Cedric noticed, while he was entering the bedroom, the touch of Cael on his wife's face. It was so sudden, just a brief moment, but it served to ignite him in many ways. He had married that woman, even against the wishes of his heart and he wouldn't allow any act that could taint her.
Rhianna had accepted that marriage on her own free will. That was what he supposed, of course, although he wasn't sure. However, that proud and impertinent look didn't seem to come from someone who would be trapped into marriage against her will.
When Cael left the room, he focused his attention on her.
She was still dressed as a bride, with her long hair in the well-tied high bun. He knew, though, or rather he felt that he just needed to take off one clip to make her red hair fall as a cascade over her shoulders.
The sun had already disappeared in the West. The bedroom was illuminated by the line of candleholders that decorated their surroundings. Therefore, it was clear enough for him to see every inch of her face and everything she was afraid to show.
He took off the mask. Just like that, crudely, with no preparation or warning. Even because he didn't care about her feelings, nor with the horror she would most likely let on.
He raised his face and stared at her.
In front of him, the redheaded woman remained just as in the second before he took off the camouflage. It was amazing how she wouldn't allow even a thought to cross her expression.
"Won't you say anything?" he asked, bothered by her cold face.
Just then, the doubt seemed to surpass her serenity.
"Say? Say what?"
It was the first time he heard her voice. It was sweet and kind, but at the same time strong and aggressive.
"Are you playing blind? By any chance haven't you noticed my appearance?"
She remained steady.
"I was told about your accident, so, I was already expecting it."
Unbelievable!
"Won't you yell? Cry? Curse your fate?"
"I don't get it… Is that what you want from me?"
"I just want any reaction instead of having you standing in front of me like a tree."
She raised one of her thin eyebrows.
"You want me to be authentic and genuine, my King and husband? Is that it?"
There was defiance in her tone. Cedric couldn't resist but fall into her game.
"If you please."
"Well," she cleared her throat. "Her white hands tightened their grip on her dress and, for the first time, he caught a glimpse of anxiety. "What could I say? 'Oh, how sad, poor of my poor King?' I believe you take no pleasure in pity, much less coming from a complete stranger, for whom you don't have any sympathy. And, of course, there is no pity in me, for I don't feel sorry for you."
Her harsh words made the man's eyes bulge.
"You are a King, Cedric of Bran. You sleep in silk sheets, drink the best quality wines, and have an armed guard to protect you and a nation to worship you. A deformity shouldn't even bother you. If it does, you are nothing but a weak man; and then, I am so sorry for the people of Bran, who will have to handle a King unworthy of his throne.
He could just take a step closer and slap her for the audacity. Nevertheless, simply stunned, he continued to hear her.
"If, in reality, what you want is to see me crying, cursing my fate, I shall tell you that there are worst fates. Do you know what an unclean is? Are you aware of their lives? Slavery, exploration, abuse and death. Therefore, what is the misfortune of marrying a healthy man near the lives of several men and women all over Cashel, convicted of a crime they didn't commit?"
It took him a while to understand the meaning of her words.
"Then, my honored husband, I will try to be sympathetic with your deformed face. Don't worry about it."
She was much more than petulant; she seemed to be trying to affront him. Were all the women from Masha like that? He seriously doubted it. That one was different from all the others.
"You seem to pity the unclean kind," he pointed, crossing his hands behind his body, with curiosity.
Just then, she blushed.
"Well, our children will be unclean."
"Many people in the religion don't see it that way, since they will be white-skinned. There are many divisions and arguments among the priests that the problem is just with the people from Cashel."
"Problem?"
"You know," he mumbled. "The color of the skin."
Something in Emerald's insides snapped then. However, she couldn't let on. Her revenge depended on how well she could play her role in front of the King.
"Yes," she mumbled. "The black ones."
"Well then, our children will be white. They may have black or red hair; it doesn't matter. However, they have not a chance to be born with dark skin."
Not a chance? She bit her lower lip. Her hand itched. She would do anything to have her sword at that moment.
"In the way I see," she couldn't resist, "all people are equal."
"Equal? You don't know what you are saying. Uncle Iran says that cashean are savage, blasphemers with the gods and that they eat their own children when they are born."
The redhead's mind went to the mother, of whom she didn't remember the face, but loved tremendously. Brione… her beloved Brione, who sacrificed everything for her.
"Maybe one day you should see Cashel with your own eyes, my King."
He nodded. He studied her for a few seconds, as if analyzing her. That inspection let her even more nervous. She could feel her hands sweating.
"Take off your clothes," he ordered.
Just then, the face that was so far completely cold became a living fire, mixed with her astonishment.
"What?"
"Take off your clothes," he repeated. "I want to have you at once."
Clearly, it wasn't even a carnal act. It was just an obligation.
"But…"
"I will do it for as long as it takes to get you pregnant. If it is a girl, we will repeat the act until you give me a son. Then, I don't intend to touch you anymore. I feel no desire for you."
For some unknown reason, hidden even from her, she felt her eyes being filled of tears. Obviously, she repressed them with all the strength she had.
"May I turn off the lights before?"
"No," he denied. "I want to see you."
The shock almost made her faint. He couldn't see her! He couldn't see her dark breasts; he would discover her secret as soon as he saw them.
"Please…" she begged him.
"You won't bother me with your tears, will you?"
Emerald retreated when she saw him getting closer.
"Cael told me that you were once a good man. I beg you not to make me go through this embarrassment. I have never been with a man; I am too ashamed of my body. I promise you that later, when I am already used to it, I will do whatever you want. But, now…"
"And why would I grant you this wish?"
"Because I am your wife," she answered, promptly. "The woman who didn't run at seeing your face and who abandoned everything to marry you. Do you hate me that much? What have I done?"
Her words finally seemed to touch him and she felt him faltering. Cael had called him weak during the trip, but, for the first time, she disagreed with him. Cedric was strong enough to hear a woman's plea when all other men in the world would refuse to do so.
Well… Not all of them. There was her beloved brother Randu. She sent those thoughts away, unwilling to suffer more with the distance than she was already.
Sighing in relief, she saw him walking towards the candles. He blew them off one by one, allowing the shadows to cover the room. In the end, there was just darkness. Even then, it was still possible to see that man's silhouette, standing in front of her.
There was no turning back.
Emerald had no idea of what happened in a bed between a man and a woman. Once she had asked Randu, but her brother told her that was not a subject to be discussed between them. However, she didn't have anyone else to talk about such things. Cael and Kian were the only people beside her brother who she had exchanged words with and she would never be able to learn anything without being taught.
She should have asked Cael. At least, she would be calmer, not trembling the way she was in that moment.
While opening the buttons of her corset, she thought about what she had heard from the men of Cashel over those years.
"I'm gonna fuck you, unclean."
"I'm gonna break you, unclean."
"I'm gonna make you bleed, unclean."
Therefore, the only thing she knew was that it was painful. And, by their eagerness in making her suffer, it should probably hurt very much.
"You are taking too long." She heard his powerful cold voice.
"I'm sorry…" her tone was tearful. "I'm…" For the Gods, she was crying! Was she…? Crying? No! A thousand times no! "I… can't… I can't open it…"
Finally, his hands replaced her. While she felt her face being washed by tears, her mind was ordering her to swallow her weeping. What was the problem with being used by a branian, if the result would be the head of the man who destroyed her mother?
The cold air against her breasts made her believe he had already undressed her in the upper side. Static, she felt his fingers over her breasts. It was as if Cedric was afraid to touch her, as much as she feared that contact.
"I have never gone to bed with a woman," he confessed, in a low voice.
There was a strange interaction between them in that moment. Almost an empathy.
"I believe I'm the only man in the court who always respected the laws of Bran, saving myself to the woman who I would come to love.
Emerald could no longer restrain her sobs. She felt sorrow for him… for herself… Two lost souls in that wide and cruel world.
"But she didn't love me in return," the whisper continued. "I don't want to hurt you. I know you think I hate you, but it's not true. I barely know you. I just… I need to give the kingdom an heir." She could feel his breath against her skin. Even in the dark, they could capture each other's eyes. "So, I will try to be gentle and you just have to fulfill your duty until we are both free of this bed."
She nodded, while feeling his mouth capturing hers.
It was amazing for, even though she has never been kissed before, it was as if Cedric had already touched her in many other lives. There wasn't even any estrangement when his hands undid the ties of the knot that held the long tail skirt. Soon the dress fell over her feet and she felt her body being lifted, when she carried her in his arms.
"This will hurt, won't it?"
The sentence slipped through her lips as soon as he laid her in bed. She cursed herself for her cowardice. Now, how many pains, in her flesh and in her soul, has she already endured since she was born? Nothing that man could do to her would hurt her more than her already doomed existence.
"I have no idea."
He then laughed. The steady and manly body over her moved while Cedric laughed. That made her even more annoyed.
"What's so funny?"
"You," he said, pulling her for a kiss. "So proud and arrogant, but inside you are shaking all over in fear."
It was true; she knew it.
"I am a woman, it's just natural. What about you, who has never slept with a woman? How can it be?"
Cedric's mouth went down to her breasts. Emerald had to hold her breath. He was licking the part that could betray her. It was like a trap and she wasn't certain if she wanted to escape.
What did that mean? How did they call the women who felt pleasure in the hands of men? Damn it! It was so difficult to pick up anything when she was hiding behind the bushes, observing the people from the village walking by the tracks near her house, talking.
Whores! That was it!
Was she a whore?
His mouth traveled even further down. Soon he was in her center and Emerald had to bit her lips not to cry. Everything inside her became a blaze of fire and passion. Cedric has never had a woman, but he seemed to know quite well what to do with one, for he was torturing her in a disturbing pleasure.
"It's weird," he interrupted her thoughts. "It's like I've had already had you in my arms before…"
Once, Randu had told her that the Gods had created the souls in pairs. Each one had its own twin and they would spend all their lives in search of it. Many times, the person was be born without her soulmate and that person would become a lonesome, always waiting for something that would never come.
Nonetheless, when the person died, the soul would return to its God, waiting for a new life, where there would be another opportunity to reunite with someone it loved so much… of whom it needed so much.
She shook her head, sweeping those thoughts away. What was she thinking? Would be the King of Bran the soulmate of an unclean from Cashel?
The Gods wouldn't be so mean!
As soon as Cedric found out the mistake, he would ask for her head. Then, she shouldn't cling to stupid thoughts that would only bring her pain and confusion.
All of a sudden, a strange and stinging pain caught her. Her eyes bulged and she lost her breath. She grabbed his muscled shoulders, while feeling the man's body rising and pushing against her.
She wanted to yell, but her lips were covered by a hot kiss that touched her deeply.
Then, he moved away and penetrated her once again. Once, twice… Five times. Six… Emerald sighed, the pain mixed to a sensation that seemed to lift her up to the tallest peak of Cashel and then, throw her down from there.
His movements became frantic, until she felt her center getting so wet that a few drops fell over the silk sheets.
It took her a few seconds for her to understand it wasn't from her, but that he had spilled something inside her. She didn't mind it, though. The heavy body collapsed beside her. Silence. She wanted to ask him exactly what had happened there, but the embarrassment inhibited her words and she just pulled the sheets and covered her body.
"We will repeat this until I get pregnant?" she finally asked, a few minutes later.
"Yes," that was all she received as an answer.
More silence. There were crickets outside and she could hear the forest feasting. She smiled.
"It won't be all that bad," she remarked.
For some unknown reason, that sentence made Cedric's blood boil as never so far.