Page 68 of Glass Hearts
I did it.
Arabella
Groggily, my eyelids flutter, the sting of my back’s recent wounds flaring as I shift. The floor beneath me is cold and unforgiving, the roughness biting into my spine as I try to sit up. My hands are bound tightly behind me, and the coarse rope bites into my skin. My wrists throb, raw and swollen, and my throat feels parched and aching. I must’ve been unconscious for hours, maybe longer.
“She finally wakes. About damn time,” an unfamiliar voice spews in vitriol. My vision is still adjusting to the light as I spot Bernice. The unfamiliar man seems to lose patience and roughly grabs me to stand. I wince at all the pain, but I will not cry. She doesn’t deserve my tears any longer.
“Bernice, what are you doing here?” I try to feign innocence.
“So you’re not trying to break the unbreakable curse? Victor couldn’t even break that. Speaking of,Victor,” she trills. Victor enters into the light. A cruel smile upon his face as he takes in my tied-up state. A cold realization creeps up my spine.
“T-there was never a mage…”
They both throw their heads back and laugh.
“Silly girl, of course there wasn’t. I had a feeling you had been scheming, looking at how to break the curse. I found coins in your room and suspected you had been whoring yourself out for money. So we put it in your mind to find a mage. We had originally expected you a month ago, but you never showed. Yet, here we are. Tell me. Is it so bad seeing your stepsisters happy?I am sure they are off to the princes bedrooms, sealing the engagement. Wouldn’t an early grandbaby, even out of wedlock, just be somagical?” She gives me an evil smile.
I won’t break down in front of her again.
“What do you want, Bernice?” The quake in my voice deceives the strong facade I am trying to implement.
“Randal, come on out from behind, and meet your new bride.” I turn to see a slimy-looking man.Randalis tall with a belly, at least twenty years my senior. He is missing a tooth as he grins a predatory sneer at me. He licks his chapped lips.
“I always like them a little feisty to start, makes watching them break even more… pleasant.” He tucks a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, a single tear of fear falling from my eyes. He turns to Bernice and Victor. “Well, let’s get on with this marriage already. I am growing impatient.”
Bernice motions for me to have a seat as she organizes the paperwork. ‘Marriage contract’ pokes out from the corner of my eye. Bile rises from my throat. I try to run, but Randal stops me by yanking on the rope. Falling, I hit the hard floor with a yelp. I yell for help, hoping someone, anyone,is outside to help me.
“That is, quite frankly, enough dramatics, Arabella. Stop yelling; you are hurting my ears. We are in the country, far from the city. Nobody will hear your useless pleas. We can sign this contract with a pen or your blood.” Randal forces me up from the floor and aggressively shoves me down to sit on the chair. I can feel the slowly healing wounds on my back start to reopen and bleed from all the forceful movements.
“Let’s do blood. I have had enough of waiting. I would rather sample the goods I purchased sooner rather than later, Bernie.”
“It’s Bernice, you wretch.”
He grabs a pocketknife from his pocket and cuts a line on my shoulder, drawing blood. He then cuts his hand to draw blood aswell, bringing the paper to my shoulder, rubbing my blood onto it.
Victor is instantly there, sealing the contract with a few mutterings.
Instantly, Bernice and I gasp as we feel the curse leave our bodies, as if it were an apparition lurking within us the whole time.
“Belly, looks like you got your request from the mage.” Victor hands me the marriage contract. “Perhaps not how you would have wanted it. But I don’t care.” Victor and Bernice get up to leave.
“Now, Randal, be sure to make sure she stays your problem, not mine,” Bernice says as she and Victor walk out, leaving me behind.
Randal,my husband, looks at me like prey. Knife still in hand, he uses it to cut my shirt open. I attempt to squirm away.
“You are going to love what I do to you,wife.”
I scream, my voice raw from all the pleas to stop. Calling out for help, I reach out to any animal nearby. I am topless, and the tears start to rapidly fall anew.
“They fucking sold me damaged goods. Why the hell is your back bleeding so much?! Maybe I won’t keep you for that long, then. What a shame a pretty thing like you is so defective.”
He continues to try to cut my pants away, but before he can cut any further, a huge grizzly bear slams into the room, roaring in anger.
“What th-” Randall tries to say before the bear slams into him. He attempts to stab the bear, but it already has him pinned with its enormous paws. I should stop the bear as he tears into myhusband. But I don’t. I sit there and watch as he shreds Randal, tears still falling down my face as I shake.
Once Randal is dead, the grizzly stops and looks at me.
“Sorry you had to see that, mistress. I heard you calling for help. That you were being attacked. Are you alright?”
