Chapter 5

Seraphina.

“Ivy!” I cry as I burst through the door of our meager hut. My sister brims with happiness and rushes to embrace me.

“Seraphina!” she cries, “I was so worried about you!”

“Hush Ivy,” I say in a steady voice, “everything is alright now.”

“Will we be able to stay here Seraphina? Will the people not be afraid of us?” asks Ivy in a quivering voice.

“I think so, darling,” I reply as warmly as possible. In reality, I’m not sure. This was a very near miss indeed.

Thankfully, Ivy was too young when our parents died to remember what happened, though I have taken great pains to tell her about their lives. I make sure to remind her how much they loved her.

Our parents were of different castes. My father was a low-born man, and my mother was a noblewoman. I remember them fondly. They were proud, good people, but fooled by love.

My mother’s smile dances in my memory, as does her white-silver hair, just like mine.

Their love, their stupid love, is what killed them in the end. Their hearts clouded their better judgment. They never should have wed. If they hadn’t, they would still be alive.

Nobody must know that Ivy and I are the product of a mixed-caste union. This may be grounds to kill us also.

My memory of their murder is hazy, blacked out by trauma. I remember my mother being tied to the stake by the people of the town. She too was rumored to be a witch. But it was her love for my father that ultimately killed her.

She should have known better.

At home, a small hut in the forgotten wood by the forgotten river, I can take off my veil. It is dusty and hot from the encounter with fate at the arena. I take off my long robes which cover my body from head to toe and examine my form in the mirror.

I know that I am beautiful, perhaps too beautiful. I look at my silver-white hair falling to my waist, my violet eyes, my lips red as a bitten apple, my lithe body.

I am suddenly struck by the vision of the eyes of Prince Thornheart. When I close my eyes I see his. What could this mean?

Hopefully not love. Love is pointless. Love leads to suffering. My twenty-three years on earth have shown me that.

Is it love that men feel when they see my uncovered face, my uncovered body? Is it love that makes them salivate like dogs, that makes them unable to control themselves?

I shudder at the memory of their leering faces as they lunged for me.

No. Here we are safe. Nobody knows we are here in the forgotten wood by the forgotten river. Nobody can see me here.

Ivy and I busy ourselves with a simple dinner. We are both tired from the excitement of the day. But after we go to bed I am restless. I can’t sleep with the eyes of Thornheart piercing my dreams.

My eyes spring open. A strong full moon shines through our window. I curse Thornheart under my breath. Gently I creep out from under the covers so as to not wake Ivy, and I leave our house, closing the door gently behind me.

Blessed night has fallen over the realm and a thick mist oozes from between the trees of the wood. The wood doves coo in call and response to usher in the dark. Here I am free, finally, to show myself.

The trees have no lust, and neither does the river. I take off my tunic and lay it beside the river bank. My skin is lit white by the light of the silvery moon. Moon merges with moon as I dip my naked body into the cool river.

My silver hair waves in the current. Only the river understands. I hear the call of something ancient beating between the mist, but it stops as soon as I notice it. Something old, deep, strong…

Alone, here, in the sacred night, I part my lips to sing.

I sing anything that comes to me, enjoying my clear voice reverberating through the woods. I sing the songs my mother taught me, old songs from another time. Another world.

Then I hear a soft splash in the dark.

I flinch and wheel around in mortal fear. My heart turns to ice. How could anyone have found me here?

My body is rigid as I scan the mist for the intruder. I cover my naked body with my arms, defenseless to the gloom. Gods, I pray hurriedly, don’t let me die here.

The mist parts and the moon shines brightly down. From the shadows of the opposite river bank, I see another form moving towards me. Then the body of a man steps into the moonlight.

I gasp at the sight of him. The moon illuminates his every sinew. Muscles ripple underneath his pale skin.

Water runs in rivulets down his exposed chest as he rises from the water. He is sculpted to perfection, more beautiful than anything the gods have ever created. My lips part unconsciously in raw need.

I feel the tension ebb from my body. It’s replaced by another feeling: desire.

I see him seeing me. Without thinking I lower my arms from across my chest and rise from the water to face him, moving to show my own body in the silver light. My silver hair cascades down my back.

I sense no fear within me. All trepidation — the years of hiding, the precautions I must take to stay alive — melts from me at the sight of this perfect man. I know only one thing: I need him.

My gaze rises steadily to meet his. His eyes are shadowed in the night but I still see a flash of pale blue. Our eyes connect across the water.

Then a low hum rises from the river. Suddenly the water begins to glow. Shocks of light flash like lightning bolts beneath the surface of the river. First bright white, then a radiant violet. Then pale, pure blue.

I look across the water towards the man in the moonlight. I see him gasp as the water dances with colored light. Purple and blue light are reflected on his skin.

My mind is aglow with him, with the water, with the sensation of the night. My body trembles with the most intense passion I’ve ever known.

The man begins to move towards me. The feeling builds in intensity. I am suddenly aware of myself standing completely naked in the river, being watched by a man who is coming closer.

No—NO! I can’t succumb to him! He will only hurt me!

At full speed I run from the water and into the dark, leaving the stranger in the glowing river behind me.