The Immortal | Prequel Story |

Chapter 26 ~ A Beautiful Winter Night

The lovely fall was turning into a chilly winter. Mallen was surprised when he felt the softest of snowflakes tumble down on him, their powdery cold touch welcoming.

Mallen stood outside for a moment, watching the land slowly turn from green to white. He knew humans would be overjoyed to wake up the next morning and see the entire land blanketed in snow. As a vampire, he got to enjoy seeing the landscape change colors throughout the night.

Usually, he didn't care for snow or rain, preferring dry cloudy weather, but being around Iérti changed his perspective on many things, including nature. Mallen walked slowly, the grass becoming wet underneath from the snow. The more the temperature dropped, the more the snow would harden and become packed underneath his boots. For now, it was a soft powdery snow that made everything wet.

Mallen took the time to enjoy the scenery, taking a longer route home. He was almost reluctant to go inside. He took one last look at the falling snow before going into his castle. Mallen's castle was always brightly lit with candles and lamps, providing light so the castle wasn't entirely dark. Mallen went up the staircase and entered his room, but Írásom wasn't there.

He found her outside the stable, combing her horse with a brush. The night sky looked amazing with the land covered in snow. The snow continued to fall softly around the peaceful atmosphere. It looked like Írásom was standing in the middle of a winter wonderland.

Mallen approached her, his boots crunching lightly on the snow. Írásom kept combing Midnight and looked up when she saw Mallen approach.

Írásom smiled affectionately, thinking Mallen looked like a medieval prince in a velvet green tunic over a white shirt, the white showing in amid the slashes in the sleeves. It was carefully and stylishly made, an elaborate way of showing off his silken white long-sleeved undershirt. The green looked amazing with his dark raven hair, loose this time instead of tied back with his usual olive green ribbon. noticed Mallen kept his ribbon neatly folded in his pocket. His classy-looking dark purple breeches were paired well with his dark brown boots with gold accents.

In turn, Mallen was pleased to see Írásom was wearing a tasteful outfit herself. The upper part of her dress was white and long sleeved while the bottom part was entirely black as night. It descended from a corset at the waist and flared out in an elegant way. The white was feminine and brought out her chocolate brown eyes, which seemed to sparkle.

Their eyes met in the silence of the falling snow. Írásom put the comb in the small saddle bag and almost instantaneously collided into Mallen's chest, making the snow bounce off him. She gazed up at him, her lips parted as Mallen held her in an embrace.

"Don't you remember what I plan to do shortly after I turned?" Írásom asked, her face just a breath away from Mallen's. Mallen thought for a moment, wondering what it was, when he suddenly remembered. Before he could say anything, kissed him eagerly. "I want to marry you, Mallen."

Marriage. It was the one thing Mallen never thought he would ever have in his life, as endless as it was. The only person he came remotely close to even thinking of marrying was Katlyn. Had she remained alive, he would've continued to try to romance her, to make her fall in love with him instead of her husband. Her death changed everything for him. And now another woman he loved was wanting to marry him.

For the first time, Mallen felt hopeful for his own future. He barely thought of it, knowing he had all of eternity ahead of him, each day just another adventure or another peaceful night. He wanted to spend it with someone, but he enjoyed being a vampire too much. With humanity, he was much more considerate and thoughtful. For once in his life, he was being given something he had always wanted, without having to take it by force.