Blood Marriage

Four: In Which Alice Takes Vows

Alice was shivering when she woke.

Her body was no longer entirely numb, but everywhere felt painfully stiff and a little swollen, like when she was a child and went outside in the snow without proper clothing. It was like she could feel the blood returning to her extremities with every heartbeat, and it hurt. Her fingers and toes protested as she wiggled them, eyes still squeezed shut.

And, she noticed, her head was on someone's lap. Gentle hands ran through her hair, nearly soothing her back to sleep, but Alice wrenched her eyes open and forced herself to look up at the person above her.

She wasn't sure what room they were in. It looked something like a parlor, or perhaps a study. There were bookshelves built into the gray stone walls, and the room was large enough that even the roaring fire in the marble fireplace didn't do much to warm the space. She was lying on a plush sofa, looking up at a pair of ghostly pale eyes.

"Welcome back to the waking world, my treasure," Xavier murmured, still running his fingers through her hair. "You gave us a scare."

"W—why is it so cold?" she asked through chattering teeth. Though she tried to sit up properly, it felt like her body was slow to respond, and Xavier had to help support her.

"We're higher in the mountains than you were before, and a little farther north. We'll need to get you warmer clothes before we can proceed with the ceremony," he said, bringing her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "Come. We'll get you warm."

"C—ceremony?" Alice managed, giving a slight squeak as Xavier picked her up in his arms. She wished there was a blanket close by, or an extra coat. Something, anything for a little insulation.

Xavier wasted no time marching her down the hall. She looked for any other castle inhabitants as they moved swiftly through the building, but there was no one. They seemed to be alone, despite the lit torches in the hallways and the few doors that appeared to be open.

"Where is everyone?"

"Gathering for the celebration, I imagine," Xavier explained, adjusting her weight in his arms. "We are to be married, and then we will join the rest of our court for a wedding feast."

"Now?!" Alice asked. "As in... now, now?"

"As soon as you acquire proper clothing, yes. Within the hour, surely." As he spoke, Xavier paused in front of an ornate wooden door. Instead of putting Alice down to open it or shifting her weight, though, he simply raised his leg and kicked it open. The door swung wildly on its hinges, revealing a plush, dimply lit bedroom.

Alice wasn't sure if the door was unlocked before, broken now, or why he'd chosen that manner of entrance, but watching him casually kick the door open lit some kind of fire inside her that she couldn't describe. If she'd felt cold before, she certainly didn't as Xavier sat her own on the plush bed that was the room's centerpiece.

Alice took in the room as her husband-to-be lit a fire, fanning the flames until she could feel a little of the warmth leeching into her bones. The furniture was entirely in dark wood and black fabric, the firelight glinting off it as the sun set outside the westward windows. Besides the bed, there were two large wardrobes, two nightstands, and a desk on which papers were stacked in front of a high-backed chair. On the wall to the right of the entrance, another door presumably led to some kind of bathroom.

"Here," Xavier said, handing Alice a pile of fabric. She assumed he'd found them in the wardrobe while she was busy looking around the room, and was a little surprised to find they were not human clothes.

The first item was a pair of leggings lined with soft fur, which Alice gratefully slipped on underneath her dress. They weren't quite like what humans of this century wore, but they weren't bad.