Married to a Monster

Chapter 7

That day, my very first in WOC, flew by too quickly.

And too slowly.

It was so strange to feel as if I already knew quite a lot about this world and at the same time understand how little actual time had passed. Alyonka explained that dissonance by saying I had become part of the world, and therefore the world itself was helping me understand and accept unfamiliar things.

She knew surprisingly much for someone who didn’t want to get attached to it and dreamed of returning home, to her native Earth. It seemed a little strange, but it wasn’t my place to judge my friend.

By the way, Alyonka showed me the house, the garden, the above-water part, and many things that weren’t necessary but were rather interesting.

Truly interesting.

For example, the little garden looked completely ordinary. Green trees, bushes, and flowers. I liked it. A lawn, several benches in unobtrusive places—cozy. The picture would have been familiar if you threw out the fact that a thickness of water surrounded us. I felt it, breathed it, and it wrapped around my body. Only it did not interfere at all, though the leaves barely swaying in the underwater current added a drop of absurdity to everything happening.

I liked it.

But the surface part…

Imagine a fairly large and spacious…

It wasn’t a house in the direct sense, like the one underwater, for example. It looked more like a wooden platform. Quite a large one, I must say. Walls, roof—all made of wooden panels. And a complete absence of doors.

And furniture.

The above-water part also had an open terrace, and that turned out to be simply incredible—to stand at the edge with water stretching in every direction before you.

As I understood it, Noy’s house stood either in the middle of a very wide river or in the middle of a lake. Shores could be seen in the distance. And honestly, I was glad of that, because no matter how much I loved water—rivers or seas—I felt uneasy in the middle of a large body of water. There had been a certain negative experience.

But here…

Here there was space, yet no feeling of being lost. It seemed as if you were flying above the water.

What was even more interesting, returning to everyday matters, was that even in the air the water behaved like a living creature. When we rose to the surface, I didn’t immediately notice that we emerged from it completely dry. Dress, hair—everything. Only my skin was a little damp and cool.

That was all.

And when Alyonka, smiling slyly at my confusion, quietly asked for fruit for a snack and a rug with pillows—simply spoke the request into the space—several streams of water rose from the lake through the floor and just “teleported” what we’d asked for.

I was stunned.

Honestly.

I had no idea how this was possible purely from the point of view of chemistry, physics, and other sciences, but it looked as if the streams had created little whirlwinds at their own tips, and when they calmed and flowed back into the lake, in their place lay a soft rug of a strange yellow-green pattern, several plain pillows that looked more like our Earth beanbags, and a dish with slices of fruit.

“Pick your jaw up!” my friend laughed, seeing my amazement. “This is exactly what I was telling you about. Come on, let’s admire the view a little. This is probably one of the few things I like about this world.” She pointed toward the lake. “The waves. The water. They calm your thoughts. For some reason, it wasn’t like that on Earth. Maybe it’s a property of the master’s water. He is its ruler, after all, and it is his essence and life.”

Alyonka muttered that last sentence.

Quietly, but I heard it.

“What do you mean?”

“Not important. Ask your husband later. No, it’s still wild for me to think about. Let’s just have a snack and enjoy the view. Right now you need to calm your thoughts more than ever.”

The snack turned out almost familiar. Many of the fruits were known to me, though there were a few very tasty pieces that were new. I didn’t know whether they were local fruits or whether I simply hadn’t tried everything on Earth.

But calming my thoughts still didn’t work. At times it seemed to me that I was dreaming. It was insanely interesting, and at the same time I already wanted a little break from all the impressions.

Perhaps I had finally grown tired of the new.

But now this was my world. I was unlikely to return to Earth. By getting married, I had become part of this reality, and I was gradually beginning to feel it. There arose a sensation that knowledge I couldn’t possibly have was slowly awakening inside me. Only one word came to mind that more or less described the situation:

Synchronization.

I was synchronizing with this world—body and mind alike.

But like any process, this required energy. Not so much physical as emotional, and that resource was beginning to run out.

I don’t remember when Alyonka left me alone. Most likely, my friend understood everything. I looked at the sunlit ripples on the water, listened to the breeze, breathed the fresh air, and tried not to think about anything. Or if I did think, then not to overload myself, not to give everything happening too much importance.

Back on Earth, at work, this had helped me a lot. Sometimes there were so many thoughts it felt as if my head would burst. They had to be released, not worried over for no reason, and sometimes—simply lived through, accepting what was happening as a given.

Better yet, not to hoard every feeling.

Now I sat there, slowly sinking into a state somewhat like meditation. I rested. Body and mind. Thinking of nothing, letting fleeting thoughts slip past without lingering.

And because I had gone inward, I didn’t notice the sun leaning toward sunset, painting the sky and lake in bright colors of every shade of scarlet and orange, with flashes of lilac and pink and little islands of sky blue—the day refusing to surrender its rights to night.

When some fabric settled onto my shoulders, shielding me from the evening chill, I flinched.

Noy stood quietly and silently behind me.

Only now did I realize that, first, I was cold, and second, for the entire day I had not once—or almost not once—thought about my husband. More precisely, I had been carried away by conversation with my friend and my own thoughts, instead of talking with the one person who, by definition, knew more than everyone else.

“Oh, sorry!” I jumped up from the floor.

“What are you apologizing for?” Noy still showed little emotion, though the little sun near my heart whispered of his surprise.

“It’s just…” Embarrassment and awkwardness suddenly rose like a lump in my throat. “I haven’t talked to you properly even once. I haven’t asked what I’m supposed to do as your wife, what duties I have. And somehow it’s… impolite, I guess.”

“Don’t worry.” He smiled slightly. “The last few days have not been easy for you. I can feel that.”

Noy stepped to the water and looked into it.

“Asya, the fact that you and I are now connected frightens you.”

“No, it’s…”

“You’ve already understood this. I can feel it.” He turned around, looking at me attentively. “Just as you feel me. These are the consequences of our bond.”

And I couldn’t object.

Yes. It was time to admit to myself that despite everything I said, despite everything I convinced myself of in thought and out loud, I was still afraid.

Only not of what Noy thought.

“You’re right.” I went to him and also looked down, though I looked only at his reflection in the water. “All of this frightens me, but only because I’m an ordinary human. I’m used to reading about adventures like this in books, but I never imagined I would end up in their place. I convinced myself that I could handle anything, that I would manage everything and become the way I had always wanted to be, without looking back at rules, stereotypes, and…”

My voice caught for a moment.

“But I’m still an ordinary human. I did not lie in a single word I said to you. I did not lie in my vow. But I’m afraid I won’t manage. I’m afraid I’ll let you down. I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong. After all, I’m your wife now, and it truly is very pleasant to feel your care. I wanted something like this all my life, but only a few days ago a person to whom I felt, if not love, then definite attachment betrayed me. I know you won’t betray me. I can feel it, but…”

I didn’t finish.

There was disorder and chaos in my head, though not long before I had thought everything had settled into order.

And Noy simply did what I needed: he embraced me, shielding me with his arms from all doubts and troubles. He protected me. Hid me, like a little girl.

And that was exactly what I needed.

Tears flowed from my eyes, finally washing away all the worry, all the doubts and fears.

I accepted this world.

The world accepted me.

The synchronization was complete.

The morning began with outfits.

Honestly, no matter how much of a girl I might be, it turned out I could not stand endless fittings and sorting clothes by the principle of “what to wear where.” But I understood that all the clothing Amphitrite had given needed to be sorted by purpose.

And yes, the dressing room was simply whoa.

Of course, they let me sleep—and believe me, sleeping properly was important—and even have breakfast, but I didn’t escape the fitting. Alyonka and the other maidservants—Sheir, Rusya, and Lipka—set about dressing me like some kind of doll with four pairs of hands.

Noy, that sly creature, quietly and invisibly disappeared as soon as the conversation turned to trying on clothes. Through our bond came a sense of harmless amusement. Also, he was waiting for me somewhere in his part of the house after all these torments. He had something like a hall and an office, though honestly, I hadn’t quite understood when he explained it, and yesterday I hadn’t really been in the state for that.

But as my husband said, I would understand how to reach him.

The water would show me.

Still, I needed a wardrobe, because I had spent all of yesterday in my wedding dress, and that turned out not to be very convenient.

Finally, after only an hour and a half—which was a miracle, considering all the clothing that remained—the girls took pity on me, chose something like a long tunic and trousers, comfortable slippers, and released me. I braided my hair into an ordinary braid and went in search of the master of the house, that is, my lawful husband.

The moment I thought about how to get to him, an image and a clear path appeared in my head.

My husband’s office wasn’t exactly an office. That was simply how I defined his workplace for myself. It resembled an open platform slightly higher than the rest of the house—something like a tower, only without walls. From there, a good view opened onto the underwater landscape around us. However, as I noted, others could not see us.

Strange.

Well, all right.

I simply opened yet another door and suddenly found myself on that platform. In its center, Noy hung in the air.

Why hung?

Because his feet weren’t touching the floor.

My husband was positioned exactly in the center, wrapped in streams of water that were visible even to me. His eyes were closed, his face completely impassive, but through the bond I understood that he was working, so I didn’t distract him and sat right on the floor near the entrance.

I would wait.

Work was important.

Transparent currents wrapped around Noy, sometimes barely touching him, sometimes practically entangling him. Occasionally he moved his fingers, and some of the currents flowed away into the thickness of the water. The only association that came to mind when I saw it was receiving and sending messages. As I had already learned, that was entirely possible here.

Finally, Noy freed himself and opened his eyes, lowering himself to the floor. Seeing me, he smiled.

“Asya, have those tormentors finally released you?”

“Oh yes.” I spun around, showing what they had picked for me. Somewhere in my soul lived a childishly strong desire for my husband to like me. “May I walk around like this?”

“You may do anything.” He smiled. “Who would dare scold the Mistress?”

“Ah, yes.” I grew embarrassed. “I’m still not used to that.”

“Let me show you something.” Noy held out his hand. “Come here to me.”

I came to the center of the platform.

“Now hold on.”

He wrapped one arm around me, and suddenly we shot upward.

My breath caught from delight mixed with fear. Especially when the water suddenly ended, and we emerged outside, yet continued rising higher and higher. I glanced down. A great stream of water was lifting us, like a fountain.

True, I was afraid to keep looking down, preferring to clutch my husband even tighter.

Finally, the ascent ended.

“Asya, look,” Noy’s voice sounded. “All of this is my domain.”

I turned my head and went still.

Around us stretched meadows, mountains, forests—all streaked with rivers and lakes. Green and blooming.

“And also,” Noy said quietly, almost whispering into my hair, “it is now your domain too. You are the Mistress of Waters. Everything mine is yours. So stop doubting yourself. Simply believe. This World has accepted you. And you accepted it. So why are you still afraid?”

“I’m not afraid!” Everything inside me swelled with delight. “I’m not afraid anymore.”

I turned, looking into the laughing light eyes of my dear husband, smiled, then looked around again, imprinting into my memory and heart everything my gaze could reach.

The height no longer frightened me.

“I believe,” I whispered.

Or shouted.

It didn’t matter.

“I’ll catch you if anything happens,” Noy whispered, understanding me without words.

And I jumped.