Mimic (Wardens Legacies - Ancient Blood III)

4 - THE WEDDING

Phillip held true to his promise and whisked me away to America. Even after watching how a Mimic hunted, he seemed more intrigued than scared in my presence. The experience was liberating. I had never shared such an intimate part of myself with anyone before. To know that someone out there understood my need for nourishment and where I had to get it from was a comfort. Slowly I started to feel increasingly relaxed with the idea of marrying the Witch Hunter.

Elizabeth seemed pleased with the whole arrangement and honored our agreement that she would take control only when I had enough strength and approved her presence. She would often request control to plan the wedding or to spend a little time with her son before the big day. Everything seemed to be going as planned.

Alexander disappeared shortly after we made port in New York. Phillip and I moved to a large house and began to get to know each other. Phillip was kind and nurturing, introducing me to everything that was considered American. I was like a child taking in all the knowledge that excited me. People looked at me funny when I spoke, so I had taken to impersonating the American dialect to maintain conversations. This was the only thing that upset Phillip. He disliked whenever I tried to be anything other than myself. What he did not understand was I had been pretending to be someone else most of my life.

Phillip's friends were less than accepting of the foreign woman he had brought back to marry. They were generally aware that it was arranged and felt that I was gold digging, wishing only for his wealth. No matter how many times he tried to convince them of my less than materialistic motives, they held firm to their opinions. Our guest list was starting to dwindle as relationships were strained and bridges burned.

I tried to maintain my independence while at the same time getting to know the man that I was destined to marry. He seemed stressed by the loss of his friends. This in turn suddenly made him more distant and unwilling to open up to me. Two months before the wedding I tried to get closer, but the attempt was answered with him pushing further away.

One day I was sitting in my room writing in my spirit journal when Phillip entered with a giant box in his arms. His expression was softer than usual, and he seemed to be relatively thrilled to give me his gift.

"I got you something today," he teased, gripping the box tightly in his arms.

"Oh?" I smiled at him as I close the book I was writing in.

"Do you want it now?" He raised his eyebrows and nervously bit his bottom lip.

I looked at him and blinked. Why would he come in my room with this beautiful box and ask if he should give it to me now? I had never met anyone as impressive as Phillip Bradly.

"Here." He threw his arms out; the box was just inches from my face.

I looked at him dumbstruck, before eagerly reaching out and taking the beautifully wrapped gift from his eager hands. His face was radiant as he looked at me with his eyes sparkling and a broad, toothy grin. Anxiously I unwrapped the box to find a dress inside. Designed with the most beautiful silks of the era. I held it out and marveled at its beauty.

"We've been invited to an event. I wanted to be able to show you off. I saw this in the window of the dressmaker's shop, and I knew that it was you." He leaned in and kissed me briefly on the lips. This was still a slowly developing romance. The kisses were never intense, they felt more like friendly pecks than anything else.

"Event?" I asked softly.

"For the Queen." He reached out and touched my face ever so lightly.

"I've entertained many Queen's in my lifetime." I did not want my words to sound as cold as they had. His face shadowed, and his eyes lost the sparkle.