The next week was tough. Christine and Erik went back to the palace, Nadir staying at his home for a few more days to mourn. They did not talk much, mostly because Erik had once more been thrown back into being torn apart by his multiple and demanding projects. The Khanum was growing tired of Christine's shrinking range, pushing it each time until she wound up coughing uncontrollably for several minutes. Erik was forced to watch her without being allowed to help, not that there was much he could do. He would have to listen to the Khanum's degradation of the sickly girl, noting what a disappointment she was to her. Erik would be beside himself with fury, but Christine would always save him the trouble by shooting back at the witch as soon as she had breath to do so. He wondered how such a slight young woman could shoulder such insults so valiantly. He marvelled at her as she continually broke through his expectations regarding that gender. He had long since believed that women were only made to tempt men, to be beautiful so that men would wish to look after them, to be a burden, in essence. But not Christine. She always pulled her own weight, and on occasion his too. She was as strong as she was beautiful, but that only made things harder. It would be hard for him to let go. This realisation was put to the test only a week after their return from Nadir's.
The Grand Vizier had always despised Erik. Hated the man –if he would even call him such a thing that- with all his being for the threat he posed to his delicate balance of power. Erik stood to overthrow everything the Vizier had slaved to accomplish in bringing Persia into the modern world. The being, more skeleton than man, had just shot down one of his proposals for a college. The details were thin, but so were the Vizier's hopes of it being approved any time soon. Now all was dashed to pieces.
His mind spun dizzily to think that the Shah, the most powerful man in all of Persia, was now taking advice from some sideshow freak who could do a few fancy tricks. This was an outrage that he, brother-in-law and respected dignitary, was now forced to sit back and be ploughed over by one with no experience in politics. This man was nothing more than a child playing with things he did not understand. It was all a game to him. He did not see how it affected the world around them, or perhaps he simply did not care.
Storming out of the main chambers of court, the Grand Vizier, as well as many of his followers, fumed in the hot sunlight, ignoring the dark shadow that approach behind.
'It is insupportable that the opinions of a demented magician are permitted to carry weight in this fashion. How can Persia take its place in the civilised world when her affairs continue to be misguided by the twisted fantasies of an insane monster?' He finally burst forth. Throwing his hands up in frustration. He failed to notice until words were already spoken that they were not alone. Turning, he jumped backwards only slightly at the sight of Erik's intimidating stature in the doorway. Once more he looked to be made of shadow, but this time his eyes were gleaming with eerie light. It was a black light that shone in them. A light of hate.
The Grand Vizier did not seem to care, however, as he straightened himself boldly before continuing. Perhaps he was just a fool.
'It is time for us all to consider how much longer the Shah will be contented to be served by a creature who properly belongs in a cage.' He looked pointedly at Erik.
'A cage?' Came a poisonous whisper from the shadow what was growing ever darker. He had not need of the Khanum's drug for this blinding fury. Oh, no. He created this all too well on his own.
'Yes, a cage, sir, is where you belong and where I would most gladly see you confined, like the hideous beast that you are. Your pretended claim to humanity is an affront to every honest man at court!' The Grand Vizier spat, making Erik's blood boil.
Before either man could speak, however, a wonderfully silver voice cut through the tense air like a knife. They turned to see the lovely Christine, glowing in the sunlight as her diaphanous white gown billowed around her. She looked like an angel sent from Heaven.
'Are there any honest men at court? I thought they were too dull for the Shah. You know how he adores being entertained.' She said with all of the conviction of a goddess. And with her long curls cascading down her back, she certainly looked it.
With all of the grace of a swan, she went over to stand beside Erik, discretely holding his arm as she had done what felt like centuries ago.
The Grand Vizier would not be swayed by the airy tones of the Khanum's favourite songbird, however, and quickly spat back.
'There are certainly fewer now that this monstrosity is here! The depravity of your activities stains us all. You are neither an artist nor a scientist! You are a deranged fiend who should have been locked away from the world at birth! Your mind is as distorted as your face! I truly shudder to think what horrendous tales are being carried from court to the European missions!'
Christine stood erect at Erik's side, seemingly waiting for the Grand Vizier to finish. Erik felt her swift change the moment the odious man had spoken his last word. Erik wondered if it would truly be his last word.
'You know, it's funny, I find the most hideous faces in the world belong to those who so fervently argue that they are beautiful. As for the tales the missionaries are spreading, I am sure they are no different than they have always been. A young Shah who surrounds himself by fools of Grand Viziers who only gain the title through marriage.' She took the measured steps to stand before the man, head still held high and eyes sharp. 'You're right on one score, Grand Vizier,' she said, mere inches from the man. 'Erik had no experience in politics. But let me assure you, he has more than enough in execution. Have a blessed day.' She smiled with a venomous calm, releasing the man's hand which she had shaken.
Turning back to Erik, she gave him a sharp look once her smile had left her lips. He wordlessly followed her through a hall when he heard the screaming behind them.
'What did you do to him?' Erik asked, growing uneasy as well as impressed.
'You really must find a better hiding place for your tarot cards.' She told him without looking back.
Erik checked the pocket he always had them hidden in to find the deck still there, but one particular card missing. 'You gave him Death.' He announced, worried over her sudden darkness.
She hummed indifferently, no-so-discretely wiping the corner of her mouth on her handkerchief, staining it with a remaining drop of blood.
Erik tried to process all of this. He was only momentarily surprised when he found himself in his own living room while Christine walked over to the balcony doors, greeting his animals as she passed.
'Why did you do that?' He commanded more than asked, making her stop in her tracks. He came up beside her as she tried to think a way out of this.
'Because I'm tired of people hurting you.' She told him at length. She looked up at him as he crossed his arms incredulously. 'And because it's my fault.' She looked down.
'Your fault? Christine, how could it possibly be your fault? I've lived with this all my life. Everywhere I go, it's always the same.' He shook his head at her childish self-blame.
'But I wanted it!' She burst out. This made him stop. She let out a pained breath as she realised she would have to explain.
'I've lived here for four years, Erik. Four whole years of my life living the torture of being picked at, told I was nothing, and just overall Hell. I wanted it to stop. I wanted it to end so that maybe I could see a bit of peace before I died. I was tired of being the Khanum's caged little songbird, so when I heard Nadir was sent off to bring back some wondrous magician for the Khanum, I thought I could find some form of relief. I wanted a replacement. I just…I didn't think it would be you.' She admitted, looking at him sorrowfully. 'When I met you, I didn't think you could possibly be the man I had inwardly sentenced to Hell, but that day before the Khanum when she said you were the magician…I just couldn't believe…I- Oh God, I'm a monster.' She broke down, pressing her palms to her eyes as she bent over with the weight of her tears. 'It's all my fault. The way you suffer. I had wanted this, but now that I know you, now that I've met you I see how terrible I was to ever wish for someone else's unhappiness. I know I can't ask you to forgive me, Erik. But please try to understand how wicked I was. I-I'm so sorry.' She nearly crumpled to the floor with this, but he came forward, placing his hands on her quivering shoulders. His fingers slowly and gently made their way to her chin, bringing it up to look at him.
'Perhaps it was wrong, Christine, but I can't find it in my heart to blame you.' He told her, resisting the urge to enfold her in his arms forever. To wipe away every tear so that she should never cry again. Yes, he wanted nothing but happiness for her.
She calmed at this, looking into his lonely, dark eyes with disbelief. He was too good for her. A thief and murderer he may be, but still he was too good; for anyone.
'I'm sorry,' she whispered again. He only smiled a bit, wiping a tear away with his thumb. Oh how he treasured the feeling of her soft cheek. Her skin so smooth and perfect. How the tip of his finger tingled at the brush of her eyelashes as she closed her eye. It nearly took his breath away.
She sniffled a bit before her brow creased slightly. 'Why do you let those horrible men get to you? Their words hold no bearing, they don't apply to you.' She reasoned.
Erik looked down and took a few steps back, turning from her and fearing the sincerity and innocence of her gaze. He knew his actions would answer her question for her, he expected her to realise he was right and silently creep from the room, never to return, but she did not. In fact, the next thing he heard made him almost gasp in surprise.
'Oh, Erik, no.' She came forward, taking his long hands in hers. 'No, don't ever believe those lies, Erik.' He looked away at this, about to object that perhaps they were not all lies, but she caught his cheek and turned him to face her, much like she had the day she learned his name. Just like then, he felt his breath catch. 'You're not a monster like that wicked man says you are. No one belongs in a cage, Erik, least of all you.'
He looked at her sadly, letting his thought turn to words that went tumbling over his lips before he could stop them. 'What do you see in me?' He almost begged, full of despair.
She paused for a moment before hardening her face and taking a slight step back, keeping a firm grip on his hands. Finally, after what seemed like forever to him, she broke into a soft smile.
'Well, you're very tall and thin,' She noted with a slight laugh. 'You always dress nicely showing you have self-respect and take care in your appearance. You do not wear any jewellery, so you are not vain or absorbed in self-importance.' She appraised his hands, rubbing his knuckles a bit with her thumbs. Turning his palms up as she continued. 'You have scars and calluses, showing you are not afraid to work hard to achieve what you desire and to be who you are. But your fingers are long and gentle, showing compassion and care.' She looked back to his general form. 'You are very lean of build and rather bony, but you still move with grace and elegance.' Her hands glided up his arms to his shoulders at this, but they did not stop until she was cupping his jaw in her soft palms.
'Your eyes tell me the most about you.' She went on. 'They hold all of your emotions. I see your sadness, your fear, and your loneliness all echoing through them. But I also see a spark of hope and happiness too. Those lights are the ones I wish you to keep burning.' She held his quickly watering gaze for a moment more. She was close enough to him that she could feel his raggedly quick breaths fluttering in his chest.
'You are all these things and more, Erik. You are kind, caring, strong, and intelligent. You hold more raw talent than the whole world could ever hope to understand. Or that I could ever pray to be allowed to see. You truly are a wonder, Erik.'
She felt his arms, which had tremblingly snaked round her, pull her waist to seamlessly close what little space remained between them. She felt his warm breath touch her skin as he lowered his face to hers. Her eyes were just fluttering closed as his lips came ever closer to hers when Nadir's signature knock was heard at the door.
Before the growl in Erik's chest had dissipated, Nadir was already striding into the room. Christine took a hurried step back, breaking the spell, and feeling her face turn deep crimson from embarrassment as Nadir looked between the two.
'Yes, Daroga?' Erik spat the title as he glowered at the floor. He knew their moment was gone, no matter how much he hoped it could be salvaged.
'I came to get you, though having Christine here complicates things a bit more.' He looked to her grimly. He knew what he had just stepped into, but he was too flustered to think on how he felt about it.
'What is it?' Erik snapped, still blaming the man for interrupting the moment and causing Christine to fly from his arms so suddenly. He was still fighting down his raging emotions as he tried to gain some composure.
'It's the swans…' He looked to Christine's now alarmed eyes.
'Petit,' she whispered, feeling a pit grow in her stomach.
'Take us. Now!' Erik commanded, offering a hand to Christine as they hurriedly followed the Daroga down the now familiar path to the Gulistan.
Once they got there, however, Erik understood why Nadir had not wished for Christine's presence. He was quite beyond words, himself.
All around were scattered the corpses of the four swans that had graced the beautiful pond with their natural elegance. Among them was a fifth, much smaller than any of the others as it was still a cygnet, not yet grown into a cob.
The second he saw it, Erik pulled Christine back from the portico, holding her as she began to frantically scramble at his restraining arms. She looked at him in scared confusion, knowing the look in his eyes was that of pure loss of describable words for his utter pain.
'Let me go, Erik.' She begged. 'Let me go! I have to know-'
'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.' He told her, almost weeping as she continued to struggle in his arms.
'Please, Erik! I have to see. Let me go!' She was growing more frantic by the second, but all he could do was repeat his apologies. Finally the meaning of his words seemed to sink in and she looked up at him in horror. When his own reflected back at her, she fainted.
'Christine!' He called as she went limp in his arms. He picked her up, holding her as he quickly made his way to her apartment, barely waiting long enough for Nadir to open the door for him. Laying her down on the bed, his hands quivered uselessly over her unconscious form. 'Christine, please hear me.' He begged of her. She groaned softly in answer, still asleep, but setting his mind to some kind of ease. Satisfied she was all right and merely overwhelmed by everything, he turned back to Nadir who had grimly been watching them from the doorway.
'What happened?' Erik demanded, slipping back into his darker, angrier self.
'The Khanum. Apparently she does not like how close you have become to Christine. She knew how much she cared for the birds, so she had them all killed.'
'I'll skin that wretched bitch alive.' Erik spat.
'I have men already working to clean it up, but I fear what this will do to her.' He nodded at the gentle form of the girl who had once loved his son so dearly.
'As do I.' Erik looked back at his angel, turning to softer tones once more. For her, he would always be kind. For her, he would try to be good.
'Erik, about what you two were-'
'Don't meddle, Daroga, it's not healthy.' Erik said coolly.
'Just…be careful.' The Persian warned, taking his masked companion's meaning all too well.
Erik looked at him tensely for a moment. 'I'm sorry you had to come back to this.' He told him before going to take Christine's hand as he sat on the very edge of her bed.
Nadir was surprised by the sentiment, but more concerned for these two. He knew it would be hard, but if things continued to build, it might become impossible to keep them safe. Just one month, he reminded himself hopefully, then sadly as he watched Erik gasp slightly as he leaned forward to brush a lock of curls from her resting face. She smiled faintly in her sleep at the gentility of the motion, making Erik soften even more.
Nadir trusted the man, but he remembered all too well the pains and trials of falling in love. His precious Rookheeya blazing ever present in his mind's eye with all of her beauty. He remembered the moment he had first seen her, at their wedding. He had worried a bit when he had seen how beautiful she was and wondered if she would be happy with him. He was not unhandsome by any standards then, but he did not believe anyone on earth deserved her beauty. Yet she grew to love him dearly as he devoted his every waking moment to her. She was his everything.
Looking now at Erik, he saw that same devotion only just beginning to bloom as he gazed at the darling Christine. Yes, this would be a long, hard, and treacherous road for the both of them. He knew what the ending could be, but he was fully aware of the ending fate had already decided upon. He just hoped for Christine's sake that there would be enough of Erik left to put back together when all was said and done. Or, perhaps, the magician had a trick hidden up his sleeve. It seemed doubtful, but Nadir knew better than to question Erik abilities, especially when Christine was on the line.
A/N: Thank you iPannzSoccerz and emmydenielle for favoriting/following this story, and emmydenielle for your lovely review. I would reply to it more personally, but you've disabled your PM, so thank you nonetheless. I am ever grateful to each and every one of you who reads this. It gives me the courage and assurance to continue writing.