Chapter Twenty-Six – Thea
Chapter Twenty-Six
Thea
What was I thinking when I stopped the wedding?
This was what I was thinking: had it been a normal brothel with human women, Matthew’s problem wouldn’t have been a problem at all. He would’ve just been doing what all the men in his circles were doing. Our circles. I was part of the same world as him, and I could finally see how rotten it was.
I didn’t belong here with these people. I hadn’t known any better until now, what with being trapped in an ivory tower, but that had all changed within the span of three days. I was grateful that Soren had given me this challenge. Thanks to his inflated ego and ridiculous conditions and rituals, I could see clearly for the first time in my life. Unknowingly, he’d saved me.
Taran was right. This wasn’t about me. What Matthew had done was on him. I had nothing to do with it, and the best thing was to extract myself while I still could.
I stole a glance at Fiona, who was standing with the other bridesmaids. She beamed at me and gave me an exaggerated wink. She’d done what I’d asked her. “Let the show begin,” I thought. This circus was about to get its greatest number, the main attraction. No good show was complete without it.
“I found that I have no words to express how I feel, so I prepared a short video that I would like to share with everyone.” I motioned at the white wall of the building. A young man was ready to get the projector going. I raised my hand to stop him. “One moment. Thank you.” I turned back to Soren. “I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful dagger you’re wearing.”
Honestly, it had been a shock to me when I saw the knife on Soren’s belt. In what world did a groom attend his wedding with a knife attached to his belt? The intricate carvings on the hilt were the same ones as on the knife I’d taken from Markus. Which told me that everyone in Soren’s cult had the same knives, and they were some sort of ritualistic objects. Maybe they used them to cut the branches they used to... well... do things with.
I had Markus’s knife with me, and I’d intended to show it to everyone, to prove that I’d been attacked in the woods. This was even better. It wasn’t just my word against the ether – because Markus wasn’t here, I hadn’t seen him, at least. With Soren’s knife, I had proof.
Soren regarded me with utter confusion.
I gave him a bright, reassuring smile. “May I look at it?”
“Sorry?”
“Your dagger. I would like to see it.”
He couldn’t say no. Not in front of so many people. He smiled awkwardly and took it from his belt. Gently, he passed it on to me.
“Careful,” he said. “It’s sharp.”
I nodded. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “Such interesting carvings. Do they mean anything?” They were carvings of branches and leaves, with runes peppered here and there.
Soren kept his frozen smile but didn’t say anything. The ceremony wasn’t going according to his plan, and I could tell he was on edge.
“I have a similar one.” I took out Markus’s knife, which I’d painstakingly managed to hide in my enormous skirt. I held them side by side and turned to show them to our guests.
“Where did you get that?”
Was it me, or was Soren becoming a bit red in the face?
“I got it from Markus. Do you know him? He came after me in the woods, tried to kill me with it. He jumped me from behind. Quite cowardly of him, don’t you think? He pinned me to the ground and held the knife to my throat.”
Gasps rose from the audience. I hazarded a glance at my parents, who were standing side by side. My mother clung to my father’s arm. They stared at me like I was an alien, dropped from the mothership in the middle of their daughter’s wedding, and they were wondering where their real daughter was.
“He said he wanted to kill me because I wasn’t good enough for his Master. At first, I was confused. I didn’t know who he was talking about. But after I got the upper hand... Which wasn’t easy, mind you. Please don’t ask how I managed to outsmart an assassin. After I got the upper hand, Markus told me that his Master was...” I pointed at Soren. “You.”
More gasps. A few cries. Indignant whispers from both the people in green, who were Soren’s followers, and the normal people who’d come from my family’s side.
“Markus wasn’t the first. Kyla had come the night before, but she’d just wanted to threaten me. The same story. She didn’t think I was good for you. Your followers wanted me gone.”
“Followers?” Soren sputtered. “What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t this a cult you’re running here?”
He opened and closed his mouth. Nothing came out. He was beet red by this point and sweating profusely. He looked over the crowd – wedding guests sitting in their frilly, flowery chairs – shook his head and waved his hands, as if what was happening was beyond him, and what was he even doing here, with this crazy woman who was accusing him of unspeakable things?
“I want to show everyone what I found on Markus’s phone.” I signaled for the projector guy to start the video.
Earlier, I’d sent it to myself, then sent it to Fiona, who was supposed to find a projector and someone to operate it. I’d made her promise not to watch the video, telling her it would be so much more fun if she saw it with everyone else. Honestly, it had been a gamble. I hadn’t known for sure if I could trust her, but she’d come through beautifully.
The video started, and the audience was so deeply silent that all the sounds in the video rolled sharp and clear over the courtyard. Two seconds in, Soren lost it. He ran to the projector guy, yelling at him to stop the video. The guy held his hands up and backed away slowly. Soren fumbled with the projector, but his hands were shaking so hard that it took him another half minute to turn it off. By then, the damage had been done.
I took this time to look at the people in green, and I was satisfied to see they seemed to be embarrassed. A few tried to slip away unnoticed, but I saw them. I saw their faces and recognized them from the video.
“This is not what it looks like,” Soren said as he made his way back to me. He shot me an angry look, then smiled his fake smile at the guests. “I don’t know what that is.”
“How can you say that?” A woman in a green satin dress stood up. Her hands were fists at her sides. She was so angry that she was shaking. “Are you renouncing us? Renouncing what you built?”
“Yes, she’s right.” A man in a green shirt joined her. “We trusted you. We gave you all we had, gave up on our families and loved ones because we believed in your word.”
“No,” Soren said, waving his hands around. “No, no, no. This is a misunderstanding. Please, sit down.”
“I will not sit down,” the woman said.
“Did you send assassins after my daughter?” My father stepped up while my mother tried to pull him back, scared for him.
“No, I would never...”
“He didn’t,” I said. “His followers hate me so much that they decided to enact justice on their own, as Markus said. I’m paraphrasing.”
“Everyone, we should calm down...” Nothing that Soren said had an impact anymore.
The guests jumped from their seats and started yelling at each other. The ones who were not dressed in green were cursing and attacking Soren’s people, calling them names. Soren’s people were cursing him and screaming about how he was a fake and he’d betrayed them. It was chaos.
And in that chaos, I saw my chance at freedom.
I lifted the heavy skirt of my dress and ran to my parents.
“I can’t do this. I won’t.”
“Darling,” my mother cooed. She was crying. She reached for me, but I pushed her hand away.
“Are you okay?” Dad asked me.
“No. I’m not okay. I am done with this. I am done with you. You tried to marry me into a cult!”
“We didn’t know,” Mom said.
“I don’t care. I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going?” Dad asked. He grabbed my arm, but I shook him off.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be safe. Safer than here.”
“Thea, please... We’re your parents, we want what’s best for you.” Mom said.
“I will protect you,” Dad said. “I failed you, I know, but I will do better.”
“It’s okay, Dad. You protected me already. By giving me Taran.”
“Who?”
I rolled my eyes, and it dawned on him. I couldn’t believe he’d forgotten about the bodyguard he’d hired for me.
“Taran Sylvan,” he said. “The leshy. Is he here?”
“Yes, he’s waiting for me. And I’m going. Don’t try to stop me.”
“You weren’t supposed to know,” he yelled after me.
“Oh, I know. I know everything!”
With that, I tore my veil and ran across the courtyard. Wedding guests crashed into me, and I pushed them away. It was madness. Someone grabbed at my dress, and when I pulled, half of the skirt got torn. Pain shot through my ankle. I couldn’t ignore it, but I couldn’t stop either.
I saw him move towards me, and I ran to him. Taran had waited for me. He’d stayed and watched over me until the last moment, even if he thought I was lost.
I’d been lost. For a while. He’d helped me find myself, and all I wanted was to be with him. I didn’t care how.
He caught me in his branches and lifted me bridal style. So fitting.
“My flower,” he whispered in my ear.
“Take me away.”