Chapter 2 Chapter 2: The abandoned wife

Verbena

Within a few weeks, the last provisions had vanished. It took me days to learn how to start a fire. My bones ached, freezing from the inside out. Every time I heard a sound, I thought it might be a carriage, that someone was coming.

But no one ever did.

I wandered near the forest, watching the fruit the birds ate. Hunger and cold wore me down. I thought solitude would overwhelm me, but it did not.

I had always been alone. I was always surrounded by people who never saw me and never cared whether I was well. People who knew nothing about me and did not want to.

And yet, this was another level of abandonment.

My nails broke, and my fingers bled from chopping wood and burying my hands in soil while trying to farm something.

As the daughter of a respected man in the village, I had learned how to play the piano, how to dress, and how to remain silent. These were skills that were now useless.

One night, I smelled smoke. When I went downstairs, I realized the house was on fire. But how? I was certain I had put out the fire. The roof began to collapse, and I thought I was going to die when I heard a bark and felt teeth tug at the hem of my dress.

"Tori!" I cried, tears spilling from my eyes.

My dog helped me outside; he was the only being who loved me. He was thin, as though he had been searching for me the whole time. We stood and watched the house burn until it collapsed into ruins.

He came back for me. He still wore the collar I had woven for him.

The stone remained, but everything else had been destroyed. I gathered what few belongings and set out to find another place to live.

"We could live in the forest," Tori looked toward the treeline with fear. "Or we could just keep walking. As long as I’m with you, everything will be all right," I whispered, petting him.

For days, we endured the cold and wind while listening to the wolves howl, praying they wouldn't attack us. My fingers froze, and when Tori managed to hunt something, we shared a warm meal. We shared everything.

"I miss clean water, my bed, my piano..." I murmured as he curled up against me, our bodies pressed together for warmth.

We found a small cabin. It had a roof, a few men’s clothes, and a fireplace. I felt rich. I had always felt homeless and unsafe. Nick and Magnolia constantly mistreated me, and my father looked the other way. They blamed me for our mother’s death. They kept me hidden, the unwanted child, the family's shame.

There were moments when I felt connected to nature itself, amid the constant effort to survive. I heard strange sounds and whispers from the forest... I fear something was haunting me.

One year passed, then another, and I stopped counting. I returned to the burned house a few times, hoping to find signs that someone had come for me, but there were none. I never went back again. Some nights, I touched the collar with the eye and prayed that someone would save me.

But elves do not save. Neither do humans.

The wolves' howls grew closer each night. I stopped counting the days until one night when I heard fierce barking nearby and fear claw at my chest.

"Tori, we must run and climb the trees. Come, I’ll carry you." I was slower now, and my foot had worsened. "Go on, Tori!" I shouted.

Thunderous sound of many paws against the grass exploded behind me. Wolves... they were coming for me, finally. I had survived so much, only to die like this? In minutes, they were upon me. Large, gray, and ferocious. I screamed in terror. I threw stones, but one of them sank its teeth into my foot and dragged me down andI screamed.

But Tori turned back and attacked them while I fought.

"No, Tori!"

I dragged myself across the ground. When another wolf approached, I glared at it furiously.

"Enough!" The animal stared at me, then backed away, don't know what happened. When they were gone, I could not find him.

"Tori?" I called desperately in the middle of the night. I followed an awful trail of blood.

They had taken him. Only his collar remained.

"Oh, Tori..."

I held the collar to my chest and cried. I told him how much I loved him and thanked him. I placed the collar around my wrist. I searched for his body, but I never found it. I made a small memorial for him at the base of his favorite tree and buried the collar from my so-called husband. I slept there for many nights. I regretted not hugging him more often. Doing more for him.

After that, nothing else mattered. I had nothing left to fight for.

I wandered the fields. My foot never fully healed. I couldn't stop thinking: Why was I placed in this world if no one cared about me?

One night, after leaving flowers at Tori’s grave and going to the river, I heard a sound. I didn’t know what it was, or rather... I no longer remember. I hid and saw a carriage. It bore a symbol: an eye carved in wood.

“Where is she? Find her and bring her to me," commanded a voice. I recognized it instantly. The cruel elven prince was here. I fled into the forest, stumbling and pushing myself beyond my limits. But I was so weak. I knew it was only a matter of time.

Footsteps and shouts echoed, and then someone shoved me down, and I fell forward.

"Here she is, my lord!"

My skin tingled even before I saw him. When I turned around, he was standing before me in immaculate armor, a dark warrior’s attire. He looked the same as on our wedding day.

The fading light of the evening stars dances in his hair.

His pale face was even more beautiful, and his eyes reflected the forest.

"Where have you been?" he growled coldly. He leaned in close and looked into my eyes... and his expression shifted. When he tried to speak, only a sharp breath escaped. He said my name as if he needed to be sure.

"Verbena..." Calmly, he knelt before me. "Verbena . . ." he repeated, his words carried away by the wind. "I came to find you," he said, extending, offering me his hand.

I shook my head and crawled backward. He looked stunned. I kept retreating until I was able to stand up, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him. He searched my eyes as if looking for something, growing more confused by the second. I tried to fight him and get away, but it was useless. With one swift motion, he hoisted me over his shoulder, kicking and struggling the whole time.

Yet, I could not forget the look in his eyes.

It was as if he had truly seen me.

As no one ever had before