A/N: Please enjoy!
Chapter 6 Illusions of the Sunlight
It was a merry occasion. The official feast began with a toast from the king. He only stayed for a short time in the hall before he adjourned to his chambers. The food, drink, and music flowed freely all around the hall. The hall was full of citizens of Edoras, citizens of Rohan visiting just for the feast, and men under Eomer and Theodred's banner. Many only spoke the native language. Winifred smiled and nodded at anyone whom she made eye contact with. She noticed that many said Elfwine in her wake. She recognized the name but she couldn't remember where, making a mental note to ask Eowyn about it later.
Soon enough she was twirled onto the dance floor where she spent many breathless hours laughing, dancing, and clapping in tune. Though she did not know the dance steps, all her dance partners did and soon enough she was dancing just as well as a seasoned pro. Cyfarwydd, along with a number of other men made up the band. They had various instrument and all sang, but many songs were sung with help by those in the hall.
She danced with many of the guard, Theodred, and even Eldwyn had gathered the courage to lead her in a dance. Eowyn spent just as much time, if not more, on the dance floor. She was the Lady of Meduseld after all, and she honored many men by dancing with them. Winifred was able to escape the floor a few times. Long enough for a long drink of wine before being lead back. Theodred was a wonderful dancer, and danced many dances with both Eowyn and Winifred. Eomer had yet to make an appearance, Winifred spied him in the back surrounded by many men, laughing and enjoying a large cast of mead close by. Winifred was having too much fun to try to lure him to the dance floor.
Soon the hours went by before Winifred noticed the sun had long since said goodnight and the moon was out in all its glory. She slipped from the dance floor, grabbed a glass of wine, and went through the open doors. She could not feel the bitterly cold winter night. It felt like a cool spring night to her, She smiled as she breathed in the fresh air. There were many people milling around the entrance of the hall, some getting fresh air like her, others huddled around the few fire pits that were lit outside the hall of Meduseld.
She sat down on the stairs and laughed at the newly formed memories on the dance floor and observing the beautiful clear winter night. She was starting to shiver slightly. Soon enough a cloak was draped around her shoulders. She had been so unaware of her surroundings that she did not notice Eomer had come to sit next to her. His large cloak nearly hid her from view.
"Eomer!" She exclaimed happily, smiling lazily at him while burrowing into the warm cloak. It smelled like Eomer, Winifred wrapped it closer around herself after that thought.
"So the lady has let wine and dance eroded her judgment to bring a cloak along with her." He said, giving her a rare big smile. Winifred chuckled at him, continuing to look at him and enjoying his open expressions.
"Maybe that's because I knew you'd come rescue me, like you always do." She grinned at him, he had blushed somewhat. "Why have you not come to dance with me?" she asked whimsically. Eomer gave her a half-smile.
"You have many suitors waiting for your hand, I would be waiting all night to get you alone on the dance floor." He said simply enough. Winifred laughed at this.
"I don't know what you are talking about but I'm not dancing with anyone now am I?" she said smiling up at Eomer.
"It is not my strong suit, I leave it to Theodred to dance with the maidens of Edoras." Eomer explained. Winifred made an annoyed sound.
"I don't believe that for a second." She bumped her shoulder into his. He smiled after this action.
"I have never seen you so at ease." He distracted her.
"Hmm. Well I've decided to take a two-day vacation from all my worries." She laughed at herself. Eomer was enjoying this side of Winifred. Maybe she would finally open up a little more.
"Gandalf said many curious things about you." Eomer said, taking advantage of Winifred's light mood. Winifred almost rolled her eyes at this.
"He is a wizard Eomer, he enjoys talking in riddles." She answered him, but some where in her wine induced brain warning signals were going off.
"He said you are wiser than him in some respects, how could one so young have gained respect and admiration from such a person?" he said, watching Winifred carefully.
"Hmm. I'm not sure. But I 'm positive he could find the wisdom in the town fool if he wanted too." She concentrated hard on what she was saying while trying to sound light.
"He said to trust you completely." Eomer's eyes were almost piercing through hers. "He said to listen to any counsel you gave."
"Well shouldn't you always listen to what a lady has to say? I thought that was just good manners." Winifred made a weak joke. Eomer ignored this attempt. Winifred looked away from Eomer.
"Are you trying to ruin my perfectly lovely night? I'm on vacation, remember." She huffed at him resting her chin on her hand, giving him a highly annoyed look. Eomer plowed on.
"You are different. You are unlike any woman I have ever met." He said. "And though your story sounds true enough, I feel that there is something missing from it." Winifred made an irritated sound.
"Is it normal practice here in Rohan for men to wait to interrogate woman when they have indulged in wine." She glared at him. She had never given Eomer this hard glare before. She held his gaze for a long moment before he finally gave in.
"You are right." Eomer looked at his feet, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I have no right to question you. You have done nothing to deserve such treatment." Winifred sighed looking away from Eomer and back out into the stars.
"I wish I could tell you everything Eomer, but that would be dangerous, and change everything." She mumbled. Eomer drank these words in.
"Eomer." Winifred hesitate. "One day, when the evil has been chased from these lands and the future is all bright and shiny, I will tell you everything. And when that moment happens I will tell you things that will shock you, things that will upset you, you may want nothing to do with me honestly. But when that time comes I want you to remember this moment." She had been avoiding his eyes, but mustered the courage to look into his warm brown eyes. Without realizing she also reached for his hand. Holding one of his big hands with one of her delicate ones.
"I want you to remember this moment because I want you to know, that I am doing everything in my power to help. Please don't try to riddle this out, just listen to what I'm saying. I am doing everything I can." She pleaded with her eyes at him. Eomer was perplexed at what this could mean, but trusted her, just as Gandalf said to do.
"I believe you." was all he could say. Winifred let out a breath she had held onto. A new song started to reach their ears.
"Come, I will make up for my thoughtlessness." Eomer said standing. Giving his arm for Winifred to take. She looked at him for a moment then beamed before taking his arm. He led them to the dance floor. They dance the next seven songs together, though they didn't notice the passage of so many songs.
Winifred went to bed much later than she had planned. She woke when the sun was already high in the sky. She didn't make it to the Hall until just before lunch. She had decided to wear her dark blue dress, and have half her hair pulled out of her face. She first worried that the dresses material would be too thin for this time of the year, but that was not the case.
When Winifred got to the hall, the music had already started for the day, and the hall was fuller then she expected.
"I thought you would sleep the day away." Eowyn said, walking up to Winifred, Linking arms with her. Soon they were finishing organizing today's supplies of food and drink. Before Winifred knew it, the feast was fully back in swing.
After she had finished her extremely late breakfast, that was more like lunch, Eomer approached her.
"I see no one has whisked you off to the dance floor." He stated sitting next to her on the bench. Winifred smirked up at him.
"Well, someone may have tried but I'm still waking up, so I don't think I would have noticed either way." She said bemused.
"So shall I wait to give you your present later then?" he asked hesitantly. She wasn't expecting that.
"You have a present for me?" She asked, a shy smile spreading on her lips.
" Of course." He answered. "I believe my cousin and Eowyn have something for you as well. We normally give gifts on the second day, since we, mostly Eowyn, have to help prepare for the feast and have no time leading up to it."
"What of the king? I didn't make anything for him, because I couldn't think of something worthy of a king." She was looking hard off into the ceiling, thinking about what she could give to the king.
"No." He said Firmly. "This feast is a gift for his people, he would be offended to be given a gift." Winifred nodded, understanding. Then Eomer produced an oddly shaped package. Wrapped in plain green fabric. Winifred smiled at Eomer, Eomer nodded at her, encouraging her to open the gift.
Slowly she unwrapped it to find a wooden horse figurine. It was the horse on the flag of Rohan. She could tell by the pose of the horse. It was a white wood and smooth to the touch with many details.
"Where did you get it?" she asked in amazement still inspecting the horse.
"I made it," he answered her. She was in awe.
"You can carve wood like this?" she said impressed. He was amused with her reaction and gave her a half-smile.
"My father taught me how to whittle. I do it while on journeys, which is often enough." He said warmly to her. "I also want to apologize for yesterday…" Winifred cut him off by pressing her fingers to his lips.
"You have nothing to apologize for. I am a stranger to you in many ways. I am still a mystery to you, and though there will be many things that you can not know about me yet, I'll try to be more open with you." She said giving him a small smile. Eomer smirked, with her fingers still pressed to his lips. She laughed lightly at this and removed her fingers from his lips.
"Am I free to speak?" He asked her.
"Only if you don't mention the conversation of last night." She said sternly. Eomer and Winifred were interrupted by Theodred approaching. He had a package in his hands. He presented Winifred with another beautiful dress. Eowyn also appeared with a gift for Winifred. To the men's displeasure Eowyn had a sword made just for Winifred. It was beautiful; it had a comfortable handle, and horses on the hilt of the sword. It came with a sheath and leather belt. Winifred thanked them all for their generosity. Soon, she was asked back on the dance floor, this time by Eomer. The rest of the feast went by without consequence.
The next year went by swiftly for Winifred. In the spring, on a rare occurrence that both Theodred and Eomer were in Edoras at the same time, Winifred was able to convince them and Eowyn to have a picnic out on the fields before Edoras. It was a memorable experience and the only time they had been able to be together outside the golden hall.
By the summer, Winifred could beat Eowyn in a sparring match, and have a steady conversation with the natives. She felt herself growing closer to Eomer, he was such a gentleman and she was too timid to initiate anything. Most that worked in the golden hall could see the closeness between them even if had not acted on anything.
Théoden was growing weaker. Grima stowed him away for long periods during winter, and he deteriorated quickly. It was alarming to Winifred; most of her hard work seemed to have vanished by late summer. The king no longer insisted that she sit next to him, and he only ate in the Hall twice a week if they were lucky. Eowyn was really concerned for her uncle, and would often tell Winifred of the horrible advice Grima would whisper to Théoden when he thought no one was paying attention. Winifred continued to work on Théoden but started to work on others in the hall concerning Grima.
By fall Theodred had told Winifred of the wild men that had attacked an outlining village in the west mark. Winifred asked for a description for the wild men. When Theodred said that they had no banner Winifred took the opportunity to describe the white hand on the men that had attacked her group. Theodred had responded as Winifred expected and told her to not breathe a word to anyone. Theodred did send a rider to Aldburg to inform Eomer about it though.
The next time Eomer was in Edoras, he was more solemn and serious. He spent more time just being quite next to Winifred at meals. At one point he went on a morning ride with her. They stopped by the river to enjoy the view, and he held her hand. They didn't say anything, but Winifred gave his hand a squeeze. Winifred could almost feel the stress rolling off his shoulders, though he never told her about the attacks. She had a feeling he was trying to shield her from it. Winifred got most of her information from Eowyn. Winifred knew that both Eomer and Theodred visits to Edoras were going to become less frequent.
As the fall turned into winter Eomer and Theodred were spending more and more time away from Edoras just as Winifred predicted. They were keeping the borders safe. The wild men were attacking more frequently on outlining villages, and the king would not let them led an attack against them. So they kept arriving after most of the damage was done. At dinner a week before the yuletide feast, when most of the council members were present, save Eomer and Theodred, Winifred retold council members of rumors that were heard in her land of the easterlings allies to the south. She spoke of how dangerous the road had been traveling from her homeland here, especially past Isengard. Grima glared at her from the opposite side of the table but kept quiet.
The next morning she woke up with a burning fever. She was deathly sick with a high fever. Winifred had never experience such a fever before since she had medicine to stop a fever in its track in her world. She was delirious and drifted in and out of consciousness. People were coming in and out of her room in a never-ending stream to Winifred. They pressed things to her forehead. They spooned things down her throat. She barely had energy to focus on it. She was dreaming most of the time. Dreaming of home. Dreaming of the future. In one dream she was dancing in a forest with Barefoot who could speak. In another she was back at helms deep digger herself out of the caves but she could not keep up with the infinite piles of rocks that appeared out of thin air. There was a scary one where Grima was standing over her bed; he looked so close yet so far away from Winifred. His eyes were a fire-red, and his teeth had become razor-sharp with a tongue like a snake.
"You thought you were so clever. You thought you could out match me! You can't stand in my way and think to go untouched! Soon you will sleep and never wake again." He hissed at her. She blinked and he was gone. Now Eowyn was sitting on the edge of her bed. She seemed to be glowing. She looked like an angel. She had something pressed to Winifred's forehead. Her lips were moving but Winifred couldn't hear anything. She tried to tell Eowyn this but no sound came out of her mouth. She gave up and closed her eyes.
"Winnie, what are you doing?" Winifred's eyes snapped open. She became more aware of her surroundings then she had since the fever began. She recognized the voice. It was the rich, deep voice of her first love, Denny. She looked over and he was sitting in the chair next to her bed. He looked just like she remembered, a half-smile on his face, his brown eyes bursting with laughter, and his scruffy beard. She gathered all her energy.
"I'm sick, Denny." She answered him scared. "I think I'm going to die." He smiled at her.
"Of course you're not. You think you came all the way to middle earth to die from a fever?" he asked her simply, leaning closer to her.
"This isn't just a fever. It's more. I think Grima is behind this." She said, her voice trembling. "I pushed too hard."
"You push too hard?" Denny said laughing lightly. "My Winnie can out fox that docile little rat." Winifred shook her head.
"I'm so tired. I feel as if I'm about to sleep forever." She said wearily. Denny shook his head.
"Not yet Winnie. I can't leave till I'm sure you'll be alright." He said to her.
"But I don't want you to leave. Stay." She tried to reach out to him with her hand but it was too heavy. He saw what she was trying to do and grasped her hand between his two strong ones. Winifred noticed the warmth they had, and how they were rough from use. She didn't remember Denny's hands being like that.
"That's just selfish, Winnie. You know I can't do that. Now think." He looked at her expectantly. Winifred sighed and thought for a long moment, Her camping bag.
"My camping bag from home." she whispered. He beamed at her.
"Where's the pack?" Denny asked with a knowing smile. Winifred was starting to follow his train of thoughts.
"The floor board. I hide it all after Grima was in my room." she said weakly. Denny nodded and stood up going to the floorboard. Winifred slowly followed him with her eyes.
"Now, you always pack this when you go camping in case there's an emergency." He told her as he opened the floorboard and started looking around using his hands. He must have found something because he lifted her camping bag from the hole and walked over to her.
"I always pack medicine." She said in a monotone, responding to what Denny was telling her.
"Why is this a good thing?" He said, busy looking trough her mostly empty bag.
"The medicine can reduce my fever. Of course, you're brilliant, Denny." She told him in a breathless voice.
"This is all you love, and what does it look like?" he asked innocently, like a grown man slowly explaining addition to a child. Winifred was feeling a small surge of energy, knowing that soon she would get the medicine her body so desperately needed.
"It's a small bottle, the top pops open." She said. Denny smiled at her and popped the top off.
"What do you think Winnie? Two or three pills?" he asked bemused.
"Three." She said relaxing further into her bed, ready for the relief to wash over her. She opened her mouth for the three pills he put in. Then followed it with water.
"See, I knew you could do It." he smiled lovingly down at her, moving hair off her forehead. Winifred was starting to feel drained from all the talking. "Now go to sleep, and soon you'll wake up and feel better."
"Thank you." She mumbled out as she closed her eyes and drifted back into a deep peaceful sleep.
Eomer looked down at her deeply concerned. He pocketed the bottle, incase she would need more of these pills. He put everything else back into the floorboard just as it was. He came to sit back in the chair next to Winifred. Thinking of everything Winifred had just told him. Winifred thought he was Denny. The man she mentioned when he found her in the caves. Winifred also thought Grima was behind this fever. It gave Eomer much to stew over for the next few hours as he loyally sat next to her. Winifred's face became less flushed, and the fever reduced, just as Winifred said it would. Eowyn had come to check on her and was relived to see Winifred's progress. Just after this Winifred slowly opened her eyes. Eowyn shooed Eomer out and ordered a bath for Winifred.
While Winifred silently lounged in the bath, still out of it, she watched as fresh sheets, pillows and blankets were put on her bed. A meal of soup and bread was brought in for her. Eowyn helped Winifred into fresh night-clothes and tucked her back into bed. Eowyn spoon-feed Winifred, saying nothing but her actions showed how much she cared. After the last bite of food she was instructed to go back to sleep. Winifred found it easy to follow this command. Soon she was in a dreamless slumber.
She woke the day before the yuletide to the sound of things being shuffled around in her room, and soft conversations happening. She could smell pine and holly. When she opened her eyes, she saw pine, holly, and mistletoe garlands decorated all around her room. They were placed to near perfection, and made the room smell like Christmas.
Winifred noticed the fire was blazing, with big socks hanging from the mantle. She saw one with her name, one for Eowyn, one for Theodred, and finally one for Eomer. She noticed what woke her up. In the only empty corner in her room, she saw Eowyn softly giving directions to two men. One was sprawled on the floor; the other was on his knees, his arms lost within the depths of a very large pine tree. It was a Christmas tree. They had decorated her room for Christmas. She started to cry silently while she watched them adjusting the tree. She was physically and emotional drained from being sick and seeing this touching display of love and consideration for her was too much for Winifred to handle. She finally took a labored breath amid her tears and gained the attention of everyone in the room. Eowyn looked startled and rush to her side, laying a hand on her forehead testing its temperature.
"What's wrong, Winifred?" she asked gently, searching for a reason behind the tears. Winifred sat up in bed and brought her hands to her face, embarrassed.
"You decorated my room for Christmas!" She wailed. She heard Eowyn softly chuckle as she pushed a handkerchief into one of her hands. Winifred moped up her face, to look around the room again. Theodred and Eomer had come to stand at the foot of her bed they both smiled down at her, though Eomer seemed to be more concerned looking.
"We thought it would cheer you up." Eowyn said laughing. Theodred laughed at this as well.
"We are all going to spend the rest of the day decorating the tree, while you rest in bed." Eowyn said.
They all spent the day in each other's company. It reminded her of the picnic they had in the spring. They were all at ease laughing and telling stories, Winifred mostly listened. Food had been brought into the room and they ate when they felt like it. Hot cider was brought at the request of Winifred. Theodred and Eomer did most of the labor. They ribbed each other the way only brothers would. Eowyn stay at Winifred's side, getting anything she needed before Winifred could even ask for it. She also kept the boys on task.
"I've never had siblings before. This must be what it feels like to have siblings." Winifred whispered to Eowyn, Eomer was able to hear it though. Eowyn looked at Winifred with a sister's love in her eyes.
"Of course, we are your family." She said sincerely as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
The tree was decorated mostly with ribbons and string. It didn't have the Christmas lights that Winifred was used too on a Christmas tree but even without it this was the most beautiful tree she had ever seen. Mostly because of how much thought was put into it. The men were dismissed to eat diner in the hall while Eowyn ate with Winifred in her room.
"Thank you, Eowyn." Winifred said slowly feeding herself. Still not allowed to leave her bed. Eowyn smiled at her.
"Of course. We are all just so glad that you made it though the fever. I thought Eomer was going to work himself into an early grave when he arrived here." She jested. She noticed her brother's interest in Winifred, and how Winifred favored Eomer.
"This was all Eomer's idea. He came up with the idea months ago. But when you got sick we were not sure if we should still do it." Eowyn said looking around the room. Winifred was floored by this omission. She didn't have anything to say on that subject.
"Anything interesting happen while I was sick?" Winifred asked, changing the topic to something that didn't make her blush so much.
"No. Most of the Royal Guards asked for news of you. So did Eldwyn and Cyfarwydd. All of Edoras was sending blessing of good health to you. It seems you are a topic of interest to all of Edoras, Elfwine." She smiled at Winifred.
"Elf-friend. No one has explained to me how I got that name" Winifred stated. Eowyn grinned at her. "Either way it is still your name among the people." Eowyn said. Winifred laughed slightly.
"I'm only interesting to them because I'm foreign." Winifred said between bites of food.
"Be happy that is the only reason." Eowyn said to Winifred. A maid came in to clear away the food. Eowyn stood.
"I am going to bed early. I will see you tomorrow. Sleep well." Eowyn said smiling warming before departing with the maid following behind her.
Winifred was getting comfortable in bed when she heard a light knock.
"Come in." She said softly, sitting further up in bed. Eomer came in. He looked somber as he came to sit next to her bed.
"What's wrong Eomer?" She asked when Eomer didn't say anything. He looked at her with sadness in his eyes and gently put something into Winifred's hands. She looked at the object and saw her small medicine bottle. Her forehead became creased.
"How did you…" she started to say.
"You where sick. Many Healers said you would not last the night. I had come to sit by your side when you started speaking." He looked like a lost boy. "You called me Denny, and directed me on where to find it."
Winifred thought back. It took time to wade through her fever-laden brain to find this memory. She remembered a dream she had starring Denny. It took her a while to remember everything that happened. She remembered him acting weird, his hands were rougher then she remembered, and Denny said to her " This is all you."
Winifred abruptly reach for Eomer's hand. She felt its warmth, its roughness from a day filled with hard work.
"I was holding your hand." She said slowly to Eomer, realization hitting her. He nodded.
"I don't remember you being there. I saw Denny. He was acting strange. He wouldn't let me go to sleep till he knew I would be fine. He helped me remember that I had this." She said softly looking at the little bottle. Winifred became sad knowing that Denny hadn't been here at all, that it was all just in her mind. Then her heart went out to Eomer.
"I've heard this name before." He said. "The day I pulled you from the cave." Winifred remembered that day very well.
"Who is Denny?" Eomer asked gently. Not quite looking Winifred in the eye. Winifred's stomach dropped. She knew she would have to tell Eomer this part of herself, and she had been dreading it.
With a heavy sigh, she began. "Denny was my lover many years ago. We ended it long before I came here." Eomer was quite, so Winifred continued.
"It was passion from the first moment we saw one another. But it wasn't the kind of love that could endure conflict. We argued often, and over the smallest of matters." Winifred took a shaky breath. "I think even with all that we could have continued on. But I had a miscarriage. It broke our hearts. That was more than we could take. Soon after that we decided to end it. I will always love him, and I know he will always love me. But he's not the man for me and I the woman for him." Eomer was silent, looking down at their hands intertwined. Winifred waited patiently for him.
"I am glad you have told me this." He said.
"This is apart of me Eomer. I realize that this isn't something that happens here in Rohan, but I'm not going to apologize or ask for your forgiveness. I was young and in love and I don't regret it. Please understand." She pleaded with him. He was still looking down at their hands.
"Such a curious mark." He mumbled to himself, rubbing his thumb over her smooth tattoo. Winifred was a bottle of nerves, not knowing how Eomer was reacting to everything. This comment didn't even register. Then she thought of her dream with Denny, how that happened too a degree, what about the dream of Grima?
"Eomer?" she asked him, a new tone to her voice that drew Eomer's eyes to her. "While I was sick, I had a dream of Grima standing over my bed… he didn't come in here did he?" she had barely finished her question before Eomer stood up and stomped his way to the door, his face full of rage.
"EOMER DON'T" she told him. Trying to stand from the bed but getting dizzy and falling back in bed as Eomer grabbed the doorknob. "Gandalf told you to listen to me!" She said as a last resort. This slowed Eomer's hand.
"Please, Eomer." She mumbled. He finally turned to look at her, sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand on her head looking dazed. He walked back over to her, taking a seat besides her. He was clearly upset that he couldn't confront Grima and wanted to argue the point, but that was all forgotten when he saw Winifred still looking weak and sickly.
"Are you feeling dizzy?" he put his arm around her, pulling her to him. She rested her head against his shoulder. Still seeing two of everything.
"Mmm." She responded.
"You should not be trying to get out of bed. You need to rest." He calmly told her.
"You should not be trying to start a fight with Grima. It won't help with my rest." She said in an annoyed voice, slowly her vision returning to normal.
"You said you thought he was behind it." He told Winifred. She nodded against his shoulder.
"And if my dream was partially based on reality then I know he was. Which is a good thing." She said to Eomer. He made a confused face looking down at Winifred.
"How could you think that is a good thing. He almost killed you, Winifred." Holding her closer to his chest.
"It means I'm helping Eomer. It means he's afraid of me. He's afraid of what I've been doing." She was smiling despite herself. She could feel him shaking his head. "I thought I hadn't been doing enough. This is good news indeed."
"No more, Winifred. You would have died had it not been me. No one else knew the location of the loose floorboards. I will not let you risk him doing this again. It could be worse next time." He was being stern. It wasn't affecting Winifred like he hoped. She pulled out of his embrace to look at him defiantly.
"You don't understand…" He put his fingers on her lips, silencing her. It reminded her of a time last year when she had done the same thing to Eomer. She would have smiled if the conversation were not so heavy.
"You do not understand. Whatever you are trying to accomplish, it is not worth your life. Many here in Edoras care for you." He said moving his hand to her cheek.
"Does that include you? Even after everything I've told you about Denny?" she breathed to him staring into his brown eyes, hardly believe what she had just let slip.
With the calmest and most steadfast breath he answered her question. " To lose you would affect me greatly, Winifred. When I first arrived and made aware of your condition I came to you. Too often have I had to sit quietly at your bedside in vigil while you lay motionless from illness or injury. It is not a sight I would ever like to experience again." He voice growing with affection. "You have become an important person to me Winifred, Can you not see that?" Winifred was so happy to hear this, she felt like she could cry.
Before she even realized her own actions she crushed her lips to his, moving her hands to his neck. His lips where soft but firm, and soon he was holding her to him with such strength, but Winifred couldn't feel it. She was wildly happy. He had such passion, a passion Winifred never saw in him before. But there it was behind his kiss. All too soon he pulled away from her.
"Long have I wanted to kiss you, Winifred Farrell." He seemed to caress her with his words. Before Winifred could say a word he captured her lips again. Winifred wanted to live in this moment forever.
A/N: I could have written a whole book just on this year but it would have taken away from the flow of the story line. But I'm really excited for whats ahead, and the path of Winifred! Hope you are too! Don't forget to review! - C xoxo
