Captivation

46: Henry

Henry (male): Henry is a German name that means 'ruler of the home'. Henry is also our misunderstood, loved and occasionally hated male counterpart to Madelyn's schemes. And finally, in this chapter, we get his point of view.

Henry's Point of View

She's been asleep for a while. I watch her as her hand twitches slightly in her sleep. Her hair is falling in her face and she's kicked all the covers off the bed.

We left Felticion a while ago, maybe about two months. I've long since gotten used to the ring on my finger, and while being married to Madelyn is entirely new, it's also entirely familiar. But I guess fate had our futures intertwined before I even knew her name.

I look back to her as she turns on her back and then presses her hand to her forehead. "Why are you awake?" She asks.

"I was writing." I tell her.

"Tell her I said hi." Madelyn murmurs as she turns over, burying her face in the pillow.

I pause for a moment, realizing that I never told her I wrote these letters to my mother. I look over at her and then back at my paper. I shrug my shoulders finally and then write to my mother that Madelyn said hello. And then I go to bed, falling asleep to the soft sounds of Madelyn's breathing.

***

"Where are we going?" Madelyn asks, walking up the stairs to the upper deck, where I'm standing, manning the wheel of the ship.

"Caulfield." I tell her.

"I've been there." She says, which worries me.

"Good or bad?" I ask.

"Bad." She says.

"Should we steer clear?" I want to ask her more, about who she was, and what she'd done, but I realize that I wouldn't want to tell her all that about myself, at least not at once, and not when I wasn't ready.

"No, it's fine. No one knows Madelyn Mercer...or, Madelyn Meyer..." She says, catching herself and then trailing off. I smile.

"But wouldn't they realize that Eliza and you have a striking resemblance? You could be twins..." I tease.

"You think I walked around without some kind of disguise?" She asks, tilting her head to the side.

"Did you?" I ask.

"You thought I was a man when you first met me! I'm good at being something I'm not." She assures me.

"That is a terrifying trait." Henry says.

"Oh please, you said it yourself, I'm a self-preservationist." She says off handedly, rolling her eyes.

I look over at her. I did say that, but not to her. "Do you hear everything?"

She looks over at me, and then she seems to remember that I said that to Alina, and not to her. "I hear most things." She says.

I take a deep breath, feeling again the same type of sorrow that I always feel when I think of Alina. I had Madelyn show me the letter, which I read, and it made me feel like I had been kicked in the stomach.

I loved Alina, but never in the way she would have wanted me to. Maybe I was blind not to see it, or maybe I just didn't want to see it. Whatever the reason was, I had no idea that Alina saw me as anything other than a friend until she told me when we were out looking for Madelyn.