nothing gold can stay | druig

prologue

Y/N winced as Sprite pulled on the ribbons on the back of her dress, lacing her into her gown so tightly it almost hurt to breathe.

"It was grandmother's dress. You're much smaller than she was, so I have to pull it tighter around the middle." She explained, tersely. "Don't besmirch it, will you?"

"If anything's gonna be sullied today, it's me." Y/N crossly replied.

Y/N heard the doors to the vardos opening behind her, and she didn't need to turn around to know who it was that was approaching. It was funny, she thought, that although they had not known each other very long at all, it seemed that simple things like the sound of his footsteps were already so ingrained in her mind.

Druig whispered something under his breath in Shelta to his sister, and she soon scurried off.

Though she still stood with her back to him, she could see him staring at her through the reflection of the mirror. Her body tensed as he stepped closer and tentatively brought both his hands to rest upon her shoulders.

"Please forgive my sister," he said, the sincerity in his voice startling her somewhat. "She's untamed, that one. Needs marrying off, a good husband to straighten her out." He chuckled to himself.

Y/N turned to face her husband-to-be. "Is that what you thought when you first met me? That I needed to be tamed? Is that why you're doing this?"

She searched his eyes for answers as he caressed her cheek. "You? I wouldn't dream of taming you." He grinned. She noticed the way his eyes sparkled when he smiled, and she might've found it endearing were it not for the circumstances.

"But I might need to be." He hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "The other day, at the fair...your family attacked us. My brother was blinded. He... later succumbed to his injuries."

She felt the most terrible cold sensation spread across her body at his confession, panic taking over her features.

"And this is how you choose to take your revenge?" She laughed incredulously, tears teasing the corners of her eyes. "But I-I didn't... I had nothing to do with it, I swear, I didn't know..."

She tried in vain to escape from his grip, but he simply held on fighting, shushing her as she struggled.

"Ssh, it's okay. You're okay," he said, his blue eyes shimmering in the light of the sunset revealing small flecks of gold around the iris.

And, as if by magic, she found that she was okay. She couldn't tell if it was simply the effect he had on her, or if it was something else. Perhaps it was similar to the way Polly could sometimes see the future, or how her mother used to sense an oncoming storm.

He grabbed her hand and deposited something cold and shiny into her palm. Upon closer inspection, she realised it was a small, golden earring. She looked up at him, confused.

"When a Lee boy is born, he is given two earrings, which he wears at all times. It's tradition that when he marries, he must give the right earring to his beloved." Druig explained. She glanced at his ears and noted that the right ear was indeed bare. Her gaze returned to the small piece of jewellery in her hand as she struggled to process her current circumstances.

Impatiently, he plucked the earring out of her grasp and warned her to stay still. She felt frozen in place as he attached it to her ear.

"I'm not going to kill your brothers...." He spoke lowly. She tried to suppress a shiver as she felt his breath on her neck, his eyes greedily trailing down her shaking figure.

"...but you can never see them again."