PART I: Prologue
513 Words
Carmichael’s Journal No. 124
She was lying next to me. I suppressed a sudden urge to slide down the sheet pulled up over her bare chest, but I didn’t want to wake her. It had been days since I had seen her in such a deep sleep. Every night she had woken with a start, her nightmare surging to the surface, and tears filling her large green eyes. But, since yesterday, she has come back to me. She had returned to me fully, and the sensuality of our reunion had infused my heart long bruised by her absence.
Her mouth parted, her lips trembled imperceptibly, and her eyes moved under her closed eyelids. Her long white hair spread on the pillow, hiding her delicate neck. I noted this gap between her two incisors, a gap that had always had such an effect on me. She let out a sigh and snuggled up to me. Half lying down, her head against my ribs, I had a furious desire to grab a lock of her hair and take in her scent. Why did I have this feeling that I had to take advantage of every moment that was offered to me to admire her, examine her, observe her as if she was still going to escape me? Her hand moved and rested on my stomach. Her fingers caressed the lines of my muscles.
She lifted her head, and her eyes met mine. This simple act of intimacy, which I had dreamed of for so long, fills me with a happiness that I no longer thought I would feel.
I remembered those words spoken a few days earlier, those words I didn’t think I would hear from her mouth. She had told me “I love you”, and I still couldn’t believe it. Admittedly, Everliegh was rather stingy with compliments, and I’d rarely heard her express her feelings. It was only with her family, or her close friends, that I had seen her give rare attention and, even then, she wasn’t of a demonstrative nature, except for carnal pleasures, which our recent physical reunions confirmed for me. It was for all these reasons that her words meant so much to me. Only, I knew that I was going to have to reveal certain truths to her that could call into question her feelings, and I dreaded revealing my last secrets. Because, if she knew, would she escape me again? Would she understand? No, I wasn’t ready to take that risk! But if I delayed, I jeopardized the trust she placed in me, and that I had tried so hard to earn…
When the man finished reading this passage, an indescribable excitement seized all his limbs, his heart beating faster. He had what he had been waiting for: the spark that would ignite the powder. For if he found out the king’s secrets, he knew the turmoil he would cause could bring Carmichael and caste sovereignty to their knees. A fierce grin twisted his features, as he saw himself already putting his plan into action.
- Writer
