“Stay where you are,” Rouche said.
“You nearly met your end, my lady.
All you need to do now is rest.”
“Thank you.” I felt a little better with Rouche’s kind permission to remain in bed.
I lay back and closed my eyes.
“What dream could have caused such tears?”
“Was I crying?”
“Why else would I have woken you?”
“So you did…” I looked at him, wondering and remembering something that was not very clear to me.
“I dreamt of dying,” I said.
“Are you frightened of death?”
“Is there anyone who isn’t?”
“I assumed that if there were anyone, it would have to be you,” he said with a gentle smile.
“Me?” I gave a little laugh.
This man had no idea the incredible lengths I’d been to over the last year trying to survive in this world.
But really, why was he here?
And why was he being so soft and sincere?
Why did this man of few words suddenly feel the urge to probe my feelings about life and death?
What’s going on?
I suddenly thought about my fiancé.
“And what of Callis?” I asked.
Rouche sank into the chair next to my bed, snatched the handkerchief from my grasp, and began to dab my forehead as one might polish a porcelain vase.
“Are you suffering from amnesia?” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
I looked at him blankly.
“Do you not remember what happened at the wedding?” he added.
I thought for a few seconds, but very little came back to me.
“I remember collapsing, crying out in pain, and then… floating.”
“You weren’t floating.
I was carrying you in my arms.”
I gasped.
“You completed the ceremony,” I whispered, more to myself than to him.
“That is correct.”
“Does that mean that you and I… we got married?”
He did not respond at once, but a thin smile spread across his lips.
“Yes,” he said.
A mix of confusion, embarrassment, and shock swirled within me.
Rouche and I looked into each other’s eyes, neither of us seeming to have answers.
“But why?” I asked.
“Would you have the head of House Berk bear the dishonor of having lost a Sterne in his care?” Rouche sighed.
“I would sooner throw my family crest into the frozen lake.”
“But did Your Grace know I was going to die?” I asked quietly, a tremble of caution and fear coloring my words.
“The whole wedding hall knew.
But I believe I understood the implications better than the rest.”
“I see,” I said, trying to keep my composure.
“And Callis?
Did he also know I might die if the wedding was delayed?”
“Yes,” said Rouche.
He was staring blankly out the window.
“He knew as well as I.”
My heart froze.
For a moment I lost my breath.
So Callis knew I would be in danger, but he still insisted on leaving with Lina, not to return.
My hands lay on top of the blankets, trembling as though they were cold, but I knew that was not the reason.
Rouche was just about to cover them when there was a knock at the door.
“Enter,” Rouche called out.
Lennon came in hesitantly with a bowed head.
“Your Highness, we have received a message from the High Church.
The high priest has announced he will be visiting the archduchy.
You will have to meet with him.”
Rouche sighed with irritation.
“Yes, of course,” he said, then left quickly without a glance at either Lennon or me.
Lennon came closer to the bed and said, “I apologize, but I am not sure how to address you.
‘Lady Seria’ will not do anymore, but as you may know, I cannot rightly call you ‘Your Grace’ until your marriage receives official approval from the emperor.”
Official approval?
But surely our marriage was only temporary?
The only reason Rouche married me was to save my life.
And now that I was alive and recovering, there was no sensible reason for the marriage to continue.
And I was not looking at things in a negative light; that was just the reality of the situation.
So what was Lennon thinking?
“We can address that at another time, my lady,” Lennon continued, “For now, I actually… well, I have prepared a wedding gift for you.”
Then Lennon suddenly shuddered.
He looked like a rabbit that sensed he was being hunted.
He turned pale and bowed low, muttering, “I shall return shortly.” Then he fled the room.
I was confused until a sudden pain shot through my arm.
I rolled up the sleeve of my nightgown to discover that my arm was completely wrapped in bandages.
Here and there were spots where the blood had seeped through.
An effect of nearly dying on my wedding day…
I rang the bell to summon my maids, who rushed in at once.
They helped me wash and get dressed while one of them went to fetch the priestess with the healing magic.
“This dress and a cloak over it would be suitable,” suggested one of the maids.
“Wear something with wide sleeves and tie it with a ribbon,” said another.
“Then it won’t interfere with the treatment.”
The bedroom door swung open violently, and Callis rushed in crying.
“Seria!
Seria Sterne!”
Behind him came two knights, eyes wide and alert, their hands grasping the hilts of their swords.
They were shouting remonstrances at Callis.
“Marquis Hanneton!
You cannot barge in like this!”
“His Grace the Archduke has ordered that no one is to be admitted!”
Why are knights guarding my bedroom?
Callis was a mess.
He looked as though he had been out rolling in snowdrifts, and he had bandages on his forehead and wrist.
I draped a shawl around my shoulders and said, “Everyone, please leave.
I have something to discuss with the Marquis.”
The maids scurried out, and knights bowed their heads gracefully and left without any fuss.
It was shocking how the knights treated Callis and then obeyed my command at once.
The room was silent except for Callis’s echoing footsteps as he walked briskly towards me.
He grabbed me by the shoulders, staring at me with fury in his eyes.
“Seria!
How could you do this?” he was yelling, grasping my shoulders a little too tightly.
“How could you marry the Archduke of Berk?”
I slapped his face.
He froze, not in pain—I was still too weak to inflict pain—but in shock.
“You were not there,” I said.
“Seria…” His expression was one of remorse, but that was all he could say.
He offered not a single word of explanation, which only fanned the flames of my anger.
“You promised you’d be at the wedding,” I said slowly, enunciating every syllable.
Then, I unleashed.
“Me, marrying another man?
That was your doing, Callis.
If it weren’t for the Archduke, I would be dead.
I would have gone on vomiting blood, coughing and writhing as I felt the pain of my divine energy tearing me apart from the inside until I finally died horribly.
And it would’ve been all because of you!
Because you didn’t come!
You knew that if the wedding was delayed, I might die.
Or maybe that’s it.
Did you hope I would die?
Is that it?
That’s why you went frolicking in the snow with Lina?”
“Seria, please,” he pleaded.
“It was an accident, I swear!”
“An accident?” I scoffed.
“Did Lina threaten you at swordpoint to sneak off to the glacier with her?”
“Forgive me,” Callis moaned, rubbing his hands over his pitiful face.
“Seria, I never meant to…”
“Get out.”
“Seria, please…”
“I said get out!”
“I was frantic with worry for you, Seria.
I tried.
Take this as an excuse if you want, but I tried to reach you.
I swear, even with the snowstorm, I never gave up.
But I lost consciousness as I left the hut.
That’s why I was late.
I would have kept going if only I could have…”
I stared at Callis in silent fury.
Rage and fury had brought me far beyond crying, but tears began to well up in Callis’s eyes.
“You are the woman I wanted to marry, you know that.
I never lied to you, Seria.
My love for you is true.
Only you…”