Chapter 10 ~ Sofie Von Tirol

 

I woke still feeling tired. I could hear several people approaching my cell. I rubbed my eyes and backed into a corner. My cell door unlocked. The clatter of keys called my attention to it.

The Lion came in and looked down at me. “If you behave in any way other than respectable today, you’ll pay for it dearly.”

“Are guests coming?” I asked him, standing up. I didn’t want him to be at such an advantage.

He stared at me with a cruel look in his eyes. I immediately knew what he wanted from me.

“My lord,” I said, practically choking on the words.

“Yes, several guests will be present to witness our union.”

“Perhaps, I might be allowed to greet them before the wedding, my lord. I’d like to thank them for coming to celebrate with us, my lord.” If only I could talk to them beforehand, I could explain my situation, and they might be able to save me before it was too late.

“You won’t be given the chance to talk to anyone or to ask them to help steal you away. I know what kind of person you are. There will be no chance to escape me. The only way to escape me is through your death.” He gave me a smile that told me that my death would cause him no sadness.

I closed my eyes as I felt his words hit me. He was confirming what I already feared. Death was my only way out.

“These people will help you get ready for the wedding. Don’t give them any grief, or I will punish you for it. I’ll tell you now that I don’t believe in whipping boys. I believe the person who does the crime should feel the lash. You will feel it often in our marriage.”

I was so surprised by his words, but I knew I shouldn’t be. I had been told why my father didn’t want me to marry the Lion. He had no intention to give our marriage a true chance. He would hurt me for his sport. He already had on the journey here.

Several men brought a large bathtub into my cell. Other men followed with buckets of warm soapy water, which they poured into the tub. Women were also present. They were there to wash me and get me ready.

The men left, but the Lion stayed.

“My lady, you need to undress and get into the water while it’s still warm,” a servant said, bowing to me.

My eyes flashed at the Lion.

He only grinned at me. “We’ll be married in a few short hours. There is no need for you to be shy around me.”

This was a game. Could I win it? I stared back at him and said nothing as I waited for him to leave so I could undress.

His grin grew. Then suddenly, he grabbed hold of me and bent me over the side of the tub. He shoved my face into the water for a second. Then he lifted up my skirts as I coughed and sputtered. “Give me the bath brush,” he told one of the servants.

The sharp pain on my rump told me that the servant had obeyed him much faster than I had.

I screamed out while his whacks met my already sensitive skin. The sounds echoed loudly throughout the dungeon.

I grabbed onto the sides of the tub for support, needing to hold onto something to stop myself from saying something that I might regret. It also stopped me from letting him know how much he was hurting me. I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

He paddled at me until I screamed out in pain. I hadn’t been able to keep my screams inside, and when I figured that was his plan, I gave up.

“Do I have your attention now? Perhaps you didn’t hear me before? I told you to undress.”

He released me and stood me up so I was facing him. The look in his eyes, the way he had his shoulders back, and even the position of his feet on the floor told me that he was waiting for me to obey him. If I didn’t, I knew that he would punish me again and again.

I dropped my eyes and began to undress, removing as much as I could on my own. I met a servant’s eye, willing her to step forward and help me.

She stepped behind me and opened my stays. I felt them loosening, and then her removing my corset and handing it to another servant. I was left wearing only my chemise. The fabric was so light that one could see through it. The servant opened the string of my chemise at my throat. Then she grabbed the hem, tugging it up over my body. I was forced to lift up my arms so she could remove it.

I was left, standing naked in front of the man who would stop at nothing to get me. His evil had caused so many deaths. It felt as if the devil himself was examining my body with his eyes.

“Wash her. She stinks,” he stated, turning away from me.

I was so relieved to see him go.

The women washed me, but they weren’t kind to me. I could feel their hate for me in their fingers as they washed me and dressed me.

They spared me no pain as they brushed my hair and styled it for the wedding.

~

The bells were ringing by the time they finished. I wiped away my tears and followed them up the stairs.

I wasn’t certain that the wedding wasn’t a ruse to get my feet to step forward. It could be a trap that would help me move forward to the gallows or the chopping block.

If it were, and I were accused of some made-up crime, I would allow them to kill me without saying a word.

The Lion was right about an uprising. Good common people would lose their crops as punishment, their daughters and wives would be misused, and lives would be lost. I had to do this to save my people.

If I couldn’t do it, the first life lost would be the boy Marcus. A boy who had risked everything to save my life. I owed him. I had to give my life like a sacrificial lamb in the place of those good people. Marcus had been willing to do the same for me.

I was led to the church. The Lion was waiting with a priest. We would be married outside of the church before we went inside in the old way and not in the new way inside of the church as I had been married to Frederick.

The Lion produced a simple silver ring with a blue sapphire on it out of his pocket. “In the name of the Father,” the priest said. Lukas Von Bayern lifted the ring to my right hand, first placing it on the tip of my thumb. When the priest said, “The Son.” The ring moved to the tip of my pointer finger. As the Priest said, “The Holy Spirit,” the ring moved to my middle finger. It was only one finger away from its final resting place.

This was a real wedding. The Lion was truly taking me to wife. I had doubted that he would, but here we stood with a priest and several witnesses.

“Amen,” the Lion said, speaking along with the priest. The ring slipped into placed above the one Frederick had given me on my ring finger. I belonged to the Lion now.

The doors to the church opened, and we stepped inside together as man and wife. The priest read a psalm.

Then we walked together, holding hands to the altar. There we knelt down, and a veil was held over our heads. This one was so much more elaborate than the one at my wedding to Frederick.

The service was held, and at the end of it, the priest kissed the Lion on the cheek, giving him permission to kiss me. His hand snaked around my body and pulled me in close. His lips pressed into mine so hard that my teeth cut into my lips.

Then the ceremony was over. I was married to the Lion.

If there was one thing that I knew about marriage, it was that it was everlasting, impossible to get out of unless one of us died. I would be the one to suffer from this sacred union, and I would be the one to end it by dying first by my own hand if need be.

The celebrating began immediately, it matched and went above the celebrating from yesterday. This time around, the Lion relaxed his hold on me. I spoke with the other ladies as I inched my way closer to the gate, wanting to escape. I couldn’t stop myself from looking up at the heads of my family and my husband.

They were gone.

Where were they? What had happened to them? I turned around, wanting to talk to the priest and ran into a thick chest.

It was the Lion. “Look who we have here. You got awfully close to the gate. You will no longer go near the gate. If you do, I will punish you.”

“Where are they?” I pointed up to the gate.

“I had them removed for our wedding.” He turned away from me. “Think of it as a gift,” he said over his shoulder.

I grabbed onto his arm and forced him to look at me. “But where are they. They have to be buried on sacred ground.”

“Release me. You may never touch me. Only I touch you.” He took hold of my hand and peeled it off of my arm. This was all a game to him.

I raced off to find the priest.

~

It was two hours later when I realized that I was being followed. I hadn’t seen my husband at all in that time. I assumed that he was drinking. I hoped he was drinking so much that he wouldn’t be able to find whatever chamber or dungeon they planned to put me in to sleep this evening.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” the Lion told me, grinning down at me.

“Of course, I have. I did what you wanted. I think it would be best if we ignored one another except at meals. I’ll sit beside you and pretend to be your wife, but you can’t possibly want me at your side.”

“What I want and where I want you is only my business. You are my wife. You have only to obey me. Your opinions and wishes don’t interest me.”

I stared at him dumbfounded.

He took hold of me and marched me into the great hall. Once there, he sat me down, and the evening feast began.

“I don’t want you stuffing yourself. You’ll need an easy stomach for this evening’s activities.” He grinned again.

“What activities?” I asked him.

“My wife, if I have to remind you one more time to call me my lord, I will turn you over my knee and punish you right in front of all of these noble people.”

“You wouldn’t.” I gritted my teeth together.

The sound of his chair pushing back sent a chill down my spine. Before he could grab me, I smiled at him. “My lord.”

He stared me down, trying to decide if he should punish me or not. “Because it’s our wedding, I’ll punish you later in private. But never expect this tolerance again.”

“Of course, my lord.” I was still smiling at him.

“I want you to call me my lord husband. Anything else, and you will be punished. Do you understand?” It was clear that he was testing me. He wanted to show me that he would do it. He wanted to prove to me that he would.

“I understand, my lord husband.” I gave him a sweet smile because I was thinking about his head on a spike.

A grin of pure male satisfaction spread over his face. “Nevertheless, I won’t forget your punishment.”

I sighed and looked away from him. It didn’t pay to talk to him. He annoyed me too much.

“You will be crowned tomorrow if you satisfy me tonight.”

“I’m a widow. You must know that I’m not pure. My lord husband,” I tacked on, not wanting to test him, yet.

“I don’t want a naive virgin. I want you to make me happy in bed. All you have to do is obey me. I’ll tell you exactly what I want. I’m not a vague man.”

“I’m sure you aren’t, my lord husband.”

“I’m so glad you’re a fast learner. That will make everything a lot more interesting.”

Every time I wanted to eat, he warned me not to eat too much. I played with the idea of disobeying him, but I didn’t want to risk it until I knew him better.

His men called out that it was time for the bedding. They toasted us and cheered. The Lion stood and held his hand out to me.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I had to go with him. The priest was at the bottom of the steps, waiting to guide us up to the Lion’s bedchamber.

I was so nervous as I followed the priest up while holding onto the Lion’s hand. I knew that I could go through with it because I had with Frederick.

The difference was that I knew little of Frederick. I knew more about Lukas Von Bayern. I didn’t like what I knew about him. I didn’t like his reputation, or what he had done to me since we met. His threats scared me, but he couldn’t possibly mean them.

The entire castle was at our back, going up with us to listen to the blessing. I shuddered at the thought of giving him children. The priest would pray that I would give the Lion many children in a minute.

We entered the candle lighted chamber behind the priest. The others stopped outside the door. The priest went to the bed, but his eyes glanced over to something new in the room. It was the thing that the Lion made the day I arrived.

I had no idea what it was, but it resembled stocks. What an odd thing to make and put in a bedchamber. I figured that it probably wasn’t finished, and he wanted to work on it in here later, but the priest could barely say his prayer over the bed because he was staring at it.

He left, storming out

The Lion locked the door the second the priest’s heel was out of the way.

Then the Lion had me alone in his den.