Ivar stood in the north tower, looking out at the falling snow, as if the answers he sought were to be found in the white flakes of ice drifting lazily to the ground below. He couldn't remember coming up here or even how, only that he had been so filled with anger that he had needed to leave the room. Her words continued to echo in his head and the look on her face haunted him as he shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.
He thought again of her face and the fear in her eyes and he felt something twist inside of him. He couldn't expect anything less, he was a monster after all, no matter how he behaved towards her. He had allowed himself to hope, simply because she had not reacted to him like the others, she had shown no fear or disgust just a quiet acceptance. Throughout the night of the wedding, he had listened attentively to her heart and it had remained steadily beating up until she had gotten lost in the hall.
He couldn't help but smile at the memory, how he had found her but stayed hidden watching her as she watched everyone around her. Those beautiful eyes, like amethysts, had grown as wide as saucers and the skin on her face and neck had been flushed and coated in a thin layer of perspiration. Initially, he couldn't tell if she was horrified or aroused, her reaction seemed conflicting, as if she didn't want to see but couldn't help herself. But he had found it delightful nonetheless, she both amused and fascinated him, much more than he cared to admit, even to himself.
She seemed like a strange but delightful concoction of contrasts, much like her physical demeanor. She was strong but vulnerable, innocent but alluring, naive but mature and there was so much more that he still hoped to discover, if only she would let him. He had sensed that she was beginning to trust him after the incident on the second floor but then she had insulted him in offering her blood as if he had wanted or needed payment for caring for her. He snorted derisively, silly girl.
He stiffened suddenly, but didn't turn around.
"What brings you here?"
"I was returning from the town when I spotted you, thinking it strange to find you here and not with your new bride", Rathgar answered.
"It is none of your concern"
"Indeed, although even from the castle borders I could sense your...irritation"
Ivar sighed, "She offered me her blood as payment for saving for her from Linley"
"How thoughtful of her"
"Thats hardly the point!", Ivar spat.
"Isn't it though?"
"Say what you mean, Rathgar, I am in no mood for your riddles"
"I would have thought you'd appreciate the gesture, coming from her"
"How so?"
Rathgar visibly sighed, as though explaining to a child, "In what state, did you find her on the second floor this afternoon?"
"Well she was terrified, she thought Linley was about to drink her dry", Ivar looked at Rathgar, the confusion clearly visible on his face.
"And yet, mere hours later she was able to overcome her terror of being bit by a vampire to willingly offer you her blood"
"But she offered it as payment as though for services rendered!", Ivar exploded.
"Or perhaps, she felt that you were being selfless by asking nothing of her and getting nothing in return so she thought to offer something as an expression of her gratitude"
Ivar turned away, his forehead creased in thought. Had he misread her intentions? Was it truly as Rathgar said? What would she think of him now after the way he had reacted? Hearing Rathgar, he felt somehow worse and regretted his actions. If Rathgar was right, how could he possibly hope to fix this? What hope did he have of gaining her trust now?
He watched the snow, feeling a strange kind of helplessness, wash over him like waves crashing onto the shore. He didn't know why it mattered to him at all, he had never bothered with the perceptions of those around him before. But somehow, she made him feel like less of a monster inspite of his true nature, as if she could see more than what he was. It didn't make sense, none of it made sense. It had never been his intention to take a wife but knowing that Kerrigan would offer a marriage alliance, Rathgar, had convinced him to accept it. Rathgar had argued that he needed a queen, and a human one at that, if only to establish an alliance with the humans to further aid their conquests into the rest of the northern empire.
He had always trusted Rathgar, even with his own life, they had known each other for centuries and the tattooed vampire was his closest, if not only, friend. He felt Rathgar come to stand beside him, his red eyes scanning the landscape below, always checking and double-checking the security of the castle. Rathgar hardly slept and now with the King's human bride in residence at the castle, he slept even less.
The two vampires stood side by side at the tower rails, both gazing out into the night and both lost in their own thoughts. Each one complimenting the other, Ivar with his short, black hair and gray eyes and Rathgar, with his long silver hair and blood-red eyes.
The wind was getting stronger and the snow was falling heavier now, creating drifts across the roof and parapets of the castle. The night grew steadily darker as the falling snow seemed to obscure the moonlight from reaching the land. A comfortable silence stretched between them before Rathgar quietly spoke, "You should go to her"
"She wouldn't want that from me", Ivar replied.
"She's waiting for you", Rathgar said, nodding his head in the direction of the King's chambers.
Ivar looked and saw her on the balcony, an ethereal figure in white, her black hair blowing in the wind.
"She's been there for a while, she'll catch a cold....." but before Rathgar could finish, Ivar was gone. Leaping off the tower and making his way to the balcony and his Queen.
Rathgar sighed and shook his head, before he too leapt from the tower and headed across the roof to his chambers.