Beyond the Gyre

PrologueTristan rolled over in bed, opened his eyes and gave a moan of lonely frustration. Roseberry had gone to visit her mother in Kaisset again. Most of the time, he didn’t miss her. His wife’s enormous girth made her a frustrating and somewhat tiresome bedmate. She snored, for one thing, and when she turned over the bed creaked in a complaining way that Tristan could sympathize with. But right now, after the dream, even she would have provided some solace. It always began the same way. Tristan would walk through a long hall, with many portraits lining the walls on either side. The faces were strange to him, and somewhat frightening, as their eyes followed his progress towards the far end of the room. In the distance he could see a bed — high, ornate, canopied. A sun and moon hung over the tented crown, shining on the brocaded curtains. His legs carried him onwards, and he felt a growing sense of anticipation — anticipation that centered itself in his groin, almost painfully so. She had arrayed herself, as always, on the silken coverlet. Her long dark hair covered her nakedness like a dusky robe. Holding out her hand, she called to him: Come to me, my love. I wait for you and you alone, to fulfill all my dark desires... He reached for her, and she threw her hair back, revealing her loveliness. Above them, the sun and moon began to glow — shining orbs of diamond and gold. They rose higher and higher until the chamber was brightly illuminated. Tristan felt the radiance enter his body, and soon he burned with the light of a million stars. Burned with lust for the Moon Queen that lay before him, ready to quench his desire in her cool dark mystery. Come, my Sun. You are my Lord and Master. Take me... But always, just as she seemed within his grasp, the dream would end, leaving him trapped in physical need, miserably unfulfilled. Where was she? He had seen her face in a hundred chymike texts, and dreamed of her quivering loveliness many an insatiate midnight. Tristan knew he had to find her — find her or go mad.