The Ordained Bride

A Cruel Surprise

The autumn season arrived in no time at all. The summer green clothed itself in reds and yellows, bursting with a vibrancy unlike any other. The nights grew chilly and shivers gently tickled bones as each soul closed their eyes to sleep. The promise of winter was laced in the air as summer was slowly forgotten.

After the first few weeks of autumn Cyris had all but disappeared. He was at the castle day and night, far from his home and his wife. The mansion felt empty and unnervingly quite since he left and Kleio could not walk the halls without noticing just how empty it was. She found herself sitting outside in the gardens, chilled as the flowers that were passing away, until Eleanor found her and scolded her for risking her health.

Kleio could not stand to be in the mansion for very long. While it was beginning to feel like home, without her husband around, it felt like a prison. The halls swallowed her, the rooms gaped at how tiny she was. The torches snickered as she passed by and the windows mocked her longing gaze that was set upon the North Road that led to the castle. Though she was not sure she could ever say it out loud, she missed her husband.

The servants did little all day long. They cleaned but only out of sight. Kleio barely saw them and some days she wasn't sure if she felt alone or if she felt lonely. She tried not to think on it too much. She'd read many of the books in the study to keep her mind occupied. Nettle was irritable as he too missed Cyris.

The two weeks before her husband returned were long and miserable.

When he did return to his home she was not aware until one of the servants came to tell her. Cyris was already in the courtyard, striding across the dirt to the entrance. Kleio was scrambling down the halls, the servant following after her with as much dignity as he could, struggling to keep up with the lady in his old age. Kleio arrived just as the doors were beginning to open, her heart panicking in her chest and her labored breathing difficult to disguise. She felt her stomach seize and then explode into a million butterflies.

There Cyris stood, his eyes softening ever so lightly in the gloom of autumn day when their gaze fell on his wife. He wore a dark blue suit that was wrinkled from travelling. The dark circles under his eyes had seemed to have vanished and his hair now hung below his shoulders in unkempt locks. He look disheveled and devilishly handsome. The sight of him stole Kleio's breath.

"Wife," He said, his voice neutral and even. In earlier months Kleio would have perceived such a tone to be cold and brutal, but now, she perceived it as gentle as Cyris could be. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face.

"You're back."

"Yes."

"How was it? Your time with the king at the castle?"

"It was more stressful than I could have possibly imagined," He replied. He almost sounded playful. He crossed the distance between them until the tips of his shoes danced before the hem of her dress. Kleio willed her beating heart to settle lest it echo across the hallway in a song of embarrassment and care.

"You need a hair cut," She chuckled, reaching out to take a lock of his hair. Cyris caught her hand and the movement startled Kleio. He ever so gently kissed her palm.

"Thank you. All that I am doing now is because of you. Thank you," He whispered. Kleio's mouth went dry and her throat thickened. She was unsure of what to do with his praise, how she should react. All she could seem to do was drown in the sincerity of his eyes. His gaze was heavy, pensive. The thoughts behind those silver irises were a clouded mystery that Kleio could only hope to one day discover.

The sound of the carriage doors slamming shut behind them snapped them both out of the moment and back to reality. Kleio glanced over her husband's shoulders to see the servants lifting heavy crates and carrying them towards the house. She gently took Cyris' arm and pulled him to the side, making room for the servants to carry out their work.