Chapter 45
Note: Um... well, I'd rather you imagine the blood yourself than I photoshop it in, hehe.
August 3rd - Grythen
Kismette
Kismette sat silently in a daze. It felt strange to be here in the Viken’s parlour when she knew what she was planning to do now. She was certain of two things: one, Evelynn was pregnant. Two, the only person Evelynn ever fell in love with was Chairon.
Chairon’s bedroom door swung open and he walked out. She made a face at the matching grey they both wore. The man no longer walked straight and tall, proud and arrogant like he used to be, but with a crooked back, sagging shoulders and small shuffled steps. “Sorry,” he mumbled, “I was just… washing up.”
Kismette drew herself to full length and tilted her chin up despite her height. “I am here only to set things right, Chairon. Evelynn is pregnant. Evelynn is carrying your baby,” she began, anticipating a fierce rebuttal from him about the absurdity of what she just said.
The man only gave a disappointing look of horror like a child caught stealing a lollipop. He fixed his bloodshot eyes on the floor and opened his mouth, but nothing came.
Hot tears gathered in her eyes. It wasn’t heartbreak. It was the realisation of something so important when it was almost too late. This is the man I agreed to marry.
She made for the stairs, but the Chairon beat her to it. “Don’t leave, Babe,” he cried. “There is still hope!”
Her forehead creased in disgust. “Don’t call me that!” she spat. She tried to slip past him, but he was quicker. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her wildly.
“Lis- Listen to me! We- we could- I can take Evelynn as a mistress! Don’t you know why they’re called ‘dancetresses’? ‘Dancer’ and ‘mistress’! All she will do is just have her baby and you’ll still have all of me. All of me, I promise! I- I’ll swear it to you now!” he exclaimed, his voice thin as a thread.
Kismette could only shake her head, biting her lips to hold back more tears. Crying made her feel weak.
The frantic man fell to his knees. “It wasn’t me! She came over and seduced me! Please, Kay, give me a chance and I’ll make it up to you!” He grabbed both her hands. “I… I’ve never begged anyone before, but I’m on my knees now. I’m begging you. Please, everything will be the same as before-”
“The same as before? Are you not human? How can you say that?” She would have slapped him had he not held on to her struggling hands. She tried to push past him again, but he remained locked in his position. “Let me go, Chairon. We’re over. Over,” she repeated firmly.
There was a split second pause, one she would have missed if she had not been paying attention. Chairon’s face darkened as he stood up. “You can’t leave me in the lurch and face my relatives all by myself. What will the others say about me, about my family? I’m not like you, Kismette, an orphan with no responsibilities, no name to uphold.”
“I beg your pardon?” Kismette glowered. His façade was finally breaking apart, it seemed.
“My elders are influential people at court; they’ll never forgive me for making them a laughing stock. We cannot break this-”
“Stop it, Chairon. I don’t want to hear you speak anymore. You’re just marrying me because I’m the healer, because I bring weight to your family name, because I bring power to your family at court!” she huffed. The revelation was so horrid it left her breathless.
“Evelynn’s pregnancy was your fault too!” he rejoined bitterly. “I loved you so much and gave you my all, but you never loved me. Half your brain was screwed up with that swine from his jungle dump! From the day you pushed my hands away, you forced me to look at other girls. You are the guiltiest one in this whole mess. You left me deprived! And now-” he looked around for an answer to salvage the situation, “-you are going to pay for it!”
In one swift movement, he chained both her wrists with one hand, swung her into his bedroom and locked the door behind him with his other hand.
Kismette fumbled on the floor to regain balance while Chairon stalked towards her slowly like a cornered prey, his lips curling into a mad grin. “Let’s consummate our marriage now, shall we?”
Tactless, she uttered the first thing that came to mind, her candid whisper spiking the intensity of his rage more than anything could ever achieve.
“Zaelem would never do this to me.”
Zaelem
“Ah, you’re awake. I brought you some clothes for you to check out. Feeling good to go already?”
“Hey, Jeremy. Um… Is she alright?”
Jeremy smiled at his question. “If she isn’t, you wouldn’t too. She left not long ago, looking for Chairon at his house, and I think it would be a good idea if you were there waiting when she comes out. She might just want your company.”
Zaelem glanced up at Jeremy curiously as he rubbed the soreness in his neck. The old man simply smiled and patted his shoulders before gesturing for him to get moving.
Kismette
Kismette screamed senselessly, hoping that someone outside would intervene. Chairon pressed her body down with his weight as his fingers slithered up her shirt. He jerked at the buttons of her denim shorts forcefully, his long nails scratching her skin.
She clamped her jaw on his shoulder and he yelped. When he turned to check his shoulder, she raised her knee and kicked him apart. It wasn’t a big enough blow, though; he would pounce on her again before she could get off the bed. Do something! Do something! …Do what?
A sudden flash of memory enlightened her. She struck his nose with the base of her palm as hard as she could before scurrying off the bed. Chairon grabbed his nose and bent over, howling in blinding pain.
Forgetting how to unlock a door with a simple turn on the bolt, Kismette pounded on the panel of wood for a few precious seconds before realising that Chairon was slowly recovering from the shock and pain, though the blood was making it hard for him to breathe.
“You… How dare you…” Chairon rasped. She shrieked at the sound of his voice.
Without another thought, she lifted a windowpane and jumped, screaming all the way down. It was only the second storey, about the height of the trees she used to climb, but it was an uncalculated and hasty jump. She lost her balance and twisted her right foot upon landing, inducing another shriek from her lungs. Wrapping her hand around the injured ankle, she hopped for a few steps before running towards the main road.
Zaelem
His timing couldn’t have been better. The minute he stepped into the premise of the Viken Manor, Kismette came charging across the manicured lawn and hopped over its fence. He was still contemplating whether to avoid physical contact with her when she surprised him by clutching both his arms. Her skin was cold and clammy.
“Chairon… Chairon…” she gasped, almost pulling him along in her run before realising that she was safe now.
Alarmed, Zaelem scanned their surroundings. “Where? What happened? Is he coming after you?”
Kismette shook her head when she finally caught her breath. Her lips began to tremble as she thought about what she was going to say. “He… he… tried to…”
Her face burned scarlet and she stopped.
“Why? What happened?” he asked again, much tenser this time while still trying to be as gentle as possible. “Are you hurt? Did he… hurt you?”
She shook her head again. The strain on his heart lifted a little. “Do you want to go somewhere else now?”
She hesitated for a while and looked away. “Can you… can you bring me to the nearest police station?”
*****
Loela sighed angrily as she peered into every single window down the corridor. Her job should not have entailed coming to the hospital digging for any story to sensationalise. Can somebody remind me why I chose to work for a gossip magazine?
She almost left for the next window when she squinted hard-did she just strike gold?
“Had a lovers’ tiff?” the nurse inside chuckled. The patient with a head of golden blonde, none other than Chairon, the heartthrob of Quesdeja, did not answer. Loela felt like squealing and running in to take a photograph with him, but this might just be her moment to shine. She had to restrain herself.
“Ooh, don’t look so sour, doll. It’s not that hard to guess, you know. Why would the healer’s fiancé need to visit a hospital for anything at all, maybe even brain damages?” The nurse’s annoying laughter filled the badly-insulated room and Loela’s back stiffened. “Sorry, girl,” the nurse continued, “but I have never been a fan of yours.”
The sound of tape being pulled and scissors snipping ensued. Chairon choked back a whimper and Loela fumed. The nurse must have been too rough. “Your nose was rather bad,” she continued her one-sided conversation with him. “Had you left your nose cartilage to die, your nose will collapse in future,” she said light-heartedly, as though discussing the colour of his hair. “I don’t know why she would want to hurt you so bad-”
“I told you I fell down the stairs.”
“And you wouldn’t have came to us when you had a better alternative,” the nurse replied tartly. Loela could almost hear the nurse rolling her eyes. “Suit yourself. You and I and everyone else know who does the best in the healing department. You better get her Midas’ touch before this becomes permanent. There’s only so much we can do.”
A slow grin spread across Loela’s face. Didn’t his fake girlfriend become pregnant recently? What if she turned out to be the real girlfriend instead? This was an open-ended story entirely up to her to write in any way she wanted to. And she better grab this opportunity well or she might never land anything on the cover page in her whole life.
August 4th - Grythen
Annie
Annie smoothed her coiffure primly as her eyes flittered around the teashop’s VIP room, deciding that the decoration was only passable. “It has been so long since we last had high tea. I missed meeting up with all of you,” she cooed at her friends. They had met decades ago when their husbands brought them to a New Year’s party in the palace.
“Yes, it has been so long. Look at my adorable great granddaughter,” Beatrice gushed as she handed out photograph albums. Everyone else made polite remarks about what an endearing and photogenic baby she was.
Annie raised her eyebrows and nodded at the photographs too. She couldn't believe she would forget to bring something for show-and-tell. Whatever. Let Botox Beatrice win. She already has regular hair dyeing and prominent sagging to deal with.
She was about to reach for a cupcake when Heather, sitting beside her, grabbed her hand. “Oh gosh, Annie,” her friend gushed, “I almost forgot about this.” Everyone turned their attention to Heather immediately, awaiting juicy gossips. The youngest and prettiest of them all, Heather was always the first to know as her niece worked in a publishing firm. “Do you remember the GoldCrests?”
Annie wrinkled her nose. “As hard as I try not to, yes, I do. I can’t help but remember how they fell to the Vikens.”
“Well, then, do you know Evelynn from the House of GoldCrest?” Heather asked, her voice dropping to a low hush.
Annie pretended to recall. “No. Is she of any importance?”
“She is a dancetress at court,” Heather grinned and watched the table for reaction. When none came, she added, “A filthy dancetress! I mean, come on, ladies, can you imagine? A GoldCrest stooping to that level?”
The others began to snigger in agreement. “A dancetress!” Beatrice gasped in a high voice.
A smile spread across Annie face bit by bit as she figured out what her friend was trying to say. “A GoldCrest actually lives here? I thought they fled the country after the civil war!” she sneered. “Oh, that perfidious family. Isn’t it hard to imagine that they used to be the most powerful family in Quesdeja? Too bad that they didn’t have the foresight to see which leader was the better one.”
“Isn’t it wondrous how karma works? What goes around comes around,” Dorothy chipped in.
“Exactly,” Annie chuckled. “Their downfall was probably the most celebrated moment in history. Serve them right for being such snobs.”
“Well,” Heather’s eyes slid to Annie’s direction as her lips curved upwards, “you might want to reconsider your opinions of your future daughter-in-law.”
Annie’s head turned so sharply she could have snapped a tendon. “Who? Me? Did you remember to bring your brain out today, Heather? I only have one son and he’s marrying the healer,” she smirked.
Heather’s smile only grew wider. “Chairon hasn’t been a very good boy, has he?”
Annie glowered. She didn’t like the way Heather was smiling. “I don’t understand what you mean by that.”
“He hasn’t told you, has he?” Heather continued to draw her story out leisurely. “Oh dear, I thought your son is very close to you. You should have been the first to know, Annie.”
“Stop it, Heather. What happened?”
“Well, I don’t mean to scare you, but you better grab your seat tight. Evelynn of GoldCrest is pregnant with your grandchild now,” Heather whispered. She shrugged and threw Annie a pitiful look.
The table fell into a hushed silence as Annie’s face hardened. She finally realised that the joke was on her. Whoever this Evelynn girl was, she would take care of it. There was no way a GoldCrest was marrying into the Vikens.
“Cheer up, Annie. You’re finally becoming a grandmother too. Although… we all know how dancetresses sleep around,” Heather sang merrily. “I know it’s none of my business, but-”
“You know what? You’re right,” Annie hissed. “It’s none of your business.” She gathered her things in a huff and stormed out of the room.
Ning: Thought I'd just reveal here why Evelynn didn’t have any contactable relatives when her parents passed away in the car crash ( Evelynn's meme: see #5), 'cause I don't see this bit coming out in future. (Holy shit, memes. I still have a handful of them not done yet. ._.) The GoldCrests have all fled the country. Her family visited Quesdeja as tourists when they met with the fatal accident in Reensville and the locals did not have the resources to trace Evelynn’s citizenship. They didn’t even have a police station then.
And hmm, wasn’t it a good thing someone taught Kay to break noses? :P ( Chapter 29)
A final note: The semester has already started for me! :( BUT, I refuse to pause the story here. This is just not a good place to take a break (I would have merged the next chapter in if it wasn't too long), so by hook or by crook, I will be posting one more chapter before I take a hiatus. Again. *sigh* I'm really sorry, guys.
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Next: Chapter 46