Respect is earned.
Honesty is appreciated.
Trust is gained.
Loyalty is returned.
And Lust....
Lust is certain
Dust motes swirled around as the sunlight flooded down in slanting shafts from the high windows above. The tapestry fluttered as light gusts of wind swept through it, it was of a dark shade and woven by the first monks who had walked the Abbey a century ago.
Antonio stood in front of the tapestry, his hands were interlocked in front and his gaze never left the fabric that hung on the wall. His hair ruffled as the wind's light gusts suddenly turned heavier. His eyes flickered to the open window and back to the tapestry, he seemed present but he wasn't for his mind had wandered far probably to a certain girl who used to walk and run in the same room he currently stood in.
The Sacred hall
It was in this same place that they held their prayers.
Cyane was young then barely five years old, she was filled with strength and had a child like spirit. Sometimes when she knew that she was in trouble she would come to the sacred hall to hide behind one of the doors there.
She would pretend not to hear him call out to her and when she thought that he was gone then she would make her appearance out of the door only to be seen by him.
She had stopped writing like she had promised to, had only written for three times and that was the end of it.
In her last letter, she had written to him about a tournament and how she was going to register for it, she had showed interest to work during the tournament and had also talked about getting paid too.
He couldn't tell her not to do anything since he wasn't present with her even if he did tell her not to, the letter would take time to get to her and he was sure that by then she would have been registered.
Whenever he received a letter from her, he would picture her sitting down at a table to draft it and then he would smile at that thought and each time he caught a whiff of her scent on the it.
In those moments he wondered how she fared and how his sister was too.
Cyane had told him about his nephew Boris and he was overjoyed to have learned about the boy.
It had been years since he had gotten any word from Rane and when an opportunity finally came, the letter was directed towards Cyane's departure from the village.
He missed yelling Cyane's name in the east house and he couldn't deny that he was fond of her after all they had spent twenty one years together.
He turned once he realized that he wasn't alone anymore in the sacred hall, that someone else had joined him there.
"Has she written again?"
Antonio shook his head and Seden patted him at the back, "She would write soon, don't worry"
"I know"
"Well, it's almost time for prayers and brother Ardal may or may not have plucked pomegranates this morning" Seden opted to lighten the mood.
That was enough to have Antonio looking in his direction.
"And I may or may not have saved one for you"
Antonio grinned, "Where?"
They walked out of the Sacred hall together walking past their brethren who cleaned the floors and windows. In the monastery, there was division of labour and all abided by it. They passed a door constructed from pine. The handle of the door was barely slanted and the room it guarded was used for important meetings concerning the Abbey.
Behind the door, three people sat in front of a table with a little pot placed before them and they argued like they had been doing for the past hour.
"We need to send it immediately–" A man spoke, he like every other monk had bald hair and had come far in age, slightly wrinkled and could barely see.
"No, we don't, we said it would be ready in three days, so we should send it in three days time"
The second man interrupted, he was in his middle forties and had been in charge of producing the antidote. He supervised everything that went on during the production process and had even rushed the monks in the process. The antidote became ready three days before the said date, "What do we do?" He looked to the third person present in the room hoping that his advice could help them settle the case, "What do we do, Abbot?"
Luc, who had been quiet all along as the two argued finally broke his silence,"We could have sent it if this was a different case but this is the King that we are talking about, as much as I want to see him alive, I do want him to suffer a bit. The wolves had always had the upper hand in the society, they should know what it feels like to have their lives in the hands of humans"
"Abbot, I do hope you know what you are doing? This is not what the monastery stands for? This is not the way of the heavens" The first man, Eoghan tried to intervene again, he knew what would happen if what they were to do was later found out by the public, "If the Royals get to know about this, it wouldn't end well with us"
"They wouldn't find out, we just have to deliver it three days later like we had said besides they trust our word" The second man still held onto his word, he believed that the royals needed to suffer a bit.
"Abbot please think about this, we have already finished the antidote long before the said date, if we act now the chances of saving the King's life is high"
"He could still be saved three days later" The young man, Cahir, spoke with so much courage, one would believe that he had a personal vendetta against the Royals.
"Cahir is right, The king could still be saved three days later, Eoghan" The Abbot's tone was rough, it signified the end of the argument.
"Since you have made your decison–" Eoghan stood up from his chair, the chair made a long drag sound as he stood up and walked to the window, on it was placed a bowl of water. He got there then dipped his hand inside the water and began washing them,"I wash my hands off this. Whatever you want to do Abbot, know this, that my hands are clean"
The Abbot watched him from the corner of his eyes and they darkened as the man walked away from the room.
"Should we still go ahead with the plan?" Cahir was still eager to know the next line of action, as much as he was a servant of the King, he despised the way their kind had been treated. They were treated even worse than the animals.
"Yes"
"What do we do about brother Eoghan?
The Abbot watched the door that Eoghan had left from, If he knew that there would be a disagreement in their plan then he wouldn't have brought Eoghan into the meeting. It was a shame to have to watch brother Eoghan die a mysterious death.
~*~
"I have to say it again, I'm glad you came" Allie smiled as she walked side by side with Cyane, she had called Cyane out for a stroll.
Carac followed them but he fell four metres behind. He was in a close range at the same time to be able to protect the women, "I didn't think you would want to come not after what happened last time"
"Oh, it's nothing, I should be the one apologizing, I didn't know about you until, I, I, He never mentioned you to me"
"It's ok Cyane, I like you by the way"
Cyane blushed from hearing Allie tell her that she fancied her. She had never made friends with the upper class and she was happy with the fact that she might probably get to have one,"Thank you"
Allie laughed at Cyane's reaction, "You don't really have much friends, do you?"
"I have Malina"
"Malina? Who's that?"
"A girl that I have known ever since I was little, we grew up together"
"Malina, huh? I would love to meet her"
Cyane was blown away by Allie's sweet gestures "I'm sure she would love to meet you too"
"I bet"
They walked for a while before they came to a corner and then came out into the royal garden. Cyane was stunned at what she saw and wondered how many more beautiful things the castle had yet to reveal to her. To Allie, it wasn't so surprising since she was used to so much luxury at a young age.
A movement from the corner caught her eye, she hadn't expected to see Levi there and when she thought she could take a step back without being seen their gazes locked. She slowly lowered her head and turned to leave with Allie who followed right behind her.
"He frequents the garden a lot" Allie spoke from right beside her, she had caught up with Cyane's pace. Cyane had felt she was intruding into Levi's space and had wanted to leave the place immediately.
Carac followed still falling four metres behind to give the women their privacy to chat.
"There's nothing to be worried about, Levi has a loving nature unlike Leondre, he wouldn't see it that way" Allie tried to calm Cyane down but Cyane's heart had skipped a beat once Allie mentioned Leondre and Allie didn't fail to notice it.
It only sparked her interest more but she didn't want to bring up the matter just yet.
She smiled to herself for having figured out Cyane's crush on the future king,"Levi would overlook it" She continued
"Ok"
Allie smiled, she had caught Cyane in a fish net, "Cyane"
Cyane hummed in reply.
Allie looked behind her as though to remind herself that they were not really alone.
"Carac, could you leave us please?"
"I'm sorry, Lady Allie but I don't take orders from you and I was told not to leave Lady Cyane's side for any reason""
"Cyane?" Allie turned to Cyane, if there was anyone that Carac was going to listen to, it was her "Could he leave for few minutes?"
Cyane hesitated, she wanted to be alone with Allie but at the same time she didn't want to put her life in danger, she thought over the issue for a second then decided to go with the first, "Carac, please leave us for some time, you could hang around the place, we won't go too far"
"But my lady–" He tried to persuade Cyane, if she knew what he would face then she wouldn't want to dismiss him so easily but he gave in, "Of course Miss" then he walked away leaving the women alone.
"Cyane, have you ever being with someone before?"
"Yes, Malina, my friend"
Allie arched an eyebrow at her response, she was shocked to hear what Cyane had to say. She knew that Cyane was a monk but she didn't know that her body was curious, "We are together most of the time"
Allie was wrong, she had thought too soon, "I don't mean in that way Cyane"
"What do you mean then?"
"I mean, have you–" She drew closer to Cyane, her hand reached for Cyane's, she trailed Cyane's hand with her finger from the knuckles to the elbow then she stopped and outlined a small circle around it, "Ever–" Cyane began taking slow but deep breaths and watched as Allie continued the trail up to her neck then stopped right underneath her ear, "Being with someone in the family way?"
Cyane finally understood what she meant but she couldn't say she was scared but not for Allie but of what she was trying to do. She slowly shook her head and Allie smiled.
"I could help you out, that is if you do want to know what to do about your feelings"
Cyane's heart skipped another beat, "I don't know what you are talking about"
Allie laughed again and played with Cyane's hair before letting go of it, "How long has it been?"
"About what?"
"Those feelings"
"I don't know what you are talking about"
Cyane lied. She knew what Allie was talking about, the way she watched Leondre when he wasn't looking, stealing loving glances at him. How she felt bad whenever he was cold to her. She couldn't tell how or when it started but she knew that she felt somehow around him. The feelings were unusual, she had never had them before and they felt foreign to her. Whatever it was she didn't like it, it was distracting her.
"Liar" Allie chuckled, "I can see through you Cyane"
Cyane leaned away from Allie and moved two steps away then she pivoted and pointed towards the garden, "That's a very lovely flower, too bad it's alone"
Allie knew Cyane was trying to deviate from the topic, "Yes it's a lovely flower but not as lovely as your heart"
"What do you mean?"
"It's ok Cyane, we are both women and as women we crave something or sometimes someone more than ourselves"
Cyane remained speechless, she couldn't tell how long she was going to keep putting up with her, "Lady Allie, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I could help you out with it" she drew closer to Cyane, her body touched Cyane's, their lips barely apart,"I could show you what to do and how to do it"
Her finger trailed Cyane's neck and Cyane reacted immediately, drawing back from her, "I know you are chaste and haven't been with a man yet but I could tell you how it's done or perhaps even show you"
"I'm not interested in such things, my lady"
Cyane lowered her head, she desperately wanted to get away from Allie and her disturbing questions.
"Cyane" Allie's voice was much slower and softer, She drew closer to Cyane, "We would go at your own pace, no need to rush" then she leaned away,"I'll be retiring to my chambers, it was nice talking to you"
She retreated leaving Cyane alone, Carac on seeing Allie walk past him took that as his cue to finally go to Cyane. Her face which had been flushed was now masked up. She couldn't give out any clue that she had been affected by Allie's request no matter how absurd they sounded.
But her mind had sparked up at what she could possibly teach her. Her uncle had never told her anything and although few times she had wondered how it felt whenever she watched Malina and Caine.
The few times Malina had told her about it, she had spent a long time thinking but didn't for once try anything.
She lay on her bed turning round and round, trying to get some rest with the short break she was given before she finally admitted that an afternoon nap wasn't going to haopen. She opted to go to Allie's room with an excuse that she had forgotten something the last time she had been there and Carac as usual walked her there.
"Wait here" She told him the moment they arrived.
"Yes Miss"
If he bowed, she didn't notice because her attention was on what she was about to do and if it was worth it.
When she entered Allie's quarters, Allie came to meet her and received her warmly, "You are here"
"I am"
"Please sit" she offered her a seat which Cyane took.
Cyane began to worry if what she was doing was right, "Is there anything you would like for me to offer you?"
Allie knew what she was doing, to get something, you needed to take slow steps.
"No"
"Alright"
"I want to know what you want to tell me" Cyane averted her gaze from Allie's
Allie chuckled, "What do I want to tell you?" She feigned ignorance.
"About–" Cyane found it difficult to say what it was, "Nevermind" She stood up to leave but Allie held her hand halting her movement.
"I was playing Cyane, I do want to tell you but I would rather prefer to show you"
"Why don't you tell me?"
"It's better if it was shown"
"What do you mean?" Cyane's head wrinkled in confusion
"What I mean is, I would show you on the condition, that we wouldn't be alone"
"What and Who is the other person?"
Allie smiled, "Reuel"
"What do you mean?"
"This might be new to you but not to us and I tend to share with him"
"I still don't get you"
"Ok" She took a deep breath,"What I'm saying is, You, me and Reuel together" she released her breath," But intimately"
Cyane gasped