Hilda

The Eastern Woods - Midwinter

Hilda closed her eyes and arched her back, holding on tight to his shoulders. He moaned against her throat, his lips trailing little kisses along her neck. Her insides fluttered and she quickly grabbed his hair, forcing him up to meet her lips.

He kissed her deep, one hand cupping her face, while the other hand wandered down to her curves. She tightened her hold around him, drawing him closer to her body, and her heart.

Hilda could have imagined anything in the world, except seeing herself willingly lying with Mikal. The one man she had always loathed. The one man she had always vowed to kill.

Yet there she was, her heart swelling with the unmistakable warmth of love, her body burning with desire as he touched every part of her.

Hilda realized that she was doomed. For she had fallen in love with Mikal Nordstrom.

But why she loved him, she did not know. Had she really found that he had grown into a better man? Or had she simply been blinded by his charm, fallen under his spell like all the silly girls before her, who had been easily persuaded by his manipulative ways?

Hilda knew that no matter how smart she thought herself to be, she was not much different from all those silly girls after all. She had been fooled by Vilfred once before, taking him for a decent and honorable man, only to figure he had been lying and using her all along. Was Mikal using her too now? Or did he really care for her? Did he even know who she really was?

It was late past midnight as they lay in each other's arms. Flames crackled in the fireplace, offering them enough warmth against the bone chilling cold as a furious snowstorm raged outside. The windows were sealed shut and the heavy curtains drawn, yet the cold still creeped into the room, forcing them closer to each other in search for more warmth.

"Quite the storm outside," Mikal whispered, while wood creaked and groaned in response as the savage winds blew against the cottage.

"It's alright. This cottage is strong enough to withhold a raging sea." Hilda smoothed his hair. "You need not worry, my love."

"I am not worried," Mikal scoffed and turned away from her.

Hilda smiled and shook her head. Of course, he had to deny that he was worried, or scared, or tired... or anything that made him look weak in her eyes. While she had once hated his vain pride in the past, she now found it was not as awful as she had thought. Or perhaps because she had grown to admire how he still believed in himself, despite all the hardships that he had been through.

She watched him silently, noting how he adjusted his blindfold to make sure it was still well secured around his eyes. No matter how confident and solid he tried to appear, this was the one weakness he could never hide. His terrible fear of having his face exposed. Hilda had not seen him take off his blindfold ever since he started sharing her chamber, not even when he went to sleep.

"You really don't have to keep your eyes covered in my presence," Hilda whispered, and she could feel him tense at her words.

She raised her hand towards his face and very gently touched his cheek. He stiffened, but she only trailed her fingers along his jaw, making sure she avoided the faint scar that stretched down in the middle of his cheek. Her hand reached towards his temple, her fingers very lightly brushing against the cloth that covered his eyes.

"Don't even think of it," he muttered, his voice strained and breathless.

"But if you really trust me –"

"Stop it." He pulled away from her quickly. "And rather than ask me to show you my face, why don't you find a cure for it?"

"A cure?"

"Yes, a cure. Bring my eyes back, and I might have no need to cover them again."

"But you know that's impossible. There's no potion that can simply grow back your eyes."

"Who said anything about potions?" Mikal turned to her with a little pout. "I am sure you know a spell or something that can make me see again."

"A spell?" Hilda chuckled. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Yes, why not?" Mikal frowned back at her. "You don't read all sorts of books on spells for nothing, do you?"

"And you really believe any of these spells actually work?" Hilda raised her eyebrows, astounded by the fact that Mikal of all people would ask her to perform a spell. Mikal who had always ridiculed her for merely reading books.

"I don't see a reason why they shouldn't work." Mikal shrugged.

"Dear heavens, Mikal! You all of all people –"

Hilda halted at once. And a long silence followed. A long, unnerving silence, while Hilda's words still hung in the air.

"What... what did you just call me?" Mikal finally spoke, his voice shaking. But Hilda remained silent, her tongue frozen in realization of her terrible mistake.

"Who are you?" Mikal quickly sat up in bed, recoiling away from Hilda.

"I think you already know who I am," Hilda said, barely whispering. There was no use denying it now. She had called his name, and he knew who she was.

"Where's my shirt?" Mikal hissed, and the next moment he rose off the bed and dropped to the floor, searching around for his shirt. "Where is my fucking shirt?"

His shaking hands finally caught the black woolen shirt lying on the floor, and he quickly put it on, his clumsy fingers failing to fasten the lace at the back. Seeing his struggle Hilda silently hurried to help him, only to find him flinching at her touch.

"No! Don't touch me!" he snapped. "You lying imposter!"

Hilda's heart fell, and unshed tears stung her eyes. She knew that Mikal was likely going to get angry when he finally discovered her truth, though she doubted if he hadn't already known it was her all along. But she never expected to be met by this amount of hatred and disgust. After everything she had done for him...

Hilda snapped out of her thoughts as she found that Mikal had put on his breeches as well, and was now reaching for his fur lined boots.

"What are you doing?" she gasped. She had thought that Mikal was simply going to leave her chamber and return to the guest bed downstairs, but with putting his boots on it seemed like he was planning to leave the entire cottage.

"Wait!" She quickly hurried to stop him, but he pushed her away at once, causing her to slam against the chair behind her and grunt in pain. Motherfucker... she cursed silently, before she reached out for her dress. 

"Hey, wait!" she yelled as she found him putting on his fur black cloak and reaching for his cane. "Where the fuck are you going?"

Hilda barely put on her dress, and the next moment, Mikal had disappeared outside her door. She quickly jumped into her boots and followed him, but he was already gone. Fuck, how could a blind man move so fast!

Hilda spread her wings and leapt over the wooden parapets at the end of the corridor, flying face front down towards the door where Mikal now stood.

"Stop!" Hilda cried out, just as Mikal's hand reached for the doorknob and turned it.

She barely grabbed his wings, when a sudden freezing burst of white stormed into the cottage, sending them flying inside and covering everything around them in snow. Hilda lunged towards the door and struggled to close it against the unearthly storm. She shut her eyes tight as the hailing ice attacked her, until she finally managed to push the door closed.

"Are you fucking mad?" She turned to Mikal with an angry scowl. "What do you think you're doing? Do you have a death wish or something?"

But it seemed that Mikal was not yet willing to give in. Without a word, he reached for the door again. Thankfully, Hilda was already blocking his way, and she only had to hold his forearms to stop him.

"Let me go!" he shouted, forcefully pulling his arms away from her.

Hilda was taken by surprise at both his strength and speed, and before she knew it she found herself being shoved out of the door's way.

"No! Come back here!" She quickly turned and grabbed his wings, pulling him back before he managed to open the door again.

He turned and pushed her away, before he reached for the door once more. Hilda groaned and leapt at him, but he dodged just in time that she had almost run into the door. Silently cursing herself for having taught him so well, she turned and aimed a sudden punch below his chest. He groaned and doubled over, before she aimed a kick to his face. But she gasped as she found her foot locked within his hold, where he managed to stop her attack.

He attempted to shove her away again, but she had quickly spread her wings in resistance and reached for his neck, pushing at him with all her might. He spread his wings as well, and they both went flying over the dining table, crashing into the cupboard behind it, sending all its contents clattering and shattering onto the floor.

They both groaned in pain as they lay buried beneath broken wood and glass. Hilda moved carefully, attempting to rise without causing more damage, but to her surprise, Mikal was already up on his feet, staggering forward as he still insisted on aiming for the door.

Growling in both fury and frustration, Hilda leapt straight behind him, grabbing him by the hair and straddling his back.

"Get off me!" Mikal hissed as he fought her off, blindly elbowing her and struggling to spread his wings while she remained latched to his back, her legs wound around his waist.

"You. Will. Not. Leave," she said in a murderous tone. And the next moment, she reached for the blindfold covering his eyes and pulled it hard.

"No!" Mikal cried out and grasped her hands at once, struggling to keep the blindfold in place while she continued to tug it off. "Stop!"

And with one final hard yank, the blindfold came off.

Hilda quickly leapt off him and took a step backwards, while Mikal's hands quickly flew to cover his face.

"What is going on?" Hanya's concerned voice reached them from upstairs, followed by a gasp and her scurrying footsteps as she hurried down the stairs.

But Hilda did not even turn to look at her, for her eyes were fixated on Mikal as he stood shaking in the middle of the cottage, hiding his face with both hands. He looked unusually vulnerable and helpless, having lost his greatest means of protection.

"Give it back!" he cried.

"No," Hilda hissed.

Mikal shifted his hands, using only one hand to cover both eyes while he reached out with the other hand in search for Hilda.

"Give it back!" he repeated with a growl as he stepped in her direction. She moved out of his way, but he could still follow the sound of her steps. And next, he was blindly chasing her through the cottage.

Hilda stormed towards the fireplace, with Mikal right at her tail, shouting curses behind her. Not even pausing to think or reconsider, Hilda tossed the blindfold into the fire.

"No!" Mikal cried out in horror, apparently catching the sound of the rising flames as they devoured the burning fabric. "What the fuck have you done?"

"Now you can't leave the house." Hilda turned to face him.

"Fuck you!" Mikal growled at her, and the next moment Hilda pulled out her sword.

Hanya's loud gasp mirrored the hissing sound of the unsheathed blade, while Mikal froze in his place.

"Do not make me ask you again," she warned, raising her sword towards his neck. "Now be a good boy, and go back to bed."

But Mikal remained standing for a long moment, showing no intention of doing as she had asked. Infuriated by his unrelenting stubbornness, Hilda narrowed her eyes and slightly pressed the blade against his skin. She was just about to snap at him again, when to her utmost shock, she found him dropping to his knees, both his hands still covering his face. His shoulders shook, and she could hear low sniffles rising within the prevailing silence. No, he couldn't possibly be crying...

Hilda was stunned for a moment, and she realized that she had even lowered her sword without noticing. She quickly raised it again in caution, wondering if this was some kind of trick from his side to distract her, so he could lunge to the door again. Her heart raced, and she tightened her hold on her sword.

"Please go back to bed," she asked him again despite herself, her voice no longer angry.

But Mikal still didn't comply. He only remained kneeling onto the floor, his head lowered and his body shaking.

Sighing in frustration, Hilda reached for the nearest chair and dragged it across the hall, setting it against the front door and blocking the way.

"Very well. Seems we'll be staying here for a while then," Hilda said as she sat on the chair, leaning back comfortably and stretching her legs, her sword still secured in her hand. "Now you better not try anything smart. Because I will be watching you all night."

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So they found out the truth at last :D Do you think they can get along again?

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