Chapter 2

Thomas would visit Dawn's bed every night, but would leave after he was satisfied, saying 'staying and sleeping till morning would be improper and give people the wrong idea'. Dawn didn't seem to understand that, seeing as they were, in fact, laying together before marriage, but she figured it was just an excuse to leave her alone after she fulfilled her purpose. After all, she was a loathsome sight to be held naked, marred with scars. She was surprised he wanted to be with her at all.

The days dragged on this way. She would be dressed by a maid and touted around with people asking her questions as a formality when the answers were already long picked. It was one such afternoon that she found herself in the garden 'helping' pick out flower arrangements for her impending wedding. She slowed her pace the entire time, pulling away to the back of the crowd, looking around at the birds and flowers and occasionally a cloud that looked interesting in the yellowing evening sky. The group of organisers didn't even pretend to care that she wasn't a part of the conversation.

Out of the corner of her vision, a familiar figure could be seen just before it was blocked from sight by a bush. She glanced over at the movement, but no one was there, least of all the tall, dark, and mysterious duke.

She felt her heart sink and she carried on following the small group from her distance. She hadn't seen the duke since her first night in her bedroom and his offer had been on her mind almost constantly. She hardly had much else to think about, so Atlas had filled her cognitive time. She wanted to speak to him again, to hear him talk and maybe redo the moment in her bedroom. She wanted to know why he'd offered something only to make himself scarce from her for the weeks to follow.

With her thoughts again on the dark duke, she slipped away from the cohorts of people deciding her wedding ahead of her and ducked behind some bushes till they passed. She waited till she couldn't hear their voices anymore and then stood up from her hiding place. She turned back the way she had come and made her way towards the place where she thought she may have seen him.

"Duke Atlas?" She called softly with no response. A movement just past the tree line caught her eye.

"Duke Atlas?" She called again, wondering why he might be hiding in the woods or if she was, perhaps, chasing a mischievous squirrel painted by her daydreams. She hiked her dress up above her knees to step over the decorative bush edge and into the shade of the trees, deciding that, even if it was wildlife and not him, it was more interesting than being ignored by the planning team.

"Duke Atlas?" She called a third time, looking around but struggling to see far into the woods, the evening sun hardly penetrating the canopy of the trees here. She looked for a few minutes, watching for movement, and she had almost given up when she saw the shadow of a man ahead and the sound of footsteps on the forest floor quickly moving deeper in.

"Wait! Duke, please!" She called as the silhouette moved away from her, further into the trees and the outline was lost to the shadows. She chased after it with as fast steps as she could manage, struggling in the mud with her fancy shoes, until she was well into the tree line. She stopped when she no longer saw movement or heard footsteps. In fact, she couldn't hear much of anything as the forest seemed to have gone quiet around her.

"Duke?" She called out hesitantly now, fear creeping in. It was getting dark and she had travelled a distance from the garden's edge. She put a hand on a tree next to her, finding slight comfort in being beside it instead of standing free.

A deep growl reverberated low from behind her and she spun, coming face to face with the snarling snout of a brown bear. She gasped, sucking in air sharply, her eyes widening immediately and pushed herself against the rough bark of the tree that, moments before, had provided comfort but was now trapping her in place. One hand reached behind her, hugging the tree and the other clutching her skirts to her chest.

She stared at the bear, icey fear dowsing her from head to toe. The bear tilted its head at her and snarled. Its eyes looked into hers and she was struck by the intelligence she saw in them but it hardly helped calm her when it stepped closer. Her legs went weak and her back slipped down the bark of the tree, till her butt hit the soggy wet ground. She couldn't take her eyes off the bear as it stepped closer again now eye level with her. She could feel the breath of the bear as it sniffed her hair, the few curls free of her hair tie moving against the rancid stench. Her body trembled as she stared into the beast's eyes, seeing something in them she didn't understand but was terrified by.

It roared in her face and she screamed, covering her head and breaking her eyes away from it. She felt her skin tingle with fear, a familiar feeling that sharpened her terror even more. She waited for claws or, perhaps, teeth but instead she heard footsteps rushing up at her. She didn't look up but the bear was jerked away by it being hit with the blunt hilt of a pistol. Suddenly, another large body was in front of her, his broad back facing her front as Atlas stood between her and the bear.

The bear whipped back its head, looking at its assailant with renewed hatred that a bear shouldn't be able to express and it roared at him. Dawn whimpered, her eyes closed now and head still buried in the protection of her arms. He reached back to comfort her with his touch, even as his other hand was busy pulling back the gun's hammer in warning, ready to fire if need arose. He stared down the bear, his eyes dark and protective. It growled at him but stepped back, clearly not happy about it. It seemed to understand the danger that the gun posed and, with a final growl, it turned away. Atlas let out a breath he had been holding and watched it recede into the trees before he turned to Dawn, holstering his gun.

"What are you doing out here? It's dangerous!" He asked, brows pulled tight in concern.

She was shaking as she lowered her arms slowly. Opening her eyes hesitantly, she looked up at Atlas, her breath stuttering lightly. Her green eyes searching for comfort in his, when they flashed and the pupils pointed at the tops and bottoms, bisecting her jade irises. She felt it, along with her skin tingling numbly again and she was overwhelmed with a new fear. She snapped her head downwards and threw her hands up between them to cover her face.

"Don't-Don't look!!" She shrieked and forced the feeling rising up her spine back down. Not here! Not now! Too much!

He took in a sharp inhale, seeing her eyes change, then released it slowly. He crouched to be more at her level, but still remained above her height, and he drew her into his arms.

"I'm not looking." He said, his voice softer than she had ever heard before. "I saw nothing" The lie was to be soothing despite them both knowing it was untrue, but she couldn't focus on it.

She was panting, struggling to keep her demon inside and hidden away, trying desperately to send it back into the shadows of who she was. She forced herself to stay in the moment. She couldn't change. She couldn't! She felt his arms so solidly around her and listened to his voice. He would ground her. He had to. She gripped at his shirt, clutching the fabric till her knuckles turned white, and clenched her eyes shut just as hard.

"Deep breaths." He instructed, bending his head down so his lips were against the top of her head. "You're safe." He whispered to her hair.

She heaved deep breaths in, swallowing air, calming herself as best she could. She felt the demon dissipate back inside her, retreating from the surface and she let out a shuddering breath. Her skin stopped tingling and her eyes dulled, back to normal. Human again.

"I-I'm okay..." she stuttered, still shook up from the ordeal but recovering. She slowly came to realise how close she was holding him but she couldn't bear to let him go yet.

He hummed in acknowledgment of her words and let his hand go up and down her back comfortingly, waiting for her to let go first.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled, her voice still shaking but less so now. She released hold of him and pulled her arms in to hug herself, still sitting on the ground. He let her pull away but stayed crouched in front of her, looking her over for injuries.

"Are you well? What do you need?" His voice was still pitched softly.

"I'm fine." She lied quietly putting her mask back up, obedient, meek and passive again. "I'm sorry to have caused you trouble." She looked away from him to her skirt covered knees. She was expecting him to be angry, maybe hit her, so why did he seem to be being kind?

"Lady Dawn, I ask that you don't hide from me. You're a terrible liar." He smirked a bit, and Dawn could feel the heat of her cheeks for being called out in such a way. He didn't seem to be kind. He was being kind. "Are you ready to go inside or do you need more time to recover?"

"I need to go in. I have to change." She said, examining the mud and grass smeared on her dress. "My fiancé will not be pleased that I soiled my dress." A resigned fear wobbled her voice.

Thomas hadn't hit her yet, not really. It was only because she spoke out of turn. She really just walked into the doorframe. He hadn't pushed her. Her hand passively rubbed her bicep where the bruise was hidden beneath the fabric of her dress. He wasn't as bad as her father, she needed to remind herself, needed to hold onto that hope still, lest she give up and lay down to die in the mud right then.

Atlas's eyes darkened, obviously not liking the bit of information she had divulged about the prince.

"Then allow me to escort you inside." He said as stood and offered her his arm, to help her stand.

She finally looked at him, up from the dirtied fabric of her dress, her eyes normal again, with no remnant of the demon inside visible. She dared to smile ever so slightly, grateful to him for saving her. She reached for his arm, allowing him to help her stand, and then doing her best to wipe away some grass from her skirt.

She did her best not to think about the bear or the human silhouette that had been ahead of her leading her in deeper. Atlas had come from the other direction to her aid so who was the shadow that had silently encouraged her closer to danger? She spared a subtle glance back into the darkness of the trees. She wasn't sure if it was her eyes or the shadows that were playing tricks on her, as she could have sworn someone was standing watching them leave.