Touched
She awoke slowly, inhaling and exhaling a deep sigh with a soft whimper. Her shoulder ached but she could dismiss that. If she could wake up more, then it would be just a moment and she could heal it. She had slept wrong, no doubt, rolled on a rock and was paying for it dearly. But waking was difficult, her eyelids heavy, her shoulder and arm feeling heavier. Katherine shifted and felt a warm body pressed against hers, and rolled from it with a frightened gasp.
But she was caught in gentle but strong arms and her eyes flew open to see her husband looking at her.
"Oh, Katherine." The two words carried so much weight for Ezekiel. Regret and sorrow that Katherine would now have to face the man who had tortured and imprisoned Ezekiel here. Relief at knowing the love of his life was still alive. Happiness at seeing her beautiful face again, even if under dire circumstances. And winding through all those emotions, tying them together, Ezekiel felt a deeper sense of purpose and confidence. Lord, Ezekiel thought to himself, you brought her here. If you are to test me as you did Job, I will be ready for it. I have endured until now. All I ask of you is to not give her a harder burden than she can bear. Ezekiel did not know if he could bear to watch her being tortured. He hoped it would not come to that.
He reached a hand up to caress her cheek. "While I am happy to see you here and to be at my side, I wish you had remained safe in England. The situation is dire indeed."
She blinked, looking over his face, not quite believing she had found him, and reached to trace his lips, eyes, chin. "I couldn't stay away," she stated softly and then leaned in to kiss him. The warmth of him pulsed through her; a benediction, a promise, a home and when she pulled away, the green of her eyes sparkled faintly. "I belong at your side."
Her shoulder protested as she tried to shift upwards, pulsing with a warning as her fingers tingled with pain. A memory of fire like agony, sharp and percussive and her mount collapsing hard underneath her and then on her. . . . She struggled to sit up in the bed, the pillows soft and far too giving for support to help her, but made it through Ezekiel's help and sheer stubbornness. "I was shot?" she asked as he nodded. "In the shoulder again?" A rueful sigh escaped her. "Bother."
Her emerald gaze noted the room, the warm breeze shifting the white linen curtains that covered the bed and the windows. The bed was carved teakwood, but aside from a plain chair and two tables, there was little else to recommend the room. "So how dire is this place we find ourselves?" she asked, twining the fingers of her good hand into his.
"Not so much the place," Ezekiel said quietly as he looked across the room. "The company I am keeping is a man named Vars. He is broken and looks to break me."
He squeezed her hand softly, her mere touch giving him strength he had not realized was lost. Hopefully his touch would provide her strength as well, for she would need it in the upcoming days.
"He is without faith and looks to both understand and undermine my faith. Using whatever means necessary." He paused, concern cracking his exterior calm. His voice haltered as he continued, "I worry about what he will do to you..."
He gained her full attention then, her eyes searching his. "Why?" And then as his words sunk in, "What he will do to me? What has he done to you?"
"Torture, Katherine. Both physical and mental. Vars is urbane and would pass for a civilized man." Ezekiel remembered the long philosophical conversations followed by the branding. He chose not to show Katherine the result of that. "But he seeks to topple God, Katherine. And he thinks the path to undercovering what that evil requires is by understanding God's faithful."
He paused for a minute, thinking about everything that Vars had spoken of during Ezekiel's imprisonment. "The worst part is that I truly feel sorry for him. As a child, he was submitted to things that no child should ever have to deal with. And he reached out to God...and God did not answer him. Or he did not hear what God chose to say." Trying to understand Vars and the Lord's reasoning on testing the child that way...well, it had perhaps tested Ezekiel's faith in ways that simple physical torture never could.
She blinked at him, genuinely perplexed. "Topple God?" The smile that had formed on her lips faded as she realized that he was deadly serious. "But, but. . ." Her mouth closed and then opened again. "I cannot be done. HE is. No beginning, no end."
"All things have a beginning and an end, my lady." Vars came into the room followed by Idir who held a bowl that smelled of pungent herbs, his arms draped in white bandages. Vars smiled charmingly, his arms akimbo as he stopped to let Idir move by him. "My apologies for my error," he announced, freeing a hand to gesture at her shoulder. "I can only apologize."
Katherine froze at his words, trembling lightly as she watched the blond man enter the room. At the doorway stood the little boy from the spring, his dark eyes sorrowful. He put a finger to his lips, shaking his head.
"No apologies," she answered with a sweetness she didn't feel, tearing her gaze from the boy to the blond man. Predatory, confident, Vars watched them with the warmest of smiles and she forced a pleasant smile. "Accidents do happen." She looked to Ezekiel for assurance before nodding to Idir's silent request. The tall man carefully pushed aside the slender bit of delicate lace strap of her gown to let it fall down her arm and began the slow process of freeing the blood stiffened wrappings. She bit her lip to fight the pain, squeezing her husband's hand.
Vars stepped closer, his eyes glittering like cold agate. "Your husband failed to mention that you were Eldren," he intoned. "Or so lovely."
But Vars seemed to lose interest in Katherine as Ezekiel spoke, his attention held by his opponent. "She is the image of the demons, knight of God," he announced with clear and unmistakable mirth. "What penance did God require from you when he knew that you loved her? What portion of your immortal soul is forsaken for loving a creature born from the pagan gods?"
He tore his gaze from Ezekiel to study Katherine anew, the corners of his mouth twisting. Idir had the wound uncovered, his large hands gentle as he washed it. Vars watched the flow of pink water as it stained her gown, an eyebrow raised as he took a closer step to look at his handiwork. "I chose a forgiving caliber of bullet, didn't I my lady? Or is that one of your innate powers? I know that the children of Gaia are blessed with such at birth unlike the rest of us poor mortals." The coolness of his gaze went again to Ezekiel. "Have you shown her your mark?"
No penance, Ezekiel thought with amusement. Why would God punish me for accepting a gift from Him that I did not ask for or expect? That gift had changed Ezekiel's life for the better and it was his job and duty to make sure he kept her safe.
Then his train of thought was interrupted by the question from Vars and Ezekiel shook his head in negation. "I had not. Honestly, it was of so little significance to me that I had completely forgotten it."
Her breath hissed as she sucked it between her teeth as the Idir gently probed the wound, but Katherine's head tilted with curiosity. "What mark, my love?" The pain and the adrenaline from it had forced her to abrupt wakefulness; with clarity, she now noticed how thin her husband had become, the strained lines etched sharply on his face. Her eyes kindled though she kept her face pleasant.
Ezekiel shook his head. "He branded me with a cross. Vars wished to see how far he could go before God would step in to protect me." Vars tried so hard to understand what made Ezekiel's relationship with God work, but he would never truly understand. Perhaps because he did not truly wish to.
For a moment, she forgot to breathe. She closed her eyes to concentrate on the process, only to see Vars looking intently at her when she opened them again. Katherine smiled at him faintly. "It seems you misunderstand them both," she managed. "What is such a mark but a badge of honor for Ezekiel." She reached out with her good hand, holding it for Vars to take. "But we are being rude proceeding without proper introductions. I am Katherine. You are?" It took a force of will she didn't realize that she had to keep from shaking with fury or not to recoil as his cool hand grasped hers and lifted it to his lips.
Vars held onto her hand for a moment after the courtly kiss, his thumb caressing it absently. "Vars Stelljes." He leaned closer, his cool blue eyes locking to hers. "You want to heal it don't you?" he whispered. "Heal it when I take my leave." He smiled charmingly as Katherine pulled her hand free and the smile turned dark. "Go ahead. Do it now."
She could only stare at him, her lips parted, a fury and conflicting fear roiling inside that she could hardly contain. Ezekiel squeezed the hand held in his own. . . .gentle . . . warning. She swallowed bile and met the blond man's gaze.
"I have faith that Ezekiel can ask for himself."
Vars' barked a laugh in derision. "He is a strong man. Would you make him beg a weak woman?"
She couldn't help it; the power surged through her to Ezekiel, seeking the wound she had started to feel through his fingers. He clenched her hand in warning just barely before she cried in agony. The cross burned on her own back, fresh as if she herself had just been branded. The tall servant recoiled from her, his face hooded as he stared at the new wound for a moment before reaching to bathe it with the last of the clean water he had used for her shoulder. But he froze as Vars barked in command.
"Don`t touch her!"
"My love, what have you done?" Ezekiel asked softly as Katherine hunched against the pain and bit her lip to keep from screaming. A movement torn his attention from his wife as Vars shifted closer.
"So . . .Katherine, is it?” he asked slowly as if tasting her name. “Does the Eldren blood boil at the touch of God? There is an ancient story, one I'm quite certain isn't told anymore. That you and yours are the spawn of the earth mother and the Devil. Her last attempt to fight the will of God that humans rule over her, her deal to create something to tempt Man and lead his sheep astray. Exotic, lovely.” He licked his lips slowly. “Lifespans beyond mere mortals, stronger, faster, built to cause envy, greed and lust."
Ezekiel’s eyes narrowed as Katherine let out a soft sob, unable to keep quiet anymore. "Don't listen to him love.” His fingers were twined in hers, supportive and loving. “Vars, you can move it back now. Your point is proven.”
The blonde man laughed. "Or?" he retorted. "You will pray more for me Ezekiel? I shudder." He raised an eyebrow, focusing solely Katherine. "You know my dear," he said with saccharine tones, "most of your kind don't resemble their demonic origins anymore. Allows them the illusion of being more than the demon spawn that they truly are. The Eldren themselves even shun those that remind them of that terrible ancestry. Assure themselves that they are as pure as God-blessed Man. But its there. And you, my dear, show it in every strand of red hair, in every line of your tempting body. All of earth and hell's most carnal temptation, visioned in you and that exquisite pain that I see in those inhuman eyes." He smiled gently. "I assume you led a most solitary childhood. Poor green-eyed child. You are the most cursed of all."
"Leave her alone." Ezekiel's voice was quiet, his gaze locked on Vars.
Quirking his head, Vars smiled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Oh I dare not anger you more, Ezekiel. Besides, I believe she already has been sent to test your faith and you have failed." He snapped his fingers and Idir gathered his supplies. "Heal yourself dear Katherine. It will go back to the man blessed by the strength of God himself."
With that, he walked from their room. Katherine shook her head, trembling with the pain. "I'm not sending it back to you," she hissed through her teeth.
"You're not keeping it either love," Ezekiel retorted gently, releasing his hand from her vise-like grip. Ezekiel gently tipped her head up to look into her eyes. "I am serious. I believe he means to make a point. The pain had subsided for me. It seems worse for you. Do as he said and let me have the cross once more."
"No."
"You are a stubborn girl. Don't make me demand. He's making a point with you." He brushed her tears away, his thumb brushing her lips, before taking her face in his hands. "Please."
With a silent prayer, Katherine gave in, letting her body heal. She felt him flinch through their contact as he let out a small gasp. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
He graced her with a smile. "It's not yours to carry." He gathered his wife in his arms, grimacing as her arms touched his back. The cross was raw and fresh on him again as well. He suppressed a shudder of pain, knowing that she would still probably sense the burn anyway and was rewarded by her soft sob. He began to rock with her gently, stroking her hair as his wife cried brokenly in his arms.
The moonlight tickled her awake. It was the only thing she could tell when she recounted it later, the only way that she could describe what woke her. Katherine untangled herself gently from her husband’s arms, sliding from the bed to go to the window. The garden lay outside the window, shadowy and silent under the light of the gravid moon. It was only a step to the double doors, a gentle turn of the handle and the ground was warm under her bare toes. A Luna moth danced by, stopping on a flower near her shoulder. She stared at it and then went back inside.
The moth waited, gently fanning its wings. And then it was off, two shadows holding hands following beneath it.
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