Married at Sixteen

Chapter 4

Hope was pacing back and forth as she waited for her aunt. She was both happy and nervous at the same time. Don't get her wrong, she loved her aunt and of course she missed her, but the reason for her visit was troubling her more than her excitement. A black SUV pulls up and she's out the door immediately. "Aunt Freya!" She hurries to hug her. "Hello darling. How are you? I heard you got hitched?" Freya teases her. "It's not like that. And you know it." Hope shakes her head. Freya nods. "I know, Alaric told me that the markings glowed?" She asks as she opens the trunk. Hope nods. "Yeah, we don't know what it means." She helps her aunt with her stuff and walks back inside the school. They head to the headmaster's office and set down her things.

"Alright, I'm here. What's going on?" Freya says as she walks in. She spots Alaric and Josie in conversation. "Oh, are we interrupting something?" She asks. Alaric shakes his head. "No, we were just talking about the markings." Freya nods. "Right, they glowed?" Josie nods. "Ok, i need you to come here sweetie, and stand next to Hope." Josie does as she's told and stands beside Hope. "Now, hold out your hands." Hope holds out her left wrist as Josie holds out her right wrist beside hers. They both take a close look at the markings, nothing's changed. Suddenly, they both glowed again. Freya takes a close look at the markings. "This is clearly the works of a witch. And from the symbol, she's a viking." She examines them more. "It means marriage, which if I'm going to guess, she bonded these two in holy matrimony." Alaric nods. "Ok, how do we de-bond them?" He asks. Freya shakes her head. "It's not that simple. This is an ancient spell. Reversing it will take some time. Especially since there isn't really any viking ancestors around anymore."

Alaric sighs. "Ok, so how about we research some more and you girls go back to class, just continue life as normal, i mean, nothing's changed right? They're just 'married' so to speak?" He asks Freya. Freya nods. "Technically speaking, nothing's changed. However, if you want to follow viking tradition, it's probably best not to commit adultery. At least until we can divorce you two." Freya sighs. "Wait, what do you mean adultery?" Josie asks. "She means cheating." Hope answers. "No, i know what it means, but we're not even actually together in the first place and now we can't date anyone until this whole thing is resolved? What if one of us had sex with someone? What would the punishment be?" Josie asks. Freya clears her throat. "Technically speaking, back in the day, if the wife were to get caught cheating, she and her lover could legally be killed and it wouldn't be considered murder."

Josie shakes her head. "This is unbelievable. Wha-?" She sighs, completely speechless. Hope eyes her for a moment. "Can we have a moment alone, please?" She asks. Alaric and Freya both nod and quietly leave the two alone. Hope sighs and turns to Josie. "Look, it's pretty obvious neither of us would kill the other if they were caught. Not to mention, we're not actually even together in the first place. This is probably just what that witch wanted. To have us distracted so she can do whatever it is she was planning on doing." Josie stays silent for a moment, clearly lost in thought. "What are we gonna do?" She asks after a while. "Stay single until we figure this out?" Hope shrugs. "I mean, it's not like i have any prospects. Although I'm sure Penelope will be heartbroken." She teases. "Ugh, don't mention that she-devil." Josie rolls her eyes. "What about you?" She asks. Hope squints her eyes in confusion. "Me? What about me? I've never even been in an actual relationship before."

"What about Rafael's foster brother?" Josie stands and walks to her. "Landon? I mean, we technically danced once but that was about it." Hope shrugs. "That's it? Nothing else happened?" Hope shakes her head. "Well, i suffered through my first full moon and then my dad and uncle sacrificed themselves. I think you can figure the rest out." Josie cringes in guilt. Of course, how could she forget? She and Lizzie helped her dad with the spell. "Right. I'm sorry." She apologized. "For what? It's not your fault, my dad made his choice." Hope looks down and plays with her family crest that hangs around her neck. Josie watches her for a second. "But you're still wondering if it was the right one, aren't you?" She asks. "I mean, was it really worth their lives? Am i?" Hope quickly wipes a tear falling on her face. Josie quickly goes to her and holds her. "Of course you are. Please don't ever think otherwise. Look, we'll figure this out together ok?" Hope nods and hugs her back.