Look Beyond What You See
Piecing the Puzzle

Deafening silence. Where is Dmitri? Anxiety floods my consciousness, which has been set quite ill at ease by the disappearance of my necklace. Within me swirl shards and broken fragments of things I used to remember. My arms are around Kyla, whose face looks like she’s feeling the same thing I am: Something just broke. I gently release her and rise unsteadily to my feet. I have to find Dmitri.

“Aerys?” a warm, velvety, anxiety-tightened male voice questions. I turn towards the voice and my eyes are captured by a pair of flaming orbs.

“Dmitri,” I breathe, relieved that he is close by. For a moment, we just stand staring at each other, taking each other in. There’s a hole in his tuxedo shirt, which is stained with blood. His eyes reveal tightly coiled anticipation, desire, anxiety. All I want is to set him at ease.

The next moment, we’re in each other’s arms, clinging to each other as though we’re each afraid that the other will disappear. His lips find mine and my knees buckle as all the shards and broken fragments in my mind suddenly fuse back together. Xenia de Poitiers is gone. I’m free. We’re all free.

Thunderous applause coincides with my thoughts and befuddles me greatly. Dmitri and I separate to look around with similar confusion and irritation to find that we are still at the front of the chapel, with all of our guests clapping wildly. Whether they clap for our show of affection or the deaths of the hated de Poitiers couple, I am uncertain; the MacKenna sisters, far more sure of the situation, are bowing elaborately and blowing the crowd kisses, accepting the adulation as gratitude for their fiery doings. A shuffling noise behind us catches my attention and I look to see the priest creeping out of his hiding place behind the altar. Then the applause abruptly dies down as Wesley, easily the individual with the most commanding presence in the room, rises to his feet. All eyes turn to him, but I can’t help noticing Zinaida, in the spot next to him, surrounded by maids who are trying desperately to revive her from her swoon. Typical.

“Ahem. Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please,” Wesley begins. I’m sure he makes this request to buy a little time to figure out exactly what to say, seeings as he already has the attention of everyone in the room except his unconscious wife. “Due to this...unexpected but entirely welcome turn of events, we will all take some time to collect ourselves. A second attempt at the holy union of Dmitri and Aerys will begin sometime this afternoon, when everyone has sufficiently recovered from our unexpected deviation from the established plan of events. Some sort of luncheon will be provided on an open-scheduled basis in the main dining room, and our staff will alert you to any changes in this plan as they are made. You are all dismissed.”

The room begins to buzz with conversation and activity as everyone begins to process the disruption of our wedding and the change in plans. Many leave, undoubtedly to take a nap and find respite from the room where malevolent wisps of purple smoke and the smell of burning flesh still linger. The MacKenna sisters come directly to Dmitri and me, with Kyla trailing close behind them.

“Ye ‘ave a bit o’ explainin’ to do, Aerys,” one of the twins prompts me. Kyla’s eyes meet mine, pleading for us to be alone. I need to take care of this quickly.

“We’re mighty glad yer plan worked, as I’m sure ev’ryone is, but why did it work, and how did’ye know?” the other continues.

“Wait. You knew....?” Dmitri questions, dragging my attention back to him. Oops. I should have known I’d have to explain everything. “Why didn’t we get rid of them before, then?”

“I found out yesterday, after my nightmare,” I reply softly. All of them gather around me to better hear what I have to say. “I stole some time before bed late last night to flip through one of the genealogy books in the library. The one about my family. I thought maybe that evil witch would show up, and I was looking for anything I could use to our advantage in negotiations if she did. I never expected to find the full story of how she and my grandfather ended up together.”

“What does that ’ave t’do with ’ow killing the gambler also kills the witch?” the first twin--their names are Aedammair and Aithne, but I can’t tell them apart--demands.

“Their relationship started with gambling, actually, somewhere in Germany. It seems that Iago de Poitiers, the man who became my grandfather, was down on his luck with cards. Xenia came in and he mentioned to his card partner that he found her attractive. The other man told Iago that she was a powerful sorceress--even then her reputation proceeded her--and he got this crazy idea that he could trick her at cards and get his hands on something better than money: someone who could transmute base metals into gold.”

“But only alchemists do that,” the second twin objects.

“No one ever claimed that Iago de Poitiers was knowledgeable about things of a magical nature prior to his relationship with Xenia. He didn’t find out until later that her magic dealt more with transforming people into dark creatures and tormenting those who displeased her. At the time, all he saw in her was a pretty face and an opportunity. She was cocky, accepted his offer, and made a few mistakes in the game. After only a few hands, he’d won back all he’d lost that night, and Xenia was angry enough to make a reckless bet. She bet him his life that she’d win the next hand. He replied that if he won, she’d have to marry him. And he won. She claimed he cheated, but there was no proof, and her skills were at that point not sufficient to defy the sorcerer hired by the bartender to keep the peace in that bar, which it seems was frequented by individuals of magical gifting. And the deal had already been struck. Because Xenia lost, she not only had to guarantee Iago’s life, but she had to marry him. To eliminate her own incentives to kill this very irritating husband, she cast a spell on both of them to link their lives so that if one died, the other died. Then, it is said, she sold her soul to the devil to obtain immortality, and that’s when her magic really took a turn for the darker side. The only catch to her immortality, it seems, was if her mortal husband was killed. Her spell did not prevent him from aging, but would keep him alive as long as she was. Or so it was written in the book. The catch wasn’t in there. I took a horrible chance on that one. I’m glad it worked out the way I hoped it would, and glad the two of you were willing to take the risk.”

“If we’d known a bit more about it, we might not ’ave,” the first twin grumbles seriously. Kyla is completely stunned by the revelation about our grandparents, much as I was when I read the story. I’m surprised I slept at all after reading it, honestly. I don’t know why it was in the genealogy book. It seems that the book contained family history as well as family trees, and this story was definitely worth recording.

“Well, you have my gratitude, regardless, and that of everyone present at the wedding, I’m sure,” I answer.

“Certainly mine,” Dmitri affirms. A glance his way becomes longer than a glance, as I cannot seem to tear my eyes away from his admiration-filled orbs. “I guess your distaste for sleep is one of your finest assets, Aerys.”

“More like my obsessive curiosity,” I mutter in reply. “A wonder it hasn’t killed the cat yet, really. Or anyone else.”

“Don’t, Aerys,” Kyla speaks for the first time, reminding me as she so often has not to be so hard on myself. “You and Aedammair and Aithne are responsible for a great good, and you are very brave. Do not be hard on yourselves or waste time thinking about how things might have gone wrong. We are alive and free from the menace of Xenia de Poitiers.”

“And you are free from much more. That was what I most hoped to achieve, even if she hadn’t shown up,” I admit. “I wanted to break your necklace and set you free from that horrible man so that you could be happy again.”

“It’s better this way. As things are, he set me free himself, through his own folly.” A curious little smile plays about her lips. She seems genuinely happy at the thought and I can’t help smiling, too. The whole world feels surreal, with the idea that Xenia de Poitiers is no longer in control of our lives. I’m practically floating, I feel so light.

“I am so glad you are happy, sister.”

She smiles. “I’m glad we’re all happy, and free. There’s just one more thing that needs to happen to make this day perfect.”

“And what might that be?” I inquire, arching an eyebrow. What more could she possibly want?

“You and Dmitri need to actually get married.”

Oh. Right. That hasn’t actually happened yet.

Dmitri still has an arm around my waist and his grip on me tightens briefly, signifying his agreement with my sister.

“All in good time,” I laugh, trying to quell the butterflies that flutter to life in my stomach at this reminder.

“Not soon enough,” Dmitri murmurs near my ear. Chills rush up and down my spine. The MacKenna twins choose this moment to wander off together, probably in search of more things to set on fire. Surprisingly, Kyla chooses to stay.

“Dmitri, would you mind if I borrowed Aerys until Act Two of your wedding ceremony?” Kyla requests primly. “You should probably get a fresh tuxedo, and we’ll see if the seamstresses can do anything about the bloodstains on Aerys’ dress.” I hadn’t realised it before, but she’s right; somewhere in all the craziness I got several spatters of Dmitri’s blood on my gown.

“I suppose,” Dmitri sighs, reluctantly releasing his hold on me. “Until this afternoon, then, Aerys.”

His voice indicates that he can hardly wait. And to my surprise, despite the butterflies that still occupy my midsection, neither can I.

***~O~***

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