Chapter 214 Confessions
Dear faithfuls: I believe this was the hardest chapter to write thus far. Too much detail and it would have taken on a gory tendency that I struggled to avoid. Too little detail and one would have wondered why Erik struggled with his conscience so, and what tormented him about his time in Persia. Thusly, it took additional days of thought and revision to produce. Now, feeling entirely spent, I hope that you are able to get through this rather long chapter and see the necessity of both what was included, and what was excluded, making your own inferences as you feel you have need to.
Thankfully April is here, and some of my life is returning to a more normal keel. A beloved friend recently had brain surgery which has kept me away from not only work, but our Phamily and this story as well. Thankfully he has turned out well, and the surgery saved his life, finding another underlying problem that if left untreated would have potentially killed him instantly with a brain hemorrhage. Sometimes what seems to be an awful thing protects us from something far worse, and this is most decidedly a case in point.
To all who have been faithfully reviewing in spite of my lack of reply, thank you. I have great hopes that I will be able to return to the more personal exchanges that meant so very much to me. Your reviews have helped me to know I was on the right track, and that you were still reading. To you, my undying gratitude. Thank you for being faithful, and for offering your heartfelt feedback.
Now on to the story! Please remember parts may be a bit more graphic than one would like, but a necessary means to an end, that of releasing our dear Erik from what has haunted him for so very long. Only then can he begin to grow to the next level, that of doting father!
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Erik laid facing Christine. They'd been gazing into each others eyes, exchanging feelings that transcended words. His hand was running lightly over Christine's stomach. The children had quieted now; Erik's soft voice singing them off into slumber. He placed tender kisses above Christine's navel as if to bid them goodnight.
Erik looked at Christine's exposed shoulder, feeling guilty. Certainly the room was warm enough, and Christine was often warmer than she preferred. He reached out his hand, touching her shoulder, leaning over placing a delicate kiss on her jaw. "Are you warm enough my love?" His eyes were dancing as he looked into the depth of her swirling pools.
Christine nestled her head a bit more into the pillow she'd wrapped around her arm and bent beneath her head. She sighed, dipping her chin, a gentle smile spreading across her face. She watched as Erik's eyes began to roam her exposed flesh, and for the first time she felt a bit conscious of her body under his gaze.
"It has changed a great deal my love." Christine said, her cheeks beginning to flush. "It is a wonder that it does not repulse you, I look like an ewe on her side just before birthing a lamb." Christine's lower lip began to quiver.
Erik smiled, sliding closer to her, taking her head to his chest. "My dearest Christine, you are more lovely now than you have ever been!" He smoothed his hand over her shoulder, reaching down he slid the soft covering over them. He lifted her chin so that he might look into her eyes. He understood, though in his heart he disagreed.
"My dear Christine," he kissed first her left cheek, and then her right, her nose, her forehead, and finally a light teasing kiss on her lips. "You see there is a truth among men, that woman indeed find a mystery. When a man loves a woman he enjoys her. When a man loves his wife, and thereby she harbors the fruit of his loins within her, she becomes more precious in his eyes than gold." He kissed the tip of her nose, her face had turned into the characteristic pout that he so adored in her. "You my dear have been the delight of my heart even before you belonged to me. However shallow would it be of me to say that I loved you in one particular way or another? It is you that I love. Your body is a tender, beautiful vessel that holds within it the real woman that I cherish. The changes you see are most beautiful to me…it is the greatest evidence of our love."
He smiled at her as her eyes fluttered down toward her burgeoning stomach. Erik reached down and guided her chin back up so that their eyes might meet. "You my dear have given me thrice the blessing that any man may hope for. When I look at your flesh," he ran his hand down her collarbone, down the center of her until it rested above her navel, "I see the most wondrous of sights. There you lay, a great sacrifice of comfort and fatigue, and yet you complain little of it, though it must weary you."
Christine exhaled. She had to admit to herself that what he said was true. "Erik, it is no chore at all carrying our children. For when a woman loves a man, she desires for nothing more than to please him, and bring him honor by baring for him children."
Erik's finger glided softly across Christine's lips. "Shhhh…I know you are not of the sort to beleaguer others with your complaints. Even I, whom you love, you shan't complain to of the discomforts you are more than obliged to have." Erik kissed Christine's lips then drew her head to the warm comfort of his chest as he wrapped his arms about her shoulders.
Christine slid into her familiar place. It had become an awkward arrangement. His arm beneath her, her head reclined on his chest. Her left arm wrapped about his mid section, her leg bent in near half-square, resting across his. Erik's other arm cradled Christine's back, wrapped protectively around her. They'd lain in that very position so many a night when Christine could not sleep. She began running her hand over his chest.
A few minutes of peaceful silence passed between them before she ventured. "Erik?"
Erik sighed, kissing her forehead. "Yes Christine, I promised, and I am a man of my word." He inhaled, exhaling slowly, closing his eyes. Bright bursts of deep red, fire, screams….they flashed through his mind as the horrors began to surface.
"Christine, the drawer…there is much you do not know about the man that now lays next to you." He swallowed with difficulty. "I must ask of you two things before we begin."
Christine nodded, running her hand along the side of his face, "anything you ask of me you shall have my love."
Erik's eyes had begun to take on a distant glaze as if being overcome by some external force. "First, I must ask of you not to look into my eyes, for if I see you, I will most certainly not be able to go on." He smoothed his hand over her shoulder. The second request, you will find most frustrating, you must not ask any questions of me." He turned to look at her slightly. "I know this will be difficult for you, for no doubt many things may be confusing. I can only hope to tell you enough to protect you now. You must understand that I've not spoken of this to anyone, and have tried to forget…but it seems my past has yet to fade into the darkness of the life gone by."
Erik moved slowly from beneath Christine's limbs. He couldn't bear to speak of such things whilst he held such a creature in his arms; something about it just cried out at the injustice of it. It would be difficult enough to re-live those moments, and he'd not taint her flesh with his; surely hatred would be coursing through his veins like boiling poison looking for a route to escape.
Christine watched with compassionate eyes as Erik slipped into his robe; the fine black silk shimmering over his frame as the light from the fire danced across the floor. She glanced toward the window; the darkened sky seemed to give him some intangible degree of comfort. In an odd way he was most relaxed when it was dark outside, a behavior no doubt he'd learned from a young age. She watched as he paced slowly toward the window, his arms tucked in deep thought across his chest; his back rising and falling from his breathing. He was the most masculine man she'd ever beheld, and she never seemed to grow tired of taking notice of his beauty. She resettled herself on the divan, her skin already missing the warmth and comfort of his. She smoothed her hand over her stomach. The children were sleeping, she could focus on Erik, and Erik alone.
What Christine knew of Erik's past was pieced together from dozens of conversations. What little he could remember of his time before the gypsies, the time he spent traveling with the cruel monsters, his meeting Madame Giry and she hiding him beneath the Opera House. She knew of the years she of course spent with him, and the fact that he had befriended Nadir somewhere in his travels. She knew some of the things he had done with the seamstress. Whatever was in that drawer, she was certain, had been a link or a piece of the years that he remembered, but had never accounted for with her. Whatever it was, it was painful, it was tormenting, it was something she could tell by his stance he'd have sooner avoided. But now, from the set of circumstance that were forced upon them, felt he could no longer withhold from her.
She was entirely certain the javelin with the purple flag held a piece, nay, perhaps was the key that opened the box he'd held so tightly closed. Something, someone, had gotten to close, and now he'd no choice but to take her into his confidences.
Erik's eyes were pressed tightly closed, his hands now grasping the sill of the window so tightly that his knuckles turned a stark white under the strain of it. His head hurt, his throat felt constricted, his pulse began to race until he could feel the pounding in his temples. Somehow that beast had managed to plant a bitter seed in him. Tonight, …tonight…he would rip that evil root from its home and cast it into the fire. He'd learned that nothing was as cathartic as confession, especially in the warm embrace of one who loved you.
He began. "When Antoinette was being courted by her husband…I became sullen, most confused, betrayed." Yes, he would start there, it made the best logic to start there. "You see she'd become my eyes, my window to the world if you will, and now it seemed she too would betray me, leaving me alone to rot like a rat in a cellar. Even as inept as my social skills were, I knew she could not divide her attention between two men, it would be fair to neither man, and even less so to the woman herself. Do understand that I was not jealous, for though I loved Antoinette, it was the love one had for a sister, not a romantic love. She had been the family that I'd never had."
He paused, he could still see Antoinette's face as she'd come down that Sunday afternoon bearing her usual dinner. Her face was aglow. He'd imagined she'd garnered a favored roll in an upcoming production, or perhaps had a pleasant conversation with someone, or read a most enjoyable book. Never had he suspected what her happy face concealed.
He continued, "she'd come for dinner that Sunday, her smile spread so wide across her face it nearly reached from one ear to the other." Erik smiled as he recalled her face, it had been positively radiant. "We'd had a most pleasant meal, she carefully eluding every question that I'd tried to apply to our conversation." He sighed. "It was finally over our coffee and chocolate that she admitted to the origins of her happiness." Erik's lip began to quiver. "She'd found love, he'd asked her to be his wife, and she'd accepted." He shook his head. "She knew I'd be hurt, and had delayed telling me as long as she might, for she wanted to spare me the pain you see. In truth it did not matter when she might have told me, the blow would have been the same. I suppose in some small way it allowed us to have several peaceful weeks of company. You see she'd waited until the week before she was to be wed before she told me of it."
A small tear escaped Erik's eye, but he hardly noticed. "She'd worked out every detail. She'd still come for dinner, but it would be Sunday evenings. She'd tell her husband she'd be visiting friends at the Opera House, that had been her one condition upon acceptance to his proposal…even in her love for her husband she'd thought of me." Erik smiled. "She'd never meant to hurt me, and had planned for a way for deliveries to continue, though they would be less frequent." He shook his head, "It all happened so suddenly, I shan't forget my ungrateful impertinence."
Erik's steely grip releasing slightly on the windowsill, it had been so tight he'd begun to lose feeling in his fingers. "I became angry, tossed about the coffee cup, overturned the bench I'd been seated on…." His voice trailed off. "That night did not end well. There was a bitter exchange, harsh words, hurt feelings, and ultimately Antoinette fled the caverns in tears." He put his head down from the shame of it. "I did not even bid her goodbye, and neither did I tell her she shan't need to worry about me for I'd see to it that I would no longer burden her."
He inhaled. His throat had begun to relax, but it was so very dry. He walked over and poured a glass of water from the pitcher on the table. "I'd no real idea where I was headed when I left that night. I remember it was terrifying to be out of doors beyond the City of Paris. I'd taken a horse from a man's barn, leaving in its place a sum I thought commensurate with the horse's worth, nailed to the rail. Then I'd simply ridden away, pushing through the fog of the night until I came upon a sleepy town, and found at its edge, an abandoned set of farm buildings. There I stayed until nightfall the evening next. And so it went I traveled from town to town, sometimes sleeping in abandoned buildings or in caves or groves, depending on what could be found. I'd traveled this way for weeks. The groves of trees had given way to sparse lands until finally I'd come to a place where I could go no further. The ocean lay beyond me, rivers behind me, and yet I'd still no sense of where I was going. It was that night, as I sat beside a small fire in a cave near a river that I first made his acquaintance. I'd been so careful, never having had close encounter of any sort with a man whilst I was awake. The several that had come upon me when I slept had not gotten a good look at me. Nadir however, he had been the exception from the first I met him." Erik sighed.
"You see, I'd heard quite a scuffle outside of the cave, quickly dousing the flames. I'd gone out to discover the nature of it, and saw a man with another pinned to the ground, a knife to his throat threatening to slit him from stem to stern unless he return to the woman. I'd not really thought of it, nor of my own good senses. I listened as the man on the ground replied that she could take his life through a henchman but she would never have his soul, that was his alone and though she take his life she'd not have what she desired most. That enraged the man on top of him and he raised his hand, a dagger in his grasp, thrusting toward his chest. I cannot say fully what made me do it, but before the man could lower his hand I was upon him. His arm twisted behind his back. He cried out as much from the terror of not knowing his assailant, as the from the knife Nadir quickly produced and ran through his middle." Erik paused, he could still hear that dreadful sound of the air leaving the man's lungs, the splatter of hot blood from the man that had flown into his face.
"We then sat without conversation, catching our breath. It was a few minutes and I retreated to my cave bringing out a shovel. No matter what the man had been, and I dare say I did not know, he deserved a burial. The man and I dug in silence. It was not until we piled the last of the rocks over the shallow grave that we uttered so much as a word. I was certain in the cloak of near blackness that he'd not seen my imperfections, neither did I know if I'd exposed myself only to be slain that night whilst I slept, though I'd great hope that I'd not come to any harm having helped the man thus far." Erik's eyes traveled to the willow tree whose limbs were swaying about in the wind of the lawn outside. He lived in the current world though his mind was traveling in the past.
"We sat on the rocks next to the makeshift resting place of this man unknown to me. The man whom I sat next to was rather stout I could surmise, and he breathed heavily leading me to believe he either suffered from some health condition or he'd a rather round mid-section which did not allow for such exertions normally."
Erik smiled slightly, he'd come to tease Nadir of it later in their friendship, but that night he'd been nothing more than casually curious, thinking he'd never see the man's face. "As it turned, the man handed me a silver flask with a grunt, and a word, he said it was the least he could do considering I'd saved his life. I took the flask, and a large drink of what I thought would be water produced a fit of coughing. It was whiskey, and it burned every inch of me as I'd drunk five swallows before I breathed and realized it indeed was not the benign liquid that I'd imagined."
Erik smiled, a half laugh coming from him. It was the first time in his life he'd felt the full affects of hard liquor. It numbed him and he'd liked it from the first. It was a temporary distraction to the present discomforts, and a release of most memories of the past, if only for a few hours.
"He introduced himself, Nadir, he'd not mentioned his last name at first, nor from were he'd come but spoke only of a woman he'd tried to avoid. She was a lover scorned and had every design and resource available to her to seek revenge if she so chose. Nadir confessed he loved her, but had become confused, conflicted, and had but wanted time apart to be certain that it was a prudent relationship before he'd be making any commitment at all. That had not sat well with the woman at all for she'd sent others out looking for him after he'd fled the palace."
Erik sighed, taking another drink from the glass, "It was not long and it began to rain. The man had no horse, nor blanket, nor anything to shelter himself, so against my better judgment I invited him into the cave. I was certain I'd never see him again, so I'd decided to not affix my mask. He'd think me injured in a war of some sort, and I would allow him this liberty without question."
Erik closed his eyes again. He could still see the look on Nadir's face when he lit the fire and sat down across from him on the rocks Erik had drug into the cave for sitting places. It was not a look of repulsion, nor was it of pity, but of decided empathy that some terrible thing had befallen him that had left him thus scarred.
"We sat simply conversing. At first reticently, then more easily as Nadir made confession of all thing that had brought him there. I'd become something of a consigliore in those hours before morning light. We'd shared what humble sustenance I could provide him. It was a long while that I listened to Nadir, and it made me long to run to a place where life could be lived in the open, if however painful it would be, to know of life, to know of love."
Erik sighed, there was so much more to say on the subject, but it could take far more time than he'd had to devote to it now. "It was the next day that I found myself looking out at the open sea. I was on a boat bound for destinations I'd only read of in books. My new friend assured me that there would be some sort of life for me there, but I'd have to wear the mask. The place we were to go thrived on mystery and intrigue, and he could imagine no better way to assimilate into a place such as Persia than to arrive with a strong stature, and an aura of the unknown. He was greatly convinced it would aid in my ability to garner whatever I needed once arrived."
Erik smiled, Nadir had been more than correct in his assumptions for it had allowed for him to have more than most. "On our trip across the waters Nadir spent a great deal of time educating me of this new land, the people, the social order, the operative words, and especially sage advice to keep my past as much a mystery as possible. It would allow me great power, and in that place, power was the real currency, money was what the commoners used; those with power had no need of it.
Erik walked back over to the window staring up into the sky. The moon was now full, and it reminded him of a night in Persia, months after his arrival there. It was the first that he'd known of her attraction to him. He gritted his teeth. He had to tell Christine, for she would not understand what it was that caused the woman to hunt him so even now. He'd done nothing to dishonor himself or a future wife, but he'd faced a temptation squarely in the eye as if a poisonous serpent had been engaged and vanquished.
"Nadir and I had come from a most pleasant dinner as guests in the palace. She'd somehow managed to forgive Nadir for their fading ardor, and as long as he was willing to be her occasional companion, he'd no real worry of reprisal. She'd been most pleasant toward me, accepting me quite easily into her inner court with Nadir. She'd even tried to supply womanly affections from those in the palace, including virgins from several families within the courts."
Erik shook his head, gritting his teeth yet again. He remembered one young woman, all of sixteen who'd been sent to his abode with strict instructions. Erik answered the door in the midst of his slumber letting the young woman in as he could see she'd been crying. It was not until he'd woken a bit, and poured them each a glass of wine that he came to know why she was there and why she'd been crying. He reassured the young woman that her virtue was safe, and that the young man that she truly loved would be most fortunate to have her. He'd donned his cloak and walked her back home with every assurance that he'd vouch for her if the question of her virginity was ever brought to task. At first he was flattered that the Sultana had wanted to aide in his quest for love, but he'd not wanted it so badly that he would take an unwilling woman, and certainly not without marriage.
Christine watched for long minutes of silence as she saw Erik struggling with his thoughts. She'd promised to neither make eye contact nor ask questions. She would keep both promises if it meant poking her eyes or biting her tongue.
Erik glanced over at Christine, just slightly. He smiled to himself. She was as always faithful to her word. She too had been innocent and he'd taken her as his wife willingly.
"You see I'd refused every one she'd sent me, and somehow she'd mistaken my intent in having done so. Somewhere in her mind she'd taken it as indication that I was indeed after far more, and she'd become quite certain that it was she that I waited for."
Erik swallowed hard, taking another drink from the glass. His hand shaking as he set the empty glass on the table. He would spare Christine much of the detail, she need not know what had transpired in that woman's efforts to reciprocate the feelings she'd mistaken.
"That night she made her intentions perfectly clear when she came to my dwelling. She was the aggressive sort, thinking my hesitation was only done out of respect for her. After a time, and a great deal of diplomacy, she began to realize that I was serious, that it was not her that I sought, and I had no intentions of consummating any sort of relationship with her beyond the friendship that we both enjoyed."
Erik shuddered. "It was then that I saw a different woman in her. Suddenly things changed dramatically. It became her mission to have me, and she tried every trick she could think of to seduce me, but I was not interested in her bribery or any manner of promise she tried to make with me. She did not understand that it was true love that I sought, and I would settle for nothing short of it. To her it became a grand game, one that she felt destined to win at all cost. Nadir, though thankful for the reprieve of her attentions, felt responsible for having brought me there."
Erik paused yet again, he'd not relive the months of insidious courting the Sultana attempted, or with what lavishness she tried to win his favor. "Once frustrated in her efforts to have relations with me, her intentions turned. If she could not have me as her bed companion, than I was to be fashioned into something else for her purposes. She became distant though she still included Nadir and I in every social function as she always had. It was a confusing time as I thought, erroneously, that perhaps she'd gone past the frustration. I learned a great deal about subversive behavior in a woman scorned."
Christine sat silently. She had to remind herself to breathe.
Erik's steely grip returned to the sill of the window. His confession of being pursued by another woman was sure to have hurt Christine, he could not bear to look at her.
"It was then that the Sultana decided to develop a different system to punish the growing criminal element in Persia. She took much pomp and circumstance at one event to bring to light her intentions. Much to the surprise of both Nadir and I, we were those she appointed that very night to carry out the task of appropriate punishment of those found guilty of their crimes."
Erik huffed in disgust; he'd never met a more deceitful woman in all his acquaintance.
"Nadir and I were taken to her private chamber after all festivities were finished that night. She carefully laid out the plan as to having a system of judicial order that would consist of those already citizens of Persia. In that way the trial and judgment ordered would be done in a fashion that would be well received by her subjects. Nadir and I were then explained our chief responsibilities. They seemed just and allowed for us to be part of restoring order to this place we now called home…this Persia. After glasses of cognac were drunk, in the wee hours of the morning we were presented with contracts. She assured Nadir and I that the pages of scribed text was all that we had discussed in the previous hours."
Erik's teeth clenched once more, his jaw so stony he wasn't certain he'd be able to go forth, but he knew that he must. He inhaled.
"That is when the dagger was drawn, and as was custom in Persia at the time, such contracts were sealed with the blood of all those that signed it."
Erik walked slowly toward a small drawer tucked beneath the bookcases at waist level. Save for the small place for a key, cleverly hidden by an ornate circle of wood, no one would have known of its existence. His hand lay along the lock, the key in hand. He hesitated. It was really the last paragraph of the document that would have any real meaning to Christine, but he'd share it in its entirety now if she so chose.
He put both hands on the bookcase, leaning heavily against his palms, arms stretched above his head. He was blowing out shallow breaths, save for the few moments that the document had been in his hand when he'd retrieved from the winter house, he'd not wanted to touch it, or even remember that it existed. Why he'd kept it all those years still vexed him. Perhaps it was something of a legacy of his life, and he could not part with it.
"NO!" he said under his breath; he'd brought her this far, she needed to know. Slowly his hand returned to the drawer, the key slipping into the lock. He pulled the drawer open, slowly his eyes traveled down to the leather case. Within that oilskin was the document that had altered his life, and even now may have the power to threaten all he held most precious. He lifted it into his hands, his eyes lingering on the other items in the drawer for a brief moment. There was a time that they too called to him, but slowly they were losing their power over him.
Erik turned toward Christine though he'd not look at her, he walked over to her and placed the oilskin in her hand. He carefully avoided touching her skin, as he already felt poisoned. He walked back toward the window.
"It is alright my dear, you may open it."
Slowly Christine moved her hands easily unlashing the tethers. Carefully she unrolled the parchments. Her eyes grew wide. There were many pages, written in the most beautiful script she'd ever seen. Though she'd some training, and certain words she was able to make out, most of it was of little meaning to her. What disturbed her was the sight of splatters of blood on each page, drops in the center sealing each according to Persian custom.
"The contract you now have in your hand is what has caused Nadir and I to forge such a bond, and to run and hide for the majority of the years since we left Persia, it is indeed the very reason we left Persia. You see the Sultana's intent was far less noble and she far less honest than she portrayed herself."
Erik's lower jaw hurt, his temple was throbbing. He lifted his hands, the pressure from his steeled fingers heavily massaging it. Erik huffed.
"You see those that were brought to us, oh yes, at first were the criminals we knew of, and the due punishment they received, although seemingly harsh, we decided would be a deterrent to their ever committing such crime again."
Erik closed his eyes shaking his head. "It was not long and Nadir and I had seemingly been sequestered to that quadrant of the palace, the lower levels, with assurances that such influx was unlikely to continue for too long a period, and we would soon be back to the more normal routine of dinner parties, and time free to read and write in the park or whatever other activities we found pleasing to us."
Erik sighed staring down at the floor raising his eyebrow, "this was not to be so." He walked back to the window. "Nadir and I were given man after man, and several very callous women, all whom we were assured had been properly judged and we were to carry out whatever punishment the courts had ordered. Each punishment grew more and more intense, some even we questioned, to which we were assured their crime had been particularly heinous and therefore deserving. It was not a great long time before our aid, those who were ordered to carry out such things, began to assume a less direct role in administering the punishments. Nadir and I had been below ground for what we estimated had been nearly a month and a half, only allowed above in the evening for private dinners with the Sultana. She was always most interested in how the criminals had responded to such punishments."
Erik's lips began to quiver, a sob rising in his throat before he could stop it, it escaped him in a great pitiful gasp. His hand flew to cover his mouth. He clenched his jaw, swallowing the outcry before it took the upper hand.
"Then she took to visiting during the punishments; seeming to take far too much pleasure in watching a man on a rack as he was stretched incrementally until his joints nearly gave way."
Erik's pulse was racing. He would spare Christine the worst of the punishments, they were far too hideous to describe.
He glanced up at the moon recalling the first night he and Nadir were escorted away from the punishment they'd just administered. He and Nadir had been taken up to her private chamber to the outer court and given a bottle of wine and told to remain there until she joined them. They'd both been ill at ease, this a most uncustomary turn, but they enjoyed the night air, and the bottle of wine was from the finest part of her cellar.
It had been when they heard the muffled scream that they took leave of their stations and tried to venture back down the stairs, but were brusquely turned round and sent back to the chambers above.
She'd seemed particularly giddy when she rejoined them, bringing with her yet another bottle of the finest red. A midnight feast had been prepared and delivered to them. She was in such superior spirits she'd offered them a few days of holiday in a neighboring village. They were to be left alone with a small staff of servants at their beck and call. Indeed it had been most pleasant, and they welcomed the freedom to roam about the grounds of the small estate, reading and dining at their leisure. The Sultana had sent notice of extension to their stay as additional display of her gratitude for their most faithful services.
When they'd returned they were notified that a few modifications had been made, and several new instruments had been added to their repertoire. Nadir and Erik had toured the seemingly scrubbed and cleansed halls they'd worked in for so many a month at that point. When they inquired as to the burns they saw on several of the exposed beams in the lower parts they were informed that there had been an unfortunate fire in their absence. It was then that the tables had turned for them.
"You see Christine, the woman became increasingly more vile until such time Nadir and I could no longer honor our contract. We'd told her as much which was met with stern disapproval. Our evening dinners with her were cut out abruptly, our meals being delivered to us. Our flow of prisoners was kept in steady stream, and our departure to the upper outer court with a bottle of wine became frequent occurrence. It was not long that we came to understand that the prisoners that were left in an apparatus or another whenever she would visit and have us sent on our way, were not there when we returned."
Tears of seething hatred were burning on Erik's flesh as they made their way from his swollen tear ducts and down his cheeks. "This went on for a time more until one night she did not allow us to leave, but had us escorted to another room, not far from where we'd left the prisoner in her company. Nadir and I were admittedly confused, not having the customary leave, but knew there must be reason for it."
Erik swallowed. He would give as little detail as possible whilst conveying the last of this. "Nadir and I heard the most pitiful pleas, the most hideous laugh, and the scream of a man losing his life."
Erik rage grew, though this time he did not try to stifle it, the memory of it was so horrific. "Nadir and I left the room we were in and made our way down the hallway toward the room. Our guides seeming to have disappeared, we went to the door peering in. There she was…." No he could not, nay, would not begin to describe it.
"She came out to us, wiping her hands on the apron she had tied loosely about her before she removed it, discarding it on the floor. She said to us, "you see gentlemen, this is the ultimate future for anyone who dares break contract with me. Let it be warning to you." Then she walked away, glancing back over her shoulder, "now take care of it, follow the trail, you will know what to do." And then she left us alone. The javelin, the purple silk tied to the top…" Erik paused, he'd listen for Christine's reaction.
Christine's eyes grew wide, perhaps wider than they ever had. "The vision…the javelin at the winter house…"
Erik's breathing became labored. "Yes Christine. That is what I fear has come here to find me, to find Nadir." He had to finish, for her to know what had become of it all.
"You see we did take the man to what would be his final resting place. The trail she referred to, let us say it was a well stained trail up a set of stairs to the outer yard, where a great fire pit was dug." He paused, "I can tell you no more of it."
Erik's thoughts wandered that horror as he and Nadir placed the man's body in the heap of ash and dirt, mixed. It did little to disguise what was truly there. She'd been doing this despicable thing for some time now. How many souls lay there in that grave, could scarcely be known. The citizens never knew of the demise of said prisoners, only that they were no longer causing threat to society.
He shook his head, fearing he'd already said far too much. "That very night Nadir and I devised a plan…we found way out. Our plan took some time to carry out, and admittedly our services continued until we could make our escape…and we have been running from her ever since."
Erik's face was drained of all color, his heart aching not from the confession, but for the burden that surely now laid heavily on Christine's mind.
"I returned to the Opera House, Nadir escaped to his home country, which he'd been able to hide the true identity of such from her in some way. It took several years before we were able to find one another, but through Nadir's persistence it was accomplished. I'd traveled to see him several times, and he had come to Paris. It is he that helped me to use some of my means to buy the winter house, and eventually Courtland manor. He told me that we would not always be running, and that one day, I would find the love that I sought, and I'd best be having a home to shelter it!" It was the first time since he'd begun his discourse hours before that Erik smiled.
"Christine, this is what I hid from you, what I so desperately wanted to spare you from ever having to know, but now it seems we have been threatened in a way…"
Christine, making momentary leave from her promise said, "but the seamstress assured me that the woman thought you to be dead now." Christine putting two and two together now knew that Erik had been hunted, and the seamstress had unwittingly provided him a final alibi.
Erik shot her a glance, though she'd already looked away. "She is more clever than any yarn that anyone could spin Christine, make no mistake. I've now to find Nadir as quickly as possible and address this once and for all, for she will continue to threaten and wage her treachery as long as she has breath."
Erik exhaled, a painful staggered breath. He closed his eyes. He'd managed to get through, through the worst of it, and now there was little to be done than to toss the contract into the fire, and find his way to Nadir.
He walked to Christine taking the document from her hand he strode to the fire and tossed it in. The oil from the skin made it hiss loudly as if a serpent being consumed by the tongues of fire. He stood watching it, seething with hatred for the woman had further abused his life that was already so devoid of happiness it seemed it could not grow worse, but somehow she'd managed it.
Erik startled as he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned about, there was Christine, looking up into his eyes.
"I promised to love you Erik, and I shall until the end of time." She looked at him with an assuredness far beyond her years, and took his hand into hers squeezing it. "This changes nothing between us my love, nothing, and I shan't find cause to question nor punish you for something over which you had so little control. A frog that is cooked in a pot of water left on the stove to warm and boil is not guilty for its eventual demise; it is merely a victim of circumstance to which it could not have anticipated. You my love do not owe for those things to which you had no knowledge. You've confessed them, now be rid of this guilt, let it torment you no more."
Erik pressed his eyes closed and fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around Christine's middle. And he began to cry.
XXXXX
"Huhhhhhhhh", a great gasp rose from Lady C's lungs as she sat straight up in bed. Her head was wringing wet, her heart pounding. She shook her head, trying to clear the webs that seemed to have grown in the short time she'd been sleeping. Her lips began to tremble. She allowed herself to fall back into the mound of pillows Andre had arranged for her before he'd retired himself. Her breathing slowing but still labored.
There was a quiet knock at the door to her adjoining room. Andre peeked his head in through it, rubbing at his eye. "I'm sorry to disturb you dear Lady, is everything alright?" He was shielding his eyes.
"Yes Andre…thank you….I…." she sighed, her brow furrowing. "I must confess though that woman tonight disturbed me….I neither like nor trust her…it is simply a feeling I cannot escape."