Till Death Do Us Part

The next morning brought humidity and lingering light grey clouds. Nicolæ woke to the sound of the birds screaming outside of his window. He looked to his right to see that Celfina was still asleep. He thought back to the night before.

It had been pleasant, that was true. He noticed she opened up more outside of the manor but she was holding something back. There was something important she wasn’t telling him. He burned with curiosity but his mother had always taught him not to meddle where he wasn’t supposed to. Perhaps she would tell him one day….

He got out of bed and stretched, heading to his closet. He picked an outfit at random and, before leaving, looked back at his wife. She was sleeping deeply. The only indication that she was alive was her chest rising and falling slowly. She shifted in her sleep and rolled on her other side, stretching out more now that he was out of bed. With one last glance, he left, closing the door quietly behind him.

Nicolæ wasn’t sure if his father was awake yet but when to the ground floor study anyway. He was surprised to find the room full of people, all demanding something from his father who sat at his desk looking harassed.

“What’s going on?” Nicolæ asked, shutting the door loudly and everyone looked around at him.

There were at least ten people but they were all strangers to Nicolæ. He had thought he knew all of his father’s associates. Unlike his father’s usual group, these men showed no sign of kindness or humor. They were all looking mad and glared at him and his father.

“Nicolæ,” his father said with a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness you’re here. You may have noticed, we have a bit of a problem.” He gestured to the ten men around him. “These men will be our ten Council members. They’re, er, impatient.”

“We were told that you would contact us after his marriage,” one of them snapped at Lucian.

“It’s only been two days,” Nicolæ frowned. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

“You have not told him?” an old man standing by the fire asked.

“I haven’t gotten the chance,” Lucian sighed. “Nicolæ, the people in the village are starting to talk.”

“How do you know?”

At his words, the door opened and in walked a young woman. She had long black hair and looked familiar.

“Nicolæ, this is Anne, Celfina’s older sister.”

Unlike Celfina, this woman was standing up as tall as she could. She had a haughty demeanor and looked down her nose at him. She crossed the room and the men bowed out of her way. She threw an envelope on the desk in front of his father.

“We found this,” she said, her voice cold.

Nicolæ snatched it and opened it. His stomach dropped. It was a list of the Council members – undoubtedly the ten men assembled in the room – and how the land would be divided. This wasn’t supposed to be released until the end.

“So you’re planning on taking over our land?” Anne snapped, glaring at his father.

“No,” he said quickly. “You misunderstand. We-”

“My mother is most upset,” Anne interrupted. “You’ve hidden your plans from us yet we agreed to let you live here with the condition you would be completely honest.”

“And I have been,” Lucian said earnestly. “I’ve not kept any secrets from you.”

“This says otherwise.” She snatched the papers from Nicolæ. “You are lucky I offered to come here. My mother, well, as I said, she’s very upset.” Her lips curled into an unpleasant smile.

Lucian sighed and stood up. “I can swear that we are not hiding anything from you. We were not going to follow through on those plans until much further down the line. Who knows how long it will be?”

Anne surveyed him for a moment. Her eyes were steel grey, holding none of the warmth that Celfina’s held.

“Two days,” she said and Lucian frowned in confusion. “You have two days to draft up a list of all of your plans.” She lifted the papers. “All of them, Lucian Dagon.”

“That’s not long enough to-”

“I will return in two days,” Anne said, walking back to the door and wrapping a shawl around her shoulders. “I expect that draft.”

With a last haughty look, she left, slamming the door behind her. Everyone turned to look at Lucian.

“How did they find that?” Nicolæ asked. “Those papers were locked in the study.”

Lucian turned his grim face to Nicolæ. “I know.”

“So someone stole them,” Nicolæ said slowly and Lucian nodded. “But who? No one from the village has been here.”

“That’s not true,” Lucian said quietly.

Nicolæ laughed. “Do you honestly believe she would break into your personal study and steal those? She would have to know where to look!”

“You forget that we couldn’t find her yesterday,” Lucian sighed, walking around the desk then leaning back against it. He crossed his arms. “You see the family she grew up with. You’ve heard the rumors.”

“She wouldn’t do that,” Nicolæ said firmly.

“Can you be sure?” Lucian asked, looking him in the eyes. “Why else would her mother give her over so eagerly? We are strangers to these people, Nicolæ. They know nothing about us. To them, we are foreigners from the North. We’ve been here for two years and not once did we go down to the village. It was a mistake to send Markus down there.”

“What do you want me to do?” Nicolæ asked quietly.

“There’s only one way to find out if Celfina did take those papers. You know how I feel about this but those papers, if they slip into the rest of the villagers’ hands, are our death sentence.”

Nicolæ stared at his father in disbelief. “You can’t be serious! No. I may not know her that well, but I refuse to take her down there.”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” the old man said quietly. “You know how delicate our situation is.”

Nicolæ looked from his father’s sad face to the hardened ones of the men around them.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll have to do it.” Liam had just walked in and was smiling unpleasantly at Nicolæ. “And after seeing your lovely wife,” he added, “I’ll enjoy it.”

Nicolæ’s hands curled into fists and he charged at Liam. Two of the men grabbed him by his arms and pulled him back.

“Calm down!” one of them said, still struggling to keep Nicolæ back.

Nicolæ stopped fighting but continued to glare at Liam, hating him. He turned his gaze to the men and his father.

“Fine,” he snapped and shoved the men off of him. He crossed to the door and spat at Liam’s feet. “If you come anywhere near Celfina,” he hissed, “you’ll have me to answer to.”

He slammed the door behind him and ran up the stairs, pausing only when he was out of earshot of the study. He closed his eyes, his heart still pounding with anger. Part of him hoped this was a nightmare. He couldn’t do it…. But if he didn’t, Liam would.

He cried out in pain. His head was on fire and he fell to his knees, gripping his hair. A tingling sensation started on his skull and spread to the back of his head. Panting, he felt his hair. Even though he couldn’t see it, he knew what had happened. He knew what he would see. More white. It was his punishment and he stayed kneeling on the floor until the searing pain disappeared.

“Nicolæ?” a quiet voice said and he looked up, still breathing heavily. Celfina was looking at him with a mixture of fear and concern on her face. “Are you all right? What happened to your hair?”

Nicolæ’s mouth went dry and he stood up shakily. “Come with me.”

“Why?”

He swallowed thickly, offering his arm. “I- I have something to show you; something that will explain everything.”

Celfina hesitated before taking his arm and he took her down the stairs, hating himself with each step more and more. He crossed to the heavy iron door and hesitated. He looked over at Celfina. She looked confused and he swallowed again before pushing it open. There were a set of rough stone stairs leading further down and he closed the door behind them, a sick feeling spreading through his body from his stomach.