Out of the Fire (Artemisios/Adara)

[Adara Snow]

Adara had not stopped at the school before coming to Diagon Alley. She had considered it, sometime in the long, dark night in Emilian's arms, but had decided that it was not worth the risk of giving her father any warning, was not worth taking the chance that he had indeed charmed any of her belongings to monitor her, just to give the proper physical appearance. She knew the danger she courted, knew that being dressed as she was would only bring more trouble, but she would not risk alerting her father, giving him the time to prepare. This would be difficult enough as it was.

His associate in the shop had blinked as she'd pushed back the hood of the soft blue shirt she had borrowed from Anna. She'd had to speak, had to ask to see her father before he had nodded and headed off to the back room to announce her. Adara waited, hands clasped in front of her, every nerve in her body shivering as she waited for his return. Then he called her, her heart skipped, and leaden feet carried her back to her father's office.

[Artemisios Snow]

Artemisios was brimming with simmering anger even before Adara walked in. He could not forget her insolent letters, nor the fact that he had been unable to locate her afterward. He had brought more than one associate through the gates the day he had gone to visit the Headmistress, but his daughter had not been found, and he'd only grown more furious as time passed and his plans remained unfulfilled.

When the door opened and she entered, the world narrowed and stopped for that one endless moment. She had changed irretrievably from the girl he knew, the girl he had seen in this very office, her gaze properly lowered in respect. She wore trousers and some bizarre kind of shirt he had no name for, and she did not look at all as though she were broken with grief or repentance. "You are not my daughter," he hissed. The door closed behind her as his associate made a wise escape. Artemisios rounded the desk, his eyes dark with disgust as he took her in. "What is this filth you are wearing?"

[Adara Snow]

Adara inwardly shrank at his tone, and her gaze dropped reflexively, unable to look at him when such vehement disapproval burned in his eyes. "It is a friend's clothes," she said softly, her voice tense with nerves. "Please, father, I wish to speak with you. It is vitally important, or I would not have disturbed you." She only prayed that he would listen, that she would get a chance to say her piece. She prayed that she could keep her promise to Emilian afterward, but she knew what had to be said, and she knew what treachery it was.

[Artemisios Snow]

"You are not my daughter!" Artemisios boomed, his face reddening with the fury behind the words. "You are ruined, a whore, beautiful garbage! Look at you!" He swore fiercely, wanting to frighten her, wanting to hurt her as she had hurt him. His hand struck out, the back resounding with a crack against one perfect cheek. "You are dirt!" he spat.

[Adara Snow]

Adara cried out, but choked the sound back, her eyes closing against the pain, against the burn of her cheek even after his hand had passed. Tears fell, but silently. She should not cry, should not show weakness in such a way. Her head remained turned, and her arms rose, crossing over her body in a posture of unconscious defense. I am sorry, Father, part of her wanted to say. It was what she should say, what she was expected to say, but she could not bring herself to utter the lie.

[Artemisios Snow]

Artemisios gathered himself, letting the fury fade, letting his control seep back, slowly. The mark against her porcelain cheek gave him no satisfaction, and he opened his arms, gathering her against him. "Shh, prinzessin," he crooned. "I forgive you. You are my only child, and I am sworn to protect and guide you. I have failed." One hand stroked against her silken hair, the other against her back as he held her. "I will take you home to Schneewittchen, and all will be well."

[Adara Snow]

Adara sobbed silently against him, trying to take comfort from the familiar warmth of his arms, but it was a strange comfort, and it felt, somehow, wrong. She was grateful for his forgiveness, something he had always given her, but his words, his promise to take her home, had not gone unnoticed. "Schneewittchen is no longer my home," she said, so softly that she knew he would only just hear her. "I must remain in England, Father. Please forgive me for that as well."

[Artemisios Snow]

Artemisios hardened at the words, and his hands paused in their comforting motions. She was either distraught, or she did not know. "There is nothing for you here, prinzessin. Did you not hear of the fire in Hogsmeade? Your lover is dead, and there is only I who will care for you, only I who will guide you." Artemisios pulled back, retracted the physical comfort he had offered and brought one hand to tip up Adara's face to look at him. "There is nothing to stand in the way now, prinzessin. You will do your duty."

[Adara Snow]

Adara did not drop her gaze, did not murmur yes, Father or sob anew at the news that he gave her. "I will not marry another," she said, her soft voice lined with steel. "I can not marry another. I have made the Unbreakable Vow." She would not tell her father that Emilian was alive unless she had no choice. She could not lie, but she could avoid the subject, and to save him, that treachery was nothing.

[Artemisios Snow]

Artemisios felt his jaw hardening, his eyes narrowing as he looked into his daughter's. He saw no lie in them, but only that determination that he despised so much. And so there was nothing to do but demand she go on. "Tell me, prinzessin. What were the words of the vow? Who were they spoken with, and when?" If it was Sota, and he was dead, then were not the words void? The children could not have foreseen such drastic actions, could not have prepared for it, and so Artemisios waited, biding his time, ready to find any hole in the words that he might expose.

[Adara Snow]

Adara turned her face away from her father, breaking from his touch, something she knew that she only accomplished because he was waiting for her. She inhaled deeply, then spoke. "Will you, Adara, agree to marry no other person than me?" she recited, purposefully avoiding the clause Emilian had added, knowing the lengths to which her father might go to get Emilian's permission. "And, in the case of my death, will you agree to marry no one else?" Again, she left off his clause. Her gaze rose to her father's, sure that what she had done was right, but unsure how he would react.

[Artemisios Snow]

"Who was it?" he demanded, though his hunch told him he knew. "When? You must tell me this, Adara. If he is dead, then you are no use to me. Tell me." Yes, there was a threat in the words, but if Adara had not seen the danger in having promised such things, then he would show it to her. If Sota was dead, and she could marry no one else, then he could not marry her off, could not expand the family name. The exalted family name which would die with a stupid whore of a girl.

[Adara Snow]

It had not occurred to Adara until that moment that in dropping the clauses, she had put herself in further danger with her father. She had thought to save Emilian, and now, to save herself, she had no choice but to expose him. But her father did not know of the first clause, did not know of the possibility of Emilian's permission, and so she had given him what protection she could. "Emilian is alive," she admitted. "Those were his words, and I agreed to them all.

[Artemisios Snow]

"You are lying to save yourself!" Artemisios accused. "You lied in telling me that you and he were only friends, and now, when you are caught, you lie to save your worthless hide!" He swore again, fiercely, disgust in his eyes as he looked at the girl he had raised for sixteen years only to have her perfection ruined in less than one. "Tell me the truth!" he demanded. His fury was only barely leashed. The desire to punish her, to make her pay in the most thorough way possible, made his palms itch, but he needed to hear the words, needed to give her this one chance to take her words back or tell him more. He needed proof.

[Adara Snow]

Adara hardened herself against his words, though her gaze dropped again. She bit her lip, trying to think; what could she possibly say to prove to him that Emilian was alive? Then she blinked, and her eyes rose to meet her father's, unshrinking from the cold fury she saw there. Emilian had given her the answer only last night. "He told you that we are lovers," she said softly. "You took his wand, and three men took him into the alley." Three things that she should never have known. Three things that his associates would never have told her, even had they been foolish enough to speak with her outside her father's presence. "Emilian is alive," Adara repeated. "He will marry me, some day."