Princes of Mannsborough, Part 7

by Vulgar Argot

(rom, MF, reluc, nosex, D/s)

Marigold woke when she felt Thule 's weight settle at her feet on the couch. She rolled over onto her back and pulled the blanket down from her face. Thule was dressed in his suit and tie again, ready for another day of meetings. He smiled at her uncertainly, "Morning."

Marigold stretched as best she could without exposing herself with Thule sitting on the end of her blanket.

"I want to get a look at you," he said. When Marigold hesitated, he added, "to make sure there's no lasting damage from last night. I don't think there is, but it would make me feel better to know for sure."

Marigold nodded and released her grip on the edge of the blanket. Thule pulled it back to her waist, "Anything hurt?"

Marigold considered the question, "I've got a lot of muscle aches in my back, arms, legs, and, for some reason, my feet."

Thule nodded, "Do you have something in that first aid kit you packed for minor burns?"

Marigold sat up a little, examining herself. From the front, she saw only a small reddish spot just below above her collarbone where Maya had initially splashed her with the first candle. She touched it experimentally and found it only mildly sensitive.

"There's a tube labeled 'burn cream' in there," she said. "But, this is pretty minor."

"Still," said Thule . "I would like to treat it. Plus..." he held up his hand, the back of which had an angry red splotch on it.

"How did that happen?" asked Marigold.

"The second candle," said Thule . "When I grabbed it, wax spilled."

Marigold remembered the moment. Thule must have been in remarkable pain, but he'd just stood firm, not pulling away, not letting Maya dump another full candle on her. Marigold felt it was very import to say something at that moment, but she didn't know what. Fortunately, Thule was out of the room at that moment, retrieving the first aid kit.

He came back with the kit a moment later, opened it, found the cream, and dabbed a little on Marigold's hand. Then, he tried awkwardly to spread more on the back of his own hand while holding the tube.

"Here," said Marigold, taking the tube, "let me." She smeared the cream on evenly.

Thule drew the blanket the rest of the way off of her, leaving Marigold naked on the couch. With one hand, he gently spread her legs, looking closely at her inner thighs. His touch was completely clinical, as if he were a doctor.

"Roll over, please," he said. When Marigold had complied, he went on, "It looks like the cane broke the skin on your shoulderblade a little bit. There's also a small bit of bruising. Nothing looks major, though. How's your knee where she hit you?"

"Stiff," admitted Marigold. As Thule applied another cream to her shoulderblade, she was left to wonder if he could possibly be the same man who's hands had trembled with barely-contained passion to touch her over the last two days? His hands now were completely impersonal.

"We need to talk," said Thule . "But, right now, I need breakfast and to get to my meetings. The hotel has a masseur on staff. I can arrange for you to see him when we check out if you like."

Marigold nodded, "All right."

Thule gave her another uncertain smile, "Why don't you go ahead and get in the shower? I'm going to head downstairs shortly. You can meet me in the restaurant."

Marigold frowned, "I already got a shower earlier this morning." She wanted to add, "while you were fucking Maya," but held her tongue.

"Okay," said Thule . "Go and get dressed. We can go down to breakfast together."

Marigold didn't move, " Thule ?"

Thule looked down at her, "Yes?"

"What's next for us?"

The question hung in the air for a few seconds before Thule said, "You'd better get dressed while I start to answer that question. That's not going to be a short conversation."

Marigold still didn't move. She just lay there and watched Thule .

"Marigold," he said. "Go get dressed."

"Is that an order?"

Thule paused before answering the question. Marigold held her breath. Finally, he said, "Yes, Little Flower. It is."

Marigold rose from the couch and went into the bedroom without another word.

"Feeling contrite?" Thule asked as he came into the room behind her.

Marigold shook her head, "Not particularly. I just wanted to see if you intended to continue ordering me around."

"At least until I get you home tonight," Thule said. "I'm done punishing you, if that's what you mean."

"Oh," said Marigold, feeling her stomach sink. "I thought you were going to keep punishing me until I went away to Harvard."

Thule shrugged, "I thought I would need to. I was...a lot angrier at you when this started. You're a very different person than you were when this started, Marigold." He took a deep breath, "I don't expect you to thank me for it, but..."

Marigold, who had gotten into her bra and panties, stopped dressing, " Thule , I told you last night how I feel about you. I thought you felt the same. Now, I don't know. Do you...feel the same?"

Thule smiled sadly, "I haven't really let myself think about it, Marigold. There are a lot of things I need to do before the end of summer--things I can't tell you about. This would be a very bad time for me to fall in love."

Marigold lowered her head, ordering herself not to cry, "Oh." Mechanically, she went about the business of getting dressed.

"What about the prom?" she asked quietly.

Thule turned around, taking her hands in his, "Marigold, I would love to take you to the prom. Will you go with me?"

Marigold raised her eyebrow at him, "Are you asking me or ordering me?"

"I'm asking," said Thule .

"Order me," said Marigold. There was a note of pleading in her voice.

Thule shook his head in the negative, "No."

Marigold drew her hands away from him. She wanted so much to say "yes," but the image of him making love to Maya still burned across her corneas. He had betrayed her. After all of his protests of not wanting Maya while Marigold was in earshot, he had taken the first opportunity to betray her, not even waiting until she was out of the suite.

If only he would order her to go, none of it would matter. She could go to the prom with him, continue to sleep with him, do exactly what she wanted. But, he wouldn't give her that. He'd had what he wanted. Now, he was casting her aside.

"I'll have to see what other offers I have first," said Marigold coldly. She saw an initial spasm of anger cross Thule 's face when she said it and, for a moment, she felt a glimmer of hope that he would reverse his decision and start ordering her around again.

Instead, he turned his back on her and said quietly, "Why don't you head down to the restaurant and get us a table? I have a couple of phone calls to make."

"Fine," said Marigold, fleeing the room with as much dignity as she could manage

She was still fuming down in the restaurant when Adam approached her table.

"Dining alone?" he asked.

"Yes," hissed Marigold. "I mean...no. That is..."

Adam smiled, "Perhaps a better question would be, 'Can I join you?'"

Marigold smiled. The idea of a conversational buffer between herself and Thule this morning struck her as a good idea, "Sure. Have a seat."

Adam's grin got wider, "Great. I was afraid I was going to have to eat alone. Now, I've got a lovely young woman to keep me company."

Behind him, Thule said, "She is lovely, isn't she?"

Adam tensed as if expecting a confrontation. Thule just walked past him and took the other chair.

"Ah," Adam said, trying to find his smile again. "You must be Marigold's husband."

Marigold's heart sank. How could she have forgotten all of the lies she'd told Adam yesterday? She saw Thule open his mouth to speak and jumped in, "Yes. Adam, this is my husband, Thule . Thule , this is Adam."

Thule turned his back to Adam so that he could give Marigold a quizzical look. Marigold kept her face carefully blank. She said evenly, "Adam is from Australia ."

Thule turned back to Adam, "Nice to meet you, Adam from Australia . How do you know my wife?"

"I met her while swimming yesterday. She was nice enough to answer some of my questions."

"Really?" said Thule . "What about?"

Adam seemed surprised by the question, " New York ?"

"Ah..." said Thule .

"Adam sells surveillance equipment," interjected Marigold.

Thule paused for a moment, then asked, "Really? Who for?"

"Atech-Terra," said Adam.

Thule raised an eyebrow, "They make some pretty high-end stuff. You selling to the NYPD?"

"I, uh..." said Adam, leaning in. "I can't really talk about who my clients are."

Thule tapped his forehead, "Of course. Of course. Didn't mean to pry."

"You have an interest in surveillance?" Adam asked.

Thule nodded, "I'm sure my wife must have talked about my interest in optics."

"Err," said Adam. "She said you were studying electrical engineering at Harvard."

"MIT," offered Marigold.

Thule nodded, "That's where the money is. But, I'm focusing on surveillance-based electronics, which means a lot of cross-disciplinary study in optics and acoustics."

At that point, Marigold lost the thread of the conversation. All she got out of it was that Thule was a much more facile liar than she was. Of course, she'd already come to suspect that.

After breakfast, Thule said, "Adam, I hope you don't mind if I borrow my wife for a while. We need to check out."

"Of course," said Adam. "It was nice meeting you."

In the elevator, on the way up to their room, Thule asked casually, "So. What the fuck are you up to?"

He hadn't bothered to turn and face Marigold when he said it. Marigold was forced to twist instead. When she did, she realized that Thule had positioned himself in such a way that she had to step back or crane her neck to talk to him.

"What do you care?" she asked. "I think you made it pretty clear that you're done with me. Maybe I'm just evaluating my other options."

"You met him yesterday," said Thule .

It took Marigold a moment to understand what he was getting at. By the time she had, the elevator door had opened and Thule was walking away, forcing Marigold to follow, taking two steps to each of his long strides. Halfway down the hall, he grabbed a luggage cart, trailing it behind him, blocking Marigold from getting close enough to speak. As a result, she wasn't able to speak to him until he was back at the room. When she did, the best she could come up with was, "You never forbade me from talking to other men."

Thule stopped fumbling with his key card, "No. I didn't. I didn't forbid you from fucking other men either, did I?"

Again, Marigold was stunned. And, again Thule took the opportunity to walk away from her, unlocking the door and striding into the suite. She caught up with him in the bedroom.

"I didn't fuck him," said Marigold. "I didn't even kiss him. We just had a drink."

Thule started piling their luggage onto the cart, "How virtuous of you."

"Dammit, Thule ," exclaimed Marigold. "Don't be like that. I didn't. I could have. He wanted me. And, you didn't say I couldn't."

Thule didn't answer. He finished piling up their luggage and started pushing the cart, "Get a good look around to make sure you didn't leave anything behind. We're not coming back."

"Dammit, Thule ," said Marigold. "Don't shut me out like this. I didn't do anything wrong."

Thule gave her such a glare that Marigold actually took a step backwards. With a violent jerk, he got the cart moving, then he was out the door again.

Marigold stood in the middle of the room, stunned. She wanted to chase after Thule , but whether she would fall to her knees and beg for forgiveness or try to claw his eyes out, she didn't know. Before she could decide, she spotted her physics textbook on the kitchen counter. A moment of panic hit her. If she'd left that here, she would have had to explain it to her parents, who would have told her to call her aunt to get it back. She gave the rooms a thorough search.

Looking under the bed, she came out with a little, black box with wires running off of it. She recognized it from her work at the hospital as a TENS unit--a device used to administer electrical shocks to patients who had heart arrhythmias.

For a moment, she puzzled over where it could have come from. Then, she realized it must have fallen out of Maya's duffel bag during the night.

She shuddered. Electrical shock was high on her list of irrational fears. She'd always treated anything that administered a shock with great respect.

As she tucked it into her pocket, Marigold wondered what else Thule had protected her from last night. In spite of herself, she felt a momentary rush of gratitude, which she clamped down on quickly.

She caught up with Thule at the front desk, but he was checking out. It wasn't until they were down in the parking garage that they were able to speak.

"Your massage is in twenty minutes," said Thule , handing her a receipt. "I'll be back at 2:30. If you're still here, I can give you a ride back to Mannsborough."

"If I'm still here?"

Thule looked at her over the car, "You're obviously mad at me for something. If you're so mad that you'd rather take a bus back to Mannsborough than ride back with me, I'll understand."

"Something?" Marigold asked. "Something? Thule , you fucked Maya last night. I saw you." Her words echoed across the parking garage, but she was too angry to care. "I saw you. After you swore up and down that you didn't want her, that she was 'nothing to you,' you fucked her."

Thule laughed. Marigold was so angry that her face drained of all blood. How dare he laugh at her for caring who he fucked? He opened the car door, "That's what you're mad about? Marigold, I'm already late for my meeting. I don't have time for this, but I assure you that everything I said last night was true. I'm done with Maya. She is..." He took a deep breath. "I can't talk about this now. I have to get going. We'll talk when I get back." Then, he stepped into the car.

Marigold crouched down so she could talk to him through the window, "Are you so sure I'm going to be here when you get back?"

Thule glared at her, starting the car, "If you want to talk, you'll be here."

Marigold decided to take one more stab at establishing their relationship on terms she could live with.

"You still haven't told me I can't fuck other guys," she pointed at.

Thule put the car into reverse, "You're a big girl, Marigold. Do whatever the hell you want."

                                    -=-

Marigold stalked back up to the lobby in a cold rage. All the fury she thought she should have felt over her treatment at Thule's hand welled up in her until she found herself leaning against the wall, shaking with barely-contained rage.

Seeing Adam step out of the elevator, she fled into the ladies' room. Fortunately, it seemed to be unoccupied. Leaning against the counter with her hands pressed on the edge, she felt the crumpling of paper.

She looked down. Crumpled between her fingers was a yellow slip of paper. She unfolded it.

It read, "Massage, 11:30. $195.00."

Still in a fury, she crumpled it again and threw it towards the trash. It would have gone in, but she felt a sudden pain in her shoulder as she tried to throw. Instead, it bounced off the wall.

"Shit," she muttered, going down on her knees. She retrieved the receipt and uncrumpled it again. Obviously, she needed a massage. She would just try to forget that it was from Thule .

When the masseuse saw the receipt, she smiled, "Ahh. The deluxe treatment. Great. We don't get to do a lot of these."

"You don't?" asked Marigold.

"No," said the masseuse. "You'll love it, though. It's well worth what you spent."

"Actually," said Marigold. "It was a gift."

"Ah," said the masseuse. She smiled broadly, pearly white teeth in sharp contrast to her black skin. "Your boyfriend?"

"I, uh..." said Marigold. "I'm not sure exactly what he is--not my boyfriend exactly."

"Well," said the masseuse. "You may not know what he is, but he certainly seems to think he knows. I can't even get a man to spring for a drink without thinking I owe him something."

Marigold nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry," said the masseuse. "If I talk to much, just tell me to change the subject. I'm Rita, by the way."

Marigold took Rita's proffered hand, "It's all right. I just have a lot of thinking to do."

Rita nodded, "Why don't you get undressed and get under the towel. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Marigold discovered that, despite not looking particularly strong, Rita had incredibly powerful hands. The deluxe treatment apparently involved a lot in the way of unguents and warm, scented oils. It seemed to take a long time before the massage worked its way beyond a light rubbing.

Rita kept a running dialog going, but it was light enough that Marigold was able to keep up her half of the conversation without much thought. It gave her plenty of time to think about what had happened.

What had Thule meant by saying he was really done with Maya? At the time, Marigold had just assumed Thule was lying. But, why would he? He'd never bothered lying to her before, seemed to take pride in the fact that he didn't have to. Did he just mean that he was done with her now that he'd had her one last time? Could Marigold live with that?

At first, she couldn't believe she was even asking herself the question. The idea was absurd. Thule had blackmailed her, taken advantage of her, turned her over to an old enemy, and cheated on her the moment her back was turned.

But, she also couldn't deny that she'd already taken most of that into account and fallen in love with him anyway. With the possible exception of her parents and stepfather, no one had ever treated her as well as Thule had when he wasn't being absolutely awful.

As for giving her over to Maya, Marigold couldn't convince herself that she hadn't deserved it. And, unbelievably, Maya had forgiven her. It was like thinking she'd murdered someone and discovering that it had all been a big misunderstanding and they were alive and well.

All right, Maya wasn't exactly well, but she was alive. And, she had forgiven Marigold. The thought made tears well up in her eyes.

With embarrassment, Marigold realized that she was crying in the middle of a massage. She reached up and wiped her tears away.

"Don't worry about it, honey," said Rita. "Deep massage can bring out a lot of weird emotions. Do you want me to stop for a bit?"

Marigold shook her head, "No. It's amazing."

Rita nodded, "I take good care of you. Don't I?"

The massage went on for a while longer. Then, Rita asked, "Marigold, can I ask you kind of a personal question?"

Marigold nodded, "Go ahead."

"This not-boyfriend of yours, does he hit you?"

"No," said Marigold quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," said Rita. "If I weren't massaging you, I would never have noticed. But, you've got a few spots where you're really sensitive and I can't help but notice there are some minor contusions back here."

Marigold laughed a little, "Rita, can you keep a secret?"

Rita shook her head, "Nope. I gossip like you wouldn't believe. Everything that goes in my ear comes right back out my mouth."

Marigold laughed harder, "Well, could you keep one until I'm far enough away that I don't have to hear it?"

Rita laughed, "That I can do."

"It wasn't my not-boyfriend. It was a friend of mine--at least, she used to be a friend of mine. It's...complicated."

"Sort of a not-girlfriend?"

"That will work as an explanation," said Marigold. "It's close enough. She did this to me."

"Was it consensual?"

Marigold considered the question, "Yeah. It was consensual."

Rita laughed again, "So, you like to get freaky once in a while. No big deal. Is she a pro? She did good work. It took me a while to figure out what I was seeing. I have a few clients who've been on the receiving end. They don't look as good as you do--in terms of marking."

"A pro?" asked Marigold. "I really don't know. It didn't occur to me that people would pay for that sort of thing."

Rita's laugh was heartier this time, "As near as I can tell, anything one person can do to another, someone is willing to pay to have it done to them."

Marigold spent the next two minutes in contemplative silence. She'd just told a complete stranger the intimate details of her sex life--details she would probably deny vehemently if accused of them by someone like Brianne. More interestingly, Rita has seemed completely nonplussed, treating it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Marigold came to two conclusions. The first was that her life was getting too big and complicated to deal with alone. The second was that the world was probably a much more interesting place than she'd given it credit for.

                                    -=-

After the massage, Marigold had a manicure, a pedicure, and a shower. She came out unbelievably relaxed and, in general, feeling much better about the world. She'd resolved all of the issues weighing on her mind except one. She still wasn't sure she could get past the image of Thule rolling over on top of Maya and fucking her.

She wanted to. If it had happened when she was there, she wouldn't have minded so much. She chuckled at that thought, but it was true. She'd been fantasizing about the idea of being Maya and Thule 's lover through high school only a few minutes before she'd caught them together. Even now, remembering the sensation of being pressed between them got her breathing a little bit faster.

In the middle of reapplying her makeup, Marigold paused to stare at herself in the mirror. She'd always worn very little. But, she'd always thought of herself as a girl too, not a woman. Washing her face, she started over.

Considering the results, she started over again. Then, she did it again. This had all seemed much simpler when Holly had explained it to her a few years back. She hadn't thought it looked very hard.

"Come on, Marigold," she muttered to herself. "This isn't rocket science."

On the third try, she finally got the result she desired. She looked grown up without being slutty. That word's meaning had been radically changed in her mind, but what looked slutty hadn't changed much.

Stroking her hair, she debated doing something with it other than just letting it hang down. But, there wasn't much she could do here without any of the beauty products she'd left locked in Thule 's car.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she went to a pay phone in the hotel lobby and dialed Thule 's cell phone number. It rang enough times that she expected to get his voice mail. Instead, he said, " Thule speaking."

"It's Marigold," she said quietly. "Did I get you out of a meeting?"

"Don't worry about that," said Thule . "What's up?"

"I..." Marigold had planned out what she was going to say, but the plan escaped her at the moment. Improvising, she said, "I just wanted to say that I'll be at the hotel when you're done...That's all."

The silence stretched on long enough that Marigold thought she might have been disconnected before Thule said, "I'm really glad for that, Marigold. I'll see you there. We can talk then."

"Okay, Thule ," said Marigold quietly.

Thule sighed over the phone, "All right, Marigold. Get us a table in the restaurant for lunch, please. I'll join you as soon as I can."

"All right, Thule . I...I'll see you there." She hung up the phone.

Marigold sagged against the wall. The call had gone as well as she could have hoped, but it had still been exhausting. She took a moment to catch her breath before heading over to the restaurant.

At breakfast, the restaurant had already been somewhat crowded with Sunday brunch people. Now, there was a line waiting to get in. Marigold put her name on the list and went to wait at the bar.

"Quite a queue, isn't it?" Adam asked.

Marigold hadn't seen him approach. She whirled around, a bit surprised.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Marigold almost denied that he had, but her hands was still pressed to her chest in the universal sign for, "You startled me." So, she just smiled at him.

"Let me buy you a drink to make it up to you," he said.

"I don't..." Marigold stopped herself before she claimed that she didn't drink. "I don't know if we'll be waiting long enough..."

Adam scanned the bar area, "I suspect we've got at least a half hour to wait. Screwdriver was your drink, wasn't it?"

"Uh, yes," said Marigold.

Adam ordered her a screwdriver. Marigold realized that she hadn't exactly consented to accept it, but once it was in front of her, it would have been rude to decline. She decided to sip it as slowly as possible.

"Will Thule be joining you for lunch?"

Marigold nodded, "He's got his last meeting for the weekend this morning. He'll be along soon."

"So," asked Adam. "How did you two meet?"

Marigold froze. She had no idea how to answer. Sipping her drink, she tried to think of a convincing story. By the time she came up with what she thought was a good story, her drink was half gone.

Adam seemed to accept her story about a college party at face value, but he started asking follow-up questions. Marigold, who had never been to a college party and damned few high school ones, was forced to improvise. She found herself going to the glass time and again to give herself a moment to think before answering.

When she found the glass empty, Adam immediately asked, "Another?"

Marigold, who was searching desperately for an answer to, "I didn't think MIT students had enough time to go to too many parties," nodded gratefully.

By the time she'd finished her second drink, Marigold realized her error. She wasn't a small girl with no experience with alcohol. And, she hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. Her head was already swimming. Alarmed, she blinked at Adam, who smiled at her reassuringly.

"I should really see what's taking so long with our table," she said and rose from the stool. She must have stood up too quickly, though, because the restaurant lurched abruptly to the left. She might have fallen, but Adam caught her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Marigold nodded, "I just slipped."

"Why don't you sit back down," said Adam. "I'll see how much longer the wait is."

Marigold sat back on her stool. Adam disappeared and reemerged a minute later. He was frowning.

"They said it would still be another 45 minutes or so," he said. "They promised to call my room when our tables are ready. I thought you could use a lie down since the cigarette smoke here seems to be going to your head."

Marigold wasn't entirely oblivious to what Adam was proposing, but it almost seemed to be happening to someone else. Besides, if Thule could fool around, so could she. Smiling, she extended an arm to Adam so that he could help her down from her stool.

By the time they were in the elevator, Adam's arm was around her, supporting her, but pressing her against him too.

Halfway up to the eighth floor, he turn towards her and said, "You know, Marigold. You really are a very beautiful young woman."

She smiled crookedly, "So are you, Adam."

He laughed. When Marigold looked up to see what was so funny, he leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth.

It was not a gentle or a polite kiss, either. It was hungry and demanding. Marigold's lips parted involuntarily at first, then willingly. Adam was a good kisser--good enough that, coupled with the alcohol and her lingering anger at Thule 's infidelity, it was enough to make her forget who she'd worked so hard to become and revert to who she'd been seemingly a lifetime ago. Her arms went around Adam's chest, her hands gripping his back.

Adam practically carried Marigold to his room, kissing her the whole way. As he pressed her back onto the bed, a tiny voice in the back of Marigold's head was trying to get her attention. But, his hands and lips on her just felt so good. When he took a nipple in his mouth, she let out a guttural moan.

"Oh, God," she moaned. "Yes."

When his hand slid between her legs, Marigold gasped, first with pleasure, then with alarm. Her head cleared a little. She was about to have sex with a man she barely knew and she couldn't even remember why.

"Stop," she said. But, she said it quietly. Getting a man this far and making him stop was something high school girls did. She was afraid he would hear her and know she'd lied to him. For some reason, that point seemed absurdly important.

When his tongue slid between her legs, Marigold forgot again why she'd been trying to stop him. Soon, she was gripping the back of his head, pulling him deeper.

"Come back later, please," Adam called out. It took Marigold a confused moment to realize that he wasn't talking to her. Someone had knocked on the door. The knock came again, more insistent.

"I said go away," Adam said more loudly this time. The words weren't out of his mouth when there was a loud thud and the door vibrated with impact. A second later, the door vibrated again and flew open. Thule barreled through. He didn't even seem to break stride before he'd caught Adam by the back of the shirt and thrown him bodily over Marigold and the bed. With his pants down around his ankles, Adam had no way to regain his balance and went down like a sack of potatoes. Thule vaulted over Marigold, grabbed Adam by the shoulders and threw him face down on the room's other bed.

"I'm giving you ten seconds to explain why I shouldn't cut your dick off and ram it up your ass," Thule growled, leaning over Adam. The salesman started to stammer.

" Thule ," Marigold said desperately, trying to rise. "Don't hurt him."

Slowly, Thule rose until he was standing upright, towering over Adam. He glared at the older man, murder in his eyes. For a few long seconds, Marigold was afraid that he really was going to kill Adam. But, he turned on his heel, walked around the bed she was laying on, and closed the hotel room door.

"Marigold," he said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Clean yourself up and get dressed."

Marigold rose, surprised to find out that she was completely naked. She didn't remember her clothes coming off. Gathering them up, she said, " Thule ..."

"We'll talk later, Little Flower," said Thule . His voice was gentler now, "Get dressed."

Marigold did as she was told, gathering her clothes and locking herself in the bathroom.

As she dressed, she could hear voices through the door. Thule 's, calm and even, alternated with Adam's, which seemed to be running the full spectrum of emotions from anger to terror.

Marigold took longer than she'd expected to. Halfway through getting dressed, she started to cry and ended up having to wash off her makeup after it ran down her face. Once she was dressed, she stared at herself in the mirror, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Before she could come to any conclusion, she heard a change in Thule 's tone. Whatever he said, it was more relaxed, even joking. Adam laughed.

Marigold was so curious that she emerged from the bathroom.

"Ah," said Thule , his voice light. "There she is."

Adam nodded. He was holding a tumbler of some sort of liquor, his hand shaking a little. His eyes darted back and forth between Thule and Marigold like a caged animal.

"Marigold," Thule said quietly. "We need to get going if we're going to get home on time."

"All right," she said meekly. Thule turned and placed a hand between her shoulderblades, guiding her towards the door. As they stood in the doorway, he turned back towards the room, "Take care of yourself, Adam. Be safe." Then, he closed the door.

                                    -=-

They had already left the city before Marigold dared to speak. Even then, the best she could come up with was, " Thule , I'm sorry."

Thule didn't answer for so long that Marigold started to doubt that he'd heard. His window was open, the wind a constant background noise.

" Thule ..."

"Marigold," Thule interrupted her. "You shouldn't be apologizing to me. I...I pushed you too far this weekend. You didn't deserve everything that happened. I..."

When Marigold realized that he wasn't going to finish the thought, she said, "You what?"

"I don't want you to end up like Maya," he said. "I wanted you to understand how wrong what you did was. But, I didn't want to break you by showing you. I don't know what was going on there with you and Adam. But, I feel responsible."

" Thule ..."

"You weren't the sort of girl who would go with Adam to his hotel room before I got my hands on you," he said.

"No," said Marigold. "And you weren't the sort of boy who would plot and carry out elaborate revenge scenarios before I betrayed Maya. Knowing what you do now, would you do it again?"

"I don't know," Thule admitted. "I certainly wouldn't do it exactly the same, though."

Marigold chuckled, feeling relieved, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did you come barreling into Adam's room?"

Thule laughed, "To rescue you."

"How did you know I needed rescuing?"

"Did you?"

Marigold nodded, "I didn't really want to go through with it, but I didn't want to tell him to stop, either. I was just so afraid that he would find out I'd lied to him about being older and more sophisticated that I couldn't find my voice."

Thule didn't answer. Only the wind whipping through his window and the sound of passing cars broke the silence.

" Thule ," Marigold asked, a note of pleading in her voice. "What's going to happen next...with us?"

"What do you want to happen?"

Marigold considered the question before answering, "I want you to order me not to be with other men."

Thule 's face was carefully neutral when he answered, "I can't do that, Little Flower."

Marigold was crushed, "Why not?"

When Thule finally answered, he said, "I can't do what it takes to deserve your loyalty. I can't ask you to stay away from other men. I have unfinished business. I'm going to need some people to trust me so that I can betray them. I'll do whatever it takes to make them trust me. I'm sorry, Marigold."

Marigold shook her head, "Don't be. Thule , after this weekend, I have no idea who I am. I feel like I've wasted most of high school trying to live up to some foolish idea I had about myself. You and Maya brought up aspects of myself I tried a long time to bury. Be patient with me, Thule . I think I'm in love with you. But, I don't know who you are and I don't know who I am."

Thule cleared his throat, "About me and Maya..."

Marigold shook her head, "You don't have to explain. I understand. You need her to trust you."

Thule laughed, "God, no. Marigold, you are so far off."

"I am?"

Thule nodded, "I woke up this morning, dimly aware that someone had climbed on top of me. I thought it was you. I had no idea Maya was crazy enough to do that while I slept. When I realized it wasn't you, I tried to push her off of me. But, I was too far gone. I'd...finished before I could disentangle myself. If I'd been awake and aware, it never would have happened."

Marigold breathed a sigh of relief, "So, you didn't enjoy it?"

Thule shook his head in the negative, "Physically, yes--but only because I had no context. You have nothing to worry about with Maya. Whatever we once had, I would rather stick my dick in a meat grinder than go through another relationship with her. With the grinder, it would be over faster and, ultimately, involve far less pain."

Marigold understood all too well. By the time Thule barreled into the room, she'd forgotten that she didn't want to be with Adam. However much she might regret it later, she'd wanted him to make love to her.

Uncomfortable with that line of thought, Marigold turned to another idea that had been troubling her, "I need to help her, Thule. She's the way she is because of me."

Thule shook his head, "You hurt her. But, she's the way she is because she choose to let her pain and outrage define her. I've watched her change over time. You may have bent her, but she broke herself."

"Even so," said Marigold. "I need to help her. I want to help her. She's someone who once meant a lot to me. And now, she's suffering. What can I do?"

Thule shrugged, "Talk to Jonas about it. He's far better positioned to help her than I am."

Marigold looked puzzled, "What do you mean? I don't think that even Jonas could get her to go back to church."

Thule started laughing. Several times, it looked like he had it under control. Then, he would burst out laughing again. Finally, he said, "Maya is unlikely to see the church as an ally any time soon. She blames it for almost as many of her problems as she does you. Jonas has given a lot of money to mental health facilities in the area. I was thinking he could help her get admitted."

"Do you think she would go?" asked Marigold.

"She would probably take some persuading," Thule admitted. "I guess I would help with that."

Neither spoke until they were nearly home, not out of discomfort but an odd sense of familiarity. It was Marigold who broke the silence.

" Thule , are you sure you don't want to order me to stay away from other men? You could, you know. You've still got blackmail material on me."

Thule shook his head, "I'm still blackmailing you, but I can't--not in good conscience. But..."

"Yes?" asked Marigold eagerly.

"If you want to get involved with another man, I want a chance to talk you out of it in advance. I knew there was something wrong with Adam, but I didn't say anything. I wish I had."

Marigold nodded, "Does that apply to men only?"

It seemed to take Thule a moment to catch her meaning. When he did, he raised an eyebrow, "Do I have to worry about women, too?"

"Worry?" asked Marigold. "No. But, you know my history with Maya. Like I said, I don't know who I am anymore, but I'm starting to remember who I was."

"You wouldn't be thinking about getting together with Maya again, would you?"

"Lord no," said Marigold. "I want to help her, but not that much."

Thule shrugged, "Knock yourself out, then."

They were in Mannsborough when Marigold asked again, "So, where do we go from here?"

"Are we going anywhere?" Thule asked, emphasizing the pronoun.

"I hope so," Marigold said a little more fervently than she'd meant to.

Thule gave a shrug, "It's going to take a week before I get really busy with...other things. I would like nothing better than to spend it with you."

Marigold blushed, "I would like that, too."

They were in front of the bus station, where Marigold's parents would pick her up. Neither seemed inclined to let the weekend end. Finally, Marigold took off her seatbelt and opened the door, "You'll come and get me for school tomorrow?"

Thule nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow, Little Flower."