The Bride of the Immortal (46 page)

Mairin couldn’t tell if Vivian had expected a different turn of events.

Now that she was here, the thought that the time of her initial sacrifice had finally come was almost overwhelming and her chest grew so tight that she could hardly breathe. Standing in the dark and with her eyes still trying to adjust, she hadn’t been able to make out the immortal yet.

“Let me turn up the light so I can take a look at you,” Vivian said silently.

Mairin wanted to protest but as soon as she had heard the immortal’s smooth voice, the veil of darkness around her was carefully lifted and despite the room not being brightly lit at all she felt a strong urge to hide.

The faint source of light was limited to small glowing lamps of different size and intensity and bestowed the dreamy appearance of a starlit sky upon the arched ceiling.

“Hmmm,” Vivian hummed not yet satisfied and the glazed floor under Mairin’s feet came to life, illuminating like a pool of water and emitting a deep cyan glow.

With the lightness increased, the ornaments on Mairin’s skin sparkled as she walked over the heated ground, ever closer to the immortal. Wherever her feet touched the floor, waves of light were created, small circular ripples that originated from her steps and gently ebbed away.

“How beautiful…” Vivian remarked, never taking his light-blue eyes off her.

It was truly beautiful, yet she was aware that he hadn’t been talking about the magic that enthralled her so. Mairin tore her gaze away, knowing that she could no longer avoid focusing on the man in front of her.

Vivian was close, lying on his back in the spacious bed, naked, with the blanket drawn up to his hips and his arms crossed behind his head. The master of
Mondstein
castle looked like a god and just like one he seemed to be in a playful mood.

Realisation of what was imminent caused Mairin to be rooted to the spot, unable to proceed any further.

Casually the immortal drew back the blanket on the unoccupied side of the bed before returning his arm into its previous position. A cheeky smile played upon his lips and his invitation wasn’t much more than a whisper.

“Join me
,
Prinzessin
.”

Mairin’s gaze slowly wandered back and forth, from her husband to the place he had prepared for her.

Eventually she put the flower in her hands down to the ground, causing another series of ripples to be emitted.

The time to falter was over. Mairin knew very well what she had to do.

Adrijan bowed the strings of the violin, summoning a beautiful melody he had not played in decades. The human capacity to repeat a once learnt series of actions, a multitude of automated movements one thought long forgotten, was a curious thing. Rather than consciously remembering the succession of notes, his fingers knew where they had to move.

It was the melody of Ravel’s pavane for a dead princess which he played, first silently with little motivation, then, once the music had started to affect Adrijan mood, more intensely and passionately.

How many girls had he delivered to Vivian? How many brides had he seen walking down the aisle? In his mind Adrijan summoned the images of his brother paired up with the various young women. He let them gracefully dance through the dark hall, simultaneously, watching them as they carefully put step after step just as it was the way of the pavane.

And then there was Mairin in her revealing dress, accepting Vivian’s offered hand with a rapt smile.

The melody stopped abruptly. Adrijan let his arms sink, the bow in one hand, the violin in the other. A heavy, elongated sigh escaped his lips. It seemed that all of his accumulated sorrow had tried to escape his chest at once.

Adrijan snuffled and went backwards, taking two steps until he touched the wall. Bereft of all energy he leaned against it and slowly slid to the ground.

There at one end of the hall he sat in the darkness, with his legs drawn to the body, the feet firmly on the cold floor, leaving a moderate amount of space between them. His arms were resting on his knees and he dejectedly let instrument and bow droop from his crossed hands in front of him.

Adrijan swallowed to make the knot in his throat go away but it was to no avail. A faint burning in his eyes caused him to blink repeatedly and he ended up being annoyed about this sudden spate of weakness.

Just when he thought to have regained control about his thoughts, Mairin’s face flashed in his mind. He couldn’t bear remembering the way she had sometimes looked at him, the way she had allowed him to long for more. The choking feeling in his throat remained persistent and he put back his head against the wall hoping that it would soon stop.

Adrijan counted the seconds.

It didn’t subside.

Adrijan blinked, unwilling to shed a single tear.

It was a tragedy that even the accumulated experience of such a long life as he had had was insufficient to know what was right and what was wrong before it was too late.

Mairin firmly looked at the master of
Mondstein
castle, trying to gather her courage.

“Vivian, I...”

Vivian sternly returned her gaze. She was unable to assess his mood.

“I-” she nervously started another attempt.

“You don’t want to do this,” he interrupted her.

Mairin nodded, grateful that he had guessed her thoughts.

“You’d rather do it with Adrijan,” Vivian stated almost nonchalantly.

Again she nodded – then, after realising what she had just admitted, vehemently shook her head.

“I see,” he said under his breath.

Nevertheless it worried her that Vivian’s smile had disappeared and she felt that she had to say something to set things right.

“During the past months I’ve come to enjoy your company and I’ve started to like you, but-“

The immortal frowned.

“There’s no reason to sweet-talk me,
Prinzessin
. Don’t worry; it takes more than this to bruise my ego.”

Even considering that their being together was to seal a business deal and they had talked about her feelings for Adrijan before, her confession felt strange. After all it had been she who had agreed to marry Vivian and now she wasn’t able to pull it through. Never before had she felt the significance of the difference between intent and execution that clearly.

Moments passed in silence and not knowing what to say Mairin nervously started to play with her mother’s necklace.

Vivian though wasn’t lost for words. He let out a deep sigh.

“Well, I’m seriously relieved that I don’t have to sleep with Adrijan’s first love. But Mairin, do you realise, what you have done to him? Couldn’t you have spoken up a bit sooner?”

She knew that it had been wrong but she hadn’t acted without reason.

“After all that happened I thought it was the only way to help him... to help you both,” she tried to explain disheartened. “It seems I can’t even do that much.”

Had he just called her Adrijan’s ‘first love’?

“Did you see his face at the wedding when he had to watch us kiss?” Vivian interrupted her thought.

 “It’s not that I have hopes that he wants to be with me… and… I didn’t enjoy it either!” she grumbled.

Vivian didn’t respond yet his gaze spoke volumes.

His glare was so intense that Mairin felt as if she had been stabbed in her chest and she was overcome by a sudden spell of dizziness. It was still too early to feel relieved.

“What is going to happen to me now?” she asked hesitantly.

“Let’s talk about it on the balcony,” he suggested. “I have the feeling that the sight of this bed weighs heavily on you.”

She nodded in agreement, glad about Vivian’s consideration. “Thank you.”

“Don’t worry,
Prinzessin
.”

His face softened and in one quick move he sat up and folded back the blanket.

Mairin gasped. She had seen Vivian naked once before but unprepared as she was, she hastily covered her eyes with her hand.

Vivian laughed.

“It’s safe to look,
Prinzessin
.”

Tentatively she peeked at him through her fingers and eventually drew away her hand in surprise. Vivian stood in front of her with a whimsical smile on his face. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans.

 “You knew… you knew all along, didn’t you?” Mairin mumbled unbelievingly.

Vivian shrugged meaningfully, took his blanket and wrapped it around Mairin.

“Come.”

Mairin continued to stare at him even after he had picked up the flower she had put on the floor and started to walk. At the door to the balcony he turned around, holding the bloom in one of his big hands, questioningly looking at her.

Deciding that she had no reason to make him wait any longer, she hurried to his side and followed him out on the balcony. It was still early spring and she had expected it to be freezing cold but instead of being led into the open she found herself in another room with a large window front.

“Shall I open it up?” Vivian asked.

Mairin shook her head. “I’m cold already,” she admitted shyly.

Vivian nodded and gestured her to have a seat. Wrapped into the duvet she scuttled to the large swing and sat down. The blanket yielded to her sides and made it look as if it were trying to devour her.

Vivian smirked but soon his expression turned serious again.

“You mustn’t think that it’s your decision I’m angry about,” he explained. “As I said, I don’t care to take you away from Adrijan. However, I do not approve of your conduct either. How could you be so cruel? He trusted you.”

“I know,” Mairin whispered conscious of guilt.

The immortal sat down next to her, moaning as if he were suffering under the weight of his years. He put his feet firmly on the ground, pushing against the floor, slowly making the swing move back and forth.

“He has always been good to me, but when it was important, I couldn’t be there for him. He... Adrijan almost died trying to protect Therry. It was entirely my fault. And then I realised that he had to have killed so many people over the years... I didn’t know how to handle my own feelings. I believe he’s a good man and I know that it can’t have been easy for him but is it alright to take someone’s life?”

After a short moment of silence, Vivian started to talk again.

“He and I, we carry the same weight. We have to survive but we can’t do that without living off others.”

Mairin drew her legs to her body and hid them under the blanket.

“Only our method differs,” he continued.

“Have you ever... killed anyone in the process?”

Vivian shook his head. “Not in the process, no.”

Mairin lifted one brow upon hearing his answer but the immortal continued talking.

“What is worse though? Taking away years that could’ve been well spent or consuming the last drop of life? The young women who give their life energy to me – they do not care about losing a year or two. They don’t think of what might happen in ten or twenty, or maybe even thirty years. They are too full of life to worry about what may come, and so they’re easy targets. I give them what they want in exchange for what I need and we are both not too troubled by it.”

“Hmmm.” Mairin started to see what he was getting at.

“It is true that Adrijan has decided to take a different path, but isn’t it wrong to condemn him for taking the responsibility for the deaths of people who wanted to die?”

“Who is he to decide who lives and who dies?” Mairin whispered. She remembered how burdened Adrijan had seemed when he had told her about her father. The matter had to be troubling him too.

“Perhaps none of us should. Another question for you though: should you watch someone suffer or should you help that person, if you have the power to do so?”

“Of course you should help, but-“

“Have you ever been in so much pain, that dying has become more attractive to you than living? I know I haven’t – but Adrijan, he went through hell and back. If there’s a person who can empathise then it’s surely him. He’d never allow anyone to die on a mere whim.”

“Still...” Mairin mumbled.

“Don’t forget that the device doesn’t work, unless one agrees to the exchange.”