I knew the moment I first kissed him, that he would condemn me, that I would drag myself through broken glass for him. I just was not sure if he would stay long enough to pull the jagged pieces out.
I never imagined that instead, he would push the...
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I stood alone in the courtyard during the early hours of the day, leaning against a pillar to watch the first snowfall of the year. I felt like a child as I watched the snowflakes dance a choreographed ballet in the air in wonder.
Back home, I would always wake my sister up to watch the first snow with me, and now that I could not do that, a melancholy feeling wrapped itself tightly around my heart, squeezing it painfully and leaving it numb.
"I suppose finding you out here during sunrise has become a routine."
Abraxas' voice was quiet and hoarse as he came to stand next to me. His platinum blonde hair blended with the white, wintry landscape and at that moment he looked like the child of winter. I did not know how, but he had a way of swaddling you with an ambience of solace and warmth with his presence, and I believed that that was the reason I had grown to enjoy his company. Because in his presence, I felt my stomach flutter softly, almost invitingly even though my mind constantly protested. Because I needed someone to keep me grounded and I had selfishly decided Abraxas would be that person, even if at the end he would end up hurt and heartbroken.
I was selfish, I never denied that. But playing with the insubstantial and delicate strings of the heart was a form of cruelty I never knew I was capable of.
"Arwen?" He had moved to stand in front of me, his pale features looking celestial in December air.
Pushing my awe at his beauty aside, I asked him, "When were you going to tell me you were betrothed?"
His eyes closed in exasperation as he rubbed a hand over his temple. "I cannot believe they told you. I was planning on telling you myself." Abraxas said but then proceeded to shake his head in shame as he added. "Well, to be quite honest I was not going to tell you because—" His eyes opened in alarm at the words he was about to vocalize and I noted the way his breath hitched as his blue eyes fixated on me.
"Because what?" I urged.
"Because I thought I could introduce you to my family and well...call of the engagement." He confessed truthfully, causing my heart to stutter in bafflement at the implication behind his words.
If he would cancel his betrothal with Celeste Greengrass and proceed to introduce me to his parents as someone he was officially courting, there is no doubt that an engagement deal would ensue between him and me since in the forties and especially in pureblood societies it was not only common but required to be betrothed from a very young age, to ensure a secure future and heirs for the significant family lines.
