Under her red velvet dress, she had bruises and no panties. Her beautiful face bore dried tear tracks. Her eyes red and swollen; her mascara had long since smeared down her cheeks. She fiddled with the two rings on her finger. Two rings that signified her vows, her future, her love. That was all broken tonight. Broken in a moment of weakness…not just her own, but his as well.
She craved him like a drug. He symbolized everything she wasn't, everything her husband wasn't. He was wild, uncontrollable, unpredictable, careless, dangerous, and most importantly forbidden. Forbidden because of the two rings on her finger, forbidden because of recently broken vows, but mostly forbidden because of where his heart lay.
He had come to her out of desperation. She knew that. She knew that she didn't captivate his heart, his mind, or hold his soul. But the one that did…he refused to go to Her. Afraid of destroying Her. Afraid of tainting Her. Instead he hunted her down. Seduced her. Whispered empty words in her ear and she leapt at them. She didn't even bother to take off her wedding band.
The Mansion was eerily quiet. No one was in the halls. The children were hiding in their rooms. Barely whispered, afraid to disturb the adults. Some had bore witness to the incident hours prior. The others quickly found out. It would be the talk of the Mansion for some time. They would be lucky for it to pass quickly. Lucky if the children would ever look them in the eye again.
The look on her husband's face would stay with her forever. She knew there was no hope for their marriage. He loved her with every part of his being. And she betrayed that for a fling with a man who did not even look her in the eye as he took her. It hurt, the knowledge of her failed, broken marriage.
But the look coming from haunted brown eyes hurt worse. Disbelieving eyes. Betrayed eyes. Crying eyes. Angry eyes. And the thoughts running through Her head had been crushing. She felt the emotions coming off Her in waves, the thoughts pouring into her own head. And it was then that she wept, uncontrollably. She wept for a beautiful girl with big brown doe eyes who had seen too much in her short life, only to have to see this affair as well. She wept for destroying the only good thing in that girl's life.
He shoved her away from him, ignoring her as she crashed to the floor. Her dress hiked up, exposing her to everyone in the room. She didn't even manage to land gracefully on the hardwood floor. Her eyes traveled quickly to the man standing, trembling, above her. His gaze locked on the beautiful girl crying in disbelief in the doorway. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but didn't get the chance before her husband attacked.
It took hours to repair the damage that her husband had done to her one-time lover. Hours spent in misery because she had to touch him, had to save him, even after the short affair had been discovered. It was unbearable. But she did it. She wouldn't let him die. Despite his faults, despite his one moment of weakness that she leapt at, he was loved and needed by a girl who had no one else.
And so she stood, still in her dress, bruises wrapped around her hips, and watched over her patient, the man who had just allowed her to destroy her marriage. And she was silent when the girl snuck into his room, silent as a chair was pulled up next to the man's battered body. She broke again as the girl reached out a gloved hand, intertwining Her fingers with his, and running gloved fingers, gently – lovingly – over his face, lips moving in whispered words. Fractions of light bounced off his tags that She wore around Her neck. Despite everything She had just witnessed She still gave Herself to him freely.
Silently she wept, for she was the cause of this situation. The rings slipped off her finger and she studied them in the palm of her hand. Quietly she placed them on the table, alongside the matching band of the set. Her husband had left it there at some point during the surgery. She had heard the whispered words he shared with Her. The frantic apologies and Her assurances that the man on the table would survive. He had promised to protect Her; and he never broke his promises. And She had forgiven him, just like that. Added assurances that he was not at fault. That everything was going to work out. And he had laughed in Her face and then broke down. Sobbing, clutching at Her, burying his head in Her covered neck, as She rocked him, whispered in his ear, and rubbed his back.
It was the way She was. Gentle. Innocent. Untainted. Strong despite everyone's attempts to break her. And determined, determined to make sure that he survived. She watched the girl, for hours, before Her gaze locked on her. And it was then that she saw the face of the Rogue and she knew things were never going to be ok.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
This was written in response to Lateo's First Line Challenge: write a story that begins with the line "Under her red velvet dress, she had bruises and no panties. (Capitalization of female pronouns is to distinguish between the two women involved.)