by Lauren Wood
Nera looked up at the Prince with renewed fear in her eyes. He was looking at her too, but there didn’t seem to be any anger in his face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen,” she said. For the first time, she noticed that a large crowd had gathered behind the Prince and all looked at her eagerly.
“I know,” he said. Than clapping his hand said, “Everyone save my special women may go now.” Like the previous evening, there was an immediate clearance of the room. The only difference this time was that almost all of the women remained. She went to leave herself but he shook his head no, and she stayed. Of those women, she could see from where she was she recognised several whom she thought only last night she had seen murdered. They looked paler but also much more confident and somehow more beautiful.
“I expect you had a lot to think about today?” the Prince said to her stepping over to the edge and looking down.
“About what?” she asked.
“About how long you can avoid the inevitable, or if even still want to avoid it.” The other women were all coming out onto the balcony now, and they made a large semi circle around her. She was completely hemmed in, and there was nowhere for her to go but over the edge like Saleem.
“What if I decided I don’t want it?” she asked, more stalling for time than actual interest.
“I wanted you to see this,” he said. He made a circular motion with his hand, and the women started to walk towards her. Nera bent into a fighting pose- she was not going to go down without a fight, but none of the women came near her. Instead, they began to lift from the floor and float out into the night just as the Prince had done the night before. Nera watched in amazement as they one by one flitted off in different directions until she could see none of them anymore, and she and the Prince were alone on the balcony.
“Where are they going?” she asked. He shrugged his shoulders,
“Wherever they want,” he said. “Some will seek out men; others food and some will just go where they have never been before or do things they never could before. They are free to do whatever pleases them.”
“And they come back?”
“They have to; they are bound to me.” She felt him take a step closer behind her and then she felt his hands on her shoulders. She shivered but it was not at his touch, but his hands made her realise how cold she was.
“Wouldn’t you like to be bound to me?” She turned and looked at him, their eyes locking and for a moment it felt like words had no sense to them. He took her hands, and she enjoyed the feel of his fingers on hers.
“Is that the only way to be bound to you?” she asked.
“So far,” he replied. She looked at his lips, and she wanted to kiss them. She felt that same swoon of the previous night, as though she were no longer in control of her body or her faculties. She leaned her head against his chest
“What do you do with all of these women?” she asked; she was surprised to find she was already jealous of them.
“Whatever I wish,” he said letting go of her hands and putting his arms around her, pulling her into him. “I’m not trying to take anything from you Nera; I’m offering to give to you.” His words sounded sonorous and true, but something nagged at her despite her clouded mind. There was something powerful she would lose if she gave in to him, but what that was eluded her. When she tried to think what it was, it melted into the creases of her mind, and all she could think about was having this ability to fly. Could it be that she was just dreaming all of this; that she would wake up soon beside the river where she washed her clothes.
“Why don’t you just force me like you did the others?” she asked.
“I don’t want to force you, I feel something deeper with you, something that somehow seems ancient, I can’t understand or explain it.” He was breathless as he spoke, and she wondered if he was under the same fog as she was. She kissed him. The kiss felt more than those of the previous night, all of the fear and self protective aura were no longer present, and it was like a first kiss, where fireworks went off and neither wanted this moment to end. She leaned into him to lead them back inside the tower and over to one of the cushions.
Their lovemaking this night was a much more tender and probing affair than the previous lust and survival driven tryst. Their naked bodies intertwined and they explored each other’s curves and dips tenderly and longingly. There was no manic thrusting or arching, and it was so incredible. She felt the stone body on her own strong one, and it was a much more satisfying night for all of this newness.
Afterwards, they lay in silence for a long time. The mist began to life from her, and she suddenly remembered what it was that a life like his would deprive her of- sunlight! The simplicity of feeling the sun on her skin and face; the warmth of it. This was something no one would ever willingly give up. She knew that no matter what feelings, or whatever it was that grew so rapidly in her for this man, she was going to have to go back to her original plan of escape. There was n way she could become a creature of the night and give up ever seeing the world bathed in the sun again.
“When you go to bed today I want you to think deeply about what I am offering you,” he said to her. “It doesn’t have to be as you saw with the other women; there need not be any violence. I only do that to keep myself fresh in the event of war, so that my killing skills remain honed.” She kissed him on the neck,
“I will,” she said as her eyes scanned the higher reaches of the tower looking for some weakness she could exploit in her escape bid.
Instead of thinking about submitting to his will, as the Crown Prince had asked, she instead spent the time she was awake going over possible escape plans in her head. She decided that there was no way she was going to be able to escape from the tower. She would have to try from her living quarters during the day. The problem here was the whole rest of the palace ran on daylight hours like the rest of the world and the place was crawling with soldiers all the time. Add in the giant drawbridge that would need to be down to facilitate her escape and she had a real conundrum on her hands. She felt her eyelids droop, and she knew sleep was close at hand. In this twilight between sleep and waking an idea came to her, an idea that made all the sense in the world. It could work, she was sure of it. All she would have to do would be to remember it when she woke up again later on. Her tired brain promised her it would remember anything she wanted so long as she let it sleep for a while. Her eyelids came down, and that was it. She was asleep.
That evening she was shown up to the tower once more. As with previous times, she entered a busy room, and she wondered why it was that she was sent up much later than everyone else who was there. Upon entering the great room, her memory had indeed failed her, and her idea from earlier was as if it had never occurred to her. However, upon seeing the Crown Prince, she recalled every thought she’d had in those moments before sleep engulfed her. He saw her and nodded. She bowed and indicated with her eyes that she would like to speak to him. He dismissed those people who surrounded him and beckoned her over.
“How are you this evening Nera?” he asked pleasantly.
“Very good,” she replied.
“Have you come to me with a decision?”
“I have come to you with a request Your Highness.” He looked intrigued.
“Go on?” he said. She looked about to be sure that no one was listening and whispered.
“Can you take me flying? To see my home one more time as I am?” He looked dubious of her request.
“You wish to speak to someone there?” he asked suspiciously.
“No, only to see it one more time. I have no family there.” He still looked doubtful, “I want to experience the flight for myself,” she added. He thought about her request for a few moments and then said to her,
“I will decide later; for now have some food and drink and relax. I have some acrobats from the far east for our entertainment tonight.”
Nera did this, seated at his side. The acrobats were very entertai
ning, and she was stunned by some of the feats they pulled off. She watched the Prince drink and saw that the wine was affecting his as it would any normal man. She decided she could use this to her advantage and she topped up his goblet at every opportunity.
Some of his friends came and sat, and they told stories that he found very funny. After one of these he leaned over to Nera and said,
“I will grant you your wish tonight, but then you must keep your end of the bargain tonight. No tricks or any more stalling.”
“Thank you,” she said nodding in agreement to his terms. His eyes sparkled as he looked at her, and she saw that it made him happy to please her.
It was late when he cleared the room on this night, and that was exactly what she had wanted. The drink had dulled him and made time go by ever faster. It also gave him, as it did with all men, a heightened sense of what he could achieve. She knew how far away her home was, and no matter how fast he flew she felt there was no way he would be able to get back here by sunup.
The Prince took her hand and gave her a shawl to put on over her clothes.
“We don’t want you getting cold,” he smiled. They walked out to the balcony and looked out over the land. It was such a clear night, and everything was bathed in moonlight and looked magical. He had a look of pride on his face, as though he had made this landscape himself and was not just part of a dynasty that controlled it.
Nera was nervous about flying; though she knew it was her one chance of escape, she also had no idea what it would be like to be soaring unnaturally high above the ground. What if she fell? Would he try to save her, or would he be content to see her fall? She looked to him again, and the look in his eyes said that he would save her if she fell. A pang of regret poured through her. She had never met anyone who had made her feel the way she did in his presence, but she just couldn’t sacrifice her life to those feelings.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” she nodded nervously.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said, “I will make sure you are safe. Take my hand.” She did as she was bid. “This is the start of a new life for you and I. I have found in you something I never thought possible,” he said looking into her eyes and stroking her hand. She trembled with anticipation before him. He lifted her in his strong arms and then eased gently from the ledge.
She shut her eyes against her expectation that she would plummet to the world, but the easy feeling of the light wind on her skin had her open them again and she wondered at the feeling and the things she was seeing. He flew so fast and yet it was so smooth. He held her in front of his chest like she weighed nothing at all. Down below the mountains soon gave way to flat lands and then to the sea. She recalled some of the places from her forced march to this strange country and she pondered if those same men were in some other part of the Kingdom now rounding up women in same way to take to be part of the Royal house.
They hit landfall in her home territory about an hour after they left, and she guided him to the small village she had called home for the last ten years. Though she had never liked the place and had planned to leave, she found that she was stung by fondness and nostalgia for this place on seeing it and being there once more. There was no one about, but she knew who lived in every dwelling and what they must have been up to her absence. She pointed out her own house and said to the Prince,
“Can we go inside?”
“Won’t there be someone there?” he asked.
“No, I lived alone.” He swooped down and landed at the doorway and set her on her feet on the ground.
“Thank you,” she said to him. She pushed open the door and looked inside. She knew there wouldn’t be anyone there, but there was always the chance that someone knew what had happened to her and had usurped her home and would be sleeping there right now. But instead all was quiet and as she had left it. He stepped in behind and she watched as he took the place in. She saw his eyes settle on her bed, and he smiled at her. She smiled back and kissed him and led him to it.
This was the first time she had ever made love in her own bed, and again it was so amazing with him and she lost herself so deeply in his presence that she almost gave up her plan and was willing to settle for his offer. But, she managed to hold her resolve, and it was with a heavy heart that his final thrusts against her spent him, and he flopped down panting on top of her.
The alcohol had tired him and with the exertion of the flight and then the lovemaking he soon drifted into a light slumber beside her. Nera lay there as quiet as she could be and let the minutes tick by. She closed her own eyes in the vain hope that she too would fall asleep, but she was so scared that the pounding of her heart would wake him that she couldn’t relax. She looked out at the sky, and she was sure that she could see the first hints of a change of light in the heavens. He stirred suddenly and looked about the room.
“Where am I?” he asked groggily.
“My home,” Nera said. He looked at her and saw who it was that he shared a bed with smiled at her and kissed her on the shoulders.
“We better get going,” he said as he rose,”How long did I sleep for?”
“Only a moment,” she lied. He nodded but didn’t seem to think anything of it. They dressed, and he took her back outside.
“You will be able to come back here any night you want to, now that you know the way,” he said with a smile.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.
They retook to the skies and not a single person that she was aware of had known that she had been back home, and with the Crown Prince no less. They were only in the air a few minutes when she thought she saw the first looks of concern on his face as she looked at the horizon.
“Hold on, I’m going to go a little faster this time,” he said. If he was worried his voice didn’t betray it, but why else would he be speeding up if not to get home before the sun rose? She clasped her hands around his neck, and he set off much faster than before. The raging sea below then became a blur, and she had to close her watering eyes to the sharp wind that greeted them from time to time. When she could open them, she was sure that there was a change in the light in the sky. She looked at his face, and now she was sure she could see panic and fear in him. His body sweated and his breaths were more laboured.
“I shouldn’t have taken you out so late!” he scolded himself.
“What’s wrong?” she asked playing the innocent. He didn’t answer, and she thought it was because he didn’t have the breath to say anything more.
Nera looked ahead, and it soon became clear to her that they were flying easy. There was an unmistakable sheen of light that rounded the horizon and was the dawn trying to rise up over the land. She saw that he saw it too, and he steeled himself to a renewed effort to get home before that happened. He flew lower as the approached the higher lands so as to remain in their shadows but on this morning the dawn seemed to come at a rate she had never experienced before and the land lit up around them as the sun showed her the world.
He was in a full panic now, but they were in sight of the tower. The rays of the sun came over her, and she heard him cry out in pain as they struck him also. He used the high mountains and the building of the palace for cover but there was no avoiding the light at places and each time he would scream in pain as he crossed the shafts of light.
Nera looked, and the hole that was the balcony of the tower zoomed at them and they both went flipping to the ground as he landed with speed. She sat up dazed and saw that the women from the night before were all back sitting around the room. Each of them rose at the spectacle, and she saw some run to the howling Prince. She stood up and looked in his direction. This was not what she had hoped for; she wanted to be out over land when he faltered so that she could escape.
The women were huddled around him in concern, but Nera could not see him.
“You!” his voice suddenly roared out as he sprang from their envelopment. “You tried to kill me?” he said snarling at her and pointing an a
ccusing finger. The skin on his body looked very badly burned, and his eyes were black with anger.
“Me?” she said, “What did I do?” she asked playing her role again.
“You know what you tried to do. I should have gone with my gut and said no when you first asked me this evening!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Your Majesty,” she said backing away towards the balcony. The other women flocked around her in a wide circle now, some of them going behind her blocking her from the outside.
Nera knew that she was cornered now and that he probably only wanted to kill her outright now instead of making her like the rest of the women here. She took one last look at him, sad at what might have been had he not been the creature he was.
“I can’t give up my life for the one you want me to live” she called out to him as she turned and ran for the balcony. There were a few women there who were poised to stop here; she shoe the smallest one and crashed into her with all her might, force enough that it sent both of them tumbling to the light outside and falling rapidly to the earth below. Her only hope was that this crying and burning creature would be able to arrest both of their falls before the ground, and the body of Saleem rose up to finish them both. They spiralled and fell in the morning sunlight down and down and down.
THE END
GIFTED LANCE
Chapter One