Married To The Mad Vampire Lord - Chapter 560

Chapter 560: Meeting again_Part 2
“I can’t believe it either,” Elle confessed. “I… I am nervous, Rosey, scared, even. Do you think everything will turn out well?” she asked, her voice carrying a desperate need to be reassured that she was doing the right thing.

“Of course,” Rosey said without hesitation. “What else could possibly go wrong?”

Well, many things went wrong on the day of the wedding. The night before had been filled with happiness and the liveliness of family, laughter echoing through the house and halls, but on the morning of the wedding, Elle began to have a really bad feeling, like something was about to go terribly wrong. The feeling refused to leave her, so much so that even the food served to her by her Aunt Belle couldn’t go past her throat. She ended up throwing up, her stomach too knotted to stomach any meals at all.

“You look sick, Elle. Are you all right?” Aunt Belle asked with concern, and Elle bobbed her head weakly before saying, “I think I just need some air. Can I step out for a moment before I get dressed?”

Belle, seeing how pale the poor girl looked and understanding how nervous she must be about such a big day, nodded. “Sure, take your time. Your mother hasn’t brought the dress with Rosey yet, and the carriage that will take you to the venue hasn’t arrived. Just don’t stay out where the guests will see you. Go ahead, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Aunt Belle,” Elle said, offering a fragile smile, though the turning of her stomach wouldn’t allow her to fully express how grateful she was to have people like her aunt and her mother in her life. She got up, left the room, and walked out of the house through the back door, stepping into the garden. The fresh air was welcome as it cooled her face.

Elle went to sit on the swing made beneath the tree, holding her stomach as it twisted more and more the longer she recalled what Eryx had told her the night before, and what her mother had also said about her past husband before she met their papa.

‘Men have many sides, colors they keep hidden until you truly got to know them, until you lived with them and saw who they were behind closed doors.’ Her mother had told her this again the night before. And though Elle had believed with everything in her that Eryx was the man meant for her, what he had said to her that evening when he came to see her stirred something uneasy inside her. It planted doubt where there had once been certainty and left her frightened of taking the final step into marriage.

‘You are lovely, Arielle. Pretty, the prettiest lady in Mirehaven. Only I want, after our marriage, for you to promise me that you will do only as I say and listen to me,’ he had said. ‘I will come first, and your family second. I don’t know how you will do it, but I don’t plan to stay in Mirehaven after our marriage. We will leave the country and go somewhere we won’t be controlled by our parents, especially your family, and you will have to find a way to tell them this. Isn’t that what you wanted? To get away from them as well?’

What she wanted was to explore and do things she had never been allowed to do while growing up because she was sickly, not to abandon her family and leave everything she knew behind.

Thinking about his other words and made her feel so nervous that she slid off the swing, fell to her knees, and began to throw up, retching and trembling.

Get a grip, Elle. You have decided to marry him, and everyone has come for it. You have to do it and not embarrass your family and yourself.

Many in Mirehaven already talked behind her mother’s back because she didn’t have a husband and had raised two children on her own. Causing a scene on a wedding day wouldn’t make the scandal and assumptions about their mother’s character, and their unknown father, any better. If anything, it would make them worse.

She told herself all of this, but no matter what she said in her mind, it didn’t work. Tears stung her eyes.

She was so busy emptying her already empty stomach behind the tree, her hair falling all over her face, that she didn’t notice or realize she had company, someone standing behind her, until she suddenly felt gentle hands pull her hair away from her face and hold it back. A deep, calm, breezy voice whispered close to her ear,

“Calm down.”

Elle didn’t even wonder who it was as tears filled her eyes and her mind was disoriented. “I can’t…” she choked out, heaving.

She felt the person move closer, crouching down beside her. All she could see was his shadow on the ground where her head was bent. She caught his scent, coffee with a hint of oud wood, and felt his hand rest on her back, stroking it up and down as he whispered calmly,

“Think about flowing water. The sound it makes as it moves over rocks and gushes, like a creek in a lovely garden, with geese nearby and the breeze blowing across your face.”

Elle found herself thinking about it. The image was awfully familiar, and as it formed in her mind, it began to ease her breathing, calming her sick stomach and settling her frayed nerves.

“Now take a deep breath and exhale it slowly through your mouth,” the person said again, his gentle voice calm enough to soothe her. She did as he instructed, and her blurry eyes began to clear; the wet grass beneath her became sharper and more defined.

“How do you feel now?” he asked.

“I feel fine…” she whispered, her voice sounding hoarse. Gently, she felt the person place his hands on her shoulders and help her sit back on the grass.

She felt him move again, and soon his hand was in front of her face, holding a handkerchief out to her. She reached for it but then realized the inappropriateness of the situation: she was sitting with her back leaning against him, and his hand was touching her hair in a way she shouldn’t allow another man to. She jerked her hand back and began to move away, but he placed his arm around her midriff to keep her from falling or moving away.

“It’s me, Red,” Angel whispered.

He had just arrived through his portal, which opened in the back garden, only to see the bride-to-be throwing up. Her entire body stiffened now at his words, but the moment she realized it was him, instead of staying still and relaxing like she would have in the past, she jerked away and swirled around at the same time, falling back and staring at him with wide, disbelieving brown eyes.