She fled from the castle window,
wondering if the handsome knight had seen her face so fair and enamored. Only a
brief glimpse had she stolen of the unexpected visitor but already her heart
was captured. At his blond hair she marveled, for his sculpted physique she
yearned, and in his brilliant blue eyes she momentarily lost herself, yet when the
knight dared to look in her direction far above, only a silhouette did he see,
a silhouette that cloaked her face and hid the unconscious smile that neither
effort nor desire could restrain. Her smile radiated throughout the room,
filling it with a brightness the afternoon sun could not hope to match. This
man, this stranger who had come into her kingdom, who had come into her life so
unexpectedly did the strangest thing imaginable to this young princess...he
made her smile. He made her happy.
Collecting her thoughts, she retreated
to the vanity opposite the open window of her bedroom and stared into the
looking glass. For the first time that she could remember, the woman whose gaze
met her own wore a smile that showed no signs of diminishing or abating. The
princess took a deep breath to calm herself when she heard a voice behind her.
"When you breathe, all the world is
humbled," a voice, deep and powerful, like boulders tumbling down a cliff
side, coldly stated.
The princess turned around, seeing a
creature before her that looked strange and unfamiliar. Though its torso was like
that of a man, its head resembled a goat with two large horns that spiraled
skyward in opposite directions. Instead of feet, the creature walked on two
hoofs attached to muscular legs that extended upwards and bent backwards at the
knee. Coarse hair like that of some feral beast covered its lower extremities,
yet relented just enough to expose a chiseled midriff before continuing towards
the face, growing longest over the chin. The princess recoiled at the unnatural
sight before asking, "Who are you?"
"My name is Baphomet, an admirer of
all things beautiful," the creature said, reaching out its hand to play
with the princess's soft, dark hair that twirled like ribbons around its
fingers. "So beautiful, yet so oblivious to the power she has over men,
even to their detriment."
The princess retreated and fled to her
bedroom door where she might escape the unwelcome intruder's presence, but
finding that the door would not open she asked, "How did you enter my
bedchamber when the door is locked and bolted closed?"
"Surely there are easier ways into
a woman's bedroom than the proper route she has designated," Baphomet
replied, walking towards her and leaving a trail of hoofed footprints that
extended back to the open window.
"You frighten me with your words,"
the princess conceded with trembling voice.
"Your fear of me is misplaced,"
Baphomet said. "for I am but the second visitor your kingdom has
entertained today who wishes to offer his services." The creature glided
towards the open bedroom window, its feet never touching the floor. It pulled
back the window's curtain and gazed upon the knight far below who rode through
the cheering crowds. "You admire this knight who has just arrived with all
the pomp and unfettered generosity of nobility."
The princess felt her cheeks warm and
begin to turn a soft crimson, causing her to momentarily look away.
"He is indeed handsome,"
Baphomet continued. "and a handsome man will want a woman of exquisite features
at his side, but surely more than beauty alone is required to capture his heart."
"What do you mean?" the
princess asked.
Baphomet smiled, his thin lips curling
upwards to reveal blackened teeth. "The noblest of knights make for the
most discerning of lovers, for their tastes are tempered in equal measure by
their wanderings. Beauty, kindness, and the keenest of intellects form the
crown that must adorn a woman's head if she is to capture the heart of a knight
so captivating as this Robear the Errant. Of these three qualities you possess
but one, in abundance of course, but in solitude nonetheless. Are you really so
vain as to believe that a knight of his stature would settle for a woman of
your inherent deficiencies?"
Such considerations had not yet had time
or reason to be entertained before the princess's still enchanted mind, but as
the weight of Baphomet's indictment began to settle upon her suddenly troubled
conscience she questioned her own justification for ever thinking herself
worthy of the knight's love. "You are right, such a gallant man will never
be mine and true love I shall never know." She covered her face with both
hands and began to weep.
Baphomet drew close to the princess so
that her tears fell within the shadow of his sharpened horns. He placed his arm
around her like a shepherd reining in some lost sheep while the coarse hair of
his neck bristled. "Do not despair sweet princess, for I have come this
day to offer more than mere condolences and empty gestures of sympathy. No,
what I bring you is something far more promising. When I saw you admiring Robear
the Errant from the window my heart was moved with compassion, so much so that
I have taken pity upon your most unfortunate predicament. For this reason I
come offering a balm to soothe your lonely heart."
"You speak in strange riddles,"
the princess managed through her tears. "for I know of nothing to soothe a
lonely heart apart from the taste of true love."
"True love's taste is sweet indeed,
but sweeter still is the elixir that hastens its arrival." Baphomet opened
his hand to reveal a small bottle filled
with a potion black as night. Within its reflection the whole bedroom seemed
enveloped by shadow and the princess's face appeared stretched and contorted
upon the bottle's rounded surface, though Baphomet's face remained quite
unchanged.
"What mysteries are contained
within such a strange bottle?" the princess asked.
"Only the reason for my visitation
dear princess. In this bottle are the keys to your love's heart, an elixir that
will make any man of your choosing fall madly in love with you. After only a
few drops touch your lips, his own are sure to follow."
Her hand reached out to touch the
curious bottle, as if preternaturally drawn by its own accord, before her virtue
caused her to hesitate. "An elixir to steal a man's heart? Such a thing is
not right. I will not force a man to love me, despite my deepest affections for
him."
The princess turned to unlock her
bedroom door and flee from its chambers, but before she reached the entrance
Baphomet raised his arm, causing the locked door to violently swing open and
slam against the adjacent wall. The unexpected crash echoed loudly down the
empty hallway like some forlorn lover crying for her companion. The princess
paused, listening to the lonely echoes that reverberated throughout the castle.
In all her years, those halls had never received a single visitor, nor had her
bed ever been warmed by the body of a man whose love also thawed her heart. She
was alone and afraid...afraid that she always would be gripped by the pangs of
loneliness, never knowing love or happiness.
Without hesitating, she approached
Baphomet and seized the bottle from his hand, preparing to drink its contents
in one decided gulp until he momentarily stopped her.
"A single caution, fair
princess," Baphomet said just before the princess drank. "With the
promise of love there comes also a warning that you would be wise to heed.
Though this elixir will make the man of your choosing fall in love with you,
give your own heart away carefully, for should it ever be broken you will fall
into a deep sleep from which you will never awake."
In the bottle's mirrored surface the
princess could see her own reflection, as only a solitary face stared back upon
her. From the streets below she heard the crowds cheering wildly, chanting the
brave knight's name repeatedly until at last she could stand it no more and
dashed to the open window to see for herself that most desirable of men. She
saw him there, riding tall and proud atop his steed, waving to all the
enthralled spectators as if always they had adored him, until at last he turned
his gaze to her, skyward towards the castle window where the fated lover's eyes
first met. He smiled at her, she smiled back, and thus sealed their fate
forever.
The princess felt several large fingers
curl around her shoulder as a voice whispered in her ear, "Simply say his
name and drink...true love awaits."
"My white knight," she whispered
as the elixir touched her lips.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have a surprise for you Ornela. Until
now I have only told you that I am in love with you, but I am going to give you
something at the conclusion of this story that will show how deeply for you my
love truly runs. This gift is the most precious thing in the world to me, and
as I place it in your hand I do so with no expectations, only the hope that you
will ask me to see you again.
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