Cecilia:

It did not take me long to reach him and he turned around as soon as he heard me approaching. He made no move to stop however and instead continued to ride on.

"Wait!" I called out. Slowly, languidly, he turned back around to face me and I took this as my cue to move nearer. I pulled Shadow to a halt just in front of Rory's horse, Arrow I think Rory had named him if my memory is correct.

"What do you want Seal?" He asked, impatience written all over his drawn face. I ignored his nickname for me even though the words cut small scars in my already wounded body. I thrust my head up, pushing my shoulders back, I would not let him see that his words had any effect on me, I would not give him that gratification.

I was reminded of my father's words the first few times he struck me, "Pain is weakness, you'd do well to hide it better in future." I shuddered at the memory, soon thats all it would be though, a memory. I was at least getting something good form this marriage.

I looked up at Rory, he still towered over me atop his horse. Rory wasn't getting anything out of this, he gained nothing even when I did.

"I didn't ask for this either," I spoke softly, chancing a look up into his swirling eyes, I could tell he was frustrated but he didn't look as furious as he had done earlier. He nodded slowly, he knew what I was talking about without me directly saying it.

I continued, "We have been given no choice but to... to marry each other," I breathed the last part quietly, saying it out loud made it all seem so much more real. Too real.

Rory raised one eyebrow condescendingly, "Thank you for stating the obvious."

I threw him a frown, "If you'd let me finish," I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him, "Seeing as we are to be married," I gave him a pointed look, "I think it would do us both good to at least treat each other with some civility, after all, we are going to have to live with each other for the rest of our lives." Having said my piece I waited to hear what he had to say, I didn't have to wait long though before he made his opinions on the matter clear.

"Once you are my wife I will treat you however I goddamn please." He stated brusquely, his words bringing anger and fear bubbling up through my body.

"You do not own me, I am not your possession, nor am I a play toy of yours to do with as you please." I growled back at him. I would not let another man destroy me like my father had. I turned my attention back to the man in front of me when I heard a low rumble escape his lips. He was laughing, he was actually laughing! I felt my temper rising by the second, how dare he.

Once he had finished laughing at me he shook his head, the anger in his eyes had been replaced with a light-hearted look and I felt momentarily mesmerised. I shook myself, what was I doing feeling captivated by his eyes, and what were these crazy mood swings of his? One second he's being malicious then the next he's laughing and his eyes are twinkling. Twinkling? Really Cecilia? I mentally gagged at my own thoughts, they reminded me of my younger self pining over my old friend Edward. Edward, I was dragged back to the previous night, what on earth had happened to the sweet boy I'd so desperately wished to marry? Realising I had drifted off into my own thoughts yet again, I pulled myself from the depths of my overloaded brain and back into the present.

"It is your fault that we are stuck in this mess, therefore, you will do what I tell you to." His words were icy and all traces of humour were gone from his eyes as he fixed me with a steely glare. I opened my mouth to argue again but I couldn't tell him he was wrong, it was my father who had planned this, it was my fault. After a moment of silence he turned his horse away from me, preparing to leave. I bowed my head, I had no valid defence to respond with.

"I'm sorry," I murmured quietly, "For all of this," I almost thought he didn't hear me but I saw his jaw clench noticeably.

"I'm sorry too," he replied, "As would any man be if he had to marry you." With those final words Rory kicked his heels into his horses sides and sped off into the forest, leaving me staring after him with hot, angry tears pricking my eyes.

**********

I sat bolt upright next to my father in the decorative carriage. It had been eight days since my last encounter with Rory and now I was on my way to marry him. My mind had replayed our conversation in the woods on loop since it happened, I was scared, scared of what he might do to me once I was his wife. Would he be like my father?

For some reason a part of me knew he wouldn't, no matter how much he hated me, everyone called him a gentleman and it was unheard of for a gentleman to hit a woman wasn't it? I let out a small breath of relief as I prayed they were right, I prayed for him to be the gentleman everyone else saw, I prayed for my safety and some morsel of happiness in the life I would soon become trapped in.

"Stop touching your dress girl," my father snapped at me. I had been so preoccupied in my own thoughts that I had not noticed I was bunching up the fabric of my dress in my fists.

When I had told our friends that Rory and I were getting married they had laughed at first, assuming I was making a joke. However, after a full explanation they realised I was dead serious and they all sobered up pretty quickly. The boys had promised me to have a word with Rory to which I had offered them a grateful smile, I didn't know how helpful their 'word' with Rory would be but I was thankful for the gesture all the same. Once the girls had overcome their initial shock they started to squeal in their girlish way, talking of nothing but what I would wear and how I was planning to wear my hair.

A small smile crept onto my face as I remembered the gleeful looks of eager enthusiasm on their faces, if only I could feel the same way about my own wedding. This was meant to be the happiest day of my life, marrying my one true love, but no, waiting for me at the end of the aisle would be none other than my childhood enemy.

I smoothed my ivory gown down with my gloved hands before moving a loose strand of hair out of my face. The church had appeared in view and I began to tap my foot as the nerves took over. The full reality of the situation hit me so suddenly that I felt the wind knocked out of me for a moment. I willed my hands to not shake as the carriage pulled to a halt and I climbed down after my father who had a devious smile plastered to his gaunt face.

"Your arm, my dear," he purred silkily at me. I hesitantly offered him my left arm which he linked with his own, my other hand grasping the small posy of meadow flowers I had picked earlier.

The heavy wooden doors creaked open in slow motion as the congregation turned to face me. I heard a few murmurs from the throng of people but the blood was pounding too loudly in my ears for me to properly hear what they were saying. I scanned the pews of people looking for familiar faces.

I spotted Sybil, Lacey and William sat together near the front, a bit further back were some of the local people I recognised from when I ventured into town. I offered them tentative smiles as I clutched the small bouquet of wild flowers in my trembling hands.

Turning my head I caught sight of a figure I had recently become reacquainted with. Edward. What in God's name was he doing here? He offered me a sad, crooked smile, his eyes almost pleading. I let my gaze continue to fall over the rest of the seated guests, ignoring his sorrow-filled face, he shouldn't have come.

The alter was becoming closer with every step I took making me want to spin on my heel and flee this awful place. I wanted to run as far away from my father and Rory as I possibly could. I felt the stone walls of the gloomy church closing in on me, trapping me and pushing me closer to my unfortunate future. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned my gaze to the front of the aisle where Denny was stood next to Rory.

Denny gave me a gentle smile of encouragement and I returned the smile with an apprehensive one of my own. My eyes returned to the impressive form of Rory who stood waiting for me. His eyes were fixed on me as I walked the last part of the aisle up to him. He took my hands gently in his, his eyes not once leaving me.

I looked up at him in confusion, his eyes drew me in and held me there, drowning in their rich chocolatey depths. I struggled to pull my eyes away from his as I heard the ceremony start, a blush stealing over my cheeks.

"Pull yourself together Cecilia," I muttered under my breath.

As the service continued I grew uncomfortable under his scorching gaze. We exchanged vows and rings, my mind still not having caught up with what was happening, everything was a blur until the priest uttered his final words, "You may now kiss the bride." I turned towards Rory looking for guidance, I knew he wouldn't want, but before I could finish the thought I felt a pair of lips press lightly against mine before withdrawing quickly.

I felt a rush of energy as his lips softly touched mine, a wave of heat spreading through my body leaving my lips feeling cold when he drew back. I looked up at him in shock and confusion, why had he done that? And more importantly, why had I enjoyed it?

His eyes seemed to mirror mine before a wave of anger rushed through them, I turned to face the crowd who were all clapping excitedly before my arm was grabbed roughly by Rory. He seemed to notice me wince as his hand dug into old bruises on my arm and he softened his hold on me.

As we left the church together we were showered with confetti, I glanced up at Rory and couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face as he cowered from the flying shreds of paper. Pieces of confetti had landed in his hair and clung onto his jacket as he tried to swat them away, which only made me laugh more.

Hearing my laughter he turned his head down to face me, for a second I thought he was going to tell me off for laughing at him, but after a short hesitation he joined in my laughter as we continued to be bombarded with more confetti. I wasn't marrying the man of my dreams, far from it, but in that small moment I felt happy.

I smiled broadly up at him and he smiled back. I had to take a minute to process it, Rory, future Duke of Wortley had smiled a genuine smile. His lips were lifted and his eyes crinkled as they shone in the sunlight. He really was a gorgeous specimen of mankind when he smiled.

I chided myself as thoughts of his handsome face, no, stop Cecilia, he was NOT handsome! I mentally slapped myself for what felt like the hundredth time that day, I had to stop fawning over him like an infatuated little girl. It didn't matter how much I denied it though, my husband was irrefutably handsome and I hated it.

Hello everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed the latest installation of Chasing Cecilia. After receiving such a kind response from @susan_5677 I wanted to update this story as soon as I could so thanks goes to her! They're actually married now dun dun duh! Please continue to vote and comment, two more chapters tomorrow as promised!

Much love

xxx

(Picture of Shadow)