Sacrifice

Sacrifice

What would you be willing to do, to sacrifice to be with the one you love? What would you offer or be willing to give to hold the one you love for just one night. Would you walk through hell, fire, and brimstone for him? Would you die for him? Kill? What would you do to have just one more night with the one true love you will ever have?

The questions pounded through her head as she sat in the darkened vehicle. Questions she had been asked by another. Questions she was now asking herself. What would she be willing to do to be with him again? Even for just one night. The answer was simple. When she had been asked those questions earlier, the answer slid of her tongue without any hesitation. Anything… She would do anything. She would gladly die a thousand painful deaths just to see his face, to feel the warmth of his skin, to feel his arms around her.

They had known that, when they had come for her. Why they had bothered to ask at all she did not know. Nor did she care. Her mind did not think of the price that she may have to pay, it only thought of him. It had been so long, since he passed to the otherworld. So long since she had held him in her arms, and heard his voice. She would give anything, and everything she had just to see him once more.

The vehicles came to a stop, and soon after the doors were opened. The armed guards, whom were dressed in all black, escorted the woman out of the vehicle. The night was dark. The air was like ice. And all around you the smell was like that of fresh rain, despite the fact that the ground was dry and dead. The wind picked up and blew harshly, making it feel as if her pale skin was being whipped by tree branches. Her ivory colored dress fluttered, and if her hands had not been bounded she would have held onto it.

Her elbows were grabbed by the guards and they proceeded to escort her up some old cracked stone steps. Dead leaves from the forest that surrounded the dark building before them twirled around them when picked up by the harsh winds, and her long blonde hair flew into her face.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs the two large wooden doors, which were painted black, pushed open revealing two more guards. Even though she had willingly come with them, they dragged her inside. Not giving her the chance to even try to keep up. The halls of the structure were dark. Lit only by the fire that the two new guards carried as they led the way. The smells were musty, not fresh as it had been outside in the forests. It did not surprise her, for evil called this dark place home. She would do anything for him. Even make a deal with the devil himself.

The corridors seemed to go on and on, and she wondered if they would ever come to the end, when finally they did. At the end laid an open door, which led into a rather large and well lit room. The floor was made of dark stone, as were the walls, thus making the room cold. She shivered as she entered, and glanced around. Sitting high and mighty in their stone seats were the self proclaimed kings. The ones who had brought her to this hell. The ones who had made her an offer she could never refuse. To the right of them, in some sort of mystical cage was her heart and soul. She tried to run towards him, to where he was being held, but was pulled to a stop by the armed guards.

She opened her mouth to call his name yet stopped when she saw one of the king’s get to his feet. Her head turned and her green eyes narrowed as she proceeded to glare at him. He chuckled, which echoed through the stone room, and then walked down the few steps so that he was down on the floor, as she was. The guards tugged on her arms and pulled her forward until she was face to face with the man she hated so. This self proclaimed king of kings. How she wanted to spit in his face. To kill him. For years he had tormented her, hunted her, and then killed the one man she loved.

The Kings son still sat on the throne. His expression was unreadable as he sat there and watched his father go down to confront the woman they had brought here. She was supposed to be his. She had been born, and raised to marry him. She was supposed to become his queen and give him an heir. But instead she fell in love with another. Angered that the woman would dare to betray his son with another man, the King of Kings killed her lover, and had assumed she would do what she was meant to do. Do what they wanted. She never gave into them however. Her hatred for the Kings grew, as did her defiance after they had murdered her lover. Not only had they murdered him, but they had kept his soul trapped as well.

The King of Kings grabbed her by the chin so that she could not look away, and peered into her eyes for a moment. The room was silent, say for the sounds of the guard’s footsteps retreating as they left the room, followed by the sounds of the heavy doors closing behind them. And then the King spoke. “Rhaokja…” The King said, whispering her name with a pleased smile on his face. He knew that he had won. “I was not sure if you would come, after receiving our offer.”

Rhaokja resisted the urge to spit at him, and instead settled for jerking her chin out of his hands. “You lie. You knew that I would come after you sent your son after me.” Her eyes rested on the son for a moment before they moved onto the one she loved. The hate that had filled her eyes only a moment ago vanished, and was replaced with love, sadness, and desperation. “I said I would do anything. I came here to this place,” Rhaokja said, reminding the King, as she turned her eyes back to him. “Live up to your end.”

He chuckled again as he grabbed Rhaokjas arm and dragged her across the room until they reached the prison that held her dead lovers soul. Seeing them come closer he looked up at Rhaokja with sad eyes, and then shook her head hard when he realized that it was indeed her.

“What would you do, Rhaokja, to set your lover free?” The King asked. His smile grew when she looked at him with surprise. She had come for a night with the man she loved, but the King knew he would have to offer more if he were to get her to agree to what he wanted from her. “What would you do to have one last night with him, and to set his soul free from this prison?”

Rhaokja stared at him with uncertainty for a moment, and wondered if this were some sort of trick. They had imprisoned her lover to humiliate him, yet were now offering to set him free. It was something more valuable than just one last night. It was more valuable than anything to ever exist, than every dream one could have. It was a chance for him to rest in peace. “I would do anything,” Rhaokja promised.

Her lover screamed no and clawed and hit his prison, but it was too no avail. While their words could be heard by him, his own fell onto deaf ears, for no sound could be heard coming from inside the prison.

“Let him be free, give us the one night, and I will do whatever you wish of me,” Rhaokja said, repeating her vow to do whatever she had to for the man she loved.

A satisfied grin crept upon the faces of both Kings. Indeed they had won. She was broken, and would do everything that they asked of her. She would not dare to refuse them, not with what they had just offered her. The King of Kings grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to turn to face his son as he spoke. “You will take his place in the prison of souls. It will be trapped in the very box that holds your lovers soul now.”

The prison must be filled with either a soul, or the promise of one to come. It could not go without either one. She had known this yet it had never occurred to her that she may be the one who would have to fill it one day. Would she do it? Sacrifice her in life and after death to free the man she loved? Yes, she would. The exchange for her own soul would not change her answer. She knew that, just as they had.

And they did know her answer, even though she had not yet spoken. As the King peered into her eyes, he could see it. There was no conflict going on within her green eyes. It made him, and his son smile, as he released his hold on her. Her lover was still screaming at deaf ears from within his prison as Rhaokjas bounds were released. “Agreed?” The King asked, demanding an actual answer. The mystics needed to hear her agree.

“I agree,” Rhaokja stated. “I will give you my freedom, for his, and take his place within the prison.”

“So let it be done,” The King said in a booming voice. A blue flash of light shot down from the ceiling, touched both Rhaokja and her lover, and then they vanished. Where they went, only the love god himself knew. Taken to a place where those who truly loved each other went for the last night.

The King of Kings son frowned, and then turned his angry and frustrated eyes towards his father. “We should not have promised a last night. We should have killed her and been done with it.”

“It was the only way she could be lured out of where ever she was hiding,” The King reminded his son as he crossed the room, and returned to his throne chair. “And our words must be kept. You know the penalty for if we do not keep them.”

The son muttered under his breath. With all the power they had, they had to keep to their word, or the power they hold would be lost. The mystics would abandon them, as would their god. And because of that the two he hated with such fury got to be together again, just so he could get his revenge. “The exchange would have been enough,” The son spat.

His father bothered not to reply in words, and just merely shrugged. He knew the offer of exchange would have brought the girl out, but he wanted to punish his son as well. He thought of his son as weak, for not staking claim in the girl and forcing her to marry him, for pouting about her love for another man. If it had been him, rather than his son, he would have forced the girl to marry him and make her forget her lover. Not whine about it and let it happen, as his son had. He hoped that the last night would make his son remember that.

And now they had nothing to do but wait. The last night had begun, and the girl would not be returned by the love God until the sun rose…

The air smelled like that of a mid summer morning. It warmed their skin, and made them feel free and alive. The walls around them looked like they had been carved with pearls. An off white shine, and smooth, as well as warm. The engravings and carvings were beyond elegant. The words were words of love. It was if they had been brought to a piece of heaven.

Rhaokja sighed and turned to the man she had given her heart to. Her pale and delicate hand reached up and softly touched the side of his face. He turned his sad eyes upon her, and wanted to scold her, lecture her, for what she had done. He had made her promise to run and hide, before he had died, yet here she was, sacrificing herself for his soul’s freedom.

“My love, do not be angry with me. Would you not do the same, if it had been me?” Rhaokja asked, seeing what he was feeling. She knew him too well.

He took her hand, the one that had touched his face, kissed it gently, and then tried to smile, yet failed. “You should not have done so, Rhao. One day in the place seems like ten years. You are young, beautiful, and deserve to live and happy and fulfilling life.”

“My life is meaningless without you in it, Ardris.” Rhaokja told him.