The Tower

     Anna bit her lip as Liam jumped onto the remains of a stumpy stone wall to end his lecture and leave his visitors to their own devices. Had an hour passed? Time seemed disjointed somehow, and she suddenly felt light-headed as she watched Liam posture, giving a final sweep of his arm and thrusting his chest out, proclaiming the greatness of his home, the Tower of London.  Anna clapped loudly with the others and lingered noncommittally afterwards with those waiting to take pictures with the magnetic Yeoman. She was suddenly aware that she had no camera with her and thus had no reason to be there when Liam turned to her and drew her in close for a shot. He smiled warmly down at her, “And where might you be from, my lady? One of our colonies, perhaps?”

     Anna laughed, “America.”

     “Ah now, see, if you would have paid your taxes you might have had all of this!”

     “I would take it”” Anna cried eagerly. She looked up into his eyes earnestly, “I should like to be imprisoned here forever!”

     “Really?” Liam grinned wickedly, running a hand across his neatly-trimmed beard, “Perhaps I could accommodate you!  Here, now come in closer, and we will take get the picture.”

     He put his arm around Anna’s shoulder and pulled her close. He was solid, like the walls around them, and she found herself running her hand covetously across his muscular back.

    “Just give that man over there your camera, and he can take the photo for you.”

    “Oh!” Anna was startled out of the moment. She looked up into his face, embarrassed, “I . . . I forgot it.”

    “But, it was well worth it anyway though, wasn’t it?” the yeoman chuckled, giving her a squeeze.

     A quiver ran through Anna as she smiled up winsomely at him and stepped away reluctantly as he as he turned to the next tourist. She wondered at the sudden burst of energy flowing through her and turned her eyes to the top of the White Tower. Something there made her stop in her tracks. Certainly she saw nothing, but she felt herself transfixed by a small slit of a window in what she believed to be her favorite room in the Tower, an elongated room with thick columns, believed to have been a chapel. The sun was low, and no shadows were cast, but she felt a chill run through her in the cool afternoon, a cold tingle that slid beneath her clothes and ran its icy fingers across her skin. It was some time before she could move from the spot.  When she did, she was aware of Lim passing by with a new crowd.

    “You are still with us then? Excellent!” He flashed a smile that removed all chill from her blood as he continued on.

      Anne chided herself again and proceeded to visit the various towers and the chapel.  The sun was setting when she finally made her way to the White Tower. She wanted it to herself and was thankful that the crowds had thinned. She ran her hands lovingly over the stones, absorbing the building’s energy, coveting and caressing it. The air grew warmer as she ascended each narrow, stone stairwell, and soon she was obliged to remove both her cardigan and vest, until she wore only the thin camisole beneath and short skirt accompanying it. Her shoes tapped and echoed across the empty chambers, as she climbed higher until walls around her and the stone and timbre below her were her only realities.

    Anna stopped and blinked. She had somehow arrived at the coveted chapel, though she hardly remembered how she had gotten there. She stood dumfounded in the doorway, listening to a whispery breeze in her ear. Something pushed and pulled at her mind, urging her to quicken her pace across the room towards the altar at the far end.

     The room was as she remembered it, with its heavy silence and the thick white pillars creating a narrow corridor down the center of the room. Anna ignored the ineffectual rope barriers and slowly made her way between the towering columns, drifting at a processional pace toward the makeshift altar at the end of the room.  As she approached the altar, she felt a hand smooth her long, dark hair, and the buzzing in her mind settled into a soft whisper, murmuring unintelligible words.