Frost and Flame - continued

The silence between them grew long, but that was okay. Nothing needed to be explained. Not really. They had spoken this over, time and time again. Planned what they would do, where they would go.

But now, here it was, and it didn't look anything like they had expected.

The sky far above them looked so inviting.

“I wish I could fly,” Ariel said, she sighed as she said it, ”Everything would so simple then.”

“We could always leave,” Nathaniel offered.

Ariel could tell that he meant it. He'd really leave everything behind. His family, his home, the reputation he'd spent his whole life building. All just for her.

It should have made her happy, and it did, for a second.

“You love me too much.” She said, wincing as she said it, as though it were a fact that he had been blind to. As though now he'd see he had been wrong.

She felt his hand curl tightly around her`s. He laid her hand over his heart.

When he spoke his voice was gruff and quiet, “I can't promise you any kind of life. Not like the one that weasel stole from you. But, “ he stopped, overcome by some powerful emotion. Ariel could feel his pulse racing against her palm. “ You would always be loved too much, and always.”

He fished something from his pocket, a ring made of turquoise stone, hand carved, roughly shaped, but polished so brightly it glowed in the sunlight. He pressed it into the palm of her hand, “It's yours if you want it. If you'll have me.”

Ariel was at a loss. Joy, inexplicable joy, and yet the feeling that this was all in the wrong order.

“I was going to propose at the festival tonight, but that darned things been burning a hole in my pocket ever since I made it. It's why I came back,” he laughed,” Lucky thing too.”

“It's almost like fate,” she said, she too was quiet, but it was a different sort of quiet. Nathaniel leg go of her hand and covered his face with his arm, waiting for the blow he knew was coming.

“Fate has never been kind to me. I don't see why I should start trusting it now.”

He sighed deeply, “This isn't about trusting fate. This is about moving forward the best way you can. What else can we do?”

“I could kill that scheming fox,” she was sitting up now, face screwed up with rage.

“Ariel, you can't just go around killing people because they`re evil. Besides, as wicked as the man is, it isn't like he's actually killed anybody.”

She shook her head, “Yes he has. As far as I see it. He killed her Nathan. He killed her bit by bit, sucking the life out of her like- like a leach. A squirming, slimy, lecherous beast.”

Nathaniel was quiet.

“He deserves to die, to suffer bit by bit, just like she did,” Ariel slammed the roof with her fists,”If only I hadn't thrown my knife so carelessly.”

“and what if you had succeeded? What then?” he sat up, looking her in the eye, streaks of tears drying on his cheeks, “Then, as far anyone would be concerned, you'd be the murderer. A justified murderer perhaps, but still a murderer, and with half the soldiers loyal to him, with their word against yours. The minute they investigate, and trust me they will, you will be thrown in jail, if you're lucky. And then the debt collectors will pour in like vultures on a carcass. Whatever is left of this castle, do you think it will go to you? No, it will go to the next male heir, whoever he may be, and God have mercy on whoever it is. These walls will become just as much a burden to him as they have been a prison to you.”

“Do you think I'm an idiot?” She said, “That I was just going to kill him in broad daylight? I had everything planned out, down to the last letter. I would have framed one of those ditsy maids of his, for one.”

“Which one? Charlotte? Maggie? Sarah?” his voice had been passionate but gentle before, now it was hard with anger.

“No, no one we know. I'm not that heartless.” She said gently, trying to calm him down.

“So if we don't know them that makes it okay?”

Ariel growled in frustration, “No. I wouldn't have just chosen anyone. It would have been someone who deserved it. The only reason I hadn't done it yet was because I was still deciding.”

They sat in silence a moment, each digesting what the other had said.

It was Nathaniel who spoke first, “So what do you plan to do now. Get a new knife, go back to plotting in your tower, waiting for someone to stop being human long enough for you to hate them too?”

No, that wouldn't work, but she couldn't bare to just run away.

“Look,” he sighed, and looked down at his feet, rubbing the back off his neck, “It's a long shot, but maybe we could find a lawyer.”

It was an idea, but lawyers were rare. She didn't know where to find one, and even if she did, where would they get the money to pay one?

“Lawyers are for rich people Nathan. I'm only a noble by name.”

“I've been saving-,” he started to say, but Ariel cut him off.

“You’ve been saving for a plow horse.”

“This is more important than a horse,”

“No, it isn't. A good horse would make a future for you.”

Nathan said something sweet and selfless, but Ariel was lost to her own thoughts. All this talk about horses had sparked her imagination.

There was a stable just to the other side of the roof they sat on. If they could get down there, somehow, without being seen, they would have their choice of horses, and other beasts as well.

Perhaps, the sale of one of those beasts could fetch a profit, and there were plenty of good horses for Nathan to choose from.

It was the answer.

But how would they do it without being seen? How would they escape? And how would they keep anyone else from following them once they did?

An evil smile crept onto her face. Simple, she would choose that one. 

“Nathan, do you remember when dear old uncle bought that lizard thing.”

“You mean the one they had to bound head and tail to keep it from killing everyone?”

“Yes, that one,”

He shuddered, “You mean he actually kept the beast?”

She smiled, and nodded.

“Well what about it?”

“Well, he keeps the poor thing barred and shackled. They throw it a goat once a week, and clean it's stable once a month. Poor dear hasn't seen sunlight in ages. I was just thinking, the only right thing to do would be to liberate it."