Chapter 6

[1750 B.C.]

He was still there when I woke up, and he was still there the next night and the next.

He was always there when my eyes opened, his fingers touching my skin with an almost theatrical care. It was different from history, it was almost the complete opposite, and I could remember Asra's words perfectly.

He did not come to see me that night, and the next night he did not come either. After Azrael came to my room and took Callisto with him, I did not see the king for many, many days. At least until I walked through the garden and came across him and a beautiful girl one night with a crimson moon, talking in front of the blood fountain.

He was smiling.

That was the moment Asra knew that she had lost Callisto. That nothing could bring him back into her arms, because Elaine could give him something she could not: a love beyond physical touch. A love like that of his first wife.

Pure, friendly, and that pushed him to be someone better.