#6 – illusions
I watch her silently as she stands there before me, beautiful in all her innocence, captivating and alluring, serene and elegant. Her darkly-lashed eyes are confused, disbelieving, uncertain. I feel the tender smile form on my face as I simply gaze at her, a warmth rushing through my body…a warmth I haven't felt for what seems like a millennia. I can't help but revel in the sensation, drinking it in like a man dying of thirst.
The sight of her soothes me, despite the difference in her appearance. I forget that she is much younger, untouched by the true distortion of time. Her features are still perfectly soft, smooth; her eyes yet harbour such depths of naïveté and it helps me to reminisce to a simpler time. She is not yet the Queen I now know, but she is all I have longed for, the light to vanquish this plaguing darkness.
My eyes skim over her fuku, unused to the foreign garb that now adorns her slight form. Had she really worn this once…she had been a soldier as the rest of them. My attention shifts to the others for a moment, they seem the same; the only difference again lies in the great wealth of experience that separates them from then and now. I return my eyes to her, unable to be diverted for long.
My heart aches for her, my loneliness overwhelming me and I entertain selfish thoughts. I want to take her from here, forget the overall purpose of the moment and escape with this angel in my arms. She is real, alive, well and wonderful…and I want her to be mine. I want my beloved…but it is not to be. I must suppress my yearning and do what it is I came to do.
Her words resound in this silence, her commanding yet unsure tone enveloping me. "Who are you?"
I smile again, finding pleasure in the sound of her voice. Yes, she is real…and I am just an illusion, in my world filled with illusions. My smile is contaminated with sadness as I respond. "My name is King Endymion."
My cheeks suffuse with rosy hues
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