Chapter Text
To be invited within the halls of the elders was a highly sought out honor few were ever given no matter how desperate they were to prove themselves as worthy. Villagers were more likely to be cast out by those wise, whispering elders after their private exchanges than they were to actually speak to any of the members face to face. It was regarded as a sacred blessing to be seen as someone with equal poise and intelligence by the circle of leaders, to be worthy enough that they could be graced by their just presence and bestowed upon private insight. So many others would kill to be called upon, all of which were probably stewing in indignation that such a humble little mouse girl had been urged to come at once.
So why was Alama despising every minute of every word spoken to her by the revered ones?
Her heart felt like it was going to beat straight out of her chest, a nervousness that should not be mistaken for the same excitement other villagers might dream of feeling. Anxiety must be rolling off her in unmistakable waves as her mother reached over to clasp one of her clammy hands between her own. The warm touch did help to ground her slightly, but the tremble in all her limbs refused to dissipate as the elders continued to droll on about the most awful situation before them.
Cassius had asked for her hand in marriage .
Once upon a time, Alama could have laughed at such a ridiculous notion. A fox wanting to wed a mouse, purely out of the love in his heart? And not just the typical, towering man like so many other predators, but an honored knight as well, a protector to the kingdom that carelessly ruled over the gaggles of prey villages in addition to their own kind. It was preposterous, it was destined to fail before the honeymoon! They must think her a fool to believe there were any good intentions behind the fox’s desire to claim her as a bride. Sure, for the entirety of the self proclaimed courtship, he was nothing short of a proper gentleman, but she was not going to be persuaded so easily by his manners and bashful smile.
“No,” she caught herself saying after one of the elders finished laying out the terms of agreement. Her ears were pinned back into the waves of brown that she fussed into a bun, foolishly hoping her appearance would make a good impression on the esteemed council. Had Alama known this is what she would be subjected to, she might have made herself as decent as a nightwalker to dissuade the decision. Perhaps that was what she should have done the first time the fox had shown the barest amount of interest in her.
The elder formerly speaking, a man with far too many wrinkles to count, furrowed his bushy brows at her. “I beg your pardon?”
Alama swallowed nervously. Gods, who did she think she was to defy the council so boldly? She could sense her father bristling next to her for speaking out of turn, though he did not dare to punish her while he was also in full view of the elders. “No, I…I do not wish to marry him.”
“This has nothing to do with your wishes,” the same elder said, the multitude of wrinkles morphing into a hard frown. “Sir Cassius has agreed to a most generous offer of continuing his personal service of guarding our village in exchange for your hand. We will not be refusing.”
We? You act as if you all are being forced to be his bride! The mouse wanted to scream. How could they tell her this union had nothing to do with her desires when she herself was one half of the marriage! Cassius, ever the noble knight, had already been doing a valiant job in protecting the village in addition to his actual, important duties to serve the kingdom that ruled over them both. He had taken it upon himself to prove that he was a sufficient protector of Alama and her people the first time he requested to court her, mere days after their first formal meeting, and now it seemed he was ready for his payment.
She couldn’t believe this. Her life was really being negotiated in a contract, to sell away her very being to repay the cost of a guard no one asked to hire. Of course, she had known the fox was in this for the long con, but no one ever believed her claims. It didn’t matter how many lovely outings he took her on, how he never touched her without her express permission (of which she rarely granted), how he looked at her as if she were a goddess rather than a palm sized maiden. Predators and preys just simply did not mix, not as allies, and certainly not as spouses. True, Alama hadn’t the faintest idea of what Cassius could be planning that would require them to become husband and wife, yet she didn’t care to find out.
Alama squeezed her mother’s hand. “And I have no say in this?”
“You can say you agree,” Another council member said, leaning forward to steeple his bony fingers. “And it would be very wise of you to do so.”
No, she couldn’t stomach the thought and she shook her head as now her throat was threatening to close up. Her mother cooed to her, drawing one her hands away to cup Alama’s flushed cheek and turn her towards her. “Sweetheart, you said it yourself, he’s a kind man. He wants to take care of you, is that so bad?”
“He’s a fox ,” Alama whimpered. “He serves the same crown that hardly sees our kind as anything more than…than pests. And you want to give me away to him?”
To her mother’s credit, there was a similar shining of unshed tears brimming in her eyes. She gave her daughter a watery smile, though her ears remained downturn. “He adores you, Ala, surely you can see that.”
It was true, she could see the utter devotion Cassius inexplicably had for her and it was sickening. How could he care for her so much? Did he not comprehend that on the social hierarchy she was nothing to him? Even within her own colony of mice, Alama did not bear any high ranking status that might catch the eye of a suitor. She was a common maiden, and a tiny mouse at that, yet everyone acted as if she was the hysterical one for being wary of the fox’s hidden intentions. She should be grateful. She should feel blessed. Instead, she only felt terrified.
Alama sniffled, resisting the urge to hide in her mother’s chest as if she were a little girl. She was already putting on an embarrassing display of pitiful defiance before the elders, there was no need to worsen their sour opinion of her. “But why does he want me? Why can no one else see how deranged that is?”
“Love makes the heart do strange things,” her mother crooned.
“But I don’t love him!” The tears were on the verge of running down her flushed face, her trembling voice cracking at her confession. Could it still be considered a confession if she had made her stance on this one sided romance as clear as ice since the first time she caught the knight looking at her with such desire? Previously, she had mistaken it for a hunger all predators instinctively felt when catching their natural prey, yet somehow the revelation that he wanted more than a simple meal from her was all the more distressing. “Why do I not get a say in my own marriage!?”
“You’re acting like a child,” her father snapped. It was a miracle he was able to hold his temper for this long, especially while his daughter was blubbering away in front of the council. He grabbed her roughly by the arm to yank her out of her mother’s embrace, forcing her to sit straight and forward in front of the burning eyes of the elders. This was feeling less like an honor and more like a sentencing.
Her nose and throat burned, but the simmering injustice within her soul was sparking far hotter. She pulled her arm from his hold, directing her anger towards him rather than face the men who were trying to send her to her doom. “I am a child, I am your child! Your only daughter is to be married off to a predator and you feel no sympathy?”
Another elder at the far end of the sprawling desk scoffed. “It is you who should feel sympathy, girl. This betrothment is what will guarantee an era of peace and protection. A member of the crown is willing to give up his time and energy to ensure the safety of an entire village, but you want to be selfish.”
“Do you really think a woman in your position is more valuable than the community of a near hundred?” The wrinkled elder added. “All you’ve told us is that you believe the village that sheltered you, the people who raised you into the ungrateful woman you are now, are not worth the comfort of protection in exchange for a few vows.”
“There are princesses in arranged marriages who are married off to cruel kings. You should be grateful to have a husband who can find it in his heart to care for you at all.” The bony one said.
The barrage of accusations on her character stung worse than any backhand her father would be delivering to her in the privacy of their home. Tears dripped down Alama’s chin as she ducked her head in shame, the rage that wanted to spread into a wildfire for her bodily rights extinguished just like the many women who had tried to stand up for themselves before her. “N-no…no, that’s not, I-I didn’t–” It was a useless debate to begin with. The answer was never hers to make and had already been decided long before they requested her to be present. The council wasn’t seeking her permission, they were simply letting her know the terms of agreement before she would be whisked away as a bride.
Her mother’s hand caressed her now dampened cheek again, but Alama refused to turn and meet her eyes. “You don’t know that this will be an unhappy marriage…”
She did know, because they were not even wed yet and already she was unhappy. She was unhappy during their courtship. She was unhappy when he continued to stalk around the village, a blushing fool whenever their eyes met. She was unhappy the moment the fox had been spotted by the other mice as he made his rounds on the royal land. And every time, her unhappiness was shoved aside by the insistence of others for her to do the right thing at the expense of her wellbeing. It felt as if her happiness in general did not matter, no matter how much her future fiance insisted it did.
If Cassius genuinely cared so deeply for her like he proclaimed, he would have left Alama the hell alone.
The elder with spindly hands clapped them once. “The matter is settled then. Alama Pernelle shall wed Sir Cassius in exchange for his continued services. We will tell him her answer at once.”
Her answer was no! It has always been no! Yet Alama knew better than to expect her honest answer to be the one that was given. Her brooding silence was close enough to a ‘yes’ for all parties involved in this affair, just short of the new bride herself. When all the elders stood from their lines of seating, her father had to pull her shoulder to make her rise as well. She blinked away a few lingering tears in confusion, watching as the men impatiently waited for her by the grand doors that lead to the courtyard.
“N-now? We’re telling him now?” Alama squeaked. After all she had just been put through, they now expected her to face the man who would soon be her husband in this state? Her eyes puffy and dress wrinkled from how tightly she balled the fabric in her fists, voice ready to choke on an ill timed hiccup. Well, perhaps that wouldn’t be too miserable of a display to put on for Cassius. Maybe then he would finally get it through his head that she was not worthy to be doted on by such a glorious predator, never mind wedded to one.
“Yes now. Do you not listen?” Her father grumbled, shoving her forward to follow the men outside while her parents exited behind their daughter.
Just as expected, Cassius was waiting for the group to appear, looking as imposing as ever in his steel gray armor that encased his slim figure. Upon seeing the flock of mice approach him, he dropped into a kneel, though Alama did not miss the way his orange tail began to swish once he had spotted her amongst the others. His eyes refused to stray to any of the other smaller beings, a warm smile that twisted her heart gracing his handsome face. Had he been of similar size, the mouse was certain she’d be swooning. However, it was because of the size Cassius was cursed with that she felt so faint. She couldn’t bear to look upon his brilliant expression when she knew she was unable to mask her own and kept her head lowered.
The moment she looked away from him, the delight slipped from his features, immediately assuming his question had been met with rejection. And he was right, but her rejection didn’t matter as it was effortlessly outvoted by the elders. Still, Cassius, the wonderful lovestruck fool that he was, had the audacity to put her emotions before his own and hesitantly reach a hand towards her. The fox didn’t touch her, he never dared to touch her unless she allowed it, but the silent offer was presented to her.
“Alama, are you alr-”
“Sir Cassius,” The wrinkled elder cut in. “Your proposal has been accepted.”
This took him by surprise as Alama’s disposition did not invoke the same energy as that of a blushing bride, much more like a recent widow. “It…has?”
The elder nodded. “Alama Pernelle has agreed to become your wife, and in exchange we ask that you continue on with your gracious task of preserving her homeland from threats.”
“Oh, oh yes, right, I mean, that was always a given,” Cassius chuckled nervously, still eying up Alama’s suspicious lack of joy. Really now, what was he expecting? It wasn’t as if she ever presented herself as a bundle of sunshine whenever she was asked to be in his company. The mouse had always closed herself off around him. There were a few times she had found herself actually…enjoying his personality, allowing a few smiles to slip through and a handful of giggles to be hurt. These were the moments that hurt her the most because she knew she was teetering on a dangerous ledge. One wrong move and she may go off the deep end, head over heels the whole way down to her demise.
If only fate had been a little kinder. If only she had been born into a family of cats or wolves, a species that could offer him a better wife to fawn over.
She heard Cassius’s breath hitch. “Alama, you’re crying.”
Was she? Oh, gods, she was. Hastily, she rubbed the backs of her hands over her eyes to rid herself of any more tears that might give her away. She sniffled, a noise which immediately morphed into a strange sobbed that she barely had time to muffle behind her hand. No, no, no. She couldn’t lose her composure like this. Not in front of the council, not in front of Cassius. Surely this was a sign for a doomed engagement if the bride was on the verge of breaking down into a fit of tears.
No one else cared, though. Her mother was quick to wrap her arms around Alama’s trembling shoulders, but she offered her comfort to her future son rather than her own daughter. “Tears of joy,” her mother reassured the wary fox, “A wedding can cause so much excitement for a young woman, why, there’s just no other way to express it!”
“She’s always been an emotional one,” her father chimed in. Though her vision was blurred from a fresh wave of tears, she knew Cassius didn’t believe him for a second considering she forced herself to show the fox only the bare minimum. Besides, all women were hysterical weepers to men like her father. She hardly doubted her mother was also sobbing tears of happiness this late into her union with him.
“And you’re sure this is what you want?” Cassius asked, lowering himself further in an attempt to make Alama look at his sweet, trusting face.
One of the elders stepped forward. “Of course this is what she wants. It would be nothing short of an honor t-”
“I’m asking her ,” The fox said. His tone was clipped, but it wasn’t as harsh as many other predators would growl. Regardless, it was more than enough to make the man clamp his mouth shut and move away towards the group of other council members yet again. “If she wants to be my wife, I want to hear her say it.”
Oh no. Please, gods, no. Though his intentions appeared noble, he had no idea what kind of pressure he was putting on her at this very moment. He was leaving the decision to wed entirely up to her, something she wanted more than anything as her answer was the one that went against the grain. It was a chance to express her true feelings, to set the record of their relationship straight, to stand up for herself as a young woman. But she couldn’t. The fallout that would come of it was a weight too heavy to bear alone. The village would shun her for her selfish deed, perhaps even execute her as punishment for leaving them to succumb to the fate of a predator. Whether or not that would be Cassius who tore the village to shreds was undetermined, but either way it was a massacre waiting to happen.
“Alama,” No, please, no. Don’t say it. Don’t ask. “Will you marry me?”
With a struggling gulp of air, Alama managed to silence any remaining sobs that fluttered in her chest. She shrugged off her mother’s unhelpful touch, mustering her courage to look up at the fox who even now, with her tear stricken face and burning cheeks, still revered her as if she were the golden sun. Beautiful, bright, warm, all things she could never be.
“I…” She swallowed again. When his hand inched closer to her, she did not refute his touch and let him rub his thumb against her face to wipe away the wet trails that still clung, brushing a few waves of hair out of her eyes in the process. It was unreal how gentle he could be given his size and profession. A man like him shouldn’t exist, at least not in the body of a predator. “I-I do.”
The dazzling smile Cassius flashed made her want to throw up.