Married to a Monster

Chapter 4

It was… strange.

I understood clearly that at this moment my body was entirely underwater. The scattered light and the sensations confirmed it. And yet breathing was easy, and I felt no discomfort whatsoever. The hem of my dress swayed gently around me, not tangling around my legs.

My hair behaved the same way.

Light poured from somewhere above, and as soon as I lifted my head to look, something gently but insistently pulled me upward. When my head broke the surface, for a moment my eyes were flooded with water dripping from my hair. For some reason, here on the surface, the water bothered me badly, though before I hadn’t felt it at all.

Then, when I finally blinked myself clear, I almost opened my mouth in astonishment.

As it turned out, I had surfaced right in the middle of a lake. Only it wasn’t a smooth water surface stretching around me.

No. The water was there—in the form of spirals, arches, flowers, and little fountains decorating the space above the lake. There even seemed to be chairs made of water, and on them…

Oh, Mommy.

A crowd of people was sitting there? Creatures? Someone, in any case.

And all of this very much resembled our earthly… wedding?

I looked down at my feet and, honestly, a little tired of being surprised, discovered that I was standing barefoot on water quite calmly. As, apparently, was everyone else.

Oo-kay.

It seemed this celebration was my wedding. So where was the groom?

Ah. There he was.

He stood turned half-sideways to me. About a hundred meters away, true, but when had that ever stopped anyone? I headed toward him, straight under an elegant arch.

Whether it was my own restless inner demon acting up, or whether all the events had truly blown the roof off my sanity, the adrenaline boiling in my blood allowed me to behave not exactly brazenly, but definitely not timidly.

White and blue lotuses covered the small platform where a man in a mask stood.

Excuse me?

And where was my groom’s face?

I approached and carefully examined the mask. Well, it was beautiful. But why? Was he really that ugly? I doubted it, considering everything else that I could see. Slender, but not too thin. I’d say wiry. The fabric of his clothing softly outlined his muscles—not a bodybuilder, which was already good. I didn’t like people with muscles twisted up like ropes. Nonhumans either.

His hair was dark, with a deep green sheen. It looked surprisingly natural and suited his pale skin perfectly.

And his face was hidden.

Unacceptable.

I didn’t know what made them finally come to their senses and begin the ceremony—apparently the fact that I wasn’t running away screaming in horror—but a third person stepped under the arch toward us.

He was a sturdy, I would even say powerful, man with curly blue hair. Probably someone from the water folk too. I didn’t study him much; there wasn’t time. I was trying to listen to the speech.

I caught the ornate expressions about happiness, love, and prosperity, more or less. Surprisingly, I understood the language, though my brain realized it was somewhat different, unfamiliar to me.

Lost in thought, I almost missed the vows. Only when tense silence fell around us did it catch my attention.

“Huh?” The attention of all the spectators was focused on the bride—that is, on me. “Right. I understand we’re doing vows now?”

I turned to the one conducting the ceremony, finally wanting to clarify several points I hadn’t been able to ask earlier, because interrupting was rude in any world.

“Before I promise anything, may I clarify a few questions?”

The officiant frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but someone’s hand suddenly stopped him. Following the movement, I realized it was the groom himself coming back to life.

“Ask. I will answer them if I can.” His voice was slightly muffled by the mask, but rather pleasant and masculine.

“Good. My questions may seem strange or funny, but please consider the position of a woman from another world and answer them no matter how foolish they sound. So, first: what awaits me after marriage? I mean, will I become one of several wives, will you eat me, or will I live as a slave with no right to speak?”

“No. You will be my only wife. We do not eat humans. You will be free in your decisions and actions. They will be limited only by a few rules by which our world lives. These rules are unbreakable and exist for the safety of everyone living here,” the groom answered clearly and understandably.

“Good. I agree to that. Second question: what will be required of me as a wife?”

“You are free in your actions and decisions,” the groom repeated, then continued. “Except for one rule: you must not try to kill me. You won’t succeed, and you will be harmed.”

“Can you return me to my world?” This was probably one of the questions that worried me most. Adventures were adventures, but I wanted to have a way of retreat.

“I cannot do that, nor can any other inhabitant of our world. We cannot enter other worlds. But I can promise you that if such an opportunity appears, and you want it, I will return you home.”

“Hmm.” I thought for a moment. “Then allow me one more thing.”

“What do you want?”

I didn’t answer. I simply reached out and carefully touched his mask. It seemed to me that the groom flinched almost imperceptibly, but he did not resist. To the touch, the material felt like porcelain, only more velvety.

It came off easily.

Piercing gray eyes looked at me.

Clear. Bright. With lashes so long they were almost girlish.

I also noticed high cheekbones and thin lips. And if taken not in parts, but as a whole, my groom was beautiful.

“Why the mask?” The exclamation escaped me involuntarily.

“Well…” He looked away slightly. Seriously? Was he embarrassed? Adorable. “Human girls consider me rather… frightening. I did not want to scare you.”

I looked at him attentively once more.

Yes, his otherness was visible to the naked eye, but the pale-green scales starting at his hairline and covering part of his forehead and cheekbones only made me melt a little. Truly. And those sweet, almost transparent little fins where ears should be?

Charming.

Or was I the broken one here?

Yes, he wasn’t human. But in my opinion, he was very attractive.

Who had killed his self-esteem like this?

“I declare to you as your bride: you are beautiful. Yes, not human. Yes, unusual to our eyes. But few human men can boast of such beauty. And the girls who told you otherwise were simply blind fools.”

His eyes widened in surprise, and for several moments he studied me as if seeing me for the first time.

Right, Asya, don’t blush. Don’t blush, I said.

“Thank you.” There was so much warmth in his voice, so much tired gratitude in his eyes, that I wanted to grab him and squeeze him.

“But I want to ask you for one thing.” I tried not to reveal the emotions overwhelming me. “I will become your wife, but I have already been betrayed once, and it hurt. You don’t have to love me—what love are we even talking about, we’re seeing each other for the first time—but please, respect my opinion, even if it’s wrong. Correct me, but respect me. And protect me. Just be a wall and support for me. Someone I can always rely on. And I beg you, don’t betray me. Please don’t. If you become my husband, I ask you never to betray my trust. I will never betray yours. I will respect you as my husband, as a person. I will be faithful to you and try to be your helper in everything.”

Treacherous tears rang in my voice.

“Only please, don’t betray me…”

It seemed to me those crystal-clear gray eyes looked straight into my soul and saw all of me through and through, but I could not look away.

“I will not betray you,” his quiet voice tore through the tense silence.

Only now did I understand that every guest at this strange wedding had been listening to our every word.

The water ribbons on the arch glowed softly and descended onto our hands. I hadn’t even noticed that, during the conversation, I had grabbed the groom by the hands. Our palms lay on each other’s forearms, and when the water ribbons lowered over them, it seemed so right.

As if this was how it was supposed to be.

As if I had lived my entire gray and fussy life for this very moment.

The ribbons wrapped around us gently, as if binding us, then sank beneath the skin. There were no rings, no bracelets, no tattoos of the kind fantasy writers from my home world loved to write about. Simply, inside me, there suddenly appeared the feeling of someone nearby, and it was so warm and pleasant.

The feeling that I would never be alone again.

So this was what it felt like to be married.

“Ha, little brother, careful you don’t drown in all that pink snot!” a booming voice sounded above my head.

Behind us stood the same man who had conducted the ceremony.

Excuse me?

What did he mean, little brother?

Who could possibly be the Vodyanoy’s brother?

Poseidon?

Holy hell.

Then I processed what exactly he had said.

My husband—oh, how strangely pleasant that sounded—didn’t have time to answer before I suddenly flared up. Either adrenaline had hit my head, or the bond that had just formed had done something. But I did not like the way Poseidon was behaving right now.

No one had the right to offend my handsome man—not when life had finally tossed me something good for once.

“Listen here,” I said, freeing myself from my husband’s hands and marching decisively toward Poseidon. “The fact that you, you blue seaweed, happen to be my brother-in-law does not mean you’re allowed to laugh at your own brother. Show some respect!”

I kept advancing.

“I will not allow you to hurt my husband, even as a joke. And the fact that you’ve been brined so thoroughly in your seas and oceans that you can’t appreciate a romantic moment does not mean you should ruin everything with your careless, idiotic words. Got it?”

Slightly cool palms settled carefully on my shoulders, cooling my temper. My inner compass immediately informed me this was my beloved husband.

“You see, brother,” his quiet voice sounded above me, “now I have a defender. Small, fragile, but so brave. I’m afraid, if necessary, even a storm won’t stop her.” I heard the smile in his voice. “And if that ‘necessary’ happens, nothing will stop me either. You were the one who wanted me to marry, salting my brain for centuries. Well. I’m married. And now drought is coming for you, because your wife is heading this way.”

Poseidon’s face abruptly paled.

“Amphitrite?”

“And what have you already managed to do, my lawful husband?” a melodious yet strong female voice sounded.

A woman approached us, as beautiful as she was majestic.

“Ami, darling, you’re here too!” the “fearsome” Sovereign of Seas smiled somewhat ingratiatingly.

The woman came closer, smiled sweetly, and gave her husband a solid smack on the back of the head.

I did not understand. What had that just been?

“My dear,” Amphitrite said in such a gentle tone that even I wanted to hide somewhere—under a shell or a pebble, perhaps. “What were you supposed to do? Conduct the wedding of your beloved younger brother and help his wife settle in. And what are you doing? Not only did everything take its own course—elemental vows, who could have imagined!—but you’re laughing at them too?”

The sea queen grabbed Poseidon and shoved him toward us.

“Go on, apologize to your brother and congratulate him properly!”

Then she turned to me and smiled sweetly. The glint in her eyes made me somewhat tense.

“And meanwhile, the dear little bride and I will chat. Woman to woman!”

Before I could come to my senses, I was already being dragged somewhere.

Amid all this commotion, I realized one astonishing thing: my husband and I still didn’t know each other’s names.

Yeah.

I couldn’t even get married properly.

Well, no matter. I would definitely never forget this wedding.