"She didn't look surprised," Matvey noted and Lazarus turned away from him.
"You weren't looking," he replied, prompting a giggle from the lord.
"Maybe. It doesn't matter now," he looked back and the whimpers reached his ears. "That is to be expected. Every girl is scared before the first time. Just give her some time."
"I know... Treat her carefully; she's my only daughter," Lazarus said, glancing at his future son-in-law.
"I shall be the tenderest and most loving stallion you could ever imagine," Matvey assured. "However... just to avoid trouble... I'll order several guards to stand around your mansion. If the girl decides to escape, they shall bring her back."
"That is completely unnecessary, but I'll agree; the girl reads too many romance novels... Who knows what might come to her hot-headed mind," Lazarus said, and thus, it was settled. Krystal's own house was to become a prison for her until she’d give her body to the powerful lord.
***
The wind howled outside of the summer house and the drops of rain were bombarding its roof like a violent war machine. The piercing cold chilled Sombra to the bone, made him shudder. Even his thick skin and skull, accompanied by a big amount of attitude, were not saving him from the breath of winter.
The young stallion closed his eyes, leaned on the wooden girder, and sighed heavily. The cold was, of course, terrible, but his heart ached more than his frostbitten skin. He was loyal to Krystal, but he still had doubts. What if she wouldn't come? What if she hadn't forgiven him? What if she decided to find a more fitting stallion? One who'd actually care, protect and, support her. Nopony could really blame her.
What else did you expect, dumbass? For her to run back to you with open hooves, screaming: 'Take me, my prince, take me?' You make me sick! his inner voice shouted. Of course she's angry. Of course she won't come back! Because you're a moron!
I know. Just stay quiet, alright? I feel pathetic already as it is. Don't make it worse than it already is, Sombra thought as a reply to his logical train of thought and sighed one more time. I hope she'll listen... I really do.
You'll come here every day, too? Isn't that a bit of a waste, a totally lost cause? His inner voice kept taunting him.
I'll come here still. And even if it's obvious that she won't come... I'll come here and wait for her. It doesn't matter, wind, fire, water, earth or Abyss itself... I'll come here and wait for her, Sombra promised to himself. Would he be able to hold this promise? Would he really spend time that he could have spent on himself just to stand and wait for Krystal?
Yes. And nothing in the world would be able to move him away from this spot, not rain, nor snow, nor apocalypse. He knew he was guilty, and if he had to die on this very spot to earn forgiveness, he'd be ready.
Without her, life was pointless anyway.
***
Night. Wind. Whispers.
Krystal got up early — four AM. Without wasting any time, she opened her closet wherein she hid the prefab rope. Matvey's young servant, who had been put in charge of taking care of her since the old stallion was far too suspicious for the noble, didn't suspect a thing when Krystal had asked her to bring her the rope. What an idiot!
She tied the rope to the leg of her bed and threw the other end out of the window; rope climbing wasn't something she was good at, but this was her only hope.
After making sure the rope would hold her securely, Krystal flexed her hooves a bit, preparing for a hard climb, and then looked out of the window. Several lights were slowly floating in the garden. Guards. Did Matvey foresee her steps or something? And how come that her father approved this?
It was still hurtful to realize that her own family had sold her, and now, they were keeping her hostage in her own house. But she didn't have time to cry or weep. She had to act.
After the little warm up was over, she checked the rope once again, and then slowly stuck her hindlegs out of the window, holding the rope tightly with her teeth and wrapping her forehooves around it. She couldn't afford using magic; her ability to tap into magical streams was cut, due to her pregnancy. Most of her magical powers were weakened since the growing child started to mess around with them, clearly showing that he or she was a unicorn. If Krystal wasn't a unicorn, she wouldn't feel a thing, but constant weakness and loss of control over her magic followed her every step.
The cold wind touched her body, and she shuddered a bit, after getting used to the warmth of her room. Gathering her strength, she pushed herself out of the window and was finally outside.
Krystal wanted to look down, but knew she would get scared, and instead focused her sight on the wall. Slowly, trying to preserve strength and balance, she started climbing down, her hindlegs pressed against the wall and her forehooves wrapped tightly around the rope. It managed to hold her weight, only crackled a bit.
Moving slowly, she couldn't help but wonder: since when did her life turn from a romance novel to some adventure book? Though, to be honest, her escape did remind her a lot of Atris's escape from the asylum he was locked in for thinking differently than his superior, Lord Noxic.
"Just a few inches..." Krystal tried to calm herself down, knowing well enough that below her was a long way down. If she hesitated, or made a mistake... she might die.
Death... Cold and slow, looking at whatever was in front of you, knowing well enough that it would be the last thing you’d see while your body slowly got colder and colder, your heart slowing down as your blood turned to ice. Your heart would turned silent and you’d sigh one last time — your dying breath.
You vanish, disappear from the world, and all that was left of you would be a lifeless husk of a body. A body that she wasn't even satisfied with.
But how would it be to face death... when you hadn't even been born yet? What would it be like to die without knowing how to breathe, move, or love? To die and to vanish without even a single memory of you, as though you had never been there?
Krystal clenched her teeth around the rope tighter, receiving one more proof of why her child had to live and that she’d made the right decision. What she was doing right now wasn't breaking the rules, she was saving a life, hers and her little kid's.
She felt that she was very close to her goal when suddenly a loud scream broke her concentration.
"She's escaping!" the guard, who’d passed by the walls of the house, screamed, pointing his hoof at Krystal who was hanging a few meters up above the ground. "Stop her!"
"Wha- Ah, shit!" A completely unladylike behaviour from Krystal was well expected as the scream of the guard distracted her, and she let go of the rope. The wind whistled in her ears as she plummeted down into the ground.
As she fell, she thought of death. How stupid and scary it was, how terrifying and how close it was, flying right next to her as she fell down on the ground, whispering, tempting her to succumb, tempting her to give away two souls for eternal peace.
"Sweet Emperor... A doctor! Get me a doctor! Now!" a loud shout seemed so quiet and fading to her. The lower half of the body felt numb... at least there was no pain.
"Where's the damn doctor?!"
***
"Will she be alright?" Lazarus asked after Matvey had told him the news. The lord collapsed onto the couch and sighed deeply.
"Yes, she will, despite the fall from such a height — no broken bones. Only severe contusions," he said emotionlessly. "Drat... I should have ordered to block the windows."
Lazarus took a deep breath, but still couldn't calm down. When the servants delivered the news to him, he had almost had a heart attack. But, at least Krystal was alright. Though, how stupid was she that she’d try to escape? And for what reason?
"Lazarus, do you know much about your daughter's personal life?" Matvey forcefully caused his train of thought to derail. "Does she have a coltfriend, or something of sorts?"
"No, as far as I know, she doesn't," he replied.
"’As far as you know’ is not enough for me. We should keep a close eye on her. Who knows what she might try to pull off next time. We can't allow her to put herself in danger!" Matvey concluded, but Lazarus knew that he cared more about the fun-time he’d paid for than Krystal's wellbeing. He started to doubt whether he’d made the right decision, but quickly suppressed those thoughts; Krystal needs a rich husband. Their entire family needed a rich patron. Only through this Meet Off could they be allowed to live in prosperity.
"I'll order the guards to keep a watchful eye on her," Lazarus promised and Matvey sneered.
"Have you forgotten? There's another rule: unless the lady decides, we can't just come and see her until she decides to announce her decision... Stupid rules!" he exclaimed, and gestured the servant to bring him some tobacco. "We'll have to wait for three months till the time runs out and we can officially ask for her decision. Old systems never fail to amaze me. Just how did our progenitors manage to wait for three damn months? No offense, Lazarus, but your girl is gorgeous. I'm surprised she's not been courted yet."
"Many tried, but she rejected everypony," Lazarus said, closing his eyes. She forced his hoof! She was sixteen. She should have made a decision already. If not, then he would choose for her.
"Oh, I see. She was looking for a prince in shining armour," the lord sneered, stuffing the tobacco into a pipe. "Well, shining armour is hard to come by these days. But she's welcome if she wants to marry a prince, he-he-he."
"Is there something you haven't told me, Lord Matvey?" Lazarus took that joke a bit too seriously.
"No. That was rhetorical. Don't raise a fuss over nothing," Matvey said, winking to Lazarus to light his pipe. "Please, if you don't mind."
"Of course," Krystal's father obeyed and casted a simple fire spell. Soon, the room was filled with noxious smoke.
"Many thanks. I like your mansion a lot, Lazarus. Not as big as mine, but still quite comfortable," Matvey said and smiled viciously. "Tell me... how big of a castle do you want as a gift after mine and Krystal's marriage?"
"Ughm..." Lazarus cleared his throat and let his imagination run wild for a moment. How big of a castle? Very big. With lots of servants for both him and Celene.
Even though trouble and worry was following this deal, he knew it was worth it. Just one marriage and their whole family would live like kings!
"I don't know yet. I would like it to be on a mountain, though."
***
The servant swiped the crumbs of bread from her mane and proceeded quickly through the halls. The purple tail and braid were swaying back and forth as she walked, trying to hold the glass of milk and several slices of bread on the tray she was holding with her right hoof in balance.
Why wasn't she the daughter of this puffed up diplomat? She wouldn't mind to live in a mansion like this! No, instead, she had to carry food to a girl so shy she didn't even come out of her room.
There were rumours among the servants of Matvey that Krystal had tried to commit suicide several times, but they found no proof thereof. She had tried to escape, yes, but not to kill herself.
The girl was strange, anyway. She was offered such a chance — to marry a lord, to get so much in her possession — and she was still thinking about this for the whole duration of three months! The young pony felt a chill run down her spine when she passed by a window wherebehind a blizzard was raging. There hadn't been a winter like that for many years. Not that the young servant knew; her main source of information were the elderly servants, her co-workers.
Krystal seemed strange to her. Not only was she silly, in her opinion, but also... paranoid. She stayed in her room for days, even weeks. Gossips told that she came out only at night, to tend to her needs. Who knew what she was doing during the day... maybe she was a vampire! And she was aiming to drink Matvey's blood when he was asleep! That would be horrible... and quite hilarious, since every servant of Matvey believed he had toxic blood because of his nasty behaviour.
Matvey didn't have too many bad habits, but he was a real ladies’ stallion. Whenever he ever spotted a backside he liked, he would never miss a chance to get under that mare's skirt. It seemed Krystal was the one unfortunate.
For a moment, the young servant felt bad for the young mare. It really wasn't her choice of groom, was it? It had to suck that she didn't get to pick her loved one... and a mate, too.
Finally, she reached the soon-to-be bride's bedroom and rapped on the door. She had to leave the tray near the door and go away, since that was what the rule the Meet Off demanded, and thus, what Matvey had commanded... and yet... she really wanted to take a look at this young Krystal. Was she really that pretty as they described?
She put the tray near the entrance and knocked on the door again. No reply. She must be sleeping. Usually, she would command to go away or something like that. But right now, there was nothing.
"Well, then, young Krystal, if you don't mind, I'll take a look at your precious face," the mare whispered, taking out a spare set of keys she stole in advance from the old gatekeeper of this house. The lock clicked lightly and she opened the door.
Krystal was peacefully dreaming in her bed, surrounded by plushies and toys. The mare complained quietly. Living like a queen, ain't she? Now, to see what Matvey is so obsessed with.
Krystal's face was quite pretty, she couldn't deny that. But it wasn't her face that put the young mare into a state of shock. It was Krystal's belly, a humongous balloon.
Some would say she’d just eaten too much and hadn't moved at all, but, thanks to gossip, the servant knew exactly how a pregnant mare looked like. She covered her mouth in shock and grasped for air.
Her masters... they didn't know about this yet. She should tell them. Matvey had to know that the girl wasn't innocent. Or should he?
For a moment, the servant thought about what would happen to Krystal if her secret would be revealed. Horrible things were said to be done to whores among the nobles. Very bad things.
But she couldn't just leave the secret hanging. She needed to tell and they would find out soon, anyway. Krystal seemed like she had over five months of pregnancy behind her. How had she managed to keep it a secret?
It didn't matter anymore. She would tell her masters, earn the reward, and then disappear from this strange house of nobles forever. The mare was more than glad to get away from this viper den as fast as possible, and away from Matvey as well.
The servant left, closed the door behind her, and rushed straight to Matvey. Hopefully, he would reward her greatly. For all those years of mockery and flout, he better should.