The Betrothed
for National Novel Writing Month
Day 13
A few minutes later, Darrick and Abby stepped out into the hallway, careful to shut the door behind them as quietly as possible. Placing her finger across her lips for silence, Abby took his hand and led him down richly-carpeted corridor past more bedroom doors, as well as the occasional painting or wall-hanging, until they passed into a larger open area where multiple hallways met on three different stories, all connected by open stairwells. As they entered, the lights rose slowly, giving their eyes time to adjust; oddly, Darrick couldn’t place the source of the illumination. It didn’t have the harshness of incandescent bulbs, or the whiter glow of the newer, power-saving fluorescent lights. This light was richer, with a warm, welcoming glow, and seemed to come from all around them, lighting the room evenly, coloring the wooden wall and floor a deep brown, and making the golden highlights on the banisters and furniture shine. The effect was extraordinarily beautiful.
“We can talk now,” Abby said, still not at full volume but well above a whisper. “Not that I expect it to take anything less than a second Cataclysm to wake most of them up, but I wouldn’t put it past my brother or some of his more spiteful companions to try to keep an ear out for us. As if he and Elizabeth haven’t snuck off into the corners whenever they’ve gotten the chance.” She sniffed disdainfully.
“Where are we?” Darrick asked. Abby’s disdainful scowl morphed into a smile.
“This is the oldest part of the house, the seed from which everything else grew.” She walked out into the center of the room, still leading Darrick by the hand. Her smile grew distant and her voice nostalgic, but her eyes shone. “This was my favorite part of the house as a kid. Full of nooks and crannies where you could get lost for as long as you wanted and no one could find you. Old abandoned rooms to explore, with dusty paintings sitting in corners and wardrobes filled with mothballs . . .”
“Find any snowy forests in the back of them?” Darrick quipped, charmed by the way just this room had taken her back to happy memories. Abby blinked once, confused, then smiled again as realization dawned.
“What? . . . Oh, yes, one of my roommates showed me that movie. It was a little bit like that – without the air raids or the talking beavers, of course. Certainly, my imagination filled this place with all sorts of fantastic wonders.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Though it didn’t have to do much work. A lot of old Atlantean knowledge went into the construction – stuff I’m not sure we know anymore – and the place seems to have a mind of its own at times. Doors open of their own accord, rooms stay clean with no effort to sweep or dust. I’m sure you noticed the lights as we came in.” She laughed. “To tell the truth, as a kid, sometimes I didn’t know whether to be fascinated or frightened half out of my wits. That may have been part of the attraction.”
“I think it sounds amazing,” Darrick said, and was glad and relieved that, for once, he could embrace some aspect of his mother’s people with no reservation. Well, for the second time, he thought, feasting his eyes and his soul on Abby’s face and form and loving smile. She returned his fond appraisal, and for a time, they once again held each other close, focused on nothing but the experience of being together; but again Abby ended it before it could progress very far. And once again, it took great effort for her to do so.
“My parents told me that the experience of being with you, especially not having known you until now, would be like nothing I had ever experienced, or could even imagine.” She paused to gain her breath while her fingers traced patters on Darrick’s clothed chest. Glad to know she’s feeling it like I do, Darrick thought, even if she’s constantly stopping us. “I thought I had an idea after the dates I had in the city, but . . .” She trailed off with a blush, then shook her head. “It just means more when there’s real love involved.” Darrick felt a shadow descend across his heart.
“Real love?” he said, slowly. “Can love be real, when it’s magical in origin? If we didn’t have the bond, would we still feel this way?” It broke his heart to say it, but now that the issue had returned to his mind, he couldn’t ignore it. Abby looked equally unhappy to hear it, but to her credit, she didn’t shy away from the question or take offense.
“It’s real enough to keep my parents together and happy, and their parents before them,” she said, meeting his gaze. “My mother has always told me that the bond gives the initial push, but it’s still up to you to keep working on it. The bond makes it easier, but nothing in life is guaranteed. But if you do keep working on it, keep it alive, then marriage with the bond is the most fulfilling, joyous relationship possible.” She lowered her eyes, and stepped closer to him, to where he could feel her presence on his skin. “Darrick, I’ve never regretted being bonded to you, but I understand that you might feel differently. Are you . . . are you happy with me?”
Darrick wanted desperately to lie, to tell her that he had been anticipating their reunion ever since he had first heard of her existence, but his heart wouldn’t let him do it. He owed her the truth. He could only hope it didn’t hurt her too badly. He raised her chin with his fingertips until he could see her expectant but troubled eyes.
“Abby,” he said, “I won’t lie to you. When I first learned about our betrothal, I wasn’t happy. To be honest, I was furious. Furious that my parents had made such an important decision for me when I was too young to even have a say. Furious that they had kept it, and everything else, a secret for so long.”
“I understand that,” Abby said. “My friends in San Francisco were furious for my sake when they found out. I can only imagine how you might have felt.”
“I’m still not happy about a lot of things,” Darrick admitted, “and I still don’t know if I want anything to do with Atlantean society or my place in it. But one thing I will never regret is you. You’re everything I could have ever wanted. Intelligent, funny, beautiful.” Abby blushed again at that last. “I know I never want to be away from you ever again, and I can’t believe my good luck that I won’t ever have to. And there’s still a part of me that thinks it’s ridiculous, that I just met you, that I can’t possibly know you well enough to be feeling these things. But if that’s what the bond has given me, a chance to skip by all the nasty uncertainty at the beginning of a relationship and jump forward to its inevitable result, well, then I guess I can’t be too mad at it. And, if it’s been working for our ancestors for centuries, than I guess I can’t really doubt it either. Abby, I love you.” He would have said more, but she blocked his mouth with a kiss that held until they both ran out of breath.
“I love you, Darrick,” Abby said once she could speak again. “I can understand your doubts about everything else – the gods know had my own – but never doubt that.” She stepped back from him, never letting go of his hand. “And somehow once again we’ve gotten off-track from what I brought you out here for. I’m becoming one of those light-headed, lovestruck girls I used to make fun of. Darrick, I hold you fully responsible; I’ll think of a good punishment later.” Darrick wondered if she knew just how dirty that sounded, or potentially could sound to someone with the right mindset. He would have thought not, but there was something in her little pause right after she said it that made him wonder.
“So what are we here for, and in the middle of the night, no less?” he asked, instead of the alternative. “Secret ceremony? Kitchen raid? Late-night virgin sacrifice?”
“I believe that’s for the wedding night,” Abby said. “For now, I want to show you my favorite place in the entire house, where I would spend hours of my time as a little girl, and still do when I get the chance. And I’m showing you late at night because I want this to be between the two of us, without a chaperone to get in the way.” She started pulling him towards the wall at the opposite end of the room, in which was set a massive double door, not that dissimilar from the one at the entrance to the house. She was so obviously excited that Darrick had a hard time just keeping up. Reaching the doors, she paused, resting her palms on the handles.
“As a student of history, I presume you like to read?” she asked.
“I think that’s pretty much a requirement, yes,” Darrick replied. Her grin threatened to split her face. To Darrick, she looked like a child at an amusement part, excited to be there and wanting nothing more than to share her excitement with everyone she came across.
“Do you crave knowledge above food, drink, and all other sustenance?” she continued, her voice trying for solemn but the twinkle in her eye giving her away. “Do you yearn for the lost secrets of the ancients, for forgotten learning and forbidden lore?”
“What? Did you get this spiel from a late-night Time-Life books commercial or something?”
Abby tried valiantly to keep her straight face, but her final words were almost garbled by suppressed laughter.
“Then, seeker, I deem you worthy,” she exclaimed. “Now, behold!”
She threw open the doors.
for National Novel Writing Month
Day 13
A few minutes later, Darrick and Abby stepped out into the hallway, careful to shut the door behind them as quietly as possible. Placing her finger across her lips for silence, Abby took his hand and led him down richly-carpeted corridor past more bedroom doors, as well as the occasional painting or wall-hanging, until they passed into a larger open area where multiple hallways met on three different stories, all connected by open stairwells. As they entered, the lights rose slowly, giving their eyes time to adjust; oddly, Darrick couldn’t place the source of the illumination. It didn’t have the harshness of incandescent bulbs, or the whiter glow of the newer, power-saving fluorescent lights. This light was richer, with a warm, welcoming glow, and seemed to come from all around them, lighting the room evenly, coloring the wooden wall and floor a deep brown, and making the golden highlights on the banisters and furniture shine. The effect was extraordinarily beautiful.
“We can talk now,” Abby said, still not at full volume but well above a whisper. “Not that I expect it to take anything less than a second Cataclysm to wake most of them up, but I wouldn’t put it past my brother or some of his more spiteful companions to try to keep an ear out for us. As if he and Elizabeth haven’t snuck off into the corners whenever they’ve gotten the chance.” She sniffed disdainfully.
“Where are we?” Darrick asked. Abby’s disdainful scowl morphed into a smile.
“This is the oldest part of the house, the seed from which everything else grew.” She walked out into the center of the room, still leading Darrick by the hand. Her smile grew distant and her voice nostalgic, but her eyes shone. “This was my favorite part of the house as a kid. Full of nooks and crannies where you could get lost for as long as you wanted and no one could find you. Old abandoned rooms to explore, with dusty paintings sitting in corners and wardrobes filled with mothballs . . .”
“Find any snowy forests in the back of them?” Darrick quipped, charmed by the way just this room had taken her back to happy memories. Abby blinked once, confused, then smiled again as realization dawned.
“What? . . . Oh, yes, one of my roommates showed me that movie. It was a little bit like that – without the air raids or the talking beavers, of course. Certainly, my imagination filled this place with all sorts of fantastic wonders.” She cocked an eyebrow. “Though it didn’t have to do much work. A lot of old Atlantean knowledge went into the construction – stuff I’m not sure we know anymore – and the place seems to have a mind of its own at times. Doors open of their own accord, rooms stay clean with no effort to sweep or dust. I’m sure you noticed the lights as we came in.” She laughed. “To tell the truth, as a kid, sometimes I didn’t know whether to be fascinated or frightened half out of my wits. That may have been part of the attraction.”
“I think it sounds amazing,” Darrick said, and was glad and relieved that, for once, he could embrace some aspect of his mother’s people with no reservation. Well, for the second time, he thought, feasting his eyes and his soul on Abby’s face and form and loving smile. She returned his fond appraisal, and for a time, they once again held each other close, focused on nothing but the experience of being together; but again Abby ended it before it could progress very far. And once again, it took great effort for her to do so.
“My parents told me that the experience of being with you, especially not having known you until now, would be like nothing I had ever experienced, or could even imagine.” She paused to gain her breath while her fingers traced patters on Darrick’s clothed chest. Glad to know she’s feeling it like I do, Darrick thought, even if she’s constantly stopping us. “I thought I had an idea after the dates I had in the city, but . . .” She trailed off with a blush, then shook her head. “It just means more when there’s real love involved.” Darrick felt a shadow descend across his heart.
“Real love?” he said, slowly. “Can love be real, when it’s magical in origin? If we didn’t have the bond, would we still feel this way?” It broke his heart to say it, but now that the issue had returned to his mind, he couldn’t ignore it. Abby looked equally unhappy to hear it, but to her credit, she didn’t shy away from the question or take offense.
“It’s real enough to keep my parents together and happy, and their parents before them,” she said, meeting his gaze. “My mother has always told me that the bond gives the initial push, but it’s still up to you to keep working on it. The bond makes it easier, but nothing in life is guaranteed. But if you do keep working on it, keep it alive, then marriage with the bond is the most fulfilling, joyous relationship possible.” She lowered her eyes, and stepped closer to him, to where he could feel her presence on his skin. “Darrick, I’ve never regretted being bonded to you, but I understand that you might feel differently. Are you . . . are you happy with me?”
Darrick wanted desperately to lie, to tell her that he had been anticipating their reunion ever since he had first heard of her existence, but his heart wouldn’t let him do it. He owed her the truth. He could only hope it didn’t hurt her too badly. He raised her chin with his fingertips until he could see her expectant but troubled eyes.
“Abby,” he said, “I won’t lie to you. When I first learned about our betrothal, I wasn’t happy. To be honest, I was furious. Furious that my parents had made such an important decision for me when I was too young to even have a say. Furious that they had kept it, and everything else, a secret for so long.”
“I understand that,” Abby said. “My friends in San Francisco were furious for my sake when they found out. I can only imagine how you might have felt.”
“I’m still not happy about a lot of things,” Darrick admitted, “and I still don’t know if I want anything to do with Atlantean society or my place in it. But one thing I will never regret is you. You’re everything I could have ever wanted. Intelligent, funny, beautiful.” Abby blushed again at that last. “I know I never want to be away from you ever again, and I can’t believe my good luck that I won’t ever have to. And there’s still a part of me that thinks it’s ridiculous, that I just met you, that I can’t possibly know you well enough to be feeling these things. But if that’s what the bond has given me, a chance to skip by all the nasty uncertainty at the beginning of a relationship and jump forward to its inevitable result, well, then I guess I can’t be too mad at it. And, if it’s been working for our ancestors for centuries, than I guess I can’t really doubt it either. Abby, I love you.” He would have said more, but she blocked his mouth with a kiss that held until they both ran out of breath.
“I love you, Darrick,” Abby said once she could speak again. “I can understand your doubts about everything else – the gods know had my own – but never doubt that.” She stepped back from him, never letting go of his hand. “And somehow once again we’ve gotten off-track from what I brought you out here for. I’m becoming one of those light-headed, lovestruck girls I used to make fun of. Darrick, I hold you fully responsible; I’ll think of a good punishment later.” Darrick wondered if she knew just how dirty that sounded, or potentially could sound to someone with the right mindset. He would have thought not, but there was something in her little pause right after she said it that made him wonder.
“So what are we here for, and in the middle of the night, no less?” he asked, instead of the alternative. “Secret ceremony? Kitchen raid? Late-night virgin sacrifice?”
“I believe that’s for the wedding night,” Abby said. “For now, I want to show you my favorite place in the entire house, where I would spend hours of my time as a little girl, and still do when I get the chance. And I’m showing you late at night because I want this to be between the two of us, without a chaperone to get in the way.” She started pulling him towards the wall at the opposite end of the room, in which was set a massive double door, not that dissimilar from the one at the entrance to the house. She was so obviously excited that Darrick had a hard time just keeping up. Reaching the doors, she paused, resting her palms on the handles.
“As a student of history, I presume you like to read?” she asked.
“I think that’s pretty much a requirement, yes,” Darrick replied. Her grin threatened to split her face. To Darrick, she looked like a child at an amusement part, excited to be there and wanting nothing more than to share her excitement with everyone she came across.
“Do you crave knowledge above food, drink, and all other sustenance?” she continued, her voice trying for solemn but the twinkle in her eye giving her away. “Do you yearn for the lost secrets of the ancients, for forgotten learning and forbidden lore?”
“What? Did you get this spiel from a late-night Time-Life books commercial or something?”
Abby tried valiantly to keep her straight face, but her final words were almost garbled by suppressed laughter.
“Then, seeker, I deem you worthy,” she exclaimed. “Now, behold!”
She threw open the doors.
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