#aredhell

Not Since He Left

There was never any good days. Not since he left. Not back then.

The food at the table held little taste. No amount of wine could wet her tongue. Talks of marriage only made this uncomfortable dinner far, far worse.

Ared fought her food with a golden fork as her grandmother and grandfather spoke nothing but pleasantries to one another. After all these years, they dote upon one another as if they were ripe to share a first kiss. Forever in love with each other, no betrayals to hide, no deception. Unlike the flippant loves of her mother. With a face and mind like hers, she had options when someone gifted her failure. All men fall eventually fall from power, and when they did, she discarded them as a husk of their former selves. Ared was beggining to show signs she shared similarities with her mother, and everyone close to the family prayed this realization away. 

With a cool smile glittering with white teeth, Ared’s grandfather calls to her across the table. The spoken words were so chilled, they threatened to take the heat away from the river of warm gravy and roast turkey. “Aredhele, it is time for us to discuss possible suitors for you to marry. There are many fine lords in our kingdom and you will not want for lesser men, with all of our alliances. Many await your decision, before they offer their sons a lessor maiden. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

“Let them all wait, I find no substance in lesser men. There is no worthy match I know of at this time, Grandfather.”

“What of Lord Starhaven’s son? Castinus boasts a house that prospers from trade, as well as fine smiths that craft superior armor. A well respected house. Let us arrange a courtship, I will send a missive to his father and we can make an announcement to the court your intention to marry.”

Ared removed the fork from her mouth and tossed it to her plate, folding her arms across her chest. She dare not look at her grandparents, knowing the hell she would receive should her ire swing their way.

“I like him not. I refuse. The rumor that surrounds him will bring nothing but harm to our name.  Castinus has had every woman at least twice, even the undesirables that war torn men won’t even touch. Do you love me not, that you will damn me to a life of hell, tied to him and his ruined legacy? Our children will come out deformed from disease. How could my own family that loves me above all, think not of damning me?”

The words she spoke were nothing but lies, having had her own odd encounter with Castinus. What they did together one evening was far more repulsive than penetration, and she swore she’d take their private encounter to the grave. Oh she fancied him alright. She admired him enough to keep a memento of their time spent. The crust covered pages of a tome sat on her vanity born of that union. The pages to this day still smell like how she remembered him. 

“So tell me, who do you fancy? Lord Blacksorrow? We’ve heard you’ve been mingling with men from bottom feeding houses, boasting your low self esteem and aspirations. Yes, by all means, marry an archer. Did you meet him as he made his rounds, assuring the defense of our manor? Why not fancy our groundskeeper?”

Everything Ared did, they knew. From late nights spent in the finest lounges, to the damnable times she spent with her brother. The only thing clean was Ared’s name publicly, and the family swore they will keep her image spotless with a swift and proper match. Ared was getting older, and coming into her own with her alluring features. She enjoyed the way men touched the width of her hips and how the round of her ass made them pine. 

“What of House Tarael? Narin is said to be one of the most handsome men in all of Quel’Thalas. You adore jewels Ared, surely you will never suffer a day without something hanging from your neck.” Ared’s grandmother chimed in.

Tension ran high. Everyone in the room suffered a moment of silence before Ared pushed herself away from the table and stormed across the dining room as her grandfather called out.

“You are ruining your life. If you don’t choose now you will be everyone’s dirty secret. Nobody will want you, after you are soiled. Don’t wait for your brother either, you were never his interest. We know what he enjoys too.”

That night, Ared sought out Lord Blacksorrow. Promising him everything while he gave her nothing. She edged him on with her hot mouth and sealed thighs as they lay upon a bench in a forgotten part of a topiary. The next night, they did much the same, letting him get a little further than before. And every week after they met in secret until one night her dress came home peculiarly soiled in questionable places. Then, they met no more. 

And she swore she’d never see him again, not since he left. 

And every night since, she suffered a lifetime of regret, making the wrong decision at the dinner table. 

She should have married Castinus Starhaven, ran away with Lord Bloodsorrow, and let Lord Tarael crown her head with rubies and the immaculate white milk of his dripping cock. 

If only she was born a little more pretty, a little more smart, maybe, just maybe, she would not have had to suffer the neglect and abandonment from her brother. 

And now? There are no good days crawling your way out of oblivion. 

Every night, they watched the world around them, and they were very well aware, the world also watched them........

It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. A day she waited for. A day that has been promised to her more often than not just to be taken away from her.

It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, but it was far from it.

Ared was too excited. Too eager. She rushed to the chapel blindly without thought that if she married Woke quickly, it could cost her. The quick wedding was a cheap substitute for something that held so much importance. Something so grand.

Sadly, Ared was used to disappointment. How could you get excited for promises that never come? She acted out of fear. A gut instinct. Intuition. Her very being told her to marry Woke now or, she might not have this chance. People change. Hearts change. How much more disappointment could she take?

She took a chance and she won a night of heartache. A night of uncertainty and questionable feelings. There was no intimacy. No long winded tearful confessions of love. There was nothing but silence in the room, long after they both went to sleep. Outside the rain pounded against the stone walls violently that Ared and Woke shared. The storm disturbed her peace less slumber and she shot up out of bed, ran down the stairs, and took to the streets as naked as she was inside.

Howling with the wind that punched her hair up in the sky, she screamed into the rain with clenched eyes towards the stormy night sky.

“There are no monsters amongst us!”

She dropped to her knees and prayed. To nothing. To no one. On hands and knees she sobbed. Broken. Alone. Cold.

When she went back inside she sat in a hot bath for hours. Broken. Alone. Cold. Ared stared at the walls courting all manners of terrorizing thoughts.

Rhys was right. Rhys was always right. Her brother however didn’t know what love was like. If he knew what love was like, he would have never of left her years ago.

When she rose from the tub, she wiped hot tears from her face and joined Woke in bed where she curled around him. It was their first night together as husband and wife, yet she held him like it would be their last.

“Even my brother will tell you, I am the future....”

(written by Woke’s player)

Woke stepped into the house, the large, expensive hours. The house he’d cucked a man in. That house. He never felt truly at home here, even in the mess that Aredhele left. Her name struck a nerve for a moment, causing him to stop at the foot of the stairs and think. What a pretty elf she was. Hopefully she would arrive soon enough. 

Regardless, Woke was tired. He’d spent the day leaving gifts for his girls on doorsteps and delivering them by hand.  However the most important gift came in the form of a bouquet of daisies and lilies set upon her side of the bed. The dog had lied when he said he was awful at plants. These were his favorites, and, obviously, they’d be her’s as well. At least to Woke. 

He’d hum a small elven lullaby as he moved through the house, bathed, then undressed entirely to lay in the bed he’d come to belong in. The only thing missing was the pretty elf curled into his arm. He’d huff as he put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. 

He was growing much too attached. He wasn’t meant to be a good lover. Yet here he was.

Since she asked for the flowers.

(Written by me)

The city was cruel this evening. Stormwind smelled like something crawled into the sewer and died.  Death laid in the bowels of the waterways and the scent of rotted meat spread throughout the city. A few men were pulled from the canals, bloated and sickly. Yellow like the color of spoiled chicken and covered in a sheen of slime. It was enough to make Ared gag as she went from meeting to meeting.

 First, she met with Risal, then, Yurissa and Grewyn. Both engagements were a great success, even though the spot next to her was cold where the knight usually stood. There could be no celebration without him, so she chose to go home after she walked by the hall and he was no longer there. In truth, she couldn’t get out of the city fast enough and before long, she was at the foot of her doorstep in Boralus, picking up evening newspapers that piled up too many too high. 

Woke was already there. The door was unlocked and she easily saw her way in, tossing the neglected newspapers to a nearby table. He never locked the damn door and she smiled at his terrible habit. 

Whether they admitted it or not, this wasn’t her home anymore. It was theirs, save for his unsightly ornaments that decorated the wall of his cottage. Simple to her, lacking in design and flair. His shack was grossly decorated by masculine, crude hands that lacked a woman’s touch. 

It crossed her mind daily that when she finally moves out of the apartment they shared in Boralus, she will give him proper room to store his most cherished things. It was only a matter of time until she secured a new manor and she looked forward to the day they no longer had to return to this temporary housing. The rooms were too full here, haunted by the ghosts of the past.Rushing the stairs, she quickly scales every step with a quickness to get to the  bedroom, cursing her gown that prevented her from taking two steps at a time. She was excited to see him, and him alone, yet a flowery bouquet awaits her in secret. Perhaps it was a gift for suffering without his touch during this long evening. Wearing his sadistic and possessive bruised marks on her skin wherever she goes wasn’t enough. Nothing was ever enough for Aredhele Valtieri. 

That statement was a lie. The lily and daisy arrangement that laid in wait on her side of the bed was more than she could ever ask for. She gazed at the flowers as if they were a great wonder of the world. Somehow she made herself believe his hands never gifted any other woman such things, not even his girth. In that moment, she told herself, the only sin he knew was her.

 With a sweep of her hand, she flung overly expensive perfumes and mismatched pieces of jewelry off the nightstand to die on the floor. She gently placed all the flowers on the makeshift pedestal next to the bed, except for one that found home in a tangled lock of her hair. Purposely placed behind her ear so that the petals rest on her cheekbone. Like a savage,  she pounced on her man wild and unhinged, abusing his face, ears, and neck with a carnival of kisses before she exhausts herself with chaste squeals of girlish delight. 

Needless to say, lilies and daisies were now her favorite. Even after their death, she will treasure the first gift he gave her in the form of a dried bouquet.