Isabella's Choice (The Choice Series, Book 1)

Chapter 31

It was grey and the environment was cold. Isabella saw herself naked, laid in her childhood bed. She looked around. It was the same nursery room in her memory. She gasped in fear because she remembered the terror that happened there many many years ago. There, listen, the same footsteps. She saw her younger self was drugged and fell unconscious and her limbs were restrained by the ropes tied to the bedposts. Mama couldn't look so she walked away with papa and Elizabeth was locked in another room to prevent her interrupting the "clinical operation". Isabella screamed hysterically but she couldn't change anything. Horton was drawn by her scream and came into the room. He saw her naked form and marvelled at her beauty. Yet, his face twisted in disgust when he saw her back and turned away. Isabella wept and shouted in pain.

Her lips parted and stopped the screaming when she realised it was just a dream. Isabella found herself in her new bedroom, her new home and she was the new mistress to this grandeur castle. Slowly, she opened her eyes and met Horton's warm gentle gaze.

"Oh, dear," she laughed embarrassingly, "Please don't tell me I just slept in bed with my wedding gown." She quickly turned her back and clumsily tried to unzip her dress. She walked to the door in an attempt to ask for a maid's help.

"I can help you," he said gently and softly, "if you want to." He didn't realise his face was blushing faintly. Isabella didn't see his blushing face because she was so self-conscious of hers as well.

"No," Isabella gulped nervously, "thank you, Horton, but I could do it."

She stepped back defensively which made Horton a bit confused with whether she was nervous or felt offended. She left awkwardly with a maid and went to the bathroom to cleanse herself.

***

Isabella laid flatly in her new bed, no longer shared with Elizabeth but with her husband. The idea made her flushed and sighed anxiously. She didn't know anything about being a wife besides all the nonsense her mama had been bombarding at her before her wedding ceremony.

Horton walked into the room and put his book on the nightstand. His silk pyjama gave a soothing reflection against the tender moonlight and warm candle glow. Isabella jumped at his gesture but felt stupid afterward. He was her husband and they were supposed to sleep next to each other in one bed. Why would she make it such a fuss, to get all anxious when her husband climbed to their own bed? She felt embarrassed by her embarrassment.

Perhaps Horton also felt her unsettling nerve, he commented gently, "You know, I am still the Horton you know. Just because I'm now your husband, I am not planning to force you to do something you don't want to."

"I can't sleep," Isabella sighed uneasily, "I am not used to sharing a bed with someone other than - other than E-Elizabeth."

"Well, what do you usually do to fall asleep?" Horton asked and his voice showed neither tiredness nor unease.

"I read."

"Miss Northcliff's works?"

Isabella nodded and turned her face to Horton. He looked her in the eyes and suggested, "If you like, I can tell you stories every night."

Isabella giggled because it didn't seem to be like how her mama's been telling her about the wedding night between a wife and a husband. She nodded and waited expectantly.

Horton smiled and pretentiously coughed a few times. His voice was warm and gentle. He began, "Once upon a time there -" He stopped abruptly and asked, "What do you want it to be about? You may give me three words."

Isabella smiled childishly and said, "Princess, angel, monster."

Horton smiled in approval and began again, "Once upon a time, there was a princess who was as sweet as an angel, yet, unfortunately slaughtered by a monster. The end."

"No!" Isabella laughed. She sat straight and shoved at Horton's arms disapprovingly. "It's not counted. It's not even a story! You must connect them, the three words, into one story!"

"Alright," Horton laughed puckishly and said, "Once upon a time, there was a princess. She was not the most beautiful nor the most clever-minded, however, she had a very kind heart and a joyous spirit. She was loved by her parents, servants and people. She was well protected from the cruel terrible darkness outside the castle wall. One day, her curiosity over-rode her obedience to her parents. She climbed down the castle wall and went into the outside world. She walked and walked in the forest until she heard an unsettling noise peeking through leaves and branches. The -"

"She saw the monster!" Isabella commented loudly.

"Indeed," Horton replied and continued, "She saw the monster. He had a human figure but he was all darkened and bleeding. His features were pleasingly handsome but his eyes were bloodshot and his countenance was luminated with an air of evil. He had wings on its back like an angel. He laid on the ground, in his own blood, moaned painfully, because he was heavily injured. The princess went to the monster. She asked carefully, 'What are you?' The monster replied, 'I am the angel who fell from there.' He pointed up at the sky and snarled, 'Go away! You moron little mortal!' The princess didn't listen to his impolite manner but tore the hem of her dress and wetted it in a nearby river. She carefully cleaned the monster's wounds with it. The monster, at first, shoved her aside, but later received her tending because he was too weak to move."

"Horton, I believe the monster will fall in love with the princess." Isabella commented tiredly which was followed by a yawn.

"The princess climbed down the castle wall every day since then to go into the forest to tend after the monster. Every time, she brought some food and medicine with her. One day, the princess was shocked because she couldn't find the monster when she reached the hidden place of the forest. When the princess believed the monster had recovered and was gone, the monster flapped his wings, causing violent ferocious winds, and stood in front of her. The tainted evil on his face was softened by a gentle glow. He confessed to the princess that he'd fallen in love with her in all these days of tending. To her astonishment, she never expected a fallen angel could learn to love."

Horton looked at Isabella and was relieved when he saw her peacefully fall asleep by his shoulder. He didn't hear any snoring or noise like she was so anxious about. For that quiet moment, Horton felt the belated joy settled once again in his heart. It was not complicated. It was not dramatic. It was warm and trusting. It was all so good.

As Horton closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep with his wife, Isabella, whom he believed had already fallen asleep, asked in her curious voice, "What happened to the princess and the fallen angel?"

Horton said leisurely, "The princess also confessed her love to him and they lived happily ever after."

"No, that seems to be too simple," Isabella commented uneasily.

"Oh, really?" Horton teased lightly, "Well, I'd like to hear your version on it."

"The fallen angel confessed his love but the princess didn't accept it. He didn't understand that love could be rejected. He grew angry and his monstrous heart flickered. He kidnapped the princess against her will and imprisoned her in his high tower. In many days of their dwelling, the monster learnt that love is genuine and true. He didn't want to hurt her so he released her. But the princess realised that she, too, had fallen in love with the monster."

Horton turned to look at Isabella. Her voice continued ringing. He couldn't believe that he could be in love again and all that taste was so divine and beautiful.