Eron shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Sybil. I’m very touched at your offering this, but I need their bones, I need their bodies to reset the timeline. I can’t let you have them.”
I smile at him. “It’s not the bodies that we honor on this planet. Our bodies are irradiated, imperfect, mutated beings from the day we are born. But our souls… our souls, Eron, are perfect. And I’m sure your parents were as well, from the way you speak of them. If you will let me, I would like to show you what my people do to show respect to those who have passed.” I pause. I’m surprised at the words catching in my throat. “So that when we are gone, you can remember us, and that we knew how to love, not just hate and fear, as you’ve seen so far.”
Eron studies me for a few moments and then nods.
“Of course, I would be honored.”
“You two go on ahead,” Starz says. “I’ll bring the bodies back to the ship. They’re light enough for me to handle. I’ll keep trying to contact the ship overhead, Eron. But take your time. Time may have betrayed us, we do have a lot of it. Maybe too much.” He shoots a quick grin. “Good job security for me, though.”
He picks up the two bodies in his large arms and he begins gingerly walking back towards the shuttle. I take Eron’s hand in mine.
“Come,” I say. And I lead him away, towards the base of the village.
The lightning ahead jumps from cloud to cloud, mostly dark purple and magenta. Perfect colors with which to send off the souls of his parents.
Chapter 19
Eron
Sybil brings me to a section near the village that I haven’t seen before. We have to take a tunnel from the outside, that leads down. It looks like we’re going underground, into some kind of crypt or tomb, maybe where they keep the bones of their own families.
But after only a few minutes, the air changes in quality. It becomes damp and fresh. A breeze travels up from wherever we’re headed. I hear in the distance something rumbling.
She smiles at me and takes my hand, bringing me deeper into the cave. It’s growing darker and darker. Part of me wishes I was in my wolf form to see better, but then I’d have to let go of Sybil’s hand.
She brings me further into the darkness, confident with her footsteps. We turn a corner, and I’m amazed at what I see.
A large grotto extends around us. A waterfall is on one side, its colors brilliant— magenta and dark purple reflecting the lightning in the sky. The waters pour below into a lake, it dances with colors of the falls with some dark greens, turquoise, and yellow, mixing with the purple and magenta, all of them glowing. It’s no longer dark with all of this illumination, even though the ceiling is covered with rock, and there’s no window to the outside.
We ascend stairs towards the waterfall. The steps seem carved by time, from footsteps and chisels. This entire area is breathtaking. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Even more beautiful than the blood moons of my planet.
I follow Sybil. Her steps are assured. With the light from the falls and the lake playing in her blonde hair, she seems as mystical as the surroundings.
We climb down for a while, and then we begin to climb back up a bit. There’s a recess up there, with some strange plants growing. They look like flowers, but they’ve taken on some radioactive qualities. Dust clings to them, making them glow in the darkness.
They open as we near them, as if sending a beacon to other plants that I’d not yet spotted around the cave, other flowers open across the entire cave, lending their light. The flowers reflect the same colors from the lightning up above. The lightning that I can no longer see, and yet still feel surrounding us. The air is electric with it.
The dampness smells of freshness and life. It smells of home and hope.
Up on the small overhang where she brings me, the sound of the waterfall is suddenly more tame, quieter, as though the plant protect us from its force.
“This,” she says, “was discovered centuries after we set up our village here. It was like a gift given to us. At first, we didn’t understand it, so we believed it was mystical.”
“It looks mystical,” I say. She smiles.
“It does, doesn’t it? The water is ionized by the lightning in the atmosphere, even though we don’t see it streaking down from the sky. It reaches it here. And it takes on some of the qualities of the radiation from that lightning. It always mimics exactly the colors of the sky, except it’s perfectly safe. The plants are actually bio-genetically engineered to help filter out some of the sounds, which was too much to handle at first, booming around the close cavern.”
“They’re beautiful.”
I stare at one more closely. The great petals vibrate, as though the sound of the waterfalls falls into them and then stays trapped within the bowl of the plant. Turquoise petals dangle from the bowl and sway gently with the sound of the movement.
“They’re stunning. I’ve never seen anything like this. You bio-genetically engineered these?”
“Well I didn’t!” she gives a short laugh. “But my people did. It’s part of what I study. It’s part of what I do. I mean, it’s not just about adapting to technology. It’s also about adapting the world to better support life. To better support us, and other life as well, just like that beast we saw. I mean, if we’d been able to save it, we might have been able to do something different with it.”
“But it would have killed you,” I reassure her. She nods.
“I know that now. But part of me still wishes that we could have done something differently.”
She takes a step back, gestures towards the falls.
“In my world, Eron, everything that is lost, is lost forever. The crops may never bloom again in a field that goes fallow. Houses that crumple are never rebuilt— it’s too dangerous to do so. Animals that vanish from the landscape never return; once they can no longer adapt, they simply die. People who walk off into the horizon to go to other villages rarely return. My land is not a land of beginnings, Eron. It is a land of endings. As much as it pains me to say it.”
She swallows hard, but I don’t speak. I can see that she has more she wishes to say.
“What beginnings we manage to create here are priceless and precious to us, because they’re rare.”
I take her hand in mine. She smiles at me. “You’re rare, because of that. Because for me, you are a beginning, Eron. And no matter what happens, I will always cherish and celebrate that.”
I see the girl from my dream now. It’s like her face superimposes on top of Sybil’s. They are one and the same, but at this very moment, I see what I see in my dreams every night. I see hope, I see despair. I see the laughter and fear. I see the strength and the weakness. All tangled together to create this one perfect being. Perfect for me.
“Endings,” she continues, “need to be marked for us. Because in a land of endings, in a land where everything that you love and cherish vanishes so easily, it would be easy to just let them pass without noting them. But to do so is to let all of life pass, and we can’t do that— so we don’t.”
She glances back at the falls, and I follow her glance. The water is coming down still dark purples and magentas, but some of the turquoise from the lake seems to travel up to meet them, adding brightness to the falls.
“We come here to mark our dead. According to the colors of the sky that day, we know where the souls have gone. They go back to the lightning, you see. Or so we say… I mean, I’m a biologist!” she laughs. “Science makes more sense to me, but I like to believe that all the souls lost on this world, regardless of whether they’re an animal, plant, or human, go to that lightning. And the colors we see reflected here when we think of them is the color of their souls. Usually,” she looks my way, “we encourage people to speak to the water. To the lightning traveling upon it. As though to say goodbye. We tell them our fears, our hopes. But you don’t have to. This isn’t your world, after all. But we do honor your parents’ spirits here. Because anything that ends here is of this world.�
��
I look in her eyes, so earnest, so vulnerable. And I stare at the waterfalls, at the colors streaming down them. The dark purple, like my father’s soul— royal, and kind, and true. The magenta, my mother’s— nurturing and loving and confident. The turquoise… I imagine the turquoise is their love. It’s the brightest thing between the two. It’s the thing that brings them together and binds them. Each color is beautiful on its own, but with that splash of turquoise, it becomes a beautiful mosaic impossible to ignore.
“I love them very much,” I let the words come out of my mouth, unplanned. I have been trained to think about what I say— I have been trained to intimidate and coerce. I have been trained to charm and use diplomacy to get what I need— what my people need. I have rarely been encouraged to just speak from the heart.
I hold Sybil’s hand, and I do.
“They were strong people, my parents. Confident, able to bring people together under a common cause and keep them there. Able to win trust and hope from people. I came here looking for them— to bring them back to life. Because I can’t imagine my future without them. Not now, especially. I mean, I’d have to give up everything. I’d have to give up whatever freedoms afforded to me as a prince, to become a king. I’d have to give up whatever dreams I might be able to pursue before taking the throne. I’d have to give up everything for my people. And I will. I will, Sybil. But I don’t want to. And that frightens me. Because I should want to. It should be the only thing that I want.”
I look to the lightning dancing on the lake. The turquoise was taking over, as though my parents’ souls were becoming one. Uniting in death, forgetting their own unique essence and blending them together to be the thing that they were best— together.
“While on the ship, I braced myself for the possibility of never seeing them again— of having to become king. I feared disappointing them, even though they were gone. Their son, not able or willing to take the throne as they trained him to do. To forget and forego everything they had laid down their lives for. I came here looking for them. I came here looking for an answer to bring them back. I came here because I believed and I hoped that I could just reset everything. And now? Now, I’ve met you.”
I turn to look at Sybil. The turquoise dancing in her light blue eyes, around her hair like a halo. I take both her hands in mine.
“I met you. And I can’t imagine my life without you now. I feel torn between what I wanted to have, and what I want now. But the worst of it is that, even if I take the throne, I can’t bring you out of this time rift!”
She reaches up, gently kisses my lips. That turquoise lightning travels into my body and down my spine. I realize that I love her. I’ve loved her for a long time before meeting her. But I’ve not been honest with her. I can’t do that anymore. Not if we have to say goodbye soon.
We found my parents’ bones. We found what we’d come here for. Something that I thought would be impossible. The girl from my dreams made it happen. And now? Just when I feel like our lives are becoming entangled with our dreams, I’ll have to say goodbye. I can’t just stay here. Sybil is right, her world is dying. I can’t save them. And I can’t take them out of the rift.
But for tonight, as she shares with me the beauty of her land, I can at least be honest, before saying goodbye.
“I dreamed of you,” I say, my words slow and clumsy. Again, not rehearsed. Although I’d only been thinking about telling her since I first saw her, I never thought I would actually do it.
“I dreamed of you, of meeting you. Not someone like you, but you. I dreamed of us! Being together— laughing, making love. Kissing under different skies. I’ve held you in my arms before ever meeting you here! Sybil, I feel like I’ve known you my whole life, even though I’ve just met you! I fear that if I leave here, I will lose a part of me that you have filled for so long…”
Her eyes are wide.
“I know it sounds insane,” I say, trying to pull it back. She shakes her head.
“It’s not!” Her voice is as breathless as mine. “I’ve dreamed of you too! I’ve dreamed of us! Night after night… holding hands, making love… tumbling together… You’re as familiar to me as these falls are! As familiar to me as the color in the lightning! You’re more real to me than my entire world, Eron! And I didn’t even know that until I met you!” She takes a step towards me.
“Eron, you are more real to me than all of my world. Than everything around me.”
I look into her eyes, and see no lies. She’s dreamed of me, too! It’s like someone has connected us for so long and never knew. Until this time rift led to the death of my parents and I boarded that time travel ship, which had been in the dock at exactly the right time. Maybe destiny worked, just not in the linear fashion that we thought. Maybe time rifts were a way to bring souls together that were meant to be together but would never find each other without some help.
Maybe it was time to stop worrying about what will be and to celebrate what was. I lower my lips and meet hers, and we embrace under the lightning, surrounded by the sound of waterfalls, by the scent of hope.
This time, I know it’s not a dream. And I intend to enjoy every moment she’s willing to give me, knowing we would soon be out of time.
Chapter 20
Sybil
Eron’s kisses are no longer tentative, nor does he treat me like glass. His tongue dances with mine. his hands exploring my body. He tastes of forests and the wild. I kiss him more deeply.
He’s dreamed of me, too. We share the same dreams... and I might lose him.
I can’t think of that. I won’t think of losing him, but only about having found him. Against all odds and logic, here he stands before me. And he wants me, as much as I want him.
I begin to undo his shirt. I want to feel him. All of him.
His hands join my dance and begin to undo the clasps of my shirt, too.
We take a step back, we finish removing our shirts. He admires my breasts for a moment, then our eyes meet. Turquoise lightning turns his orange eyes deeper, layers of depth I’d never believed possible.
Because he’s real, and not a dream.
He closes the gap between us, gathers me in his arms and kisses me deeply, my naked chest against his. The feel of his skin against mine makes my nipples hard. His hands roam up and down my back, and he crushes me against his chest.
His tongue leaves my tongue and he nibbles on my neck before continuing down, licking a trail down my skin. Each touch is like an eruption of lightning.
My nipples ache with the need for his attention by the time he reaches them. He starts sucking on one, and I moan, throw my head back, and close my eyes. I focus on the sensation of his mouth on my breast.
A little nibble and I moan. He straightens back up.
“I want you so bad,” his voice is deep, riddled with lust.
“Dream-Eron has better come-ons,” I tease, and he laughs. He picks me up, pushes me against the wall of the cave, and kisses me deeply. My legs wrap around his waist. I feel his hardness, and I kiss him more deeply.
A slow rhythm, one familiar to both of us, sways our bodies. I’m rubbing against him, bringing us both near ecstasy. He sucks on my nipple while I run my nails down the back of his neck.
He loves that.
I know he loves that because I’ve been with him so often before. I know everything he loves, and it’s all working.
Just like I know he needs me, badly, right now. And I need release.
“Take me,” I half choke out the word. He doesn’t need more encouragement, putting me down on the ground gently. He pulls my pants down and gets rid of his own in one fell swoop.
I laugh. “It’s like you’ve been practicing that move!”
“It’s like we’ve done this before, isn’t it,” he whispers, lying on top of me and nibbling on my ear. The sensation explodes down my spine, and I arch my back. He plays with one of my breasts, and I moan.
I open my legs and wrap them around his waist. He doesn�
�t need more encouragement.
He’s just outside me, ready to push in, but he stops, looks me in the eye. The turquoise lightning dances in his.
“I’m so glad I found you,” his voice is thick with need and emotion. Mine is no better when I answer.
“Me, too.”
And he pushes in. I sigh, then moan as he thrusts.
I shift, unlock my hands, and turn around. I know he loves taking me from behind.
He groans in appreciation and holds my hips as he pushes into me again, thrusting with more enthusiasm. Tiny cries of ecstasy begin to rip out of me with each thrust.
He pushes harder. Faster. I lower my body, exhausted, but he follows me, and keeps thrusting.
He knows my body as well as I know his, and senses that I’m about to come.
Two more quick, deep thrusts, and I’m thrown over the edge, climaxing by the lightning dancing waterfalls. He collapses beside me and holds me gently.
I can’t believe we’ve found each other.
And I can’t believe we’re about to lose each other.
I lay in his arms and fall asleep, visited by no dreams, my dreams were now my reality.
By morning, the falls are bright yellow. A color I’d never seen dancing on them before. Only yellow. No pinks, or purples, or greens, or reds. The surrounding flowers mimicked the color. When looking at them, I can imagine the blue sky above and the yellow sun in it. A sight that I had never seen in my lifetime, and yet can see so clearly when I close my eyes.
Just like I could see Eron’s face before ever meeting him. It still felt like a dream, part of it. Like a magical meeting of two hearts and minds that were so close that they became one. Just like the magenta and the dark purple had danced together to become the turquoise— a color that you wouldn’t expect from those two merging, and yet it seemed perfect once they did.
Her Merciless Prince Page 11
