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My shoulders relaxed. A heavy weight was removed from my chest, and my heart felt whole again. This could still work. It was going to work, because I was ready to do anything for my Aurelia.
Well... except let her remove her mask for a week.
“Are... are you hungry?” I knew it was quite the jump from a serious conversation to... food, but I wanted to do something nice for her. I wanted to start taking care of her already, so she would forget about my... oddities.
“I would like to wash up first.”
“I will take you to the bathroom.”
I gently placed my hand on the small of her back and started guiding her into the living room, then into the bathroom that was on the ground floor. Frost sniffed at her long dress, and I shook my head at him to let him know he needed to give her time. I knew all he wanted was to tackle her to the floor and give her one of his big hugs, but if he did that, I was afraid my Aurelia would tear the mask off and bolt out of the house, never to be seen again.
As we passed the stairs, my stomach fluttered at the thought that I would have to help her up and down for a while. I hoped she’d let me carry her after I fed her a rich, healthy dinner and showed her how much I wanted to pamper her. She was upset now, I could tell.
“You said I can take the mask off when I’m alone,” she said.
“Yes.”
I guided her inside the bathroom, and she rested her hands on the edge of the sink. She was standing right in front of the mirror, but she couldn’t see herself. From behind her, I looked at us. I was huge, and she was tiny. My face was covered in brown fur, and my horns almost touched the ceiling. If she were to remove her mask right now, she would probably faint from shock and terror. That saddened me. I knew it was true, and no one could convince me otherwise.
What had I been thinking? Going to the Temple, giving them my blood, letting them find me a bride...
If Aurelia did agree to keep the mask on for a week, then that was all the time I would have with her. One week.
The mirror told me she was going to leave me the moment she saw my face.
Chapter Eight
Aura
He locked me in.
I took a breath, then with trembling hands, took the mask off and looked in the mirror. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I was married to a monster who was making me keep my eyes covered in his presence for a week! And I was pretty sure this had nothing to do with tradition. He had no family, no community, so how could he have... traditions? I wasn’t going to say anything, lest I made things worse for myself, but at this point, I was convinced Krampus was lying to me about something.
One glance around me, and I was stunned. The bathroom was enormous. It wasn’t just the tall ceiling, but also the massive bathtub, so big that it could fit, maybe, three or four people, the large sink, the mirror that covered half the wall. The door was huge, as if made to fit... well, him. It was made to fit him.
Even though I hadn’t seen him yet, my intuition told me he was tall and wide. When he took me in his arms, I could tell my weight was nothing for him. His hands were so large that one of them was enough to support my back. It made sense that everything in his home would be made for him. I wondered if he’d built this cabin himself. He must’ve, since he’d said he was all alone here. With the deer and rabbits, and some crow.
In other circumstances, I would’ve found that funny. The way he talked about his horse and his dog, and his dog’s crow friend. I would’ve been like... “awww... he loves animals”. Too bad he was making me wear the leather mask for a week. I couldn’t be like “awww” anything, no matter how cute, and lovely, and gentle he was.
Because I could tell he was gentle. The dog, Frost, had sounded excited to have him back home, and I always trusted dogs to be good judges of character.
I turned on the faucet and heard a humming sound coming from the wall. The water turned warm, almost hot, and I had to combine it with cold water. Apparently, living this high in the mountains wasn’t the equivalent of an uncomfortable life with no amenities. I washed my hands and my face. That meant the minimal makeup the Temple girls had applied for my wedding ceremony went bye-bye, but it didn’t matter since half of my face had to be covered, anyway.
I took my time to pull myself together and make myself look presentable. I brushed my fingers through my long, auburn hair, taming the frizz caused by the typical winter humidity. I adjusted and readjusted my dress, and noticed I hadn’t taken my boots off. I did so now, feeling bad that I’d probably made a mess on my way here. It was a good thing there was thick snow outside and that the snow was clean.
When I felt ready, I tried the door, forgetting that Krampus had locked me in. I heard him from the other side.
“Are you wearing your mask?” he asked.
Oh. Right. That was the condition for him to let me out of the bathroom. I quickly put it on and tied the leather straps at the back of my head.
“Yes.”
“Do you promise?”
I sighed. “Yes. I have the mask on. I can’t see a thing.” And it was true. My world was black again.
The key turned in the lock and the door opened. I felt so vulnerable standing there like that, waiting for him to put his hand on my lower back to guide me. I felt like a child. I swallowed heavily and kept my thoughts to myself. This might’ve been my husband, but really, I didn’t know who I was dealing with. I didn’t know if the stories I’d heard from my mother had any grain of truth in them. If they did, there was a fair chance it was very little. Still, it was better to be careful and keep my guard up.
