Author's note: I'm not that happy with this, but I'll put it out there anyway. :-(
The Rose and the Nightingale
Oftentimes I would sit at a stool at Erik's feet, and his beautiful voice would weave tales and stories about me in a magic spell. Those were the nights I liked the best; the fire crackling in his comfortable sitting room, it was almost cozy. It would have been more so if I had been able to snuggle in his arms, but for all his declarations of undying love, he never seemed to want that, and I often wondered why.
That night I received a special treat. Erik told me a Persian tale of the forbidden love between a white rose and a nightingale, two species that were forbidden by Allah to mate. The nightingale would come to the rose every night and sing to her and woo her. At first, the rose feared the nightingale, but he sang so sweetly to her each night that eventually he gained her trust, and from their union was born the beautiful blood red rose that Allah never meant the world to know.
This was by far the most beautiful tale he had ever told me, and when it ended I found myself gazing into the fire, thinking sadly of the irony. When he drew the story to its beautiful conclusion, I looked up at him, tears brimming in my eyes.
He leaned forward, an odd expression on his face, and extended his hand, as if to catch my unfallen tears. His fingers lingered over my cheek, hovering there, not quite touching my skin. Suddenly the look in his eyes changed, and he reluctantly withdrew his hand, turning away from me.
He rose from the chair and began to walk toward the door leading to his room.
"Erik?" I said.
He stopped walking but did not turn toward me, "Yes?"
"Whenever you come close to touching me, you always withdraw. Why do you hesitate so?" I queried gently.
I thought I heard him give a soft sigh. "Many are…repulsed by my touch." He said quietly, then kept walking. When he reached the entrance to his bedchamber I spoke up again.
"Erik?"
He stopped again, "Yes, my dear?"
"You could never repulse me."
He stood for a few moments in silence, then proceeded into his bedroom, and shut the door with a soft click behind him.