Elysium's Love Triangle (20 page)

This makes me think of the bouquet Daniel gave me
.
 

I need to get out of here, for him and for my Mom.

The realisation hits me that my Mom won’t be at my wedding
.  Whenever I dreamed about it she was here.  This is only a fake wedding but he
r
absence still gets to me.

London, examining my face, tells me that everything is perfect
. T
here is no need to be worried
, she assures me
. 

She grins now and asks me whether I am excited about it all.  I’m so completely nervous but I can’t help smiling back.  It is
supposed to be
the ‘happiest day of my life’ after all.

She sits down beside me, radiating happiness.  We both just start giggling now.  I can’t even say why. 

I can’t believe how like sisters we’ve become already.

She looks me in the eyes, “Seriously though, it’ll be fine.  You’re marrying a great guy.  Greg is so smart and funny . . . kind and loyal . . . he’s dead gorgeous too.”

She goes off into a daze and I have to click my fingers in front of her eyes before she is animated again.   I begin to wond
er whether it is a good idea
to have her around my fake husband
. Then
she starts telling me of her own wonderful wedding earlier.  Her
Robert
is going to build them a house tomorrow
,
using only his hands.  After that he will make a rainbow appear.  Then, if he’s not tired, he is going to cook her some veal.  This will, of course, all be topped off by a ni
ght of impurity.  Yes, her Robert
is the most perfect man in the world, no offence to the guy I’m marrying or anything.

She goes off into dream-world again and I suddenly don’t feel so worried.  The girl is obviously smitten with
Robert
.  Looking at her would almost convince you that
true love does exist.  This is
exac
tly the kind of feeling I need
before going through with this wedding.

*

Riley, quite ironically, is the one who gives me away.  He is my family here after all.

He is not very
good at ‘giving away’ to be honest
.  On the way up the isle he smiles and
tells me that he hopes my new husband will suffer a painful death.

This sentiment does
not go nice
ly
with the lovely, calm, wedding music playing.

I tell
Riley that he should
relax now and again.  He replies that I remind him of his brother
.

I feel proud.

Then I see
Gre
g for the first time.  He looks
breathtaking, having been done up
for the wedding.  I almost forge
t to keep walking.

I
find myself wishing that tonight were
a
real
wedding night for a few moments. 

My appearance seems
to have an impact
on Greg too.  This probably has
something to do with the hour London spent making me ‘wed
ding style pretty’.  My new ‘husband’ looks
pr
etty amazed.  He never takes his eyes off of me once he catches
sight of me.

Neither of us can
help smiling when
I reach the top.  It reminds
me of when we were six and we got ‘married’ in secret.  Our friend Paul was the
‘
priest
’
that time.  We had sweets to celebrate.  It was all very unusual, as you would expect.

This wedding is unusual also.  The priest talks in Latin and I don’t know what, exactly, we are agreeing to.  Our vows are made in English though.  Greg tells me that ever since we were young I was a light in his world of darkness.  The only light.

That was extremely nice.  I try to avoid looking in
to
his eyes for fear
that I’ll
see some truth in them.  My vows come next.  I tell him that I picked him because, in my heart, I know
that
he will always be the only one for me.

A few of
the people in the audience are
shedding tears of happiness at this stage.

The priest announces that he wants to sacrifice a few
people.  This would surely bestow further blessings upon the marriage, he thinks
.
I manage to stop this by making an excuse.
I do
n’t like the idea of getting blood on my dress, I say.

To add to the strangeness
,
the whole kiss the bride thing never
happens
.  I learn later that it is very distasteful, around here, to kiss publicly.  It is an insult to the watcher in that it is not a
show
.  Public displays of affection are to be in the form of serious love making or nothing at all.  The breaking of this rule will result in you being sent to the chamber where the torture
-
men will work on you.

I really need to read about their laws.  I make a note,
coming from the chapel, to do this
first thing tomorrow. 

It is traditional for us to say goodbye to our families now.  Once you get married here you are encouraged to have very little contact with your old family, Greg tells me.  This is so
that
you can concentrate on your new one.  Tradition dictates that we have our families out for dinner tomorrow and then cut contact with them completely.

He has been staying with Cairo’s family since he arrived here.  He goes over and begins saying a tearful goodbye to them.

Ril
ey joins me.  He says that it’s
a shame my Dad isn’t here.

This remark cuts me like a knife. I try not to show it.

“I think he would try to shut this place down if he was,” I answer.

I don’t think he would’ve approved of all this cannibalism and sacrificing.

I don’t much approve of it myself.

These people
need a good leader.  They need a leader who will
change things around here for the better.  This place could be brilliant if it wasn’t led by such an evil man. 

Riley looks quite cheery, “Yeah,
Jamie
probably would’ve tried to stop me. . . I don’t know why
you give me such attitude,
Katy.  I set this whole place up
for the benefit of the Arachne species
. 
It’s a place where we can live in peace, as ourselves. 
It’s a legacy, one for our family.  I don’t see why you aren’t thankful.”

“You hurt people Riley.  You’ve killed them,” I say.

He looks astonished.

He
doesn’t get my point at all, “G
eez, it’s like talking to my brother again. . . Why can’t you just see the way I see?”

I don’t really have an answer for this.

C
airo’s ten sisters are
sing
ing
a song for Greg.  It is a sorrowful one about how much they’ll miss him.  It is quite entertaining.

It goes on for a long time. 

I give Riley a ‘farewell’ hug.  I tell him that I know there is goodness within him somewhere.  I am hoping we will see it soon.

He looks amused.  My Dad said that exact thing to him once, he tells me.   

Greg takes my hand and we walk off together.

It is the f
irst time that the two of us have been
left to our own devices.  I finally feel like I am out of danger.  The eyes of everyone in the village are not on me, for now anyway.

The house we are given is
at the side of the village.  It is made of brick, rather tha
n wood,
and I can tell that we’re being
given special treatment.  Greg walks in and can’t believe how clean it is. 
He
expresses delight at no longer having to share his house with cows and horses.  At first I think
that
this is a rather derogatory remark about Cairo’s sister
s
.  No, he explains, most houses here are literally shared with animals.  He seems to be h
aving a hard time convincing himself that he
actually
owns this nice house
.  I begin to realise that he was brought a long way up this village’s social ladder when I chose him.  He isn’t the only one moving up.  I’ve gone from being an unremarkable teenage girl
to a
queen in one day.

Greg
suddenly
announces
that
he has to leave.

“Why?”  I ask.

It is our fake wedding-night after all.  I would’ve thought
that
he’d at least stay here with me.

He seems amused at my indignation, “I have to go
and wash my face in the River of I
mpurity.  It’s tradition for the husband to do this after carrying his wife over the threshold.”

I am amazed, “Are there any other
wedding day traditions
that
I should know about?  I’ve had enough surprises for one day.”

He laughs, “No.  For the male it’s pretty much go to the wedding, wash in the lake and . . .”

I wonder why he has stopped, “And what?”

He gives me a pretty heart-stopping look at this moment, “Then you come home and ravish your wife.”

This leaves me rather lost for words.  I really like the way he said it.

I find myself looking into his eyes.

He is just too good at drawing me in.

“Fake marriages don’t get consummated, Greg,” I inform him, using all of my will power.

He smiles knowingly and walks closer to me. 

He runs his hand through my hair, “That’s an awful shame.  Are you sure?”

My resistance almost crumbles.

Everything about him seems alluring now, even his voice.

I have to get him out of here quick
ly, “Greg, go wash in the Lake of I
mpurity this instant.”

He seems confident as he steps away, “Impurity . . .”

“Go, Greg, now,” I say.

He gives me one last glance as he leaves.  I am sure he knows the power he has over me.

There is part of me that quite likes it.

Tonight is going to be a long night, that’s for sure.

I catch sight of our ‘wedding present
s
’ on the kitchen table.  They’ve all been neatly wrapped in the nicest of wrapping paper. 
Most of them are in the shape of bottles.  I have no doubt that they contain ‘well-brewed’ fear.

One particular present catches my eye.  It is octagon shaped and
looks
much smaller than the others.  This is not a fear-drink, like the others.  It is something else.

My curiosity gets the better of me.  I pull off the yellow wrapping paper.

The octagon is
,
in fact
,
a small bottle.  At first I think
that
it might contain perfume.

Then I read the note. 

It tells me that this particular present is from Tanya.  It is a substance known as ‘Black Widow Mist’. 

It can reverse the black widow c
urse
,
when sprayed upon
the girl.  The boy will be safe and the Black Widow herself will be the one risking her life.

I laugh and shake my head.  Tanya really wants me dead. 
She’s probably
hoping
that I’ll use this Mist tonight, and be gone by tomorrow evening. 

She will be sorely disappointed.

It is a thoughtfu
l present in a way.  I would very much make use of this Mist, if I was back with Daniel.

I decide to save it.  It could be handy if I ever manage to escape.

I wonder what Daniel is doing now.  Before long I am tracing the shape of a heart, with my finger, on the table.

I snap out of it.

I decide to hide the Black Widow Mist before Greg gets back.  I’d rather avoid having to explain its
particular
powers to him.

I run up the stairs.  Quickly I find
our room.  I groan when I see the
double bed.

There is also a walk
-in wardrobe.  It is huge.  What’s more surprising is that it is already filled with my old clothes.
 
The Cezer
s obviously managed to move everything for me.  Rejon’s power over things is quite baffling.