The Flame of Wrath (10 page)

             
Angelos III raised his glass in the direction of the Queen before courteously bidding her welcome with a motion of his hand.

             
Silently, Aurea shook her head. She then pointed in the direction of the High Lord's castle. She watched as he frowned curiously then nodded his understanding.

********

              The doors to his study were opened with a grand shove from his strong arms. As the doors flew open, Angelos felt two young men slide a flowing cardinal surcoat over his shoulders. He entered the room then found his favorite place near the fire. His eyes were gentle and warm as they observed the Queen entering the room behind him.

             
Aurea stood with her hands militantly clasped at her back. She surveyed her surroundings as a conquering force performing inventory upon new spoils.

             
“My Queen,” he started gently. “What brings you to my home this night?”

             
Blue flames found Angelos III. They locked him within their sweltering heat for some time before Aurea spoke. “I have come to seek Autumn's hand.”

             
The General huffed an astonished laugh. “But you scarcely know her,” he said.

             
Aurea's expression did not change nor did the stance of her body. She remained firm, determined to have her way even if it meant using the power of her crown.

             
Seeing the resolve present within the Queen, Angelos nodded his head. “But of course this is wonderful news,” he corrected as he cleared his throat. He moved to pour two chalices of wine. With a glass in each hand, he crossed the room to stand before Aurea. He extended her a glass of bloom wine.

             
“Please understand my momentary surprise, Highness.”

             
A blond brow arched slightly as she placed the glass to her lips. She continued to hold the High Lord with her eyes, unwavering for even an instant. Whenever Aurea set her sights upon something or someone, she was unyielding until they surrendered whatever she desired. She craved Autumn and if Angelos presumed to keep her from her, she would break him down by whatever means necessary. She had assured herself of this before entering the study.

             
Angelos III had been on the receiving ends of many stares during battle. He had also witnessed the eyes of a Dragon Child before this night, but there was something wholly disturbing about Aurea's stare. He shrank inwardly, wary of the shadows he began to witness inside her.

             
“You will marry my daughter at once.”

             
Aurea smiled dreamily. Her eyes lowered to gaze almost lovingly into her wine as thoughts of Autumn floated throughout her mind.

             
“Provided,” Angelos said, interrupting her dreaming, “that certain conditions are met.”

             
“I am to be tested?” Aurea asked in insult.

             
“It is our custom to seek consult.”

             
The General guided the Queen from the study. They walked together toward the massive castle doors. As the sound of the festivities grew loud in their ears, they caught site of Autumn now dressed in a long and lovingly-moving ebony toga.

             
“We cannot break custom,” Angelos III said softly, “especially when it means so much to your betrothed.”

             
Bowing his head politely, the High Lord left to seek out counsel.

             
Aurea stared after him. She was consumed by a great sense of unease. Reluctantly, she turned away from him. A slight frown was present upon her face as she looked back in Autumn's direction.

             
Autumn was laughing when her eyes shifted away from the women speaking to her. As her eyes found Aurea's, her face softened in a way which spoke loudly of her innermost devotions.

             
The Queen had no time to contemplate what emotions she had witnessed lightening the brunette's expressive eyes. She was whisked away to sit as the overseer of the night in the High Lord's stead. Seated upon her throne, she elegantly accepted the praise and cheers of the crowd.

             
The horns of long-fallen beasts erupted loudly. It was a haunting sound which set Aurea's knights on edge. They each drew closer to their Queen, their stances betraying their readiness to fight.

             
Aurea stared past them to the others around her. In every direction, her people were alight with a great sense of purpose.

             
Markus reached out his hand. His hand resting against a young man's chest, stopped the man immediately. He met the eyes looking to his in surprise. Beneath his touch, he felt the heart racing wildly.

             
Markus followed the eyes looking from his to another young man across the way. He eyed the man suspiciously. “What is happening?” he demanded.

             
“It is the hour in which we live for another,” the young man explained, “as Djidjiga lived for others, but we are not mere children and so how we live for others is---” He blushed then rushed away to the object of his affections.

             
Markus arched his brow then shot a glance to his siblings.

             
All around them couples began to merge together in sensual dance or erotic touch, but regardless of whatever act compelled them, it was always performed with the utmost tenderness. Bloom wine was exchanged from one wine-stained mouth to another. Precious bottles of Djidjiga bloom perfume were passed like ethereal nectars to anoint the skin. And yet, nothing moved between them with the same overabundance as the emotion present within each set of passionate eyes.

             
“My Queen,” a voice uttered.

             
The three Knights turned in the direction of the voice. Their blue eyes locked eyes on the young woman in an airy onyx.

             
Inside her soft olive hands, Autumn clutched a fragile chalice and a dew covered Djidjiga bloom. The chocolate ribbons of her hair hung around her graceful face. It acted as the dark wooden frame housing the artistic beauty of her face. Autumn did not seem to see the way her every movement was observed. She was lost in that moment, seeing only Aurea.

             
The Queen rose slowly from her throne. She could hear the thundering sound of her heart within her chest. It caused a dull roaring sound to echo throughout her ears. She inched forward seeming uncharacteristically timid. When she stopped, she stared down at the woman hovering near the foot of the steps.

             
Autumn moved through the tiny opening created as the Knight's allowed her passage. She stopped a few steps beneath the blond until their eyes met evenly.

             
The Queen felt a flash of vulnerability pass through her. She ached to take part in this ritual but did not know how. Her expression must have been easily read because Autumn was moved to understanding.

             
Autumn used only the presence of her body to force the mighty young Queen backward. She continued to take slow steps forward until Aurea felt herself unable to go back any further.

             
Aurea's legs were pressed against the throne. The only available option left to her was to sit. She did so absently with her eyes ensnared inside Autumn's powerful steel-blue gaze. 

             
With a slow eroticism, Autumn moved to straddle the ruler's lap. She gazed deeply into Aurea's eyes, fighting the trembling overtaking her entire body. Her face was warmed by the breath curling timorously over her skin. She could feel her face so closely to her own. They were all but touching foreheads in the quiet which overtook them.

              Lost within the curtain of her own hair, Autumn's eyes pleaded intimately with Aurea. Her dancing eyes said what her lips did not dare. She struggled against trembling hands as she poured the contents of her chalice into its floral cup. The bloom held a significant amount of deep red potion.

             
Autumn brought the flower to Aurea's lips. “Drink, my Queen,” she whispered. “My Love.”

             
Rhapsody had come with a single voice. She leaned forward, touching her lips to Nature's soft cup. She remembered the dream with all the vibrancy the mind can possess.

             
As Aurea drank, her eyes glistened with tears. Her fingertips lightly touched themselves to Autumn's nimble wrist. She felt the quickened pulse stirring beneath her touch. When the flower was moved from her lips, her peripheral vision caught sight of Olivia.

             
The young woman pressed a small bit of fragrant bread into the Queen's hand. She gave an encouraging nod after Aurea frowned with uncertainty.

             
The Dragon Child turned her head. Her sapphire eyes locked on Autumn. She found the woman waiting with a loving patience radiating around her. Her breath caught within her throat as Autumn's lips enticingly parted. Timidly, she placed the tiny morsel upon a soft tongue. She was enchanted by the rapture clearly read on the young woman's features as she closed her mouth to savor the taste dissolving upon her tongue. 

             
As Autumn began to slip away, Aurea possessively took hold of her hips. She made a small sound in her throat which urged her not to go.

             
Autumn tenderly stroked a fevered cheek. She searched around them to the couples lost in the blend of aphrodisiacs and hallucinogenic rapture. So many danced seductively for their lovers while others passed lovers' bread from one person to the next.

             
Did Aurea understand the magnitude of lovers' bread? Did she know the importance of its being shared? It was made freshly for this festival to fill the body with its warmth. Each round loaf possessed the petals of the Djidjiga bloom giving it its wonderful aroma. It also contained a silent promise, a promise Autumn had willingly accepted into herself.

             
The petals inside the wine could only further the visions racing throughout the people's minds. This was the nature of living for another, tending to them as lovingly as you would your very reason for living because in that moment and perhaps from this moment hence, that person was your reason for living. The true nature of this night was to find the great love in your heart that Djidjiga possessed for many.

             
Turning back to the Queen gazing up at her with such focus, Autumn peered deeply into Aurea. She lightly took hold of the hands upon her hips before slowly backing away. Her hands squeezed gently. Silently, she urged Aurea to her feet.

             
As they stood together, Autumn stared down into the petite enchantress burning her being with powder-blue flames. She whispered, “Come with me.”

             
Whisking the Queen into the night, Autumn led the way from the bustling streets. In so doing, she led the ruler away from the others who might wish to witness their bond swelling like the night itself. She breathed deeply, suddenly aware of how alive she felt at the touch of Aurea's hand so trustingly held inside her own.

********

              There was no moon to light their way. It had lost its battle with a woolly thickness of clouds. Its absence filled three souls with a rising sense of dread. Without the pyres' lights, one could scarcely see.  Still, the occasional reflection of stars glistened over the surface of the lake like euphoric fairies dancing upon its plane.

             
The lake's bountiful body pressed itself against the shore. It offered up its softest kisses to the land which could be heard echoing lovingly in the stillness of the night.

             
Aurea narrowed her eyes on the near distance. She could just make out the tense silhouettes of her guardians. She smiled to herself. At any moment, she thought, a noise would send any one of them reaching for their weapon. They would be intent on destroying whatever foe that offender might be, whether it was the Lucidian army, itself, or the unfortunate grasshopper daring to make its eerie song.

             
She smiled all the more. She could not possibly feel safer or more content. Even in the stark darkness consuming the world, she could feel the body pressed so closely to hers.

             
Autumn sat upon a bed of grass. Her arms were wrapped tenderly around small shoulders which she knew carried so much. They would carry the weight of a land, of a people, but Autumn believed so much that these shoulders were strong, that they could endure carrying the hopes of the many. She pulled Aurea backward to rest against her body. As she kissed the top of a royal head, she felt her lips tickled by golden strands. She closed her eyes to memorize this moment.

             
The Queen slid her hands along the sides of long legs then guided them to wrap around her in yet another embrace. She lifted her head, upturning her face to the face which she felt more than she saw gazing back at her.