The Bride of the Immortal (31 page)

Righteous as he had always been there had been no way he could have tolerated the wrongdoings of the local clergy and so his next move had been to declare war on them.

Going against the church required a lot of diplomacy, but after restricting his refusal to the inquisition of the local clergy – without at the same time denying the church and turning himself into a heretic – Vivian was allowed to do as he pleased.

The only problem with that was, that the abbot knew of my connection to the king. He didn’t know specifically who I was, but he thought he could take revenge on Vivian by hurting me.”

“Revenge? What did they do to you?” she quietly asked.

“Hmmm.”

‘Should we take him down to the chamber or crack his head here?’

He was surprised that he was still able to feel fear and panic rising within him. Even though it hadn’t been necessary, they had bound him and dragged him along at the rope around his wrists. He was standing bent over and raised his eyes so he could see the abbot’s face. Disgust. There was only disgust. The old man turned and whispered into the ear of his assistant who then relayed his orders.

‘Idiot! You can’t spill his guts on the fine carpet! Take him downstairs!’

“The abbot ordered them to continue with the procedures and they took me downstairs to the torture chamber. I was hardly able to walk. My legs were rigid and hurting, I hadn’t eaten and they kept yanking the rope they had bound me with.”

‘Hurry up, Winther! We don’t have all day! Well… we do, but you don’t! He He.’

Struggling to keep up he even lacked the energy to despise the man for the crude joke. Every step he successfully took equalled a small wonder.

“It’s really ridiculous to force yourself to keep walking when your destination is a torture chamber, but I lacked options.”

Mairin nodded.

“Did Vivian come in time to save you?”

Was that what she had expected? Adrijan was reluctant to tell her the truth.

“Well… no. My ‘favourite’ chair was already waiting for me. They tied me to it and started the procedure. First they took something that looked like a pair of pliers and started to pull out my fingernails one by-“

Mairin cringed, clenched her fists and drew her hands to her chest as if it were the most important thing on earth to hide her fingernails from everyone. She didn’t attempt to stop him from talking but it was obvious what his words were doing to her. There was no point in continuing this kind of torture.

“When they were done they loaded me onto a cart and tossed me near the castle grounds. In the state they had left me there was no possibility for me to survive and I was very lucky they decided to dump me near
Mondstein
castle to send Vivian a message. Only because of this I was soon discovered and still alive when I was brought to him. I don’t remember it but Vivian said I was a terrible sight. I had lost a great deal of blood and was suffering from various fractures, burns, cuts and contusions. I fell in and out of consciousness and I very faintly remember seeing the face of an angel. Her smile was divine and her silky golden hair was so long, part of it rested on my bed. The sight of her convinced me that I had died and somehow managed to find my way to heaven.”

Mairin’s facial expression had changed from worry and disgust to something else and he realised that it might have been better to keep his thoughts about Magdala’s appearance to himself.

“Anyway, it wasn’t an angel at all but Vivian’s wife, who was praying next to me, holding my injured hand.”

‘Hilf, Maria, es ist Zeit, Mutter der Barmherzigkeit...’
Magdala had repeated the same prayer over and over.

“When she noticed that I was conscious, she didn’t lose any time and made me promise that I’d look after Vivian, no matter what. I thought it strange, considering that I was the one dying. After assuring her that I would follow her wish – a simple nod was all I was capable of – I passed out again.”

“Magdala asked that of you?”

What had Vivian told her about Magdala?

“Mhm. Those were her last words. When I came to again I felt absolutely revived and after pulling off my bandages I saw that my wounds were healed. Even my fingernails had grown back. If it hadn’t been for various scars I would’ve thought it had been a nightmare. And then...”

“And then?”

“Instead of Magdala there was an old woman whose head was resting on the bed next to me. I tried to wake her to ask her to fetch Vivian so I could show him the miracle. When she didn’t react I moved closer just to find out that she wasn’t breathing anymore. The old woman was dead.”

“Dead?”

“Magdala had used the hour glass to give her remaining time to me. All of it. And by doing so she had turned into the old, lifeless woman in front of me.”

Mairin was wondering about the reasons for Magdala’s gracious deed. Adrijan couldn’t have been more than a stranger to her then. Had she done it for Vivian or out of sheer altruism? Or could the cause have been guilt?

“So the hour glass initially belonged to her?”

Adrijan nodded.

“Along with the device she had left a letter, roughly explaining how it worked and asking Vivian to take care of it. Viv was absolutely devastated about Magdala’s passing and to this very day I sometimes wonder, if he hadn’t preferred to see me dead instead.”

“You mustn’t say that,” Mairin scolded him. “You are his brother and even I know that you are very important to him.”

“She was his love. Believe me, I should have died – not the pure and innocent Magdala.”

Not knowing how to respond Mairin stayed silent. She had never met the woman who to her mostly consisted out of the sweetest angelic smile she had ever seen.

“Would you mind if I went to get something small to eat? I skipped dinner and I’ll have to leave in a few hours.”

Mairin hadn’t noticed the time and felt bad for depriving Adrijan of the opportunity to have a meal and rest.

“Of course not, I’m sorry,” she mumbled and slipped out of bed. Adrijan’s mood was everything else than good.

“You are coming too?”

Only now Mairin realised that he had excluded her from his plan. She wasn’t particularly hurt about it but she was unwilling to leave him alone after he had shared so much of his past with her. For a moment she considered making up a reason for accompanying him but then she chose to stick with the truth.

“I don’t want to leave you and I’d like to know what happened after.”

The words sounded strange, spoken hastily and too fast, but Mairin had wanted to make certain that she couldn’t change her mind before she had finished what she had to say. It was peculiar how being honest was the most difficult choice at times like these.

“You make it hard to say no,” Adrijan remarked and led the way to the kitchen. He behaved like a gentleman, walking in front of her in narrow staircases and offering her his arm when there was enough room, yet he didn’t speak at all. When they finally arrived at the kitchen, Mairin held him back.

“Adrijan?”

“Mhm?”

Nervousness made it only harder for her to find the right words but she felt there was something she had to say to tear him out of his world of dark thoughts.

“I’m grateful. I mean... I didn’t know her but I’m... I’m glad she saved you. I’m glad it’s you who is alive and not her.”

Adrijan stared at her unbelievingly as if he hadn’t understood the meaning of her words. When he remained standing still, Mairin was worried that she wasn’t just imagining it. Had her babbling been inapprehensible? Grasping the chance to convey her feelings one more time, Mairin suppressed all the distracting murmurs in her head, quickly stood on tiptoes and pressed her lips on his cheek.

In the same instant she realised that she had forced herself on him again, immediately turned away and fled past him into the kitchen. There she stood, excited about the kiss and afraid of its consequences, thoroughly unable to calm herself.

Adrijan cleared his throat, entered the kitchen behind her and without saying a word vanished in the adjacent storeroom.

Mairin breathed deeply. How could he ignore what she had done?

A few moments later Adrijan returned with a loaf of bread and a small milk churn. Striving to avoid her gaze he put both on the table in front of her and fetched two glasses, a knife and a plate. Mairin watched him closely as he drew three crosses on the back of the bread with his thumb before cutting it. His hands were trembling almost imperceptibly.

“What was that for?” she quietly asked, trying to force away the awkward silence.

Adrijan raised his gaze and looked at her with questioning eyes.

“You were drawing something on the bread,” Mairin explained shyly.

“I was blessing it,” Adrijan explained. “I guess it’s true – old habits die hard. I may not believe in God anymore but I’m still grateful for this.” He paused and put aside the rest of the loaf he had talked about. “And for that too,” he added more silently, moving his hand to the cheek she had kissed. “Won’t you sit down?”

Mairin blushed and was overwhelmed by an unfamiliar happiness. Most of her fear had been washed away and she followed his invitation with pleasure, certain that her feelings were written all over her face. Adrijan sat down opposite to her and filled their glasses with milk.

The brown bread was still fresh, its crust crispy and the inside soft. It smelt delicious and tasted even better.

“Take a sip of milk with every bite,” Adrijan suggested. “It tastes best that way.”

Mairin gave it a try and was surprised to find out that he was right.

“After the incident Vivian gave me a new name and made me his first knight. I accepted both – name and position – with a strong feeling of gratitude.”

“A new name?” In surprise she had almost forgotten to swallow before talking. “Adrijan isn’t your real name?”

“It does sound a little fancy, right?”

She was glad to see that the smile had returned to his face.

“Adrijan Démon. The demonic first knight with hair like blood. Even though I had gained various new responsibilities I decided to also remain a priest. Rules had to be bent for me, A. D., the man who had died and come to life again. It was said that he was a demon as much as he was a saint. Ridiculously, people feared me for my image alone.”

 “Hmm.” Was it alright to ask for his prior name?

“I was called Winther – if you were wondering.” Adrijan had anticipated her question.

Winther.
Mairin inclined her head. He was wearing his long red hair with pride. If he had discarded the name given to him by his mother he had done so with a reason.

“It’s a good name.”

“Maybe. But it’s no longer mine.”

Mairin didn’t object. After what Adrijan had been through it was perhaps only natural that he had longed for a new beginning and different identity.

“We continued living, receiving the lives of others to prolong ours and over the years Vivian gained even more influence. As a priest it was easy for me to establish contact to people who wanted to die. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never made false promises or coerced anyone into giving up months or years of their lives. Vivian has always been popular with girls and found ways to ensure the continuity of his life that way. When he became a doctor there were yet more options. Even so there were times when both of us just wanted to end it all – and we would have if it hadn’t been for our obligations towards Magdala.”

“You, a priest, wished to die?”

“More than once. Mairin, it’s painful to grow this old. Even if you make friends you can’t keep them. Before you manage to get used to one era another has already begun. All the time you have to be careful not to make enemies you can’t defeat and on top of all that you have to keep the device secret and away from everyone.”

“Couldn’t you have destroyed it?” Realising that she might have triggered a dangerous idea Mairin wanted to take back the question.

“Vivian tried that the day Magdala sacrificed herself. He was so furious he tossed the hour glass on the ground and stepped on it. His outburst didn’t even leave a scratch.”

“Did Magdala mention in her letter where the device had come from?”

Adrijan shook his head. “Unfortunately not. Perhaps she was old as well and that’s why she... decided to save me.”

“I believe there was a better reason for it than her death wish. Don’t you think her life with Vivian would have given her the necessary strength to continue?”

Mairin took another piece of bread and regretfully looked at her empty glass.

“More?”

She nodded and Adrijan refilled the vessel.

“I’m not sure but I dislike the thought that I ruined their happiness. Either way, it can’t be undone now. Let’s not talk about it anymore.

Hmm...
Traumstadt
was a sort of anchor for Vivian and me. While the world was changing around us it always stayed the same and kept us grounded. The era you lived in was the same era in which Vivian had finally acquired enough power to establish his dream.
Traumstadt
took a lot of planning and devoured a considerable amount of money. Of course the idea of it evolved over time in its own way but the core of it remained.