Gaze
2967 Words
“Got you!” my arms caught her from behind the farthest room—her closet.
She continued giggling, “You did get me.”
“I got you good, honey!” I planted a kiss on her lips.
“I really wish we could stay like this forever.”
“We can make it possible tonight. I am tied to you, now and forever. If we do it tonight, it’s because of our symbol of love.”
“Save your appetite until after the war. If you can wait until then, you must really love me,” she pushed away my advances.
“You left me hanging earlier. What am I supposed to do now?”
“Patience, my love. Don’t let it drive you crazy until the time comes,” her slender fingers crawled toward my chest.
“There you go again, teasing me.”
“You get activated by mere touches? How amusing,” she bit her lip.
“Alright, I will hold on until after the war. We should find a distraction for this as a temporary measure.”
“I have an idea. Let’s continue this in the living room.”
She pulled me out of the closet and dragged me toward our planned destination. When she looked back at me during our walk, her captivating smile urged me to place my body closer. A jolt of spark struck my heart. No, not only a single jolt, but a thunderbolt of shock—one that would keep me up all night long.
She drove me crazy with her casual smiles. How could I curb my urges when she smiled at me like that? This woman was incredible at keeping a man going. The way she swayed her curves was a spell waiting to happen, and I was a snake charmed by this beauty. How captivating, but unfulfilling.
“We have arrived! Sit on the floor, dog,” she directed me.
“Why can’t I sit next to you?”
“I’m helping you curb your urge, remember?” she placed her legs above my shoulders.
“This isn’t helping, not one bit.”
“Relax, you will get over it because you have to. I’m not taking my chances. Think of this as training. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Do you want to know what I have been up to since you left me at the human border?”
“If I said no, would that make a difference?”
“Okay, here it goes,” she continued, completely ignoring my question, “When you disappeared, I tried looking for you. I couldn’t sit there and wait for you to come out all night. I knew something happened, but I trusted you will find your back to me. And you did.”
“Why didn’t you go over the border?”
“Because I can’t. The agreement bars me from intruding.”
“No one will know.”
“But they will. They don’t like the smell of dragons—fishy and murky.”
I sniffed her legs, “You smell fine to me.”
“Stop it, you’re tickling my legs!”
I continued teasing her. Her skin shivered as my nose went up and down. Muffled giggles gave her off. A hard slap landed on my face. I winced after its impact. My nose receded and she composed herself.
She continued, “You lived on the opposite continent. Humans here are far off the likes from where you belong.”
“Nah, they are all the same—savages as they are.”
“That’s not how I felt when I met you,” her face reddened.
“Then you don’t know me yet until you have seen my darkness.”
“We dragons aren’t pure either. No creature was born completely dark or light,” she explained.
“That may be true. Please continue with the story.”
She wrapped her legs around my neck, almost to a choke, “After stomping my feet at your disappearance, I kept an eye out for you. Do you remember the time when you heard a roar over the sandy borders? It was me yawning.”
“You were there?”
“I never forgot your scent. Yours was a combination of tomatoes and its leaves.”
“So that’s how you trailed me. No wonder you knew I was there at your coronation day and what a monstrous yawn that was.”
Her legs tightened on my neck, “Were you telling me I was ugly?”
“N-no! It was a compliment. You saved me from the ghost of that creep. The monolith wanted to devour me. I thought I was done for,” I tapped out.
“Be thankful, peasant, for I have given you another life in the new world you walk on,” she proudly announced with her chin pointing up.
“Was that the wisdom your great Elder Blue has bestowed upon you?”
“Anyway, I got my hands busy preparing the float and stage for my coronation day, but there wasn’t a second that I didn’t think about you. Were you hungry? Were you sleeping well? Were you still alive? Those thoughts constantly pestered me while I was propping up both of them.”
“Now, the pest is here and you don’t need to worry.”
“You are not a pest, just a wandering peasant,” she smirked.
“I did what I could to survive, and I’m thankful for everyone who helped lead me to you. Weren’t you happy to see me?”
“I was, but you kept on thinking about your other woman—your kidnapper,” her legs tightened even more.
“Cyrille, ease up on me. I can’t breathe!” I tapped on her slender legs.
“Whoops, I got carried away,” she snickered. “Alright, I will lift them off before you graze them with your dirty nails.”
“I will have you know I kept myself clean despite what you think.”
“Not clean enough, though. You still have your dirty thoughts left to scrub.”
“Hmph. Why did you decide to bring me here?”
“Didn’t I tell you? This is to keep you safe during the war.”
“Can’t I come with you? I might help in ceasing the war,” I persisted.
“If the humans see you, they might think of it as betrayal from the dragon race.”
“They won’t. I promise.”
“It’s not going to happen, Luke.”
“It’s better than being cooped up in this cold house.”
“I thought you liked it here?”
“Not without you. I want to be by your side—always.”
“You sure seem to be decided on that. I might reconsider this.”
“Cyrille, may I ask you something?”
“What would you like to know?”
“Did you, perhaps, hate me? I left without a word and you accused me of having another other than you. Do I still have a chance of redeeming myself?”
“Only time will tell,” she paused, searching for words. “‘Tap inside your heart, and you will know the answer,’ my mother used to say that when she was still with me.”
“And have you?”
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that?”
“Sure. But you haven’t answered my question yet.”
“If I was the one who left you, how would you feel? Did I feel betrayed? No. Did I feel abandoned? Yes. Have I forgiven you? It’s still up for debate.”
“Can’t I arbiter on that?”
“Who are you to decide how I feel?”
“I wasn’t.”
“You just said so yourself.”
“Can you forgive me just this once?”
“Only time will tell. Be patient, peasant.”
“Yes, my queen,” my tongue retreated, filling the atmosphere with silence.
I sat there looking at the marble ceiling. They seemed to move with the night sky. I wondered if my hands could reach tiny dots ingrained in its design. It sure was a great distraction gazing at the frozen ceiling. One would dream to travel among the stars one day, but I chose to remain.
“Hey, what are you thinking?” Cyrille asked.
“It’s nothing. Don’t mind me. It’s just a passing silly thought.”
“Doesn’t it reflect in the things you are experiencing right now—silly?”
“I wonder what it feels like to be among the stars. Have you ever wondered the same when you rested on the sofa?”
“Ah, yes. I used to count the small dots and the elliptic rings to pass time. I also named some of them. Do you see that lonely dot by the door? I named him Maximus since he always wanted to be alone and does his maximum effort to survive on his own. He is much like you, Luke, but a little more charming.”
“I wouldn’t be lonely with you by my side,” I softly brushed the back of her hand.
“It’s quite amazing, isn’t it? I can derive stories by pointing at them and measuring their proximity with each other.”
“Doesn’t that make you an explorer?”
“I’m just a commoner—an observer of the frozen openness.”
“It shouldn’t have to be that way. When the war is over, what do you say we get out of this continent and go wherever we wanted to go? Will you accept?” I proposed.
“We haven’t made vows with each other.”
“You make it seem like forever.”
“Don’t you want it to be?” she propped herself up, eyes fixed on me.
A moment was what I took. Didn’t it seem too early to decide on that? I didn’t expect her to ask me so soon. My breath followed a chaotic rhythm as I tried to think of an answer. Should I promise her forever here and now? What if Darleen storms in? What then? These questions piled up among the stars I saw.
“You don’t have to answer me if you haven’t decided yet. You have some time for yourself when the war is over.”
“Remind me again why you don’t act upon it before it starts?”
“We couldn’t move until that happens. It would be meddling with our neighboring territories.”
“Oh, you have a point there,” I pointed at the ceiling.
She whacked my back as she laughed, “You never run out of things to say, do you?”
“I take that as a compliment,” I yawned.
“Shall we proceed to my room?”
“I think I will stay on the couch for the night.”
“Are you sure? I can spare some space for one more.”
“I need to restrain myself, remember?”
“You know, I sometimes forget that you’re a human. Please remind me about your human needs,” she winked at me.
“I will take note of that.”
She crawled up the steps, her flowing body swayed from side to side. It stirred my urge, but I drowned it with a glass of water. I lose my strength whenever she was around—my poison, my love. A wicked woman who could twist any man to her will, entranced with the gentlest waves of her hips.
My thoughts lingered on what we should talk about the next day until my consciousness expired to the other world. I transitioned smoothly to this other plane of nonexistence. Instead of blue birds, blue dragons flew above our heads. Cyrille and I sat under the afternoon sun with the picnic basket in our background.
I placed my head over her lap as she popped a piece of grape into my mouth. Her fingers lingered to make sure it went inside. Then her arms pulled me tighter until I was on neck hold. Clouds darkened and flying creatures froze in the blue sky. Their gaze fixed on us—intent and anticipating.
I screamed above my lungs.
“What? What is it? What happened?” Cyrille frantically ran to my side.
“I thought I died back there,” I caught up some of my breath.
With a concerned look on her face, she brought me a glass of water. It helped me calm down. I stared at her—a sedative, my antidote. She pressed herself against my body. Her chest might have bruised my neck a little because of the force. What a frozen iron maiden she was, and yet, she was too cold to the touch.
She led me to the table once more. The sun hasn’t risen yet, but I expected its greeting. Everything looked bright as I threw my sights on the table. A feast fit for a king sat. She gestured for me to dig in. When I returned my gaze at her, she hasn’t touched an item of food. Instead, she smiled at me.
“You surely outdid yourself. What’s the occasion?”
“It’s my birthday today,” her hand flitted with the lighter.
“Oh, let me do the honors,” I burned the blue inch-sized candles and grabbed the intricately decorated cake. “Now, make a wish.”
“I wish—”
“No, don’t tell me. It might not come true.”
“But I want to share my wish with you. I wish you are the one destined for me. May Elder Blue bless my wish.”
“Cyrille, I want the same to happen to us, too. I will make it you the happiest girl in my life.”
“I wouldn’t say things like they are easily done. You might want to reconsider that. I’m not a woman easily pleased.”
“Nor are you a woman yet. To me, you are still a little girl exploring with me.”
“Try as you might, but I won’t succumb to your desires. Please keep your hands to yourself,” she pulled away from me and sliced a piece, dropping it on my plate.
I retreated to my seat, disappointed in myself and my circumstance. Such a vile woman, and a cruel one at that. She seated herself primly and properly. I tested the air with my fingers and grabbed my share of the various meat dishes sunk in different sauces. Saffron and star anise made it taste a whole lot better.
“Before you landed here, where did you go after leaving the sands?” her first question of the day.
“I ended up on the dragon territory, but I got flicked away to the human stronghold once more.”
“What were they up to this time?”
“Not so good. Most of them were blurry, so I can’t remember much what happened to me there.”
“Speak,” she opened a palm at me.
“The human captain trains his men in a peculiar way. They use women as part of their regimen.”
“Were you one of them? Luke, be straight with me.”
My mouth slipped, shooting a straight arrow, “A w***e enticed me to do it, but I wasn’t myself when that happened.”
“I knew you were hiding something from me, and what about the human king?”
“His position has become so soft that he lost his ability to rule over his men. His crown and existence after the war doesn’t look promising.”
“I figured as much. I recognized the clothes you wore. They were his. I know this because I saw my mother giving it to him. It was for his dedication to learn our heritage and way of life. He was an honorary wanderer, decorated with plaques and diplomas. The only human the dragons adored.”
“What happened to him?”
“I thought you knew by now. It all started when he assigned his right hand as the captain of his army. He, unlike the ruler, was a wicked man, taking the queen as his own. The human king didn’t want to rule over humans, but he was assigned by blood. He was a wanderer, a man of culture, not a head of state.”
“What would you do if you were him? Would you have plotted to assassinate your second-in-command?”
“If that would set me free, I would, but I’m not exactly sure what’s the relationship between them. There seemed to be something odd about him letting his subordinate rule over him. I wonder why that is?”
- Writer
