01

I dressed in my mother’s wedding gown alone. No family, friends, nor maids came to prepare me for the loneliest day of my life. I attached a safety pin and string to the zipper and stepped into the dress. I shimmied it up to my chest and put my arms through the straps. I pulled the zipper up with the string then unattached the safety pin. I walked to the mirror, braided my white hair, and twisted it into a bun. Lastly, I used the same makeup I always did to accent my copper eyes.

I stepped away from the mirror to take a final look. I barely recognized myself in the reflection. Who would’ve thought someone like me would be marrying someone like him? After all, it’s not every day that you marry your first love.

After my house fell, no one could have expected that the former Marquess would require his son to marry me in his will.

Guess that’s what happens when your parents were close when they were young. Too bad he hates me now. I covered my face with my veil.

Someone knocked on the door, then opened it.

“He’s waiting,” the maid said, then left me standing there.

I shrugged and walked out of the bridal room. I followed the maid as she rushed ahead of me. It was almost like she was trying to lose me. I smiled. Too bad for you.

She led me down a corridor, and I spotted the door to the garden where the ceremony was being held.

I stopped chasing her and took a deep breath in. I released it slowly. Here we go. The guards standing on either side of the doors swung them open. The ice-cold wind whipped around me, winter announcing its presence. I plunked the last rose from one of the bushes and held it in my hands. I gripped the stem, piercing my fingers with the thorns.

I noticed a pink-haired woman wearing a revealing dress shivering in the front row. She must be Charlene. A flash of memory of my future husband calling out her name from his study made me want to puke. I feel bad for the furniture.

“We will now begin…” the priest said as he opened his book.

“No need for the formalities, Father Jacob. This is just an arranged marriage,” my groom, Marquess Eric, said as he sneered at me. He outgrew his awkward teenage years with grace and muscles. His green hair slicked back, making his violet eyes shimmer in the sunlight.

Too bad his attitude is terrible.

The priest glanced to me, and I nodded for him to continue. “Now then, we will exchange the rings.”

Marquess Eric handed me the ring and put his own on his left hand.

I put the ring on and gripped my fingers around the rose stem to keep it from falling off. I wonder if it’s already sized for Charlene.

“Do you, Marquess Eric Cheshire, take Miss Eryn Vespera as your lawfully wedded wife?”

He grumbled, “I do.”

The priest turned to me. “Do you, Miss Eryn Vespera, take Marquess Eric Cheshire as your lawfully wedded husband?”

I nodded.

People whispered in the audience about my silence, but I ignored them.

The priest looked at a loss but kept going. “Then I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Marquess Eric said as he left the gardens with Charlene.

More whispers.

I tossed the rose to the side and left the gardens to return to the bridal suite. I undressed and changed into different clothes. No point in going to a reception no one wants. I packed up mother’s dress and debated what to do with it. I doubt I would have a child with the Marquess to hand it down to. Maybe I should donate it somewhere.

The doors to the suite flung open as Marquess Eric carrying Charlene entered the room.

We all froze, not expecting the other to be there. I recovered first, dipping into a curtsy as I grabbed a shawl. I left the room, shutting the door behind me. We just got married, and he’s already bedding her. I thought about it. Then again, I didn’t want a wedding night either.

I left the manor house and wandered outside. The sounds of revelers in the ballroom echoed out into the gardens. I wrapped the shawl around my shoulders and ran my fingers along the flowers. The rose I threw aside looked lonely, away from its kin and kind.

I picked it up and placed it back into the rosebush. It would die soon from being plucked, but at least it would die surrounded by its brethren.

I followed a path into the woods that ended at the edges of a small lake. I smiled at the scenery, the trilling of birds in the trees, the occasional picking of deer feet through the leaves, the taste of humid air in my lungs. I sat down on a patch of grass and took a deep breath in and released it slowly. Finally, I relaxed.

The sun fell in the sky, reflecting off the clear surface of the water.

Someone coughed behind me.

I glanced back to find a group of guards standing there, with the master of the guard in front. “Lady Vespera, you shouldn’t go off like that. We need to take you home.”

I stood up and brushed the grass from my skirts. I walked over to him as he held his arm out to me, a professional, even if the entire house hated this marriage and me.

We walked through the forest, the shadows growing and the sounds of predators awakening.

This would be a good spot for an ambush.

We left the woods, and he released my arm to enter the side of the house.

I dipped my head in courtesy, then went inside.

The guards mumbled amongst themselves before the door closed.

I walked through the kitchen, grabbing a few bites of food along the way. The reception party continued from earlier, louder from the alcohol. I went upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door.

“Go away!” Marquess Eric shouted as Charlene giggled.

I turned on the ball of my foot to Eric’s study. I went inside and sat down on the couch in front of the dying fire. I ate my food in wonderful silence.

I saw our marriage certificate and debated about throwing it into the fire. I picked it up, but then remembered that I did not have the funds to live right now. I set it back down. Another paper caught my attention. It was the Former Marquess’s will with a letter. I read it over.

The Marquess wrote that chose me because he hated Charlene.

You couldn’t even tell him the truth about me, could you?

If Marquess Eric wanted his inheritance, we had to be married for at least three years. If I divorced him at any time, I would get half of his estate. If he divorced me within those three years, I would get the entire inheritance. The decree was already signed, witnessed, and sealed by Eric. I folded it up and tucked it into my pocket.

At least there’s an end date to this farce. But you’d think he’d pay more attention to that clause.

Something shiny caught my eye; I checked it out. It was his House Seal sitting haphazardly on the desk, surrounded by a disarray of paperwork. The clutter made my skin itch. I straightened everything up, putting papers in order based on the priority and importance, then piled them by topic. Once that was cleared and cleaned, I set the seal in the center of the desk.

I left the study and found myself in a hallway filled with paintings. I looked over everyone, trying to buy time for Marquess Eric and Charlene to leave the bedroom.

A maid huffed as she stopped beside me. “There you are. I’m here to take you to your room.”

I tilted my head, confused.

She laughed. “You thought that you would share the Marquess’s bed?”

I shook my head, knowing that we would not sleep together. I just never thought I’d get my own room. This is amazing!

She led me to a room at the end of the family hall, away from the Marquess’s room. Charlene’s room was next to Marquess Eric’s then a few other ones until mine. She threw open the door, and a layer of dust lifted from everything. “Here you are. I hope you enjoy your room.” She left me standing there.

I went inside the small room and opened a window. A little work before bed. I tossed the dirty linens onto the ground, using them to clean the floors a bit. I sneezed in the dusty air, sticking my head out the window to breathe. Once it settled again, I added water to mop the floors with the sheets and blankets. When it looked mostly clean, I threw the sheets and blankets into the corridor. I started the fire in the hearth, then fell asleep on the bare bed.