CHAPTER 5

"For every flower that burns in the shade of evil, a bud is born with chaos as its closed petals and darkness as its stem, the very root of the beauty is poison Azarios, tell me...are you willing?" Lilith asked the same question Azarios had asked her some moments ago, the beast smiled in bliss, she hated the idea of entering Ambrose, the very cause of the destruction and devastation of her lands in Gaerin and if he took her in, there were chances that the journey would not be smooth, it wasn't a far fetched idea that she might rebel too but he would take his chances. "Willing, but remember little demon, once you agreed there is no going back. If you betrayed me, I will tear out the skies and sea, every single possible place that exists to find you and once I do that Gaerin will pay for your deeds." He said not to betray himself, never uttering a word about his nation, Azarios did not cared about Ambrose and couldn't care less about making her loyal to the regime of King Alexander. Lilith smiled much to the dismay of Herodoctus who watched her from shadows. "The servant is willing my lord, I hope you keep up the end of your agreement. This maiden is not very good with music and dance but slitting throats while people are asleep is a small skill that I learned all those years ago, hope that's doesn't comes handy someday." "If I needed a consort to dance and sing, I would have chosen some princess, not a mysterious enemy who owns a prideful Asiatic Lion.....but now that you have warned this general, one is going to bind you to the bed while sleeping." A ferocious roar resonated throughout the campsite. The inky lion seemed to understand Azarios' words, the core intentions and it did more damage than good. "Accepted." HERODOCTUS-- Pronunciation: Harow-doc-tus ____________________________ A war prisoner was bestowed with a golden seal of Generals order, a power to command and rule as she wished. Her cocoa hair like the spider silk from the depths of the Northwestern mountains was brushed softly making it glimmer in the soft rays that seeped inside the tent. Black kohl brushed the rims of her honey glazed irises making them appear seductive, a serenity present in the moment with a beauty so devastating that it could ruin cities and bring war to ones homeland if looked a moment too long to last an eternity. The ladies in waiting given to the mistress to be, gushed about the magnificence of Lilith. With grace and softness of skin that seeped ones bones and a voice blessed by the song of the ripple waterfalls of the Western valleys she defined the rumors which not did enough justice to her name. It was talked in the whole nation that even the stoic and stone hearted beast was unable to withstand her charm and the fate could not be stopped it was destined that she became his official wife. "This slave hopes that the General consort has a liking to her wedding dress and the mistress deems the slave worthy enough to help her adorn the garments selected." Daisy, the youngest of the three maidens granted, bowed her head when Lilith gave half a smile in return, giving the girl permission to proceed. Daisy and Lily felt happy in their heart, their origins were extremely humble and the opportunity to display their loyalty and devotion to the masters were not to be missed in any case. The dresses they wore were conservative and light, still made up of good quality material indicating their maiden status. They were pretty, young and with Lilith's grace and favour one day they might get married to some soldier or a scholar. Daisy had her mother working as a simple lower class maid in the palace while Lily's brother appointed as a solider made them have no strong backing like the third lady Reginia who belonged to a wealthy merchant family in east countryside. With stars in her eyes and ambition of being Empress maid in her heart, Regina did not felt happy in her heart as she was given to Lilith but instead of creating chaos and ruining her reputation and name, the woman stayed quiet and worked. Her clothes although no match with Lilith were still of high quality and her talents much more superior that the other two girls made her a worthy lady maid. She helped the gown onto her Mistress's body and could not dare deny in her heart that she indeed was a rare gem. The royal azure gown with seven layers flowed like a water borne flower on the skin of Lilith with its origins having a soft shade that receded to darker depths with higher contrasts at bottom. The jade carved fingers trembled when Lilith saw herself in silver mirror kept infront of her and the façade of calm silence broke with her expressive eyes that were a hurricane of unjust emotions. Eighteen years and three months old, what did she know about marriage and life? What were the things she was aware of......nothing, absolutely none and yet here she was being the bride of her enemy who made her mind swirl with unkempt thoughts. "Our mistress has an aura of the rare moonstone flower that blooms once in the century. Master General gave our grace the greatest of the treasures." Once the hair was half braided by Reginia with blood sapphires encrusted in them, a crown made up of fiery crimson emeralds was placed upon her head signifying that the woman had accepted a man and given the complete control of her mind, body, soul to him. That she was his wife already. It was usual in the empire that groom gave their brides a headdress of red magnolia flowers but with one move the entire nation would be aware that the Beast considered his wife as precious as those gems on her head and not some petty flowers that could get ruffled with a little wind and rain... an epitome of strength and wilderness. The area was heavily guarded by the soldiers of Azarios, none should be able to catch a whiff of the identity of his bride. It was said that she was an orphan and a spy of Azarios whom he had promised to marry after she completed her last mission. Unaware of the swirls of the Palace and Ambrose army, Lilith was deep in though, only when all three of the women bowed down infront of her, keeping her feet on a soft cushion to tie the leather shoes made up from the skin of a blue leopard did the girl realized that it was time. A veil was brought to cover her face and dainty fingers guided her form out of the incased frame of the room only to help her get seated inside the carriage while had eight bulky guards around it in a guarding position bowed down to the mistress. The murmuring and chattering died down, euphonious music played by the singers to begin the ceremony seemed to disappear as a dark stallion with its mane shining in sunlight rode through the people parting their ways for it like deep red sea, its master made the people see the brilliance of thousand suns shining together as his onyx eyes looked straight ahead. Ink black iron with a golden lion carved in the armor made Azarios look regal like a king in its true sense, the blood red crown on his head was made of spikes like frozen ice blazing and thundering. The soft fingers shook as the drapes of the carriage parted a little. Keen, innocent eyes refused to stop gulping his presence like a starved woman, her husband. The net allowed Lilith to see him through a layer of material and the jealousy grew inside her heart, apart from her all the women and men were able to see him.....she would gauge their eyes. He was hers. Her breath hitched with a soft gasp leaving her mouth as she hurriedly left the curtain down as Azarios snapped his eyes to hers seemingly reading her thoughts. _____________ Lilith: you people choose