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I bit the inside of my lip. I wanted to tell him that was not true, but unfortunately, it was. Though, “unspeakable things” was a bit of a stretch. Or... was it? The story said that Krampus would eat you if you were naughty. Okay, so cannibalism was definitely not a stretch.
It was awful that I couldn’t contradict him on anything he was saying. Right now, I felt ashamed of my town.
“So, you see, I couldn’t let you see me on our wedding day. I couldn’t risk having my heart broken when you turned away. I fully intended to let you remove the mask once we got to the cabin, but then everything was going so well, and I loved being with you, and I thought... What if you kept your eyes covered a little bit longer? What if I didn’t let you see me, didn’t let you touch me at all, and you didn’t know who I was and what I looked like, and what if, eventually, you would like me for me, and then... and then maybe it wouldn’t matter that I was so ugly?”
“Oh, Krampus...”
I’d suspected this was the reason he’d made me wear the mask and tied my hands at night. Still, his confession came like a gut punch. As he spoke, he kept half of his face covered with his hand and didn’t look at me. It hurt to see him like this. I wanted to go to him, so I shifted on my hands and knees and started slowly crawling toward him.
“No. You promised you’d keep your distance and not look directly at me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Krampus, I’m your wife! We did... things. We share a bed!”
“Yes, but now you know that I’m a monster. A real monster, not like one of those who’re handsome, even if they have beastly features.”
“Okay, listen.” I was in front of him now, and I plopped back down on the floor. Frost moved his big head from his lap to mine. “I don’t believe you’re ugly. What you look like doesn’t matter to me at all. What matters is your heart. How you treat me, how you treat Frost, Snowdrop, and just... everyone.”
He looked at me reluctantly. “Thank you for saying that, but...”
“But what?”
“You’re so beautiful, Aura. Someone like you could never love someone like me. You deserve better.”
“Ugh!” I was losing my patience.
“Even if the DNA test said we are a perfect match... The truth is that I looked at us in the mirror, the way we look together, next to each other, and we’re such a perfect... mismatch. You deserve to be with someone who is beautiful, like you.”
“Seriously? You’re going to decide that for me? I told you: I don’t care. Looks don’t matter. What I care about is the way you treat me, the way you love me and take care of me. And Krampus, no one has ever taken care of me like you did these past two days.”
He lowered his gaze and shook his head, then covered his face with both hands. I waited for him to say something, but he remained silent. What did that mean? That the conversation was over?
This was so frustrating! No matter what I said, he only heard what he wanted to. He was stuck in his idea that he was hideous and I deserved something better. How was I supposed to change his mind when he didn’t want to let me in?
“Krampus, you have to believe me when I say that you are exactly what I need,” I tried again.
“But I’m not what you want...”
My mouth opened and closed. Was I not saying the right things? What were the right things to say?
“I want you. And there’s no way you can doubt that after what we just did in the cabin. Or tried to do before you freaked out and ran.”
I was referring to my climbing on top of him. I’d removed my panties and tights, and when he rushed out of the house and I followed him, I’d only had time to put on the panties. I hoped I wouldn’t come to regret it soon. The barn was cozy, but it sounded like a snowstorm was brewing outside.
“I’m sorry, Aura. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s hard to believe that someone like you...”
“Ugh!” With that, I jumped to my feet. Startled, Frost crawled away from me. “You’re infuriating! Everything I tell you goes right past your head. If you want to stay here and mope, fine. I told you how I feel, and I’m done arguing with you.”
I turned on my heel and stomped toward the door. Before walking out, I threw one last look over my shoulder. He was still there, sitting with his shoulders hunched, looking sad and defeated. I couldn’t deal with it. I stormed out of the barn and shut the door behind me.
I couldn’t deal with the fact that everything he’d said about how the townspeople had been treating him was true, and deep down, I understood a few words from me would not change his mind about humans. I was one of them, so he struggled to believe that someone who belonged to a species that had only shown contempt toward him could love him and want to be with him.
I didn’t know what to do. I was at a loss, and he wasn’t letting me in. I wrapped my arms around myself and started walking toward the cabin. The wind was blowing hard, making a mess of my hair. It was snowing heavily, and I could barely see a few feet in front of me. The moon was full and high in the sky, providing just enough light for me to not get lost.
The cabin wasn’t far. The light, as diffused as it was, gave me a feeling of comfort. The time to regret not putting my tights on was now. My legs were literally freezing, and my boots barely came up to my knees. It was a good thing my dress was thick and made of wool, and I also had my coat. A hat wouldn’t have hurt... Oh well.
Between the barn and the cabin, I got distracted by the beauty of the landscape. I knew this was a bad time, but I couldn’t help straying from the path just a little. I wanted to see the mountain spring that ran behind the cabin. It was going to take only a minute, and if I hurried, I wasn’t going to freeze.
Behind the cabin, the woods spread up the mountain, dark and ominous. The stream was tiny and nearly frozen. The moonlight’s reflection in the water made it look like it was peppered with diamonds. It was such a beautiful sight that I almost forgot the argument I’d had with Krampus. It wasn’t that bad, after all. He just needed a few more minutes to himself to think about what I’d said to him. When he was ready, he would find me in the cabin, warming up by the fire, and we’d have a laugh about it.
