Pure Hands Part Eight
Haru could hardly believe her luck. King Lune had told her that he'd found the perfect man that would learn to love her, and he'd kept his word.
Her new husband was holding her tight inside the carriage as it took them to their new home. She nestled a bit more comfortably into his arms, feeling safe for the first time since her mother died.
"I'm glad you don't mind me being so forward, dear," he purred into her ear before pressing a kiss to her hair. "But you suit me better than I could have hoped."
Haru couldn't help a happy blush and smile from emerging like a blooming flower. "I was really nervous about getting married to a complete stranger, but I could get used to these arms."
"Understandable," he assured her just as the carriage slowed down, and then stopped completely. "Ah, we've arrived. Shall we take a look?"
Haru nodded excitedly, though she wasn't exactly thrilled about him removing one arm from around her in order to open the door.
He hopped out first and held his arms out to her like he wanted her to jump into his arms. Haru happily did so, feeling nothing but joy as he swung her around a few times before allowing her feet to touch the ground.
Even through her love haze, something felt wrong about how silent their surroundings were. Although she would have preferred to keep her eyes on her newly minted husband, she managed to look around to see what the problem was.
No one was driving their carriage. The horses were being strangely still and silent, at least until her husband shut the door. Then they were happy to trot off without a driver into a thick mist that surrounded them.
Haru looked up at her new castle. It was a lot smaller than her father's, or the royal palace, but that suited her just fine.
What didn't suit her was that there wasn't a single servant waiting to welcome them. They were the new lord and lady of this part of the kingdom, so tradition dictated-
"I asked for everyone to allow us privacy in advance," her husband murmured into one ear before sweeping her off her feet. "We both know what is expected this night, but I think that we should decide the proceedings without commentary or interference."
Haru's heart melted with love for this man, making her wrap her arms around his neck as he carried her into their new home as the silver mist seemed to close in tighter around the castle.
Once inside the foyer, Haru felt a strange chill, as if she'd been here before. She was reasonably certain she hadn't thanks to the distance from her father's march, but the tapestries on the wall were strangely vivid, as well as the shapes of the stones that made up the floors and walls.
Her husband almost regretfully set her on her feet. "Would you be interested in indulging a little fantasy of mine?"
"What do you have in mind?" Haru asked, since she'd have liked to cuddle on a chair near that inviting fire all night while talking and getting more used to each other's presence.
He smiled apologetically. "I was never allowed to indulge myself as a child, and the servants will be back in the morning, so this may be the only night to do it. Would you be interested in a game of hide and seek?"
Haru blinked before laughing a little. "I was never allowed to play that game, either. It looked like fun when I'd watch commoner children do it, though."
He beamed at her before gently turning her to face the wall. "Then cover your eyes, count to ten, and come find me with a kiss."
Her heart fluttered at the idea as another smile bloomed on her lips, and she was powerless to say no. She covered her eyes and started counting aloud. Her ears strained to find some clue which direction he'd go, but he was as silent as the mist outside.
Once reaching the last number, Haru couldn't resist adding, "Ready or not, here I come!" as she turned to look around the foyer.
There were very few places for her husband to be hiding in this room. She did a cursory check around the furniture and drapes anyway before frowning at all the halls leading away from the foyer. Her heart pounded at the thought of wandering around the castle all night, but she did agree to do this with him. "It had better be a really good kiss," she still muttered before picking one at random and marching like she knew it was the right one.
There were so many rooms, and all draped in shadows by now. The silver moon did its best to aid her search, but no matter how carefully she checked each room, she could find neither husband nor candle or any other flame after losing sight of the foyer.
So many rooms and some of them locked tight. So cold, so dark, so unending. She opened her mouth to call out for him, but for some reason her voice wouldn't work. How long would it be until sunrise? What if he had an accident and she didn't find him? What if she had an accident but he had no idea thanks to wherever he was hiding and waiting for her to find him?
… He did want her to find him, didn't he?
"Haru!" a voice snapped out of nowhere as unfamiliar hands fiercely gripped her by the shoulders, stopping her in her tracks as the hall seemed to shift only slightly in her vision.
She inhaled sharply from shock as she blinked, looking up at her husband, wearing only a hastily thrown on kimono that exposed a little of his chest and the gold chain that he famously never removed.
But he was not the one she had just been searching for. Even as she looked upon that flawless face through the dim light of sparse torches, she remembered.
She hadn't gotten that tender, intimate carriage ride to their new home. He'd insisted on riding his horse while she stayed in the carriage alone.
She hadn't been held even once by a husband, or any man for that matter.
This fierce grip on her arms was the only touch she'd received from him in eight months. Eight months that he'd spent giving his attention to literally everything and anything that wasn't her.
Haru scowled at the Baron von Gikkingen with open disgust before using every scrap of strength to shove him away. "I don't recall giving you permission to touch me," she informed him with all the warmth of an iceberg.
There had been a little concern in his features, but he was definitely taken aback by her first words to him.
"My lady," Tomboe tried to scold, but Haru gave him a glare to remind him that she didn't have to listen to soldiers if she wasn't in a listening mood.
A single glance down at her nightgown explained the situation in full. "Sleepwalking again," she sighed tiredly, turning around to head back to the East Wing. "No wonder I've been tired during the day. I'll take care of it, everyone as you were." 'Thank heaven I never sleep in the nude!'
Then again, this sometimes habit of hers was precisely the reason why, even though it was more common to not wear anything to bed. She didn't recognize this hallway, which surely meant that she'd wandered into the West Wing without interference.
"By what do you mean by that? Shackling yourself to the bed?!" the baron demanded in outrage.
"It worked just fine growing up," Haru called over one shoulder as she started marching faster away from the spectacle.
She'd walked farther than she ever had as a child, but that was probably due to her father's soldiers not letting her get very far before shouting loud enough to wake her up and scurry back to her room to be locked up for a week.
Haru sighed sadly since she hated using the manacle. Even wrapping it in wool cloth didn't change the sensation of a cold, merciless grasp on her wrist. Her dreams were never pleasant when using it, but at least she didn't have the ability to embarrass herself when the key was just beyond her conscious reach until a maid would unchain her in the morning.
The stones were cold against her feet. Haru couldn't feel it anymore, but since the bottoms of her feet were numb, it was more than likely. Strange, how feet that had been warmed by a bed wouldn't wake her by making contact with cold stone.
All of her was cold. So cold. Her vision from the evenly spaced dim torches began to sway and dance as tears threatened to blind her, but Haru was an aristocrat. She could wait to cry her heart out until she was alone like a lady.
It was just so unfair. For an all-too brief moment in time, she got to forget her pain, her loneliness, the constant little reminders that she didn't deserve even a fraction of her cousin's happiness.
Thanks to her numb feet and deep, troubled thoughts, Haru barely noticed that she tripped on a stone that jutted out slightly from its companions until she was already falling.
It was the arm that caught her from hitting the floor that surprised her.
"Haru, maybe you should spend the rest of the night in my chambers, they're closer," Baron offered worriedly while helping her back to her feet.
Haru shoved him away the same as before, but with a bitter laugh. "Oh no, I don't want to jeopardize my second marriage options. Just go back to ignoring me, you're good at that."
He flinched, but still stepped in front of her to cut off her escape route. "What 'second marriage options'?" he asked sternly, but that just made her laugh with scorn all over again.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you delusional enough to think that after you abandon me to go be with your lady love after your uncle dies, that I'd just spend the rest of my life pining after a complete stranger that never gave me a chance?" she sneered, making him blink in confusion. "Even if I wanted to do that, my position with my cousin doesn't make it a viable option. I'll be given to someone else after you run back to Yrael, and when it happens, I'm going to insist on a private chat before the wedding to clear up any lies that were told or 'forgotten' unpleasant truths to make me obey the king's wishes, because I assure you, I did not sign up to be the unwanted mistress in my own marriage!"
He flinched, and at least had the grace to look guilty about their situation. Especially since he was the author of most of it.
"Besides, this is pathetic," Haru grumbled while stepping around him. "Clearly, the only reason the watchmen allowed me to wander so far from my chambers was because they wanted you to be the one to wake me up and force a conversation. The men under the marquis' employ were never so sloppy."
But before she knew it, the Baron was sweeping her into his arms and marching determinedly back the way they had come towards his own chambers. "What are you doing?! Put me down!"
The expression on her husband's face was grim. "No. Sloppy or not, the watchmen and everyone else are clearly correct that we are overdue for a conversation."