And then came a rumbling noise. Screams ensued. The princess, through a crack in the fingers she had put over her face, watched as the balcony of the palace collapsed. The king and prince who had stood there fell with it, surrounded by the storm. Rocks and rubble fell over them.
The ground began to shake. The princess looked down. She could see the sand that covered the horizon sinking into ever-widening cracks.
When the ground beneath her feet gave way, the princess found herself floating in the air before she could scream. A familiar ticking noise surrounded her. Above her head was that shadow once more, the same shade that had once given her shelter.
Floating above the crumbling palace, the princess stared as the ship of golden gears leisurely crossed the desert sky.
15
The palace was completely destroyed. Not a single hewn stone in a wall remained where it had been. Once more on the decks of the golden ship, the princess gazed into the haze of dust that had once been the palace.
“This is not the fault of the princess,” a low voice proclaimed, making the planks beneath her feet quake again. “One can break the curse, but it is impossible to cure their blindness from greed. They were always ready to wage another war.”
The princess nodded, shaken. Like the dust cloud below, her thoughts were so foggy that she found it hard to think straight in that moment.
Something cold and moist touched her hand. Startled, the princess turned around.
The master of the golden boat was handing her a goblet of water. The goblet was smaller than the princess’s hand. Despite the hot desert winds that raged around them, the water was as cold as ice, attracting water droplets to the surface of the goblet.
The princess slowly raised the goblet. Her lips touched its rim. Cold water flowed into her.
The goblet may have been smaller than her hand, but it poured forth an endless stream of water. She drank her fill. It seemed like an eternity since she had drunk such cool water. Perhaps it was the first time in her life.
“Stay here,” said the soft voice that rang through the golden decks. “Rule the winds and sands with me, sail above the horizon of time. Until the day the sun and moon shatter and disappear, everything the stars and clouds can reach in this endless realm, it shall all belong to you.”
The princess looked down at the goblet in her hand. She had drunk her fill, but it was full again in the blink of an eye. Water droplets gathered on the goblet again, and the cold moistness in her hand gave her a strangely lovely feeling.
“I wish to live as a mortal,” she finally answered. “I wish to meet a man who is like me, who will cherish and love me as I do him, to have children, to see them grow up and find their own mates and have their own children … That is the life I wish for.”
“There is death at the end of such life.” The master of the wind and sand’s voice was soft.
The princess nodded. “I know. But I will live life fully until my very moment of death.”
The man of the golden ship said, “I cannot give the princess the life of mortals, but I can still promise you a peace and eternity that they do not know.”
The princess smiled. She nodded.
The man’s empty left sleeve began to move. The princess felt a cool and soft breeze brush against her right cheek.
The gears of the golden ship began to creak and turn. As the ship changed course, the teeth of its gears shattered the sunlight into shimmering sparks. With the sun behind it, the golden ship began to slowly cross the desert sky toward the princess’s home, the land of the grassy plains.
Reunion
This love story is for you.
No one asked us, when we weren’t famous
Whether we wanted to live or not
I expected so many things
But didn’t know what I wanted …
I was sitting on the southern side of the plaza. Nursing a mug of cheap mulled wine, the kind they sell everywhere on the streets in the winter. Mulled wine is a European winter drink made of red wine that’s simmered for a long time with spices like cinnamon and cloves. The alcohol evaporates somewhat in the heat, but it’s not entirely boiled away so there’s just enough left over to get drunk on. Which was why sipping this hot beverage in freezing cold weather was making my head spin a little.
“Czy kogo? szukasz?” Are you looking for someone?
I turned my head. He smiled at me.
He opened his arms. I stood up. We embraced. He further greeted me with a kiss on each cheek. Awkwardly, I reciprocated. No matter how glad I was to see someone, greeting with kisses still felt strange to me.
“Mog??” May I? He indicated the seat next to me.