D: I do not own Ever After
A/N: I'm really really busy, so I won't do review replies today. Sorry. :) Love you all still though.
Chapter 13
Danielle could feel the wooden slats of the chair pressing into her back as she leaned back. The candle flickered, casting shadows across the dim room. She brushed the stray strands of chocolate-coloured hair that had escaped from her braid away from her face and sighed, laying the purple gown down. She reached over to the table to lift a glass of water to her dry, parched lips. As she lay the cup down again, the candlelight illuminated her face for a moment. Her brave, happy façade had died away now, leaving her hurt, bitter interior displayed for the world to see. The pain on her face was so raw and so deep, and the pain inflicted to her soul must have been greater still. Danielle sighed again, breaking the silence of the night. She picked up the purple gown, and with each angry stab of the needle, a tear fell to the ghastly fabric.
I can't believe he would marry Marguerite. Why Marguerite of all people? Why not… Jacqueline? A small smile tugged at her lips at her next thought. Because Jacqueline has Captain Laurent. She plunged the needle into the green lace of the gown. I don't need love, Henry. I'm happy the way I am. A tear dropped to the lace. Perhaps not… but I will be. Because I don't need love. Another tear fell. Why am I crying? Danielle stabbed the gown with her needle once more, accidentally pricking her finger and drawing blood. She sucked at the finger, trying to ease the pain. Yet another tear fell, this time landing in the candle flame and snuffing it. Danielle sighed and walked to the window, drawing the thick heavy curtains that covered it.
A grey dawn was flooding the horizons.
"Good morning." She whispered to the silent city. Glancing at the sky and acting on an impulse that she could not understand, she laid the unfinished gown on the table and ran out the door.
The wind blew hard against her face and she closed her eyes, relishing the sensation. Barely anyone was about the streets. It was barely light. Danielle ran down to the pier where she had released Maurice and met Henry. She stood on a ledge, overlooking the water. Bending down, Danielle picked up a small, smooth stone. She looked at it for a moment, memorising every part of its grey, shiny surface. This is for you, Henry. Goodbye. Danielle paused for a moment, then hurled the stone as far into the water as she could. It fell with small splash into the water and was seen no more. Turning around, Danielle stepped off the ledge and walked down the street to get as close as possible to the water.
There were no boats out on the docks yet. The pier was completely deserted. Danielle felt the rain start to fall around her, but she made no move to find shelter.
"Madame?" She heard a man's voice and felt his touch on her shoulder. "Do you not wish to get out of the rain?"
Danielle kept her face turned away from him as she replied.
"No thank you, good sir. I am just thinking."
The man said no more, but continued to stand behind her.
"Do you wish to frighten me?" She asked voice tinged with amusement.
"Frighten you?" The man asked absently. "No, why do you ask?"
"Well, you are standing behind me not making a sound." Danielle replied faintly. "Do you not wish to get out of the rain?"
"No." The man answered, and somehow that seemed like all the answer that was necessary. Danielle sat on the edge of the pier in the most undignified fashion. "Why do you come here?" The man asked, not acknowledging her lack of etiquette. After all, he probably thought her a lowly servant.
"I found something here that I have since lost." Danielle replied slowly. "I have come to bid it farewell."
"Oh." The man said. Something about his voice touched Danielle's heart. "Saying goodbye is hard to do, is it not?"
"Extremely." Danielle said emphatically. "I thought it would always be there for me; always solidly unmoving; to be relied on, but then I realise that it was never there in the first place."
"The object you lost you never had?" The man asked sounding so confused.
"No…" Danielle considered her words carefully. "I thought that I would always have it… that nothing would change it. But I have never really owned it after all. It belonged to someone else."
"Oh. So you haven't lost it?"
"How can you lose something you've never had?" Danielle asked. "I thought, for a short period – a happy period, that I did own it. But I realised I can never own it, because of what I am."
The man was silent for a moment, then answered.
"Never let anyone make you feel that you are not worth something."
"So you think I should go claim what I have lost?" Danielle asked dubiously. "I am sorry sir, but I do not think it would work very well at all."
"No?" The man asked with a vague questioning air.
"No." Danielle answered firmly. "I cannot, and I will not. I will not lower myself to that level – why, that is theft!"
"Not if the item was yours to begin with." The man countered.
"It wasn't!" Danielle exclaimed, exasperated. "It was never mine!" She turned to him for the first time. "Do you not understand? I never owned it!"
The man was taller than her and was cloaked. The hood was pulled over his face, casting shadows on his face. Danielle sighed, turning back to the water. She watched the light sparkling over the water, then asked calmly.
"What about you, sir? What are you here for?"
The man's voice was hoarse this time.
"I lost something, but I have come here and found it again."
He stepped around her, placed his arms on her shoulders and kissed her.
