BLOOD BOUNDED - THE MOONLIGHT - Eng - Castlevania Lords of Shadow (fanfic) PIII

Chapter 66

Marie's body felt like a bonfire, but not in the curious and pleasant way as when she was with Gabriel, but as if a fragment of hell had decided to embed itself in her bowels. The pain was so excruciating that she had barely been able to stay on her feet.

Hours ago she had been energetically enjoying her dance classes, hiding her blush whenever it came to her mind that it was her gentleman she was dancing with, like the previous afternoon, and wishing she would finish etiquette so she could grab some gardening books while researching spells with her sister, with Gabriel's brother escorting them closely.

An ordinary day, in which she was counting down the hours to meet him and show him the new plants that she was taking care of, and perhaps, a little more of the dance... all for the sake of practice, of course. Not that she wanted him to hold her again, or anything like that, no, no, no, where was her decency?

Suddenly, overwhelmed by the heat on her face, her head went limp and she lost consciousness, with her sister exclaiming in fear. It was when she regained consciousness, in Sister Lucrecia's custody, that her acute ailments began, and upon examining her, the news reached her:

"Congratulations, dear, you are now a woman"

They had been told, superficially, that this would happen sooner or later, as it would be important for marriage, lineage, and a maiden's purity, and something else. Julia in particular, had told her in a mocking way about "spring" that awakened in the body of every woman, every time she lost herself in the longing for a young man. She knew that her sister had a hard time with each "visit", but seeing blood for the first time on her underwear had caused her to panic, while for the women around her it seemed to be a reason of celebration.

Was this horrible pain worthy of such praise?

Although it had been many days when her temper was beginning to rival Gabriel's, and her clothes felt uncomfortable, but nothing terrible enough for him to complain about, instead, he couldn't help but make jokes about it. But never, she could never tell him the places that made her most uncomfortable, since they were the area of her hips and her breasts. Although she knew that there was no problem with him, and they had shared a lot of themselves, she would die of shame before she managed to formulate a complete sentence.

Apparently all these were announcements of what was to come.

Since she had crawled into her bed, with a warm blanket over her belly and the sheets up to her neck, all she could wish for was for this agony to end. She had been crying silently for a while and had run her sisters out of her room. He didn't want to see anyone. The only stubborn one had been Ponvi, who lay hidden under her bed. And she was fine, the cub was a silent presence that wouldn't judge her, and she wouldn't feel ashamed to look into his eyes with the strange event that she didn't quite understand why it was so important to her body.

How much was left? four, five, six days?

There was a commotion at the window and she might have been startled if it weren't for the fact that she recognized the figure that stepped over the threshold and glided toward silently. In that place, her cheeks turned like red apples and she pulled the blanket up over her nose.

A masculine hand, which felt icy compared to her skin, lightly rested on her forehead.

"I apologize for appearing in your room like this," he said sweetly "but I needed to see for myself the state you are in."

She was fighting to keep the tears from coming but she couldn't help herself. Her knight's face contorted with anguish and perhaps impotence when he removed dark locks from her forehead:

"Your sister told me that it was something normal, that it would pass in a few days... but your pain is enough to make my heart shrink. If there is anything in this world that I can do to relieve you, I hope you can tell me."

He wiped away her tears with calloused fingers, though she refused to pull the blanket.

He stepped back, exhaling as if the pain were his own, and made to rise, to which she leaned down enough to catch the lapels of his robe.

̶ Please – she croaked – don't leave me alone.

Gabriel held her petite palm in both hands and kissed her knuckles:

"Never. I am here for you so that you have me."

"I just... I want it to end... it hurts too much..."

"What can relieve you?"

"Now... I took medicine... and a warm blanket... but it doesn't seem to improve... Please... don't leave... I don't want to be alone..."

"I'm not going anywhere" he kissed her forehead "Everything will be fine, you'll be fine. Try to relax. Clear your mind. Close your eyes and let me guide you..."

He continued speaking to her in the silkiest voice as if it were some kind of mantra he knew by heart. Little by little, her consciousness dissipated, and although the discomfort persisted, her limbs eventually relaxed, and the rest of her body too.

She must have fallen asleep because her mind went completely blank and there was no more crying.

She couldn't help the bitter memory of the things that her knight was ashamed to tell her, and how bad she had felt when she found out about that... But how could she judge him, if she also had things that hiding from him for embarrassment? Therefore, what she had resolved to do was show him that he could count on her.

But then, what was she fearing about him?

Gabriel had leaned as close to her as he could, his voice getting lower and lower until he felt her breathing deepen, and drifted into sleep.

And she's supposed to go through this, every damn month?

If he had something or someone to destroy to avoid something like this, he would have done it without hesitation.

But this enemy was only the female body doing what it was supposed to do, nothing and no one could do anything about it. He might as well do some personal research, just in case he wasn't so helpless.

For now, the mantra he always used when his injuries were serious was working, that was good. And he planned to hold her hand as long as she asked him to, even if that time lasted the five or six days that it is supposed to last.

The muzzle of the wolf, which was laying hidden under the bed, touched his boot, and looking up, the animal's golden eyes showed deep concern.

"Mom will be fine" he whispered, "it's temporary, you'll see."

Not very convinced, he went back into hiding.

Mother...

Marie sure would make a great mom. Not that he had any reference, since he grew up among nuns and warriors. But he didn't need it either. The gentleness with which she had raised a wild animal like Ponvi, and oh, damn, the way she affected him... it could only be from a woman who would do anything for her children.

And his already-declared selfish heart wanted them to be his.

You, moron, what was he to do with a boy or girl, if he had barely learned to temper his patience with his brothers?

He was far from worthy of such bliss.

As if he had read his mind, the wolf cub came out of his hiding place again, this time, to lean on the young man affectionately.

He had to laugh in spite of himself:

"You don't count, boy. The only thing I can do for you is to make sure that you behave so that you don't cause problems for mom, and that you take care of yourself, something that I learned as a child."

Wasn't that what a father would do? He could almost hear the animal ask.

He stroked his fur, not responding.

Oh, my... Gaby thinking about future, Mary is officially a woman for this era standards, something normal for women, but what else can represent for her?

I want to read you below, my fellows, remember to leave a star, share, and check up the artwork.

Peace~