The Bride of the Immortal Read online

  Desperately hoping for a flash of inspiration, Mairin examined her small kingdom. An opaque curtain divided the room into two areas, one containing a huge closet right next to the door and a table with two chairs that were used for her lectures while the other part of her room was the sleeping area which was just big enough to hold her bed and the small dressing table. Under normal circumstances the two big windows provided enough light for both sides, even with the heavy curtain drawn in between. Mairin’s eyes wandered from one furnishing to the next. For a moment she considered the option of barricading herself in, by moving everything that was firm and massive in front of the door, but even though she liked the idea, she couldn’t help but dismiss it when she remembered that there might not be enough time to execute her plan after being locked in. There also wasn’t much point in hiding, since the room was hardly big enough to keep her attacker from finding her in less than approximately thirty seconds.

  “Hopeless… it’s utterly hopeless,” Mairin mumbled.

  Weary of trying to find a solution that obviously didn’t exist she sank into one of the two chairs that were facing the door and felt so dispirited that she put her head back and left her arms hanging. When, like that, her glance fell on the cupboard, an idea was finally born. With one quick movement Mairin jumped on her feet and hurried over to the door to open it. She was agitated. For the first time in hours she finally felt that there was possibly a chance to avert the menace. Like a madwoman she left and entered her room repeatedly, checking every angle that was visible from when she set foot in her room. It was like she had expected: With its unusual height of almost three meters and for her plan perfectly positioned behind the opened door the cupboard could prove to be the ideal hiding place. The only thing left to do was to find a way to buy herself time until Father Adrijan was picking her up in the morning and Mairin already had a faint idea on how to accomplish that. If she could neither run away nor stay hidden, she thought that the only option was to attempt both.

  Her plan was no touch of genius, but there was at least a chance that it would succeed. Mairin tried to calm herself, closed the door from the inside and drew the large curtain that divided her room. Even though she didn’t expect anyone else today, since there were no lectures and Father Adrijan the only visitor in years, she wanted to make sure that nobody would stumble in on her preparations.

  First she completed packing the small suitcase she had left behind earlier and moved the stool from her dressing table to the cupboard to store her belongings on top of the wardrobe. Later she would use it to climb up the closet the far side of the door where she hoped the footstool would remain unnoticed. Mairin wasn’t sure if she was overreacting by not choosing one of the higher chairs instead, but she didn’t want to rely too much on the darkness of the night to aid her, as she couldn’t be certain that the attacker didn’t know her room and came without a candle.

  When that was done she piled up the remaining clothes on the bed and hid them under her blanket, trying to create the illusion of her sleeping peacefully. Even after countless shifting, pushing and pulling of clothes, blanket and pillow Mairin was hardly satisfied with the outcome but another look at the nearby clock told her that it would have to do. There was still much to be done and the most difficult part of her plan yet to accomplish.

  As other women of her age she unfortunately wasn’t in the possession of a rope – even less a rope long enough to reach from the window of her room on the second floor to at least somewhere near the ground. In the search for a substitute Mairin soon found herself on the corridor again, this time sneaking to a small storage closet on the second floor. Progressing with her plan had almost put her into a good mood until she noticed that the door to the closet was locked. Mairin cursed, ignoring that it wasn’t very lady-like, and went downstairs to the first floor to check the storage closet there. Compared to the corridor her room was in, this one was more frequently visited by the girls and staff of Sunflower Garden, which made the small room a lot more difficult to access. Every time someone unexpectedly turned up at the staircase or on the opposite side of the hallway, she found herself acting as if she were looking for an accidentally dropped item on the floor or gazing out of one of the two windows as if it were her only purpose in life. Eventually though she had the opportunity to try her luck with the door and much to her surprise found out that it wasn’t locked.

  For once fortune had smiled upon her and Mairin was sincerely hoping that it wasn’t for the last time today. She was still deciding if finding out about the planned assault counted as luck as well but she was glad enough about it not to complain.

  As it was fairly dark in the storage closet with the only source of light coming from a small window on a rainy afternoon on an autumn day, it took a while until Mairin was able to locate the piled up sheets. They were placed on one of the shelves right next to multiple blankets that were used for sitting in the garden on cool evenings or riding in the open carriages.

  Without delay Mairin carefully started carrying linen sheets to her room, always only taking a few at a time, until she had just as many as she thought necessary. Not a moment passed without her being afraid of being discovered and her plan brought to an end. Despite the risk and her growing fatigue she sneaked back once more to retrieve three woollen blankets that she thought essential to counter the autumnal cold that was going to accompany the stay on the cupboard.

  Back in her room after finishing the tedious process she granted herself a short break. Getting closer to the end of her preparations and not having to go back to the frequented first floor made her feel as if at least a little weight was lifted from her shoulders.

  Once more she took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead before she started to tie the sheets together to a long makeshift rope. Mairin was well aware that she wasn’t a sailor and didn’t know a lot about knots but she hoped her work was good enough to convince a man in the dark that they had been efficient to help her escape.

  After she was done she affixed the end of the rope of sheets to two bed posts and pulled the rest over to the window. It had turned out a lot heavier than expected and she was nervously thinking about how difficult it would be to lift it up and throw it outside in the short time. She would have to do it bit by bit until gravity was on her side and finished her work. For now though she had to be patient and wait as it was yet too early should her faked escape be discovered.

  The last step of her preparations concerned the blankets. One of them she was going to use to make lying on top of the cupboard bearable while the purpose of the remaining two was to keep her from freezing in her own room. Nevertheless, to prepare her hiding place she had to get up on the cupboard first, which was difficult to accomplish, even with the footstool shortening the climb. More than once her foot slipped and she felt like her body would be covered by bruises before she could achieve her goal.

  After a multitude of attempts Mairin eventually succeeded and exhausted stretched herself out on top of the cupboard, more aware than ever of all the bruises and strained parts of her body. She could hardly believe that she would soon have to climb up once more with even less time to her disposal. Pulling herself together one more time, Mairin started to clumsily arrange the blankets in a way it wouldn’t take long to make use of them later on and was interrupted by a knocking at her door just when she was about to remove a spider web in the corner next to her. Mairin flinched and bumped with her head against the ceiling.

  “Miss Muriel! Oh Miss Muriel, have you forgotten about dinner again? Come out at once or I shall retrieve you myself!” Without a doubt it was Mrs Enderby’s voice, singing dangerously, like always when she pretended to be friendly while insinuating that in fact she wasn’t.

  Mairin held her breath and inflated her cheeks. Whatever she did now, it was vital not to mess up the whole situation by making the wrong noise or being impolite. She didn’t even want to imagine what Mrs Enderby would do if she found her lying on the wardrobe.


  “I’m coming! I’m so very sorry… but please don’t come in, I’m not properly dressed yet!” Mairin exclaimed while desperately trying to crawl backwards as fast as she could. Soon after with at least five more bruises added to her collection Mairin arrived at the ground completely out of breath and rushed to the door. Half a moment later Mrs Enderby decided that she had waited long enough and opened the door.

  “Oh dear…” she mumbled when her eyes fell on Mairin. Looking down on her dress Mairin saw at once why the headmistress’ sister was so shocked. Her gown was creased and covered in dust. Mairin gulped.

  “I was preparing for tomorrow’s journey you see,” she said apologetically, hoping that Mrs Enderby would buy her petty excuse. To her surprise the corpulent woman simply shrugged her shoulders instead of asking any questions, turned around and left the room muttering a series of words Mairin didn’t care to understand. As soon as she had recovered from being perplexed she hurried herself to follow, trying to get rid of as much dust as possible on her way downstairs.

  Maybe it really was her lucky day.

  Adrijan unbuttoned the lower part of his cassock and put on his sturdy boots and his long black coat before he stepped out into the darkness. He had spent the whole way from his study to the kitchen trying to come up with an excuse for leaving the house this late. Just when he had been at his wit’s end as to how to avoid arousing suspicion the problem had resolved itself. He had discovered Miss Sophie sitting in the rocking chair near the hearth, sleeping peacefully with her knitting on the lap. Even though the elderly woman sometimes scolded him like a school boy, she more often ended up mothering him, giving him the feeling of being cared for – an emotion he wasn’t accustomed to. Despite the precarious situation he was in, the thought of Miss Sophie dozing and snoring in the warmth and safety of the small cottage managed to put an impish grin on his face.

  Adrijan looked out for the servant while he continued walking towards the stables. There was no sign of him. He had probably withdrawn to his chamber after the rain had ceased. Calming the horses in the wet and stormy weather had to have worn the good man out.

  Unwilling to lose more time by fetching help, Adrijan was forced to saddle his riding horse on his own. It reminded him that he preferred the more comfortable methods of transportation outside Traumstadt that also didn’t require him adjusting his priest attire. Neither trains nor cars, nor motorcycles were impressed by stormy weather and prancing uneasily in a night like this as the residents of his stables were.

  At least he knew that he could trust Nebel, a grey the immortal had given to him a year ago when Adrijan’s duties had kept him from leaving Traumstadt.

  Adrijan gently led the stallion to the small path in front of the cottage before he mounted it and set out for the centre of the artificial town. Against his expectations he was hoping that the night would end soon and the promised help of the immortal’s top trusted security members would arrive before the morning, stealthily of course, without giving the people the feeling to be victims of an alien invasion. It was only a matter of time then, until the corrupted staff members would be neutralized. With a little luck his master wouldn’t be suffering from one of his moods today and get the idea of delaying the venture any further. Adrijan had already spent too much time on the phone trying to find the culprits and reporting to the immortal.

  “Try to stay alive until help arrives,” he had said and his voice had sounded disturbingly indifferent.

  Adrijan sighed. He wished it was only his life he had jeopardized by carelessly trusting the enemy and nobody else would have to suffer for his naivety tonight.

  “Good night, Miss Muriel”, the servant mumbled silently. The guilty conscience was written all over his face. With his gaze affixed to the floor he opened the door to her room and stepped aside to let her enter. Mairin tried her best not to show how nervous she was and firmly wished him good night as she walked past him. He in turn seemed to be completely oblivious to her reply and made haste to close the door behind her. The sound of the door clunking shut and the key being turned around robbed Mairin of the last bit of self-control. With the candle shaking in her hand and the faint shadows the flickering light summoned, Mairin soon felt surrounded by a wild dance of demons. Even so she watched herself starting to move despite her fear like a puppet on a string, controlled by her subconscious, first putting the candle on the table then slipping past the curtain with feline grace.

  Although it was pitch-black on this side of the room she found her way to the window effortlessly without even so much as touching any of the furniture in her way. While her body kept moving with ease as if she were fulfilling an everyday task she was well aware that any moment the door to her room might open and give way to her walking nightmare. Again her skilful puppeteer paid no heed to her turbulent emotions and induced his slave to open the window. Bit by bit Mairin heaved the linen and let it drop down the wall of Sunflower Garden not bothering to prevent any noise it might produce. The more girls took notice of her alleged plan the better. Trying to thwart her escape they would perhaps even end up aiding her instead.

  Finally gravity took pity on Mairin and relieved her of her work by tearing the rest of the sheets down. Aware that it was impossible to close the window from outside Mairin decided to leave it wide open and with the makeshift rope dangling down she hurried back to the table. There she paused for a moment to strain her ears for any noise the approach of the villain would cause. Nothing – there was still time. With a knotty feeling in the pit of her stomach she blew out the candle and started to climb on top of the wardrobe. Fortunately she had learnt something from her first try and managed to overcome the last hurdle much faster this time. Soon she found herself wrapped up in the blanket she had prepared.

  Mairin wasn’t sure if she was shivering because of her nervousness or the cold that was slowly creeping into the room. Once some time had passed and she had calmed down a little, telling herself, that she might not be visited tonight after all, she realised that there was a slight flaw in her plan: She was sometimes afraid of the dark. Mairin couldn’t quite explain why it was worse on some days than on others but she had to admit that today she had all reason to be scared. The thick darkness kept her from making out anything in the room and gave her the impression that she was watched from all sides. It was just the right time to remember that earlier today she had missed her opportunity to remove the spider-web in the corner of her room above her head. She was wondering if it was this that she felt, the eight tiny eyes staring at her, ready to signal their owner to attack with the eight scrawny little legs. In her thoughts Mairin called herself an idiot. How could she possibly concern herself with something like this? As much as she tried, once she had summoned the thoughts, her imagination kept playing tricks on her. In one moment she felt scuttling on her forehead, then on her neck and on her hand and in the next she had the impression hands might suddenly grab her from underneath and tear her from her hiding place. Mairin did her best to hide under the blanket. Her heart was beating fast. She was wondering if the horrid nightmare was ever going to come to an end.

  Over the years he had come to know Traumstadt well. In the end it had been him who had planned every part of it – always considering the wishes of the immortal of course – and even though he had despised it in the beginning he had acquired a liking for the place bit by bit. Especially the comfort of his small cottage and the ideas of the scientists who resided in the artificial town had grown to his heart. More than once he had been amused by new inventions, variations of items that had long before existed outside the borders of Traumstadt. Recently for example he had been introduced to the “rolling metal-horse” as its inventor called it, a vehicle that was easiest to describe by picturing two bicycles without pedals joined together. Adrijan was sincerely hoping that not everything would go to rack and ruin tonight.

  Not being slowed down by a coach, he had reached the wayside shrine that was on a small path leading to Sunflower Garden in far
less time than it had taken him to travel home earlier that day. Sometimes, after finishing business in the town centre, he had rested on the bench next to this shrine, observing the buildings of the boarding school in the distance, wondering about the fate of the little girl he had chosen. Ten years had gone by so fast.

  Adrijan dismounted Nebel and loosely tied his reins to the back of the bench. In the dark he could hardly make out the two candles that were standing in front of the small shrine. Wind and rain had extinguished their light. Adrijan took a votive candle out of the saddle bag, lit it and placed it next to the others. Once the flame had grown bigger, the painting the shrine was sheltering became visible. It portrayed Virgin Mary, almost completely enveloped in a cloak of the same brilliant blue as lapis lazuli, her dark eyes sorrowfully looking at the passer-by with her hands folded in prayer. Adrijan was still hoping, that he was only imagining the danger.

  “Hilf, Maria, es ist Zeit, Mutter der Barmherzigkeit,” he whispered, turned around and continued his way to Sunflower Garden.

  Her sight was blurry when she opened her eyes and realising too late that she wasn’t resting in her bed she came within a whisker of falling off the wardrobe when she attempted to stretch her hurting limbs. At once Mairin was wide awake and instinctively tried to push herself closer to the wall behind her.

  “Great,” she thought, hoping that her clumsiness hadn’t caused too much noise.

  Considering the circumstances she was in, Mairin didn’t have the faintest idea how she could have possibly managed to doze off. The only logical explanation that came to her mind was that she had to have passed out from exhaustion – or maybe there was another: that she was subconsciously suicidal.