Chapter Summary: Erik and Tallis continue to struggle with their growing romance. And wagon load of mysterious cargo is delivered to Louis.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
"Are you sure you do not mind?" Erik worried.
Tallis stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the man standing behind her, a huge smile on her face. "Have I said that I mind? Have you not asked me the same question at least a hundred times in the last few moments?" Her smile grew soft as she noted the concerned look on Erik's face. Tallis walked back a few paces and took Erik's hand in her own, lowering her eyes. "People will think me bold for taking a man's hand." She raised her eyes to look at Erik, her little nose going defiantly up in the air. "But I do not care what they think of me when I am with you."
Erik shook his head, unable to contain the grin forming on his lips. "You are a saucy little miss," he told her and squeezed her hand, growing serious. "You may regret those words one day."
Now it was Tallis' turn to be concerned. "What words?"
"What people think of you when you are with me," Erik reminded her and was rather startled by the silver fire that flashed in Tallis' grey eyes.
"Bah!" Tallis took her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest.
Erik burst out laughing.
"What?" Tallis wondered.
Erik could not stop laughing and placed a hand to the stitch that was beginning in his side.
"What!" Tallis exclaimed in exasperation.
Erik found he could not catch his breath.
Tallis stared wide-eyed at him for a moment before flinging her hands in the air. "Impossible," she said as she turned on her heel. "You are just … impossible!" Tallis screamed the word back over her shoulder as she quickly walked toward the woods at the edge of Madame Giry's property, skirts flouncing about her ankles.
Erik watched her go and bent over, holding out a hand to the woman quickly distancing herself from him. "Tallis," he called and she did not stop. "Please!"
There was something in the tone of voice calling out to her that made Tallis stop in her angry stride to turn around. "Erik," she breathed, a hand going to her mouth, as she saw Erik bent over, hands on his knees. Tallis gathered her skirts in her hands and quickly ran back to the man in distress. She stopped by his side, a hand going to rest lightly on his shoulder. "Erik?" she wondered. Tallis bent over trying to see her companion's face. "Erik?" she tried again and suddenly found herself caught up in two strong arms, whirled around, set down and firmly kissed. Erik's actions caught her off guard. "You," Tallis whispered as she tried to catch her breath, unable to find the right word to express her feelings.
Erik continued to laugh. "Are you not the one who stated that I needed to learn to play?" His laughter began to die down but the smile remained on his lips as he again drew Tallis into his embrace. "I am just playing."
Tallis frowned at him. "That was not funny!" she scolded him. "I thought something was wrong with you."
Erik kissed her again. "And I thought something was wrong with you that afternoon in the garden when you played the same trick upon me," he breathed into her ear.
Tallis squirmed in his arms, a small hand hitting Erik on the shoulder. "You are such a beast!" the words slipped from Tallis' lips before she could think upon what she said.
Dangerous fire glowed in Erik's eyes and he tightened his grip on the woman in his arms. "Beauty should never confront the beast," he snarled at Tallis.
They stared at each for a long moment, chests heaving from physical and emotional exertion, before Tallis raised both hands to cup Erik's face in them. She lowered his head, reaching for his lips, kissing him soundly before laying her head in the crook of his neck. "But I love the beast," she sighed.
Erik turned his head so that he could bury his face in soft hair that smelled of warm sunshine. "Beauty walks upon dangerous ground," he whispered back.
"Her choice."
"My saving grace."
Erik and Tallis stood for long minutes in each other's arms, silent, content, before Erik broke the embrace, taking Tallis by the hand and leading her to a wrought iron bench beneath the shade of an oak tree. They sat down, Erik still holding onto the small hand in his own, unwilling to look at the woman sitting next to him. "You never did answer my question," he said softly.
"What question?" Tallis found she could barely remember anything beyond the feel of Erik's lips against her own.
"Whether or not you minded that I cannot court you in a manner that is expected by Society? That we must stay to these grounds, this house?" Erik shook his head. "I worry that it is not enough for you. I worry that you will find another who will come to you with clean hands and an open heart, able to give you the world without fear and anger nipping at his heels."
Tallis watched as memories caused Erik to set his lips into a tight line. She placed her free hand over the one that held so tightly to her other hand. "I do not mind for I do not want anyone else. I do not want some boy." She shook her head at Erik as he raised his own. "I want you." Tallis sighed and gave Erik a small smile. "I know that you are not like other people. I know that this courtship will not be like other courtships. I know that our behavior can be considered quite scandalous but we are not like other people."
"I am not like other people," Erik reminded her, a hand going to lightly caress Tallis' cheek. "You are other people." He steeled his resolve as Tallis melted into his touch. "You are everything that is good about the world and someday you will find another who is also good and you will go with him, leaving me to wallow in my despair and darkness."
Tallis sat up, drawing away from his touch, taking back her hands, anger evident in her pursed lips. "I am not Christine!" she spat, crossing her arms over her chest as Erik tried reaching for her. "If you think I am like she was, then you do not know me at all." Tallis' bottom lip trembled. "And this was all a huge mistake." She turned her head. "Perhaps, I should just go back to my parents and be the dutiful daughter." Tallis felt strong hands grip her upper arms, turning her whole body. "You are hurting me!" she told Erik, frightened by the darkness she saw in his visage.
"I am going to do a good deal more than hurt you, Mademoiselle," Erik said between clenched teeth.
"Let me go!" Now Tallis was angry and it infuriated Erik
"I will let you go when I am ready to let you go and not a moment before!" Erik shook the woman he held so tightly. "You are going to sit here in silence and listen to every word I am going to say to you."
"I cannot go anywhere while you hold me against my will," Tallis shot back.
Erik stood, dragging Tallis up with him. "Do you think I care?" He shook her again. "Do you?"
Tallis stuck her chin out, refusing to show any further weakness. "I think you care more than you wish to admit!"
"How dare you presume to know what I care about?"
"I dare because I love you," Tallis answered back.
"You are a fool!"
"I dare because I thought you loved me and that makes you a fool, as well!" Tallis shot back at Erik with his own words.
Erik leaned toward her, still gripping her arms in his strong hands. "Such words deserve correction." He let go of one arm and slowly raised his hand.
"Hit me," Tallis dared him. "Go ahead and hit me." She glared at him, hurt evident in grey eyes that glistened with unshed tears. "It has been done before," she finished softly.
The softly spoken words cut through the darkness that had wrapped itself around Erik, pulling him back to the lair and wrapping him in a jealous possessiveness. A small part of Erik's mind recognized what was happening. It also recognized that the jealousy felt was not about himself but for the woman in his arms; yet that small spark of knowing humanity could not stop the greater man still haunted by personal demons. "Who did that to you?" Erik snarled softly.
Tallis dug her heels in and stuck out her lower lip, refusing to answer.
"WHO!" Erik shouted; there was still no answer and he shook Tallis again. "Tell me who!" he demanded.
"A beast," Tallis answered softly, turning her head to the side. Turning away from Erik.
Her words instantly deflated the angry monster inside the beast and Erik released his grip, hanging his head. "My saving grace," he whispered, turning his back on Tallis. "Gone again."
Tallis rubbed at her arms, knowing they would be bruised in the morning. She studied Erik and loudly sniffled back her tears, the noise of an unspoiled child causing Erik to raise his head. "True grace," Tallis began as she took Erik lightly by the arms and turned him to face her, "never leaves," she finished with a slight smile. "And while I am hurt and angry," Tallis took Erik's hands, "I am not leaving."
Erik, unable to find the words, gently squeezed the hands holding to his and allowed Tallis to lead him back to the bench under the tree.
"Did she hurt you so much?" Tallis wondered.
Erik could only nod.
"And do you still love her that much?"
"If I did?" Erik could not meet the eyes of the woman next to him.
"I would be terribly angry with her," Tallis said honestly, "and I would pity you."
Her words caused Erik to finally raise his head to look at her. "I do not want your pity," he said with a shake of his head.
"Do not be so ... so ..." Tallis struggled to find the correct word. "Oh ... bah!" she said.
Erik laughed and Tallis was startled. He heaved a great sigh, still holding to the small hands of his companion. "Do you not realize that word is what started this whole episode?" He watched as Tallis' brow furrowed in confusion and touched it lightly, smoothing out the frown. "You do not want to wrinkle that lovely face," he told her. "Do you know you sound just like Antoinette when you say 'bah'?" he asked her.
"No," Tallis breathed. "Do I?"
"The two women in my life who have been able to see the man beyond the horror both prefer to say 'bah' to express their disappointment in me," Erik said in a strangely gentle tone of voice. "It is very unladylike," Erik continued and watched the expression change on Tallis' face. "But very endearing," he finished.
"Does that mean it is proper?" Tallis worried.
"It is proper and sweet and I have never heard such love expressed through a simple exclamation."
They stared at each other, words of apology and affection spoken louder by a mere look than any words could ever express.
"I am sorry I am such a beast," Erik said softly and sighed. "I am sorry that you were ever hurt and I am so sorry that I would even think to hurt you."
"Thank you," Tallis told him, unwilling to take back the hands to which Erik still clung. "I know you would never hurt me."
"Then you know more than I," Erik replied.
"I love you," Tallis said simply.
"Beauty and the beast," Erik breathed.
"I have seen a real beast," Tallis told him, keeping her eyes locked onto Erik's. "It was shortly before I came to live with Madame," she went on. "He was a groomsman from one of the other estates and he had grand ideas for his life and wished me to be a part of them." Tallis smiled slightly but it quickly disappeared. "I could have been happy with him and his dreams, if I did not have dreams of my own. He could not understand that and he tried to persuade me otherwise. That is when he struck me and that is when my parents sought a way to remove me from his influence."
"Parents who love you," Erik breathed. "You are truly blessed." He turned his gaze toward the woods almost as if he could find answers within the moving shadows. "But if I were to ever come across the beast who dared to strike you..." he shook his head.
"And if I ever come across Christine ..." Tallis echoed Erik's dark tone of voice and he turned to look at her. "I hate her for what she did to you." And her tone and expression changed, softened. "And I feel sorry for her, for what she threw away." Tallis finally took back one of her hands and palmed Erik's malformed cheek. "She will never know the beauty in the darkness, the man in the phantom."
Erik fought down the urge to grab Tallis and run away with her for such actions only led to disaster. "I think she did know," Erik finally admitted, remembering the girl who came back to place her ring in his hand. "I think she finally knew." Erik closed his eyes and swallowed down the emotions that Christine always stirred within him.
"I do pity you," Tallis told him, placing a finger over his lips as Erik opened his eyes. "But mercy follows quickly upon pity. I pity you for all you have never known. I pity you for all the horrors you had to endure. I pity you for the betrayals you suffered at the hands of those whom you have loved." She sighed and smiled. "Yet I know that God has been merciful to you."
"Where?" Erik asked, his voice tinged with bitterness.
"In all the gifts you have been given," Tallis told him, amazed that he could not see what she did. "You can do so much! I have never met a man who can write music and draw pictures and dance and ..." She shook her head in amazement. "I never have!" she assured him. "That the world cannot see what I see is something for which they must be pitied." The look of amazement on Tallis' face softened into something that Erik had only seen on the faces of angels painted on darkened walls. "That I have been fortunate enough to see it is the mercy Heaven rained down upon me."
"You are the rain of mercy," Erik told Tallis as he hugged her close. "My beloved saving grace."
Tallis smiled and bit her lip, grateful that Erik could not see the pain in her eyes; as she rested her head on his shoulder. She knew he still loved Christine and until he could let go of her and his past, Erik would never truly be hers. "I will always be here to save you," Tallis whispered in his ear as she broke the embrace.
"Why could I not have met you sooner?" Erik wondered softly.
Tallis shrugged. "I know you do not believe in God," she said, "but He is a part of my life and has been since I was a small child." She smiled. "We peasants have always clung to our faith. I believe that God puts us where we are needed when we are needed. You need me and here I am."
"You are a lady in every sense of the word; more so than one born to the title," Erik replied and shook his head. "I have my doubts about the loving God in whom you believe but I am willing to learn if you are willing to teach."
"We shall teach each other, I believe," Tallis said and paused for a moment, biting the inside of her bottom lip. "What of Christine?"
"She is just a memory," Erik said as he turned his head.
"Is she?" Tallis asked. "Truly?"
Erik found he had no wish to lie to the woman who was the beauty in his darkness. "No," Erik answered knowing his words would break Tallis' heart; he turned back to her. "I will not lie to you; Christine still lives within my heart." He watched as Tallis quickly composed her features, a small tight smile on her lips. "She lives there because I have not yet learned how to let her go," Erik explained and was forced to admit something he had only thought of in dark moments. "I am afraid to let her go for then I have no reason to not look forward and the future scares me." He raised one of Tallis' hands to his lips. "I would rather wallow in the comforting darkness of the past than face the light and possibilities of what tomorrow may bring."
"Am I so frightening?" Tallis asked, her voice like that of a lost child.
"You, my dear, are the only thing that does not scare me," Erik said, drawing Tallis through his eyes and into his soul with no coercion, no effort. "You and the promise you present are the courage I use to face each new day."
"I am?"
Erik leaned forward. "More than you will ever know," he whispered as he sought and found her lips.
"I do love you," Tallis whispered against Erik's lips even as she knew he was not yet strong enough to say the same words back to her. She could wait, though; she was not going anywhere.
And in the woods two days ride from the city of Lyon, a man waited impatiently. He was dressed in dark clothing that blended into the shadows of the deep woods. The fingers of his hands wiggled about, yearning for a cigarette, a cigar, a pipe, anything to fill their emptiness and occupy his time. The ground underfoot was marked with odd patterns ground into the dirt and debris by the toes of boots that covered feet that itched with nervous anticipation. He did not have a watch at which to glance and it would have done him no good for the sun had a difficult time penetrating the canopy of pine, chestnut and oak despite the summer solstice being only a day away. The man was about to beging pacing when an unusual sound cut through the woods and he moved from beneath the trees and onto the forgotten pony track.
"I knew you would be here," the elegantly dressed man sitting atop the old wagon said.
"You are paying me well to be where you wish me to be."
"You were the right choice for this task, Louis," the man smiled at him and hopped off the wagon. "How is our mutual friend?"
Louis shook his head. "Not good."
A dark look crossed the man's face. "He is still alive?"
"Aye," Louis replied. "We are doing as instructed and keeping him alive but ..."
"It is Nico, yes?" the other man interrupted and watched as Louis nodded. "I have given him free rein to do as he wills," the man reminded Louis and held up a hand. "As long as he does not kill him." A strange smile crossed his face. "Come and see what I have brought you." The man began to move to the back of the covered wagon, trusting Louis to follow. He waited until Louis had reached his side before lifting back the canvas cover.
"Incredible," Louis breathed as he raised an eyebrow at the sight that greeted him.
"Enough?" the man wondered.
"Aye," Louis said and looked to two small boxes. "The rest of the equipment?"
The man nodded. "Yes," he replied. "I have heard it is best to keep everything separated until it is time for them to be used." A look of concern crossed his face. "Francois does know how to assembly and use this?"
"He knows," Louis said as he turned to look at the man next to him. "I am not happy about Edouard, though."
"I am not paying you to be happy," the man reminded Louis. "I am paying you to keep our guest alive and miserable. As for Edouard," he shrugged. "You knew what was expected of him when this started."
"But he did not."
The man grabbed Louis by the shirt front and pulled him close. "It is too late for that now," he snarled and let Louis go, his mood quickly changing. He smiled at Louis and smoothed his wrinkled shirt. "Everything is in place and we must follow through. Edouard has his part to play as do we all." He patted Louis on the chest before withdrawing his hands. "Can you manage to get the pony and wagon back to the cottage?"
"I've transported things like this before; I can do it in my sleep," Louis assured him.
"Fine," the other man nodded. "Good man. I have always thought you were a good man." He turned and untied the expensive stallion that had been tied to the back of the wagon. "I must be getting back or I will be missed." He put a foot in a stirrup and paused. "You know the timetable."
"I know." Louis was getting tired of the man's constant doubts. "Everything will be done as you ordered."
The man smiled and lifted himself into the saddle, taking the reins of his mount into his hands. "Till tomorrow," he said as he turned the horse around and disappeared into the woods.
Louis walked back to the front of the wagon and climbed aboard. "Damn fool idiot," he muttered as he picked up the reins and tapped them lightly against the pony's back, guiding the wagon and its cargo into the woods, toward the cottage and into the plans of a man possessed by a madness that would frighten even Nico.