Chapter 25: Chapter Twenty-five – Loveless

Propitious had not understood any of what the Graylings were saying. Moreover, she had been wholly dismayed by the appearance of Calamitous.

To her, he seemed so very strange, for though his eyes were black like the other Graylings, his irises were pale gray, and this caused them to stand out against the blackness of the rest of his eyes. It gave him an otherworldly look.

Also, he appeared to be very old, for his gray skin was covered in wrinkles and hung loose from his bones. It was as if his flesh had been taken from an even larger man, but in truth, he had shrunken and withered over his many years. Thus, he looked completely alien to Propitious, for even the oldest among the Ancients never looked so shriveled and old.

To make matters worse, Propitious had not understood that she had been given to Calamitous as a wife until the giant man forced himself upon her within the darkness of his cave. She had struggled at first, but despite his aged appearance, he had been too powerful.

As he roughly grasped her with his huge gnarled boney hands, he tore her undyed swathe in his haste to undress her, for the manner in which she had folded it around herself confused his addled mind.

His stench had been overwhelming. The smell of him was a sickening mixture of the black mushrooms which he ate continuously and the reek of a body that had gone far too many years without washing. These two odors formed a nauseating aroma that caused her to gag more than once.

To make the experience harsher, the gray-Ancient said nothing to her as he took her. In his benumbed state, it was as though she was little more than an object that served his purpose.

Thus, Propitious became a wife without the tender natural affections that should accompany such a union. Moreover, the customs of her people were not followed. Instead of love and a new swathe, she was given pain as a wedding present, many bitter tears were her dowry, and her cruel husband left more than a few bruises upon her body

When Calamitous had at last fallen asleep, Propitious untangled herself from his grasp and staggered away from his rudely made bed. With trembling hands, she took up her now torn swathe and wrapped its tattered remnants about herself, but because it was ripped, she was forced to hold it in place with her clasping hands.

In that moment, she was overtaken by a desperate desired to bathe, for the stench of the gray-Ancient's unwashed body lingered upon her flesh. And so, she quietly crept from the den of Calamitous and glanced around the landscape. Though thick clouds choked the sky, Propitious could tell that it was now day.

On the other hand, the fell-folk seemed to take no note of the day or the night, for they went about, this way and that, upon their endless errands. However, none of them dared to look up at her, for they had heard that she was a powerful witch, and the fear of her caused them to give her a wide berth.

Seeing that they made no move to attack her, she quickly decided to take full advantage of the day. Thus, she set about exploring her new home in hopes of finding some source of water in which to wash.

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In truth, she was still in shock, and so she wandered through the arid landscape with a dazed expression upon her beautiful face. Blankly gazing up at the strange pillars of stone that towered over her, she noticed that many caves, both natural and manmade, riddled their sheer sides. Within the shadows of these holes, she glimpsed more than a few Graylings eyeing her with contempt. Here and there, they furtively poked their heads out and then back in again with quick bird-like jerks.

Too traumatized by her wedding night to care, Propitious ignored them, and walked on until at last, she found several clear pools of water that seemed to be away from the watchful eyes of the fell-folk. These pools were laid out in a stair-step pattern with water trickling from the top pool down into the lower ones. The pools were shaped by stone dikes which had naturally formed over many years.

When she lightly touched one of the steaming glass-like surfaces, she was glad to find that the water was very warm. After glancing around to make sure she was alone, she let her torn garment fall from her trembling body.

Gingerly, she climbed over the stone rim and eased herself into the hot water. The bath was only waist deep, and it greatly relieved her suffering. With a deep sigh, she laid back against the rim and let the water come up to her chin.

Her eyes had been an indigo hue that was so dark that it was hard to say they were not black, but in the soothing bath, they turned a glowing green as she closed them in slumber.

She could not be sure how long she had lain in the water when suddenly a shadow fell over her. With a start, she glanced up to find Wroth looking down upon her. His pitch-black eyes seemed to hungrily devour the vision of her nakedness.

Little did she know, but the fell-lord had seen her come out of his father’s den, and so he had climbed up on top of one of the pillars of stone. From this high vantage point, he had been intently watching her, and in this way, his vile passions had been greatly aroused by the pure beauty of her form.

A cold sliver of fear shot through the heart of Propitious as she quickly scrambled out of the pool and grabbed for her torn clothes. However, Wroth was too quick. Before she could cover herself, the gray king snatched the undyed swathe from her.

Uncomfortably, she hid herself as best she could with her hands, but still, his cruel eyes lingered upon her nude form. He stepped toward her with an expression of shameless wickedness upon his foul-looking skull-painted face.

In response, Propitious stepped backward as new dread filled her already traumatized mind.

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