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A New Beginning	By : Lum Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 5783 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
Disclaimer: Please see the prologue

A New Beginning

Chapter 20

Consequences

Not Censored

Madison floated in a sea of warm tranquility, interrupted only by the slight throb of her head. She settled into the blankets, warm against her smooth, bare skin as she turned into the warmth. The arm around her waist shifted slightly. She flexed her fingers, first one arm and then the other, but the one holding her lay still against her.

Consciousness stabbed through the pleasant haze of her awakening, and with the opening of her eyes the dull ache transformed into a splitting pain that made her gasp and clamp her eyes shut.

One, two, she counted as she looked at her hands, so to whom did the third arm belong to? She shifted, her blanket cocoon making the movement awkward and difficult, until she had turned on her side enough that she could crane her head to her left without explosions of pain.

It was Erik, swaddled in his own blanket but with one arm under his head and the other draped around her waist. His position had forced the blanket down and she could see his muscled arms and the beginning of his chest, the fine dark hairs lightly coating his skin.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she watched him sleep. Soft whinnies drew her attention from her study of him and she turned her head, looking for the source.

They were in a cave, the remnants of a fire a few feet from them with clothes laid out beside what was now a pile of ash with a few clumps of unburned wood fragments.

Her brow wrinkled in confusion, where had the clothes come from? And what was she doing sleeping on the floor with Erik, in a cave?

Her head swam and pounded fiercely as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Despite her confusion she carefully picked his arm off of her and loosened the blankets, and looking down at herself discovered that she
was as naked as the day she was born.

He shifted beside her, rolling closer to her. Madison panicked, trying to pull her blanket back over her nakedness only to find that he was lying on top of one corner, successfully trapping it. She studied his face which was slack with sleep and her own barely concealed nudity before turning her attention to her clothes, which were only a few feet from them.

Should she pull the blanket from his grasp and risk waking him, or quietly retrieve her clothing and dress before he awoke?

Light infiltrated the cave, the pre-dawn brightness erasing shadows and wakening forest creatures. She could not hesitate any longer; soon the light would wake him and make the decision for her. So Madison carefully withdrew from the soft, warm blanket and rose from the ground, careful to watch Erik for any sign that he was lucid, and crossed to her clothing. She picked up the items, her white cotton shift, her corset, skirt, and blouse, and tip-toed her way to the horses.

The chill in the air made her dress quickly, and though the clothing was still a bit damp it would have to do. As she was tying her skirt to her blouse and pulling out the worst of the wrinkles she heard the rustles of fabric and turned around, peeking around the corner to see Erik laying, still sound asleep, by the cooling ashes of the fire.

She turned her attention to their horses that were whickering softly for attention.

Erik cracked one eye as Madison shifted beside him in her sleep and repositioned his hand so that she could not roll away from him and off of the blanket they lay on. Her movements made the edge of the blanket slide down, revealing one bare, creamy shoulder.

He eyed the graceful curve of her neck and the way that her bones lay under the skin. He watched her as she began to wake, as her breathing quickened and eyes began to flutter, and feigned sleep.

He enjoyed the feel of his hand against her smooth stomach, could feel her through the thickness of the blanket, and when she made to rise he was caught up in moment of impulsivity. Erik shifted, rolling into her and grasping more of her, not wanting the stolen moment to end.

He was surprised when she rose anyway, when she carefully dislodged his hand and wriggled out of her blanket, the piece of wool that he had successfully trapped under himself so that she could not rise. But she was, and she was crossing the fire to their clothes. He risked being caught and cracked one eye open, barely managing to stifle a groan as he was rewarded with the view of her naked frame, kneeling down to recover her now dry clothes.

He had not looked at her the night before save to make sure that he had removed all of her wet clothes, but he could not force himself to look away. He watched her as she bent at the waist, reveled in the sight of the round globes of flesh that creased above her smooth thighs. He studied her quickly, noting the curve of her hips and waist and the soft expanse of her back, of the delicate curve of her arm as she grabbed her clothes and pressed them to her front.

He closed his eyes, the images burned onto his lids, and heard her cross to the other chamber for privacy. Risking one more glance he cracked an eye again and watched her retreat around the bend of the cavern’s hallway, her naked form now gone from his sight.

He focused on his breathing so that he would not give himself away, but his body betrayed him and his morning
erection hardened even more, if that was possible, as his mind replayed the last few minutes of the morning. He piled the blankets around himself so that if she entered it would not be so obvious, and continued to feign sleep.

They had saddled the horses and eaten a meager breakfast of slightly stale bread and tasteless water and were riding back to the house. They traveled in silence, both too embarrassed to speak but both wanting the terrible silence to be broken.

The sun rose steadily in the sky as they finally crossed the unmarked border of the Swift property. Madison’s headache had subsided to a low throb behind her eyes, the sun making is worse so that she closed them and let Erik lead the way.

As her father’s house came into view they picked up the pace, the horses eager to be back in their stables and Madison and Erik eager for a hot bath, a filling meal, and a soft bed.

Erik stretched his shoulders, trying to remove the kink that had settled in his muscles from sleeping on the rocky ground of the cave and rubbed one hand against the stubble on his face. He turned in his saddle and watched Madison as she dozed on her horse, swaying in the saddle.

When they were near enough to the house they heard the shouts of the servants at their arrival.

The stable master, Robert, took the reins of the horses and after Madison and Erik had dismounted, led the weary bests into the stable where they would be groomed and pampered. The pair was rushed inside where their presence was announced. Madison was hugged by many, and led to her bed chamber by Ummi, who scolded and soothed her repeatedly.

Madison rested her head against the cool edge of the porcelain bath tub and sighed. She had scrubbed herself pink, cleaned under her nails, and detangled her hair and now soaked luxuriously in the orange blossom scented water. Her headache, and the accompanying fuzziness, was finally gone and she could think clearly.

The only problem was that she could not remember a good bit of the past day. She remembered riding to the gypsy camps and talking with Alandro’s mother, and drinking and laughing, but beyond that her memory was fuzzy at best and missing at worst.

She closed her eyes and rubbed them, hoping to inspire a vision of the last hours. She replayed her memory over and over in hopes of sparking something, anything, to explain why she had awakened naked as the day she was born, in a cave, and sleeping next to Erik.

Her hand drifted between her thighs as she explored herself. She had not woken with blood between her thighs, as Ummi had told her she would when it happened, and when her hand returned from its ministrations they were clear.
She leaned her head back against the rim and sighed. Now if only she could remember what had happened after she had gotten roaring drunk.

The water cooled and she was forced from her enjoyment, quickly drying off with a soft, fluffy towel and donning a clean chemise and pantalettes. She opened the door that joined her bathing chamber to her bed chamber and found Ummi waiting for her with a corset, corset cover, and a dark blue silk dress that was finer than what she wore on a daily basis.

Madison lowered her gaze, too ashamed to meet Ummi’s eyes. But Ummi merely helped her dress, perhaps tightening her corset a little more than usual, with only the usual light talk between them.

Guilt ate at her until Madison forced herself to apologize, something that she did very rarely, and felt much better when Ummi grudgingly hugged her.

“I am truly sorry Ummi, I did not mean to break my word to you.” She said beseechingly.

Ummi tsked and replied seriously, “I know that you didn’t mean to, child, I know. But you did, and now that you’re refreshed your father wants to speak to you in his study.”

Madison blanched, dreading the reprimand that she was sure to receive, “how upset is he?” she asked.

Ummi balked, looking at her young charge incredulously, “you still don’t understand what you did wrong, do you?”
and shook her head, “oh he’s mad enough to spit fire, mostly because of how worried he was. We thought you was
dead in a ditch somewhere, or worse.”

Madison lowered her head ashamed; she had scared her loved ones to panic and was worrying about being scolded? She deserved it, for acting so foolishly.

After Madison was dressed and thoroughly ashamed of herself Ummi led her to the study, partly to comfort her but mostly to make sure that she actually arrived.

When she entered the room her father and Erik were already seated, tension filled the room so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

Madison twisted her hand in the skirt of her dress, suddenly nervous and apprehensive.

She stood before their seated figures, waiting for her father to speak.

A moment passed slowly, and then he said “I hope that you enjoyed yourself for it is the last time that you will
leave this house unescorted. Erik here has told me of your foolishness, you are very lucky that he arrived in time before the worst had happened. What have you to say for yourself?”

Madison paled even more, the pinpricking that preceded crying making her guilt worsen. “I do not have any defense, father. I acted foolishly with little thought to what my actions would do to you or Ummi. I am sorry.” The pinpricking turned to the beginnings of tears as her eyes watered, the tears unshed.

“I am afraid that sorry will just not do, not this time.” Her father responded.

“What do you mean?” she asked, bewildered.

He studied his daughter a moment, she was so young and naïve, sheltered, “your reputation is in tatters.”
She gasped but was silenced by a wave of a hand. He continued, “we roused the neighbors and the servants so that they might search for you, news of your debacle will no doubt reach Raleigh and all of North Carolina before the month is out. You were gone, all night, un-chaperoned, and inebriated in the presence of men. You spent the evening in close quarters with a non-related man.”

Madison interrupted him, “but father, nothing happened!”

He silenced her with an angry glance, “it does not matter is nothing happened, no one would believe us. Quite frankly, your reputation is ruined. You are very lucky, my dear, that Mr. Durmand here has decided to do the honorable thing and marry you.”

Madison turned her gaze to Erik, who sat beside her father, his hands grasping the arms of the chair loosely, his face calm and unreadable. She swallowed the lump in her throat as the tears in her eyes receded along with their panic, she took a calming breath to steady her nerves and slow her suddenly erratic heartbeat.

Her father continued, seeming not to notice Madison’s sudden compliableness, “A special license has already been sent for and your engagement will be announced at the ball in two weeks time. Do I make myself clear?”

She looked at her father, noting the weariness of his frame and the sad look in his eyes. He had truly been
frightened for her, and she would not make it worse for him. Arguing would do no good; he merely sought to protect the family name and her now tarnished reputation. “Yes, father, I understand,” was her reply.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that for Erik, a tension that she hadn’t seen was released suddenly when his shoulders rounded slightly and his hands relaxed their grip on the chair. She bowed her head and left the room meekly, and she returned to her room. Ummi would want to know what had just happened, even though Madison did not quite understand it herself.

She had expected dread and horror at her engagement being forced upon her, instead butterflies fluttered in her stomach. He always made her feel this way, unsure and nervous but excited.

Perhaps a life with him would not be torturous. He certainly did wicked things to her body and made her feel things that she had only heard or read about.

As she placed her hand on her bedroom doorknob and began to turn it, a scene of a dark figure galloping to her on horseback in a raging storm flashed before her. Was it a dream or a memory?

She glanced back down the hallway at the study but could see nothing through the crack in the door.
And she was left wondering exactly what had happened last night, at the camp and then between her and Erik, and why she had awakened naked but untouched.

She shook her head to clear the cobwebs and turned the knob, Ummi was waiting for her.

Author’s Note: I hope that everyone has enjoyed the story so far. We are close to the ending, perhaps four or five more chapters to go! I want to know what everyone prefers, a long epilogue or a short sequel series? I also forgot to add in the last chapter a disclaimer, so here goes.
Like any group of people there are some bad seeds that ruin the image for the rest. Unfortunately, Alandro is one of these. I grew up around the gypsies who are for the most part a good but private people. The men and older boys traveled doing temporary work and the women and children stayed in their great big houses, raising babies and making goods like jewelry and pottery. Every Saturday the women and children would come into town, all dressed up with their make-up done and their hair poufy and curled (even the babies wore make-up and were curled up which looked very strange) and eat dinner or go to the movies. So for the most part they live normal lives, just a little more eccentrically. I hear wild stories growing up that if a girl needed money she could have one of the gypsy guy’s babies and they would pay her for custody of it, but this is probably just a wild story. That’s where the inspiration for Madison’s failed abduction came from. I figured that he might try to seduce her and take her with them so that they can get some fresh blood into their gene pool. I have no idea if this ever happens but it sounded plausible. Hope I didn’t offend anyone, it’s fiction after all.
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A New Beginning