by Lauren Wood
The Prince dropped her on the cushion and smiled down at her. She wanted him, and she pulled at him to come down to her. He resisted for a moment but then dropped beside her and lay on top of her. She could feel him through his pants, and she tugged at the band of them until they were halfway down the back of his thighs. He lifted her and pulled down the front, and she could feel him kick the garment off. He looked deep into her eyes, and she could see something from far away in him like he was not there at that moment. She gasped as she felt him go inside of her for the first time and gripped her fingernails deep into his back. He didn’t flinch at all.
They made love for a time, Nera becoming as far away as he was in her passionate desire. She had never once in her life felt like she did with the Prince; she couldn’t believe that she didn’t even know his name, first name that is. She lay in his arms afterwards, and she felt safe now.
“Are there more like you?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I meet one of my kind, from time to time, and we know one another instantly, but there is no country or community where we reside that I know of.”
“What will these women feel when they wake up?” she asked looking around the floor.
“They will be confused and frightened at first, but I will calm them and show them all the new things that they can do now. After that, they will be happy here.”
“What will they be able to do?” she asked. He pulled his pants back on and stood up,
“This,” he said. He lifted from the ground with an elegant grace and hovered there for a few moments before flying to the balcony. He went out over the edge where the huge drop was underneath him and smiled to her. She got up and conscious of her nakedness now, picked up her clothes and covered herself, went to the platform and looked down. She was amazed at this feat. She had never heard of this before, had not thought it possible, and yet here it was right before his very eyes.
He came back in and landed beside her.
“Are you sure you would not like to be able to do that?” he asked smiling. She turned from him, afraid once more of what he might to her.
“I’m not ready,” she said. She was trembling.
“Then I think it is time you left for tonight,” he said putting a hand on her shoulder, “It will not be a pretty sight when these women begin to wake, and you may be in danger.”
“From them?” she snorted, she had not come up against a woman yet who she was afraid of, and she had seen all of these here all the way from her home country and saw nothing to fear in the slightest from them.
“They will have strength that you can only dream of once they become like me,” he said. She recalled how he had lifted her like she was nothing.
“Where should I go?” she asked.
“Just back down the stairs, a guard will show you back to your quarters,” he said indicating the door she had come in originally. She walked towards it, confused and scared now. The effects of her lust had worn off, and she was very much aware of the blood and gore on the floors and walls everywhere. Was this what was in store for her tonight when she was sent back up here? “By the way,” he called after her. She turned to look at him. “What is your real name?”
“Nera,” she said, not bothering to keep up the pretence any longer. “What’s yours?” she asked. He smiled warmly at her like she was a bold child.
“Your Highness,” he said. He made a motion to the large doors, and she heard the bolts and lock from the other side crackle open.
That night Nera was the only woman of her shipmates who slept back in the quarters. The servant girls and the lead woman seemed surprised to see her come back. They showed her where she would be sleeping and left her alone. Morning broke not long after she lay down, and she knew she would have trouble sleeping today. Images of what she had seen and heard kept coming back to her; everything had seemed so violent and crazy, but then when she looked at the bigger picture she knew that those women were now able to fly, and no man would ever be able to hurt them again. She fell asleep after a long time to the sounds of the marching soldiers in the courtyard outside.
That evening she was lead up once more to the tower. She was the only woman this time, and there was no introduction, the door was opened, and she was told to go inside. Like the previous day, there were many people there tonight and musicians played loudly. A few people glanced in her direction, but no one lingered on her for long. The Crown Prince was not on his throne as the day before and on the first inspection about the room she could not see him. What she did she, however, was a much more overtly sexual tone than the night before. It was much more in keeping with her former ideas of a harem, except that all of the women were not kept for just the royal himself.
Men, she was unsure if they too were vampires or not, cavorted with women in dimed corners and on the large cushions. She suddenly felt very cheap at her own antics the previous evening, but she told herself quickly that she had no choice. As she looked around and moved further into the room she became aware of eyes on her, and she looked and saw a man staring over at her. He was sitting alone, and he smiled at her and beckoned for her to come over to him. She could see the lascivious desire in his eyes, but he was not the kind of man she would ever deign to offer herself to. She looked away and pretended she had not seen him.
“Girl!” she heard him call out, and she started to walk in the opposite direction. “Girl!” this time the voice was much louder and carried an angry tone. She could see that other people were looking at her, but she still pretended that she did know it was she who was being addressed. She made her was towards the balcony as it was the only place in the room that was not visible from everywhere else. “How dare you ignore me and walk away,” she heard his voice now, and it was clear that he was striding after her. Without looking back, she quickened her pace; she had no idea what she was going to do once she got the balcony- she just hoped that he would give up by then and leave her alone.
Just as she reached the platform that jutted out of the tower and looked over that immense chasm, she felt his hand on her upper arm, and she was spun around violently. The man’s vicious snarling face was in hers and she felt his hot spittle as he shouted at her, “You are aware that I was calling you over, and you insult me by not doing as I wish?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” she stammered. She played the helpless woman in moment like this to keep a man’s guard down, but as she spoke she wondered what would happen if she were o shoe this man off the precipice to the ground below?
“Don’t lie to me, I will use you first and then see that you are punished sufficiently for your disobedience,” he said and he turned and started to pull her back to where he had been sitting. Her instinct kicked in, and she dropped to the ground and with a powerful swipe she took his legs from under him. He let go of her as he fell, and his body sounded a heavy thud on impact with the stone floor. She leapt back to a standing position. He sat up and held his back in pain. He looked at her with such malevolence that she was sure that he would try to kill her once he regained his feet.
At that moment, however, a thunderous and mirthful laugh came from within the tower. Both of them looked and saw that it was the Crown Prince coming out to them. The man scurried to his feet and then bowed fawningly, but Nera just stood there waiting to see what was going to happen.
“You have been insulted Saleem?” he asked the man with a smile.
“Yes, Your Highness,” he replied.
“And you want this girl to be punished?”
“Yes, Majesty.”
The Prince looked to Nera,
“You refused to do his bidding?” She nodded, “And you then put him on the floor?”
“He was hurting me,” she said defiantly. At this, the Crown Prince burst out laughing. Nera saw that the man looked at her nervously and then back to the Prince. He stood there looking at the two of them as his laughter subsided and then said to the man,
“Saleem, you may punish her as you see fit,”
and then turning to her said, “You woman, can do what you want to resist this punishment.”
Saleem stood up and looked at her. He was clearly very embarrassed and angry that the choice he was given was to either drop the affair or engage in a possible fight with a woman. His cheeks were flush, and he didn’t do or say anything for a few moments. At last he said to her,
“Come inside with me and there will be no punishment,” he sighed; his tone and manner are indicating that he was doing her a great favour.
“I will not,” she said, She saw the Prince’s eyes light up at this, and an even broader smile festooned his face. Saleem looked to him and then wearily made a move towards her. Nera was too fast for him, and she dipped and landed a solid kick to his ribs that doubled him over. He was back up in a flash of anger, and he lunged at her with a feral roar, she could see his teeth bared, and his hands splayed to grab hold of her. She dropped to the ground and rolled at his feet sending him tripping over her towards the edge of the ledge. She had not intended, but she knew from his momentum that he was not going to be able to stop himself from going over the edge. She made a grab for his leg to stop this happening, but she missed him. His cries echoed out loudly as he fell the long and fatal way to whatever surface lay below in the darkness.
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 entertaining, 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.
