Chapter 26 #2
An odd stillness fell across Valerie, who suddenly sat rigid in her chair, no longer agitated but entirely unmoving, as if she did not dare to. He had been aiming for a jest, but it appeared it had fallen flat. Either that, or there was something else that she was not saying to him.
Did the twin go to Gretna Green? Did Valerie lie to protect her sister, fearing what I might think?
“No, I assure you I was not,” she said at last, flashing a smile that did not reach her eyes. “Although, I daresay it is a pleasant place. Only those who wish to fight for their love venture there, so determined to wed that they risk everything just to be united in holy matrimony.”
Raising an eyebrow, he sat back in his armchair. “I had not thought of it like that before.” He paused. “I cannot say that I have much experience in the matter of marriage. After all, my one fleeting betrothal never concluded in a wedding. What of you? Have you come close to a betrothal?”
Name the man and I shall tear him to pieces in my nightmares. It was the last thing that Adrian wanted to hear about, but he had no other questions to ask her. And, in truth, he was curious to hear her opinions about marriage.
“Never,” she replied stiffly. “Having witnessed the marriage between my mother and father, it is not exactly an aspiration of mine. Indeed, I believe that marriage should be for love and only love. It should never be a means to an end, a convenience, a… mere business exchange. I do not think that is what the Lord intended for marriage to be for, if you will pardon my language, that is hellish for all involved.”
The passion with which she spoke was not what he had anticipated.
It was not the dreamy passion of a woman who had imagined her wedding day all of her life, and had long had fantasies of finding a husband to love and be loved by.
It was the passion of anger rising, barely contained to a simmer.
Meanwhile, her eyes were steely, glaring down at the fireplace as if the flames had insulted her terribly.
“Forgive me, Adrian,” she said abruptly, rising from her chair. “I did not realize the hour. Tomorrow will be a long and trying day, and I will need all of my rest and strength to survive it.”
He got up as a gentleman should, not altogether convinced that the prospect of tomorrow’s party was the reason she was leaving in such haste.
“Of course,” he said. “Rest well, Valerie.”
“And you,” she replied, as she set down her mostly empty glass and hurried out of the room, like she could not escape fast enough.
Was it something I said? he pondered as he walked to the door that she had left open and waited for a moment, listening to the sound of her retreating footsteps.
Clearly, it had been something he had said. The trouble was, he could not figure out which part would be provoking enough to make her rush out of there like that.
Adrian walked endless hallways draped in festive banners, garlands of ivy and holly, and brightly colored bunting that had been painted with stars and angels and snowmen and some sort of creature that might have been a donkey.
Somewhere, musicians played the rendition of ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ that his mother had favored.
A few steps later, a deep baritone joined in with the instruments, beginning to sing.
A sound so resonant that it seemed to vibrate the decorations that were strung all about, stretched overhead like a colorful web woven by a spider who particularly enjoyed Christmas.
Adrian knew he was dreaming, as he always did, but this was new.
He had dreamed of festive parties before, many times, but the decorations had never been so large a character; usually, they blended into the background, not important to the haunting of memory he was about to endure.
Indeed, this did not seem like a memory at all, but something entirely forged from his imagination.
“Help!” a familiar voice cried somewhere in the distance.
Struck with sudden panic, Adrian took off at a sprint, running through the labyrinth of his castle hallways until they spat him out in the entrance hall.
There, up ahead, Valerie teetered precariously at the top of a ladder that she had leaned against a wall. In her hand, she gripped one end of a string of bunting, her body wavering back and forth on the top step.
“What are you doing?” he called out to her, as he ran to grab the ladder and hold it steady.
Regaining her balance, Valerie gazed down at him with the most beaming smile, her eyes alight with merriment.
“I am decorating, you gooseberry. What does it look like I am doing? And when I am done, I am going to drag you outside to see the snowmen that the boys and I made. I think they are our best yet.” She paused.
“You are not dressed, my love. Hurry, darling—everyone will be arriving soon!”
“Everyone? What do you mean?” he asked, his voice faraway as if he were speaking underwater.
My love? Why is she calling me that?
“The party, silly!” She laughed her sweetest laugh, a sound he could not resist. “Honestly, you would forget your head if it were not attached to your neck. Oh… I can hear them now! Listen, my darling!”
Out of the quiet came the ethereal jingle of sleigh bells and the dull percussion of hoofbeats, muted by the snow that blanketed the dream world beyond the windows.
And there, just visible through the panes, coming out of the tunnel of trees, were the sleighs themselves, pulled by teams of white horses.
The ring of those bells grew louder and louder until it was a deafening clamor that rattled in his skull, and as he squinted at those white horses, he spied the driver. A shapeless shadow, holding the reins, urging those beasts straight toward him.
He awoke with a start, his ears still ringing, drenched in the hot sweat of anxiety. He had never dreamed of something new before, and though it should have been a pleasant sort of dream, it chilled him like a nightmare. For that was a dream that could never come true; he was not worthy of it.