The Slave Bride Ch. 03

All characters are 18 years old or older. This story features science fiction and dystopian elements.

TRIGGER WARNING: Please note that although this story does feature self-harm it is not condoning self-harm. If you are sad, please tell someone. This story is how I like to process, so the main character will also have to work through things that may be difficult; it's all part of the story. If you DO NOT want to read semi-graphic content on depression or self-harm, please skip this chapter all together or at least skip the first few paragraphs and read after the ***

This story is written for therapeutic purposes and is not meant to idealise any unhealthy relationships. That being said please enjoy this work of fiction/fantasy and know that the situations and characters are just pretend.

Chapter 3

The fire crackled before her. The plush covers surrounded her as she stared blankly. How could she have ended up in a situation like this? All Giselle had wanted was to leave home and create a warm and happy family. At the very least she wanted to have a husband who would treat her kindly. Now she was the slave to two men. Strangers. They frightened her, with their expectations and punishments. She had only wanted to be safe. Safety was so far out of reach. It didn't matter what Cadence said; Benjamin would beat her even so. She knew that he would. He was mean and cruel and he liked to see her in pain. Perhaps, he would even be more cruel now. She shivered at the thought.

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked into the fireplace. Its embers were glowing. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. She imagined the fire stretching out from the hearth and setting everything ablaze. What did it matter anyway? She meant nothing to either of her husbands, they merely used her as an object of sorts. She was only a means to an end. It would be easy enough to replace her.

Giselle shifted in the bed, feeling the soreness that was left from Benjamin's punishment. The feeling brought back memories, not only of Benjamin, but of her father as well. Then she recalled what Cadence told her; there would be no more painful punishments. This should have thrilled her, but it did not.

She took a seat beside the fire, feeling its warmth on her bare skin. Her father had not laid a hand on her for two months before the wedding. He was almost paranoid about her appearance. It was strange to see her father hold back his anger the way he did. She had never known he could. When Benjamin had struck her, it had been the first time in months. What had been so upsetting to Giselle was the fact she had missed the familiar sting of a hand across her face.

Before she realised what she was doing, her own hand was on one of the coals. She pulled back cursing. She coal had marked her hand, just at the bottom of her palm. She looked at the little pink mark. She looked and looked and didn't feel any better. Why could she not punish herself as her father did? As Benjamin had? When Cadence came back in, Giselle had moved away from the fire to the couch, her burnt hand hiding under the blanket that was laying on the couch. She pulled her knees to her chest, gabbing a blanket to cover herself.

***

Cadence looked at her curiously. "Is everything alright?"

Giselle hesitated. Finally, she shook her head, "I was just cold. I thought I might sit next to the fire."

The man cocked his head to the side. It seemed warm to him. Nevertheless, he walked towards his slave and scooped her and her blankets up. Bringing her back to the fireplace, he sat on the ground with Giselle in his lap. Brushing a piece of hair from her face, he kissed her nose.

"Today, my sweet girl, I'd like you to take a bath and get dressed. Then we're going to take a walk in the garden. It's a very nice day today. I believe some fresh air might help you to feel better."

Giselle nodded and after a while, she got up get her bath and change out of her clothes. It was a slow process. She wanted to extend any time she was allowed to be alone. Even so, she knew that she was wasting her time with Cadence and that meant she would soon be at the mercy of his brother.

Dragging her thoughts away from tomorrow was getting more and more difficult. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She used the scents around her to pull her back to the moment, to stop the buzzing of worry in her brain. Slowly, she dragged the washcloth over her bare skin. The warmth from the tub was relaxing, she had to admit it. She'd had nothing so luxurious at home.

It was this thought that worried her. From this point on, she could not go home. Yet, she could not leave the brothers. If she did leave, who would take care of her? Gisselle had no money to speak of, and certainly no one would hire a runaway bride. How she longed to find a man similar to the sort she read about. She wanted, more than anything, to find a loving man, one who's character abounded in kindness and strength. To Giselle, these qualities were similar. It was easy to be cruel; kindness required perserverness. Unfortunately, men with the kind nature she'd wished for were simply always out of reach.

Giselle reached out, touching the hot cloth with her burnt hand. She pulled back. Staring at it, she wondered if this would cause her more trouble. She was thankful that Cadence had not seen it; but Benjamin was more observant. He would notice any painful mark left on her body. Perhaps he would even enjoy it.

She shook the thoughts from her head; and after a while she got out of the tub. Putting on her clothes, Giselle opened the door to Cadence's room. She found him sitting by the fire in a large velvet armchair. He was reading and did not hear her come in until she closed the door behind her. His eyes flashed up, a genuine smile crossing his lips. Something about it made her uneasy.

"Are you feeling better?"

Giselle replied, "Yes, Sir."

"Good." He said, "Come, sit."

Giselle made her way to the couch to take a seat.

"No dear," The man said gesturing to the floor beside his chair, "Sit here."

Giselle looked at him strangely, but did what he asked. She sat down on the floor, able to feel the fire warming her body. Her bathrobe was white and soft and plush enough that sitting on the hard floor did not seem bothersome to her. The man began reading. After a while, his hand moved so that he was stroking her hair. It was strange, but Giselle felt herself relaxing.

Cadence guided her head so that it was resting on his leg. He could feel her soft cheek pressing against his pants. The thought of taking her mouth made him swell. Instead, he kept reading. He knew that she was severely upset about the actions that had taken place with Benjamin, and that she was likely dreading the end of tonight. He would not make her fear him as well.

"Darling," He said after a moment's pause, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Would you like me to make you something, or would you like to make it yourself?"

Giselle hesitated. "Could I?"

"Of course,"

"Would you stay with me?" Giselle asked quietly, her voice trailing off at the end, "In case..."

Cadence bent down to kiss her forehead. "Let's go," he replied taking her hand and helping her up.

As they approached the door Giselle felt the intense fear starting to crawl up inside her. She hoped she would not run into Benjamin along the way. Cadence could feel his slave's grip tightening around his hand. He'd been hoping that if she were able to see Benjamin before she had to spend the night with him, it would be beneficial to her. Perhaps, if they could have any sort of causal interaction it would make tonight less frightening for her.

When they'd walked down to the kitchen Giselle stood in the middle of the room while Cadence picked out various breakfast foods. He set eggs on the counter. They were in a small wooden bowl instead of the plastic carton that Giselle had grown up with. He set vegetables on the counter and got out a cutting board and a knife.

"Come here," Cadence ordered.

Giselle walked towards the man. Together, they made omelets. When the eggs were on the plates, Cadence told Giselle to open the back door to the garden. "Let's eat outside."

Nervously, Giselle nodded. She went to open the door. When she and Cadence stood outside, she could feel the sun warming her skin. The smell of flowers drifted sweetly from the garden. The blooms were in full view. Giselle was happy at Cadence's suggestion to sit outdoors.

After they had eaten, Giselle and her husband wandered through the garden. She was completely taken with all of the flowers and butterflies that filled the vast green yard.

"Is there anything you need, my love?" she heard Cadence ask. "I want your life to be happy here. I know you've been dissatisfied, and rightly so. But, perhaps I could help."

"Let me go." Giselle said, staring at the flowers in front of her. She had not realised what she'd done until she'd turned around. Cadences face was a mixture of surprise and disappointment.

"You know what will happen then?"

Giselle shook her head.

"You'll be homeless. You have no formal education, so no one will hire you. You have been married and therefore no man will see you fit to remarry."

"What would be so bad about that?"

Cadence's response came quickly, furious at her disrespect and her inability to see that they were all stuck in this situation. Her father had promised a young slave bride. Giselle clearly had not been trained as a slave, but they had paid for her and taken her in nonetheless. They could not get rid of her; it would place her in an even worse situation. None of this was her fault, in the first place. She didn't seem to grasp what would truly happen to her if she left. She would be faced with many men, and they would treat her much worse than Benjamin ever would.

"How could you be so sheltered from the world as to not know will happen to you outside these walls?" Cadence thought aloud. He came very close to his slave, shaking his head, "You foolish little thing. Don't you know what will happen if people find out your husbands sent you away? If they find out you ran away?"

Giselle looked at him curiously.

"They'll see you as a whore, a treacherous woman not deserving of respect. They'll hurt you Giselle, in more ways than one, and worse than Benjamin ever would. Why do you think we built the fence in the first place? Perhaps, if we'd been able to come to a different conclusion before you married us, you could live somewhere else and make a life for yourself. Still, it would be incredibly dangerous for you."

Giselle's thoughts flew back to her father's home. She recalled his strict rules. She was to be home no later than 5 o'clock each day. She was never to go into the city alone. She was always to lock the doors. The list went on, and perhaps there was more to his rules than she'd thought. Growing up, she had not been allowed to go to school. Her father had warned her about it, saying that there were too many predators, to many young girls being taken. The news was always full of stories about sexual violence.

Her choice to run away was desperate and reckless. At the same time, there was hope in not getting caught. She could live running and hiding, but if she stayed here, there would be nowhere to turn. Did Cadence seriously think she was ignorant of the way the world worked? She was fully aware of its cruelty. Her own mother had been abducted from their home when Giselle was only a young girl. Her own father had used her as a replacement of sorts for the wife he'd lost. Now, she was married to two men, one of them a cruel monster, much like her father. Of course, she could never tell Cadence any of this, nor his brother. They would only see it as disrespect and punish her in some way.

"I was foolish and reckless for running away. Thank you for letting me stay here." Giselle's eyes were filled with a fire Cadence had not yet seen, "But, I have never been sheltered. I'd thank you kindly to not make assumptions about me."

Cadence furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm sorry my love, I didn't mean to upset you. Please, let's just keep walking."

He placed a hand behind her back and guided her on through the flowers. She was surrounded by beautiful butterflies and the many colors of the various blooms in her husband's yard. Still, none of it could stop the sadness from growing inside her, like a weed, choking up any bit of life left inside her. She was utterly trapped, and she always had been.

Tonight she was headed to Benjamin's bedroom whether she wanted to or not, praying that he would be kind to her. Dinner was silent. She ate quietly, in between the two men. They sat opposite each other, one at either end of the table. She looked at neither of them.

"I think it's time you head upstairs,"

Her head snapped up at the sound of Benjamin's voice. Nervousness coursed through her veins, turning her body to ice. Her fingers began to tremble as she set down her fork, never taking her eyes off of his. Wordless, she pushed her chair out and left the table. Her footsteps echoed in the hall, they only stopped when she reached his door.

It was heavy when she weakly pushed it open. She took her time walking inside. She did not close the door behind her. Over her shoulder she could see the door to Cadence's room. As much as she thought she would have liked to stay there, she was no more comfortable with him than she was with Benjamin.

She sat, perched on the edge of the couch, unsure of what to expect whenever her husband did walk through the door. Finally, he entered. She looked up at him, not knowing if she should get up to greet him or stay where she was until he instructed her to do otherwise. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.

Closing the door behind him, he walked close to her and bent down on one knee. He was eye level with her now. She was petrified. But, his voice was soft and calm when he spoke.

"Let me speak first."

She nodded.

"I frightened you before," He said touching her gently on the cheek, "Please, know that I had not intended to hurt you in the way I did. Cadence should have tried to make things more clear for you, but it is very dangerous outside. That's why we have the fence. It's strong enough to hurt any unwelcome visitors, so I knew it would hurt you. I should have explained all of this to you, but I was under the impression that you were trained in ways you haven't been."

"Cadence said that you two had been expecting a slave. That my father had told you'd been trained as one."

"Yes, that is true. But, you certainly are not. I don't intend on forcing you to become something that you aren't. We shall have to wait and see. For now, please, accept my sincere apology, Giselle."

Giselle was taken aback. She had expected him to be cruel, but he was speaking and acting so gently with her. The way he made his voice quieter, the way his hands touched her so gingerly, she wondered if this was a trick. Hesitantly, she nodded.

It was not a trick. She saw him close his eyes momentarily and bow his head as he stood. He took her by the hand and brought her to one of the windows. Drawing back the large curtains, she could see there was a glass door that lead to a balcony. Giselle looked back at him in surprise. When Benjamin opened the door she flew out the railing and leaned against it. feeling the last bit of sun on her face. She was up so high and could see the entire garden from here. Beyond the garden, there lay the forests. She could feel herself plotting escape again and for some reason the thought made her feel guilty this time. She ignored the guilt seeping into her mind like rain through an old window cill. This was a momentary gesture of kindness, she told herself. It wouldn't last.

"I thought that maybe we could talk up here." Benjamin mentioned from behind, "Would you like that?"

She nodded, turning back to him. They each took a seat on one of the chairs overlooking the horizon.

"I have always like to be outside when I am feeling upset or lonely, and I thought that perhaps you'd like the same?"

"I do."

There was a moment of silence between them.

"I need this marriage to work Giselle," he paused again, "so I am going to ask you for something."

She waited, silently for his request, unsure of what it would be.

"I need you to communicate. At the very least, I need to know that you will tell me the truth about what you are thinking and how you are feeling. We are both in a situation that we did not intent. But the fact of the matter is, you belong to us now; and I am going to keep it that way. I do want you to be happy, and what happened last time we were together has nearly made that impossible, I'm afraid. Still, I'd like to make sure that you are content here."

"If you feel that I am not content," Giselle wondered aloud, "will you let me leave."

"Giselle, you must know what happens to unmarried women. Especially young women, without jobs. I could never-" he cut himself off when he saw the look on her face. "I'd much prefer if you were able to stay here."

Giselle turned, disappointed and confused. The pale pink sky was turning dark and soon the stars were above their heads. She stared at their beauty. In her home, she had never been allowed to see the real stars. She'd always been inside by the time it was dark. Now she was surrounded by so many twinkling dots above her in the black night. It was such a sight, she couldn't help but smile.

Benjamin noticed the way her demeanor had changed since dinner. He hoped that he had made the right choice to apologize to her directly, before anything else. All day he'd wondered if it would be possible to salvage any trust. Certainly there had been none in the beginning, how foolish he'd been to trust her father's word without making sure on his own. He'd been a fool to jump straight into things and let himself take control of her so quickly.

He wished he never had. The beautiful creature in front of him was filled with a curiosity that he found endearing. Although her disregard for rules had bothered him initially, it changed when he realized that she'd never been trained in the first place. His wife did not follow rules, because she did not know them. He couldn't fault her for that now that he knew the truth about her. And he would not try to impose rules upon her yet. Not until she had shown to him that she welcomed his guidance. Until then, his job was to get to know her.