The touchdown at Reichenstone was as gentler than the wind. As exhausted as he was, High Lord Doryx Acaulian was not about to wake his sleeping wife. After all that happened in White Sands, they both deserved their rest; perhaps, she more than he. All the same, however, there was no shortage of relief to finally be safe at home, at least for the time being.
Doryx had never been one to fly by the seat of his intuition and damn the consequences. Least of all in moments like this, when he could only imagine the consequences to come from the summarily destroyed castle left behind in the wake of Devaniée’s …conniption. That was putting it lightly and the matter lay heavily on the High Lord of Darken Vei’s heart. The Gods only knew what price would be demanded as payment, as punishment, as justice for the lives that had been lost. He tried to prevent it. Gods! He risked his own life to save so many others at that castle!
But the damage had been done and could not be undone.
Doryx looked to the quiet motionless form of his wife, in what some would have called an exhausted slumber and what other’s still would only describe as the sleep of death. His heart leapt up into his throat at that notion. Perhaps she was better off dead, if only that he might spare her of what was to come.
Devaniée, he thought. My wife, my love, how I neglected you so. How could you let me bury myself underneath worlds of study, of state, of diplomacy, and never once did you utter a word… Not that you would have. But how could you ever come to believe that I would never want you to think or to peak or to tell me how you feel? Tears welled up in his eyes. What is life without someone to share it with, in every way? I will make it up to you. Somehow, someway I will prove my, Devaniée. I will never leave you behind.
His eyes glistened with the threat of tears and they rolled over until two fell and landed onto the pillow case beside Devaniée’s head. He’d set her down gently and pulled the thin silken covers over her body as the cool breeze drifted in through the balcony doors. And gently did his hands hold hers before he leaned across her and pressed his lips to her forehead tenderly.
He then took his place beside her and laid down.
As Devaniée lay there sleeping, a raging storm of dreams surged inside her head. Of darkness, of destruction, and the bitterness of being alone. Through the fire inside her mind, through the smoke, she could see herself moving, flying, sweeping, calling, crying as she opened her large black wings and howled mournfully towards the moon. And below her was a city of blood, where even the rivers were red, and the bones of men lay charred beneath the trees. But she was seeking something. She knew not what, just something.
And as she looked around to where an emptiness lay to the west, beside purple fog laced across tall mountain peeks, she realized whatever it was she was searching for was doomed. And her stomach grew cold and her eyes wet over and her long mouthed lips curled back as she let out a cry-
and awoke, clinging to Doryx with tears in her eyes.
"Noooo! Noooo!"she wailed, half awake, half still inside her dreams.
Doryx had been just falling asleep when Devaniee startled him, half-asleep herself. He jumped, nearly fell out of bed before he realized she was still asleep. "Devaniee," he whispered, leaning up on an elbow and brushing her hair from her face. "Devaniee! Wake up! You're dreaming."
Devaniée let out a sharp cry of alarm as she sat up in the bed, her body covered in sweat, her hair in disarray, and her heart nearly beating out of her chest. And she took one look at Doryx before hastily touching a hand all over her face before suddenly throwing herself at him and sobbing against his chest.
"Tell me it was all a bad dream, Doryx. All a terrible dream."
Doryx's eyes were wet from his tears and they only welled up again when she threw herself against his chest. How could she not know? How could she so easily forget? He hadn't wanted to believe it as much as she, but he knew distorting or brushing off the reality of what happened to would do neither of them any good. If he couldn't protect her, the least he would do was to tell her the truth.
His arms went around her and he hugged her possessively to his chest. "No...it wasn't all a bad dream," he murmured. "Maybe the parts when you were asleep. But the parts before. Those were real."
Devaniée continued to weep as she held him, wetting his shoulder as she cried. She slowly shook her head.
"I know," she breathed against him, fingers curling into his clothing as she clung onto him. "But I was just hoping, that when I fell asleep.. the moment I woke up it would all go away."
She laughed pathetically at her self. "I know... a silly, selfish dream. But I.." and here she went silent, lips trembling, teeth tucking back that quivering lower lip.
"It's not silly," Doryx said softly. "It's a perfectly natural reaction. After all that... Well, I don't want to think on it now." His arms squeezed her tighter.
Devaniée hugged him back tighter, keeping her face buried against him as she too, didn't want to think about any of it now, or ever.
Doryx laid back against the bad, draping Devaniee across from him and pulling the blankets up with a spare hand. He brushed her hair from her shoulders instead as a breeze came in from the balcony, rustling the sheets in a cooling touch. "When I first when to that ball, the one where you saw me and hunted me down to make me your own, I have to admit, I was terrified. But...I also had to admit, that when I saw you...just wow. You were...dazzling. Like an enchanting crystal. Or a charged shard."
She tried to smile about it, but it was forced as the tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"I knew you wouldnt have been able to resist me," she said quietly. "But who knew what the consequences would be of my greed?"
"Well, no one could have known then what the consequences would have been then. I couldn't have known that we'd end up married and find myself hopelessly in love with you. I knew that you were beautiful and I was waryabout you," Doryx went on. "I thought you would surely try some kind of trickery. Little did I know the joke was on me. I couldn't get enough of you. Even if I was a little hard-pressed to show it."
"You may say that, Doryx, but I still hate myself," she admitted. "The woman you fell in love with. That wasn't me. At least not the real me. I just wanted to be perfect, like my mother groomed me to be. And I could marry no one else. You were the exact man she wanted me to marry. So I did."
"Then your mother has good taste in men," Doryx laughed, trying to lighten the mood. He squeezed her tighter and rubbed her back once more. "Maybe you didn't like who you were then. You say you tried to be perfect, the most appealing version of you you could possibly be. But y'know when I met the real you, that...now that was perfection. Our flaws make us perfect."
"Perfection?" She peered up, brows dipping sharply. "Perfection?!" She shook her head. "Doryx, I could have killed you today! I tuned into a horrible monster! A beast!"
"I didn't say the dragon," Doryx said evenly. "I meant the you I saw before the bracelet, before all of this happened, when we made love in your room...and practically demolished the place."
Devaniee trembled as she looked up into his face.
She couldn't even speak, tears simply fell down her cheeks.
Doryx never did let her go. Instead he leaned in to kiss at her tears, brushing them away and leaning his head into hers. "Even after all these years, I wish I had seen that woman earlier. Her fire, her intellect, her passion. Like when I would surreptitiously watch you when you were painting. I love that part of you. That is the perfection I see."
His wife smiled warmly at the thought, a hand finding his and threading their fingers together.
"I do love to paint.." she murmured softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "It's the only time I've ever felt free."
"That is when I see the perfection I so admire," Doryx whispered. "I always loved to watch you paint. I always loved to watch you at peace, to watch you express yourself without fear of retribution."
"Yes... they were always nice times," she went on, tears still clinging to her eyes. "But now I fear I might not ever paint again." For she was so afraid, so anxious of this curse that even her love for painting seemed like it existed in some other, dream like world.
"Why don't you paint now?" Doryx murmured. "You could paint me. I'd like that. I'd love for you to immortalize me in the only way I ought to be: in your hand."
Devaniée forced a smile to him, but it was evident what it was.
"No..."s he told him, gently shaking her head. "I don't know if I even feel like leaving this bed." Yes, hiding away and sleeping all day seemed like a better option than ever dealing with what had occurred.
"Enough of the masks," he murmured. "You don't have to force your smiles any more. I want to know when I've truly displeased you, when you're unhappy or sad, please don't hide from me."
"It's not a mask!" she told him, eyes growing sharp. "After all we've gone through, all that's been, you'd think I'd lie about this?" She gave an incredulous shake of her head. "I am beyond upset, Doryx. With myself, with you, with everything. This... this mess we're in.... " And she turned away from him, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I hate it, every minute of it. I just want this curse gone." And she took a hold of the bracelet tightly, as if wishing to rip it off, but knowing better and just halting there, on the brink of more tears.
"I'm sorry, Dev," Doryx murmured, expression softening in the wake of her frustration. He knew what it was like, at least, to feel trapped in something beyond your control, to try beyond measure to fight against it. He sat up from his position beside her and his eyes were tired, heavy, exhausted with the weight of her own misery and he grabbed her wrist, sore from the bracelet and he gripped it gingerly. "Denaviee...I was so scared that I'd hurt you. When you...when I found you in the forest after you changed, I though you were dead."
"Maybe it would be better if I were dead," she sobbed, burying her face into her hands. "Then you wouldn't have to deal with me and this cruel curse."
"So what would you have me do? Huh?" Doryx questioned. "You are still my wife."
"I don't know, Doryx. I don't know," she told him honestly, tears burning within her eyes.
"I'm just so afraid of myself. What happens if the dragon awakens again?"
Doryx sighed. "I don't know," he frowned, shaking his head. "I don't know what happens, or what will happen now. I can only assume after Summervale men will come hunting for you... "
After a long, silent moment of tears rolling down her cheeks, she finally had enough composure to whisper, "And what can we do, Doryx? What if they want to send me away?"
Doryx furrowed his brows and grabbed her shoulders. "I won't let them take you... I won't!" he said sharply. "We'll find a way to fix this! There has to be a way! I...I can't give up."
Devaniee tried to smile for him, but her lips were trembling too much and the tears from her eyes were endless.
"We could try to find a way to remove it. Maybe.. cut it off..." And as she spoke, her hand smoothed over the skin just below where the bracelet rested, locked into place.
[necklace?]
Doryx shook his head, swallowing hard. "I don't think that would help. Don't think I haven't thought of it...but it would only kill you, or make whatever power is in that amulet cling to you all the more," he murmured.
Devaniée draped a hand over her eyes, sobbing into them before clinging to him tighter.
"Gods... Doryx...." She buried her face into his shoulder. "Is there nothing we can do? No one we can talk to? No place we can visit? Nothing at your school or places you've visited that... that could help?"
The look of distress on Doryx's face only grew and he ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes tightly. "I-I don't know," he admitted, half-defeatedly. "I have to think. I need more time. I need time to pour through what I have. I...I don't know what to do. For the first time in my life, I don't know..."
"Do... do we have time?" she asked, scaredly, peering up into her husband's eyes.
"Not much," he admitted, and chewed on his bottom lip. "News travels quickly. The people of Summervale will want retribution. I know they are coming and they will be here quickly.
"Perhaps there's some way to...to communicate with the power of the bracelet. Perhaps put you under hypnosis or some kind of sedation."
Devaniée peered up into his gaze.
"Do you really think anything like that could work?"
Doryx shook his head. "I don't know, Devaniee. I don't know! I don't know! I don't know!!!" His face turned red and he grew angry, throwing over furniture and tables and smashing a vase against a wall.
"Devaniee, I will find the answer though. I swear that much. And I don't take my promises lightly. And you will help me. They will take me only when I take my last breath."
Devaniée stepped back, cowering away as her husband began to throw and break things. She remained there, still so full of fear and feeling just about as confused and helpless as her husband. Though when he calmed down to look at her, she couldn't help herself as tears bubbled within her eyes and she began to sob.
"No," Doryx said, looking at her. "No more tears. No more crying. We've sobbed and wallowed in our misery long enough. Now is the time for action. Are you with me in this?"
"Do we have any other choice?" she said, trying to steel her tears as they wavered across her bright violet eyes.
"Yes. Action. We study. We examinate. We experiment with the magics surrounding that forsaken amulet. Come with me. We will go to my laboratory. Get on your feet," Doryx said adamantly and strode toward the door.
Devaniée gasped and followed after him.
"What? Now?" she asked, eyes darting all around.
"Now!" Doryx said, his anger making his pace all the greater.
She felt herself panic as she stumbled after him.
"But..but... should we not prepare? What if they're.. they're expecting to find us there?" Though she could only hope news would travel slowly from the coast...
"We came here quicker than they could've possibly arrived," Doryx said as he walked down toward his alchemy laboratory in the wing of the castle devoted to the very cause. The entire section was well-guarded, even cornered off to where only certain rooms were accessible at only certain times with certain methods of accessibility. He shoved open the doors to the main room and looked at everything there available for experimentation.
"Well," he said. "We'd best get started."
Following after him as quietly, timid and fearful as a mouse, Devaniée kept close, her eyes taking in all of the secrecy behind entering this section of their home- a section she herself had really never visited. Part of her felt a pang of jealousy over it, but she had never truly shown an interest in his work and well-
She knew it was private.
But that didn't mean she had to like it. But along with everything else, she swallowed it down and just let it fester inside, but even as she did so and they moved deeper into the room, she felt a light burning sensation on her wrist and winced while instinctively covering the thing with her other hand.
Doryx directed Devaniee over to an examination table, where alembics and other alchemical materials all resided, and he sparked a burner to set a container of water to boil. "Have a seat, please. I know you've studied my books and my notes and I'm going to need your insight on everything you've learned. We'll start with possession, demonic possession, etc. And work our way outward from there."
"Demonic possession?" Her skin went white, but as she thought of it, she gave a nod. "It certainly feels like possession. But I don't know... it's one thing to read notes about it. And it's another to actually experience it."
"Just tell me what you've read, dear. Please. Concentrate," Doryx said, going out throwing some herbs into the water as it slowly boiled.
Frowning, Devaniée tried to think, but her hands simply itched over the amulet.
"I don't know. I've read a lot of your papers... The one on possession... it well, the remedies.. I think, were something along the lines of sating the host that binds you."
Whatever that could mean for her, she knew not.
"So if you go by those notes, I believe, from your Book of Wraths and the notes on the subject, that's what it'll tell you. But I don't believe this sort of curse... this dragon and it's cult, were listed anywhere."
"Appeasement? I don't think that's really an option here," Doryx said with a sigh. He eyed her wrist and grabbed it suddenly. "Quit fussing with that, you're not helping anybody by trying to pry it off. Short of cutting off your arm, we can only pray that it won't embed further into your skin."
Doryx moved to the boiling water and took the concoction just finishing boiling and poured it into another container. He poured that and sifted it through an alchemical contraption that took it all through several tubes and tunnels until it finally was poured out of a strainer, after having passed through foreign herbs and he finally moved back toward her.
He held the cup out to her. "Drink this. It will help calm your nerves."
She made a weird face as she looked down at the drink and gave a dry laugh.
"Trying to get me drunk?" she said, hesitating before taking a drink and making a most disgusted of faces, and nearly gagging at it.
"What.. what was in that?"
It was most foul!
"Don't question me, just keep drinking," he directed and took out a notepad and ink blotter along with a pen. He dipped the pen and began to make his assertions, based on her initial reactions. "All of it, please."
"All of it?" Devaniée looked green, and most definitely appalled.
"All of it, please," he said again, never once looking up from his notes.
Glaring at her husband, she obeyed, then slammed the empty glass onto the table
"Good," Doryx said, taking the glass from her and setting to the side, matter-of-fact-like. "Now, let me take a few vitals." He moved back and set the notes aside, reaching up and feeling along her neck, where her pulse was, and her face. He paused then and watched her expression, seeing his reflection mirrored in her eyes, and the anger and the fear there.
He said nothing and resumed taking her temperature, her heart rate, hands measuring along her neck, her pulse, and chest, and even looking into her eyes for reaction to light. "Heart rate is high, but that's understandable. How would you say you feel right now, physically?"
Feeling her frustration mounting, her lips trembled as she continued to glare back at him.
"Sick. Angry. Frustrated. Pissed."
"Physically," he repeated, clarifying himself in case it wasn't crystal the first time. "I mean, how do you feel in terms of body aches, pain in your joints, fingers, etc."
Feeling pushed over the top, Devaniée turned away from her husband with a frustrated sigh, and raked her hands through her hair in desperation.
"I don't know, Doryx! I don't! Everything grates on my nerves, tests my patience and makes me sick! And my hands... they shake! Not just from rage, but from stress.. fatigue and fear! How am I to answer any questions about how I feel when I feel so much?" And at that, she turned to him with a glare.
"You will do as you're instructed, Devaniee," Doryx said, face stern and without an ounce of humor. "This is for your own good, and for mine. I'm trying to help you. We will get through this together, but in order for us to do so, I need to understand everything about that bracelet. How it makes you feel, how it changes you. I've written down all we've discovered so far, but..."
He stopped suddenly and shook his head, placing the notepad down. He shook his head and cleaned his face with his hands. This wasn't going to work. "I'm sorry," he said. "I...I didn't mean to treat you as if you were one of my experiments, a test subject. You are my wife. I will do all I can to help you."
But tears already were prickling her eyes. And she was too upset to deal with him now as she turned from him and walked away.
Doryx wouldn't let her get far however as he stormed after her. "Devaniee! Don't walk away from me! Please," he called after her.
But Devaniée was fast and desperate to get away from him, to get away from this tension, as she sped up, rushing up the stairs towards her room without bothering to look back.
But her husband would not let up, not even if she shoved him out with the power of the dragon that lingered in the bracelet. What if all of this was futile? This trying to fight a power so ancient it might as well be as trying to exorcise a god from a person... The thought briefly passed Doryx' mind. But he couldn't just leave her....could he? His only wife... "Devaniee...please," he begged, standing on the otherside of the door.
She slammed the door nearly in his face, and hastily locked it so he could not get in. And it was here, she rested her back against the heavy door that now separated them, her mind swimming with so many emotions she thought she might burst. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, and after a moment she yelled back at Doryx,
"Leave me alone! Please..."
And she grit her teeth, trying to keep back the strain in her voice.
"I need to be alone."
And as she raked a hand through her hair, she stared up at the amulet on her wrist wtih a deepened frown.
Doryx sighed, leaning heavily on the door before turning around and sliding down the back of it, sitting down and burying his face in his hands.
She wanted peace, she wanted quiet, but she could just feel her husband just outside the door, an equal agony tugging at her own heart. But she wouldn't let herself cry, even as the urge was becoming too over whelming to bear. And after a long, heavy silence, her trembling voice pleaded with him.
"Please..."
She valued her time to herself, and now was when she needed to desperately collect herself.. by herself, and for herself, before she could be any good to him.
Doryx sighed and remained silent. He could not bring himself to vacate the door... And yet the futility of it all only frustrated him all the more. He did get up and moved on toward his laboratory.
ANd she could not bring herself to go to the door, to go to him, to just let him in to comfort her. She wrung her hands, scolding herself for falling back to this desperate habit. But wasn't that what she was? Desperate? And so she remained in silence, as minutes ticked by feeling like hours, and the strain was beginning to get even too tense for her that she began to look around the room.
For what? She did not know.
After about two hours, even Doryx couldn't stand the waiting any longer, the not knowing how she was feeling, if she might hurt herself. He moved from his office and took the skeleton key he'd hidden away and slipped it into the lock of her door, and quietly parted the lock from the jam. He opened the door and found Devaniee sitting there. He said nothing, just meeting her eyes in silence.
Peering up at her husband, the ghost of tears was evident. But she said nothing, and lowered her gaze shamefully, painfully from his.
Doryx didn't say anything, as he crossed the threshold into his wife's safe domain. He didn't even close the door behind him. He knew this was her territory, that this was where she had her saw more than he. He came in truce, hands palm up and held one out tentatively to her, hoping she would take it.
"I don't think this is working, Doryx," she told him, throat burning as she spoke.
Doryx said nothing as he stepped forward and took her hand in his. He pressed her hand against his cheek and kissed her pulses. He dropped it and held it loosely in his hands. "We can't stop trying. What else can we do?"
"Give up?" she said, voice breaking as hot tears streamed down her cheek. "What else can we do? I'm broken, I have a curse. Summervale is surely angry with you, and us?" Her eyes show cased a silent, sad laugh. "We are broken as well."
"Some things break and can be fixed again. Others must be renewed, reborn into a new life. And it can flourish, too, if given the chance." he said gently.
"Given the chance.." she repeated somberly, eyes still fastened to the cursed bracelet and the marks it was leaving, indefinitely scaring her flesh.
"I stand here baring everything to you, and I hope you can give me that chance. Perhaps we are marred...But I would never give you up..."
And her only response was to cry.
Ugh, figures. At that response, Doryx dropped her hand. He could take a hint.
There was little more Devaniée could do. The tears would not stop flowing. She felt broken, she felt lost, she felt damned. Would she ever find reprieve, relief? And could she even do it alone? As she was unable to reach out for the help she so desperately desired, so taken was she with her emotions.
Perhaps this was the end. She could relieve her husband of her as his burden...
But what of herself? What was there left for her now that she had the curse sealed to her wrist?
And at a time like this, cutting off her wrist sounded more enticing,- an idea that made her sob even louder.
He wanted to leave her there, to let her wallow in her own misery, but something unseen kept him in place. He couldn't help her, not really, that much he knew... But could he really leave her? Doryx slowly slumped to his knees before her and wrapped his arms around her hips, pulling his face in against her stomach, hugging her tightly to him.
At his gesture she moved to lay over him, arms bound around his form as she cried.
"I can't do this, Doryx. I can't do this with you, or by myself.... I want this gone. I am tired of being a slave to my situation. I'm tired of all the eggshells I walk on. I'm just tired."
"I know, Devaniee, I know. But I'm right there with you. You're my wife, my lover, and I will not abandon you." He squeezed her to him, sobbing lightly, feeling his own tears soak into her dress. "I love you more than you could ever imagine, and if I didn't do all I could to help you, I couldn't live with myself. Please don't give up on me, not yet."
She remained quiet, salty tears streaming down her cheeks. And after a long moment, when she was finally able to speak, she brushed back some tears and whispered, "Okay."
Doryx turned his head up to where her head lay against him and brought his face up just high enough to kiss her passionately.
All that was left were raw emotions, and his kiss drew out hunger. And at first, she melted to it, and soon was returning it in kind, hands smoothing down the muscles of his back, and up and down then through his hair. And hungrily her tongue sought to his, as she moaned and whispered between kisses, "Make love to me."
He moaned back against her, tongue tasting her, languish running along hers as they might have when they were young, first discovering their bodies. Oh but he was well versed, and his hands were practiced with her form, pushing her dress up from her hips. "I will. I will," he murmured back to her.
Devaniée shivered, and helped him remove that dress the rest of the way. And impatiently, she guided his hands to smooth up her body, warm, strong hands that were calloused not only from hard work, but his studies as well. And soon he'd find his hands cupping her breasts, as she let out soft noises while her body began to heat.
To feel her breasts against the palm of his hands made Doryx gasp. He rose up from his initial spot at her knees, kissing up along her body until his mouth met to her breast, sucking there until he could feel her heart beat through heated flesh.
Fingers gripped into his hair, body aching, arching as he tasted of her flesh. And her breath was stolen away, as she wanted nothing more than...
"P-please.. Doryx.."
She desperately needed him. And now.
When she begged him, it was all he needed and he shifted his trousers down, letting them fall to the floor as he slipped within her folds. He murmured her name, moaning at feeling all of her.
Breaths, gasps, touches.
Her fingers gripped the muscles of his arms, pinching, puncturing lightly the skin before drawing her fingertips up his arm as her hips moved to roll along his member. And the sensation was more than she could take, as her breath was taken away with each rise of her hips.
Her husband pinned her against her dresser, coaxing her legs to deal around his hips, as he began to move wildly, with need.
Her back to the dresser was anything but comfortable, but any discomfort was forgotten by the way he pounded into her, making the dresser's attached mirror rock and smack against the wall.
The sound of the ruckus disturbed some of the servants and when one had come to the door to investigate, they paused in time before opening the door, hearing the sounds going on in there.
Doryx didn't pay any attention to it, and just continued to plow into her, through her, and then some.
It was strange how the act of sex made Lady Acaulian forget everything else. The sex she now shared with her husband had become intense, animalistic even, as if they were learning about this side of themselves for the first time. And as paints and trinkets started to topple over, she only begged for more.
He panted with effort, melting into her, through her and against her. "Oh Devaniee," he panted, crawling over her, moving with her until he sat back on the bench to the dresser, pulling her over his lap.
Now straddling over him, her hips rolled unrelentingly. Lips met to his, her tongue pushing his lips open as fingers gripped into his hair. Her heart was hammering as she felt his member slam into her as she gasped and moaned through each breath and kiss.
Soon they collapsed in a melted heap on the floor, in a best of sheets and pillows. Doryx panted hard, lying on his back and trying to catch his breath. He felt the weight of Devaniee's head move with the rise and fall of his chest. He had no words, however, and simply brushed her hair away from her face.
She too, was speechless. Heavy breaths had claimed her as she remained plastered across his form. Though when his hands moved to brush her hair away, she found herself turning to look at him, studying his face and the way it was now rosied from their romp, and how it made him seem to glow.
Doryx did look at her and smiled. But it was thoughtful and somber. "What are you thinking right now?" he found himself asking, knowing it was a foolish question, but he was curious nevertheless.
"Now?" she repeated, sighing as she kept her eyes locked to his. "Only that, in that moment, we seemed.... happy." She bit her lip as she tried to suppress a frown and a forced smile. "But the moment was like fire.. and I can't help but think how we've come to be- and that I still have a hard time to see the future."
"And also, I worry what we do... if it isn't hollow," she added, in a voice scarcely ove ra whisper.
"Hollow?" he asked, drowning a little. His expression softened. "That we make love only to abate our problems?"
Perhaps it was a bit harsh of an assessment, but it was how she felt. She only gave the smallest of nods.
"Things... have just changed so greatly," she went on, her voice soft, almost inaudible. "I'm having trouble even figuring my own self out... let alone the mess that has become... well, this."
Doryx nodded again. "I understand. A lot has happened. I just want you to know, whatever you need, I'm here for you. Always. But if you want some space, some time to figure things out, it's yours. Meanwhile, I'll do all I can to research possible ways of fixing this thing." His smile now was genuine and he laid his head back, staring at the ceiling, wondering if war was near.
Right. In the moment of bliss, she had forgotten about the cursed amulet now gripped into her skin. Turning her eyes from her husband, she grew quiet as she studied the cursed eyes of the dragon, that did not glow as it appeared to be asleep... waiting for the next time to strike.
Doryx put a hand over her wrist, pushing it from her view and he turned his body to bring her eyes to his. He kissed her cheek, dragging lips softly down on her neck. "Just look at me," he muttered a moment after. "Just look at me, okay. Please, trust me."
The moment she saw his hand, fear gripped her, but only for a moment, for there was also relief in the fact she could not see it. And the gesture...
It meant more to her than he could have known. Lifting her eyes, she did look at him, and in doing so, she murmured, "I do." She swallowed the hard knot in her throat as she continued to look into his eyes. "I do trust you. And for it..." her lips trembled, eyes threatening as they wet with tears. "I fear for us. Fear for the future. Fear... for everything."
"You're not alone in this," he said and peered in her eyes. "Alone in your fear, or your struggle, Devaniee. I'm here, and I will do all I can to help you. To save us. But it can't just be me, we'll need everything we can get. I'm in this for the long haul."
"BUt how?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, and so fragile, it sounded as if it might break.
"This thing... and our marriage..."
Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she swallowed the knot forming in her throat.
"It will be a long road to walk."
"And my steps will coincide with yours, will they not?" he asked, tentatively. After all his effort would be dependent upon hers. If she willed it, he would remain.
She said nothing, just stared at him for a long moment before allowing her eyes to fall. And her only reply came as a simple gesture, of burying herself against him, and just holding him tight as tears silently rolled down her cheeks.
Doryx wrapped his arms gently around her and let her tears stream down his chest. There would always be time to despair. For now he simply wanted to hold his wife.
After a long moment, Devaniée whispered, "I'm tired." She sighed against but didn't bother to lift her head. "More than tired.. exhausted." She sighed. "Take me to bed?" she asked softly, peering up at him through reddened, tear glossed eyes.
"Yes ma'am," he said with a nod. Though their spot on the floor was all too comfortable, they couldn't remain there forever, and so Doryx eased her up into his arms and settled her onto her bed. He sat beside her and took her head. "Will the lady require anything else for the night?"
"Just you... To remain by my side."
Doryx kissed her hand and pressed it to his cheek. "As you wish," he smirked, and crawled over her, settling in at her side, pulling the covers over him.
Nestling in beside him, she sighed and grew quiet, wishing fervently for sleep. But it wouldn't come.
Doryx opened his eyes groggily, feeling her moving against his chest, trying to get comfortable. "Dev," he murmured and looked down at her. His eyelids were heavy with the need for sleep. "Something the matter?"
Sighing, she stared at his face quietly for a good long time.
"I can't sleep. I close my eyes, but my mind keeps racing."
Doryx softened his eyes and pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Racing on what?" he murmured.
She sighed and looked up into his face.
"About everything... This curse, our marriage..."
"I see," Doryx murmured. "I wish I could tell you something to ease your mind. But I'm content to listen if you want to talk about it... At the moment, what else can we do?"
She sighed.
"Honestly, I just wish I could sleep." She closed her eyes, frowning before opening them again to look at him. "My head aches, but so does my heart, and my stomach feels as if it's trying to knot in on itself."
Again, she sighed.
"Being stressed, I suppose, is an understatement... but I don't even know if I have the energy to discuss any of this. But my mind.... it's like..." She sighed a third time and looked at the ceiling. "It's like I can not find peace."
"I see," Doryx nodded to her. He pushed the hair from her face and leaned in to kiss her brow. "When I was a younger man, and I learned that I was to inherit the position of High Lord, I thought my world had ended. Suddenly this responsibility had been thrust upon me. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't sleep for months, feeling suffocated by the whole thing."
At that, she gave him a small smile.
"I can see that."
She truly could. Finding out that reality definitely would hamper a man's freedom. Though despite it all, he still found time to do what he loved. And though she could admire him for it, it was still a sore spot for her. The resentment wasn't something that could easily heal and go away. She had festered in it for too long.
"But despite how I felt at the time. I'm glad it happened. I don't think we would've met otherwise. I hope you don't have any regrets meeting me." He gave her a sheepish smile, as if half afraid she'd change her mind.
She dropped her gaze, hands fidgeting.
"There will always be much in my life I regret."
"The same could be said of every soul. But I think we can make up for it by living in every moment as much as we can, yes? That's my philosophy anyway." His smile was small and he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
Tensing at the kiss, she turned to look up at him.
"To think we have so many problems... Yet rumors have thrived over us being the perfect couple."
Doryx shifted on his side, pulling the covers up to his shoulders and bundling the pillow beneath his head. "There's no such thing. And people will talk all your life. Let them. What good would it do to attempt to correct them. We are people like any other. People who have found themselves in an unusual predicament."
"Unusual..." She sighed. "What an understatement."
"How would you describe it then?" he muttered.
She paused a moment and frowned.
"Devistating? Unfortunate? Bad?"
"Oh good. I always knew you were eloquent," he snickered, smiling.
"How can you smile?" she asked, pained. "This Dragon curse could very well have damned us."
"Because if we don't smile, we'll never believe in hope."
"Is that hope?" she asked, carefully. "Or is that foolish?"
"Hope often seems foolish to those that have given up. And I won't give up on you," he murmured.
"But it's so hard to hold on. To hope..." she brushed away a few tears as she looked at her lap. "Perhaps I'm just stuck on the idea of ...well," she looked down to the bracelet. "What if I hurt you the next time?" she placed a hand over the bracelet. "Or worse.... Doryx, this is not something we should take lightly. I... This thing... Its dangerous."
"And do you believe I am taking it lightly?" he posed, eyes inspecting her face.
"I don't know what to think. Everythings gone from bad to good." she sighed, exhausted. "Maybe I should try to sleep."
He understood there was only so much he could do to try and help her. And he offered what comfort he could, pulling in close and kissing her brow. "Sleep then."
She closed her eyes at the kiss, and let the feeling trickle through her. It made her shiver just before she sighed. Though she tried to sleep, she was so tense for so long before eventually, sleep over came her anxiety and she relaxed and drifted into a restless dream.
When dawn trickled through the window, Doryx would not be there. He would waken before the morning came. And when another voice could be heard outside, he was whispering harshly. "What did you find?" he asked.
"It's going to be difficult, Doryx. But I think the only way to fight against the spirit that holds your wife is to battle it from within. You'll have to venture into her subconscious."
Still groggy, she wasn't sure what to make of the voices, but she did notice Doryx was not there and his place on the side of the bed was cold.
"Doryx?"
She sat up, sifting fingers through her disheveled hair.
Doryx sighed, brushing a hand through his disheveled hair and turned to the door, having left it slightly ajar. He gestured to one he spoke to and excused himself. "Hello, Devaniee," he whispered, shutting it behind him. He was half dressed, his trousers on and he peered at her with a small smile. "How did you sleep?"
Her reply could be seen in her grumpy frown.
"Who were you talking to?"
[Grumpy gills!]
"One of my colleagues from the College," he said.
She simply stared at him, eyes narrowing.
"Who?"
"Sir Heirich Vanleis," he said gently, searching Devaniee's features. "He's a expert in divination and hypnosis."
"And what is so important about that?" came her impatient reply.
His jaw squared and the muscles clenched a little. "The power that possesses that amulet is steeped deep into your subconscious. Perhaps if there's a way to ascertain that part of you, we might be able to dispel it, separate her consciousness from yours."
She kept a haughty look on her husband but gave a stiff nod.
"I see. And.. You trust this method enough to try? Then I suppose we ought to try it. When were you thinking?"
"When you are ready," he said, tone hesitant. But he was eager to change the subject, because clearly this kind of talk only made her even more testy. "Perhaps some food first? Tea?"
She gave a nod. "Tea sounds nice before we share a meal."
"Yes...yes," he said. When a servant came with tea and breakfast, Doryx thanked them and he served the tray, laying beside the bed. "Did you see the look on his face?" Doryx snickered. "He saw the state of the room and I suppose thought a tornado came through here."
But at his comment, she said nothing, and kept her eyes down on her steaming cup of tea.
"What did I do now?" he asked gently.
At that,s he looked up at him.
"Oh, I..."
She dropped her gaze again, sighing.
"I'm sorry, I.. didn't hear you."
"You did. But clearly what I said displeased you. I'm sorry, Dev," he said, offering her his hand.
She sighed.
"Doryx I... Do you have honey? I think I'd like some with my tea. Shall I ring a servant?" And she turned to reach for the bell pull.
"I...I believe there is some right here," he said, pointing to the tray. He forced a smile, pushed it toward her. "Please, help yourself."
Her expression deflated.
"Oh."
She stared at the honey.
Doryx sipped his own tea in silence before slumping back into the bed, staring at the ceiling. "You know what would be nice? If you painted a mural up there. It could be anything you wished. Anything you paint, I know would be amazing."
Sighing, she moved to add honey to her tea and kept stirring for a long while in silence.
"Maybe," she said.
"And you will let yourself be conquered by fear? Are you not the wife of the High Lord of Darken Vei?"
She dropped the spoon angrily.
"Fear or anger, both make me damned, status alone can't fix this, Doryx."
"That was never the intended solution, Dev." He grew silent, weary of fighting with her and finished his tea.
He stretched and found his shirt, throwing it on and boots as well. "When you are ready, please, let's go to my laboratory. We can see if we can get started there."
Frowning, she dropped her gaze. She felt so irritable.
"Can I have some time alone?" she cleared her throat and looked back over at him. "I can join you there within the hour."
"Yes," he said. Doryx smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek. His lips lingered there for a moment before he stepped out, closing the door quietly behind him.
Being alone didn't help her as much as she had hoped. She never was good at being idle, and though having felt suffocated with her husband around, wanting to help- she still felt suffocated, though now by her own thoughts, her own fears.
Ten minutes turned into twenty, into thirty- and soon she couldn't stand it, and made her way down the hall, up the stairs and into her painting room. She passed canvas after canvas of art that reminded her of all those bottled up emotions she had trouble to contain. But she refused to cry at the memories, and found herself tearing open her paints, scrambling to find a paint brush, which she hastily dipped into paint-
Only to stand there with it dripping onto the floor, eyes stuck on the blank canvas in the dark, unlit room.
And that was that.
Doryx continued with his meeting with his colleague. She would come if it pleased her. And if it did not, then he supposed there wasn't much he could do about that.
It was over an hour before the door creaked open. She was quiet in her approach, and waited for her husband to speak, first.
At long last Doryx decided it wouldn't do to come to her with anger or degradation. She'd had enough of that of her own volition. So he looked up when she came into the room, and he smiled sweetly at her. "Hi," he greeted simply. "Please come in."
Devaniée gave a curt nod and stepped in, closing the door behind her. She barely made eye contact with anyone else, and nervously fidgetted as she folded her arms, but tried to keep her hands occupied with this or that, twirling her fingers into her hair or playing with the hem of her dress.
"I suppose there's a lot to be discussed," she began softly, after clearing her throat. She noticed some paint on her fingernail, and idly picked at it, pieces of it flaking off.
"Yes. But first, I just want to ask one thing," Doryx murmured and sat across from her. "How are you feeling? Truthfully, I mean. No pretense. Just honesty."
Her frown deepened.
"Mortified... Scared, embarrassed, upset..." She sighed. "I'm sure I could come up with a list of over a hundred words to ring true."