The Might of Evil Dreams (A Novel of the Elemental Chronicles)

Six - A Union of Minds, A Knitting of Souls

Thomas

We were married on the twentieth of June, 1786. The day was warm, the clouds scudding and wispy, the sky a light distant blue. Reverend Paulson officiated, and our only guests were Lucian, Mrs Shute, and Peggy. Emmeline seemed not to mind the lack of ceremony, while I was grateful for it. Other members of the peerage would have been gossiping about it for days, weeks possibly. Not only because of my choice of wife, but the circumstances as well.

"Congratulations, Thomas," Reverend Paulson said after the ceremony was over. Then he nodded at Emmeline. "And to you, Emmeline. Milady now, isn't it?"

Emmeline blushed and hid her face in my shoulder. She'd taken a while to accept the fact of marriage, but it was clear she knew it was for the best. I wished I could have loved her the way a husband should, but there were still so many things I didn't know about her. And, similarly, many things she didn't know about me. Although it was not all that surprising. Very few couples these days married for love. And many of them were built on secrets like ours.

"You do make a very good match, milord," Lucian said to me as we walked back home. Summer was now upon us and it was warm enough to do so. "The lady Emmeline makes a beautiful bride."

Emmeline smiled over at him, but said nothing. She was beautiful, in another one of Mother's borrowed dresses and her hair dressed with flowers. Although she was still thin, now she was willowy and not emaciated. She had colour in her cheeks too, and her wounds were healing on the surface. It would be hard to say the same about the ones we couldn't see.

We spent our first nights as a married couple much the same as they were been before. Dinner, followed by some time in the drawing room. Sometimes I would read to her, from my father's extensive library. Her favourites were tales from the Arabian Nights. Other times, now that she was the lady of the house, Mrs Shute or Peggy would teach her needlepoint. She did not pick up the hobby as easily as they might have assumed, because her first ones were spotted with blood from numerous finger pricks.

A week passed this way before I decided to try and broach the subject again. Her nightmares still happened occasionally, but those were the nights she did not use the laudanum.

"Emmeline, there is something I must ask you," I said, as we got into bed that evening. She still couldn't sleep alone, so for the time being, we shared it. "It involves your capture."

Her gaze snapped to mine, eyes burning. I'd avoided the subject for so long she must have thought I'd forgotten about it. "Again?"

"Please try to understand." I took her hand and kissed her fingers, her wedding band cold against my lips. She looked away from me. "There are things happening, Emmeline, bad things. Elementals are disappearing at an alarming rate. And you may be one of the only survivors."

"I told you," she said softly, tugging her hand away. "I don't know."

"There must be some detail you remember–"

"No," she said, firmer this time. "I remember nothing."

I sighed and sank back against the pillows as she turned her back to me. I would have to find a way to pull it out of her, gradually. Because for better or for worse, we were married now. And as all marriages did, they had their secrets. It was only a matter of time before they emerged.

||

Another important-looking letter arrived in the post a few days later. Unlike the others, it bore no seal, only a folded note. I unfolded it and read over it quickly. It was from the manager of the textile factory in Taunton. The workers were wondering, apparently, when they would be paid next. And the fact that they were not meant they were considering a riot. I ran my hands over my face, slumping back in my chair. I had not paid them a decent wage because I was not making enough money. Still, I knew I had to go and remedy this problem. Mr Gaskell could not handle a riot all by himself.