"He is the one who cast the Oath aside. Who are we to deny his decree that you are no longer his?" His words had been whispered against her lips before he had allowed himself the one pleasure he had withheld for nearly 6 years, her lips. She tasted like warmth, and sweetness the slightest hint of spice. Heavenly. Bryson's hand came to his lips to trace them lightly as he leaned in the doorway remembering.
The way she had responded to his kiss, giving way to the attraction that had been building between them since their very dance as teenagers. Electricity passed between their skin wherever it touched, his hand exploring her and sliding the beautiful gown from her shoulders to pool on the floor. He remembered her, every inch of her, every sound and every moment they spent together that night, and every tea they shared.
She had been his that night, and for many nights after he had held her, consoled her, and loved her more deeply than any other. Two years… two short years was all they spent together, hidden in the cover of darkness known only to the stones of these halls and the minds of very closed lipped guards. No one breathed a word…
"Bryson?" The voice was gentle, but it was not hers. He was drawn from his revelry and turned to see Kyera standing only a few steps behind him. She held baby Gale close to her chest and he smiled at the little boy who looked at the room with childish curiosity. Bryson took his great grandchild from her arms.
"This was Fantasy's room." He told her absently, his focus now on the child who had long realized something was wrong. Gale smiled and waved at this man, trying very hard to make the sadness in his eyes go away. He only partially succeeded as the older man smiled at him with love in his eyes.
"I… I know. It was the only room I had not found yet. This place… it's perfect. So beautiful. Grandmother had fantastic taste." Kyera complimented and found herself wondering about the woman who gave all this up, to raise her child.
"Yes, it was. When she first moved in it was just stone and marble. The wooden arches had been in place but they had been in much worse shape. She and her guard fixed it up. They turned this exile into a home. I helped her stain the vanity and we stayed up late weaving rugs on more than one occasion." He mused with a sweet smile as Kyeara passed him, entering this room. He watched her as Kyera explored the room, taking in all the sites that were exactly as her grandmother left them. She could tell nothing had been moved, even the bed was still slightly ruffled as though someone sat on the edge and then left it again.
"I feel her… here. It's the same feeling I got at her house in the forest. Pure warmth." Kyera whispered as if her voice would break the beauty of this room as it sat suspended in time. Bryson smiled, still just outside the door.
"That is the best description of your Grandmother. She was warm and inviting. A gentle woman who had no place being married into the house of a dog." Bryson sighed and shook his head. So many good women were broken because the wrong men sunk their teeth into them. He was proud to say his grandchild… their grandchild had been one of the lucky ones. She found her match.
"I remember her a little. She… she was around until I was about 4 if I remember right." Kyera admitted recalling her vaguely, but only as the smallest bits of information. A smell, a color, a voice but the only face she knew was the one of the dancer's from Grandest Mother's memory.
"Yes. You were young, three I think when I received word of her passing." Bryson agreed as that news had been delivered. "I was never told… what happened."
"That's because the forest had to keep that secret from the Frost Lands. Almost no one knows the truth of what happened to Fantasy. Only her family knows the truth, and being members of the forest guard, it was our duty to hide it." Kyera replied as she sat down at the vanity, looking at the woman who stared back at her from the looking glass.