Chapter Text
The ribbon binding their wrists together was as red as a wound.
Winter had just broken, the frost receding to reveal a sun-dappled forest. The flowers were yet to blossom, but that was okay. The groom had always preferred the evergreen leaves.
He held a bouquet of the stems now; the lush green leaves cut from his own garden. Over the years, he had tended to this plant carefully, knowing that it would be given to the woman in front of him one day. This plant was supposed to symbolise everlasting joy and an enduring love, and he knew that was what their marriage would be. Their love was of the strongest variety, and he knew it would always survive, no matter what.
The groom couldn't stop his mouth stretching into a smile as his bride turned to him. In a few moments, their lives would be bound together forever (Hadn't they always been inextricably linked though? Surely their lives were already intertwined, bound together so tightly they would find each other in every lifetime?). He had been dreaming of this day for as long as he could remember.
As a child, he had always pictured a grand wedding, with all their family and friends watching. He had almost been disappointed the bride had told him that she wanted a small, quiet ceremony. But he was grateful for the intimacy now. This moment belonged to just them, and he did not wish to share it with anyone else.
There was a quiet sort of magic in this space between the trees, between winter and spring, between night and day. The bride almost glowed with it, her snow-white hair seeming to shine in the dawn light. Her dress was made of the palest green linen, the barest nod to tradition. The green was meant to bring fertility and life, if one believed in such things — which the bride did not.
She believed in love though, and in the man that stood before her. She knew their love was everlasting, and that it would always prevail, but she knew better than to expect a happy ending. But for this one moment, she pretended. She allowed the taut lines of her body to relax, so she could enjoy this one moment. And she pretended they weren't hunted.
✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦
Their hands remained bound through the ceremony, the cloth running over their wrists like a river of blood. As the groom uttered his vows, she could almost feel his love as a physical presence, like a solid, comforting weight on her chest.
"As surely as the sun will rise," the groom said, a marble of emotions rolling around his throat, "I pledge to live by your side, to love and honour you always."
(The bride wanted to scream. Will you really? she thought. Would you love me at all if you knew?)
"I pledge to live by your side, to love and to honour you always," the bride repeated. "I love you, and I have loved you, and I will love you. I will always choose you, in every lifetime."
They pressed their foreheads together, quiet tears rolling past their smiles as they awaited the elder's blessing. It was as if the whole world held its breath, the trees stilling despite the wind, the birds ceasing their chirping. But the silence stretched on a moment too long, turning sinister.
The groom's spine prickled with an uncomfortable sensation, and he looked up, confused (perhaps the elder didn't approve of their union? But that was impossible, surely, everyone knew they belonged together, that they were as inevitable as the sun and the moon?), but the bride stiffened, her body recognising the presence instinctively before her mind could register the threat.
The man that stood before them now was not the wizened village elder. His tunic was pure white, the kind that only the richest could afford, and it was immaculately pressed into crisp lines. Everything about his appearance was perfect, too perfect, as if he had stepped out of a storybook castle. The groom was almost surprised he didn't have a crown on his head.
As far as he was aware, the groom had never seen this man before. There was no reason this stranger should have inspired such fear in him. Except that he had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and the elder had vanished without a trace. Except that his eyes were burning an unnatural purple (but the groom should have been the last person to fear unnatural eyes — the villagers had been saying that his own amber eyes were a mark of the devil since he was born). Except that his bride, the most peaceful person he had ever met, was trembling with fear and rage.
The stranger regarded them for a long moment, his gaze colder than the night of the winter solstice. A fly buzzed angrily somewhere in the background, eventually settling on the man's cheek. He made no move to brush it off, and it broke the illusion of a fairytale prince.
"Did you truly think we would not find you?"
The words were crisp, cutting through the air like the bite of a shovel into frosted earth. The full force of the stranger's attention was directed at the bride now, his eyes full of hatred and disgust. "Did you really think you could be forgiven?"
"No, I suppose not," the bride replied softly. She turned to her groom and whispered an apology with sad eyes. Her face was still wet with the joyous tears she had shed just a few moments earlier. As the groom reached up to touch her face, she reached for the ceremonial sword on his belt.
"Goodbye, my love." The bride swiped the blade across the groom's throat. "Until we meet again."
Shock flashed across the groom's face as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his bloody throat. The bride fell a second later, gasping, although her own throat remained unmarred. The bloodied blade fell from her hand, the metal glinting in the morning light.
The last thing they saw before the world blinked out was the red ribbon of fate still binding their wrists