She tried hard to talk herself into even the tiniest form of bravery. Edwin didn't seem to be the type of husband that she should be terrified of. He smiled at her warmly when he saw her, spoke to her in a calm yet slightly raspy tone, and looked to be gentle. Maybe her mother was right, maybe he would end up being a good husband and she would learn to be a good wife. Perhaps in the end, she would be rewarded with some travel. Yet as that image began to appear before her eyes, a part of her mind began to laugh hysterically. A good wife meant many children and who would raise them if she was off travelling? Again she felt like her stomach wanted to plummet to her feet and she was grateful for the thick veil.
Standing opposite each other before the altar, she could now take the time to really look at Edwin, standing so close. He was clean shaven, but didn't smell of fresh soap or scented water. His eyes seemed to be a little bloodshot and she wondered if maybe he hadn't really slept through the night either. The energy he had when he had won her hand had disappeared and she wanted to ask him if perhaps he had regrets, if perhaps he would like to go back home. But the choir was already singing praises to the Lord and the priest had already donned his holy robes.
The priest said a few prayers and spoke of the gravity of the event the guests were about to witness. He flipped through an ornate Bible and adjusted his gloves while Arielle tried her hardest to keep from getting sick. Then the doors of the local church swung open with a loud creak and thud. The echo reverberated throughout the church causing everyone to turn to see its source. Arielle shifted her gaze along with Edwin and a mind numbing chill crept up her spine and overtook her whole body.
"Oh God, no," she whispered.
Dorian stood there before them just like she remembered him; suave and malicious. Even from the other side of the church, she could hear his heavy breathing; she could swear she could hear him grinding his teeth. She didn't understand the physics of it, but she felt those breaths crawl across her skin, leaving prickling goosebumps in their wake. Her lungs began to burn with screams that couldn't find their way out.
"How dare you interrupt this holy ceremony!" Cecil roared across the chamber.
"How dare you," Dorian yelled in return, "give away my bride!"
A chaotic outcry spread across the church and the guests looked at each other with wide eyes and open mouths. Edwin looked at Arielle with a tense expression on his face and Arielle turned to look at her father in horror.
"How dare you! My daughter is no man's bride, but for this man here!" Cecil yelled, his face red, the veins in his neck bulging.
"Is that so? Ask her! Ask her if she knows me!"
Cecil turned his glare to Arielle and she felt her legs begin to tremble under the weight of that stare. Memories rushed through her head, out of control and out of any order. Her mouth went dry and her hands began to shake as the smell of the dungeon Eden had been kept in filled her nostrils. Her vision narrowed; the chapel began to collapse in on itself and take the shape of the hall in Jerusalem.
"I can't-"
"What is the meaning of this?" Cecil roared, "Is what this craven saying true?"
Tears ran down Arielle's cheeks and she could sense a sneer cross Dorian's face. He began to approach her ever so slowly, his each footstep nailing her in place. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing him to disappear, but he was there in the darkness beneath her eyelids.
"Please," she whispered so quietly that even Edwin couldn't hear.
Edwin finally began to understand what Dorian's approach meant and called for any able man to seize him. Dorian squirmed and hurled insults and threats as he was held back by a growing group of guests. Edwin roared at the priest to hurry with the ceremony and vows and finally turned to Arielle, his eyes wide, his fingers digging into her arms.
"You will marry me this day! Say the words!" Edwin commanded, shaking Arielle's shoulders, "Say them!"
Arielle's lips mumbled out her vows after the priest who rushed through them with a trembling voice. Arielle's legs begged her to run, but she didn't budge; her mind begged for her to stop talking, but her lips continued their movements. She watched Dorian seething, trying to pull out of the guests' grip. His eyes were fixated on her, those eyes burned holes in her soul as Edwin's steel grip burned holes in her skin.
"She is mine now and none else's!" she heard Edwin yell to Dorian who let out a terrible roar like a wounded animal.
Arielle turned to look at Edwin who glared at Dorian with a hatred that she had rarely seen in anyone. His eyes had grown more bloodshot, his voice began to crack and become rough and hoarse. Is this my fate, to be a simple possession to fall from one monster to another? A shudder traveled through her entire body, making Edwin take notice. He looked at her for a few moments, oblivious to the gestures and chants from the priest.
"You're mine now," he said, "You're mine."
"Why are we turning off the road?"
"I know a shorter way through the woods," Edwin replied with a forced and tired smile that made her want to run.
He slowly made his way into the thick forest and didn't even check whether she was following him. She balled the reins in her hands and thought about escaping. It didn't matter where she went as long as it was away. She looked behind her at the family home she knew she would probably never see again. For a moment she thought of racing back to her father and throwing herself at his feet. She imagined his scowl and shouts and closed her eyes.
"Come along!"
Arielle let out a defeated sigh and gently nudged her horse forward.
She could feel the ring beneath her gloves. It pressed against her skin, constantly making itself known. It was uncomfortable and she fought back the urge to slide it off her finger. She chuckled to herself in a moment of dark humor when she realized that perhaps a collar and chain would have been more adequate to the whole ceremony. In the end, Jerusalem hadn't mattered. The Fiori, Uriel, Eden, none of it had mattered. She had become the possession she had spent so much time trying to avoid. And to think that she had once thought it was what she wanted above anything else. Christ's nails, Arielle, you are the dumbest thing God ever created.
They stumbled their way through the snow-covered forest. Edwin was constantly looking over his shoulder and straining to see ahead and Arielle didn't know whether to laugh or be worried. She began to almost wish to get caught by bandits or demons or anything else that might end the both of them. Every once in a while, the thought that Dorian might be the thing making Edwin so nervous crossed her mind, but she promptly tossed it aside; it wasn't a thought she could bear. His howls still rang in her ears; she could still hear the heavy breaths he forced through his clenched teeth. She couldn't remember how Edwin had got them out of the chapel or what happened to Dorian after that. The only thing that she could recall was her father telling the both of them that Dorian was gone as he dusted off his hands as if he had done it himself. Now they were on the road to Genua, her new home.
"Home," she whispered. The word felt metallic and bitter on her tongue. She had traveled half the known world to discover that home could be strong arms and a soothing voice instead of four walls and a roof. She had found that home, seen that home, but that home had left her. She didn't know where her home was anymore so she simply decided to follow someone who would take her to the next best house where she could play pretend.
Arielle was relieved to see the horse was able to find its own way through the woods; she didn't want to watch the ground pass by, she didn't want to know where she was now. She only noticed that it had begun to grow dark when Edwin shortened the distance between them. He had said next to nothing during their ride. His energy was gone; his smile had vanished. Arielle blamed the fading light for making him look pale and sickly, his eyes becoming more sunken with every hour.
Edwin's horse neighed loudly and drew back on its haunches as a figure slowly and silently made its way from among the trees. It was all so silent and unreal that Arielle was convinced she was seeing ghosts, but hoped it was the bandits she had been praying for. The figure said and did nothing for a few moments and Arielle was ready to cry out and beg him to get to robbing and killing them already.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The voice sent a chill down Arielle's spine and she shook her head. Lack of food and water and the cold had gotten to her mind. Edwin backed away to where Arielle was, the snow crunching loudly below the horse's hooves.
"I'm on my way home," Edwin said.
"This isn't the road to Genua."
Again Arielle felt a chill pass through her.
"Oh, for the love of Christ, let us pass or run us through," she said with a sigh that sent her thick, white breath into the air between them.
The figure remained where it was, rigid and quiet, and Arielle felt the stare from beneath the hood begin to freeze her more than the snow.
"Turn!"
The voice boomed among the trees and made Edwin flinch. Arielle turned to watch him begin to bite at his lips and fidget in his saddle. His gaze flickered between the rider and Arielle and he finally licked his lips several times before taking a deep breath.
"You didn't greet my wife."
The figure's horse snorted loudly and beat a hoof into the ground, sending pieces of dirt and snow into the air; Arielle could have sworn she had felt the ground tremble. A chill ran down her spine again and she no longer wanted to die at the hands of the rider, but instead run away.
"This is my wife," Edwin called, "She promised herself to me."
Edwin's arms shook and he spit as he yelled as if his voice would scare anyone away.
"Do you know him?" Arielle asked.
"What?" Edwin replied, spinning around to her, "No."
She watched him nervously glance back at the figure. His eyes were bloodshot again and she noticed his voice was hoarse.
"Where do you know him from?"
"Silence, woman," he answered loudly, "This is my wife and we are on our way home."
"No, you're not."
"And how are you so sure?" Arielle asked.
"Because he has no home and you're not his wife."
"I see. Then how would you explain the matching bands on our fingers? It's true, we are married."
"You see?! She belongs to me!" Edwin cried.
Slowly the figure moved forward from the shadowy interior of the forest. Edwin winced with each step and Arielle could feel the ground trembling again.
"Remove your hood, stranger. Reveal who you are and what you want from us!" Arielle said.
The figure stopped a couple of lengths away and remained silent as Edwin fidgeted like a worm on a hook. Though Arielle couldn't see the rider's face, she could sense a tension she hadn't noticed before, a very calm yet indescribably frightening power that lurked right beneath the hood.
"Vows of marriage are of our world, not yours," the figure said slowly with a different tone, making Edwin cringe again, "so you'll let her go now."
"What?" Arielle asked, "What's going on here?"
"I told you silence!" Edwin shouted at her.
"Who are you?" Arielle shouted at the rider, "Show me your face! Tell me your name!"
"And I said turn!" the rider shouted even louder, silencing them both, "Should I remind you why you're still alive in the first place? Do as I say and slink off to the rest of your pathetic existence or you can explain to the gatekeeper how you made a deal with a guardian."
Edwin grabbed the sides of his head and howled up at the sky, sending Arielle aback. Edwin dropped his reins and looked at the both of them with utter contempt, saliva dripping down the corner of his mouth, his breathing heavy, his eyes turning from red to gray.
"Turn!"
In a single moment, Edwin leaped off his horse and crouched down on the ground. Though his clothes were the same, Arielle could she that his thick hair was now thinned and grey, his skin was a sickly ashy hue and his back was hunched slightly.
"Now go and may we never meet again."
He spat, howled again, and ran off into the trees like a wild animal. And then it was quiet.
Arielle watched those trees for a long time after it had grown silent and still. She waited for herself to awaken; the rider would disappear, Edwin would return and they would continue on their journey to his manor. The rider's horse snorted and Arielle slowly turned her head to see the rider still there, watching her. And for another long while, Arielle simply stared and waited.
"Eden?" she whispered.
"Yes."
"Are you real?"
"Yes."
"Prove it."
Eden approached slowly into the last threads of daylight and pulled her thick hood down. Another chill traveled down Arielle's spine and it was as cold as it was comforting. She took her time watching the guardian, tipping her head from side to side ever so slightly, her eyes continually flickering to the hand Eden was resting on her sword. She had prayed for bandits, but God worked in mysterious ways and brought a different end.
"Turn," Arielle whispered.
Eden remained motionless and the horse snorted and pawed at the ground.
"I said turn."
"Arielle, you're safe."
"Am I?"
"Yes."
It was silent yet again as Arielle simply stared straight ahead without a word. Eden sighed, dismounted, and carefully walked up to the bard.
"Can I help you down?"
"No."
She wondered if Eden had finally come undone with news of the marriage and now their fate was to be sealed. A part of her actually seemed to be relieved with the thought. How ironic that I should die by the one I have fought so much to be with. This is the last hand I thought I would fall beneath, but so be it.
Eden took a step back and quietly waited, wringing her hands behind her back. Arielle watched her closely and after a while, slowly made her way down. She stared at the ground for a few moments and pressed against it with her foot a few times before looking back up at Eden.
"Get it over with."
"What?"
"Just please make it swift."
"What are you talking about?" Eden asked with furrowed brows and a shake of her head.
"In the last few days I've experienced nearly every horror I could imagine. Just give me this last one and put me out of my misery."
"You think I'm here to kill you! Have you completely lost your mind! I'm here to save you."
"You're too late."
The words bit more than the cold and Eden took a step back. The movement brought back a memory and its sound echoed throughout the corridors of Arielle's mind. Those echoes awaken other memories and each began to fight to be remembered again, creating a thunderous noise in the bard's mind. She took a few deep breaths that billowed like thick clouds in the evening air.
"Tell me what happened," Arielle said softly, "What really happened?"
"It's hard for me to explain right now," Eden answered carefully, "But you're safe. And you're not married."
"I'm not?"
"No."
"I see."
Arielle absently pulled her gloves off as she stared behind her as if she was waiting for Edwin to come back anyway.
"But you're here," the bard said, turning back to the warrior.
"I am."
"For good?"
"I know you've passed through a lot of hands recently," Eden answered quietly, looking at the ground for a few moments, "but I'll be here for good...if you want me to."
"I see...And what about Edwin?"
"He won't be coming back. That I promise."
"Just like Dorian wouldn't come back?"
Eden took a long step forward and grabbed Arielle's arm gently.
"Did he hurt you?"
"No...No..."
She heard Eden let out a deep breath.
"Did you know about this?"
"Dorian? I knew he would follow you, but I didn't think he'd find you here. But then I heard of a band of warriors passing through. I checked and it was him."
"He found me, Eden."
"I know. Thankfully his army thought it was busy chasing me."
Arielle looked at her with curiosity before looking back into the dark forest.
"Did you know of Edwin?"
"Yes," Eden replied quietly after a long silence.
"Did you orchestrate all this?"
"Yes."
"I thought you had left."
"I did. But I came back."
"Why didn't you come for me?"
"I did. Through Edwin."
"But I didn't know that. I didn't know any of that," Arielle said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
Arielle grew silent, her gaze never leaving the trees. Eden slowly approached the bard until she was standing right in front of her. Arielle's face was expressionless, her gaze distant. Her breathing was deep, even, and forced, her body stiff and tense. And then Arielle slapped Eden across the face.
"You left me all alone! You left me with some monster and let another find me in my family's home! And you stand there and tell me that I'm safe now?"
This time Eden caught Arielle's hand and held it firmly as the bard struggled against her with all her strength.
"Stop, Arielle, it's over."
"It's never over! I pray and I pray and it's never over! I hate you! Do you hear me? I hate you!"
"I know."
The simplicity and calm of that statement stunned Arielle and she stood there, her chest heaving, her wrists in the warrior's firm grip. All the strength evaporated from her body and she now found it difficult to simply stand. Eden watched the bard closely and slowly loosened her grip. Despite her loud, confused mind, Arielle found herself taking a small, shaky step forward and when nothing happened, she took another one until she was standing right against the warrior. Eden smelled of pine trees and leather and Arielle closed her eyes as the scent invaded her nostrils and her past memories turned into present thoughts. The pressure was released from her wrists as Eden gently let go and for a moment Arielle felt like she was floating. She was free for that single moment. She didn't feel any pain or cold or fear. The whole world was pine and leather and the faint sound of Eden's breathing.
The snow crunched under the horses' hooves and the bard opened her eyes. Eden was watching her closely, waiting. She wondered how Eden was able to say so much without saying a single word.
"I don't...I don't hate you."
"I know."
The cold began to creep up her legs and across her body. Her muscles began to speak to her in pain and tiredness, but she ignored them. She closed her eyes again, promising herself that if she opened them and Eden was still there that she would finally believe it. She felt a soft, fleeting presence of warmth as Eden pulled the edges of Arielle's cloak more closely around the bard. A current of tingling sensations ran up and down her spine.
"Eden?"
"Yes?"
"Hold me."
Soon the bard felt strong arms wrapping around her, filling her world with warmth and security. A lump grew in Arielle's throat, threatening to choke her and she wanted to scream and melt at the same time.
"You're shaking," Eden said softly into her hair.
"It's you," the bard whispered, "It's really you."
"It's really me."
A fire crackled between them after Eden had set up a basic camp nearer the road while cursing Edwin under her breath. Both Eden and Arielle chewed on some dried venison and stale bread and huddled beneath their cloaks against the cold. Eden prayed it wouldn't snow. Arielle prayed that she wouldn't wake from this dream.
"Did you really not recognize me?" Eden asked.
"What?"
"In the forest. You acted like you didn't know who I was."
Arielle hummed for a moment and looked at the fire. No matter how close she kept her hands to the flames or how much she rubbed, she still couldn't get feeling fully back into them. She stared at the wedding band still on her finger, twirling it around and around aimlessly.
"I knew you weren't a stranger, but I...I just couldn't think. I felt a shiver when you spoke...I couldn't think."
"Do you still feel that cold?" Eden asked after a while as she poked at the snow with a twig.
"Cold, yes, but that shiver is gone I think."
Eden only nodded and began to draw random, crooked shapes.
"Take it off."
Eden looked up at her and Arielle extended her hand. Eden's face lost itself in the shadows for a brief moment and reappeared with a loud crack of the fire. She crouched down in front of Arielle and took her hand.
"Take it off of me. It's disgusting," Arielle said.
"Maybe you want to do it?"
"No, you do it. I want you to get rid of it like you do with every other demon."
Eden looked at her for a while, but Arielle wouldn't meet her gaze. Slowly, Eden pulled the wedding band off and Arielle flexed and turned her hand several times.
"I thought it would take more than that. It just came right off," Arielle said while running her finger along her skin.
"It's just a band. It's doesn't have to mean anything."
"It's doesn't have to mean anything," Arielle repeated softly.
Eden got up with a sigh and tucked the ring into Arielle's saddle bag before returning to her spot by the fire. She chewed on some dried venison and tried to forget the cold constantly trying to seep into her bones. She snapped a couple of larger, dead branches against her knee and threw them in the fire. The fire spit out the left over snow and pops and cracks sent embers up into the night air.
"Tell me about it," Arielle finally said, "Tell me what happened."
Eden moved to get up, but then just relaxed again and shifted her weight on the log.
"I thought about your marriage so much, I thought I'd lose my mind. Maybe in the end I did; I couldn't think of any good way to solve the problem and not hurt anyone. The only thing I could try to control was who you'd marry...I thought about disguising myself, but the minute you'd recognize me, we'd be in trouble."
Eden's voice trailed off and the night again was overtaken by the sound of the fire and birds of the shadows. Arielle pulled her cloak around herself more tightly.
"And then?"
"I guess you could say I made a pact with the devil. It was the only thing I could think of. I once saved a young shapeshifter from a band of drunken peasants. It might not deserve to live, but that doesn't mean you can torture it and give it a slow, painful death. I let it go with the promise it would never come back to these lands. But it did and so I made another trade - a favor for its life. The shapeshifter became Edwin and married you. There needed to be witnesses, signed papers...We were supposed to meet on the road to Genua, but I imagined he'd try to keep you to himself. I know I would..."
Arielle tore her gaze away from the fire and looked at Eden, the firelight dancing in her eyes. Whether it was in joy or anger, Eden couldn't tell.
"Now Edwin is dead and you're a widow. If your family ever find out, that is."
"But his estate in Genua...If I'm not there..."
"Well the night before your wedding, Anton might have mentioned to your father that Edwin confided in him about buying an estate in Florence that would befit your beauty. Your mother might have been relieved since she thinks Genua is full of pirates."
"Anton helped you?"
"He owed me for not letting the mob break his sorry neck."
"So what does this all mean?"
"You can live at my estate in Florence. You'll be safe there. Elizabeth and I can spread enough rumors to have news reach the ears of your parents to avoid any suspicion."
Arielle looked at Eden for so long that the warrior finally broke their gaze and began to draw in the snow again. For a time, Arielle forgot the cold, her soreness, her exhaustion, her unwillingness to even move anymore. She pulled her hand out from beneath her cloak and ran it across a piece of bark still stuck to the log. The roughness and the sound all told her that she was real. It was all real.
"You thought of everything, didn't you?"
"I tried. It's not perfect, but I didn't have much time."
"And the pact with the devil?"
"God doesn't like guardians making deals with demons and others. He'll be angry with me."
"Even if it's for good in the end?"
"To some black is always a shadow even though it's sometimes a pleasant shade. I'll pay for it sooner or later," Eden said, "but it doesn't matter at all to me."
Arielle let out a silent laugh and Eden watched her white breath disappear into the night.
"I'm constantly telling you to stop thinking that I'm going to leave you when, in the end, I'm the one who always thinks I've been abandoned," Arielle said quietly, "It would be funny if it wasn't so utterly sad."
Eden said nothing and instead threw some more wood on the fire and dusted herself off.
"We have a lot of road to cover, let's get some sleep. You take the furs; it'll be a cold night."
"No," Arielle said softly as she looked at the warrior, "Sleep with me, Eden, on my wedding night."
Eden stood still and stared at the bard as she made her way to the lean-to near the fire. She crawled into the furs and bedding and then extended her hand.
"Sleep and we'll leave with the dawn."
Eden slowly crawled in beside her and made sure the bard was wrapped up warmly before lying down. The bard placed her hand on Eden's chest and a few moments later was fast asleep. Eden, however, slept lightly; she knew what dangers the forest held.