Phantom of the Heart

by Stein Willard

  “Greetings, precious dearling. Unless you get up and greet me like your soon-to-be betrothed, I refuse to accept your welcome.”

  Mesmeria watched as the blacksmith shot to her feet and held out her hand to Sterling to gently help her to her feet. Before her stunned eyes, her headstrong daughter melted into the massive arms of the blacksmith. With a gentle hand she lifted the blacksmith's face and placed a soft kiss on the blushing woman’s lips. Having seen it all, Mesmeria turned away, feeling as if she was intruding on a very private moment. She walked over to where Cybralle was speaking softly to a very nervous Lima. The chambermaid fell to her knees the moment the queen entered the warm, clean common room.

  “Your Majesty, welcome to my humble home.”

  “Please, Lima, rise.” She put a soft hand on the older woman's shoulder. “We are here for a very joyous occasion. Just for tonight, let us meet as equals.”

  Lima's eyes were wide as they met the queen's, but she nodded slowly. “As you wish, Your Majesty. We…we have made a rich stew and fresh nut bread. Would you honor my daughter and me by accepting our meager offering?”

  Cybralle chuckled. “I am well aware of what a great cook you are, Lima. Of course I would be honored to dine with you.”

  Mesmeria looked at her mate and smiled warmly. Cybralle was not born of royalty and many times had been invited to dine with her subjects. Not even after twenty-eight years of wealth, had her mate forgotten her origins. Mesmeria had indeed chosen well and so, it seemed, had their daughter. The royal house had been strengthened by Cybralle's presence, and it seemed that Orla would do the same. They would keep their royal partners in touch with the common man and break the walls erected generations ago. The dark head turned, and laughing silver eyes met her emerald ones. Aware that Lima was waiting patiently for her acceptance, Mesmeria did the one thing she had never thought she could ever do in public. She walked over to her beautiful mate, pulled her dark head down and kissed her deeply. When she pulled back a few seconds later, she found that Sterling and Orla had joined them and they were all staring at her in stunned surprise. Looking up into the eyes of Cybralle, she saw love and a hint of desire. Right there before their audience, Cybralle moved in for another kiss. This time the others looked away quickly to give them a semblance of privacy. When the Supreme Royal Couple pulled apart, the others were talking in hushed tones.

  Cybralle led Mesmeria over to the crude wooden table and waited until the others joined them. Orla and Lima quickly served their guests and nervously sat down to dine. A soft groan sounded from the head of the table and all eyes snapped to where the queen sat with her eyes closed, a dreamy look on her face.

  “Lima, this is simply delicious. I was unaware that you could cook so well.”

  Lima blushed as she lowered her eyes. “I am sorry if I misled you to believe that I was the cook. In fact it was my daughter, Orla, who prepared dinner for us.”

  Orla's face was covered by a deep, red blush, as she looked down into her bowl of stew.

  “You have so many skills, Orla,” Cybralle noted in a gentle tone. “Not only are you the best blacksmith and sword maker in over four kingdoms, it is obvious that you are also an excellent cook. My daughter surely is a lucky woman.”

  The silence following the remark made Cybralle quickly look at her mate. “Maybe we should not let this delicious meal go to waste by talking about why we are here. We have enough time to do so afterward.”

  Once the meal was finished, Orla helped her mother to clear the table and serve their guests a warm spiced wine. Once the women were seated again, Cybralle turned to her daughter.

  “Sterling, as the future queen of the largest kingdom in the realm, you have already exceeded the official age where you are expected to introduce your life mate to the Senate and the public. We have been lenient with you because of your position as Commander of the Royal Army. You will make a great queen, a warrior queen, who will make your mother and I very proud. You have bestowed a great honor upon us, your parents, by asking us to come here with you tonight to beseech Lima for the hand of her daughter. What can you offer Lima in exchange?”

  Cybralle watched with pride as her daughter came to her feet and went down on one knee before the chambermaid. She reached under the table and took her mate's hand in a gentle grip.

  “Lima, your daughter was very honest with me earlier today. She told me that she comes from very humble beginnings and very gracefully tried to convince me to select someone more worthy to be a mate for me than herself.” Sterling turned to look at the blushing woman. “Her exact words were that she is too simple to be more than what she already is. But she was so wrong, Lima. She is destined for so much more. She is destined to be the woman I see every morning I open my eyes. She is destined to be the woman I bear children for. She is destined to be the one who will make my breath quicken by simply walking into a room. She is destined to be the keeper of my heart.” Sterling took a deep breath and wiped at her damp eyes. “The list is so long and it will take me the whole night to tell you how wrong your daughter is in thinking she cannot be more than what she is right now. I know she will need time to adapt to the changes of being the mate of a queen, but I will be with her every step of the way. She will be loved, Lima, and she will want for nothing. I promise you.”

  Cybralle had to struggle to keep her composure as she looked at her daughter and then at the quiet woman sitting with her head bowed. She watched as Orla lifted her eyes, their paleness stark against her sun-darkened skin. A soft sniffle caught Cybralle’s ears, and she turned to look at her mate. Mesmeria's eyes were swimming in tears and, with her hand covering her mouth, she looked at her daughter before slowly turning to look at her mate.

  “Dearling?”

  “Please…” Mesmeria swallowed hard. “I want the two of us to talk with Lima…alone.”

  Cybralle looked at Sterling and nodded. She watched as her daughter left the room followed by the towering form of the blacksmith.

  ***

  The landscape was bathed in moonlight, and a soft breeze was rustling through the tree branches. Standing in complete silence, neither Sterling nor Orla were aware of how beautiful the night really was. They could not keep their eyes off each other.

  “I meant every word that I said to your mother.”

  Orla inhaled deeply before she closed the distance between them. For a long moment she just looked down into the silver eyes of the princess.

  “Please, teach me how to kiss you, because I want to kiss you, desperately.”

  A soft, crooked smile came over Sterling's lips as she looked up into the pale-blue eyes. She nodded.

  “I would love to teach you how to do that, but could we find a place to sit first? You are too tall for what I have in mind.”

  Orla looked around and noticed the small bench positioned against the hut. With a surprising move, she swung the princess in her arms and carried her over to the bench. When she reached the small bench, she lowered her bulk and positioned the princess on her lap.

  “Well, that was unexpected, but I find that I liked it. I wish to see more of this side of you,” Sterling said with a crooked smile. Her hand reached out and gently cupped Orla's cheek, as she stared deeply into the beautiful blue eyes. “Now close your eyes for me and just feel what I am doing to your lips.” When the blue eyes fluttered closed, Sterling just stared at Orla's face for a moment longer, humbled by the instant trust the woman placed in her. Slowly, she leaned closer and planted a kiss on the cleft at Orla's chin. Her lips moved up farther until they encountered the plump lower lip which she gently sucked into her mouth. She heard a soft moan; her heartbeat accelerated at the sound, and she closed her eyes. Bringing her teeth into play, she raked them gently over the soft lip before she lapped at it with the tip of her tongue.

  Opening her eyes, she was shocked to look straight into stunned blue eyes. She gasped softly but did not stop her gentle ministrations. Heaven forbid that Orla find out one day what the sight of her
beautiful eyes did to her. That knowledge could surely be a very powerful weapon against her. While they held each other's gaze, Sterling pushed her tongue into Orla's mouth and it was her turn to moan at the spicy flavor she tasted on the blacksmith's tongue. Wanting more, she leaned her body into the broad, muscled chest of Orla as she savored the kiss. They both moaned at the same time, and Sterling felt herself being pulled closer as two strong arms wound themselves around her and held her tightly.

  The lack of air made them pull away, their lips parting with a soft, wet smack as they stared into each other's eyes.

  “That…that is how I like to kiss you, my precious,” Sterling whispered, her voice muffled from where her face was pressed into Orla's neck.

  “That was very nice. Not that the other kisses lacked in anyway.”

  They sat there on the bench, under the moonlight, and just held each other, quietly absorbing each other's nearness. It was Orla who broke the silence.

  “After what you have said to my mother earlier, I find that there is no way I can fight against what you want from me. I promise you that I will try to be the best spouse to you and that I will belong to you and only you. But I promise to stand back if and when the time comes that your heart craves for another. I will treasure moments such as this one for as long as I still draw breath.”

  Sterling lifted her head to look into Orla's eyes and smiled. “I want you to know that I will love you forever and that nothing will ever make me love you any less.” She reached into her pocket and took out a beautiful, golden ring. “It was a gift to me from my mothers when I left for the Wastelands. They thought I had found my true calling in life and the ring symbolized the completion of my journey.” She took the large hand in hers and kissed the long fingers. “They were wrong. It was only when I stumbled upon you in the stables four nights ago that I knew I had found my destiny. This ring is a symbol of my loyalty to you, Orla. I want you to keep it with you and look upon it every time you are in doubt of my love for you.” She pushed the ring over the small pinky of the blacksmith and smiled when it was a perfect fit. “Now, I want you to help me seal this promise with a kiss.”

  A huge smile lit up Orla's face, making her extraordinary eyes shine bright and transforming her dark, swarthy features into an alluring mask of happiness. For Sterling, it was the most exquisite sight ever, and she stared long and hard as she tried to etch the picture in her mind.

  “Kiss me, my heart. Kiss me as if your life depends on it.”

  Orla leaned closer and took the soft lips in a powerful, heart-stopping kiss. Sterling moaned when a soft, timid tongue slipped into her mouth and slowly began to caress the interior of her mouth in small, erotic licks. She threw her hands over Orla's broad shoulders, holding on tightly, as she felt herself losing the ability to think and feel. She gave herself over to the magical possession of her lover. When they came up for air, Sterling was crying softly, held tightly against the blacksmith's thundering heart. They both knew, instinctively, that the tears were the only other way to express the bittersweet feeling of love which had taken them over.

  “I only realize now that I have never really been kissed before either. You just stole my soul with that kiss, beloved.”

  Orla was shivering slightly. “I do not know where that came from, Sterling. It…it just happened.”

  Sterling lifted wet eyes to look into equally wet blue eyes. “I am not complaining.”

  With a soft, intimate sigh, Orla touched her forehead to Sterling's. They sat like that until the door to the hut opened and the large frame of Cybralle was silhouetted against the yellow light coming from inside the hut.

  “You may enter now.”

  Sterling marveled at Orla's strength as she effortlessly rose and deposited her gently on her own feet. When Sterling looked up at her mother, it was to see a look of surprise on the dark face. But being a woman of few words, the royal turned away and re-entered the room.

  Hand in hand, they followed behind Cybralle.

  Chapter 5

  Once the royals had left, Lima walked over to where her daughter stood before the fireplace. Her eyes were intense as they caressed her only child's face. The flickering flames threw soft shadows over her daughter's strong, handsome features. Just like her father’s. Gentro was the love of her life. He was tall and broad shouldered for his age with a head full of straight, raven hair and the most beautiful, ghostly blue eyes. They had been married for almost ten years before they were granted their daughter. But Gentro never held Orla in his arms. Lima was still pregnant when Gentro enlisted in the Royal Army, hoping to earn more money to take better care of his family. He never made it back from the Wastelands. Then came his daughter, a spitting image of her father, even larger than him and with the most gentle soul Lima had ever experienced in another being.

  For nineteen summers, she had taken care of this extraordinary child she had borne and every day her heart swelled with love and pride as her daughter grew into a magnificent human being. Orla had never shown any interest in a mate and had always joked that they were destined to grow old together, but tonight had changed that. A very powerful woman had gone down on one knee before her and pledged her heart and soul to her daughter. It was not so much what Sterling had said, but the look in those intense, silver eyes when she had laid her heart bare. Lima had always known that her daughter was too special to get married to a poor pig farmer and die early in childbirth. Lucky for them both, the men folk in the city were very much intimidated by her daughter's size and tried to befriend her instead of seeking more.

  “What is troubling you, Mother?”

  Lima was brought back to the present and met Orla’s searching blue eyes.

  “I believe I asked you the same question just yesterday morn,” Lima murmured with a small smile, slipping her arms around her daughter's waist. “It was princess Sterling who was the problem then, no?”

  The blue eyes lit up at the mention of the princess's name and Lima was glad that she had trusted her instinct and the knowledge she had of her daughter when she had discussed the marriage pact with the Supreme Royal Couple. Earlier tonight, when her daughter had stormed into the house, her eyes wild and her whole body shaking, she had been scared to death that something terrible had befallen her daughter. It was only after she had calmed down a little that she got the story out of Orla. Stunned, she had fallen into a nearby chair.

  “What kind of joke is this, Orla?”

  “I am not joking, Mother. They will be here around dinner time. I think we have to prepare something for them to eat.”

  She jumped out of the chair and grabbed her nervous daughter by the hand and sat her down.

  “What are you not telling me?”

  Those unsettling blue eyes looked deep into her own. “I am scared, Mother. She says she loves me, but I am so scared because she can have any woman in all the kingdoms.”

  “Did you tell her that?”

  “I have tried, but she begs me to give her…us a chance. She asked me if she could come and meet with you tonight to ask for my hand.”

  “What do you want me to say to them, daughter?”

  The blue eyes shot full of tears. “I do not know, Mother. You are a very good judge of character. You will know if she is genuine in her feelings for me. Answer them as if it is your hand that they seek.”

  “Do you love her, daughter?”

  “I do not know her, Mother, but…but…she is so nice to me and gentle. She smiles a lot when she looks into my eyes and then sometimes she has this really beautiful look in her eyes when she looks at me.”

  She stared long at her daughter and watched as she fidgeted with the hands in her lap. It is a very difficult situation to be in, she thought. She could disregard her daughter's happiness and have her become the second most powerful woman in the realm once the princess becomes Queen. Or she could take her daughter's feelings and happiness in consideration and take a stand against the royals and refuse them.

  As she stood
here in front of her daughter, she was relieved and happy that she had followed her heart when she made the choice.

  “Your face lights up at the sound of her name, Orla. What changed between the two of you while you were waiting outside?”

  The blue eyes flashed, and a tender smile formed on Orla's lips. “I fell in love with her.”

  Lima clasped her hands over her chest and closed her eyes. All her doubts were resolved. The match was one made in heaven.

  “I am so happy to hear that, Orla, because I feared that the princess was the only one truly in love.”

  Orla looked down into her mother's eyes and grinned. “For a while there she was.”

  Lima playfully slapped her daughter's arm and chuckled.

  “What did she do to make you fall in love with her? It must have been something very profound.”

  Orla blushed lightly, but the smile stayed on her face. “I asked her to teach me how to kiss her and she did.” She held up her hand and the flames shot off the gold ring on her pinky. “Then she gave me this as a symbol that I am, and always will be, her one and only. That was when I kissed her and…” the blush returned. “…the stars fell from the sky and the earth gave this big heaving sigh.”

  Lima dropped her face in her hands as tears leaked through her fingers. Orla was going to be fine. The union was one forged by the Great One. They would be so happy together.

  “Mother… Are you…”

  “Yes, I am crying.”

  Orla gently pulled her mother's hands from her face. “But why?”

  “I am crying because my daughter has found her soul mate. I am so happy for you, my child, so very happy.”

  There was a soft knock on the door, and Lima quickly dried her tears as she went to greet their guest. Her eyes widened when she opened the door and found the princess standing on her doorstep. This was a sight she was going to have to get used to, she realized suddenly. She noticed that the princess was nervously fidgeting with a cloth sack she held in her hand. The longer she stared at the woman the more nervous she seemed to get and it was then that it finally sunk in who her guest was. She quickly dropped to her knee and gasped when the princess followed the movement until they were on eye level.