Till Death Do Us Part

It was several days before Nicolæ and Celfina were able to leave their room. They were both still weak and walked slowly. The sky was white and snow was falling gently. Per his father’s request, Nicolæ led Celfina to his father’s personal study on the other side of the manor. Celfina leaned on him for support and he put his arm around her waist, helping her walk the rest of the way. He knocked on the heavy door and walked in.

Before he even acknowledged his father, he helped Celfina to the leather couch by the fire. He then sat beside her and glared at his father.

“We found Liam in the office while- while it happened,” Lucian muttered, pulling a chair to the couch to speak with them. “He and Anne were working together. He has been in the dungeons since then but we can’t get Anne.”

“Why not?” Nicolæ demanded.

“We don’t have the authority, apparently,” Lucian said. “They’re a well-protected family.” He cleared his throat and addressed Celfina. “I owe you some explanations,” he said quietly but she just stared at him. “We moved here two years ago during the harsh winter. I’m assuming you know about the war that ripped the North apart?”

Celfina shook her head no. “Mother never told me.”

“It started fifteen years ago, when Nicolæ was just ten years old. I allied with the opposing army. You see, the king was taking advantage of our kingdom. He was hoarding the food supply and all water during that awful drought. We couldn’t stand it any longer.

“The war lasted about five years. But we lost. Lack of supplies and food and water forced us to retreat. We spread out South. Ten of my fellow rebels followed me. They stayed at the foot of the mountains and waited for me to send them word when we would move forward with their plans.

“It required an amount of stealth that I didn’t even know I had. We found this manor completely empty. The grounds were taking over and we fixed it up. The story, should anyone have asked, we purchased from the previous owner and we wanted to come where the winters weren’t as cruel as ours had been. The owner showed up about six months after we had settled in and demanded to know what was going on.

“In the end, he agreed to let us stay. His family was going to another village and he swore to keep our identities secret. You see, we were still being hunted for. The only solution we could think of was to hide who we really were, build a new colony, and start fresh.

“Those papers that Liam stole had all of our names on it as well as our plans. He gave them to Anne. Your mother took over your father’s seat on the Council and worked carefully with us, though we never told her our true story. We had no idea that Liam was working for the king. So when Anne came forward with the papers, I thought you had stolen them and was working with your family.”

Silence followed the story. Celfina was staring at Lucian with an expressionless face.

“Why was I tortured?” she whispered.

“All of us endured some kind of torture before we escaped,” he explained. “I was tied to a wall and whipped several times a day. They kidnapped Nicolæ and did something even worse.” He gestured at Nicolæ’s hair. “We didn’t believe magic existed until then. They cursed him. Whenever he disobeys an order, some of his hair would turn white. Once it went from red to white completely, Nicolæ will die. We have not yet found a counter curse,” he said sadly. “We are still doing research. So, when Anne threatened us, we fell back on what we knew.

“None of this is an excuse, Celfina,” he said and took her hands in his. “What we did was awful. We don’t deserve forgiveness. I want you to understand, though. We are still at war. It’s so easy to revert to your past when confronted with death.

“Elisabeth and I have discussed it and, should you choose to, you are free to leave,” he said. “We only ask that you keep our identities secret. Of course, we would love if you were to stay and we’ll do whatever is necessary to make things right. But it’s your decision.”

Celfina was quiet for a long time. Nicolæ fixed his eyes on the wall across from him. He wanted her to stay. He wanted to make up for everything. He wanted her. He didn’t know that until now.

“I’ll stay,” she said in a very quiet voice and both men looked at her in surprise. “I- I have nothing to go back to. You’re not the only ones keeping secrets,” she added, looking at her hands.

“You don’t have to tell us a thing,” Lucian said firmly. “We don’t deserve your confidence. But I can swear to you that, whatever it takes, we will find a way to make things right.”

--

The next few days were just as subdued as the ones before. Celfina spent a lot of time at the piano while Nicolæ read, sitting on the window sill of the piano room. When they had regained their strength, he suggested taking a ride. The night was clear and the moon was full, casting a beautiful scene. Celfina agreed and they went to change. She changed in her closet, something she was doing all the time now and he didn’t blame her.

They trudged through the snow, their winter cloaks keeping them warm. Nicolæ saddled Pitch and Daylight and helped Celfina up.

“I was thinking of going somewhere different this time,” he said as they took the path again.

“Where?”

“It’s a little meadow I found on the first summer I was here,” he answered. “It’s a peaceful place and should look nice in the snow.”

They continued on in silence. The moon glittered on the snow making it look like diamonds. Ice hung from the branches of the trees and gave the trees a smooth outer shell. Winter was not his favorite season but he couldn’t deny the beauty it gave nature.

Occasionally, he would look over at Celfina. She was looking around and even ran her fingers through Daylight’s mane. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking but she didn’t seem sad.

Finally they reached their destination and he smiled at the look of surprise on her face. It was a decent sized meadow, circled by large trees. During the summer, the leaves branched high and covered the meadow so that the sun was filtered and filled it with green light. In the winter, though, there wasn’t anything to break the light. Frozen flowers and plants crunched under the horses’ hooves and he pulled Pitch to a stop on the edge. He tied his reins to the tree then moved to Daylight.

He took Celfina’s hips and helped her slide off. She wandered into the middle of the meadow as he tied Daylight’s reins to the same tree. Both horses began to dig in the snow, looking for something to eat. Nicolæ hung back. Celfina had lifted her face to the moon and closed her eyes. He felt like he was observing a private moment but couldn’t ignore the way the moon made her almost glow.

He slowly walked forward and she turned to him, biting her lower lip. He could tell she was deep in thought so he stood and waited. She then said something that made him experience so many feelings he couldn’t separate them.

“I trust you,” she whispered.

“I don’t deserve it,” he said, shaking his head.

“But I’m giving you my trust,” she insisted and he looked at her. She looked at the ground, her eyebrows furrowed. “That first night you asked me a question. I didn’t answer because I was afraid what you would think. That and I didn’t trust you.” Nicolæ’s heart started to pound. “When my father died, we were poor,” she whispered. She wrapped her arms around herself as she had done so many times. “My mother and sisters tried to find work as did I. I was going to be a servant but my mother came home one day and said she found something better for me.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“That night, there was a visitor at the door. I had never met him before but my mother greeted him like a friend. She told me to wait in a spare room. I didn’t know what was going on.” Nicolæ’s mouth went dry. “I- I tried to fight. But I wasn’t a match for him. He beat me until I couldn’t move then he- he had his way with me.” She gulped and Nicolæ stood in horror. “I thought it was just that one time. I was wrong. Each night…. I tried to tell someone. She confronted my mother.

“We never saw her again but the nightly meetings stopped for a long time. Instead, she made me do everything I could do, blaming me for what happened. One night, in a drunken rage, she beat me so badly. It was torture. Then, one night, she woke me up, forced me into a carriage, and brought me here.”

Nicolæ’s stomach felt queasy as he stared in disbelief. Celfina wasn’t meeting his eyes; instead she was toying with a loose strand on her winter cloak. He didn’t know what to say so he pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. She tensed but eventually relaxed, leaning against him.

They stayed like that in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but it had peculiar warmth to it. His heart started to beat quickly as he stepped back a little. Their faces were only inches away and she looked into his eyes. It had started snowing again and flakes landed on her eye lashes and made her black hair glitter.

He wasn’t sure what to do. He hadn’t felt like this before and he knew she hadn’t, either. They seemed to stand for eternity until he summoned the courage. Slowly, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips to hers.

Again, she tensed before she seemed to melt in his arms, kissing him back. She wrapped her hands around his neck, holding onto him tightly as if afraid she’d fall. Everything disappeared. Every trial they had gone through, every flake of snow, every gust of cold wind. For those few moments, it was just him and Celfina.

She pulled away first and he opened his eyes, feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of his lungs. He had never experienced something as amazing at what just happened. Without another word, he pulled her close and kissed her again. She touched his cheek, leaning further into the kiss and he deepened the kiss, wanting nothing more than to freeze the moment.

That time, he pulled back first and then hugged her. His knees felt weak and together they fell to their knees in the snow. She looked into his eyes, her own a little fearful but burned with something he had never seen in them before. She pulled him to her and kissed him. As she did, she pulled him more and he pushed her gently to the ground.

The snow seemed to melt around them as his hands slid down to her hips. She ran her fingers through his hair and he kissed her neck. She let out a shaky breath as his stomach churned, his body begging for something more.

But he stopped. He couldn’t do it. Instead, he lay beside her and pulled her close and the two fell asleep in the snow.