Secrets in the Shadows

Chapter Four

A heavy silence fell upon the room when the doors opened and the bride walked into the ballroom. Everyone's face was filled with shock as they looked at the bride standing there in the doorway dressed in a long black dress with a long black thin veil which covered her entire face, no one had an idea of what the bride looks like underneath that hideous outfit. In her hands, she carried a bouquet of black wilted roses. To everyone, it looked as if Morticia Addams was getting married for a second time.

Through the thin veil, Maev took a glance around the room at all those faces looking at her in surprise and no one could see the big smile on her lips. She knew exactly what was going through their mind, what kind of statement was she making by wearing black. Was she trying to send out a message that she is of a greater stature than the great Vampire King? That she was powerful and unafraid of all of them? She was pretty sure that her husband to be will be more furious, as in this Kingdom brides usually have to wear white to show their purity and obedience to their husband even before saying I do. Filled with satisfaction over her grande entrance, Maev couldn't be bothered about the look of horror on their faces or what they could be thinking about her, this wasn't a wedding it was more like her funeral and she had to dress up for the occasion. She used a little magic to make a few changes with the dress they gave her and even her hair which was well hidden underneath the veil was a bright pink and she couldn’t wait for the other surprise that she has for the guests and her soon to be husband. She was surely going to be the bride whom everyone will be speaking about for a very long time!

Maev spotted her father who was standing close to two tall men in black and one of them had one of his hands on his shoulder. Her heart skipped a beat, and she nearly lost her balance as she felt weak in the knees. The sight of her father standing there like a prisoner broke her heart. Why are they guarding him like that?! As if he is some sort of a criminal, Maev asked herself as she looked at her father. Sadness clouded her thoughts, how will she live in this Kingdom surrounded by enemies? How will she look at the man who wants to kill her father in the eyes? Will she get to see another sunset, sunrise, celebrate another birthday... or see her father again.

Her father approached her, she tried to force a smile on her sad face. She was glad that he couldn't see her face through the black veil. Maev knows her father so well, seeing the pain on her face would make him break down.

" Maev, my dear daughter, I'm sincerely sorry. I promise that this misunderstanding will clear up soon!", her father whispered as he hugged her tightly.

Maev wanted to cry but she held her breath for a few seconds so that she wouldn't burst into tears. She didn't know what to say to her father, it wasn't like they had time for a long discussion. The only thing that she could whisper back to him was " I love you papa and I believe in you". As her father opened his mouth to speak to her, the sound of a classical symphony coming from an Estey pipe organ made the both of them look towards the front of the ballroom. Everyone had stood up looking in their direction. A middle-aged man dressed in a black suit walked towards them announcing that it was time for the bride to walk down the aisle. The man gave her a disapproval look and shook his head before telling them to follow him.

Maev looked up ahead and it looked like it would take them an eternity to reach the front where the groom was waiting. How I wish I could disappear, me and my papa. Away from all of this ...those were Maev's last thoughts before she took in a deep breath, she held her father's arm tightly as they took their first steps towards her unwanted destiny.

From where he was standing behind his uncle, Kramer looked at his wife to be approaching them and anger filled his face.

" What is this Octave?!", Kramer whispered in an angry tone to his uncle. " This is embarrassing! Oh, she will pay for humiliating me like this. I was kind enough to give her a beautiful dress and this is what she decided to wear!", Kramer carried on in a whispering tone. Anger burning through him, his jaw clenched as he kept his gaze on the woman dressed in black who was slowly approaching the front of the ballroom.

" I told you that she is a tough one!", Octave whispered, since he had the pleasure to meet the soon-to-be Queen earlier.

" How dare she dress up in black! To humiliate me and my people whilst all the other kingdoms are present tonight! She will pay dearly for this!", Kramer whispered clenching his fists.

Octave patted him softly on the back and said,

" You will have plenty of time for this later. Now calm down and carry on with the show".

They killed my brother. If I had known that Alanon’s daughter was going to humiliate me like that I would keep her as a prisoner instead of marrying her! If only we were not being monitored by the other Kingdoms, Kramer said to himself. He gazed towards where the Gods were sitting and then he turned his back to the bride who was nearly at his side.

Maev took in a deep breath, she finally lifted her gaze away from the red carpet and looked towards her future husband. She noticed that he was a tall man with a very good physique and he had long hair which he had styled in a messy bun. As she stood next to him, she looked away from him and her gaze was once more glued to the floor. She couldn't be bothered with what he looks like, it wasn't like she had a choice, even if he was a troll she will have to marry him. The only feeling that she has for that man standing next to her was hatred and she knew perfectly well that the feeling between them was mutual. There were only sparks of hatred in this room between the two people who were about to say I do.

Her father kissed her on her cheeks and then he moved away. She glanced to her left and noticed that the two men from earlier were back and her father went to stand next to them. She briefly saw Queen Nadia and one of her daughters who was standing not far from her father.

“ Dear Guests, please be seated”, someone announced.

Maev clasped her hands together tightly. When she was walking down the aisle, she didn't look around the room to see who was there. She looked straight at her feet holding on to her papa's arm tightly.She remembers all of those sarcastic remarks that she heard, " Poor her", " Ugly dress", " maybe the bride is ugly that's why!", followed by soft laughter. One person said, " he will only keep her as a prisoner he loves someone else".Maev wanted to stop there and then and asked that person who made that comment to give her the woman's name and address so that she could personally deliver her soon-to-be husband to her.

An older man dressed in a long black coat appeared in front of them and the ceremony began. The man was speaking in the weirdest language that she had ever heard before. Every Kingdom in the Underworld had its dialect when it comes to its rituals, so things would be done in their way . Out from the corner of her eyes, she noticed that her husband kept glancing in her direction and Maev picked up some bad vibes from his body, the anger vibes. Maev was sure that he was irritated because of the way she looks. The fact that he was annoyed by her choice of outfit was music to her ears and knowing that she managed to make the great Vampire King upset brought a wry smile to her lips.

I hope that he could feel that the feelings are mutual! Maev thought.

Little does she know that Kramer could hear her inner thoughts and a smirk curved on his lips.

" Do you Maev Whitmore take Lord Kramer Grand the III to be your lawful husband", the old man asked and Maev wasn't paying much attention and she didn't hear until her name was mentioned twice.Maev looked at the old man who was looking at her with annoyance written all over his face.

" I do", she whispered.

" Louder please", the old man said.

" I do!", She almost shouted and then whispered,

" Hope it was loud enough".

Kramer shook his head, he was wondering what sort of woman he was getting married to!

I hope that I don't end up killing her tonight, Kramer silently said to himself.

" I do", Kramer said, when the old man asked him if he takes Maev for his wife.

" I now declared you husband and wife. Lord Kramer you may kiss your bride", the old man said with a big smile flashing his fangs.

Maev looked straight ahead as her whole body trembled and her head started to spin.

The wedding night! Oh no!! I didn’t think of that ... No , he wouldn't dare touch me, we are just pretending so why should there be a wedding night? I would die if I lose my maidenhood to this man! Maev thought as she swallowed hard.She felt like she was suffocating and she started to pull on the dress . She started feeling hot and cold at the same time and it became more and more unbearable. Her husband gently placed his hands on her shoulders and slowly turned her towards him as the whole room applauded, she looked down towards her feet , she started to see black and the room started to spin. The nauseating feeling crept all over her body as the floor suddenly seemed to be disappearing, her bouquet of roses slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.Before he could lift the veil off her face ,Maev crumbled like a puppet which had suddenly been released from the strings of which were holding it in and she fell straight into Kramer’s arms.

Kramer held his bride tightly so that everyone would think that they are embracing each other. He didn't want everyone to know that his new wife had fainted in his arms. He could feel her heart beating faintly against his chest and it didn't look like she was coming around anytime soon.He picked her up in his arms and signaled to Octave to follow him . Everyone in the room were still applauding and cheering for the newlyweds.

" As if dressing in black wasn't enough. She had to faint as well! I will take her to the bedroom . Tell Pasqual to tell everyone to go enjoy the feast that has been prepared for them . Inform our guests that My wife and I , we will join them shortly", Kramer said to Octave and then he walked out of the room carrying Maev in his arms, hoping that no one had actually understood what had happened. This woman had embarrassed him and his kingdom enough for one night.

Kramer quickly walked into his bedroom. The first thing that came to his mind was to throw that woman on the bed as she could be pretending. This could all be part of her show. “ Now what is her name again... Maev”, he called out her name but she didn’t respond .He shook his head as he slowly placed her down with her head resting on his feather pillow. He walked to the front door closed it and locked it so that no one could disturb him. He walked back towards his bed and sat down on the edge of the bed next to this woman who was now his bride. He glanced at her and then moved a little closer to her , he slowly reached out and touched the veil over Maev's face and the first thing he noticed was the extremely bright pink hair and he shook his head . Her hair slowly turned into a dark emerald green and even the hideous dress changed back to the white diamond dress which he had sent to her room earlier. “ She used her magic”, he whispered. He gazed intensely at her , he slowly ran his eyes slowly over her face as if he was drawing a picture of her face. Her lashes and her eyebrows were the same color , dark as night. She has a small mole on the left side of her face close to her full bottom lip.For a witch , who usually are not considered as the most beautiful women in the Kingdom, his bride looked more like a fairy. A satisfied smile slowly appeared in his lips.Even though she was pretty , she wasn't his type of woman. She looked too fragile to be considered as his woman. He had many lovers from the different Kingdoms ,but he had never once been bewitched by a witch.There was nothing about his bride that ignited s****l desires inside him. Unlike Mara.Kramer thought and then he pushed that thought away , he couldn't be thinking of Mara now as he had important guests and couldn't allow them to see him cheating on his "wife" on the first night. He shouldn’t even use the word cheat as no way will he ever make this woman his. This was just a way to keep the other Kingdoms from minding their businesses, until the truth comes out about Oliver’s death , then her destiny could suddenly change. With that thought he looked at Maev flashing his fangs.

Her lips twitched and her eyelids fluttered, she slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at him with those beautiful greenish eyes and smiled at him .Maev thought that she was sleeping and it was all a bad dream ,that she was in her bed instead of the Bloodworth castle ,having a beautiful dream of this handsome man looking down at her.He was the most handsome man that she had ever seen in her life . She tilted her head from left to right and looked up at him still smiling dreamily. She had no idea how to flirt with a handsome man, even in her dreams . She felt a stinging pain on her left arm and she came back to reality as she quickly sat up in bed rubbing her arm looking at this man with wide eyes.

" You i***t ! Why did you pinch me!?, Maev shouted at Kramer.

Kramer looked at her with a smirk on his face as he put a strand of his hair behind his ear.

" Someone had to wake you up from that dream my dear wife", Kramer sarcastically said and laughed as he stood up.

And I who was thinking that this was a dream... He is not a dream, not even close to one, he is a nightmare! Maev thought wanting to punch herself for making a fool out of herself in front of Kramer. She stood up and walked away from the bed." You’ve humiliated yourself enough tonight, dressing in black and passing out in front of the guests. I think you should stay away from the banquet. I will make up some excuse on your part”, Kramer said with a serious tone.

" Black is perfect for the occasion. Don't you think so Mr. Kramer?", Maev replied with the same tone and Kramer turned and looked at her.

He sized her up, she wasn't that tall maybe around 5'4 without those heels and the dress appeared to be too big for her.He turned his gaze away from her, walked towards the door and unlocked it . He paused before he pulled opened the door.

" Oh and to put your mind at ease, I am not interested in taking your maiden hood ... unless you want me to!", Kramer said with a smirked , he winked at her and laughed as he walked away .

It totally slipped her mind that the Bloodworth could easily read your thoughts, that is the ones who have mastered the highest level of witchcraft. Maev could hear his laughter echoing in the hallway.She grabbed a pillow from his bed and threw at the door,"Animal!", she whispered. Her mind started to race, as she tried to think of a way to get back at her husband , a thought came to her mind and she smiled. “ Let’s see who is going to have the last laugh”, she softly said as she walked towards the mirror.

“ It’s time for a little magic”, she whispered as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror with a twisted smirk on her lips.