A Winter's Tale

Chapter 8:

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Chapter 8:
EMERY'S POV:

The next time I saw William, he told me it was far too late to have dinner, and that it would be best for me to retire for the night. He didn't send a lady's maid for me, but I'd never had one before, so I made out just fine. It wasn't until I was lying in the bed with the canopy all around me did I hear it. The footsteps. I knew William's footsteps. His were not as heavy as these were. They could only belong to my future husband himself. The Count of Dubois was up, and walking around just outside my bedchamber door. It sounded as if he was pacing. At one point, his footsteps stopped, and I spotted the shadow of his boots right in front of the door. Then, they disappeared only to come back a few seconds later. He seemed to be contemplating meeting me. By this point, it was getting annoying. Sleep kept evading me as his footsteps made imprints in my brain. Where was William? My betrothed was running holes through the beautiful wood floor, and the only man I knew of that took care of the house was no where to be seen. Or, heard. The pacing didn't stop. It felt like hours I laid there with the insufferable sound of my betrothed walking back and forth. By the time he stopped, sunlight was tricking in through the drapes. I'd missed an entire night of sleep due to the restlessness of the Count. I swung my legs over the side of the bed with a heavy yawn. It was perhaps too early to be awake, but I would never get to sleep with the light coming in that way. That thought made me think of the Count. I wondered if he slept during the day, and paced his mansion at night. I stood from the heavenly bed, and made my way to the mirror. Yes, the lack of sleep had caused a light ring of gray to settle under my eyes. I'd only ever seen this once before on women who'd had too many children too soon. They never slept, and they spent most of their time taking care of the children while their husbands enjoyed the chambermaids. Some were good men who would pitch in a hand. Others were equally good men who worked to keep their wives and children fed, clean, and lovely in a way only the residents of King James' court could be. I ran the only silver brush I had through my hair once before leaving my chambers. I would make an attempt to find William, or anyone who could help me in this large maze of hallways. Some of the corridors were bright with many windows, and others were dark only being lighted by a few candles. I avoided the darker ones sure that they would only lead me to dark places. Places that I knew hid my betrothed, the man I had not seen as of yet. As far as I knew, he hadn't seen me either. I assumed he'd have some curiosity of the woman he was to marry. I ended up wandering around the hallways like a lost dog for an hour. Finally, I came across the kitchen where four pairs of eyes all snapped to me as soon as I came in. There was William, then there was a short, stout woman with a head full of vibrant, wild, red curls, a tall, shockingly pale man who was so thin I feared he was sick, and a young girl who had to be just a few years younger than myself. She closely resembled William, but had the hair of the short woman. She was far prettier though than the woman whose hair I was sure hers came from. But, the girl was not pretty enough to be noticed for longer than a moment. Not that I was particularly pretty myself. William stepped forward, hastily, "good morning Ms. De Bulgaria. May I introduce my wife, Miriam, the Sir's stable hand, Geoffrey, and my daughter, Alice?" I smiled at them all, "hello. I'm Emery De Bulgaria." Suddenly, I was engulfed in a tangle of arms, and smiles. Miriam and Alice were hugging me tightly while Geoffrey smiled bashfully at me. "It is so wonderful to have another woman here," Miriam stopped hugging me and stepped back, "especially one so young. You're around Alice's age, aren't you? You must be the Sir's wife." I wanted to point out that we hadn't gotten married yet, so that only made me his betrothed, but I held my tongue. Ignoring my impeding marriage to the brute of a man would get me no where. King James wanted us to marry, and so we would. I nodded with another small smile, "I am, and yes, I believe Alice is just a few years younger than me." Geoffrey stepped forward timidly, "Alice is already sixteen. I-I was here the day she was born." Alice grinned at him, and gave him a big hug. He relaxed instantly, hugging her back. My heart fluttered at the sight of this little family locked away inside this mostly dark mansion. They'd even here so long that their daughter was born here. I wanted to know if the Count ever saw them, or if he even cared about them. William obviously held respect for his employer, but I doubted his employer held respect for William. I felt my temper rise as I thought about it. How dare this man keep these nice people hidden away like this? Why didn't he have more workers? Perhaps, if he wasn't such a savage, he'd see how wonderful life truly was outside of his hiding place. "Oh dear," Alice looked me over quickly, "you haven't bathed. Father, you and Geoffrey got get some heated water. Come with me, Ms. De Bulgaria, I'll take you to your bathing chambers." It was a flurry of movements then. Miriam retreated further into the kitchen to start on breakfast, William and Geoffrey went out the kitchen door into the sunlight, and Alice dragged me down the hallway again. All of this happened in a time of less than five seconds. These people moved fast. So, the Count was not a patient man, it seemed. Alice led me back to my bedchambers where she picked a dress for me, then into the bathing chambers right across the hall. We talked as I bathed, and I learned many things about her, the Count, and her little family. Alice had never seen the Count personally, but her father had. Unfortunately, her father wouldn't even give a bland description of the man. Her mother only cooked, then spent the rest of her days gathering ingredients from the woods surrounding the mansion for the next meal. William then would take the meals up to the Count's bedchambers, the library, or the study. It all depended on where he was that day. Alice said the Count roamed the halls at night, and everyone had gotten used to his frequent pacing. They slept through it comfortably. She chuckled at the slight bags under my eyes; she told me I would get used to it as well. I doubted my betrothed paced directly outside her door at night though. When I was bathed, powdered, groomed, and dressed, Alice decided she would show me the gardens. Apparently, the Count had ordered Geoffrey and William to create this beautiful garden house in the vast backyard just after she turned six. She said sometimes at night he would go there, and sometimes, he would go in the day. Those days he did go were extremely rare. It took ten minutes to walk through each winding hallway, each looking exactly the same as the last one. I asked Alice how she knew her way around. She said she's been exploring this mansion since she was old enough to walk. She also said she'd never run into my betrothed because he was always watching. He knew where you were, and he knew how to stay away. He knew how to stay in the shadows, watching silently from a distance. Of course, I rebuked that idea. He couldn't be always watching. He just knew his home better than she did. Finally, we came to the gardens. If I thought my new home was lovely before, now I found them beautiful. Alice had work to do, so she left me to my own exploring. It was silent except for the low buzzing of a bee, or a hummingbird as they circled around the colorful flowers. It was peaceful, each pathway led further into the backyard; each pathway decorated with flowers. Oh, I wanted to pick a few, and place them around the mansion. It would add a sense of color, and brightness to those dark corridors. Then, maybe, I'd take a rose, and make rose water. I'm sure Alice would love that. Miriam too. I suddenly chuckled to myself. Here I was, already forgetting about being terribly upset that I had to spend the rest of my days here. I was making plans to include myself in the daily life around here. The strangest part was, though, that I felt perfectly fine doing that. It was what I wanted to do. I smiled again, and wandered along the path to admire the beauty of the flowers by myself. Or, so I thought.
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KANE'S POV:

For the entire morning, I'd been in the gardens alone. I told William not to bring me breakfast. Honestly, I was embarrassed. I'd spent the entire night pacing outside of Emery's door. I couldn't help myself. I wanted her to see me, to meet me, but I knew that was dangerous. I couldn't make up my mind. So, I walked back and forth measuring the benefits, and problems with me meeting her. Eventually, I retreated to the gardens as the sun rose. I knew she hadn't been to sleep. I'd listened to her breathing. I needed to clear my head. All of my thoughts were completely focused on the little, raven haired beauty that was just inside my home. I despised King James even more for this. I was all prepared for him to send the one named Edith. The frighteningly infuriating one who was used to people respecting her beauty. At the one ball I went to, she made it clear she meant to claim me. She latched on to me with a grace that just made me dislike her more. But, King James was a smart man, so he sent this Emery instead. The one I'd never seen before. The one who has completely thrown me off of my comfortable routine. I couldn't love her, I couldn't even like her. No. It wasn't safe for me to like anyone. I could only like William, Miriam, Alice, and Geoffrey. My heart didn't work properly. Something inside of me didn't operate correctly, and I would only end up hurting Emery. Because that's how I worked. I'm a savage, a ruthless brute. I wasn't always that way, but it does no good to live in the pain of the past. I had to face the present, and right now the present was that I couldn't even let Emery get the notion that I didn't mind her. I would be a brute on our wedding day, and on our wedding night, I would leave her to her chambers. I would go back to mine. We would not consummate our marriage. I knew Emery didn't want to marry me either, so why force it upon her? Footsteps interrupted my reverie. Soft, lilting footsteps. It wasn't anyone I knew. Actually, it was. I moved from where I was sitting to another pathway farther into the shadows. There she was. Emery came around the corner, humming, with a handful of flowers. Oh, how beautiful she looked with the sun smiling down on her. Her hair was pulled back into an effortless, inky braid that hung down her back, and her dress was a light green that fit in with the gardens. She stopped at another flower before picking it. I felt that urge again. That urge to go introduce myself, to accompany her. I wanted to hold her, comfort her. I wanted her to look at me with the same happiness, and love in her eyes as she has now. I tore my gaze away. It couldn't happen. It wouldn't happen. As I stood and stormed away, I vowed that Emery would never feel the same pain I felt. She would never go through what I went through. And, I would hold that vow until my last dying breath.

AN: I KNOW, I KNOW. IT TOOK ME SUCH A LONG TIME TO UPDATE. BUT, I DID! ANYWAY, THANKS FOR THE VOTES AND COMMENTS! KEEP VOTING; KEEP COMMENTING! AGAIN, PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORIES! :)