by Tristan Vick
“Come now, Arianna. You can’t expect to stop me from being with Leif. I’ll just use this new body,” she says gliding her hands down the sides of her feminine figure, “to seduce him all over again. And there’s not a single thing that you can do about it.”
“Oh yeah?” I don’t give her the chance to respond though. I throw the wooden table leg into the air.
As expected, she reaches for it and I tackle her, using a takedown move Master Kel taught me. We topple to the ground together, and I quickly get her in a choking armlock. She kicks and squirms and spits obscenities at me, but I hold her tight.
Agitated, she tries to break out of the armlock by kicking both legs as hard as she can. I fall onto my back, with her landing on my chest. But I don’t break the hold. I just add more pressure until her squirming slows and, after a few more moments, her arms fall limp, along with her body.
Once she’s gone limp in my arms, I quickly let go, as not to suffocate her to death. I push her off me, and Alegra hits the floor with a thud.
Worried about her, I check her pulse. When I feel the rhythmic pulsating of her beating heart, I let out a worried sigh. The last thing I’d ever want to do is harm her, but this was the only way to stop Hannah from harming the both of us.
I lie on my back panting from the struggle and stare of at the ceiling. Before I know it, there is a rapping at my chamber door. I try to sit up, but I immediately crash back down onto the floor. I’m still too exhausted from the struggle to get up.
“Who is it?” I ask, craning my neck to get a better look at the door.
“It’s me, Zarine” the voice responds. “I heard a lot of commotion and was coming to check if everything was all right.”
“Come in,” I say, still unable to move.
The door cracks open and Zee pokes her head in. She immediately assesses the scene and asks, “What happened here?”
“Oh, the usual,” I quip in my most sarcastic tone. “Vengeful spirit takes over girlfriend’s body. Possessed girlfriend tries to choke me to death in my sleep. Struggle ensues.”
Zee secures the door and then walks over to us and gazes down at Alegra’s unconscious body. “Ah,” Zarine says, as though it were the most common information. She extends a hand and helps me up to my feet. “I knew something was different about her last night. We even had a fight. And we never fight. I should have pieced it together sooner.”
“It’s not your fault. And I promise you, I’ll do everything in my power to help her.” Zarine rubs her hands together and then summons two glowing circles of light with runes that orbit the medallion-like light formations. When she waves her hand, the light follows her motion, as though it were an extension of her body, and she waves the it over Alegra’s face and head. Then, gently pressing her palm to Alegra’s forehead, Zarine chants, “Diabolicus spiritus evincere, Alegra Lockweil restaurare!”
When Zarine removes her hand, the glowing runes that orbited the medallion of light are now burned into Alegra’s forehead head.
“Please tell me that’s not permanent,” I say, pointing at the scorch marks singed into my girlfriend’s skin.
Zee ignores me. She bends down and kisses Alegra on the lips. I can’t help but raise an eyebrow, as it seems a brazen act, even for her. That’s when I realize she’s not kissing her. She’s sucking on her.
Suddenly Alegra’s body arcs in the middle, her torso rising off the ground as her back forms a bridge. Zee sits up, her mouth agape, as a green smoke rises out of Alegra and flows into Zee’s mouth. After she finishes inhaling the last of the mysterious green smoke, she gently bends over Alegra and blows on the burnt symbols from her forehead. The brittle ash flakes away, removing all my concerns.
“I’ve swallowed the envy of the revenant and left only the evanescent spirit of Hannah. The runes are a sleeping spell to keep Alegra’s subconscious from interacting with the consciousness of Hannah. If the two interact, it will cause mass confusion and even risk splintering her psyche. As long as she sleeps, the barrier of her subconscious will protect her.”
“Thank you,” I whisper in a hushed voice. I touch Zee on the shoulder. She looks up at me and smiles.
“The way I figure it, I still owe you for all the trouble I’ve put you through.”
“You think?” I tease. We both laugh.
Zee turns her attention back to Alegra, and placing her hand on Alegra’s forehead, she informs me, “It will take time for the spirit of Hannah to be completely leached out of her. But I’ll personally see to it Koroth’s best restorers oversee her care.”
Zee stands up. Suddenly there is a dark puff of smoke to either side of her and two cloaked mages are standing beside her. Without so much as acknowledging their presence, Zarine orders, “Take the elf to the syphoning chamber and restore her. Make sure that the wraith is trapped in a holding chamber. I shall desire a few words with it later.”
“Yes, mistress,” the mages say in unison. Then they huddle around Alegra, take a knee beside her, and press their hands over her arms and legs, mumbling an incantation. As soon as they’ve uttered the mysterious words, there’s another puff of dark smoke and all three disappear.
I step forward, uncertain about the use of magic here. But Zee turns and looks up at me with those large, dark painted eyes of hers. “It’ll be alright,” she says to console me. “We were able to stop Hannah early enough that she wasn’t able to take over Alegra’s mind. Alegra will be restored to her former self in no time. You’ll see.”
I stop and look about the room. Then I rub my neck, and a twinge of pain causes me to cringe. I turn toward the standing mirror next to the wardrobe and notice a dark purple bruise in the shape of Alegra’s hands across my throat.
“Here,” Zarine says, motioning for me to take a seat on the end of the bed. “Let me attend to that.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and Zee situates herself behind me. She pulls a small vial of oil out of her cleavage and pops the tiny cork stopper. There is a pleasing fragrance which floods into my nostrils. It smells like lavender, elderflower, and chamomile, along with a few other scents of herbs I can’t quite identify.
Zee lathers her hands in the oil and then begins rubbing the ointment all across my neck. Her lubricious fingers gently wrap around my trapezius and caress the nape of my neck. Squeezing me firmly, her thumbs press into the area just above my shoulder blades. It feels so good I unintentionally let out a sensual moan.
It seems to signal that I want her to do more. Zee’s hands respond in kind and make their way to my shoulders. Then, unexpectedly, she slips the straps of my evening gown down around my shoulders. With my bare back exposed, I wrap my hands around my breasts so my dress doesn’t come sliding all the way off. Zee brushes my hair across my right shoulder, her fingers dancing gently across my skin. My skin prickles with titillated excitement and, before I can say anything, Zee’s lips kiss the left side of my neck.
Lightning surges throughout my entire body at the slightest touch of her warm lips and I let out a hot and bothered sigh as I try and decide how far to let her take this little seduction. Zee places her hands on my shoulders and then guides me down onto the bed. As I lay on my back, she slides her body half onto mine. She smiles down at me with that alluring smile of hers, and presses her left thigh between my legs so that our pelvises mash tightly together. I can feel the heat of her radiating out and into me, alerting me to the fact that she’s ready and willing if I am.
I bite my bottom lip to prevent another salacious sigh from slipping out as she grinds against my pelvis. Our eyes meet and she reaches up and brushes the hair out of my face and smiles. Leaning over me, her hair rippling across my skin in strands that unfurl the closer she gets, Zee closes her eyes, cranes her neck forward, and presses her soft lips to mine.
Instantly, I open my mouth and accept her warm, moist tongue. She gladly gives it, like an offering.
Zarine takes my hand in hers. She guides my hands down the curve of her side, past her round h
ips, and then between her warm thighs. She gently pulls up her skirt and guides my fingers between her heated thighs. They travel up and up till, finally, my fingers find their destination.
Her loins water with anticipation of my touch and I can feel the pulse of her rapid beating heart surge through her throbbing thighs. Zee pushes my hand up even further until my fingers are pressing into her soft flesh.
Eyes wide open, I pull back and push up on her shoulders to break the intimate embrace. Taken aback by her boldness, I look up at her with a shocked countenance and whisper, “We can’t.”
Even though I’d love to let myself go and fall into the moment, I know that as much as I want to that it would jeopardize everything I have with Alegra. I pull my hand away from Zee’s skirt and sit up on the edge of the bed, panting, trying to calm my racing heart. “I can’t…” I insist. “It wouldn’t be right.”
“But how can it be wrong if it feels so right?” she teases, dismissing my earlier protests.
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?” she asks playfully, placing her head on my shoulder and batting her eyes at me as if to play the part of the naïve innocent girl.
I turn my head away and let out an agitated huff to let her know I don’t appreciate her ducking the issue. “Don’t play games with me. You know that my heart belongs to Alegra.”
“And I also happen to know that you haven’t been able to stop thinking about me since you saw me at the banquet in Valandra.”
“That’s not fair,” I say, perturbed by the fact that she can use my own thoughts against me as leverage. “You read my mind when you weren’t supposed to. You saw things that weren’t meant for you. Things that I don’t want anyone else to know.”
“But I do know…” she says, resting her cheek on my shoulder. A tense silence falls over us like a familiar blanket and we turn toward one another and gaze into each another’s eyes for the longest time. Again, I must fight the temptation to take her in my arms and make passionate love to her.
“Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll drop it and never raise the issue again,” she says. She doesn’t even try to hide her skeptical tone. “But don’t lie to yourself about what it is you want.”
“And what is it do you think I want?” My tone is defensive, but rightly so. Zarine just squints at me critically.
“You want to be free to admit to yourself that we’d be great together. If not that, then tell me that you hate me and want nothing more to do with me and I’ll leave you alone forever. But don’t lie to yourself. Don’t shy away from what you want and hide from your feelings.”
“That sounds more like what you want,” I say.
“Yes. And I’m not the one who has the problem admitting that. I’ve wanted you ever since that first kiss back in the pub. But what I want more than anything is you to be true to yourself. Stop hesitating all the time. Stop holding back. And just be the woman you’re meant to be.”
“It’s not that simple.” I sigh and place my chin onto my palms and just stare across the room at the wall. “You’re betrothed to Sabine and I love Alegra.”
“But?”
I sit up and stare into Zee’s eyes. “But I think I want…”
“Yes?” she probes.
My mind fixates on Alegra’s earlier accusation that I wanted to be with Zarine. And, now, I see that it’s true. She knew it even before I did. And my heart aches because I don’t want to hurt Alegra. She’s great. I truly do love her. But there’s no more denying it. I finally know that, deep down inside me, my hearts desires them both.
And as audacious as a notion as that is, I still know that I must tell her. Until she and I can have a serious discussion about it and I can explain myself, however, I know perfectly well what I must do.
I take a deep breath, then let out a disenchanted sigh. “I think I want you to go,” I say without looking at Zee.
I stand up and take a couple of steps forward to put some distance between us to help make my point absolutely clear. I walk over to the room door, crack it open, and motion for her to leave.
Zarine stands up and brushes down her skirt. She looks at me as she walks past me, but I avoid making eye contact. Not because I’m angry, but because I fear I might fall into her arms and do something I’ll regret.
She pauses beside me just long enough to say, “If there’s anything you need of me. Anything at all…” Her voice is affectionate and empty any trace of vindictiveness, even though I just scorned her. That’s how I know she really does care for me. “Don’t hesitate to ask.”
I nod, fearful that my voice may crack beneath the pressure of my emotions and reveal the fact that it is taking everything I have to fight my burning desire for her and get her out my room.
And although I’ve finally admitted to myself that I want to be with Zarine, I also have decided I still want to be with Alegra. The only question is, which do I want more, and is it worth sacrificing a perfectly good relationship with Alegra for an uncertain romance with Zee?
Zee sees herself out and I force myself to keep my eyes fixed straight ahead so I don’t turn and see her crying like I am. If she is, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for hurting her like that.
Once she’s gone I slam the door shut to let her know not to come knocking later, but also to conceal my stupid tears and prevent her from seeing me at my worst. “My goddess,” I say aloud to myself. “Get a grip, Arianna. You’re a taken woman.”
Still, Zee wasn’t wrong about one thing. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her from the moment she whisked me away to Mount Valoron. At first I was angry at her and only wanted to punish her for manipulating me. Now, I see that I’m part of something bigger, and she was watching out for me in the only way she knew how.
And as much as I’d like to evict her from my thoughts, I can’t. Every single time I try to stop thinking about her all I can do is dwell on her even more.
I throw myself onto the bed and lie staring up at the ceiling. Light streams into my room from the outside and reminds me that it’s still early morning. Due to my rude awakening, however, not to mention feeling emotionally drained, I decide to close my eyes and take a short nap. At least, until someone comes to fetch me for breakfast, that is.
22
When I open my eyes, I find Lisette curled up on the bed beside me. I caress her hair, brushing the strands of hair out of her eyes and letting them fall just behind her ear. This rouses her awake and she opens her eyes to me gazing upon her slender face. This invokes a smile from her, which I return in kind.
“Hey,” she says, in her typically sweet voice.
“Hey,” I reply. “What are you doing here?”
“I was woken up by Leif’s snoring.”
“Ah,” I say, everything coming together.
“But you took a big risk coming here,” I add. Obviously, this room is not fortified like the other one, nor is there a giant Juggernaut guarding my entrance.
Lisette blushes and looks away as though she’s embarrassed by what I said, although I don’t see why she would be. “What is it?” I ask.
“I sort of overheard everything that happened earlier.”
I give her a blank stare.
“You know,” she whispers. “Between you and Zarine.”
“Everything?” I squeak. Now I’m the one who’s blushing. I look away as to not reveal to her the full depth of my embarrassment, although I think she has a good clue already.
“For what it’s worth,” Lisette says, “I’m proud of you.”
“You are?”
“Of course! You totally could had your way with her and have gotten away with it too. Nobody would have been the wiser. But you resisted her seduction and held true to yourself. True to Alegra.”
“Then why do I feel so rotten?” I ask her.
“You can’t stop thinking about her, can you?”
She’s right, but I don’t know what to say.
“Am I a terrible person?”
> “Never!” Lisette says, taking my hands in hers. “You’ve just been through a lot. And at every turn it seems there’s been some emergency or another that has torn you away from Alegra. Over the past few weeks, you’ve spent more time with Zarine than your own girlfriend. You’re bound to be feeling confused.”
“Still,” I blurt out, letting it all come out in one display of gushing feelings, “I just don’t know what to do. Maybe I was better off on my own.”
“Nonsense!” she says, squeezing my hands tightly in hers. “I believe you’re meant to find someone. Maybe it’s Alegra. Maybe it’s Zee. And maybe it’s someone else entirely. The point is, love isn’t something that’s in our control. It’s something that happens to us. Like a force of nature. All you can do is hold on tight and hang on for the ride.”
I let out a long, frustrated sigh. I really wish I would get myself together.
“Besides,” Lisette adds, jabbing me in the side with her elbow. “Even I can see that Zarine is a most fetching woman. And mysterious. And there’s a lot to like about her. She hasn’t always been forthright with her intentions, but if you genuinely care about her, then who am I to judge? But, she did try to kill us, you know.”
“Yeah,” I laugh.
Lisette laughs too. But it’s short and to the point and then, after a long pause, we both sigh out in unison.
I grow solemn realizing that I’ve probably just let Alegra down.
“What do I tell Alegra?” I ask, searching Lisette’s face for answers.
“Don’t tell her anything,” Lisette replies.
I raise an eyebrow at the scandalous suggestion. That was about the last thing I expected anyone to say, most of all angelic, little, innocent Lisette Durante.
“It’s not the time for such confessions. If it’s meant to be, then things between you will go back to normal. If not, then I’m sure you’ll deal with whatever comes up. You always do.”
I roll onto my back and let out a long sigh. “Goddess,” I lament, feeling more confused now than ever. “I honestly don’t know what I want.”