The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale (6 page)

“Let me take her upstairs,” the mother said, thinking to let her husband confront Damian
.

“No
!
” Damian said more harshly than he intended
.
“The priestess promised she would come
.
I cannot let her out of my sight
—
I will not.”

“We
ll now
,
sir, thi
s is my house!”
the father
protested
.

Thank Titania the priestess arrived
.
She seemed amused at the s
ight of him
clutching Genevieve
.
“Let him take her upstairs, poor creature,” she said
with a wry smile
.

“Priestess, what is going on
?
What has he done to her?” her father demanded
.

“Tsk
,
tsk, she is fine, Cyrus
.
He is Declan’s brood
—
you mustn’t cross him
.
They are madmen when it comes to their brides
.
Genevieve’s so shy
.
I’m sure he turned the poor girl head
over
heels with his wooing, that’s all.” 

The
p
riestess’ words helped mollify the father
.
“I didn’t know what to make of it
—
she isn’t herself
.
I feared…
.
” 

“No descendant
of Declan’s would ever dishonor
himself
or
his
bride that way, you may trust me on this, Cyrus
.
But they are an overwhelming bunch the lot of them
.
He knew they wer
e matched
,
and
he
just couldn’t help rushing to the point with her
.
Take her upstairs, Damian.”

“I must have the key to her room.”

“What?”
the mother cried.

The priestess
rolled her eyes
and said lightly, “That’s Declan speaking, I’m sure
.
Humor him
.
You’ll see: he’ll want to guard her as if she were Titania herself now that he’s found her
.
There’s no reasoning with this clan, I’m afraid.”

Damian wanted to kiss the priestess
.
Her light tone was exactly right
.
The father shifted from
wordless
terror at the thought that his daughter might have been molested, to grumbling about
hot
-
headed
boys
.
The mother looked unsure
but led h
im upstairs to Genevieve’s room
and showed him where the key was kept
.

The priestess called from downstairs, “I’m sorry to trouble you, Lilia, but I’m a bit overset from rus
hing to get here
—
if you could
spare a cup of water
or perhaps a spot of tea
?
”

The mother was horrified at the idea of failing in hospitality to the priestess
.
She hurried downstairs, leaving Damian to gently place Genevieve on her bed
.

“Damian,”
s
he said dreamily, still too dazed to question why he was in her bedroom
.

“I’m here, Genevieve
—
you’re safe
.
Can you take off
your dress yourself, darling?”
Genevieve just blinked at him
.
He kissed her forehead
.
“
H
ere, love, I’ll help you.” 

He quickly undid the back of the dress and pulled i
t
off, leaving her in her
shift
.
He removed her shoes, undid her garters, and took off her stockings
.
Through the whole process, she sat passively
.
He knew that tending to her needs like this each night would prove to be one of the most gratifying aspects of their life together, but after the scene in the wood, his desires were roaring
.

Making a superhuman effort, he mastered his will and forced himself to behave exactly as if her mother hadn’t left the room
—
the most difficult thing he’d ever done
.
He would have given anything to be able to tie her to the bed and teach her some of the pleasures that awaited her
.
Such intimacy would go a long way to counteract any officious counsel she might receive
.

But he had already pressed his limits too far
.
Declan would be seriously displeased if
Damian
acted as if he had no regard
for
the sensibilities of Genevieve’s family
.
Moreover, h
e knew that if the Mirans had deep reservations about the marriage, there was no way he could keep Genevieve from knowing
.
It would cast a shadow on what should be a happy day for her, one
that
might extend to their married life as well.

He hel
ped her settle under the covers
and said softly, “Genevieve
,
you are tired
.
You must rest.”

“What is happening?”

“Your
heartwood
box
changed, love.”

“Yes,” she said vaguely.

“Genevieve, this is very important
.
You may not leave your room until I come for you.” 

Once again her eyes glazed
—
she seemed incapable of resisting him when he asserted authority over her
.
He needed to leave before he lost contr
ol
.

“You are mine now, darling
,
and must obey my will
.
Do you understand?” 

“No, not really,” she said, curling up sleepily against him, “but I won’t leave.” 

He fel
t a rush of affection for her
and kissed her forehead
.
Suddenly, more than anything he just wanted to crawl under the covers and hold her while she slept
.
Soon, he reminded himself, very soon.

He locked the door to her room, pocketed the key, and crept downstairs quietly
.
Though he doubted Declan would approve, he couldn’t stop himself from listening at the door to the parlor
.
Genevieve’s happiness was at stake, he reasoned
.
S
he would be miserable if her pare
nts were, and he owed it to her
even
to stoop to
listen
at a door
if that would help him ease things for her.

The parents were far from reconciled to this unexpected turn of events
.
“Priestess, this can’t be right,” her mother pleaded
.
“The Blacks… we hear such stories.”

“Fie on you for listening to gossip, Lilia,” the priestess said firmly
.
“Their ways are not for everyone, to be sure, but they are men of honor
.
And let us not forget: this is Genevieve we speak of
.
How happy would she be married to one of our village swains
?
Her torments are painful enough, but the guilt she
’d feel
would crush her
—
it
’
s crushing her now.”

“Guilt?” Cyrus said fiercely
.
“She’s our daughter
—
how can she feel guilt
?
W
e would do anything for her
.
We’ve always only wanted her happiness.”

“Would that it were that simple,”
said
the priestess
.
“Genevieve has long tormented herself for many imaginary sins
.
Lilia, Cyrus
,
you must listen to me
.
You carry no guilt for Genevieve’s troubles
.
Now, she needs your love and to know you accept her.
”

“He did something…
.
If he hadn’t…” Lilia pleaded
.

“There is no forcing or fooling the
h
eartwood
box
.
This is her path
.
I swear by everything holy: every member of
the Black
family considers her the greatest blessing Titania could give them
.
No action of hers, no dark mood will change that for them
.
You have raised and loved her, but she is a woman now
,
and she belongs with them
.
The only question for the two of you is can you let her go
?
Damian acts as he does because he fears you will poison Genevieve’s mind and make her fear him
.
Is
he so unreasonable?”

The Miran
s must have acknowledged the point
.

“Let it go
.
Let the Blacks do things their way
—
it will be very hard to stop them anyway
.
So don’t fight it
.
S
how Damian
the hospitality that is his due
and make Genevieve feel her wedding is a day of joy for you
.
I
t is
the
greatest wedding gift you can give her.”

Damian
bowed his head
in silent thanks
a
nd then retreated up the stairs and came down again with loud steps
.
He received
a rather forced invitation to stay with them from Mrs. Miran, but nothing suggested
they
were readying themselves to refuse his suit outright
.

“Damian, I would have your arm back to the temple
.
I am old, and all this walking is hard on me,” the priestess said.

Damian was
on his feet in an instant
offering his arm
and promising to return as soon as he had seen the priestess home and made arrangements for his horse
.

As soon as they were out the door,
the priestess released his arm
and said angrily, “I will see Declan as soon as he arrives.”

“Holy One…
.
” 

“I did what you asked, but I’m not pleased about
it
.
You swept her off her feet
and used me to pacify her parents, but Genevieve has rights
.
Tell Declan I would speak to him.” 

She held up her hand to stop him f
rom following her
and bustled off
.

Damian felt some contrition that he’d upset
the priestess
, but not enough to overcome his joy
.
He could hardly believe how well things were going
.
His satisfaction was greatly increased when he saw his
youngest
brother standing near the green
—
the servant must have found him
.
That he’d arrived so quickly told him that Donal had been lingering on the road close to the village
.
He must have suspected something would happen today
.
How well his brother knew him!

They embraced, both feeling an emotion too strong for words
.
For a moment, Damian felt almost staggered by the momentousness of what had happened
.

It was a great event for Donal as well
.
By the traditions of their family, the unmarried males of his generation were charged with his bride’s well-being, in this case Donal and their middle brother
,
Derek
.