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"More careful not to leave physical evidence, you mean."
Lissa helped Aelwen into the soapy tub, which smelled of lavender and vanilla. Steam welled into her face, the pleasing scents were calming, and the hot water washed over her tired limbs, wrapping her in a comforting cocoon of heat and bubbles. But Aelwen's lips trembled, and her shoulders shook. Everythingthe women were saying about Vinir brought her to the edge of tears.
"Oh, my dear," Mori said. "Tell us everything. Are you okay? If you're hurt, I can also give you a massage or call for a healer if you think it's more serious."
Aelwen shook her head, unable to find the words to express the pain and confusion that filled her. She felt like she had done something wrong but didn't know what it was. Tears spilled from her eyes. She was hurt, but not in the way they were expecting.
Finally, after a few moments of hiccupping sobs and Mori gently rubbing her back, she found her words. "He didn't want me," Aelwen gasped out.
Lissa frowned in confusion. "What do you mean he didn't want you?"
Aelwen bit her lip and looked away, feeling embarrassed and ashamed to have to say out loud the truth that was now so painfully obvious. "We...we never consummated our marriage."
The maids gasped in surprise and distress. Alexa placed a gentle hand on Aelwen's shoulder while Lissa knelt down next to the tub, peering up at her with sympathetic eyes.
Mori reached for one of Aelwen's hands and squeezed reassuringly. "Oh, my dear," she said softly, brushing away the tears that were beginning to stream down Aelwen's face. "That's not what I expected at all. I'm so sorry. I’m sure we've terrified you out of ever wishing to be with him after all these scary stories ..."
"I—I just don't understand why he didn't want me. He wouldn't even kiss me. It was like he found me so repulsive that he couldn't stand to touch me."
"That can't be true," Alexa said. "You're so beautiful. How could he ever think that? I'm sure he just wasn't in the mood, that's all."
Aelwen sniffled and tried to stop her tears, but it was difficult. She hated that she was crying over a man and what he thought of her, but it was so hard. She had witnessed two very different people fall in love and had begun to wish for something, anything, even a fraction of what she'd seen between King Dominick and his new wife. Had she approached this wedding with King Vinir with a little too much hope and emotion?
It was possible, all things considered.
She knew what this wedding was supposed to be—political and nothing more. But to her, there was always going to be an emotional side because she had no choice but to carry King Vinir's children or face the wrath of her disappointed father.
"Him not wanting you right now doesn't mean anything about you," Liss said. "In fact, King Vinir used to have such a voracious appetite for women, but he's been different this past year. You know, there's a rumor that four vampire kings were struck with a horrible curse, including King Vinir. He's been far less public about his bedroom affairs since then."
"Do you think he's deficient... you know, down there? That would be pretty horrible for a man like him," Mori whispered. Alexa elbowed her in the ribs. "Ow."
"The curses aren't just rumors," Aelwen said. "I was trapped on King Dominick's palace grounds for the past year as I passed through the area when the curse befell him. Everyone on the grounds was trapped there by powerful magic."
The women nodded, curious but clearly restraining themselves from asking the questions they were eager to ask.Aelwen gladly accepted the silence and sank deeper into the tub water. She had yet to consider what King Vinir's curse might be. Unlike the other kings of Elysium, whose curses were obvious and visual, King Vinir's affliction didn't appear as obvious.
"What is King Vinir's curse?" she asked.
"No one knows. There are many rumors, but he’s kept it a secret."
"That means it must be bad, doesn't it?"
"One would expect, I suppose," Alexa sighed. "I'm so sorry, my dear. A wedding and a squeaky marriage bed should be happy affairs, but here we are, scaring you to death."
Aelwen shook her head. "I've been through my fair share of trials and made it out the other side. I might not be experienced with ... the more intimate side of relationships, but I can handle myself."
Mori gave her a smile that seemed more indulgent than genuine, and Aelwen had to suppress a sigh. Her anxious tears at being refused by Vinir likely had her looking like a fragile maiden when she was nothing of the sort.
Taking a deep breath, Aelwen dunked her head under the water and stayed there. Heat soaked into her skin, pushing down on her face. Pleasant ripples of warm soap and bubbles whirled around her along with her strands of long blonde hair.
Truthfully, she wasn't sure why Vinir's cruelty affected her as much as it did. Far worse things had been said to her by her father in the past. That was part of the reason she'd run away, after all.
She wanted things to be different, she guessed, and she knew now she's somehow been partially sucked into that fantasyof married life being perfect instead of just a different kind of flawed.
Aelwen pushed her head back through the water’s surface, taking in a gasp of air. As soon as she settled herself again, Mori came up to her and gave her a cup of the tea she'd brought. It was sweet, just what Aelwen needed right now.
"All might not be as you expected it to be," Lissa said, "but if you were trapped in that cursed castle and you're out now, the curse must have been lifted, right?"
Aelwen paused mid-sip. "That's right."
