Revelation

Seth has decided to reveal a little more of his past to me. This is what I managed to get out today and yesterday.

"Take me with you!"
Seth turned to look back at her. Seeing her there at the door to the abandoned hunting lodge they'd been hiding in, he felt his heart catch in his throat. She was beautiful. Her hair caught the moonlight, as did the tears in her eyes. Mara...
"You can't follow me where I'm going," he said quietly. How he wished he could take her with him. Maybe then he could be brave. Maybe then the pain would stop.
"Then don't go..." She stepped out into the night. The soft sea breeze tugged at the oversized, button down shirt she wore; his shirt, given to her shortly after he'd kidnapped her, three months before. He actually blushed when he realized she wasn't wearing anything else. He turned his gaze away, towards the shore.
"I have to go, Mara. This is...it's a matter of life and death."
A wince crossed her features and she slowly approached him. "Then you have to."
He looked back over at her as she came to stand within arm's reach. The sadness in her eyes tore at his heart. He reached out to her, his fingers brushing against her soft cheek. "Please don't be sad...I can't bear it."
"But, I..." Her eyes squeezed shut and she thrust herself forward and into his arms. "I'll never see you again once you leave, will I?"
He held her close. The smell of her hair filled his senses, and he found he had to fight off a sob, swallowing hard. "No, I don't think you will, not on Earth."
"Then..." She pulled away from him, one hand lifted to the top button of that shirt. "...let me-"
"No!" His eyes widened and he pulled her hand away from that button. "No," he said again, sternly.
"But why?!" Tears filled her eyes and she searched his face.
"Because, Mara, you're pure. Everything about you... You have a chance to make it to Heaven... I won't be the one to send you to Hell."
She stared at him in surprise, obviously not expecting that answer. "Then marry me. I could never love someone else, Seth, please. I want to give everything to you."
"What would you do then when I left? You could not marry again, how could you take care of yourself?"
"I don't care! I don't care what hardships I find in life so long as I could spend even one night with you."
His hand cupped her cheek and he gazed at her in the moonlight. She was even more beautiful to him now than she'd ever been before. He could not deny her that wish. "Very well. Mara, marry me."
A smile spread wide across her face and she threw her arms around his neck. "Okay!"

Seth lay beside Mara, for the first time in the same bed. Her bare skin was warm against his, and so soft. His ring was cool around his finger, and he could feel hers on the hand resting on his chest. This was the most perfect place he'd ever been. And he was leaving, just as he found it. It just...wasn't fair. But he had to go, of that he was certain. If he didn't go, something terrible would happen. At least, that's how he interpreted the bile in the back of his throat.
He couldn't linger. If he did, he knew he'd never leave. He very gently pried himself from her, doing his best not to wake her. Perhaps it was cruel not to wake her, not to say goodbye. She would cry, he knew. How he'd worked to make sure she never cried. He gazed down at her for a bit longer, then stood and moved away from the bed.
He got dressed as quickly and quietly as he could, forcing himself not to look at her. It would only make things harder. Just as he strapped his sword belt on around his hips, he heard a rustling behind him. He sighed softly, eyes drifting shut. She woke anyway... He slowly turned to face her, hand passing through his hair. "I was going to just-"
He stopped short when he saw her, eyes going wide. She was on her knees on the bed, clutching something to her chest; something metal; something hise. His hand darted down to his belt, only to find his dirk really was missing. His vision blurred and his stomach did a flip. "Mara," he croaked out, his throat tight. "What have you dont..."
She smiled ever so faintly. "I've released you from our bond. I hope...that you will love someone...who can follow you where ever you go." Blood trickled from her lips and she began to drift forward.
"Mara!" He darted over to the bed, catching her in his arms before she could hit the sheets. "Stupid girl..." He wiped the blood from her lip with his thumb. "I could never love anyone else... Now you've condemned yourself... Why?"
"What's it like?" She gazed up at him, though her eyes seemed to look past him. "In Hell..."
He clenched his teeth and held her closer to his chest. "You will not be there long. I will come for you."
"You can't...follow me...where I'm going."
"You're wrong. I will come for you. I promise. I will save you."

Oh, by the way, a lot of the stuff up here is going to disappear pretty soon. I've realized I'm giving a heck of a lot of the story away with this site, so I may not be using it for much longer. At least, not for any story tidbits, just updates on where I am with the books and other grumblings.

For a story.

Zelda laid the sheer black veil over her head, the lace creating a pattern of pitch roses over her golden hair. She straightened her shirt and smoothed out the skirt, then stepped into the church. It was mostly empty, only a couple of old ladies sitting in the front pues. She walked down the side of the church to a pue halkfway up to the altar. Her gaze found the red candle, then dropped to the lavishly decorated tabernacle nestled in an alcove behind the altar. A small smile found her lips as she lowered to one knee. Her head bent to rest her forehead on her knee for just a moment, then she stood again and slipped into the pue.
She let down the kneeler and settled onto the padding. She drew the crystal-beaded rosary from her pocket, then leaned her elbows against the back of the pue in front of her and began to pray.
Thirty minutes passed, and the first few parishoners began to filter into the church. A few of them muttered to each other, a group of them sprawled out in the pue in front of Zelda. She peeked open an eye at them and let out a small sigh. She tried to keep going, but as more and more came into the church, the distraction became too great. She pocketed the rosary, crossed herself, and sat back in the pue.
Instead, she watched them. They were laughing and carrying on, walking back and forth from pue to pue to say hi to their friends. They stood with their backs to the altar, and most of them weren't even trying to keep their voices down. By the time it was five minutes 'till Mass, the din that had distracted her prayers had grown to a dull roar. Finally, Zelda could stand it no longer.
She rose to her feet and stepped out of the pue, at once dropping to one knee and bowing her head to the tabernacle. She stood again and slowly began walking up to the front of the church. No one noticed her or paid her any mind. They just went on with their conversations and jokes. She even saw a couple of kids eating snacks. Her hands instinctively clenched into fists, but she forced them open again before stepping around the first pue. What must be said must not be said in anger, she reminded herself.
Though there was no anger, there was still passion, and frustration, and no doubt that her words would be heard. But would they listen? She stood up in front of the atar, genuflecting once more to the tabernacle. "Forgive me for this, my Lord," she muttered, before standing and turning to face the congregation. A few noticed her, and those few quieted, but she barely noticed with the noise the rest made,.
"Enough!!" she cried out into the church. That single word echoed through the massive building, and many, though not all, of the conversations stopped. Not satisfied with only divided attention, she cried out again. "I said enough! Be quiet, all of you!" The rest were silenced, and all eyes turned to the front. Much better.
"Where do you think you are!? The movie theater? You come in and make as much noise as you want until the show starts? Well, I've got news for you! You're not here to be entertained!" The accoustics in the church were as such that a whisper on the altar could be heard from the klast pue as though it were said right in your ear. Her yelling made them all wince, though many of them winced not only at the volume of the words, but at the words themselves.
"If you knew a king of some foreign country was coming to stand before you, would you act this way? Better yet, would you dress the way many of you are? Would you laugh and carry on, as though nothing incredible was about to happen? If not a king, then what about the bishop, or the Pope? Would you behave for the man Christ appointed as our shepherd? If you can behave for His disciple, then why not Christ Himself?!"
She looked out at them, no anger in her eyes. Rather, there was paint, sadness, a deep suffering as though from the face of God. "You genuflect, though some of you don't even do that, and yet you don't seem to realize why. If you knew, would you act the way you do? Don't wait for a man to show up before you begin to pay attention!" She turned sideways and pointed up past the altar to the tabernacle. "Christ is here every day! Every second of every minute of every hour, He sits here, present so that we may be close to Him. You would behave for a man, but He is your God! And yet you talk and carry on as though he is not even here! If you must talk, do it outside of the church, before or after you come in here. Many of you are talking to people you see every day, and will probably see again later this very morning! But Jesus Christ has been sitting here, waiting for you all to come see Him, and you act as though He isn't even here! Your God became a man and died for each and every one of you so that by accepting Him, you may live forever! The LEAST He asks of you is to sit with Him, for one hour of one day each week. He asks that you listen to Him, and give Him a chance to listen to you and your prayers. When has that ever been too much to ask?"
She fell into silence and looked out at them. Some were crying, some staring in surprise, some in disbelief. A couple lowered their kneelers and sank to them, which initiated a wave of the rest following suit. And so they prayed.
A smile crept onto her face and the weight rose from her shoulders. A couple of tears escaped her eyes and she turned back to the tabernacle. She genuflected, forehead bowed to her knee. "Thank-you," she whispered, "for guiding my tongue." She then stood and began the walk back to her seat.