I Choose You

Thirty-Nine

Maven

Mare is still asleep next to me, she has hardly slept any, tossing and turning restlessly, crying into my chest as well.  I am not mad at her, to be honest, more mad at my brother than anything.  According to Mare, my brother started the whole charade.  I believe Mare and I trust her.  Right now she is sleeping on my chest, her face buried into it and her whole body is covered by our thick blanket. It's comforting in a way how she clings to me in her sleep.  I guess it's her way of telling me how much she loves me without words.  I love her too.

She tussles a bit in her sleep, burying her head into my body deeper.  Her breathing spikes and her eyes water.  She's having another nightmare.

"Mare," I whisper, shaking her body slightly, she wakes up instantly, her eyes glossy as they shine from the dim pink sunrise coming from our windows.  "Are you alright?"

She looks around the room for a moment before looking down at me, her hands pressed onto my abdomen, her breathing patterns very quick and sporadic.  She eventually nods a yes quickly and she slumps back down to my chest, laying her head on it gently. 

"What happened?" I ask her with a hint of sympathy in my tone.

"It happened again, but after Cal and I did it, he killed you so I could be his," she whimpers in my chest again.  I use the hand she isn't laying on to stroke her hair. She takes a quick and deep sigh, her chest rising and falling.

"You really aren't mad at me?" She muffles into my chest, it's my turn to sigh now. "I don't really deserve your forgiveness after what happened."

I look away from her for a moment to really think about what I should say. When I did feel this way before, I was so certain I had lost Mare forever. Thinking back on what happened between us makes me want to vomit and scream, and possibly burn something. I don't want to lose her like that again, I won't lose her again. She didn't start the situation, Cal did. Cal knew she was drunk and took advantage at that.

"No, I'm not, Cal took advantage of you in your drunken state, no man does that, you didn't do anything,"

I am not wrong, she didn't say anything.

She nods in my chest, I give her a comforting hug, hoping it will be of some help, I hate seeing her this sad.

"Can we just not blow this whole thing out of proportion, just move on?" She looks up at me while she asks me.

"Of course we can," I force a smile.

She smiles for real, giving me a warm and happy beam of joy, making me smile for real.

"What are you doing today?" She asks me.

"Just the weekly announcements, nothing to special,"

"Well then, we best get ready then,"

***

I close my closet door and brush out my blazer. I see Mare in the bathroom brushing out her hair, she picked out a silver dress patterned with jewels.

"What is your meeting about?" She questions me while ripping her hairbrush through her tangly hair.

"Nothing to special or exciting," I say before walking into the restroom with her to do who knows what, I am ready I am just stalling at this point. I see the look on Mare's face through the mirror, how crestfallen and hopeless she looks.

"Do you want to stay here for the day? I can send someone to bring you a light breakfast and when I finish we can have lunch together and discuss wedding plans?"

She stops brushing her hair and looks at me. "You still want to marry me?"

"Of course I do," I smile warmly and wrap my arms around her in a hug, placing my chin on top of her head, she sighs and smiles.

"You sure you don't want me to come along?" She asks me while pulling herself out of our hug.

"You can stay of you want, like I said, nothing to important," I look up to think about what the announcements were. Nothing to much on taxes or anything, nothing on the war that I still need to fix, I already announced Evangeline having Coriane.

Evangeline and Coriane.

The idea I get right there is so good, that I can practically hear the lightbulb light up.

"You okay?" Mare asks me, raising her brow.

"Yeah, yeah I am good, I better get going to the announcements though, I'll catch you later," I say quickly, trying not to sound suspicious.

"Alright, I love you,"

"Love you too," I say while walking out of the bathroom and our room entirely, leaving Mare to think.

As I walk down the halls I think about my idea and how grand it sounds. It'll put Cal in his place after what he did to Mare, be revenge on Evangeline for all the crap she did to Mare and me before, and will make my niece happy. This idea was my next move, it'll be checkmate in this game.

This is going to be fun.