The Fallen

by Anne Schlea

  His eyes grow wide when he sees her, and he seems to waver a little on his feet. He swallows because he doesn’t know what to say. Mia pushes him gently. “Go on.”

  He looks sideways at her and steps toward Anna, reaching into his pocket to pull out a black box. His hands shake as he holds it out to her. “You look beautiful. This is my gift to you, it’s nothing compared to you.”

  Anna takes the box from his trembling hands and flips it open. Inside is a pair of diamond stud earrings. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, hurry up and put them on and let’s get this show on the road.” Mia pushes Anna toward a mirror.

  Riley takes the moment to settle his nerves. Marissa hugs him lightly, she’s wearing a purple dress. That’s all he notices before he looks back at Anna. He hopes someone remembers to take pictures.

  The earrings make a perfect complement to Anna’s dress, sparkling in the light.

  Riley takes her hand and leads her out the door and to the front of the chapel, wondering if she can tell how nervous he is. He’s also wondering how he’s remembering how to walk and if he’ll find his voice box before he has to say, “I do.” The chapel is almost full of friends and well-wishers. Committee Member Putere himself stands at the front of the room to oversee the ceremony. Maxim and several other visitors from Hope fill in several benches.

  “Please face each other. Riley, take Anna’s hands in your own.” Putere smiles at them both. His eyes are soft as he looks down at them from the dais he stands on. For tonight, it seems all politics are set aside.

  Riley’s fingers close around Anna’s. Hers are warm and comforting, settling his nerves. This is one of the few times neither of them have on their protective gloves. He suppresses a flash of heat, careful not to burn her accidentally. Flesh to flesh, palm to palm, he feels oddly naked in front of the assembled guests.

  “Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote, when you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It’s even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern. The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.” Putere looks out at the assembled witnesses. “Riley and Anna, remember this as you begin your journey through life. Today you become one being, bound together in spirit. Life will not be perfect. Life will not come without troubles but together you will face them.”

  He looks down at Riley. “Do you have your vows?”

  Riley tuns his eyes to Anna’s as his hands tighten around hers. He knows that nothing they will say in this moment will ever fully represent everything they’ve been through, nor everything they may one day become. But, as Putere said, they have just this moment. “All that I am and all that I have, I offer to you in love and in joy. From this day forward I will love and comfort you, hold you close, prize you above all others, and remain faithful to you all the days of our lives.”

  Anna smiles at Riley, making him wish he had her gift to know what she’s feeling. Instead, he must trust the light he sees in her eyes mirrors his own. Her vows echo his in the ancient vows of the Fallen people. “Because of you, I laugh, I smile, I dare to dream again. I look forward with great joy to spending the rest of my life with you, caring for you, nurturing you, being there for you in all life has for us, and I vow to be true and faithful for as long as we both shall live. Give unto me every last bit of you: the parts of you no one has ever seen or ever been a part of, as I shall do for you.”

  “Do you have the rings?” Putere looks again at Riley.

  He lets go of Anna’s hands with one of his and pulls two rings from his pocket. They’re simple silver bands with the inscription, Forever, engraved on them. “I do.”

  “Then place the rings, an outward sign of your inner commitment, on each other’s hands.” Putere instructs.

  A shiver runs down Riley’s back as he feels the silver band slide over his left ring finger. Then he does the same for Anna. This is real, this is unbreakable. This is everything he’s ever wished and bargained God for. Gratitude so filling it’s a struggle not to kneel immediately in prayer replaces all the fear running through Riley’s body.

  “As you have stood before the city of Orasul and the One Who Sent us to declare your intent to be one life, so shall you be. Benetictio.” Putere places his hands over their joined hands and offers the final blessing. Then he steps back with a smile. “You may kiss the bride.”

  Riley barely hears the customary applause as he pulls her close and kisses her. All the fear, the years and worry, all the terror of losing her only to find her again dissolves. She’s his now, this woman too beautiful to be of his world, and he’s hers. Until death parts them, and then again in the beyond, they belong to each other.

  ∞∞∞

  The main dining room at Orasul is filled with fountains of roses, candle light, and sparkling crystal. Part of the room has been cleared of tables to expose a dance floor and soft music flows in through hidden speakers. A large American wedding cake is offset from the dance floor waiting to be cut.

  “Wait.” Riley pulls Anna’s hand and ducks into a dark corner with her. They haven’t entered the dining room yet, no one seems to notice. She smiles. His hands come up to frame her face while he kisses her, impatient to be alone.

  “We have to get to dinner.” Anna tastes the promise of more. She thinks about Riley’s house and her heart beats faster, there’s no going back now.

  “No one will miss us.” His hands pull her closer to him, the heat from his body merging with hers. There’s an urgency to his movements.

  “My daughter will.” She knows he won’t do anything to disturb Marissa. Two newlywed parents disappearing before the wedding feast takes “disturb” to new level of embarrassment.

  He kisses her again and sighs. “You’re right. We wouldn’t want to embarrass her any more than we already have. We should probably get to the party.”

  “Foiled by a teenager.” Anna grins, squeezing his hand. “You might want to get used to it.”

  ∞∞∞

  Champagne flows freely for several hours before Riley and Anna can make their escape from the wedding meal. They leave the dining room with many well wishes and smiles, heading for Riley’s apartment.

  Riley opens the door and picks up Anna, ivory fabric and tulle swirling around them. She laughs loudly. “Put me down!”

  “Tradition.” He holds onto her struggling body, carrying her across the threshold with laughter. Once they’re on the other side he kicks the door closed behind them.

  “It’s not like I haven’t been here before.” Anna looks around, her hands reaching up to remove the veil that had started to make her head itch. He’d filled his place with vases of flowers and candles waiting to be lit.

  Riley allows her legs to fall gently to the ground, the veil dropping to a chair nearby. Then he pulls her back to him for a kiss.

  Anna reaches her arms up and winds her hands through Riley’s hair. She holds on as her breathing speeds up and her body starts to warm. Riley’s hands grip the fabric of her dress at her waist to pull her closer to his body, pressing firmly against her.

  “Wait.” She pushes at him wit
h her hands. He breaks the kiss but doesn’t release his grip on her body. “I need a minute. Where’s my overnight bag?”

  “I put it in the bathroom.” Riley leans in to kiss her decisively again, this time his hands loosening their grip when he steps away. He takes off his jacket to drape it over one of his kitchen chairs. “Don’t take too long.”

  Anna watches as Riley begins unbuttoning his shirt on the way to the bedroom. A shiver runs down her spine. “Oh, my.”

  She shuts herself in the bathroom and looks down at the overnight bag on the floor. It looks like it weighs a thousand pounds, she ignores it and focuses instead on the mirror over the sink. Make up needs to come off and her hair needs to be let down. She’s grateful her hair isn’t sprayed in place until it feels like glue. When she releases the hair pins and jeweled clips that hold it, it falls in soft curls around her shoulders. Her dress comes off and is hung on a hook on the wall.

  Anna opens the overnight bag and finds what she’s packed for their night. It’s a white satin nightgown embroidered with silver flowers along the straps and neckline, mimicking her wedding dress. She slides it over her head and takes a deep breath to steady herself. It feels funny, at her age, to be nervous about going to join Riley in the bedroom, but she’s never been married and has never been with someone before. In the heat of the moment, when things start slowly and work its way into the burn she’d become all too familiar with lately, that’s one thing. To walk calmly across the hallway and climb into bed with someone is something else altogether.

  “Anna, are you okay?” Riley knocks lightly on the door.

  Embarrassment flushes Anna’s cheeks. Has she really taken that long? “Yes.”

  “Are you sure?” He sounds concerned. “You’ve been in there a really long time.”

  “Riley, if I tell you something do you promise not to laugh at me?” She rests her head on the doorway. On the other side she can hear him do the same.

  “I promise.”

  “I’m afraid to open the door.” She turns away from him and leans against the wall. Give her the worst demons in the world, that’s easy. Why does this have to be so hard?

  Riley is quiet for a long time. “Why?”

  “What if you’re not…as happy with me as you think you’re going to be?” Anna can see herself in the mirror. The white satin falls to her knees. As far as sexy lingerie goes, this one is embarrassingly tame, especially considering her panties are all fabric with no strings in uncomfortable places. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

  A burst of laughter from the other side of the door floods Anna with fury. She stomps her foot, something that doesn’t make enough noise when barefoot. She eyes her heels next to the shower and wonders if she should open the door to throw one at him. “You said you wouldn’t laugh at me!”

  “You’re being ridiculous.” The handle on the door turns and it opens a crack. “Let me have your hand.”

  She slides her left arm through the opening without looking his direction. She doesn’t want to look at him. How silly is that? She’s just married this man and now she can’t even look at him.

  His hand closes over hers and he presses a kiss to the tips of her fingers. Anna sighs and starts to say something but he hushes her. He turns her arm over and kisses the soft spot on the underside of her wrist. The embarrassment starts to fade.

  “Riley.” She protests weakly when he opens her palm and presses it to his face.

  “Shhhh.” He hushes her again from the other side of the door. “Trust me.”

  Riley’s emotions pass through her open hand to her and she feels the waves of his desire. Before she can protest, the door opens and his arms slide around her waist. He tugs at her gently, leading her across the hallway until they’re in his bedroom.

  “You never need doubt my happiness or my need for you. I will always need you as much as I need the air I breathe.” He rubs her nose with his own before he kisses her again.

  Anna runs her hands along Riley’s naked arms and shoulders. It only takes a moment for her fears and doubt to disappear. He’s lit candles in the bedroom and more of the sweet smelling flowers are overflowing from a vase on the nightstand.

  The covers on the bed are already pulled back. He backs into the bed and sits down, pulling her gently with him so that she straddles his lap. She feels exposed with nothing but her thin satin panties and his boxers separating them and starts to slide to the side, but he holds her in place with two firm hands on her hips. Riley isn’t going to let her back away now. When she stops trying to move away, his hands slid up the back of her nightgown and against the skin of her back.

  The nightgown disappeared into a corner of the bedroom.

  He turns with her and presses her back into the bed. “Relax. “

  Anna almost laughs. How could he expect her to relax when her whole body feels like it’s on fire? Her initial embarrassment and fear evaporate as soon as his skin comes in contact with hers. She shifts below him and lifts her face to kiss him.

  ∞∞∞

  Anna sighs deeply and stretches her legs. Riley reacts by pulling her closer to his warm body and places a kiss on the top of her head. She smiles. “What time is it?”

  “Who cares?” His skin slides across hers as he shifts his position underneath her. She can hear joints crack when he arches his back. “We have five whole days off.”

  “My stomach cares.” She sits up and holds the sheet to her chest. “Where did you throw my nightgown?”

  “You’re really going to get out of bed?” Riley sounds unhappy at the idea, but he doesn’t try to stop her. He must be hungry, too.

  “I’m starving.” Anna can’t find her nightgown so she picks up his discarded shirt instead. “You can stay here if you want, but I’m going to find something to eat.”

  Riley grumbles something unintelligible and picks up his boxers from the floor. He puts them on and follows her into the main room of the house. “I could have brought you breakfast in bed.”

  She casts a glance over her shoulder at him that immediately makes his body tighten up. It hasn’t taken her long to figure out how much power she holds over him now. All she had to do is look at him the right way and he’ll do anything she wants. She smiles. “We can make this quick.”

  Riley steps past her. He opens the refrigerator door and she sees several premade meals, clearly labeled and stacked neatly on the shelf. “Pancakes? Or I can make eggs.”

  “Nice.” Anna scans the boxes. There’s enough food for four or five days. That means four or five days without being forced to leave the apartment for meals. “Who did this?”

  “I talked one of the women in the dining room into doing it. She was happy to help me out, us being Razbonic warriors and all.” His smile is very cocky. “I thought we might be worth a little special treatment.”

  She reaches for the pancakes box. “So, the tattoos buy us pancakes and a honeymoon interrupted by trips to get food. Awesome.”

  Epilogue

  Anna sits down in front of Putere’s desk and waits for him to close the door. He does and then takes his place behind the desk. He doesn’t waste time with pleasantries. “How are your preparations coming for the assignment?”

  “I feel strong, stronger than I ever have before.” She stretches her arms in front of her. “It feels like I’m drawing from a well of strength I didn’t know I had.”

  “You are.” He confirms with a nod of his head. “The warriors can draw strength from other sources – the earth itself, even. You don’t necessarily need the rest of the race as much as you used to. You said you wished to speak to me. Is there a concern I can lay to rest? Perhaps you’re worried about Marissa?”

  “I’ll always be worried about Marrisa, but the phone you have arranged for us will help, thank you. I think she’ll be fine with Frances.” Anna shifts in her seat and then decides to go ahead and ask the question that brought her here. “Why me?”

  “Why not you?” Putere leans back in his chair
and rests his elbows on the arm rests. His fingers form a triangle.

  “I ran away.” This is exactly why Anna made this visit without Riley. In his eyes she can do no wrong. “I know I’ve been told to let go of the Forsaken thing, that my debt has been paid. But I still ran away. How can you know I won’t run away again?”

  “We are the collective of all our experiences. You have lived on the outside when none of the rest of us have. You are able to blend in with the humans and can survive.” His eyes pierce hers with blatant intensity. “These experiences give you advantages the rest of the team doesn’t have. I don’t want to make light of what you experienced, Anna, but your experiences are what prepared you for this journey. If you hadn’t lived outside all those years, then maybe then you wouldn’t be the right person for this duty. In the eyes of the Committee you are the best possible person to be on this team.”

  “Do you really think I’m strong enough?” Anna feels like a little girl looking for the approval of the adults. She’d known Putere when she was young. He’d encouraged her back then and helped her to believe in herself. It seems she needs a little more of that encouragement now.

  “I know you are.” He reaches over and opens his desk to pull out a small box. It slides across the desk toward her. “Your father was a great man and a close friend. It broke my heart to watch you two girls grow up without him and when you lost your sister I knew it might break you. It didn’t. You survived and returned to us stronger than before. This was something that belonged to your father. The headmaster of the school gave it to him when we were beginning to train in our chosen fields.”

  Inside the box is an antique compass. Anna holds it in her hand and wonders what she should say.

  “Headmaster told him that he needed to keep his focus and in that he will find his direction.” Putere reaches over and touches Anna’s hand. His skin is warm, comforting. For a moment, it’s like she’s touching the father she barely remembers. “Your father gave it to me when I was named to the Committee. He told me I needed it more than he did. At the time you were just born. He’d settled down. I think it’s appropriate that you have it now.”