.
"You
may talk to her. But I'll have you know that Christine never told a
lie in her life. Your search will be in vain. The poor girl don't
know how to lie."
"Then that just adds good light to you, now
doesn't it? Away with you now, Erik. I'll have a servant come
fetch you when I am ready. Mademoiselle? Would you follow
me?"
Christine's stomach churned, not liking that she'd be
asked questions, and without Erik there to help her. But in her tired
state, all she wanted was to get it over with so she could sleep.
Even the hardwood floors were starting to look inviting at this
point.
Nadir indicated for her to sit on the sofa while he took a
rocking chair. But the moment Christine's body hit the soft, luring
materials of the cushioned sofa made her eyes droop until they shut.
"Miss Daae? No sleeping now. You may sleep all the night
through once I have had my few minutes with you. We'll have to make
this quick, or Erik is liable to break down my door if I bend my word
a little and keep you too long. The man has a bigger temper than this
world can deal with."
Christine couldn't help but smile. Did
she not know that all to well already?
"That you do not have to
tell me. His temper tends to get the better of him whenever I am
concerned."
Nadir's head cocked to the side as he looked at
her. "Could it be that you are really here because you want to
be?"
"If I was not, wouldnt I use this time to tell you
differently and get you to take me back home?"
"And that's
not what you want?"
"No! All I want is to be wherever Erik is.
If that means sleeping in deserted valleys and fields, then that's
what I'll do."
"Do you love him?" He asked next.
"Of
course. Why would I put myself through this if I did not? Do you find
it so hard that someone could truly love him?"
"No...it's
just...it's been to my knowledge that many women faked their love
for him. Each got some use out of him, then passed him along, broken
and hurt."
"Why would you care? At the door it seemed you were
the one trying to hurt him."
Nadir sighed, shaking his head. "He
makes many wrong decisions, Erik does. But hurt him? No...I couldn't
do that. If I really had to, of course. If he really crossed the
line, yes. But just being him? Asking for stay? No."
"So this
crime you do not believe is over the line?"
"Of course it is!
Had it been any other time, I would have allowed Erik in with few
chidings. But not this time."
"But you just said-"
"This
is not about me, Miss Daae - it's about you. Now, sit there and
answer my questions kindly, so you can eat faster."
"That's
not fair - I didn't come here to get interrogated. I don't
deserve to be treated like this, just because you cant believe a
woman can truly love a man like Erik."
"No? Were you kidnaped,
Christine Daae?"
"No."
"Then you are helping a criminal
to flee the police. That's a crime you yourself is committing,
therefore I have every right to question."
"But you're not
a chief of police - you're a daroga. They don't have darogas
here. Even if they did, I heard that you were dismissed from your
duties and are now legally inactive."
"I was dismissed because
I was saving Erik's life! Do not question me! I may be 'legally
inactive', but I still have very powerful connections. Now, Erik
told me you both will have the same stories. What do you have to fear
then, answering me?"
"You just told me that if I'm not
kidnaped, I'm a criminal too. You're trapping me, trying to get
me to lie or to find fault with me. Why would I answer to you?"
Nadir
actually laughed at this. "So he picked one with as much wit as
him, did he? It figures, that."
"What do you wish to ask me?
I'm starving and terribly tired."
Nadir thought a minute, then
realized that through his arguing, she had answered them all
already.
With a grin, he asked "What would you like for
supper?"
"Excuse me?" Christine asked, taken off
guard.
"I'll have my servant cook you up something. You must
be tired of eating stale bread and such. I'll get you a room then
bring up your dinner. What would you like?"
Christine smiled,
suddenly liking this man that Erik called his old
friend.
