The Prince and the Snake Charmer (currently editing)

The Prince and the Snake Charmer -EPILOGUE-

EPILOGE:

~Four years later~

It was night in Harbin, the crescent moon tilted in the indigo sky. The Circus de Esmerelda had made its rounds through Europe once again and now, the grounds were packed tightly with people shifting back and forth between the new booths and the older ones, paying pennies to see the Palace of Freaks, watching the trapeze artists soar wildly through the air on swings hanging thirty feet above the hard, trodden earth. But a stranger in a dark cloak weaved through the throng of people with only one thing on his mind.

He searched for the booth, peering over heads from underneath the shadow of his cloak, looking for a girl with a large mass of hair that reminded one of a lions mane. He meandered through the crowd, his own patience draining each passing minute that his eyes did not find the one girl he was searching for. Clutched in his palm was a worn, crinkled piece of paper whose words had begun to melt together after four years, but to him it didn't matter. He had memorized them perfectly as he read it each day, each day that brought him closer to this one. He mended the holes in his family and tried to take care of himself as he waited for her arrival with the circus. Now, when it had finally come, he feared that he had been waiting all for nothing for he had been searching an hour and turned up with nothing.

A million thoughts coursed through his mind. What if she had passed on? What if she stayed with her family in Leonin? What if she didn't want to see him after all these years? And the worse: What if she had fallen in love with someone else?  

Even the thought made him sick and he tried to shove it away with all his might, cursing himself for thinking such a thing.

Then, once his mind was clear, he returned to gazing at the booths, looking for the sign with her name painted in golden letters. He vaguely remembered it from the first time he was here, he remembered watching her perform for the first time and remembered whatever spell that had the snakes under her charms also seemed to pull him under as well.

A flash of gold passed through the edge of his vision and he snapped his head towards it, coming face to face with the very sign. It looked older than it had the last time he gazed upon it, the edges of the paint peeling off the sides, the gold just a tiny shade lighter from age. He pushed through the crowd, expecting to see her performing but the front of the booth was empty, void of any signs of use. Closed.

He peered through the crowd once more until he squeezed between two tents into the back camp of the circus. He was sure it was her tent, for when he peered through the flap, he noticed several snakes lounging on the simple bed made from a burlap sack. But still, besides the snakes, the tent was empty.

It was then, when he lifted his head out from the tent, that the air began to feel heavy, like that before a thunderstorm. Though when he arched his head back to peer at the sky, it was cloudless and stars glinted like diamonds scattered in dark blue ink. His blood pulsed.

"Silas?" a voice whispered from behind him and a sense of euphoria rushed to greet him as he turned, seeing her face staring right back at him.  

-- 

She knew it was him when she saw a dark cloak slip back behind the booth. It was strangely familiar, making her remember that fateful day at the circus when Silas had come looking for her, looking for the pendant she had stolen from him. She didn't know his name then, but his stormy eyes left such an impression in her soul, that every time during the past four years that she thought of them, her heart skipped and her face flushed red.

She had followed him and his dark cloak, watching from the shadows as he peered into his tent. When she neared, she noticed his shoulders stiffening, like a jolt of lightening had passed through his body, like he could feel the magnetic pull that seemed to draw her towards him. His name tumbled from her lips, one she hadn't spoken in such a long time. She cried whens he had left, cried for days and wished she hadn't decided to wait. But now, after four years she had discovered herself and was sure that he had as well.

When he turned, a gasp emitted from her lips. He looked nearly the same as he did when she last laid eyes on him, but his jawline was more prominent and his shoulders set higher like weight had been lifted. Gone was the sickness of a boy who had forgotten how to forgive and now standing in his place was a man who she had glimpsed a bit of before all those years ago.

He rushed towards her and she towards him and he lifted her into the air as their lips locked together.

And from behind the flap of the tent, Laverne watched contently until he slithered back to his bed. But not before he glanced up at the night sky, knowing Marena looked down upon them too, her eyes bright in the stars.

This was the fate she had seen.