Chapter 8 – Dare to Dance
Will you hear my ailing words?
Will you be my everything?
Swimming in reverie,
I'm dreaming until…
And it's clear, as clear as over,
to me you're just a fairytale.
When the waltz is over and the lovers die,
you could be a lifesaver… - Last Waltz by Franco
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‘’Lord and Lady Rayne!’’
Their announcement was met with bows of welcome and recognition by any close bystander as they came into the great ballroom where the music held rhythm for all who wished to dance.
After they both paid homage by greeting the King, who was delighted to see the pair once more at his court, they went separate ways.
Lord Rayne was accompanied aside by some of his closer acquaintances, most likely talking business, Lady Darla thought, as she, herself, had a more urgent matters to attend to… finding out if Lady Glorificus had recovered fully.
She hadn’t found her at first, due to the impressive amount of people dancing, walking, talking and laughing on every turn she made. But then at last, she spotted a familiar crown of golden curls, neatly tucked under pearl-white headpiece net.
As soon as she heard her laughter, Lady Darla was sure it was the right person that she sought.
Some part of her, a really tinny smidgen of hope even, had pleaded the Powers That Be, that she’d be spared the confrontation. Alas, the propriety had won and she gave herself only a few moments, to inspect firstly if the damage had been done permanently – from afar.
She tried to follow the other Lady’s whereabouts through the crowd with her eyes only, but the other blonde woman’s movements were too subtle and the ballroom was too crowded for Lady Darla to see if she limped still…
She made a quick decision then. Took a deep breath. And shimmied toward her unfortunate cousin.
‘’Lady Glory! My darling, how wonderful to see you once more!’’ Lady Darla gushed as she came face to face, finally, with the woman that her son had put through such terrible ordeal a few short months back.
Lady Glorificus tried to focus her gaze on the woman calling her name. Darla could see how her eyes turned into slits as she spotted her standing there. Lady Rayne could have sworn then and there that her cousin is already quite a bit tipsy, and her cup was still half full – probably just got herself another drink from the passing servants. Huh… it couldn’t hurt if she was. She knew the woman who was slowly blinking at her just now quite well to know that she’d been always slow at forming words under the influence of the alcohol.
She tried further to ease the mood between them with an enormous made up smile - it almost made her face hurt.
‘’Ladye Darla… Coussssin dearesst… Of courssse I’m here, I live here, after all…’’ The ‘dearest’ endearment was accompanied with a sarcastic turn of her lips. Lady Rayne’s smile melted away a bit at the heat of the stare she was getting from her cousin.
Nope. She hadn’t forgotten…
Darla cringed internally as she watched Glory to peak around her skirt and around the place, no doubt looking for…
‘’Where isss that little sneak of yourssss…?’’ Glory shut her eyes tightly, recalling something from the looks of it. Then she opened her eyes again, the sneer on her lips quite visible. ‘’Young Andrew, issss it not?’’ She slurred each word more as she drank deeply from the cup and was now scowling at Darla, absent-mindedly handing the empty cup to the servant who quickly took it away and replacing it with new one. ‘’Should I watcsssh my every ssstep again? Or did you have some senssse thisss time around and left him at hhhome?''
Lady Darla had a decency to blush, but then showed her made up smile once more, shrugging. ‘’Actually, as it so happens, my younger son is currently at William’s estate. His older brother was happy to have received him.’’ She coughed a little, trying to cover up an innocent lie, which went by completely unnoticed by Glory, who scowled at her hand that held neatly ornate fan that prevented her to grab yet another cup of deep red wine, completely forgetting that she already held one in the other hand.
Darla took the excuse and took one of the cups herself, thus busying her hands. She was nervous and that gave her something to hold on to. She felt better right away.
In the meantime, Glory found her cup finally and the smile on her face was ravenous, mostly like the one of a child seeing the golden toy flashing in front of her eyes. She moaned obscenely as she drank and swayed lightly. Darla had quickly excused herself from her company, not wanting to be seen in such company.
She turned around and ran right into somebody. She dropped the empty cup, which clanged on floor and been immediately picked up by some observing servant. Lady Darla started to apologize immediately, but then suddenly grew silent as she heard the other one’s voice that was apologizing just as much as she had for the embarrassing encounter.
She knew that voice.
It was Jenny Calendar. Her friend from young years now married to Sir Giles. Lord Chancellor Giles.
Her husband’s nemesiss.
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‘’Lady Rayne.’'
‘’Lady Giles… ’’
They stared at each other for a few astonished seconds. Then that gave way to a very, very uncomfortable silence.
Ten years… it was ten years since they spoke last. Ten years… wasted.
Finally, Darla had enough and could hardly believe where their husband’s mutual hatred had led to their own friendship. She clucked her tongue exasperatedly and spoke in a rushed river of words, leaning towards the other woman. ‘’Oh, for God’s sake! My name is Darla and it had always been so, as you remember. So, use it, Jenny! As I shall use yours.’’ She looked at the surprised brunette defiantly, daring her to refuse.
She did not. Instead, she let out the breath she was apparently holding and smiled. Her big, beautiful smile. ‘’Feel free to do so, …my dearest friend.’’
They clutched at each other’s hands tightly, not daring to make a scene and starting to squeal from happiness, bouncing on their feet like children. Their eyes were glinting though. Sod their quarreling husbands. It was their matter after all, not their wives.
‘’Oh… I have so much to tell you, Darla!’’
‘’And I you!’’ Darla pulled the woman by her hands to the more private corner of the room. Both of them declined the wine, none of them had intended to become like Glory and half of the attendants swaying and shouting requests for the dance music to the musicians on the upper balcony. They’ve had too much to discuss… ten years was such a long time, after all.
‘’I saw you before, you know. With the..um… Lady Glorificus.’’ Jenny blushed at the admission that she was watching her friend from the start as she spotted her entering the ballroom. Her big brown eyes were suddenly glinting as she spotted the aforementioned blonde at the farthest corner of the room, shouting for another cup. She was a bit taller than Darla, so she had no such problem to find her.
Darla blushed as well. ‘’Oh. Yes. I had to see if she was still, you know, limping from that accident.’’ She finished hurriedly, avoiding the look of compassion her friend gave her. ‘’I know, that you know. I saw you that night. You were entering the hallway just as Glory fell down into that majestic heap of dresses…’’
Jenny snickered at the memory. She quickly held her hand in front of her lips to hide the smile still lingering there as soon as she saw her friend wince. She coughed lightly and trying calmly, she said, ‘’you know, Giles still hasn’t found the Queen…’’
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Darla and Jenny were silently conversing when a new voice sounded from behind the dark haired Lady. Both women turned and saw Lady Drusilla Bathory standing in front of them, looking bat-like in the all-black velvety dress; silky roses embedded on the fabric were also black, but they shined through as if they were gray. Her hair was flowing free; the headpiece, adorning them, was made of tiny white pearls, linked in three separate rows that crowned her head and left one single big pearl of the middle row to rest upon her forehead.
Her expression was just as Darla ever remembered her by. Dreamy, almost absent, but at the same time terribly knowing. And filled with concealed malice.
‘’Greetings, lady Darla of Rayne. Greetings, sister Jenny.’’
Darla saw the uncomfortable look Jenny had gotten as soon as her eyes laid upon her sister, so she quickly excused herself in the light of impending family matters. She wanted to have no part in this and also, she hadn’t wanted to embarrass Jenny by witnessing a quarrel that was surely to come. As much as their husbands, Ethan and Rupert, disliked each other, it was also well known of the same mutual feeling going on in between two of the dark haired sisters.
Lady Rayne greeted the new dark-haired arrival kindly and then bid both of the sisters farewell, promising Jenny that they would talk soon again. ‘’I shall leave you two ladies alone to discuss. I, myself, am in need of my husband’s company. He bought me this beautiful gown to wear and now no one admires it, not even him.’’ She let her gaze slid to her Husband and did a double take, before composing herself again. Oh-oh. She hurried on. ‘’ I shall go and ask him to dance with me. I want my new dress to be shown.’’ She winked to Jenny, nodded to Drusilla and turned to walk away.
To whisk away her husband, who was dangerously close to one Sir Rupert Giles.
Jenny and Drusilla followed her with their eyes for a brief moment and then turned to each other again.
‘’So,’’ said Drusilla without any preamble. ‘’Where is my daughter?’’
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Buffy fell asleep quickly that night… the blanket was tucked firmly around her and it kept her warm in the nest of hay.
But it hadn’t chased the nightmares away…
There was only darkness at first as that shadow in the church attacked her. Only darkness was there, along with blood pumping wildly in her ears, making her deaf for a few moments.
Then the fog cleared to uncover sharp reality.
Her head felt dizzy and it throbbed at the back where she was hit by the raised step to the dais as she was pulled down to the floor, struggling. Blow stunned her for a few moments. She felt something pressing on top of her.
The dark shadow was poised above her, crushing her with its heavy body, pinning her to the ground. Trying feebly to remove the pressing weight off of her, she groaned silently as she felt sick, closing her eyes for a few seconds. Her confused mind could not obey her otherwise screaming instinct to try and escape right now. Buffy moaned quietly at the discomfort that was assailing every bit of her being, and tried to even remember where she was. And why she could not breathe normally.
‘’Good girl…’’ it whispered, hissing its cold breath upon her cheeks, its hand covering her lips tightly.
A memory tingled in her head. ‘Shhh….we’re at the church… be quiet….’ That voice. With those abhorred words… … and… and red blood coating the walls, covering the floor… where the priest lay…
Suddenly all of it slammed into her and Buffy struggled to get away. Only, she couldn’t. It held her in place, growling in displeasure.
She was terrified, all of the memories were flowing back in and his heavy weight was smothering her and she could hardly breathe, could hardly think, even when she felt the cold draft crawling upon her naked skin as …it… grabbed her bodice at the front and ripped it apart, baring her to the angelic images in the window-glass and painted angels on the walls that were gazing at her, gracing her misery with sad, sad smiles…
…
She gazed up at the ceiling, watching spider webs, being stretched from the one end to the other, sticky little white strands holding them in place. …Such tender and light domains of true and patient predators that they were… Buffy felt numb, though the pain was there also. Oh, God, the pain was there. She could not escape it; the hold shadow had on her was unbreakable. Just like spider web held the poor fly…
His grunts were heavy and his foul breath huffed on her face was making her sick, she turned her head to the side and wondered when it was that it decided to rain.
Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the colorful images made delicately of painted glass in the windows.
There was one depicting a woman, kneeling at the foot of the crucifix, her face stretched up to gaze upon Savior dying there. Tiny droplets of rain sliding down the glass were creating an illusion of tears trailing down her cheek…
Buffy never felt so alone, as horribly violated and impure in her life as she was now. The Beast hovering above her body let out and inhuman cry out and its weight intensified suddenly. The lack of air this time drew tiny specks of black to her vision and she fell into a merciful darkness, glad she could not see the little cherubs and their kind faces anymore.
And yet, as she awoke next time, without opening her eyes, she was brought to light by the voice of what only could be an angel… his words muffled and deep, as she drifted in and out of consciousness…
TBC...
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Author's Chapter Notes:
It's 3:30 am...and look what I'm doing. Updating of course!
Thank you everyone for the awesome reviews I got for the previous chapter!
Now, this one... it's shorter and quite unusual, If I might say. In it is the RAPE scene as well as some of the lighter topics...
for the RAPE part, I hope I do not insult anyone by writing it, but I did warn everyone at the beginning (it's in the warnings after all..), I did not go into little specific details. I leave your imagination to go there and fill in the blanks. All I wrote is quite vague. If you wish to skip it but still obtain some sort of knowledge or hint as to whom did it and when, read only the first few lines that are written in italics and the last paragraph of it.
as for the rest? some more of the plotline...
I'm nervous as hell, so just go on and read it.
Thank you everyone for the awesome reviews I got for the previous chapter!
Now, this one... it's shorter and quite unusual, If I might say. In it is the RAPE scene as well as some of the lighter topics...
for the RAPE part, I hope I do not insult anyone by writing it, but I did warn everyone at the beginning (it's in the warnings after all..), I did not go into little specific details. I leave your imagination to go there and fill in the blanks. All I wrote is quite vague. If you wish to skip it but still obtain some sort of knowledge or hint as to whom did it and when, read only the first few lines that are written in italics and the last paragraph of it.
as for the rest? some more of the plotline...
I'm nervous as hell, so just go on and read it.
Chapter End Notes:
Well? *bites her nails* how bad was it?? review please...and thus let me know.
oh...any Grammar mistakes? Point them to me, pretty please...
oh...any Grammar mistakes? Point them to me, pretty please...