Revolutionary Fire

5. Crossing a Bridge

We had finally come to day five. Today was the day I had to tell him or Marius would. I had had several more meetings with Apollo hidden under the veil. I had decided I had to tell him after the final veiled meeting. "Monsieur," I greeted in my same deepened voice.

"Madame," he replied. "So, shall we begin then?" I nodded and the meeting began. Turning to the entire group, he began to talk.

Marius approached me and said quietly, "Tell him now or I will."

My heart hammered in my chest as I protested, "Marius, I'm going to tell him tonight."

"No, now," he retorted.

"Marius," I retorted. "You don't understand. If this goes badly, it could cost me my life."

"He wouldn't hurt you, Blaise," he snapped. "You can't live your entire life hiding." Our voices had raised and soon Apollo stopped talking and looked over at us in irritation. When he heard my frightened tone, however, his brows furrowed.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Marius reached out and pulled my veil from my face. I shrieked in surprise, trying to cover my face with my hands. "Marius!" I screamed in shock. Apollo looked up as I turned away so he couldn't see me.

"Enjolras, you need to see who this is," Marius said.

"Marius, stop!" I begged, my voice sounding terrified. "Please, don't do this! PLEASE!" Through my fingers I saw a figure come in front of me.

"Blaise," Apollo said, taking a step back in shock. With a sigh, I lowered my now shaking hands.

"I was going to tell you," I said shakily. I was surprised how scared I sounded.

"You're the other revolutionary leader? You're Phoenix?"

"I think we're missing something here,"  Grantaire said.

"Everyone," Apollo began, glancing towards the ground as if bracing himself for what was to come. "This is Blaise...Blaise Enjolras. My wife."

"Jesus," I sighed, turning away from him and staring at the ceiling as fearful tears pooled in my eyes.

"Let's give them some space," Marius suggested. "Wine anyone?" Everyone left us be and I turned to face him.

"So this is why you're gone all the time?" he countered, but he didn't seem to be angry. Try as I might, I couldn't read the tone of his voice. "How long has your group been together?"

"Seven years," I admitted meekly. "You?"

"Five," he replied, causing me to smile slightly. After a pause, he admitted, "It seems I misjudged your parent's influence on you."

"So did I," I replied, although I still sounded anxious. "Seems we don't really know each other at all."

"A little concerning in married couples," Apollo said lightly.

"Then let's start over," I offered. "Hi, my name is Blaise."

Smiling, he replied, "I'm Apollo."

"Is this why you never let me get to know you again after I got back?" I asked. "And why you ignored my letters?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "I thought you were as snobby as your parents about politics, and then they forced the wedding thing on us."

"Yeah," I sighed. "It's been a rough two years. Being stuck in a loveless marriage isn't what I wanted."