The Duke's Reluctant Bride

Chapter 9: Unraveled Dreams

An image from the past lingers in someone's dream. A gale sweeps through the forest, twisting the trees branches like restless fingers reaching toward the sky. The leaves spiral through the air, caught in the storm, spinning faster with each passing moment.

Suddenly, a vision emerges, a familiar figure of a man holding a small, trembling child. Her golden eyes are wide with fear and grief, glowing as tears streak down her cheeks. Yet it's not her sadness that shakes the earth, it's the surge of wild, untamed power building inside her.

The man's hair is pitch black, and his face is hidden. Only his broad back and shoulders are visible, cloaked in a weathered blue cape. He crouches low, bracing against the chaos, his left shoulder nailed in the jaws of a colossal green fox. The creature's fur is a rich mossy green, was woven with delicate vines and tiny blossoms, its amber eyes blazing. Its fangs were dug into his flesh, as if determined to tear him away from the girl. But the man didn't flinch. Despite the blood trickling from the wound, he held the child closer.

Around them, the forest reacts to her turmoil. Trees bend and sway unnaturally, their trunks creaking as roots uncoil from the ground like serpents. The leaves swirl faster, rising higher into the tempest.

"It's okay, Clara. I'm here now. I promise. No one's going to hurt you," he whispers, his voice deep but unwavering, like a calm anchor against the storm. Spoken by someone who understands the depth of her unfamiliar magic. The trees tremble in response, but his hold never wavers. He will not let go, no matter the cost.

Suddenly, the vision shatters like glass.

A sharp gasp echoes through the silence of the room. Cold air fills the lungs of the sleeper, yanking her from the storm of the dream into reality. She moved upright, sweat dampening her forehead, her heart racing. Her icy blue hair clings messily to her skin.

"C... Clara?" she groans, wincing at the phantom pain in her shoulder, as if the fox's bite had been real.

She clenches her fists in frustration. "I feel like an intruder in someone else's past. That's quite rude, isn't it?"

Brushing her hair aside, she wipes the sweat still trickling down her face.

"If... only I could control this ability." she muttered, her chest heave and then fell slightly.

The night presses on, quiet and unyielding, as she composes herself and lies back down, hoping for a more peaceful sleep.

***

The morning sun filtered through the tall windows, casting a soft glow on the table between us. Lucien sat across from me. The scent of fresh bread and herbs wafted up, but I barely noticed. My mind was elsewhere while i took a glance at him.

Looking back on my marriage, I now see how pathetic I must have seemed. It's embarrassing, really. Running away like that, out of sheer desperation, without any real understanding of how cruel Wintermere's winters could be or how the forests hide monsters, waiting to devour someone.

I'm just glad he was there. If he hadn't found me in time, I would've been torn apart by a dire wolf. I can still picture its jaws, and I think they are capable of shattering bones with a single bite.

After that, I thought if I could just be honest with him, if I could open myself up, even a little, maybe he'd show me some kindness. Maybe he'd see my fear for what it was: the terror of being trapped, shackled by a marriage I never wanted. I had hoped he'd understand what I was truly longing for.

To my surprise, he didn't try to hold me back. He let me go. Not because he didn't care, but because he did. He understood my need to see my parents again, to remind myself of who I was before I became... his.