Once there was Darkness

Chapter 24

Kol actually went to bed light hearted. This day (for the most part) had been pleasant. Frego, Violet, Max, Kessa, and he had gone fishing. Frego was having fun. Kessa had recovered. It was a good day.

Maybe tonight he wouldn’t dream? ‘Please Lord, no dreams.’

He was in the palace garden. The air around him was calm, peaceful. He took a deep breath letting it fill his lungs. As he walked deeper into the garden, the flowers became fewer. But the leaves were changing as well. Each leaf was outlined with lights that glowed brightly with different colored light: pink, purple, yellow, orange, blue, red, all the colors. He marveled at how this could happen.

There among the leaves and lights he saw Kessa. Just laying there. She looked peaceful. Just asleep. He bent down to caress her face; she was cold to the touch. He called her name. Nothing. Again and again he called her name. Nothing.

Suddenly, the skin on her face became transparent. Bones and muscles became visible. Her face was transformed into the face of his father. After a few minutes of time had passed. Time that he just stared at his long dead fathers face, the eyes opened. Those eyes begged at him. Kol wanted to know what the begging look was for? He dared not speak just in case he got an answer. As the body began to rise, Kol fell backwards. The mouth fell open as conenose bugs spewed out. Kol screamed. He hated bugs. They flowed out in such numbers that they were coming for him. He started crawling backwards as the bugs just kept coming. He couldn’t get away fast enough.

With a scream, he rose straight up in bed. Straight into Kessa’s arms. His breathing was frantic. His heart was beating wildly. She just held him. When she could feel his heart beat slow down she said, “my king?”

As he pulled away from her, she saw that his whole body was shaking. She reached out her hands and he accepted. ‘Sweaty palms, heart racing, body jerks; one horrific nightmare.’ She told herself.

In an unsteady voice he asked, “ what are you wearing?”

She smiled, “I’m not sure. Your porter brought it to me. I’d say it’s from one of the beds.”

He cleared his throat, “you are not on duty?”

“No, Luke came for me, my king.”

“Why?”

“You were screaming my name.”

“Thank you for being here.” He let go of her hands. As he lay back down he asked again, “what is that thing?”

“Does it really look that ridiculous?” Her smile was comforting.

In her presence, he went back to sleep.

When he woke again, he thought all of the events had been a dream until he saw Kessa asleep on his pile of cushions. Now he saw what she had been wrapped in had been on top of a bed in the guest wing. The cover was pulled tightly around her neck. He smiled seeing her feet exposed. He looked around for her shoes without success.

There was a container of water next to his bed. He took it and gently washed her feet. They seemed so delicate yet he knew how important they were. It took all his restraint not to kiss them. There was something on her toes. Only bad girls painted their toes. At least that was what he had been taught. From all he knew of Kessa, she wasn’t a ‘bad girl’. The sight of the paint thrilled him even more.

When Kol was about 10, his dad gave him a ring. Just a plain little ring he had bought from a vendor during one of his many trips. As he grew, the ring went from his thumb to his little finger. At one point, he and his mother had a heated argument that he should throw the ring away. He even woke one night to her trying to take it off his finger. He looked at the ring; then at Kessa’s third toe. ‘It will fit.’ He took it off and yes, it did fit. The fight within him continued not to kiss her foot, each toe. Then a new thought hit him, would she accept his gift? It wasn’t anything extraordinary. Roy added the Bible verse to it beautifully.

When he looked up, she was watching him. The feelings he felt were so familiar. As a child, he often felt like he had been caught doing something bad. “Will you accept my gift?”

“Thank you, my king. If you ever decide you want it back,” she stopped short as he lowered his head to her feet.

Her toes could have easily wiggled through his hair. “How much trouble would I get in if I wiggled my toes through your hair?”

His voice shattered when he spoke, “more than I can bare. My gift is freely given.”

“Freely accepted.”