Whenever Maeve gave herself a slight break from tearing down her own emotional stability (which wasn't often), she wondered to herself whether there was really a point to marrying Tallan now that Sinbad and Dermott were dead. Then she remembered Doubar, Rongar, and Firouz, sitting in a dungeon cell somewhere within Tallan's fortress, depending on her for their survival. Tallan had told her that they now hated her very existence, but she couldn't just completely turn her back on them when they needed her help, whether they liked it or not. This reminded Maeve that she still had an obligation to marry Tallan, even if she still loved Sinbad, the man whom she had killed.
Sinbad watched Maeve from the other side of the wall, unaware of the extent of the raging emotions inside of her, the doubt, the self-hate, the remorse..... How could he have known since most of Maeve's fears and anxieties were not voiced, but only thought? Sinbad had given up on finding a way to break through the wall, his fists were now bloody and throbbing with the memory of his earlier attempts. Now all it seemed that he could do was sit back and watch, and pray to Allah that they would somehow make it out of here alive.
Both Maeve's and Sinbad's trains of thought were interrupted as Tallan reentered the scene with several chambermaids. One of them held a beautiful white gown, trimmed with lace and dripping with pearls.
"The time has come, my darling, for you to get ready for the wedding. Don't take too long, the preacher is waiting!" With those words Tallan misted out of Maeve's room and into Sinbad's while the maids began to try to undress Maeve.
"Sorry, sailor, but this show isn't for pests like you," he said and then waved a hand, allowing the wall to become visible to Sinbad again. "I for one, though, want to know just exactly what I'm getting. I'll be watching my bride-to-be dress if you need me," Tallan said and then raise a hand to mist out, but Sinbad stopped him.
"Wait! I think we have a few things to talk about! For one, just what do you plan on doing with Maeve?" Sinbad said while hoping that this would stall him for at least a while.
"Use your imagination, Sinbad. She's going to be my wife soon. What do most newly-weds do?"
"Most new wives aren't forced into marrying a man they hate!"
"Maeve will come to love me in time. Well, at least like me. Tolerate, perhaps? Or she may stay bitter and withdrawn, but it really doesn't matter to me what she thinks. She hasn't the power or the will to stop me. You want to know what I'm going to do with her? I'm going to enjoy myself, that's what I'm going to do."
"Why you--!" Sinbad lunged forward to confront Tallan but stopped as the sorcerer threw out a beam of magic that encased Dermott. The bird became completely still, and for all Sinbad knew, he was dead.
"Don't forget about your little friends, Sinbad. Maeve angered me, and now to her both you and her brother are dead. Believe me, I'd have no problem with killing him, or any of your other friends, right now. Perhaps Maeve would like to have some roast hawk for dinner?"
Sinbad stopped and re-thought his actions. If he angered Tallan, he would probably just hurt Maeve more. Sinbad wasn't willing to risk that. He held out his arms in a sarcastic gesture of friendship and backed off.
"That's a good boy," Tallan said and then kicked Sinbad in the stomach. The young sailor fell onto the floor in pain and gritted his teeth to keep from crying out or lashing back at Tallan. "Let's check in on that lovely woman, shall we?" Tallan made the wall once again invisible and frowned at the scene before him. "Damn, she's already dressed. Looks like I'll just have to wait for tonight. Oh well, have fun with the birdbrain," Tallan said. He then released Dermott from his magical prison and misted into Maeve's room. Sinbad couldn't hear what Tallan said to Maeve, but she nodded sadly and then Tallan misted away with her.
It was quite a while before Tallan reappeared with Maeve. Sinbad watched the room the entire time, hoping that they would mist back in and he would hear that, for some reason, they did not get married as they were supposed to. His hopes vanished as the couple misted into the room at such an angle that Sinbad could see the wedding band on Maeve's left ring finger. Maeve started to turn away, but Tallan took hold of her arms and kissed her. Maeve allowed it for a moment, thinking, *I am his wife, it's his right,* but soon grew tired of the harshness of the kiss and resisted. Her efforts earned her a slap in the face before Tallan resumed the kiss. This time Maeve allowed it only because she did not want to be hit again, but when Tallan brought her over to the bed and pushed her back onto it, she began having second thoughts. As he brought his weight to rest upon her, Maeve tried to shove him away.
"Tallan, please, don't make me do this, I don't want to! Please!"
"Don't want to!?" Tallan slapped Maeve hard, causing her to jerk under him. "Don't forget, woman, that you are MY wife! I don't care what you want! You'll do what I want when I want to!"
Tallan lifted himself off of Maeve for a moment, just long enough to chant a spell that bound Maeve's hands to the bed posts with ropes and made Sinbad's wall visible again. Maeve finally realized that there would be no way to escape and cried as Tallan began to remove her clothes.
"Shut up! Don't cry, woman, this is your wedding night! You are about to become one with your husband, be happy!" Tallan said. Tallan's reference to their wedding night brought to Maeve's mind the fantasies she used to have of what her wedding night with Sinbad would have been like. Maeve could not stop the tears from coming as, for the uncountable time that day, she came to the reality that she had cause the death of the man she truly loved.
Maeve's crying angered Tallan more, causing him to hit her again and again, taking her breath away so that, for the moment, she couldn't form a sound. She soon regained her voice, though, and her cries were heard as Tallan's blows were felt once again.
Sinbad's face had turned into that of a madman. Hearing Maeve's cries and not knowing what torture she was enduring was not doing much to help him keep his sanity. Maeve's screams and sobs plagued Sinbad and Dermott for hours. Doubar, Rongar, and Firouz could only faintly hear her cries from their cell, but it was enough to make their stomachs churn with sympathy. The fire in Sinbad's eyes burned with hatred and frustration over what Maeve was going through, and his wounded hands were covered in fresh blood once again as he took out his anger on the only source available: the wall.
Maeve awakened the next morning to the feeling of something heavy around her. It took her a few moments to realize that her nightmare was real and that she was encircled within Tallan's arms. At one point during the night, Maeve managed to pull her hands free of the ropes that bound them. Tallan had become so enraged that he began choking Maeve. Her fragile skull had cracked against the headboard, causing a dark oblivion that she openly welcomed.
When Maeve's cries had suddenly stopped, Sinbad and the others feared the worst: that Tallan had killed her. When Maeve awakened to find herself pulled close to a sleeping Tallan, her quiet sobs had assured Sinbad that she was still alive, though in great physical and emotional pain. Maeve could remember all too clearly every horrifying detail of the night before, up until the point when she had blacked out. She had no way of knowing what had happened after that, but her pain and discomfort this morning were proof that Tallan was neither a kind nor considerate lover. Maeve longed to break out of Tallan's grasp and run from the room, but besides the door being locked from the outside, the slightest movement could cause Tallan to awaken and lash out at Maeve even more visciously than he had the night before.
Maeve stayed there, awake and crying, for perhaps an hour before Tallan woke up and pulled her closer to him. Maeve was afraid of what he might do after what she experienced last night, but he simply kissed her, got out of bed and dressed, and misted out of the room to take care of the little problems that were sure to come up in a day of living in such a large fortress. It would be almost a month before Maeve would realize that she was pregnant.
Back to the main page
Back to Zephyr's fics page
Cloudy Skies - Part 5