by JK Ensley
“This you promise?”
“On my honor.”
“Gratitude, Milady.”
I smiled, slightly inclining my head toward him. He placed his large hand upon my cheek and pulled me close.
“Never bow to me, Milady. That is your honor alone,” he whispered.
Jezreel cleared her throat, breaking our gaze.
“Here it is. Now, are you going to tell us what this is all about?” Her gaze went to Merodach, briefly, and then back to the locket. “You know how curious I am.”
Taking the precious heirloom, I caressed the shiny jewels framing its opal center. I slowly opened it, revealing a portrait of my great grandmother on one side, the odd script engraved upon the other.
Merodach approached me, casually cupping his hands on my hips, gently yet possessively pulling me back against him. He looked down over my shoulder.
He gasped. “By all that’s holy… This has been here all these years?”
“Yes. It was part of my inheritance. Can you read these words?”
“I can. Yet, I will not.”
“But, you promised to—”
“Those words are to be uttered by your lips alone,” he interrupted.
“I cannot read them, this you know.”
“I will teach you, my love. Let me whisper them to you as you sound them aloud.”
I felt his lips close to my ear, smelled his sweet breath. Goosebumps covered my body as chills ran down the back of my neck. I shivered. Dante had claimed this effect over me since that first night in my stables.
“Mmm, I will carry your reaction to the closeness of my mouth with me for all my days,” he whispered. “You have elicited a multiplied response in me as well.”
“Are your plans to help me, or hinder me?”
“Both,” he teased.
“Please?”
He quickly kissed the side of my head. “Now, look at the words closely as I pronounce them, my love. Touch the first word.”
“Touch it?”
“Yes. I will teach them as you touch them… one at a time. When you’re comfortable with the first, move on and touch the next one. Take as much time as you need.”
“Umm… Okaay…”
“Listen, my love. The exact pronunciation is imperative, as is your heart’s intent.”
I placed my fingernail under the first word, took a deep breath, and let it slide noisily back out through my teeth. “Okay… I’m ready.”
Merodach didn’t say the words in whole, but quietly sounded out the syllables in my ear. We practiced each one over and over until I was comfortable with them all.
We’d given up standing long ago. King Merodach had me upon his lap, as a child… patiently whispering my lessons within my ear.
Chapter 37
Jezreel
(zhez-REEL)
Dusk had given way to the blackness of night before I called to Jezreel, rousing her poor ancient body from its much needed rest.
“I need you to come with me, dear friend,” I whispered.
Margy had fallen asleep on the settee and woke with a start at my words.
“Come, Margy. It’s time,” I said.
The words written within my locket are words I dare not print here, dear Reader, for fear you may speak them to your own destruction. Those words hang about my neck still. They will follow me to the grave… if ever I am blessed with one.
As for my good friend Jezreel, I did speak them aloud to her, and only that once.
My great grandmother came by this locket, I know not how, but the inscribed words are a purposeful blessing from God. Loosely translated, they mean—To undo the harm wrought by another—and that’s an extremely loose translation. Each word can change its meaning depending on where the speaker places emphasis… how they enunciate… and what’s truly intended within their heart as they speak.
When I spoke these blessed words to my dear friend, time stood still. She seemed to literally melt before our eyes, screaming miserably, covering her face with her withered hands.
Margy glared at me through horrified, questioning eyes.
“Change is hard, Margy,” I said. “Sometimes… it’s even painful.”
When her screams died away, three things happened simultaneously. Wynford burst through the back door, hell-bent on protecting his wife from whatever horrible thing was happening. I placed the precious locket and shell around my neck, tucking them safely inside my bodice. And Jezreel lowered her soft young hands to reveal the same beautiful face I’d laid eyes on the very morning I first left my home in search of Valadrog.
“By all that’s holy,” Merodach said with a gasp.
“Aww… this just isn’t fair,” I whined. “You’re a lovely young maid again, and I look like a woman in her thirties who’s lived too hard.”
“What are you saying?” Jezreel asked.
I held up the old looking glass in front of Jezreel’s bright new eyes. Tears poured down her soft pink cheeks.
“I have no idea what ya done here, girls, but I’m goin’ back ta bed. Ya look mighty purty, Miss Jezreel,” Wynford said as he left.
Margy was in shock—standing there, mouth agape, staring at Jezreel in disbelief.
“When you spoke the words, were your intentions to go back so far?” Merodach asked.
“My intentions were to return every moment and every chance that had been stolen from her.”
“So now we have a thirty-something-year-old woman in an eighteen-year-old body.” He chuckled. “No, I can’t foresee any trouble coming from that.”
When everything calmed down, I explained the shell, the locket, good King Merodach, and the part played by each.
“So… it was here the whole time? The answer was hidden right under my nose for all those years,” Jezreel said.
“Now, let’s be fair, Jezreel. It was impossible for me to use the locket until this very moment. Things fell into place when they should have. Everything happens for a reason. And honestly speaking, you had to pay the price for your transgressions. As do we all.”
“Transgressions? But I only went to Halora in the first place because of you,” she said.
I stood before her now, nose to nose, ruby eyes glowing with the fire of the Otherworld. “Do you truly mean that, Jezreel? Have you learned nothing? I will deliver both your blessing and your judgment on the same day, if that’s what pleases you,” I hissed.
“No… no… forgive me,” she pleaded. “I know not from whence those bitter words came, but the lie will never cross my lips again. This I swear.”
Merodach placed a calming hand upon my shoulder. I stepped back against his chest as my eyes returned to their not so normal color.
“If you bore false witness before, then muster your courage and now speak the truth as you know it, Jezreel. Show me you have learned your lesson and earned the grace you have received.”
“I went to Halora in search of my own fame, glory, and power. I used you as an excuse, Jenevier. But I know in my heart, my steps would have taken me up that forsaken ridge to my own demise… sooner or later. The whole of the truth is… I was jealous of you. I always have been. I made myself feel inadequate. The guilt is placed squarely upon my head, for a truer friend than you has never lived. Only through your tremendous pain and awesome sacrifice have I been so richly blessed. I love you, Jenevier.”
Jezreel and I hugged, happy tears streaming abundantly down our cheeks.
“Hey, don’t you think you overdid your confession just a tad, Jezreel?” I whispered in her ear.
She laughed. “Well, maybe just a tad.”
“Just a tad, huh? A tad of sarcasm, I’m thinking.” I tweaked her nose and she giggled.
“Hell, if you had those terrifying flaming eyes piercing through to your soul, you’d have laid it on a little thick yourself, old girl.” Jezreel playfully swatted my bottom and I yelped.
“All in all, life in Ashgard is a utopia. What say you?” Merodach said.
Everyone
cheered at his words. We shared a deliciously sweet vintage carafe of dark red wine and laughed the tipsy night away. When dawn’s first rays reached our tiny cottage, Margy returned home and Jezreel collapsed across the bed, almost immediately falling into a deep sleep.
“We are finally alone, Jenevier. No royal documents to be signed. No nosy friends to barge in. No interruptions of any kind. Just two broken hearts, drowning under the weight of the unrealized passion they shared.”
My heart fluttered a little bit. I recalled feeling this same delicious sensation the first night I met Dante. The blinding rain, a sick horse, and a gorgeous man standing way too close as he whispered in my ear, lightly kissing my tingling flesh.
“The King should return to his throne before his troops knock upon my humble door.” I smiled but maintained a safe distance from the tempting man.
“The King refuses to go. Do you dare deny the King his desires?”
“I do so dare.”
“Each word from your lips cuts a deep chasm upon my heart.”
“Dante… Merodach, please listen to me. Desires are tiny lightning bolts that keep our souls shocked to life. They are terribly exciting and blessedly necessary for each of us. But this desire, it can never be. My entire life has been one big experiment on how to place you where you are now—how to make Ashgard what it is today. Should I undo all I have suffered through just to sate carnal desires? God forbid. I fell in love with Dante. But it was all a lie. The love you hold for me now is true and pure, yes. But it can never be consummated. And that is your sacrifice, Merodach… your only sacrifice.”
“I know your words are as true as this lovely sunrise. I will never deny that. But my heart is weak for you. I am thankful you have the strength to defy me. If you did not, we would all be forsaken. I am content just to look upon you. Just to touch your lovely hair. Just to steal the excitement of brushing up against you. Your divine strength affords me the luxury of being weak around you. And I revel in that weakness.”
“Do not place too much faith in my strength and will alone, Your Grace. It is torturous for me to be near you, knowing I could have you with but a word, nay… a whisper. When I came to your castle home, I knew not your pull would be so infinite. Have some mercy on me, old friend. Take up your part in this strength of denial… for I do not fully trust myself around you.”
“Please, do not speak so. I hold tight upon this doorframe now to keep from running to you, scooping you up in my arms, kissing you until we lose our breath, feeling your soft body move beneath me. At the first sign of your weakening resolve, I swear I shall cover you in passionate kisses, taste every inch of your enchanting flesh, and press upon you until my seed escapes me. Even then, I will not stop. You will never be allowed from my sight, even for an instant, until my eyes finally close in that eternal dreamless sleep of age.”
His words were terrifying and thrilling. I knew I had to leave Ashgard and I knew it had to be this very moment, while I still could… while I still wanted to.
“I must go now, Milord.”
“I know. It rends my soul, but, I know. Will you ever return?”
“I know not where I go or for what purpose. I cannot say if we shall ever meet again, this side the vale.”
“Promise me. If ever you return to Ashgard, even for a moment, you will come before me and let me look upon you.”
“This I promise.”
“Then leave now while I still have the strength to let you go.”
Tears were pouring down Merodach’s chiseled face. I wanted nothing more than to hold him, comfort him, kiss all those tears away. Turning from him, I entered Jezreel’s room and locked the door behind me.
I lay down beside my beautiful friend and lightly brushed the hair back from her lovely face.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty. I wish to bid you farewell, my friend,” I whispered.
She squirmed a little and slowly raised her heavy lids. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”
“Yes, my dear. I fear I cannot stay even one moment longer.”
“It’s because of Merodach, isn’t it?”
“No, not entirely. There are many reasons for my hasty departure. You know most of them. The longer I stay the more harm I will cause. I’m not meant to be on this layer, Jezreel. Not anymore. I have accomplished what was intended. Now I leave. This is the proper way of things.”
“But you have once again made Ashgard a more wonderful place, especially for me. How can you say you will cause harm?”
“You know the answer to that, absent my words.” I smiled down at her. “I know now why I popped out of the clouds over this layer. And I know why I was drawn back to the castle. Moreover, I can see the picture plainly now that the pieces are fitted together. Why Vittorio was the one to find me weeping in the woods and winged me to my own little paradise. Why I found that odd little stone and was compelled to return it to the Mermaids. Every single thing that has happened since I stepped out of hell was to lift your magical curse, old girl.” I playfully tugged on a lock of her flaxen hair. “To free you from the prison that was your mangled form. It has all been for you, dearest friend. But that is now passed. I am to be here no longer.”
I kissed her cheek and each eyelid as she closed them, and then headed to the same window I had used as my escape in the beginning.
“Why?” she whispered.
I smiled, motioning with a toss of my head. “Merodach remains in your parlor. I cannot leave unhindered through the front door or the back. So, I’ll slide from the sill once more.”
“Well, don’t forget your shoes this time,” she said through a yawn.
I chuckled. “I love you too, Jezreel.”
Slipping to the ground, my heart nearly stopped when I heard a sweetly familiar voice from my youth.
“History wishes to repeat itself,” he said. “Something told me if I sat here long enough, an Angel would slip from that sill.”
“How did you know?” I whispered.
“Your scent. It’s unmistakable, my love. It was so strong upon the King, I nearly screamed out your name in spite of myself.”
I walked toward the raven-haired man sitting on the ground, leaning against the vine-covered fence—mostly hidden by the blooming wisteria.
“Do I mean so little to you?” he said, his voice shaking.
“No, my love. It’s because you mean the world to me.” I sat down beside him and sighed. “The first name to pass my lips was yours. I was rightly warned away from you, sweet Alastyn.”
“Warned away? By what reasoning?”
“Your beautiful young wife and your two precious babes. I did not wish to test the bond that held us… against the bond that holds them.”
He paused and looked down. “That was wise counsel… damnable, but wise.”
“I gazed upon your beautiful face when you entered the King’s chambers. My heart fluttered like a wounded butterfly.”
“And mine was racing like an untamed horse.”
“You will always be my first true love,” I admitted.
“And you mine.” He smiled. “Though the years have made you all the more glorious.”
“And you as well.” I placed my hand over his upon the ground.
We sat shoulder to shoulder, partially hidden by the hanging vines, for a few blissful moments.
“I met your mother and father.” I chuckled. “Didn’t leave a very good first impression, I’m afraid.” I leaned against him, resting my head on his shoulder. “I know where you got those enchanting eyes. Emeralds have been my favorite ever since the moment I found myself lost in yours.”
I felt him trembling. I quickly sat up, cursing my selfishness.
You should never have touched him. Care you not for this gentle man at your side? Why do you torture such a valiant heart as his? You stupid old fool, I thought.
“By the gods.” His voice shook. “I love you too damn much.”
“I am sorry,” I whispered. “I often wish we could go back
to that night. Back before the teapot whistled.” I drew my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them, trying to hold myself together as those precious memories washed over me. “The comforting feel of your arms wrapped about me, your gentle embrace. Your intoxicating scent, it was maddening, laid complete claim over my will and my senses. You melted me, Alastyn. I still dream about those mesmerizing eyes, falling into them, floating through the stars.” I sighed and shook my head. “Dammit… I love you too much, too.” I sniffed, wiped my tears, and released a self-deprecating laugh.
“Will you ever return?” he asked softly.
“I know not my future, but I can see no reason for it. Everything here has been set to rights. I’m only drawn to the places were all is amiss.” I laughed again, but my heart was not joyous.
“Your coloring is incredible,” he whispered. “I want desperately to see what your shiny skin feels like and twist one of those enticing pink curls within my fingers. Your ethereal eyes caught my breath within my chest. I fear if I look directly into them, I shall cease the ability to breathe at all.”
“Your words are as honey to my ears, wings upon my heart. You have seen me covered in blood, and again as my angelic mask. I knew that you alone would lovingly accept me as I am now.”
“With every cell in my trembling body,” he whispered.
“I must go now, before I cannot. You will always own a piece of my shattered heart.”
Alastyn turned quickly, seizing both my cheeks, and looked desperately upon my face for one long moment. The tears caused by our lost love mirrored each other’s.
“I will always love you in a way I could never love anyone else,” he whispered.
“Then we are of like-mind, valiant knight.” I placed a hand over his at my cheek. “Farewell, my sweet Alastyn.”
His breath hitched, he tightened his hold on me. “Please, if this is the last time I shall ever look upon you, grace me with but a moment more. I wish only to record you properly within my mind.”
I remained silent, still. Never have I beheld such admiration through eyes alone.
“You have owned my heart since I was but a child. Yet we have never kissed.” He gently played with my one blue curl. “Do not forget me, Jenevier. One day I shall cease to be. My breath will slow and my heart will stop. The only thing that makes this miserable life bearable, is knowing I will always live on in your beautiful heart. And that, gorgeous Angel, is my immortality. So promise me this one thing. Promise you will never forget me.”
