Survive As The Brute's Wife

"What did that young man do?" Felixa asked. She had a feeling that the maiden's tragedy must be caused by that young man.

"The young man was not pleased with her change of heart. He gave her promises of grandeur if she leaves the tree. But the maiden's heart changed by then. She decided not to go with the young man anymore. The tree needed her. The young man got angry by her refusal and filled with desperation and jealousy, he asked his men to cut down the tree and forcibly take the maiden," Flavia took in a deep breath.

Felixa raised her eyebrows and leaned forward as she got more excited to know more.

"The maiden saw the tree getting chopped off under the command of the young man she loved. She saw the cruelty of the man looking at the tree and wanted it destroyed. She stared at his cruelty and she felt something getting untied inside her. Filled with love for the tree, she stared at the cruelty directed at the vulnerable tree, and she mirrored the cruelty. She screamed and the earth shook. The sky darkened and the men holding the axes dropped them as they cannot bear her scream.

The young man couldn't bear her scream and ran to her to apologize. But before he had a chance, the maiden picked up an ax and stuck herself down. The young man watched as her blood turned into white crystalline roses and fell on the ground like snowflakes. The tree saw the maiden dying and he shed tears of red. The red from His flowers fell on the white crystalline roses making the roses red. 

'Go back,' she whispered in her last breath to the young man who held her.'You will never get me', she said. 'I shall not watch the tree suffer.' And she closed her eyes in the embrace of the young man…The earth became calm, the skies stayed gloomy and her breathing stopped."

"She died?" Felixa asked, her throat getting heavy with sorrow. "Not saying a word to the tree?"

Flavia nodded. "The young man saw what he did. The withering tree and the dead woman and he realized that he loved the woman truly. But his pride and greed made him not see the love he had for her. He was the one who pushed her to this. He repented but there was no way to even ask for forgiveness. He couldn't contain his despair. His chest hurt unable to bear the remorse and he curled on the ground. Holding the hand of the dead maiden he loved, he closed his eyes…

A drop of his tear that was filled with remorse mixed with the blood-red rose that contained the maiden's resentment and the tree's pain. That ground was cursed by the strong emotions left by those three, making the soil dark and the air stale. Any animal that came in contact with the ground got attacked by the strong negative emotions and darkness took over them, turning them into monsters."

Flavia took in a deep breath seeing Felixa bowing her head. "Isn't their love heartbreaking?" She asked Felixa and Felixa bit her lips.

"What good is remorse after he hurt her?" Felixa asked. "I feel bad for the tree. He never got to tell her what he felt. And Flavia," she looked at her. "Who do you think the maiden loved when she died?" she asked. 

"The maiden?" Flavia stared at her for a while. "I always thought that the one person she loved was the young man. What she had for the tree was affection and was not love. For her, that tree was her family. But the tree loved her truly and as the young man was late to realize, he did too…"

{Lies! Fatty lies! Everyone lies! Everyone betrays! Even she… Even she…}

Felixa heard a low grumble of someone in a similar way she hears the cat's voice – in her mind. and She looked around to find out who is talking. She couldn't figure out from where the sound comes from, But she saw the translucent bird at the distance.

[What do you know, bird?]

She thought in her mind hoping that the bird could hear it.  But the bird disappeared and she wondered if the bird didn't hear her.

[Lies… So this story does have some truth to it… And it involves me.]

"Flavia, how did you know this story?" she asked. "Where did this myth originate?"

"This myth? I heard this particular myth originated from the writings of the Great King," Flavia said. As she said that she realized that a lot of things this girl is curious about are connected to the Great King.

[Him again? He wrote this story..? So did he find me for my powers? What powers did I have? Remorse? Did he really feel remorse? Ugh! Why can't I remember any of it?]

Flavia saw Felixa seeming to be forlorn and in her own thoughts and stood up. She fixed her hair and stayed silent as Felixa sat there in deep thoughts. She's been like that a lot these days. She could see that this little girl has her heart filled with worries and insecurities. Often she acts like she doesn't even belong here.

She should be pitying her but she feels more than pity for this girl. Because this girl is not pitiful. She has more to her. She probably might be dangerous.

But still, she loved her.

And Maximus is weirdly attracted to this girl. She wouldn't blame him or this girl for that. They are connected by the Aion Stone and no one knows how that magic works.

As Maximus entered the room, Flavia left the room.

Maximus saw Felixa staring at the floor mindlessly not even realizing he entered the room. He wondered if she is thinking about Arioch. And he didn't like that feeling.

He had watched her turn her back at him in their past life. It was his fault. He would never blame her for turning her back at him. He didn't have the strength to handle her rejection once more.

"Lexa," he gently placed his hand on her head.

He feared she'd tremble upon his touch. That's why he avoids touching her not to surprise her. That day when she trembled as if he was blaming her for stealing food still makes his heart hurt.

"Max!" Felixa got up and helped him undress. She wondered how long he was standing beside her.

"I am yet to take a bath. Wait for me," he said and walked to the door. "Do you want to join me?" he asked stopping by the door.

Felixa wondered if she should answer him 'Yes'. But seeing the smug smile she hated on his face, she refused. With his usual chuckle, Maximus left the room.

Felixa walked to the table to see the books Maximus brought her the other day. She drew out a random book from the stack and as Maximus said that book was filled with pictures with no need for reading.

But the pictures were all different. It was not like the art pieces they had hung in the hallways and rooms. There were pictures of men and women but they were all mostly naked or sparingly clothed. And one particular picture attracted her more and she took a careful glance at that picture. A naked man was above a naked woman on a bed and it was…

[What is that stick between the legs..? That woman looks very… pleased and the man looks at her like…]

Felixa felt her body getting warm and she fanned herself with her hand.

[Why is it suddenly getting warm here?]

She stared at that picture once more.

[Is it the picture's fault?]

She turned the pages. One page had a man kissing the woman's breasts and the woman's back was arched and her toes curled.  She felt a tingling feeling in her abdomen, making her throat dry.

[What is this weird feeling? Isn't this the same feeling I get when Max is kissing me? Maybe it is this book's fault…]

She placed the book back on the table and decided not to look at that particular book again. She walked back to the bed but her eyes ended up at the table once more.

[Well, It's not like I hate that feeling. It is a little painful, but it is making me feel good too. I should learn more about it. And so it is not wrong to check the other books…]

Curiousity got the better of her and she walked back to the table. She pulled another random book and opened it with many expectations. But she was a lot disappointed seeing the weird drawings and weird writings on that book.

She took a quick glance at that book wondering if there might be some hidden pictures she liked there but there was none. So she kept that book aside and picked another book. This book had the same weird wrinting and symbols that seemed like magic circles.

After checking five to six books that seemed to be not what she expected to be, she picked the first book she took that she was sure contained the pictures she wanted to have a closer look at.

She opened a random page and that was when she heard the door open.

Her heart skipped a beat as if she was doing something wrong and she threw the book under the table.