The wedding was now two days away, and things were getting more heated than ever before. Austria had begun threatening to declare war on Bavaria again, and King Roland started looking for more desperate negotiation strategies. Aurelia always felt that she had more confidence in her country than that of her soon-to-be stepfather and husband combined. She had what a true leader of any country needs, that this one surely didn’t: a backbone. Now with the wedding just one day away, she knew what she had to do. Aurelia devised a brilliant plan to get the two things she wanted most: a way out of marrying Olric, and a war with Austria. She planned to fake her own kidnapping.
*
The Night Before The Wedding...
“Oh, my love! You will be the most lovely bride ever, tomorrow. Have you begun to get cold feet yet?” Sabina asked her sister as they were getting ready for bed.
“Well, I am marrying the most handsome, charming, and perfectly placid man in the entire world tomorrow, so what’s not be excited about?” Aurelia responded in the usual sarcastic tone she took when she was a bit anxious.
“Oh, shut it! You should be a little more grateful. Olric is a great man and loves you dearly. Last I heard you loved him, too, right?”
“I do. I just wonder sometimes, that’s all. You’re right. it’s probably just cold feet. Can I tell you something?” Aurelia posed on her sister.
“No.”
“Please?”
“I’m kidding. Of course you can, silly. What’s on your mind?”
Aurelia started looking really guilty and began to concern her sister. “When… If you hear that something terrible has happened to me tomorrow, will you pretend that you didn’t know?” Aurelia asked. Sabina yanked the portion of hair that she was currently brushing from Aurelia’s head. “Ouch! For the love of God, Sabina, what was that for?”
Sabina spun her sister around and gave her a light yet audible slap across the face. “What in God’s name are you talking about, Aurelia? Please do not do something crazy. I can’t guarantee that I can keep a secret. You know that!”
Aurelia slapped her sister back, harder and definitely more audible. “Warn me next time before you try to slap me so that I can move! That hurt like shit!”
“Well, when someone tells you something like that, your first instinct is to slap that person. You should have expected it!” Sabina cried.
Aurelia looked down at the floor and admitted, “Fair enough. I know that you do not like to bear the weight of a secret, so I wasn’t going to tell you. I just want you to know that I will be okay. Is that good enough? Also what are you doing?”
Sabina,now sitting at the edge of the bed, ferociously brushing one section of hair over and over again and staring blankly through her sister’s eyes, finally spoke after a ten second silence. “A secret is a secret whether I know it or not. Now that you brought it up, you might as well tell me what it is.”
Aurelia looked back into her sister’s eyes, hoping for a reaction of some sort saying, “Are you sure? I don’t wish to give you this burden.”
Sabina closed her eyes, released the section of hair, took a deep breath, and then whispered, “Yes. I can handle it. What are you going to do?”
Aurelia also took a deep breath but kept her eyes opened as she calmly expressed, “I am going to stage my own kidnapping and frame two anonymous Austrian spies so that the kingdom will be outraged and declare war on Austria unless they return me back to my love, Prince Olric, unharmed.”
Sabina’s eyes reopened to the size of what Aurelia could conceive as golf balls, and she immediately lunged at Aurelia, pushing her right off of the bed. Aurelia rolled backwards and landed loudly on the floor. “Are you crazy?” Sabina shouted. Then realizing her volume, she brought her tone back down to a whisper though her eyes were still lit with disbelief. “Why would you tell me that?”
Aurelia ungraciously got herself back on her feet with a vengeful look about her, retaliating with “Because you told me to! Have you gone completely mad?”
“Have you?” Sabina responded. “Let’s forget about the fact that I will never be able to keep this secret and move on to why on God’s green earth are you going to do this, and are you trying to get yourself killed, and are you also trying to get me killed?” Sabina questioned in a frantic manner.
“I never wanted to involve you in this, Sabina, but you are my sister and I love you and I didn’t want you to worry about me. I need to do this, so please do not say anything!”
Sabina also tended to joke in uncomfortable situations. “Well, the least I can do is try to knock some sense into you. If that doesn’t work, at least you can blame the bruises on your kidnappers, you crazy buffoon!” Sabina yelled at her sister before the two started hitting each other with whatever they could grab.
In the midst of their sibling wrestling match, Lady Gertrud walked in the room to give Aurelia her best attempt at congratulations. Eyeing the two girls fighting with pillows and hairbrushes, she rolled her eyes and cleared her throat to gain their attention.
“I do hope you do not scuff up my soon-to-be daughter-in-law too much just hours before her wedding, Sabina. I’d like her to look her best for my one and only son,” Lady Gertrud gawked as she stood in the doorway.
Startled and a bit embarrassed, both young ladies jumped apart as if yanked by their coaches back to opposite corners of a ring.
Sabina started stumbling for words to apologize to Lady Gertrud, for unlike her sister, Sabina respected Lady Gertrud a great deal.
Before Sabina could compose herself enough to even consider mumbling out a complete sentence, Aurelia jumped in, saying, “It wasn’t her fault. I instigated it.” Aurelia noticed the concern on Lady Gertrud’s face, so she needed to think of an excuse fast. “I’ve just been so preoccupied with the wedding that when Sabina asked to borrow my hairbrush I yelled at her and pushed her away. That’s why she has such a shocked look on her face. She still doesn’t know where that came from.”
Aurelia turned to Sabina with eyes that read you better not say anything and said, “I’m sorry for snapping at you and pushing you, Sabina. I am just very nervous and excited at the same time. I am quite superstitious and I didn’t want even the slightest chance of bad luck due to changing my nightly routine. You understand, don’t you? I am so very sorry.”
Sabina’s eyes were like that of an owl. She was very bad at keeping secrets, especially from those whom she admired, like Lady Gertrud. The Lady was aware of Sabina’s weakness, so she gently placed her hand on Sabina’s shoulder, painted a very warm and caring look of concern on her face and asked, “Is this true, Sabina? I know it is very unlike your character to get upset unless something terrible has happened, or is going to happen.”
Sabina could feel the sweat forming on her lower back, a place she often referred to as her guilty place. Every time she tried to lie, she would instantly start sweating in just this one spot. Aurelia was the only other person who knew this.
Wide-eyed, Sabina glanced at a very uneasy Aurelia, and then slowly turned toward Lady Gertrud to agree, “Yes, I am just still so shocked. I thought Aurelia was being a brat so I decided to fight her back. It was very irresponsible of the both of us, Madame. I am truly horrified that you had to witness that.”
The latter part of her testament was much easier to vocalize as it was entirely true. Lady Gertrud had always preferred Sabina over Aurelia. Why couldn’t Olric have fallen in love with the more sensible sister who was always very obedient, formal, and well mannered?
The Lady gave both girls a strategic look of disappointment. This look broke Sabina’s heart into a million pieces. She hated herself for letting down the queen, her idol. Aurelia, on the other hand, assumed this was just her face all the time; in moments of celebration, in mourning, even while sleeping. Aurelia believed Lady Gertrud always had one eyebrow up and one corner of her mouth pursed, so she no longer felt remorse when she saw this face.
The Lady approached Aurelia in a casual, almost gloating ma
nner and reached for her left hand. As she cupped Aurelia’s hand between hers, she took a deep breath as if she were about to confess her deepest, darkest secret. Aurelia was a little hesitant to hear the words that were about to come out of Lady Gertrud’s mouth. “This ring belonged to my mother. She was a very proud woman and raised me to be the same. I know we have our differences, Aurelia. I’m sorry that you never had a mother figure growing up, but I can assure you that I will do my best to take on that role. Just so long as you never, and I mean never, break my son’s heart. He is the pride and joy of my life and what he loves, I love. So I just came to say that…”
She took another deep breath before continuing with, “…I will support him in his decision to marry you as long as you remain a supportive wife. Marriage starts with support, then you can learn to love. I know how smitten my son is with you and I cannot expect you to share the same level of affection for him, but I can expect you to stay true to him, and to me, and to your kingdom. Have I made myself clear, Aurelia?”
Aurelia adjusted her posture and with a stoic look on her face, she nodded her head once and said, “Of course, Madame! I am most certainly true of my word and my intentions.” In her head, of course, she was referring to the words and intentions she had just spoken to Sabina. Still, they were words nonetheless. Lady Gertrud gently hugged Aurelia in a manner that one would embrace a sleeping child as not to wake it, just firm enough to support the weight but not too tight as to create a reaction.
After Lady Gertrud left the room, Sabina and Aurelia were quiet for a moment, and then Sabina spoke. “I won’t say anything. I can’t. It is your life, Aurelia; and though I do not support your decision, I cannot stop you from doing it. But because you are burdening me with this secret on the terms that I must pretend not to know, I must ask something of you in return.”
Aurelia was relieved and puzzled at the same time, and said to her sister, “Yes, of course! Anything you want. Name it!”
This time it was Sabina looking down at the floor, already feeling guilty about the words that were just about to escape from her mouth. “If time goes on, and this charade is still going on, may I seek Prince Olric’s hand in marriage?”
Aurelia was shocked! “Sabina, have you had feelings for him this whole time? Why have you never spoken of this to me?” Sabina kept her head down because she didn’t believe she could look into her sister’s eyes while saying,
“Yes. Since the moment I laid eyes on him, I have dreamt that he would look at me the way he looks at you. But instead he looks at me the way you look at him. It makes my heart sad, and I do agree with Lady Gertrud that it is a bit peculiar how uninterested in him you seem to be compared to all other eligible single women in the kingdom. I only ask because I have a feeling that Lady Gertrud might propose this offer if you were no longer a prospect. She has mentioned to me before that I would make sense with her son, and you know how the history of their family is. I never mentioned this to you before, because I love you and want the best for you; but if you are planning to throw it all away anyway, for anarchy, then I must say that I would be a great wife to Olric.”
Aurelia started making her way to Sabina, who crossed her arms over her head as she expected Aurelia to start another round of sibling warfare. But instead of hitting Sabina, Aurelia uncrossed Sabina’s arms and wrapped them around her. She hugged her sister tight and whispered, “Of course I give you my blessing, sister. I love you too, and your happiness is very important to me. I have never felt the need for a man to complete me, but I know how much marriage means to you. If what you call my charade presents you a window, you do indeed have my blessing.”
The two young women hugged each other very tightly and for the next few hours devised a plan for Aurelia to escape the castle.
*
She finally stopped to rest after what felt like 10 miles of running. Aurelia noticed a spider casting a web between two leaves merely inches from her face. She thought how beautiful and enchanting it must be to live in a web; something that you can recreate over and over, no matter how many times it is torn down. That was where Aurelia was at the moment. She had just destroyed her very lavish web, and was now on her own, starting to construct a new one from scratch.
Before the disappearance of her father, Lord Dante taught Aurelia a great deal of survival skills. He would often take her hunting and fishing since he had no son of his own to enjoy these retreats. They would invite Sabina along, but only in a passing way as they headed out the door, since her answer was always no with some new, inventive excuse. Aurelia loved her outings with her father and he loved having her, for she was very talented with precision and accuracy. On the first round of her archery session, Aurelia hit the target every time and hit bull’s eye two out of ten times, which was remarkable for a nine year old. She was equally as successful when spear fishing. Lord Dante believed she had some enchanting power over the animals during their hunts, which would draw them straight into her web (perhaps another reason Aurelia was so intrigued with spiders and their patience).
Aurelia’s outings with her father ended abruptly on April 14, 1807 when Aurelia’s mother, Genevieve, went missing. The town was in shambles trying to find her, and Lord Dante couldn’t help but blame himself for her disappearance. He knew that if she were in any trouble that he could have saved her. His love for Genevieve was too powerful to sit around and wait for others throughout the kingdom to try and find her, so he set off on his own to find his wife. He asked Aurelia to look after her sister and made her promise not to go hunting until he was back. “It might not be safe in the forest, dearest. Do you understand? Promise me that you will stay away from the forest until I return,” Dante asked of Aurelia.
“Yes, father!” she promised. Dante took to the forest with three of his strongest warriors in hopes of discovering the whereabouts of his wife. Days turned to weeks of the two girls being completely parent-less. Sabina often cried aloud, and Aurelia would comfort her. Aurelia cried too, but quietly into her pillow because she wanted to remain strong for her sister. After one month, the girls heard the tragic news that their mother’s mangled body had been discovered in a river a few miles away. The townsfolk said it had been the work of either an extremely large wolf or a brown bear.
11-year-old Aurelia would now cry aloud with Sabina. The girls were in mourning of their mother and worried for their father. As days passed, mountain goers reported that the three soldiers were found dead in the same condition as Aurelia’s mother except that they were wearing no clothing at all. Most of these details were not shared with the girls. They would just be informed that another clue had come to the surface for others to find their father.
The last sighting occurred when a young man discovered one of the king’s jackets ripped to shreds and covered in blood. At this time, it gave the kingdom enough reason to believe that the king had been killed in the same manner as his wife and trusted soldiers, and so they held a memorial for the fallen and swiftly passed the throne to Lord Dante’s brother, Oskar, making him the new King of Hesse.
Aurelia kept her promise to Lord Dante. She would no longer hunt without her father. After a year passed, Aurelia started having very elaborate dreams that she was back with her father in the forest, learning new survival methods. She was convinced that these were not just dreams, but rather a portal for her and her father to be together forever. She started going back into the forest only then, since she knew she was never truly alone.
After watching the spider reconstruct its home, Aurelia knew it was time for her to do the same. She discovered a great space between two rocks that would provide her shelter and protection from any potential intruders in the night. She started gathering logs, rocks and moss to begin setting up her camp for the night. Once she got settled in, she was quite surprised at how quickly she was able to fall asleep. Tiny adrenaline rushes kept coming her way, but she was able to keep her mind quiet by watching those momentary peaks slowly float away until she didn’t even notice them
anymore. Before long she was sound asleep, on her rock bed with the sound of soft rain just above her head.
All was not so peaceful just outside of her resting ground, however. She was suddenly awoken by a grizzly scream, echoing throughout the forest, followed by little panicked yelps. The scream was so powerful that Aurelia jumped up and smashed her forehead onto the rock in front of her. At first she could only hear the chase in the distance; the earth-shattering growl followed by the pathetic bursts of shrieks and pleads. But then she began to hear the leaves crunching under the feet of the one being chased. She could tell someone was running very fast because the steps were light as if the person was prancing from one foot to the next. Whatever was chasing this person, however, was not so dainty. This creature was massive and sounded as if it was dragging its entire body weight in order to move forward. She peeked through the tiny gap in one of the rocks trying to remain as quiet and still as possible. She began to feel the ground vibrating as the chase was approaching, and she could now see the victim running her way. It was a young man who appeared very fit and very frightened, running as fast as he could on two feet. Then, Aurelia noticed what in the distance looked like a giant, furry black cloud trailing after the young man. She couldn’t tell if this was one giant animal or a pack until she could make out the massive yellow teeth and blood red eyes. It was a bear, but unlike any other bear Aurelia had seen before. It was easily three times the size of a standard brown bear often found in these forests, and it seemed to be able to go from running on all four legs to upright on two like a human. It was more agile than any other bear she had seen before and seemed to move sharply like a wolf. As the gap decreased, the bear started to lunge at the man. She had to put her head down so she would not see what was about to happen, but she could still hear every minor detail. First, came the gut wrenching scream from the man. Then, the sound of every branch breaking from a tree at the same time, which Aurelia knew must have been bones. The feasting didn’t last long, and though Aurelia did not want to disrespect the victim by watching his body be devoured by some mutant beast, she had to see this creature one last time. She opened her eyes again and peaked through the hole to study the bear. She noticed that his rib cage seemed to be almost protruding from his torso and his hind legs bent backwards instead of forwards, which explained how the creature could stand upright so easily. He ate with such ferocity that he bit right through the bone with the same amount of effort that a human would through an apple. After a few seconds, the bear stopped eating to look up, take a few sniffs and turn his gaze toward Aurelia. Aurelia could feel her heart skip a beat, but was too shocked to move just yet. The bear started growling, got back onto four legs very low to the ground, and started slowly walking towards the two boulders. This time Aurelia jumped away from the hole and sat against the wall, her spear in hand. The growling was getting louder and louder until it was right outside of her fortress. She was terrified, but tried to remain calm. It wasn’t normal for a brown bear to attack twice, but clearly this was no ordinary bear. After about a minute, the growling started to cease and Aurelia could hear the bear retreating back into the forest. The next time she peeked through her hole, the only thing she saw was the black of night and the distorted remains of the man.
Simply Bears: A Ten Book Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection Page 95