The Bride of the Immortal Read Online Free

built up over the years. In truth she had already given up on becoming the immortal’s bride a long time ago, thinking that his servant had to have realised that he had made the wrong choice.
    “Won’t you introduce yourself?” she asked and raised her head to gaze at the man who had changed her life.
    He really looked just like she remembered him: the broad shoulders, his dark eyes and the peculiar hair. She was still amazed by its intense dark red, a shade not unlike the drop of blood on her finger when she had pricked herself working on a delicate piece of embroidery. Although his hair was tied back, shorter strands from the front had escaped and were reaching into his face. If it hadn’t been for his clothes he might as well have passed for a demon.
    “I believe I have done so the last time we met. My name is Adrijan,” he said calmly.
    It was strange that while he looked quite the same as back then, he appeared somehow differently to her.
    “There must have been more important things on my mind,” Mairin responded truthfully, only realising the impoliteness of her words once they had left her mouth.
    “Without a doubt.”
    Whether he was annoyed about her comment or not, he was not showing it.
    “I must confess I’m surprised to see you are a priest,” she said, immediately cursing her clumsy choice of words.
    “Are you… are you no longer serving the immortal?” she hastily continued, hoping that he hadn’t noticed the unintentional wordplay or at least wasn’t thinking that it was intended.
    Her opposite raised his eyebrows in puzzlement.
    “Servant of the immortal… servant of the Lord… I’m a bit of both and neither one of them.”
    Mairin frowned at his cryptic answer. The one thing she knew after hearing his odd reply was, that if she had been the immortal, she certainly wouldn’t have let this strange man work for her, regardless of his qualifications. Even if one ignored that it was impossible to be the servant of two great masters, she recoiled from the idea of merely comparing them.
    “Tell me,” he interrupted her thoughts, “are you ready to come with me?”
    After all she had been through in Sunflower Garden, she was more than willing to leave the place. There was one thing though she could not completely ignore, not even being as diplomatic as she tried to be.
    “Would it be impossible of me to ask, if you want me to go now or pick me up in fourteen days?” Mairin inquired innocently.
    The priest sighed and let his mask of politeness slip.
    “I’ll return to Sunflower Garden in the morning. Tell your maid to pack your things; tomorrow we’ll be travelling to your new home.”
    With these words he got up from his chair, curtly nodded at her as a goodbye-gesture and left before Mairin could ask any more questions.
     

 
    Back then he had been certain that she was the most suited person for the task, but her current behaviour made him wonder, if he had really made the right choice.
    Adrijan silently closed the door to Mairin’s room. It was the immortal’s fault, that he hadn’t been able to take her with him ten years ago. So much time had passed and she had changed from a simple young girl into a difficult grown-up woman.
    “ What a waste ,” he grumbled and proceeded down the hallway.
    When Mairin’s father had still been alive, severely grieving about the loss of his wife, he had visited the heartbroken man in his humble home. That was what priests did for the people after all – be there to ease their burden until he relieved them from their pain. The thought put a wistful smile on his face. Some priest he was. If there truly was a god – and Adrijan was a strong believer that the kind of god people pictured didn’t exist – he wouldn’t hesitate on the day of Adrijan’s judgement. There’d be no invitation to heaven, no redemption by going through the purgatorius ignis , only a one-way-ticket straight to hell.
    Over the years he had come to realise what it