The Stolen Bride

3 - Know Your Place

Tonight was the night. Kira was sure of it. Drev had not touched her last night, but that must have been a one-night-only stroke of luck. He had put it very plainly for her, after all: From now on, you are my wife.

She knew what that meant. Her mother had explained it to her just a few months ago. There was the cooking and cleaning, yes, but she'd said there was something much more important that happened when the husband came home at night. Her mother had told her to be brave and strong and that it would only really hurt the first time. But she must pretend that she enjoyed it. She must always pretend, in order to protect the man's pride.

A man's pride! Kira would have cared about that sort of thing if he had been a husband of her own choosing, maybe even her parents' choosing. But this....

Why should she care what Drev felt? Why should she care if his pride shattered into a million pieces? Why should she care if he even lived or died?

She looked down at herself, at an old dress that Drev's mother had dug up for her. It was ugly, an unflattering shade of green and cut for a larger frame, meaning it hung awkwardly off her shoulders. She had to keep pulling up the sleeves every minute.

Kira looked up in alarm as the door creaked open and someone stepped into the candlelit room.

It was Drev, those eyes catching the glint of the fire and sparking brilliantly. His gaze was elsewhere as he shut the door behind him. He looked tired, as tired as she felt. She watched him yank off his belt and wash his face, thoughtfully stroking a chin light with stubble. All the while, her heart drummed an ominous rhythm inside her chest.

Finally, Drev looked over at her. He started across the room, standing in front of where she sat on the bed. His hand rose, fingertips tentatively tracing the curve of her shoulder.

The damned sleeve slipped down, exposing the skin to him. He pressed his palm flat against her shoulder, moving slowly along her collarbone... then to her neck. His touch was hot, his fingers kneading spots knotted with tension. He came to the lowest part of her scalp, stroking with his thumb.

Kira found she couldn't breathe, and the next thing she knew, tears were flowing from her eyes.

Drev took his hand away, peering down at her. She knew she must look like a child and an idiot, which was no doubt what his mother thought of her, but she couldn't stop. She pressed her hands to her eyes, but the sobbing seemed to go on and on.

It was only when she heard the sound of the door opening and shutting that she stopped, lifting her head to find that Drev was gone.

Kira wiped first one cheek then the other, becoming confused. Maybe he had gone to get himself a glass of water? She waited for a long time, but he didn't come back. And well, she wasn't about to go looking for him either.

So, at last, she blew out the candles, lay down in the middle of the huge bed, and somehow, eventually drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, Drev did not speak to her or look at her, and she had a feeling he must be regretting his decision to ever take her as his wife. He was probably wishing he had let Sylar take her, after all. Her stomach churned miserably, for it was one thing to be treated like a slave, but another to be completely unwanted, as if she were useless.

Afterwards, when the mother wasn't looking, and Lobo was due for a feeding, Kira managed to sneak some water into his bowl. It was mixed with the bones, which was disgusting, but Lobo didn't seem to mind, lapping it up happily. It made her feel proud of herself.

"I would hate to be thirsty," she said quietly, squatting and watching him gnaw on the fleshy part surrounding the bones. "I'm sorry she doesn't give you more to eat. As soon as I get a chance, I'll get you something proper – a real treat. It doesn't seem like they have much food here. They can't grow anything up here, and they only have a few goats and chickens. I wonder how that woman got to be so fat."