Page 21 of Wed to Krampus

“Thank you.”

“I’ll let you sleep in,” I said.

“Mmm.”

She said nothing else and didn’t reach for the mask. I put my belt on and went to the closet to find a clean shirt. Before I walked out of the bedroom, I turned and said to her,

“I’ll bring you breakfast.”

“Mmm.”

My heart melted when she murmured like that. It was unbelievably cute.

“I’ll knock on the door before I come in.”

I didn’t say why, but she knew why. So she’d have time to make sure she was wearing the mask. I figured that by the time I made breakfast for the both of us, she’d wake up and get dressed.

“Okay.” She yawned.

I slipped out of the bedroom and made my way downstairs.

First things first. I let Frost in and fed him.

“Don’t go upstairs,” I told him. “Aura is sleeping.”

He barked once, and I shushed him. At least he understood. Next order of business – Snowdrop. I put on my coat and boots and went to feed and water the horse. The rule was that Frost and Snowdrop always ate before me in the morning. Frost had lunch and dinner with me, and I made sure to feed Snowdrop before we settled down to eat in the kitchen. The exception was in summer, when it was warm enough for picnics. Then I took out both Snowdrop and Frost, and we had a lovely picnic in the valley nearby.

Back in the cabin, I started on breakfast. It was eggs I’d bought in town, wild boar sausages I’d made myself, toast, and pancakes with strawberry jam. I loaded everything onto the biggest tray I could find and took it upstairs. Frost looked at me forlornly, but I shook my head, and he went to lie in front of the fire. When I reached the bedroom door, I stopped, waited a beat, then knocked.

“Just a minute!”

Aura sounded cheerful. I heard her footsteps as she padded around the room, then she was right behind the door, and my heart started beating wildly in my chest. I saw the door handle move, and I wondered what would happen if we came face to face now, and she wasn’t wearing the mask. I forced myself to stay put. I had to trust her.

She opened the door. She had the mask on. It covered half of her face, and I hated that I couldn’t see her eyes. It dawned on me that I had no idea what color they were. I was tempted to tell her to remove it just so I could quench my curiosity, but I thought better of it. She was playing along, still, which meant we could have a nice, quiet day together before she found out I was a legit monster who actually looked like a monster.

I wasn’t like those creatures who could shift into men. I’d seen dragons years ago, and while they were massive reptiles who could fly and breathe fire, when they wanted to, they could shift into a form that resembled humans. Wolfmen could shift too, and while they were still hairy as humans, they weren’t as hairy as I was. I wished I could take a different shape for Aura.

“Are you hungry?”

“I am. It smells amazing.”

She moved out of the doorway, and I walked in. I placed the tray on the bed, then went to her. She’d washed up and put on one of the dresses I’d prepared for her and stored in the closet next to my clothes. Her hair was soft and shiny, and it tumbled down her back in beautiful waves. I took her hand and guided her to the bed. I helped her get in and settle comfortably against the pillows.

“Breakfast in bed,” she said. “I haven’t had breakfast in bed... mmm... ever!”

I was shocked to learn that. She was so precious, she should’ve always had breakfast in bed. But then I had to remember that my Aura came from a town that was mostly poor. I knew nothing about her life before, except that she’d asked the priest to give the credits to her best friend, Mina, which meant that she didn’t have any family. As I sat down beside her and we ate, I asked her about her parents and if she had any siblings.

“No siblings,” she said as she chewed on a piece of sausage I’d fed her. “My parents passed away last year. It was the fever. Some sort of flu that many people in town got. The old and the frail didn’t stand a chance. It was a harsh winter, and everyone says this year, it will be even worse. A lot more people are going to die, and I don’t even want to think about it. Medicine is hard to come by, and even if I managed to get it for my parents, it did nothing in the end.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. I’ve made my peace with it. I believe things happen exactly the way they’re supposed to. I believe in a higher power, you might say.”

“I believe in a higher power, too.” The power that had brought us together.

She chuckled, and I was confused at first, because I hadn’t said anything funny, but it turned out she was absorbed by her own thoughts.

“It’s silly. Because then it means this higher power burned down my house, so I would send my blood to the Temple and be matched with you.”