Chapter 9 9
Narnia's POV
During the night, the castle had changed into something wonderful and fearful. Silver and scarlet banners swayed from every column in the great hall. White rose garlands were draped up staircases. There were candles in their crystal holders, a warm yellow light on polished stone floors. At that time, everything was beautiful. Everywhere I turned, there was a reminder that he was marrying her.
I’d been taken away from my usual activities to assist in the preparation. I spent days with a dozen other servants; arranging flowers, polishing silverware and preparing the great hall for the ceremony. My hands blistered from scrubbing. My back was sore after hauling heavy trays. But the pain of steel upon flesh meant nothing to me, next to the odd hollow ache that had taken up residence inside my chest.
I should not care. Elias was my enemy. He had hunted my people. He had captured me. He was why I would never see home again. The fact that he’s married to Lady Vaera should say nothing to me.
But whenever I imagined him kneeling to the priests, then swearing a vow to her, something in my chest pinched sourly. I heard Eira whimper in the back of my mind, agitated and afraid in a way I didn’t comprehend.
"Snap out of it, monster," a rough voice snapped.
I looked up and there stood Lady Vaera, radiant in ivory silk and silver-threaded raiment. And her auburn hair was braided into an intricate crown sewed with pearls. Already, she sounded like a queen.
“Yes, my lady," I murmured, looking down.
Vaera smiled, but it was a humorless thing. “You will accompany me when I dress for the ceremony. I want you to seeit all. Every stitch. Every jewel." She lowered her face close to my ear, and the tone of her voice turned cruel. "You are going to see me be queen. You will listen to him swear himself my devoted slave forever. And you will recall that you are no more than a wolf in the garb of man.”
I forced myself to nod. "As you wish, my lady."
And away she swirled with a spirited laugh ringing in the air behind her.
It occurred at sunset. The nobles, the soldiers and the priests were all in their fanciest attire, crowded into the great hall. The scent of roses and incense in the air. In one corner, musicians strummed soft songs. It was a quintessential royal wedding.
Only a few minutes later, I was standing against the back wall with the other servants and holding a tray of wine goblets, my hands shaking slightly. I put my head down and tried to make myself invisible, trying not to think about what was occurring.
Then the doors on the opposite end of the hall opened, and in came Elias.
He was dressed in a deep blue robe trimmed with silver, and he had a crown of twisted metal on his dark hair. He appeared every inch the warrior king, tall and well-built, his face stern and unreadable. The attendants stood when he stuttered down the center aisle to the altar and came up behind the priests who waited there.
But halfway there, he stopped.
His eyes roved and then found me. Even from wherever he was standing across the crowded hall, even through all those open noble faces, his eyes connected with mine. For a moment, the world held its breath. His golden eye glittered in the candlelight, and I glimpsed something flash across his expression. Pain. Longing. Confusion.
Then he forced himself to look away and kept going.
My chest felt constricted, like I could not get a full breath. I squeezed the tray, trying to settle my hands.
Lady Vaera came next, flowing down the aisle like a dream. She was beautiful. She was perfect. And when she got to Elias and held his hand, the crowd roared with applause.
The ceremony began. A golden-robed priest said words about unity and duty, the true space between two people that is marriage. Elias and Vaera exchanged vows, their words echoing through the chamber. But Elias’s words rang hollow, as if they had been wrenched from him against his will.
Nyrand was standing next to one of the pillars, watching me with dark eyes. He appeared concerned, furrowing his brow, and made a slight shaking of the head when our eyes locked. A warning.
I did not understand it. There was no way in which I could have paused to cogitate on this. Because the ceremony was over, and the feast was beginning, and I had a job to do.
The great hall echoed with laughter and music. Long tables creaked beneath platters of roast meat, loaves of warm bread, honeycakes and fruits. Wine flowed freely. Guests ate and drank and blessed the day even as servants worked their way through them, refilling goblets, clearing plates.
I kept to the margins of the room, my tray precariously balanced, eyes lowered. But I could sense Elias watching me again. Every time I looked up to where he was sitting behind Vaera at the high table, his eyes were on me. Not on his bride. Not even on the guests toasting his health. On me.
Vaera noticed too. Her smile turned into a saber blade, her eyes to ice. She put her lips close to Elias and murmured something to him, but he made no move. She laughed again, harsh and cold, and drained her goblet.
It happened as I was passing behind the high table.
Vaera whirled abruptly, her arm striking hastily out, and I opened my eyes to find the crimson nightmare gushing forth from beneath a television set. Her hand came down and hit my tray, which went airborne. Goblets of wine hit the floor and shattered. The liquid that spattered across the stone was dark red and flowed like blood.
The hall fell silent. Every eye turned toward me.
I fell to my knees right away, hastily trying to pick up the shattered glass. "I'm sorry, mistress," I blurted. "I am so sorry."
And vaera, in a voice pitched with pretended concern. "Oh, how clumsy of me. I did not see you there." She addressed the guests, smiling broadly. “You must excuse the poor creature. Wolves aren’t bred for grace.”
Laughter rippled through the crowd. I knelt in the spilled wine, cutting my hands on broken shards of glass, and felt my face grow hot with shame.
Then there was the scrape of a chair.
Elias jumped to his feet, knocking over his chair. The laughter died instantly. He glared down at me, his chest expanding and contracting rapidly as he held onto the edge of the table so tightly I heard wood groan.
"Elias?" Vaera's voice was sharp. "What is wrong?"
He did not answer. He started to shake all over, like something inside wasn’t going to stay in there anymore. His breathing grew ragged, harsh. His golden eye flashed a little brighter, and I watched as the pupil expanded into a tall vertical slit.
A wave of horror raced through the hall.
Elias’s skin jumped again and his muscles contracted under the surface. His fingernails grew long, they turned into black claws that bit into the table. His teeth became as elongated fangs that sparkled in the light of the candle. A growl as deep and inhuman that rolled from his chest.
Screams erupted. Guests scrambled backwards, chairs clattering to the floor. Priests shouted prayers. Soldiers reached for weapons.
Vaera lurched back, her skin pale. "No. No, this is not possible."
The first man to react was Captain Jorah. He whipped out his silver sword and thrust viciously, a snarl twisting his face. "The king is cursed!" he shouted. "He has become one of them!"
But Elias was faster than any human. He reached out and grabbed Jorah’s wrist in mid strike. There was the sound of bone snapping. Jorah shrieked, letting go of the blade as he fell to his knees.
Chaos exploded. Guests fled toward the exits. Guards marched, spears and swords in hand. Priests chanted exorcisms. And in the center of all of this stood Elias, half man and half beast, his body half shifting between two states.
Then his eyes found me again.
I was still collapsed on the floor, paralyzed by fear. He lurched forward, awkwardly and unnaturally. His lungs labored in his chest with the bestial. Blood oozed out from his claws now that he had broken them through the tips of his fingers.
When he talked, he was very hard to understand. Rough. Guttural. Inhuman.
"Run."
The word was both a command and a plea. And suddenly Nyrand was there, catching my arm and pulling me to my feet.
"Come with me," he hissed. "Now!"
He pulled me towards a side door while behind us Elias howled like an animal, the sound rocking the castle.