Daughter of Night

Mary

Mary's POV

I should have known better then to trust a man, especially a prince! He's obviously been courting this other woman the whole time and probably sneaking kisses in the bushes! I left when she kissed him. I just couldn't take anymore, it hurt too much to stay and watch. I swung masterfully from tree to tree until I was far enough to where he couldn't hear me running and screaming. I halted for a moment, unsheathed my sword and started hacking away at any branches within range of my arms. I screamed and cried until the anger began to fade.

I cried out once more, then remembered I had to beat Thomas back to the house. I sprinted as fast as I could and got back when the moon was high in the sky. It was completely silent, and there was no sign of light seeping through the cracks in my door.

No one was home.

Dartagnan was tied to a tree a couple of feet away, his food and water supply still at a good level to last through the night.

I jogged to the house, pulled open the door and carefully pushed it closed behind me. I shrugged my weapons off and dropped them on the floor with a multitude of loud clanks. I started blindly feeling around for the box of matches I kept on a shelf beside the door. Once I found them I struck one on a wooden surface and the flame flickered to life in my hand.

I lit the half used candles that were mounted on either side of the door. I shivered as I pulled off my boots and my bare feet made contact with the icy floor. Once I went around and lit the rest of the candles I threw a couple matches in the fire pit and poked at the embers until it became a roaring fire.

I then undressed into my night dress, climbed up my ladder and crawled into bed. On my nightstand there was a feather pen, a stack of parchment, and an ink cartridge. I grabbed the parchment, dipped the pen in the ink, and started writing. The words flowed onto the page, and within a few minutes my throat burned and my tears began to smudge the writing.

After writing three pages, front and back, I heard footsteps coming towards the door. I started wiping the tears off my cheeks and put away the damp paper, picking up and opening Hamlet instead.

The door swung open slowly and closed. I could see Thomas's silhouette out of the corner of my eye. He started climbing up the ladder and my heart skipped a beat.

"Hello there beautiful." He said resting his elbows on the edge of the shelf where my and Margaret's beds were. Pig I thought. Anger started to swell in my chest, but I just pretended like I couldn't hear him. He then sat on the edge of our shelf. "What's wrong? Your eyes are puffy have you been crying?"

"Yes I've been crying!" I yelled and threw the book on my bed and stood up. Thomas stood up with me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Why?" I shrugged his hand off and jumped off the ledge, landing perfectly on my feet from a seven-foot jump.

"You wouldn't care. You have Selena. You don't need me." I said resting my hands on the back of the nearest chair. My throat burned and it became difficult to breathe. I could hear Thomas sigh and climb down the ladder.

"Mary, what are you talking about?"

"IM TALKING ABOUT WHEN YOU KISSED THAT COMMON WHORE, THAT...THAT TEN PENNY SLUT IN THE FOREST!" I screamed, turning on him and sinking to my knees, burying my face in my hands. Even though I couldn't see him, I could tell he was taken aback by my outburst.

"Mary, I..."

"Don't try and deny it. I saw you...I saw you." My chest constricted as I started sobbing again. My vision blurred and all I could see was the white of my dress and the brown of the floorboard. I wrapped my arms around myself and started heaving. I was getting tear stains on my dress but I didn't care. Thomas just stood behind me and did nothing. Not like I expected him to do anything really.

"It isn't what you think." I just shook my head. I couldn't get a word in between my repeated sharp intakes of breath. "My father wants me to marry her, but I don't love her. I don't even like her." He stepped closer and put his hand in between my shoulder blades and caressed my back.

"She's vain and aggravating." He continued, "She somehow found me while I was looking for you. Selena latched onto my neck and force kissed me. I wanted to spit on the ground and cut my lips off. Because Mary," he took my arm and helped me stand. He cupped his hands around my face and wiped the tears off my cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, the sudden warmth making me blush.

I still didn't have the strength to meet his eyes. "She wasn't you." I took a deep breath and slowly rose my eyes to his chin, his nose, then his shining eyes. Nothing but pure love radiated from those brilliant blue eyes. His face started to get closer until we were nose to nose and he paused, like he was savoring the moment. I wanted this. I wanted to know what he tasted like from the deepest parts of my being.

"Mary." He whispered, like my name was a sacred prayer.

"Thomas." I whispered back. Something lit up in his eyes as he stared at my lips and then into my eyes, and back at my lips and kissed them. So this was what it felt like. A true kiss. I had barely kissed Daniel, but this was deeper and so much more meaningful. For once in my life I wasn't afraid of getting hurt. His lips were soft and warm and inviting.

I tilted my head to deepen the kiss and wrapped my arms around him, unconsciously scratching his back as a new hunger filled me. His fingers were entangled in my hair. I sighed from satisfaction and he pulled me in closer with his other hand. I brought one of my hands up and wrapped it around the back of his neck and ran it across his shoulder and down his arm stopping at his bicep.

I was running out of air and broke the kiss. We were both breathing heavily. Thomas's other hand found its way to my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We just stood there holding each other for a while. I felt like I was floating and in free-fall at the same time. My head fit perfectly in the crook of his neck.

I took a deep breath and savored his scent. He smelled like new leather and pine and fresh tea leaves. I nuzzled his neck and he stroked my hair, burying his nose in the thick curls. I gasped as I remembered there were still pages of written rage beside my bed that I did not want him seeing.

"What is wrong?" Thomas asked as I wriggled out of his grasp.

"I just remembered." I went up the ladder, grabbed the papers, shimmied down the ladder and walked over to the fireplace. "I won't need these." I said and threw the tear stained writing into the flames, smiling contently.