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I had been a slave for as long as I could remember.
It wasn't that I had chosen to forget my life before the collar and chains, it simply was that I did not have one.
My name, Anna, was given to me by my first owner, a stately woman who had used myself and my mother as housemaids, even though I was barely old enough to understand the tasks I had been given. My mother had agreed to the name not only because she liked the name well enough, but because she did not have the power to say no. “A slave owns nothing, Anna,” she told me when I was old enough to ask. “Not our pasts, not our present, not our future – not even our names, or our love. I am allowed to love you as a mother because it offers a function to our mistress. Any other love is a luxury that slaves cannot afford.”
When I was fifteen our mistress was forced to downsize her household, and I was sold to my second owner – a man with wheat fields as big as the sky, and eyes the color of cold granite.
He was a hard man, and one who expected hard work out of everyone, with no regard for what my past had been. He called me soft, he screamed at me, and he worked all of us to the bone, literally: I still bear the scars on my hands where the scythe wore away my skin, and where the stalks of wheat bit deeply into those existing wounds. There was, however, some kindness in him, though it was buried deep; he allowed me to stay in contact with my mother, and gave us medical attention when we were injured. I am scarred but retain the use of my hands because he cared just enough to keep his slaves well, and for that much, at least, I will be forever grateful.
At twenty I was sold again. I had grown strong working on the hard man's farm, the vast, rolling acres of his land tempering my arms and core as I felled the wheat with my scythe, but nothing could prepare me for what would come.
My third owner was a cold, uncaring bastard of a man – though I would hardly dare to use man to describe him – who owned a quarry. The work was back-breaking, the dangers very real, and he suffered no slacking in one's work, regardless of how deadly it may come to be.
It was while working for this man that I began to truly understand the world in which I lived.
Cutting stone from the very walls of a massive canyon, thousands of slaves worried away with their pickaxes to supply this cold man with the stone he needed not only for his own castle and lodgings, but the stone he needed to sell and accrue his considerable riches. I thought for certain that the walls would break me, that it would only be a matter of time before one of the massive stone blocks that we carved would shift forward unexpectedly and crush me like a bug beneath its heel, so quickly that I wouldn't even have time to feel the pain. I saw it happen to many others in a very short amount of time: they would be there one moment, pickax and stone cutter in hand; then there would be a crack, and by the time I looked back they were simply gone, a brilliant smear upon the untarnished stone.
I worked hard, and the muscles that I had built working on the wheat farm became hardened. I was still lean, because the cold man barely gave us enough food to eat, but it was enough to build a little more mass so that swinging the pickax became easier and easier. I distracted myself with my work, always with an eye on the next section of the project or the next thing to be done, so that I wouldn't notice the people who went missing, or came back with broken legs or arms because of mishaps in the canyon.
Those who died were given a kinder fate to those who were merely injured. Injured people were sent deeper into the complex, where the stone was processed into smaller pieces, and the rumors said that it was dark, and cramped, and the air was full of so much stone dust that death was a guarantee – it was simply a matter of time.
A year passed in this stone hell, then two. My nights were spent in a cell with a man and two other women, but no one ever spoke about love; after all, love was a luxury that no slave could afford.
Five years passed before I cared to keep track of time again. The man and two women I shared my cell with slowly vanished and, if I am honest, I cannot remember if they were killed in the canyon or sold to someone else. All I know for sure is that, amid the endless days of danger, pain, and struggle, there came into my life a revival of everything I had forgotten, and an awakening to all the things I had not experienced.
Her name was Lily.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The stomp of armored feet drew me from my sleep, and as I returned to the waking world all the sights and smells of the cell came rushing back; the rough iron bars of my door, the ratty, dirty blanket upon which I slept, and the musty, slightly acidic smell that the whole room had accumulated over the years I had lived in it rose into my senses as I sat up and opened my eyes, my heart pounding in my chest as the footsteps drew closer.
They almost never send knights down here, I thought as I rapidly blinked, trying my best to wake up. If the knights are here, that means that someone is being taken... or that someone is being brought in. I gave my head a shake and crossed my arms beneath my breasts, my muscles tense as the footsteps grew louder and louder. The clank of armor added to the din, and it wasn't long before the faint light of a torch painted the hallway outside my door. My stomach clenched and a prickling feeling filled my throat as a huge armored knight stepped into view, his visor hiding any trace of humanity that he might have possessed, and with a grunt he lifted a ring of keys.
Am I being sold? Did I do something wrong? My sleep-addled brain wondered, and I felt myself begin to shake in spite of the cloying heat of the cell. The small window I had to the outside world didn't let much of a breeze in, and the summer had been hot enough that my cell became like an oven no matter what time of day it was. I brought my knees up to my chest and watched the knight carefully as he pulled open the door, my mind suddenly racing in all directions at once as the possibilities of their visit began to truly sink in.
Before I could even begin to form a plan for what I would do, however, the first knight stepped back and two more loomed into view, each with his hand on one shoulder of a much smaller figure. The two knights gave a simultaneous push and launched the small figure into the cell before sliding back and allowing the first knight to lock the cell with a shocking display of alacrity. The three knights nodded to each other before turning and moving back the way they had come, their footsteps and torchlight fading away until I was left with nothing but a thin beam of moonlight, the darkness of my cell, and a new person on my floor.
I stared into the darkness where the small form had fallen, hardly daring to breathe as I waited to hear what kind of despair would come first. Sometimes the new people cried, sometimes they got angry, and sometimes they simply gave up, lapsing into silence that lasted until they died, but no matter what this person's reaction might be, usually they didn't want someone talking to them right away. My grip on my knees tightened, and my lips pressed into a thin line as I frowned. Just please don't cry, I thought. I need my rest, and I won't be able to sleep if I have some sobbing wretch in my cell with me...
I could feel the comment bounce off of a part of me that wanted to feel guilty about thinking such a thing, but that part had grown hard and callous, layers upon layers of hardened emotions forming an armor that would protect me as surely as the knight's armor would protect them. It was necessary for survival in the canyon, and after several long minutes of silence I let out a sigh and released my knees.
“Listen,” I said into the darkness, my voice hoarse from lack of use, “I need to sleep, so keep it down, will ya?” My words echoed gently off the bare walls of my cell before fading into silence, and my frown deepened as silence answered my appeal. I waited two heartbeats, then four before shrugging. “All right then, no skin off my nose...” I shifted on my rump, intent on laying back down onto my blanket in an attempt to catch a little more sleep before sunrise, but as I began to move, the figure sat up into the moonbeam.
My eyes widened and I froze as my eyes came to rest upon the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. Her skin was as pale as the moonlight that touched it, and her hair was as dark as midnight pooling around her shoulders. She lifted her chin and met my gaze with eyes so silver-blue that they were almost white, and to my shock she offered me a smile more serene than anything I had ever witnessed.
“Do not lose sleep on my account,” she said, and a shiver ran up my neck at the sound of her voice. “I know that this must be a terribly hard place to live, and I would hate to deprive you of your much-needed rest.” I sighed sharply and moved a hand to the back of my head, my fingers tugging at my matted brown hair as I tried to rub away the goosebumps.
“Well... it's not like that,” I began, but the woman's smile grew until I saw the flash of her teeth.
“Ah, but it is,” she countered. “I've seen the work that you all do here, and to think that I must contribute tomorrow is intimidating.” She gave her head a shake, her eyes never leaving me. “But perhaps it is fate that I was put here with you,” she said. “You seem like you have been here for a while... perhaps my survival here is possible, after all.”
“Why are you in here?” I blurted, my curiosity getting the better of me for the first time in half a decade. The dark haired girl blinked at me in surprise, but after a moment she smiled again – that haunting, beautiful smile that made me think about things I never had before.
“I am... someone that needs to disappear,” she said simply, and the resignation in her voice was obvious even to me. My eyes narrowed at her, and I dropped my hand back to my lap. It was something that happened on occasion: people were brought to the canyon because they were someone that a person of importance wanted gone, or because they were problematic to the kingdom in some way, and if people knew nothing else about work in the quarry they knew that people died there and often left no trace – perfect for making political prisoners disappear. The woman shifted, her delicate shoulders rising and falling in the moonlight as she adjusted the loose white dress she'd been given, and I couldn't help but watch her every movement. Her eyes found me again, her twin icy pools staring deep into the eyes that I knew were green only by virtue of having been told so. “And you're a slave...” she said gently.
“As you are now,” I countered with a smirk. “I'd get comfortable using the word, it'll be easier for you mentally.” The pale woman lifted her hand to her neck where an iron collar just like mine sat, and I saw the sadness seep into her eyes as she seemed to deflate.
“Ah... yes.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “I suppose I will have to get used to it, won't I..?”
Silence fell between us, and try as I might I could find no more words to say. With another sigh I turned and lay down upon my blanket, my heart beating wildly in my chest as I curled up and stared at the carved stone wall next to me. Who is this girl? Why is she so... so... I swallowed against the dryness in my throat and did my best to block out my thoughts. Time to sleep, Anna... tomorrow you're on the north end of the canyon, and there have been quite a few rock slides since the rain last week. You need to be at your best, and you don't have time to think about-,
“What is your name?” The pale woman's voice pierced my thoughts like a bolt of lightning, and I winced in spite of myself.
“...why do you want to know?” I grumbled. “You'll find out tomorrow during the wake-up call.”
“But I want you to tell me,” she said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.
“...it's Anna. I'm Anna.”
“Anna... a beautiful name.” I heard her shift, and when I turned onto my side I saw her hunched over into a deep, seated bow, her forehead almost touching the floor. “My name is Lily,” she said, and for a moment her aura made it feel as though she were addressing an entire cloister full of clergy rather than a ratty slave in her cell. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and... I pray that I could ask you to help me learn the way things operate around here.” She lifted her head to meet my gaze once more, and the determination I saw in her icy eyes surprised me. “I don't intend to die here and give anyone the satisfaction,” she growled.
I hesitated for just a moment before nodding. “I'll do what I can... but the rest is up to you.” Lily nodded and sat up straight again, her smile returning as I rolled over to face the wall once more. I curled up tightly and squeezed my eyes shut, my stomach doing flips as the frosty fire in her gaze played through my mind over and over again.
The rest of the night was not very restful for me, but something held me over the next day, something that supported me in the absence of a good night's rest.
It wasn't until much later that I would learn what it was.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lily turned out to be a fast learner and, in spite of her slender and delicate physical stature, she was eager to find something that she was able to do. Soon I had her supporting me as I carved the stone from the massive walls, handing me equipment and ensuring that my harnesses were correctly in place as I rappelled over the hulking stone blocks. No one objected to this arrangement for two reason: one, no one truly cared how the slaves did their work as long as it got done, and two, the cold man who owned the quarry was not in any way obligated to kill someone if they were useful, and Lily soon proved to be invaluable to me. Our teamwork functioned so well, in fact, that the owner was soon pairing up other carvers like myself with supporters like Lily, ensuring that we were safer and more productive.
Summer gave way to fall, then fall into winter, and soon the sunlight began to warm again as Lily and I worked and lived together. At first, I found myself simply fascinated by her – the long lengths of her beautiful hair, the delicate porcelain of her skin – but as our cohabitation continued, I grew to know her in a way that I had never bothered to with my former cellmates. Slowly, she opened up her heart to me, sharing small, guarded sections of her past in the kingdom's capital, but even though she never gave me the entire story, her emotions were clear, and as I shared what little there was about my own past I began to feel something that I had never felt before... and something that a slave could never afford.
When the bright spring sun began to fill the canyon with runoff from the surrounding lands, I finally confessed my feelings to Lily. It was a simple confession, but in the darkness of our cell it felt as if the whole world had simply ceased to exist, leaving only the two of us; finally, I heard her laugh gently, and she said the words that would inevitably change my entire life:
“I love you too, Anna.”
Her hand caressed my cheek in the darkness, and I pressed my hand against it so that I could turn my head and kiss her palm.
“Will you stay with me, no matter what?” Her words were soft, but my answer was firm.
“No matter what,” I replied.
Though our days were filled with treacherous, deadly labor, our nights were spent together, and perhaps it was because we knew that each and every day could be our last that we treasured our time together so much. When each moment can be your last, each moment is precious, and our hearts grew closer and closer as those moments continued. I suppose, in a way, I was happy with the way things were; there was nothing but labor in the day and Lily in the night, and deep down in my soul I hoped that things could stay the same, forever. It was selfish, I know, but for the first time in my life I had something that was mine and mine alone, and I knew that I would go farther than I could even imagine to keep her.
I had no idea how right I would be.
Lily had warned me that there might be a time when she was taken away. She had told me time and again that if she was not reported dead, someone might come looking for her. I remember brushing it off, telling her that no one ever reported the deaths in the canyon, that simply being there was as good as being dead.
Later, I would find myself wishing I had taken her warnings more seriously... yet even if I had, I'm not sure I would have truly believed her until it was too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The western sky was finally going dark as Lily and I settled down into our cell, our two blankets laid out together to provide us with a unified sleeping space. The cold man didn't provide us with lamps or candles in our cells, so only the light through the one small window or through the bars on our door could provide any light at all, meaning that if we wanted to do anything in our cells we either had to be near one of the sconces in the hall, or do it when it was daylight. We weren't near a sconce, so we simply went to sleep when the sun went away and woke when it rose.
“I can't believe we managed to cut that whole side chunk away,” said Lily as she sat down on the blankets, her hair bouncing around her shoulders in the almost darkness. “You were magnificent out there today – the way you dangled off that cliff to finish cutting that channel!” She laughed lightly and gazed up at me with her luminous eyes. “Truly impressive, my darling.”
I rolled my eyes, but I still felt my face grow hot at her words. “I was just doing what I could in the situation,” I muttered as I turned and settled myself down onto the blankets as well, my hair bouncing in the long braid that Lily did up for me every morning. I heard her chuckle next to me, and with a knowing sigh she wrapped her arms around me.
“So modest and humble,” she purred. “It's one of the many things I love about you...” She brushed my cheek with her own, and I felt myself start to relax after the long and difficult day. Whenever Lily touched me it made my whole body relax, as if her hands were literally melting away the stress from the day, and I had come to rely on her entirely for the quality of sleep I had every night.
“Mmm... I'll need you to be with me all day tomorrow,” I said, my eyelids already growing heavy as Lily ran her hands over my neck and shoulders. “There's an unstable section of rock over the next quarry site, and-,”
Suddenly Lily's hands froze against my skin, and as sleepy as I was it took me several long moments to realize that she had stopped. I blinked languidly in the dark cell and sighed.
“Lily... is everything alright?” I murmured as the specter of sleep rose over my tired body. “You're so quiet...”
Her hands grasped my shoulders tightly and gave me a sharp shake, a motion that caused my head to whip violently backwards then forwards. I gagged at the motion, and as soon as I was steady again I felt anger rising in my throat, ready to be aimed at the woman I loved for doing such a random and violent thing; before I could speak, however, I heard something that extinguished the anger in my belly faster than a falling stone could extinguish a life.
The sound of armored feet in the hall, coming closer and closer.
Lily's fingers dug into the fabric of my shirt. “They're coming for me,” she whispered, her words ricocheting off of the walls despite their low volume. She gave me another shake, though it was slower and more controlled this time. “Those footsteps toll my doom, beloved...”
The certainty and melancholy in her words cut me deeper than any tool I had ever seen, and my heart suddenly surged in my ears as I leaped to my feet. Behind me, I heard Lily rise as well, and her hands found my back as we stared at the door to our cell.
“Why do you say that?” I whispered. “There's never any way to tell who they're coming for, or why! How could you possibly know that they're coming for you?”
“I just know,” she whispered in return, and once more her fingers grasped tightly at my shirt. “It's just a feeling that I've been here too long, that I've become too...” she paused and took a shaking breath, “...too happy here... with you.”
The footsteps grew louder and louder, and the light of a torch grew brighter in the hall as I spun to face Lily, my fear rising as I grasped her arms firmly in my hands.
“What does that have to do with anything?!” I hissed. “It's not like they're keeping track of how happy you are!! They would have no way to do that!!” She gazed up at me with her pale eyes, and a tiny smile touched her lips.
“It's simply the way things are,” she breathed, “when you are cursed by the gods.”
The light in the hall grew brighter and, before I could even begin to gather myself to respond to what Lily had said, there was a clank at our door, drawing my attention away from my love and towards those whom she clearly believed were here for her. The knights looked as they always did, with their shadowy helms and frighteningly broad armor, but as the door swung open they were not the ones who entered the cell; instead, it was a lightly armored man with a half helm and a chainmail vest who entered, a longsword upon his hip as he sauntered in and pointed imperiously towards Lily.
“Give that one to us, slave,” he commanded. “His lordship wishes to have her taken to him for... deliberation.” Even in the low light from the window and torch, I could see the horrible smile that touched the man's face. The knights in the hallway chuckled, and my head swam as panic enveloped me.
If I don't do as they say, they'll kill me. It was the first thought that appeared out of the miasma that had formed in my mind, and its presence quickly brought order in its wake. I had seen slaves killed by these knights, and they had done so without hesitation or mercy – a feat that I had not a single doubt would be repeated upon me if I disobeyed. As my mind teetered, however, I felt Lily's hands on my back, and her touch helped bring clarity back to my fear-drenched thoughts. I drew myself up to my full height, which was a joke next to the man and his knights, and held out my arms so that I could block as much of Lily from their view as possible.
“Why?” I asked. The man's eyes widened, and he took another half step into the room as he glared at me.
“Yours is not to question why, slave,” he snapped. “You're to do as you're told, and what you're being told right now is that we require that girl behind you.” The man pointed his thick, crooked index finger towards Lily, who winced and shrank further behind me. “If you don't, well... we'll make you do it the hard way.” He chuckled darkly and let his hand fall back to his side, where it brushed the sword that he wore.
“I... I..!” I began, and the man's eyes narrowed; however, before I could make a plea, any plea for leniency or reprieve, I felt Lily's hand again, and this time it was slipping around me. My eyes widened as Lily stepped out in front of me, her hands out where they were easily visible.
“I'm here,” she said, her voice deceptively calm. “You needn't involve the slave – I'm what you're here for.” The man's scowl became a triumphant grin, and he stepped to the right of the door with a bow.
“Aaaah, the lady of the hour. Please... this way.” He gestured dramatically with his arms, and without hesitation Lily headed for the hallway.
My head spun as I watched her walk away, and for the first time I understood why my mother had said what she had about love all those years ago. A slave cannot afford love, I thought as I raised my right hand towards Lily, because loving makes you vulnerable. Loving gives you a weakness... and a slave can't afford to be weak. I took a step towards the dark hair that I loved so much, after the woman who meant more to me than the whole world, but one step is as far as I got.
The man in the half helm slid between us and planted his armored fist into my stomach, the blow knocking the wind out of me in a way that I'd never experienced. My eyes widened, my vision blurred, and my ears began to ring as I dropped to one knee, gasping for air.
“That'll teach you,” he spat, his hands still clenched as if he wasn't sure that just one hit was enough. “I hope you enjoyed your little bedwarmer, because she's going to be quite the treat for the Duke when she arrives.” He leaned down, grasped me by the braid, and lifted me physically to my feet, my hair creaking and my scalp burning as surely as if he'd lit it ablaze himself. I yelped in pain, but the sound only made the man laugh. “Aw, do shut up,” he growled. “If you'd like, I can end your misery right here – I'm sure no one would miss one slave...”
His hand reached for his sword, and as he did my eyes drifted beyond him, time seeming to slow as my death approached. Lily was at the door when she turned, her hair swirling around her as her eyes betrayed emotion for the first time since we'd met... and what I saw in her pearlescent eyes changed something in me.
I saw fear. I saw worry and desperation in the eyes of the woman I loved, something I hadn't seen in most of a year working in a canyon where we could have died any moment. For the first time there was true, real fear in Lily's eyes, and my body moved without a second thought.
My hand reached the man's sword before he did, my fingers wrapping around the leather-bound hilt and yanking it free of its scabbard with enough force that the man dropped me in surprise. I spun once and put my back against the wall, my feet twisting up the blankets we'd used for a bed as I hefted the blade with both hands and put the point between the man and myself.
This is... lighter than I imagined, I realized as I palmed the sword, my whole body trembling. I suppose I always thought a weapon that could take someone's life would be... heavier. The man in the half helm growled and took a half step forward, his hand extending as he stared daggers at me.
“You insolent wretch,” he spat, “give that back to me this instant.” He crooked his fingers at me, as if trying to corral an unruly dog. “Give it back to me, and perhaps I won't kill you where you stand.”
I stared up at him, my heart pounding so loudly in my ears that I barely heard his ultimatum. I met his gaze, and just as it had when Lily had met my gaze, something inside me changed. I saw his face, his expression, his eyes... and I noticed that he was missing something. There was something missing from the scene, and the fact that it was missing sparked an angry fire in my belly. It took and quickly blazed into a bonfire, and as it flashed to life my hands tightened on the hilt of the sword.
This man's eyes held no fear. He didn't fear me, even though I had his sword. He didn't fear me, even though I was a woman who had just realized that the one thing she cared about in the world was walking out of the door that he was keeping me from reaching. He didn't fear me, and he was expecting me to hand him back his weapon like a good little slave.
In fact, the fear didn't set in until I had the sword hilt deep in his stomach.
His eyes widened, and in a flash his hands grasped the sword, the armor of his gauntlets wrapping around my hands as he tried to force the blade back, but I stared at him unblinking as an inhuman grin split my lips.
“Die like the dog you are,” I hissed, and with a yank and a twist I drew the blade from his body, splattering his guts onto the floor in a shower of blood. He stared at me for several long, dreadful heartbeats, his gauntlets pawing feebly at the hole I had torn in his chainmail; then, like a mighty oak falling in the forest, the man toppled to the side and impacted the dirt floor with a crunch that echoed into the hall.
The knights outside stared in disbelief for but a moment before lunging forward and slamming the door shut on our cell, once more locking Lily and myself inside. They began to scream for reinforcements, that someone had been killed and that they needed someone new to go in the cell, but their exact words were lost to me. I stared at the bleeding corpse, my hands still clutching the sword.
I had always assumed that taking a life was something that would shake you to your core, something that would ring in your deepest regrets forever. However, in that moment, standing over the corpse of that man, I felt nothing but satisfaction.
“Like a dog,” I repeated, venom dripping from my words. I squeezed the hilt of the sword again, and I felt the tell-tale squish of liquid between my fingers. Blood, no doubt... his blood.
Suddenly, Lily was there, her eyes ablaze with excitement.
“Anna, you... you killed him!” Her words were not tainted with accusation, as I had been unconsciously preparing for; instead, she sounded absolutely elated, as if I'd told her that she was suddenly the new Queen and that she could start her reign tomorrow. “You stabbed that sword completely through him... through his mail...” Her gaze drifted to the corpse, and then back to me as she extended her hands and wrapped them around mine. Slowly, carefully, she lifted my hands and the sword they held until the weapon was upright between us, her hands delicately holding mine as the man's blood dripped slowly down the blade and between my fingers.
I blinked in surprise, as if seeing her for the first time. My heart began to beat again, and I took a massive, shaking breath.
“Lily, w-we... we have to get you out of here,” I stammered, and to my surprise Lily nodded emphatically.
“Yes! Yes we do!” She squeezed my hands tighter. “And you're going to do it for us.” She took a deep, steady breath, and as she exhaled, her hands started to glow.
The glow was the color of fresh wine, a dark red-purple that pulsed and grew brighter and brighter with each deep, measured breath that Lily took. Then, as she closed her eyes and began to mutter words that I didn't understand, the light seemed to coalesce and take shape, rearing up from her hands in the form of ethereal rose vines that quickly shifted and lashed themselves around my hands.
Wherever the vines touched, it felt as though my skin has burst into flames, and it was only through a lifetime of hard labor and pain that I was able to maintain consciousness as the illusory thorns grew, engulfing my hands and forearms before they turned and began to rise up the blood-soaked blade. The wine red light filled the cell, its brilliance pulsing like the beating of a living heart, and as I watched it I realized that it was beating in time with a heart: mine.
The pain in my arms flared once more, and this time I couldn't stop a scream from wrenching itself free of my throat. As it did, however, I felt Lily's hands tighten around mine, her touch as soothing as the vines were painful.
“Anna, my darling,” she said, and when my gaze found her I felt as though I were looking at someone completely different than the young woman I had spent almost a year sleeping next to. The light ignited her pale skin and eyes as her hair rippled in an unseen breeze, causing her to look more devilish than any depiction of one in any holy text I had ever seen. Her enormous eyes stared unblinkingly at me, and after a moment she sighed. “Anna... do you love me?”
I swallowed as the thorns pulsed, digging their points deeper into my flesh. They did not look like they were anything but glowing light, but their tips were piercing my skin and drawing fresh blood that now dripped down my hands and arms to spatter on the floor, mingling with the blood of the dog I had killed there.
“Lily... what are you?” I managed to gasp. “Are you... human..?”
“No,” she answered simply. “I am not human, Anna... I am something far greater. Something that the king of your lands wanted dead, and something that the duke here will do anything to obtain.” She licked her lips as her fingers fidgeted with my own. “But what I am is not who I am, Anna... and who I am is a girl who loves you.” Her eyes stared into my own, their depths suddenly boiling with emotion. “I... I did not want to show you this side of me,” she admitted, “but circumstances have conspired to steal that decision away from me.” The thorns grew higher, their ghostly form wrapping around the blade as if it were a post, assisting in their quest to be the biggest rose bush in history. “I love you, Anna,” she repeated, “and no matter what secrets I kept from you... please, know that my love for you has never been a lie.”
In the distance I could hear shouting once more, and Lily licked her lips again.
“Do you love me, Anna?” she asked again, and this time the urgency in her words was unmistakable. I stared at this woman, with her wide eyes and ghostly white skin, and I smiled.
“I love you with every ounce of my soul, and every corner of my heart,” I said, and I was proud of how steady my voice was. “If this is who you are, then this is the woman I love.”
Lily's eyes filled with tears, and when she spoke again her words caught in her throat. “And... and do you trust me?”
“Do you really have to ask that?”
“Yes, Anna! Answer the question!” Her hands clutched at me as the thorns reached the end of the sword. “Do you trust me?!”
“With all of my heart and soul,” I repeated.
Now Lily relaxed, and her eyes began to glow. “And will you stay with me, forever?”
“Forever, my love.”
Now the thorns began to glow even brighter, and Lily threw her head back and laughed as a blinding purple light filled the cell. I squeezed my eyes shut against the brilliance, and the pain from the thorns flared, but before I could even cry out the pain eased, the light faded, and Lily's voice filled the void.
“The pact is made,” she intoned solemnly, and after a moment I opened my eyes.
The sword had been transformed from a regular steel blade to something new, something that didn't seem like it should have existed. The tip of the blade was ghostly clear, as if it were made of crystal, and as it drew nearer to the hilt it took on more and more of a deep rose-red color until it plunged into the black hilt, its form twisted with blackened vines and stark red roses. Lily stepped back and grinned, and to my surprise there was no mistaking the sharpened canine fang that had never been there before.
“My Anna, I love you as I never have loved anyone else. Let this sword be our wedding band, my dearest, and a symbol of our eternal love,” she proclaimed, and as she did a band of thorns on the ring finger of our left hands glowed the same ghostly red-purple that the vines had, a color that pulsed within the crystalline blade of the sword. “A blade that shall never break, for a bond that shall never be severed.” She stepped back, and as she did so I saw a shimmer of ethereal wings behind her, their form long and skeletal. “The door stands between us and freedom, my love,” she said. “Please, take care of it.”
I glanced at the sword, then at the door, and without hesitation I rushed forward and struck down the side where the hinges sat. The edge of the glassy blade bit through the hardened iron and carved stone like it was nothing, and I was shocked both at how light the sword was and the damage it had done. The iron bars creaked and groaned as the hinges gave way, and with a massive clang the door fell into the hallway.
Incredulously I stepped out of the cell and turned towards my right, the direction we always went to get to the quarry, and I took three steps on that journey before I realized that I wasn't alone. I blinked and lifted my chin to see the three armored knights from before, their weapons held at the ready as they blocked the hall.
“Don't take another step!!” the middle one shouted, and there was such authority in his voice that I instinctively stopped, my wedding blade held loosely at my side.
As I stared at them, fear crept back into my heart. Yes I killed one man, but three..? And knights, to boot? It... it's not possible. I felt my shoulders droop, and despair began to fill my mind.
However, just when I felt as though I should just throw down my sword and give up, I felt a pair of gentle hands upon my shoulders. The knights muttered and pointed behind me, their voices full of fear and awe, but the only voice I could hear was Lily's, her breath hot as she whispered in my ear.
“You're invincible now, Anna my darling. As long as I am with you, there is no man, woman, dragon, elf, devil in hell or angel in heaven who can stand against you.” She chuckled, and the sound sent a bolt sizzling down my spine. “My beloved Anna... my most treasured... if there is something that stands between you and our happiness, you now have the power to dispose of it, if that is your desire.” Lily's hand reached over my shoulder to point at the knights, and I saw the rose and thorn pattern tattooed upon her flesh as her blood-red nail stabbed accusation at the men. “Are they standing in your way?”
My eyes narrowed. “Yes... yes they are.” I lifted the sword, and with a rush of excitement I saw that the same rose and thorn pattern was also present on my hands and forearms – a perfect match with Lily's.
“Well then, what are you going to do about it?” breathed Lily.
I twirled the sword, and to my delight it felt all but weightless, its length whirling effortlessly around us.
“I shall paint a picture of woe for you... as a wedding present,” I said with a grin. I took a step forward and, as I watched the knights' strong line falter at my approach, I realized why we slaves were told that love was beyond us, why I had been told from my youngest days that a girl like me should never strive to have love.
It was because love made you want crazy things, and it made you willing to do anything to get it.
I loved Lily.
I was willing.
And I would make the whole world bleed if it meant being with her.