Eric got out of work and went home to change. He came directly to the bar from there. He came in the back door wrapping his arms around his wife, making her gasp. He kissed the soft skin of her neck. She smiled as she turned to him. Her voice was bitter though �You do that again and I�m going to break this bottle over your head� She said as she lifted the bottle of rum. He backed up from her and started helping her behind the bar. At about 2 am, Ceidre started falling asleep. Eric took her in back and wrapped his cloak around her as she slept against some old sacks. Eric continued to work, until the close at 4 am.
Eric walked to the front and locked the door and returned to the back of the tavern and scooped his wife�s lithe form wrapped loosely in his cloak. Her small form seemed lost in the greatness of the black cloak and Eric�s arms. She tossed slightly in his arms as he locked the back door on the Rosemoor Tavern. He turned and started to walk home to the Logau Mansion. On the way home, he saw Alicia locking up his wife�s other tavern, the Misty Haven Tavern. They nodded hellos and went on their ways in opposite directions. When Eric and Ceidre got to the gates of the Logau Mansion, Eric shifted Ceidre to one arm and unlocked the gate. She stirred in her husband�s arms �Shh, go back to sleep� he whispered. She took his advice, moving gently to pull the cloak tighter around her and fell asleep again.
Eric sighed and smiled as he carried Ceidre in the house, through the foyer and through the majestic house, upstairs and into their bedroom. He gently laid her on the bed. He took the cloak from around her and threw it over her desk chair. Eric carefully unbuttoned all the delicate buttons on the back of her gown and laid it gently over the cloak. Left in her summer chemise he lifted her gently and pulled the comforter and blanket down. As a parent would a young child, he laid her gently on the bed. He brushed her auburn hair back with his hand. She shivered slightly and he realized he�d just been standing there and admiring her. He pulled the covers up and sleepily she grabbed at them, pulling them up more and tightly. Eric sighed at his gorgeous wife sleeping. Her auburn hair fell in slight waves over the pillow. Eric thought it a pity that you couldn�t see her baby blue eyes while she slept but her fair skin always could be seen against the gentleness of her features. A gentle smile slipped across his lips, as he slipped into bed holding her close, both of them sleeping sweetly.
In the early morning, slightly before dawn Ceidre woke. She smiled to her husband and kissed his cheek. He pulled her tighter to him. She giggles slightly. �Temptressing minx� he mumbled. She knew he slept lightly, but not that lightly.
�Thank you, Eric, now let me go� he kissed her once as he let her go. He had no clue why she was up, so very early, but he was so tired from that evenings work that he didn�t care enough to get up and find out. He knew his wife could take care of herself. She usually didn�t get into something she couldn�t handle herself.
Ceidre walked straight to her closet and pulled out a pale blue spring dress. The light material hit her ankles lightly. She put the dress on herself and a pair of kid slippers and slipped out the French doors. She smelled the air and she could tell the servants were already up and cooking bread and sweets for the day. Ceidre bounded downstairs and down the grand halls into the kitchen. She saw a loaf of bread sitting on the table cooling. She pulled some honey out of the cabinet as she asked a servant to cut her a slice of bread. The servant did as ordered and handed it to her. The servant�s British accent stood through in her speech, as did her class. �Madame, Where are you goin� so early? Yere �usband will worry.� Ceidre smiled, her true French accent showing at every word she spoke.
�He will not, he knows I left besides with the long night we had at Rosemoor I think he�ll sleep for a while.� The servant smiled as Ceidre left eating the honey bread. She walked to the stables and took a horse. She licked the honey from her fingers and rode to her place of everlasting peace, her gardens. Only her Aunt Charity, her husband, and her knew of it. She worked until about noon. The six hours of work was tiring but the gardens looked much better.
All of a sudden she heard �Why do you work so hard on these gardens? Roses will wilt for they know they can never achieve your beauty� It was a male voice. She spun on heel quickly. The dirt on her face and dress made Eric laugh. �My god Ceidre, I�ve never in my life seen you that covered in dirt� She looked down and blushed. He walked to her, enveloping her in a hug. She hugged back sweetly. When they broke apart he wiped some of the dirt from her cheek. She laughed and hit his hand away. �You�ll pay, � he said.
�Oh yeah, how?� she replied as a challenge to him. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder, with no success to her begging. He carried her over to the pile of leaves that she�d collected. �No, Eric, please, don�t, Eric, please� she begged and pleaded with him without any luck. He dropped her in the pile. She fell only a little ways into it. She laughed as she stood up. The leaves clung to her thick curls. She pulled her husband playfully to her. Purposely he fell into the pile, pulling her with him. She laughed as he looked down to her. He was laughing as well.
She was still smiling as he, serious as he could be, looked at her. As soon as she could feel she was being watched, she looked up to him. The smile on her sweetly gentle lips, stayed even as his lips gently touched hers. The kiss was soft, sweet...sensual. It reeked with a gentle passion. The kiss lasted long, and when it finally broke it left Ceidre breathless. Both Eric and Ceidre grinned. Eric leaned to her and whispered in her ear, �I love you, my temptress.�
She spoke softly �I love you too� Then she laughed and added �NOW LET ME UP!� He laughed as he stood, giving her his hand. She took it gratefully and stood. He brushed the pale green and reddish multi-coloured leaves from her hair. He held her close as the gradually warming sun, beat down on the two. �How did you know I�d be here?� Ceidre asked.
�The servant said you took honey bread. You give some always to your horse and it�s too early too see your sisters. So it had to be the gardens� Ceidre laughed at his �logic� thinking. �I brought some honey bread with me� he said as he handed her a pack, cloth wrapped around a hot loaf, sliced with honey on. Ceidre took it to the bench in the gardens and unwrapped the bread. She took a slice and ate it. She laughed at her sticky fingers. Eric took her hand and slowly licked the honey from her fingers as she laughed. He glanced to her for her approval. Her smile let him continue.
He looked then to her lips; the corners of her rich lips turned in an appeasing smile. He dared himself to look to her eyes. Her eyes could tell everything about her. The pale baby blueness of her eyes was her normally, an emerald green colour was her angry frustrated, or upset and a deep sapphire blue was her pure happiness� and preferably how Eric liked her. Her eyes were closed �Open your eyes, kitten� he whispered. Her eyes opened into a deep sapphire as both of them smiled. She rested her head gently on his shoulder. At that instant, as if reflex, his arm went around her hips, pulling her onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
In Eric�s opinion her voice was soft enough normally but now her voice was very soft, �Eric?� she questioned. Her voice brought him out of his daze.
�What, lovely one?� was his slight reply.
�What�s your favorite type of book at your store?� spoke her voice stronger. She loosened her hold from his neck and lifted her head to look at him. She did everything to not meet his delicate hazel eyes. They proved to be his soft spot.
��Poetry� he whispered.
Ceidre looked surprised, �and what else?� she countered. He was bewildered why after 3 months of marriage she was asking.
�What�s the matter, lovely?� he questioned. She was slow to reply.
�Well� Papa said we should spend a night learning of each other�. Eric quirked a brow in wonder as she continued, �you know, ma cher, things we like, things we do not and I do not mean together. I mean when we are by ourselves". His silence after that told her he really wasn�t interested and she became furiously angry with him. It showed not only in her voice, but also in her eyes. �Eric, we've been married for 3 months and I ne savoir pas pourqui�� At that moment he cut her off with a kiss. After the kiss left her unarmed, the rest of her words had no anger in them at all �we can not learn about each other� She said slowly.
He smiled and spoke gently. He didn�t want to spark her temper or her French. It was bad enough he didn�t know what she had said, he did not want more of it. �I did not say I didn�t want to. I�d love to. However, you know your history, and mine is just as bad. Ceidre, it can bring nothing but painful reminders� He looked to Ceidre, her eyes tearing already in those painful reminders. He hugged her close trying to comfort her. He wished he could erase the childhood memories from her mind. He�d never heard her describe her childhood but still the pain she showed made him know enough to not ask. His own memory of growing up had been bad enough; he knew what she was going through. Even though he didn�t want to find out, he asked. She perked his wonder and he had to find out �Sweetheart, tell me about your childhood� he whispered. He cradled her close to him, in his arms gently. Ceidre glanced to Eric.
Her voice came in a soft whisper �You don�t want to know� and that�s all she said. His desire was not to push her.
�Well sweetheart� he began �You�ll hear about mind then�.
�But Eric,� she protested �You lived a life of poverty and death and theft! Why would you want to tell me all that! Your crazy!�
�Not everyone lived a life of wealth and perfection all their life! Hush up Ceidre!� Eric�s voice rang her anger away and actually made her move away from him. She stood in a huff and walked away from him. The tears came down her cheeks slowly as she ran. It was around 4 p.m. Mostly they had wasted the afternoon away and they still had a ball to go to tonight.
What was happening to them was beyond what Ceidre could comprehend. Their love seemed so strong usually when they were together but now it always ended up in some kind of argument.
Eric was scared since he knew Ceidre well enough to know that she was going to run until she reached her place of destination. If she didn�t have one, she�d faint from exhaustion or something-similar first. Eric chased after her and although Ceidre could run further, Eric ran much much faster. He soon caught up with Ceidre even with the head start she was given. He pulled her down but being as mad at him as she was, she brushed herself off and stood a good 10 feet away from him. �Why did you do that?!� She furiously yelled at him.
�To stop you. You obviously were not stopping yourself!� he yelled back. Her eyes furried in a boiling green, so deep they surpass the colour of the emerald sea at sunset, churning furiously after a winter storm.
�Why should I?! It�s obvious you don�t really love me, or care about me!� she challenged back in the fight.
�I care about you Ceidre� Eric said. He was getting tired of arguing with her and hoping this one would come to an end soon. After all, he had to get ready for the ball still. He wouldn�t want to be late. Moreover, that�s all it took to drive her over the cliff.
She turned and stalked away quickly. She went straight to the mansion and went upstairs. She slammed the French doors and shut the drapes on them. With a quick turn, she locked the French doors. She�d just thrown herself onto the bed, when she heard the front door slam shut. Tears started down her cheeks and hit the pillow lightly. She sat up and listened to the soft speech of her husband to one of the servants.
�Where is she?� he said.
�In �er room, m�lord� the servant replied. She heard him on the stairs. Slow angry bounding ones replaced his normal quick-footed soft ones. Next was the rasp on the door. He could hear the muffled cries of her in the pillow.
�Ceidre, let me in!� he yelled to the door, as if it was she. He did not think of the key that was on the ledge above the door. He was trying to think of an excuse to get in when he remembered the ball that evening. �Ceidre, let me in to get ready for the Duke and Duchess of Edward�s ball!�
At that moment a servant ran upstairs. She spoke rapidly in French. Obviously this was Ceidre�s servant, not his. �Ton complet en bas, monsieur� she said. Eric looked from the servant to the shut door.
Although Ceidre had not answered anything so far he yelled to her, �Ceidre! At least tell me what she said.�
Finally a teary voice came from the room. �She said your suit is ready downstairs�and Eric, I�m not going to the ball!� He sighed but he knew it would be useless to argue the point. The next thing she heard was him following the servant to get ready. He�d never said he loved her. That�s what made her so mad. He didn�t love her! He had been lying to her and worse, now she was stuck in this marriage! She cursed society for making things this way. She could become a mistress to a good-looking male of society. She heard the door shut as Eric left. She was female, she was allowed to change her mind often, and she decided to go.
She smiled to herself to put this idea into action. Maybe she would look for this new lucky man at the ball. Dazzling, Sparkling and beautiful is what she was determined to look like, able to catch any and every man�s attention.