CHAPTER 10!!! Can you believe we've been together for 10 chappies?! So I had fun writing this chappy. It keeps the story moving even if it is shorter than the last one. I hope you like it! A couple of our favorite characters are in it and the love triangle continues!! YAYS -- I LOVE love triangles!! I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!

ALSO! We are officially at the halfway mark! This scene is the finale in Akt 1 of "Elisabeth." We've made it halfway! I'm glad you guys have stuck with it so far- Thank you!! Well I hope you enjoy the chapter. The drama continues! Poor Elisabeth… forced to choose between her husband of over ten years and the oh so beautiful Death! What is a girl to do? Well, I'm sure you all know what I would do in her shoes....

As always, thank you SO much to all of my wonderful reviewers!! Your feedback makes me post these faster and I LOVE hearing from you!

On with the chappy—ENJOY!!

Chapter 10

Belonging

The days following Death's unexpected visit with Elisabeth passed with little consequence. Elisabeth waited for her husband's response to her ultimatum. She spent time alone, outside. Every day she would wake up before the sun's rays could touch the horizon, dress, and take a taxi out to the countryside. Some days she would hike through the woods- the wet, moldy leave's scent filling her lungs. Other days she would climb up the mountains and gaze out on the small villages below. She had all the time in the world. Time to herself. Time to think. Time to dream.

She would think of what her life would've been like if she had done things differently. She could very possibly be happy right now, if things had gone differently…

On the night of her 18th birthday, if she had spent the evening with Becky, she would still have a best friend in her life. Someone to confide in; someone to talk to, laugh and cry with. She would have been able to enjoy her young adult years as simply that- a young adult being surrounded by friends and people who loved her for who she truly was.

What if her father had been in her life? What if he hadn't become obsessed with providing his family with the best that money could buy? What if he had been happy to simply be with his wife and little girls? Elisabeth knew that if her father had been with her growing up, she would not have jumped into a relationship with Joseph. She wouldn't have craved for a man in her life to make her feel loved or protected. Was Joseph simply a replacement for her father?

Or was it Death, her Dark Prince, who she had replaced her father with? He had appeared in her life just around the time Max had begun to travel with work. When was it exactly? Elisabeth shut her eyes, tight, trying to think back to when she had first laid eyes on that deadly yet beautiful man. It had been over 20 years ago. She must have been ten years old. A child. She recalled the church picnic in which her father had missed due to work. Bored, she had joined the boys in a game of baseball, only to run across the street to retrieve the ball. And then a car…

Elisabeth's eyes shot open. She had died. Or at least came very close to it. That had to be it. When she got hit by that car, Death had come to take her away. That was when he first saw her. That was when he decided to not take her and let her live. Why? Elisabeth knew why. He loved her. Loved her enough to give her a second chance at life. And what about Elisabeth? It was obvious that Death had fallen instantly in love with her. She couldn't lie that, as a little girl, she had dreamt of flying away with her Prince. She had loved him. But she grew out of it. It had been a beautiful dream, too good to be true. And now, she was being haunted by the beautiful ghost from her past. Elisabeth couldn't help but think- if her father had gone to the church picnic, she wouldn't have played with those boys, she wouldn't have had to run across the street to get the ball, the car wouldn't have hit her, and she would've never met and fallen in love with Death.

"No," Elisabeth said to herself. "I can't blame him. It was going to happen. If not then, then somewhere else. I was bound to meet der Tod sooner or later. I just wish it had been later…"

The cool breeze running through the mountains sent a chill down her spine. The sun had begun to slide behind the mountain peaks staining their snowcaps pink and orange and purple. Elisabeth looked down at her watch to see how long she had been sitting there daydreaming about ridiculous, pointless matters. Things had gone the way they had; there was no going back, no changing things. She was stuck where she was. But no one would keep her locked up in a cage. It didn't matter if Joseph accepted her proposal or not- she would make sure she was free. No one could free her but herself. That she was sure of.

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By the time Elisabeth returned to the house, night had fallen. Dinner was done and over with and Rudy was tucked into bed. She walked to her bedroom and got ready to go to bed. As she came out of her bathroom, she heard a knock at her door. Putting down her brush, Elisabeth walked over and answered the door.

"Elisabeth," Joseph said, standing in the doorway in his pajamas and bathrobe. "Would you please meet me in my office?"

Elisabeth nodded her head and said quietly, "Of course."

Her husband turned on his heel and walked down the hall to his study. Elisabeth had waited days for this moment. She needed to be calm and strong no matter what the outcome was. She pulled her pink, lacey bathrobe over her pajamas, pulled her brown curls up on top of her head, and, taking a deep breath, walked down the hall to hear her husband's decision.

Pausing outside his door, Elisabeth took a deep, relaxing breath as she walked confidently into the room. Joseph had his back to her and the door, leaning on his desk, his head bowed.

"Elisabeth," he whispered in a low, raspy voice. "I wanted to tell you that I accept your requests."

Elisabeth didn't know what to say. She knew how loyal he was to his mother and felt that he would side with Sophie. This decision shocked Elisabeth, to say the least.

"Joseph…" Elisabeth sighed, relieved.

"Oh Elisabeth," Joseph said as he raised his head. Elisabeth could see his reflection looking at her in the window adjacent to them. "I can't stand not being loved by you. You know that I would do whatever I could, give you whatever you wanted just to make you happy."

Elisabeth smiled to herself as Joseph walked around his desk to sit down. He motioned for his wife to sit in the chair before him. He continued:

"You will decide what Rudy will learn regarding language, math, science, and history. You can decide on things in this house- events, parties, decorating, meals. I won't let my mother come between us anymore. I don't want to lose you," he paused looking up at his wife. "You see, since I've entered in the running to be Austria's President, I've been flooded with work. I've never felt anything. I've always tried to avoid unnecessary emotions so they don't affect me and my work. But," he continued with a weak smile. "When I met you, all of that changed. I fell in love with you but I soon forgot how wonderful that felt. I tried to suppress emotions that could hold me back. But now I realize I would rather give it all up as long as I can still have your love. Elisabeth," he said as he reached out to take hold of her small, pale hand. "Stay with me. Please…"

Elisabeth looked at her hand within his. They felt warm and nice. She looked up to Joseph's eyes and said, "I want to stay with you Joseph. But if I do, you can't hold me back. I want to experience life and I can't do that when I'm being kept in a cage. I don't want to be treated as if I'm an object that you own. I don't belong to you. I love you. You have my love, but you can't have all of me. I belong to-"

Elisabeth stopped. Standing behind her husband stood the other man that had claimed her and her love- Death. He simply stood there invisible to her husband, arms crossed, smiling wickedly, his long black coat swaying around his ankles. The dark angel looking as intoxicatingly beautiful as ever.

"Elisabeth," both the men said in unison- Joseph's voice high and questioning, Death's low and knowing.

"I belong to me," Elisabeth finished. She had begun the statement in a strong voice, speaking boldly to both the men standing before her, but she quietly trailed off as Death said to her at the same moment:

"You belong to me."

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