The cords briefly glowed, and then it was over.
“You may kiss your wife and you your husband,” Yollen announced happily.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and expected Gabriella to refuse, but she took a half-step closer and waited. I closed the distance and was ready to give her a simple brush of my lips against hers. But when our lips met, it was like a magnet pulled us together, and the kiss turned heated.
Gabriella pressed herself against my chest, and my arm wound its way beneath the cloak and around her waist. We both seemed content to keep going when Yollen cleared his throat loudly and the moment ended.
“Save some for the rest of your wedded days of bliss,” the old god said with a laugh and wink. He walked away, leaving us bound together by the cords.
“I guess we’ll remove these ourselves,” I said, voice rough as I worked at the knot holding the cords. When it came free, her hand slipped from mine, and I dropped the cords into my overcoat pocket. “You look magnificent by the way.”
“Thank you,” she replied, her cheeks flushed beneath the paint. “You clean up quite well yourself.”
“I do my best.”
She cracked a smile, and it was a like a punch to the gut. “Yes, well, I suppose we should eat and drink now. Celebrate our marriage.”
“A drink would be a grand idea right about now,” I agreed, and we went to join Ezra and Irina, both holding out cups for us already.
We ate and drank as the sun set. Jaspen and Yollen left shortly afterward. I pleaded silently for Ezra to remain a bit longer, but then he and Irina were also making their way back to the temple in the village.
Gabriella and I sat near the fire, her stoking it every few minutes, me watching the flames reflecting in her dark eyes. Snow crunched around me followed by growling, and I stilled, feeling the presence of several large beasts moving in behind me.
“You can relax,” Gabriella told me with a playful smile. “They are merely curious.”
Two white wolves stood at either side, sniffing the air around me as they tilted their heads. The one to my right shook out its furry mane then threw its head back. A deep, long howl echoed through the trees and was picked up by so many more I could not see.
“Is that a good sign?” I asked when the wolf stopped its howl and trotted over to Gabriella.
“Hela likes you,” she told me, scratching the top of the wolf’s head. “Grell might take a bit.”
I glanced at the wolf to my left and found his hackles raised and showing teeth. “They know I would never hurt you, yes?” I looked away from the wolf to the woman who was now my wife. “You know I will never hurt you.”
“I do, just as you know, I would never harm you.”
“No, only question my ability to train my hounds.”
She smirked. “I may have been a bit harsh, and I apologize. It was a long night, and I was upset.”
Hela moved to lie down at Gabriella’s feet.
“At me no doubt.”
“I was a bit put off,” she confessed, laughing lightly as she did. “I still think this is all a dream, you know?”
“It does seem so, yes.” Especially after the kiss we shared. How was it that kiss felt as though it was not our first one, nor would it be our last? “I can see how you like living here. It’s so quiet and peaceful. No one to bother you or ask things of you.”
“It wasn’t so welcoming in the beginning, but I made it work.”
“You lived here with your mother?” I asked, realizing I’d pushed too far when her smile faltered, and her face paled, making the paint stand out even more. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer. Questions about family can be difficult.”
“It’s complicated,” she whispered.
“You are speaking to someone who understands complicated very well.”
The conversation I’d been hoping we were going to have went up with the smoke curling into the sky. Silence kept us company as I wondered if I should apologize or not.
“There are many things I do not talk to anyone about,” she said quietly, glaring at the ground. “Many things even my sisters know nothing about, but maybe one day I will find the courage to tell you, Holden. One day. All I ask is you not push me.”
I pressed my hand to my chest. “I will respect your wishes.”
“Thank you.” She fiddled with something in her hands and stood, walking around the fire to stand before me. “I had a craftsman in the village carve these for you. As a wedding present.”
“You did not have to, for I’m afraid I did not even think of getting you one.”
She shrugged, not seeming offended. She reached out and took my hand, resting the hard, stone beads in my palm. The designs and colorings matched those she wore in her braids, and I closed my fingers around them.
“Thank you, they are incredibly well-crafted.”
“Yes, they are. They leave new ones for me constantly, and I do my best to wear them all.” She ran her hands over her braids then along the necklaces that hung from her neck down to her waist. The wind picked up, and she shivered, pulling her cloak tighter around her body. “The nights here get cold. I didn’t even think of where we would spend the night.”
“If you are comfortable here, we will remain here and travel to Disgrace in the morning.”
Her cheeks flared bright red as she looked past me to the cabin. “Yes, well then… I, uh—I suppose we should… hmm.”
I stood then, taking her hand in mine. “Get some sleep, Gabriella. I will see you in the morning.”
She let out a shaky breath, bobbed her head a few times, and whispered, “Yes. Night, then.” She walked into the cabin, shutting the door almost all the way behind her. It swung open again, and she poked her head out. “You’re certain you do not wish to stay in here? You’ll freeze.”
“I have a fire, and I’m hardier than I look,” I said with a soft smile. “I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t seem so certain but closed the door again.
I resumed my seat by the fire, tossing another few logs on to build the flames back up and held my hands out to the heat. The notion of spending a night with Gabriella was beyond pleasing, but I was not about to push her into anything. If and when it happened, it would be because she wanted to be with me. Not because we were thrown into an arranged marriage. And if I were being completely truthful, I was far from ready to have such a night myself no matter what my imagination tried to tell me otherwise.
As the night wore on, I admired the beads in my hands, running my fingers over the carved details of each one. Gabriella was certainly a reflection of the people she cared for, and I admired her for it. She had a story to tell; one day I hoped she would trust me enough to tell me, but I too had secrets I kept hidden away. Feelings and worries no one knew about. Carefully, I tucked the beads into my overcoat and settled back to try and get some sleep. Grell and Hela remained on the porch, guarding Gabriella from me or other threats in these woods, I didn’t waste time pondering. My eyes started to drift closed when a voice whispered in my ear.
Gabriella… Gabriella…
I jerked upright, my hand going to the dagger in my boot, and listened. All was quiet around me aside from the crackling of the fire, but when I looked at the cabin, both wolves were wide awake, ears twitching as if they too had heard the ghostly voice.
“What was that, huh?” I whispered to them.
Hela whined, and Grell growled, but none of that helped me. I turned to stare at the fire again, shivering at the sudden chill shooting down my spine. Keeping my hand on my dagger, I closed my eyes to sleep again, but that whisper rushed right back, more of a scream this time, than a name, and I was on my feet, spinning around, searching for the source. But again, it was just me and the wolves.
“Maybe I won’t sleep tonight,” I muttered to myself, throwing more logs on the fire as if the added flames would chase away whatever spirit seemed to haunt these woods.
I was stoking the fire again when the cabin doo
r opened, and Gabriella walked out, clutching her cloak around her shoulders, her face clear of any paint or markings.
“Trouble sleeping?” I asked.
“Yes, to be honest. I can’t sleep in there, where it’s warm, thinking of you out here with your teeth chattering.” She stepped to the side and motioned for me to join her inside. There was another fire burning in a hearth, and I spied quite the pile of furs before it. “I won’t bite,” she added.
My chest tightened at her remark, but the voice had unnerved me, and if there was something in these woods, I would rather be inside to watch over Gabriella, than outside where I couldn’t. Not that she could not take care of herself. I had no fears there, but she was my wife now, and I would protect her if need be. The wolves watched me as I approached the cabin, but made no move to stop me. Instead, they remained ever alert on the porch. It was warm enough inside that I could remove my overcoat, and I did so, draping it over a chair as I took in the space.
Gabriella closed the door behind her and stood nearby, eyeing me curiously.
“You are a healer?” I asked.
“I am. Or try my best to be. My mother was a witch, though I fear I did not inherit all her gifts or talents. I do just enough to help the villagers.”
“Your mother died? I am sorry to hear it.”
She tugged on a strand of hair and frowned. “It was a long time ago,” she whispered, but something about her voice said she lied. “Make yourself comfortable. I know it’s the floor, but the furs make quite the nice bed.”
“It will do just fine for me.” I kicked out of my boots and sank onto the furs. The fire thawed out my limbs, and I felt myself easily drifting back to sleep.
There was a rustling behind me, and I cracked open one eye to find her letting the cloak fall from her shoulders. They were bare and covered in tribal tattoos that stretched from shoulder down to the backs of her hands. More covered her chest, and up to her neck, beautiful and raw in their design. She pulled back the furs on her bed and slid under them.
“Those markings,” I asked quietly, “how did I not see them before?”
“I cover them when I’m around certain people,” she said. “Many gods don’t approve of me marking myself like my people, and Irina is one of those. She says it takes away the beauty I already have.”
“No,” I argued, “not at all. It shows who you truly are and that is important.”
“You like them?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“I do.”
The cabin fell silent, and I expected that to be the end of it, but then there was more rustling and when I opened my eyes all the way, found her watching me from her bed.
“Do you think there’s any chance… we… I mean that this will actually work?”
I tugged at my beard, wishing I could be that charming, smooth-talking demon who said exactly the right words, made promises I could keep, and would follow through on. But I’d lived with myself all my life. I knew how I was and there was a reason I was left alone.
“I don’t know,” I finally said. “I am not easy to get along with, but I will do my best to curtail my poor attitude when around you.”
She laughed lightly and when I chanced a glance, found her smiling. “As will I. Funny, really.”
“What is?”
“How the two with the worst attitudes wind up together, the two who are better off alone. Almost like fate thought it hadn’t played enough jokes on us, it had to add another one.”
Her words were so bitter and brutally honest, they left me speechless. I pondered them for a long while, not sure how to respond. Her soft breathing told me she had finally fallen asleep and I tried to do the same. I dreamt of Gabriella and her tattoos, of the sadness in her eyes, those final words she spoke before falling asleep. We were better off alone, that’s what I told myself constantly.
I tossed and turned, feeling as if I was being watched. Several times, I tried to make myself wake, but each time I was dragged deeper and deeper into a dream that turned dark and violent. I yelled and screamed, but nothing worked. A dark cackling filled my ears, and a pair of glowing white eyes mocked my struggles.
You will not have her. Gabriella is not yours…
I shot upright, holding my face in my hands as my head throbbed.
“Holden? I have breakfast waiting for you out here,” Gabriella called.
I turned around, wincing as the pain in my head increased. “I’ll be right out.”
The sun was up, and the fire in the hearth burned out. How long had I slept? I stretched when I stood, running my hands through my hair and braiding it back again around my horns then tugged on my boots and overcoat. I checked the beads were safely tucked away in my pocket still, and tried to shake the unnerving sensation I was being watched. This cabin in the woods, how I wished I lived here instead of the castle. I considered requesting we remain here, but the rules of the deal were Gabriella would live with me for the first five years. It was mostly meant for those of Alric’s daughters who lived in the god realm, but before Jaspen left last night, he informed us it meant for her, too. She’d seemed crushed at the news, but did not argue against him.
I stepped outside, enjoying the smell of fresh meat cooking over the open fire.
“I have a few more things to pack,” she told me, not looking up.
“Take your time. Josef, my head of household, is looking after the hounds for me.”
“Pups, yes? Do I get to meet them?”
“As long as you do not corrupt them.” I glanced warily around the clearing. The wolves were gone, but something watched us from the trees. “Gabriella? These woods, they aren’t haunted by chance, are they?”
She stood quickly. “No, why?”
“I swore last night I heard voices. Must have dreamt it.”
“I’m sure that’s all it was,” she assured me, but her smile barely lasted a second, and she too was looking around, as if expecting something, or someone, to come charging out of the trees. “I’m going to gather my things then. Please, eat.”
Then she was gone, and I was left wondering what secrets this demi had and if they were far more dangerous than my own.
5
Gabriella
I glanced around the chamber in awe and dropped my few bags on the floor. “This is my room?”
“Rooms, actually, my lady,” the demoness, Hattie, said helpfully as she bustled around my new home, opening curtains and fluffing the bed. As if I ever needed a bed fluffed in my life. “There is a washroom through that door there; this one leads to a study for you to use at your leisure, and the door behind this tapestry here leads to his rooms.”
“His rooms?”
“Prince Holden.”
“Right, yes. Of course,” I mumbled. I walked a bit further into the room, my head spinning and wanting to turn around and run right back to the mirror. “You said study?”
“Yes, my lady, right through here.” Hattie hurried to show me, her skirts swishing around her legs. She opened the door, and I peered around her into the space. It was bigger than my whole cabin back home. “Do you approve?”
“Huh? Oh yes, these rooms are… they’re great, thank you.”
The room had perfect lighting, despite the fact we were in the Underworld. The ceilings were high enough to hang herbs from, plenty of room to work, but I hadn’t brought much with me. Though I could at least visit my cabin whenever I felt the need, since it was in Channon, I left many of my herbs and plants and other ingredients behind. I needed a space to work first, and this would do well enough, but it would need fixing up. And different furniture. Sitting in the center was a massive, ornate wooden desk and high-backed chair I would much rather use for firewood than to ever work at.
I turned around to ask Hattie if there was a way to get the thing out of my room, but she was already back in the main bedroom, unpacking my bags. With each fur and leather piece she placed on the bed, her brow furrowed more, until I feared her face would become stuck in the gr
imace she now wore.
“You do not approve of my wardrobe?” I asked with a smile.
She attempted a smile as she replied, “They are different, my lady, they are. Not what I’m used to, is all.”
“Much more practical and comfortable.”
“You may want a few new items. The climate here is not as cold.”
I wasn’t so sure if I agreed that she wouldn’t come back with dresses instead of what I liked to wear. “What did you have in mind?”
“Whatever you would like, my lady. I am merely your humble servant.”
“I don’t particularly enjoy dresses,” I said slowly, “but something lighter might not be bad. No fur… linen, perhaps?”
“No silk?”
“I hate silk, to be completely honest.”
“Would you like me to see what I can do then?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes, but I can’t make any promises.”
Hattie waved away my concerns and worked on hanging up my cloaks and tops in the wardrobe then folded my breeches next, placed them on a shelf, and beneath them, my boots. The air was warmer here, but I was content without my cloak and boots. My breeches and leather top were still comfortable, but I was standing still. If I did start bringing my work here, it might get a bit toastier.
Hattie curtsied, making me squirm, and then darted from my chambers.
I spun around again, taking in the massive space. It wasn’t that I hated it, but more as if I felt lost in this room. I was lost enough on my own terms, I did not enjoy a room making me feel so. That and Holden’s question first thing this morning nagged at me. Asking me if the woods were haunted could mean only one thing, he heard Tori’s voice, too.
Why she would reach out to him troubled me more than hearing her voice to begin with. I knew how she felt about gods, or anyone with godly blood running through their veins. She’d told me enough times when I was a child how much she loathed how I came into being. For the first six years of my life, I was deemed worthless by her. As a smudge on her great line. She claimed Alric ruined her chances of finding a suitable husband to wed and bear children who would be like her, powerful and filled with magic.
Disgrace Page 6
