Page 9 of Wed to Krampus

If Aurelia grew up in this town, then there was a good chance she’d seen me before. Was she one of those people who avoided me when they saw me in the street loading my sleigh with groceries and books that would, sadly, only last me a month, maybe a month and a half, if I was frugal?

No, I couldn’t think this way. If I was lucky, she’d never seen me before. But what if she’d heard about me? People talked...

“Are you okay, Krampus?” she asked from the back. “Are we... going?”

“Yes.”

Snowdrop needed little encouragement. He was eager, more eager than me, at this point. What did he care? Once we got home, he would eat and sleep, and play with Frost. I’d barely convinced the dog to stay behind. I could tell Snowdrop missed Frost, and Frost was probably howling alone in the house.

What an easy life. To only be concerned with food, shelter, and sleep, and not give a single thought to love.

Up the mountain, on the narrow, snow-covered roads, I made Snowdrop go slowly. Not because I feared we might slip into the abyss below – the horse knew these roads so well that he could navigate them blindfolded – but because I needed time to think. Time to worry about everything that could go wrong once Aurelia and I found ourselves alone in my cabin. And time to calm my racing thoughts and convince myself I could make this marriage work.

Hopefully, all the dating and relationship books I’d read would come in handy at last.

Chapter Six

Aura

Krampus.

I hoped he hadn’t noticed my reaction when the priest first said his name – a quick intake of air, the stiffening of my shoulders. I tried to control it as much as I could, but throughout the ceremony, my thoughts ran in circles, trying to pinpoint where I’d heard the name before. It felt like a memory. An old memory from my childhood. Something my mother used to say when I was particularly naughty... It had been so long ago, and I didn’t want to think of my mother as the sleigh moved through the snow, taking me to my new home.

I didn’t want to think of my parents and what they would say now if they saw me. What would I tell them? “I’m sorry, but I see no other way out of this mess.” Yes, something along those lines.

I couldn’t see anything through the mask, so I had to rely on my other senses. The sharp wind on my cheeks as we advanced to a higher altitude. The sounds the horse made as he trudged through the snow. I felt warm and comfortable. The only part of my body that didn’t feel great was my nose. I pulled the blanket up and tucked my chin and my nose underneath. It smelled surprisingly nice, of cinnamon and... vanilla? Come to think of it, everything Krampus had given me smelled nice and felt soft to the touch – the coat, my gloves, the blanket.

I wasn’t thrilled by the idea that we were going to a place that was colder than the town I’d lived in all my life. I wondered how far from it his home was. I wondered how many people lived there. Did his kind have a town of their own? A community? How big? How small? Did Krampus have a family? Maybe a sister or a brother? So many questions...

Would I fit in?

This tradition with the leather mask was strange, to say the least. I’d never heard of anything like it. But to be honest, I didn’t know much about monsters and their traditions. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have to wear it for long. Maybe just for the first day, and then I could remove it and finally see him. See the man I’d married.

I was happy about one thing, though. Mina and Joseph would soon receive a generous amount of money. Knowing Mina, she was probably going to save it for the baby, so he or she could later attend a good school. Maybe a school in the nearest city. The money was my way of thanking them for everything they’d done for me. Since I was married now, supposedly to my perfect match, I didn’t need it. My husband would take care of me. And I still had my knitting. Maybe this new place I was going to would appreciate my skill just as much as the people in town. And if not, I was still going to knit because I loved it.

Krampus. Krampus.

Where had I heard the name before? As we advanced, the temperature plummeted, and I realized I wasn’t feeling hot under the blanket anymore. Just warm.

I was sure it would come to me... The mystery behind my mate’s name.

I loved his voice, though. Low and soothing... He talked like he wanted to envelop me with his words and keep me safe. Had it not been for his voice, I would’ve been a little more scared right now. I was still scared, but it was a level of fear that I could deal with. It was mostly fear of the unknown, not of him. When he’d lifted me into the sleigh, he’d been gentle despite his massive frame. With the gloves on, I couldn’t make out a lot. I touched his chest and shoulders, and the feel of them confirmed he was huge. It was all I knew about him.

I couldn’t wait to take this mask on. Maybe he wouldn’t insist on my wearing it the whole day. I hoped I could take it off once we arrived.

Okay. Krampus. I needed to think harder. An hour had probably passed since we started from the Temple, and I was getting bored. My fingers were itching for my knitting needles. There were two problems, though: one, my fingers would freeze instantly if I took off my gloves, and two, I wasn’t sure I could knit with my eyes covered. On second thought, maybe I could. I was that good. So, with nothing to occupy my hands and my mind with, the only thing I could do was... think.

Think hard. Where had I heard that name before?

Finally, my memory yielded and brought to the forefront an image of five-year-old me. I might’ve been younger. Four? The exact age wasn’t important. It was my father’s birthday, and my mother had baked a cake, decorated it and everything. We didn’t have cake often. Only three times a year, for each of our birthdays. So, it made sense that I was beside myself with joy and excitement. But I was supposed to wait. Dad was still at work, even though it was late, and the cake was waiting on the kitchen counter, so tempting that I could die. My mother kept an eye on me, then told me she was going to wash up, and made me promise I wouldn’t touch the cake. We would all have a slice later, when my father came home. Of course, I promised. Of course, I had my fingers crossed behind my back.

The second the bathroom door closed behind her, I was in the kitchen, pushing a chair to the counter. I was too short to reach the cake, but if I climbed on the chair, the cake was all mine. I only wanted a taste. Just a tiny bite. First, I dug my finger into the frosting and licked it. It tasted so good that I couldn’t help myself, and I dug my whole fist into one side of the cake, taking a rather sizeable chunk out of it.

My mother caught me elbow-deep in the cake. My face was smeared with frosting, and so was the front of my shirt. She shrieked, which made me jump off the chair and fall on my face. I started crying like it was the end of the world, and she started crying too, and that was how my father found us.

Thinking back, it all sounded funny now. A story I couldn’t wait to tell my children. I was glad I’d remembered it. But why had my brain dug it out? Oh, right.

Krampus.

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