A Fire Between Castle Walls (Part 2)

Something calls out to me from beyond the empty spaces of my silence. I’m frightened but drawn to its sound, like a child fascinated by demons that dwell in the veiled unknown.

Suddenly it all becomes clear.

The void is but a lingering memory of my brief time as an unconscious prisoner. I come to in a sea of delight, bathing in stoic gaze of a radiant midday sun. At the foot of my bed is Aspen, second in line of the throne at the castle in which I am indentured.

“Drink this. You were sleeping for nearly six hours.”

He points to a glass of spring water sitting at the side of my bed. I reach over and lift it in a daze. Clumsily, I spill most of its contents, around the crimson sheets and ornate wooden furniture. He laughs and pulls over a chair, upholstered in gold and red fabric. His green eyes watch me softly, his long fingers trace the edge of his chin.

“I wouldn’t worry. Not about the sheets of the commotion downstairs. I quieted them for the time being.”

There is a pause as he rubs his palms, as if he’s uncertain of what to say.

“You didn’t quite get my attention alone outside in the garden. Quite a trick you pulled. I had to come up with some magic myself to convince those servants you weren’t an assassin.”

He exhales profoundly through his nose. “Are you an assassin, Adena?”

He knows my name. Of course he does. I’ve been flirting with him from a distance since his father hired me at the castle. At every possible opportunity I tormented Aspen with my beauty, the allure and mystery of my sex. It was deceitful, but only in theory. My intentions were pure and necessary, as any revolutionary would uphold. He’s so much more than his circumstances and that’s what makes me want him more. Far beyond what the Goddess has compelled me to follow, outside of the realm of my human instinct. He’s clueless to his forbidden knowledge, the key that awaits within. I’m a catalyst for that revelation. I’m a harbinger of sin and freedom. And somehow, that’s all he’s ever wanted. The stories they speak of him are true.

Aspen is a quiet ruler, a passively aggressive prince that has a reputation for being alone in his study. Though often blamed on illness, it is youth that creates this divide. Rumor has it that other nobles within the kingdom often scoff at his lack of ability, his ineptitude for athletics and jagged conversations when faced with royal formalities. There are times when he’s gotten into quarrels, assaulting his peers at gatherings and calmly wounding his enemies. All of these tales are exaggerated, but I’ve sensed the truth in their meaning. The way he reclines before me is dominant yet wholly refined. His posture is majestic and confident, but his mouth is tight and flat. It’s difficult for me to pinpoint exactly where the scars are from, but my guess is that his deepest anxieties are a byproduct of a life contingent on duty. This is why he isolates himself in the tower, where he can flee the obligations of royalty and devote himself to scholarship in solitude.

I sit up from the dampened linens and lean back to stretch my arms.

“I’m not here to kill you.”

A fire kindles rapidly in my brain. It burns like a glorious headache, a pleasure that commands my limbs.

“I can’t hold back anymore…you watching me naked in the garden…I’m here to to bring you scriptures, gospels of flesh and desire…”

Before he can rise from his seat, I’m standing above his bedroom throne, my arms wrapped around his neck in a perfect “v” shape clasped at the ends. My hands are a perfect knot, my smile a mischievous indication as I arch my back and push out my hips.

“Do you know how I long I’ve needed this, Aden’?” he whispers above my heavy breaths.

“Long enough to turn me crazy and show my gift to an undeserving prince.”

I can’t explain how it happened, but I’m sitting atop his lap. He’s pushing inward against my loins as he thrusts upward with every throw of his kiss. The rhythm drives me mad and hotter, burning like the source of my flames. I feel the embers spark from my fingers as his tongue reaches the back of mine. I pull up the hem of my dress and run my fingers through auburn locks, grinding against the force of his passion like my life depended upon his touch.

We make love for the next two hours, ringing in the night with our exploding tensions. After finishing, my body is a scorching, reeling from the release of my needs. The element wants to come through. I can’t let it without causing undue attention to the prince who’s kept me securely in his quarters. Downstairs, Rowden must be nervous, thinking that I’ve been sentenced to death, or penalties far worse than murder. How little he knows is amusing. I’m astounded no one’s come up to check.

“How did you keep them quiet? Away from us all this time?” I cover my bosom with the bedsheets as I roll over to gaze at the moon.

“My father thinks you’re a concubine. That’s why he hired you in the first place. He says I don’t entertain enough women. He thought a native from the outer regions would motivate me to get out a bit more.”

Aspen’s words genuinely surprise me, though they explain what I questioned earlier. As a servant of the skeptical monarch, I’m disposable and reduced to currency - a plaything for one of his sons and a “whore” from a Goddess-worshiping “cult.” I’m angered by his prejudice, the gall of his abhorrent belief system that lead me to live among victims. When the regime comes to a toppling end, I’ll be elated that I served this roll. It’s an irony I couldn’t see coming, but a perfect vengeance through fulfilling every villainous desire of his soul.

I feel the prince stroke my arm as he kisses me at the base of my neck.

“So it’s true what I read in the texts? About you, the prophet, the revolution?”

“Don’t trust the tutelage of your culture. Your censorship of ancient texts omits the finer details. I’m an apostle. A seer of the unknown future who must bed you for the greater good. Through the Goddess you will become a vessel to return the world to a state of grace, and in our tryst a revolution will be born from the union of love and lust.”

Aspen looks blindly at me, the darkness shielding his vision,  and empty expression on his face. He feels beneath his pillow and gasps at the rustling of foliage.

“What…what did you do?”

From below the weighted mattress comes vines and colorful blossoms, flowers blue and luminescent, spores purple and iridescent. Plant-life climbs the walls and towers above our bed, weaving a wooden canopy with tree branches and hanging fruits. Before us a lush forest rises from the floor of the massive structure, glowing with newborn life as it sprawls back toward our smiling faces.

“Aspen…you’re a summoner, a scholar baptized by the Goddess. A prince with the blood of my people. The same people we remain and always were before this kingdom took our solidarity with their science. Come with me. Come back to the outer regions and let’s write the tomes of change.”

I lean in to kiss the prince under the surreal light of our mystical garden. He’s enamored, focused intently on my face. Fire dances above my hair as I reach to plant my lips on his. Just then the doors burst open. There are guards with guns at the entrance.

“By orders of the King of the One True Nation, I order you both to cease your treachery under penalty of exposure and death.”

All hope is lost in their warning as they click their rifles in preparation. The time has come for my fears to take a back seat to the will of my fate.

I stretch the length of my arm and curl the palm of my hand. Without hesitation, out comes a flying inferno that rages against the skin of the guards.

There’s no turning back in this calling. My vocation is finally unfolding.

Naked and in the arms of my lover, I begin the revolution of the Goddess.