He Used Me for Her, I Walked Away

Chapter 3

Three years ago, you rode up to me on a motorcycle wearing your cleric's robes. For a time, I truly believed you were the one fated to walk every remaining day of life beside me. In the end, it was nothing but my own foolish fancy.

Since you never truly wished to marry me, I shall set you free of my own accord.

Another sleepless night passed.

When morning came, Veyra attended Zairine as she washed and dressed, her face tight with indignation as she spoke, "Miss Veridian, last night the Master went to the Quiroga estate, attended the wedding celebration for Miss Seralyn and Master Cyprian, and stayed on even for the bridal chamber rites! He might as well have declared openly to the whole world that you were abandoned on your very wedding night…"

Zairine's hand trembled, and her cup of water sloshed across her palms.

Rynell had gone to that feast for one reason only, to behold with his own eyes the woman he had always adored, standing robed in splendor as she became another's bride.

"We are still on the Aetheris estate. Watch your words," Zairine said evenly, though within her heart storms raged unchecked.

After a simple breakfast, Zairine began sorting through the belongings she had brought with her.

As the Veridian family's eldest daughter, her dowry had been painfully meager. The only thing of true weight or worth was the stack of every letter exchanged between herself and Rynell over those three years.

The Father said a believer must keep three sacred vows, faithful to the church, faithful to its teachings, and faithful to the stars. But I wish to keep faith with only one, you, Zairine.

It is a hard thing to choose between two worlds. On one hand stands my faith and my prayers; on the other, Zairine Veridian.

Three full years. One letter each month, without fail.

Once, Zairine had cherished every word, reading them again and again in quiet hours.

But on the very first day of her marriage, she did not hesitate. She carried every letter and cast them all into the hearth fire.

Flames devoured the pages hungrily, burning away every memory they had shared, and every pretense of tenderness that had never been real.

Rynell Aetheris stepped through the door just then and saw it. His face blanched.

"Zairine, why are you burning our letters?" he asked, his voice stunned.

He rushed to the hearth, heedless of the heat searing his hands, and reached for the pages still burning.

It was useless. What remained crumbled at his touch, drifting into ash upon the floor.

She watched him, stricken and distraught, and spoke with perfect calm. "They had grown damp and mildewed. Worms had begun to eat through them. It was only right to burn them clean."

Rynell clutched the fine ash in his palms, his eyes bright with tears. "These hold every memory of three years. They are the whole proof of what I endured, the celestial trials I survived for your sake!"

She took a cloth and gently wiped the soot from his stinging hands. "They are only letters. If you wish to write more, there is nothing to stop you. Your hands are burned red. Let me tend to them."

Only then did the sting of the heat register, and Rynell looked at her as though his soul had been torn loose.

"Very well. We shall write them all again."

Zairine bowed her head and applied ointment to his burns, speaking not a word in reply.

'Rynell. From this day forward, you may write what lies within your heart, and I shall walk my own road. We shall trouble one another no more.'

*****

On the day of the customary family visit, Rynell accompanied Zairine back to the Veridian family's ancestral home.

In the great hall, the elders of the house sat upon sofas, with the Master and Mistress Veridian seated in the place of honor.

Seralyn and Cyprian Quiroga had also come to call that day, and they were surrounded by relatives offering praise and congratulations.

Cyprian wore a fine shawl of fox fur. He was tall and striking, with a gentle bearing. When he saw Zairine enter, his expression shifted into something unreadable.

Seralyn stood nearby in a deep blue gown of exquisite tailoring. She stepped forward at once and drew Zairine into a tight, affectionate embrace. "Sister, on our wedding day, Brother Rynell came to our celebration and stayed right through the bridal chamber customs! I truly thought you would not come visit today."

Her words hummed with open triumph and deliberate sting, and Zairine heard every note clearly.

Zairine remained calm and gently withdrew herself from the embrace.

She had barely begun to reply when her sleeve slipped, revealing a mark upon her skin, the star-patterned brand borne by men and women of the elite lineages, one that faded only when a marriage had been fully consummated.

Seralyn seized her wrist, eyes wide with shock. "Why, Sister! Your star-mark… it has not faded at all!"