75. I will marry you.
Arthur was a bit confused about what had just happened with Winifred but he decided to ask more about it later because he didn't want that to be the first thing they talked about especially after so many misunderstandings that just happened so he turned to her immediately and looked straight into her eyes, her beauty was even more prominent, she wore a greenish-blue gown made of soft, satiny fabric, long and loose. A semicircular, high collar made of silk-like materials headed the ankle-length robe. She walked as lightly as an acrobat. A puff of wind swept through her golden hair before it slipped into the woods to rustle leaves.
Not knowing where to start from, he threw the next thing that came to his mind, what he should have asked properly even back then, "Winifred, will you do me the honors and be my wife?"
Winifred appeared from her safe place on the other side of the chestnut tree and smiled lovingly at him. She hadn't seen him for months and she was struck anew by his good looks. He had been an attractive youth, tall, rather ungainly, with a thatch of black hair. But now the gangling figure had been smoothed and tailored by success, he carried his height with easy self assurance and the brown eyes - which he knew so well how to use - held a basic wariness. His hair, still frosted with black, was still thick with an unruliness that expensive cutting hadn't completely disciplined. It added to the attractiveness, hinting at an untamed individuality which was far removed from the tedium of conventional male good looks.
“I will marry you, Arthur. Whatever time and place you choose. I love you so much.” Arthur smiled as he felt his heart expand. He released his grip on the knife which he still held onto. It would be all right. She would be his wife. She would be his. As he moved toward Winifred, he didn’t realize that Alice had even dared to return with her fanaticism, savagely beating and eating away in her heart. Alice took that moment to lunge at the king, to wretch the knife from him, but Arthur was swift.
They struggled in the grass, both of them strong and angry, but Arthur stronger, obviously while Winifred ducked away, she couldn't help but wonder if she should have just allowed her to be caught if she knee that she wouldn't appreciate the chance she had given to her, to think that even after her rendered help, she still had the strong urge to kill her. Arthur went to defend himself and the knife pressed deep into Alice's chest. Winifred turned away in distress as Alice sank onto the grass, with her hands grasping at her chest. The blood seeped out, staining the green grass red. She closed her eyes in pain and then opened them halfway to glare at the woman she hated, she still couldn't belive that her plan hadn't gone as expected, maybe the witch really had luck on her side, that, or her witchery was helping her.
“Winifred. Come away. Don’t look,” Arthur said to her. He moved her into a coach that somehow pasded through the area at the same moment and placed her inside, taking up the reins. He then caught Winifred up in his arms. His large hands touched the sides of her face as he looked into her eyes. The tears fell on her cheeks as she closed her eyes. “Everything has been such a nightmare,” she said. “I thought you had another child and were married. That’s why I couldn’t bear to see you. I thought you wanted me as a whore I was so deeply unhappy when I received that letter. It was a horror. And then you were here, telling me that you're back for me, and I didn’t understand why. I wanted nothing to do with you, I thought you hurt me. I thought you forgot all about me the second I was out of your sight, I couldn't take the heartache and it hurt me so much to see you back here asking me to come with you just like that.”
“I know,” he said. He kissed her mouth and his arms held her tightly. “I didn’t understand anything until today, when I was speaking with the man I saw with you, Robert. I learnt that he had helped you and saved you so well. Then everything fell into place. Alice has been behind everything. But nothing matters now. You are in my arms as you should be. I don’t intend to let you go. Ever.” The last word he said was spoken against her ear and she smiled. She was safe at last. Winifred looked up into his handsome face. “Don’t.”
“I have traveled so long and so far to have this one moment with you,” he said as he held her tightly against his chest. “My love.” “It isn’t over yet. There is someone you must meet,” she said, smiling widely.
They both went back to the outskirt, and Robert greeted them both warmly. They quietly went into the tent to the nursery. Asleep in his crib lay the little son that they had created. His rosebud mouth made a sucking noise in his sleep, and his dark hair was a sharp contrast against his white blanket. “Winifred, he’s…he’s beautiful,” Arthur said. His voice cracked as he looked at his son. She met his eyes across the crib. “He is. And wait until you see his eyes. They are green!” she whispered back. “Oh, Winifred,” he said when he came across the room to hold her. “My heart is so full.” His palm caressed her cheek. “You have given me so much. I intend to spend my life making sure yours is full of love and joy.” “This moment, you, our son, this is all I need. This is my joy,” she whispered. They stayed together, staring down at their sleeping child.
*******
It was three days since Winifred and Arthur had finally been reconciled. Winifred had taken Robert aside to kindly explain everything that had happened. Though he had thought she might one day be his, he knew well enough that she loved Arthur. He had been with her when she had received the note and it had been devastating. Now that it was resolved, he was happy to stand aside and watch them marry.
Arthur and Winifred decided that it was time to return home and they had gotten a good carriage to take them all home, Robert and his mother had even promised to visit and come for their marriage but Arthur knew that it won't be possible because they knew not that he was the king of the lycans and humans would never visit the Lycan Kingdom.
A lost child wailed for his mother, a man frantically searched for his missing dog, shopkeepers screamed out offers on the top of their voices to attract customers and customers desperately tried to bargain for the best possible prices. This was the Shandaar market, a place which was always drowning in the sea of people. Not a single empty place could be spotted between the stalls. Some held a hand against their forehead to shield themselves from the sun, others made fans out of newspapers or magazines.The sun mercilessly shone down upon the market. Beads of sweat glistened on everyone's forehead and many faces turned red due to the sweltering heat. The salty odour of sweat mingled with the nose tingling aroma of spices and the sweet smell of flowers coming from the florist's shop. All of these smells mixed together and gave the market a rather unique scent, which hung in the air from early morning to late evening.
Their carriage passed through the rowdy market while Winifred tended to her son. Winifred was lovely in a light mint green dress with elbow-length sleeves and silver threading decorating the stomacher and skirt. She wore her favorite pearl-colored flat on her feet. She wore diamonds at her ears and no other jewelry. Arthur wore a cream waistcoat, a light brown frock coat, and breeches with silk stockings and shoes. His hair was clubbed and unpowdered.
Winifred felt happy and at rest, ahe looked up at her husband to be and she felt at ease. When he looked at her, it was as if every ounce of breath was taken from her lungs floating into the air like midnight smoke. Every time he kissed her, it felt like the world stopped, leaving just the two of them to wander the earth together. Every time he held her face between his hands, it felt like he was untying all of her knots. Holding her for eternity in the arms she had grown so accustomed to. This was what falling in love was like, a story you never wanted to end. For so long, she had longed for it, and now she can't bare to lose it - lose this thing that makes her feel so complete.
They were in the middle of the forest and now away from the human land when suddenly the carriage stopped, a man stepped from the shadows, a man too thin and gaunt to be from this neighbourhood. There was a seriousness about him that unnerved Winifred and soon other men surrounded them, they were dangerous-looking men, thirty of them in all, armed to the teeth. They looked like unscrupulous fellows who would hesitate at no desperate deed.
Soon, there was fighting and even though Arthur was no match for them as he discovered that they were vampires, he still tried all of his best to protect his family, but then they suddenly dissapeared leaving him wounded. He thought they decided to just let them be but when he looked in the carriage, he found not his wife nor his son in there and it dawned on him.
He had lost them, again, for the third time.
