|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 11:17 pm
What a troubling thing it was, to have bitterly and inexhaustibly argued the importance of acknowledging her as something more than a tool or an object to be won, only to hold such a tool in her hands. How concerning it felt, to have conceded that she had earned this, when an object of unsettling sentience had not consented to an existence as a prize. One that exuded such a frighteningly humanoid soul, and seemed to possess its own name. It went without saying that Mildred experienced a moment of pause, in which she questioned her desire to oppose the King, wondering if this weapon--rather, if he had opposed the King once. Was this the penalty for breaking the Code? Was this what became of knights who were not malleable and compliant? Doomed to exist as something that had none of the agency she desired? If only he could speak to inform her. But there were things of more pressing immediacy, things that persisted in the very front of her mind, and as she ascended those last few stairs towards the surface, she set aside this particular conundrum to one of a different priority. When she stepped through the mouth of the cavern and out of the darkness, she sought the man who had promised to wait. As did the edge of her glaive, which she held towards him with a look of hurt, not anger, and steady restraint. " You forgot me," she accused, her voice containing all of the trembling that her hands did not.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 12:06 am
Back and forth he paced the hallway in front of the entrance, waiting for her to return. His face was lined with wrinkles of worry, frown lines and terribly furrowed brows. He tried ever so hard not to think about how this could have ruined his perfect face, because he had much more important things to worry about. When she began to exit the mouth of the cave, he stopped, frozen tensely as he waited to hear what she had to say. At first, her response horrified him. He wasn't even worried about that - but now his guilt was compounded, because - wait a minute. "You forgot me, too!" He almost barked out in nervous laughter, reaching out to wrap his hands around her waist and pull her up into the air. "You minx, you almost had me frightened that you would hate me for such a thing. Terrible!" He bounced her in the air, relief flooding through every vein in his body, until he put her down and took both of her hands within his. Now, it was time to deal with the bigger issue at hand. "Are you terribly mad at me?" He whispered. "I swear I'm not as arrogant as I once was. You've changed me. For the better! I promise."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 1:10 am
It took much longer than it should have for her to process why forgetting him too somehow excused this and turned her statement into something comical, but she did, and she had no retaliation for it. What was more perplexing, however, was that he felt it necessary to make an argument for his improvement. Why was this relevant?
The question could be answered nonetheless, so she waited until he seemed to be finished with his play-pretend game that she was a rag doll before speaking.
"I will null any potential anger that I am experiencing or may experience in this regard...if." She tilted her head to give him a look to prove that she was serious. "If you will not encourage nor allow me to forget you again. I do not care how great the cause may seem, or how promising that future may appear. Never. Never. Do you understand? Do you..."
She made an attempt to collect herself and her thoughts, intending to end this bargain where she'd left it. Expressing any additional information would go so far beyond what was appropriate to divulge, and would be such easy evidence in the case against her strength.
But she was weak.
"Do you understand how distressing an existence it is, knowing that no measure of effort will allow for the belief that I belong somewhere, because--it is you!"
Despite her best efforts to maintain composure, she almost seemed angry now. Certainly upset in some regard.
"You are the absence, you are what I was missing," she cried, emphatically shaking their clasped hands. It would have been preferable to pound her fists against him, but this would have to do. "What, then, if we had not been so fortunate? I was supposed to survive the rest of my days in an everlasting certainty that I could never fit anywhere?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 1:31 am
The moment she said if, and looked at him that way, he was at attention. His entire body had straightened, and his face was set in stone. He was listening, hard, because whatever she was about to tell him would be the most important thing he'd ever heard. It had the potential to crush him, or lift him to the highest of heights. This was the secret to forgiveness. And it was simple. He grinned toothily the moment he realized what she was saying, as a great flood of emotion filled him. Her payment would be to never let her forget him, again. It was the most romantic thing he'd ever heard, and he felt positively, thoroughly woo'd. He listened to the distress in her voice as she continued to stress the importance of what she was saying, but he couldn't stop grinning with joy. Every word she said sounded like honey dripping form her lips. Every time he looked at her, the world around her faded into something hazy, and unseen. Only she was in focus, and it was intoxicating. He was what she was missing. Heaven help him, did she have no mercy for his poor, exploding heart? He slowly bent down, until he was on one knee, and continued to hold her hands within his. He looked up at her, drunk on the prose she'd uttered to capture his heart, and kissed both of her hands one by one. "I promise." He fervently replied. "I will never let you forget me again. I will love you so thoroughly, that it will ingrain itself into your very skin, and with every breath you will remember that I love you." If they lived through the final days of the kingdom falling, he would later be sure to tell the story as if he'd been wooing her into marriage, but in truth, Mildred had stolen his heart, and he was as much a flutter as any damsel could have ever hoped to be.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 12, 2015 10:55 pm
For the weight of her insistences and all of the implications and accusations that came spilling from her mouth to earn such a look of growing adoration from him was so unexpected that is effect on her was disarming. The distress that had been building since she first spoke was eradicated all at once, and she stared down at him as he got down on one knee, still keeping her hands held tightly within his own. He did not seem at all offended, or hurt, or confused - just infatuated, if his expression was any indication, and Mildred genuinely had no idea how this point in their discussion had come so soon. Did he not need the opportunity to make counter-points? What of his argument? Was there truly no excuse or explanation that he wanted to offer? It seemed not. And though they had already progressed far past the need for a proposal, the shock on her face was well-suited for one. "You promise?" Her brow twitched, and she seemed inclined to take a moment to consider this, but continued to speak instead. "What if you promised before? Will you truly love me so thoroughly that it destroys even the potential to forget?" And then she seemed to remember something of a different sort, and the light of clarity was visible in her eyes as she pulled one of her hands free, then reached to retrieve something from one of the pouches at her waist. In her palm were two rings, oddly opulent for someone who had lived her life as a scholar. "We should each wear one," she suggested, offering them towards him. "Lest we forget in spite of our most sincere intentions."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 8:56 pm
Her question was justified, but he was still adamantly sure of himself, and when she asked him if he had the power to destroy even the possibility of forgetting again, his answer came quick and strong. "I will." He promised again, never faltering for a moment. And she was brilliant as always, having found rings for them to lay commemoration to the moment, so he stayed on his knees and took one of the rings from her hand, holding it carefully in his hands. He realized it was too small for his own finger, which was perfect, because he wasn't planning on putting it on himself. He held her hand gingerly in one of his own, and slid the ring gently, all the way down the soft skin of her finger. When it was in place, he took the hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the ring gently. His next words held a lot more meaning than just his promise, when he whispered them up to her like a sacred vow. "I do."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2015 10:08 pm
His unwavering certainty and all that followed did not completely dismantle her doubts and concerns, but it got close. She bit her lip and nodded with understanding, conceding that he was quite possibly sharing the same intensity of necessity that she felt at the thought of him. Such conviction made it easy to hope, to believe, that it could never again be forgotten. "Then I will." The remaining ring, more suited to his finger, fit easily onto it. If there had ever been a sign of belonging, a blessing for their promise, this was one of them. She smiled, pleased with this good fortune. "And I do." It was with a pleasant, comforting relief that she'd both accepted and repeated what he said, but it was not until he kissed the ring on her hand that she sharply inhaled, her cheeks flushing with warmth. "Do...ah, did...or..." She closed her eyes and shook her head, attempting to still her thoughts before trying again. "Did your memory correctly inform you if I lived within your name prior to our arrival? Have my successes and claims been graced with the name of Morris all along?" Cautiously, quietly, she added, "Can they be now? Officially?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 17, 2015 1:29 am
There was something final about the feel of the ring sliding down his finger. It felt like a lock sliding closed, and coming home. It felt like something had just fallen into place, and would never be moved again, regardless of circumstance. He appreciated how one little piece of jewelry could do all of that, just by being placed on a finger.
She asked him for his name, as if there had ever been any doubt, and he smiled giddily up at her, with eyes that widened with disbelief. “That was the point of all of this, my Mildred,” He reminded her, as he pushed himself up to stand, and immediately wrapped his arms around her waist. “All that is mine, now becomes yours. Even my name, but most of all, my heart.” He lifted her, so that she rested against his chest, and her face was nearer to his.
“Officially.” He breathed out, leaning in to rest his forehead against hers, and closing his eyes. “Mildred, I take you as my wife. I will love you, until the end of time.”
It came as an inevitability, gravity pulling him towards her to seal their bond, until he felt his lips pressing gently against her own. There was no hesitation, or question of whether it was time. She wanted his name, she wanted him whole. He kissed her, as a taste of what she’d acquired for her choice, and the infinite amount more to come. Then it possessed him, the feel of her soft lips finally meeting with his, and the point of the kiss itself was forgotten in place of selfish need.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
