Page 89 of Whispers of Fire

One minute is too fuckin’ short to tell her all I gotta say.

I write fast, then give the phone to Ares like a fuckin’ soldier to his officer. He pats my shoulder and heads towards the hall. And all I can do is picture my girl in my arms knowin’ how many days we’re gonna be apart.

I run my fingers through my hair.

I’ll be there, Angel, I’ll find a way.

Chapter 16

Rose

Vox never came back. Not during the night when I woke up in his empty room, and not when the sun rose and I had to go back to my house.

It’s been three weeks now and my heart is as broken as a shattered mirror. The wedding is gettin’ closer, way too close, keepin’ me up at night with nightmares.

All I have left is a text.

That’s all I’ve got to hold on to, a last thread of hope.

Even if this thread is gettin’ thinner as the days pass.

You have to trust him, Rose.

When I woke up alone in his bed that day, I first thought he was still working. But then I noticed a text on my phone and my world broke into a million pieces.

Vox : Won’t be there for a few weeks. I’ll come find you. Trust me. Don’t give up on us.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way. I thought we would talk and figure out a way to make… everything better. That he would have come back with good news, that his president would have listened to him and that we would have planned an escape for me but… but maybe he doesn’t want that.

Maybe he just wanted to open my eyes and let me go by myself.

Maybe he doesn’t want me as much as I want him.

And here I was, so stupid of me, dreaming about flower shops and waffles, thinking we had a shot at something, at a future together.

Trust him, Rose, he told you to not give up on him.

Just hold on.

But how can I keep holding on when each second brings me closer to be raped by an old man?

It’s been days, and the wedding is about to arrive without any signs of Vox.

Please, I need a sign, anything telling me he’s coming.

A sign telling me that he loves me and that we'll be alright.

My parents are barely in the house, getting the Chapel ready for the occasion with ribbons and flowers. My father gave me a note of the words I'll have to know by heart in two days.

How nice of him to give it to me, especially when I'm mute.

Anyway, he came to me at breakfast, wearing his usual scowl. He didn’t even bother talking to me, not that he can’t. I’m not deaf. He just gave me a piece of paper with the schedule of the ceremony.

I shivered when I read it, between the holy bath and the marital claim, I don’t know which one is the worst.

I don’t want to do those rituals, none of them.

Not the one where I get drowned under water and choke to death, and not the other where I'll have to spread my legs for this monster in front of all the Elders of the community, witnessing the marriage being consummated. Even if a part of me is still willing to accept this charade, another part, a much bigger part, knows that I’m going to fight this with every fiber of my being.

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