The Chimera (Part 4)

Lyonis pushed himself up, gazing down at Cordelia, who lay spread out, naked and reeling in bliss under him. Any anger he had felt toward her had disappeared quickly. The soft, pleading, and desperate want in her teary, light green eyes filled him with pride and only seemed to fuel the passion he felt for her. Her soft, sensitive body reacted so beautifully to his touch that she had successfully melted away any frustration that lingered in him.

Beads of sweat had collected over her porcelain skin, and her chest rose and fell quietly as sleep consumed her, exhausted and spent. Her long black hair cascaded around her in tempestuous messy waves, her flushed pink cheeks, her swollen lips, and skin decorated with crisscrossing scars reminded Lyonis of a warrior goddess. The sight of such a fine woman laying asleep in his bed pulled at his heart. If he had his way, she would lay there, just like that, forever. The hammering of rain on the wood of the ship seemed to mimic the downpour of love that washed over him.

Part of him worried he may have pushed her too far that evening. He knew that her apprehension and obvious traumatic past made her cautious, and he had planned on taking things slow with her. But in frustration and anger, he acted impulsively, giving into his own primal desire. He couldn't help but want to tease and torture her as payback for hurting his feelings. With her power, he knew that Cordelia could've stopped him with force is she really wanted. The fact that she had let him ravage her so unabashedly only seemed to solidify her own desire for him.

But as her words echoed in his ears, "I'm begging you, Lyo. My love... Please..." Remembering the hopelessness and anguish in her voice, her frantic needing touch, he almost felt bad for taunting her so much. Lyonis felt himself grow hard again at the fresh memory as if his body wasn't satiated enough. It felt like he would never be able to fill his hunger for her. Now that he had tasted her, he would always be starving for her.

Standing slowly from the bed, he grabbed a washbin, threw open the door and walked naked out into the rain hoping the cool downpour would help clear his head. He placed the washbin on the red deck, letting the sky fill the bowl with fresh, clean water. Closing his eyes, he turned his head up toward the dark billowing sky. The storm, while heavy with rain, wasn't angry. The sky cried peacefully, cleansing the broken earth with serene cooling rain, falling like a heavy blanket from the quiet sky. It seemed to mimic the storm inside him. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Lyonis couldn't remember the last time he felt so at ease. He stood there, letting the rain wash him.

Turning to look inside his quarters, the orange glow radiated from the open door, and he spotted Cordelia's naked sleeping body laid out on his bed. The sight coaxed him back inside like a portal opening into paradise. He grabbed the washbin, now full of clear liquid, and walked back inside. Drying himself with a small towel, he walked over to the bed, sat on the edge, the bowl of water in his lap. Dunking the towel in the bowl, he wrung it out before carefully wiping Cordelia's body, cleaning the sweat and stickiness from her skin. Grey-green eyes fluttered open at his touch, smiling as her eyes met his. "Lyo..." She whispered at him, lifting a shakey arm to caress his cheek.

"Shhhh... Go back to sleep." Lyonis coaxed her with his words. She closed her eyes and let her hand fall back into the bed. Her fingers rubbed his thigh in slow, even movements, slowing as sleep caught back up with her.

A deep contented sigh left her lips. "Don't leave...." While he was sure her words were only meant to keep him in bed, they sent spikes through his heart. Gresas would eventually call him back across the ocean, away from her. But he refused to think about that right now. He finished wiping her down and dumped the bowl of water outside before returning to the bed, climbing in next to her, and pulling a blanket over the both of them. Wrapping her up in his arms.

"Lyo... Stop leaving... Please don't go..." Cordelia repeated herself as she snuggled into him, still half-asleep.

"Shh... sleep now, my love." He ran his fingers in small, repeating circles along her back, inviting sleep to take her once again. The sound of the rain mixed with the sound of her quiet breathing, the comfort of thier naked bodies pressed together, lulled Lyonis to sleep.

...

Cordelia buried her face into a pillow as consciousness pulled her from her dreams. Moving her legs, she felt them wrapped together against something warm and familiar. Shifting her body in the warm bed, she felt stiff. Her body felt tired and weak, but not in a bad way. A heavy hand rested on the back of her head, rubbing her hair gently.

"Good morning, my love." Lyonis's husky voice reached her ears, and she looked up from clinging to the pillow. He was sitting in bed next to her, an open book resting on his lap, one of her legs draped across his leg as she cocooned him with her body. Memories of thier night together flooded her head, and she felt her ears grow red. Lyonis flashed her a dashing smile and amber eyes filled with warmth for her, "Did you sleep well?" Leaning over her, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Cordelia laughed. It was the best sleep she had in years. "Yes. I slept great." Rolling over, she stretched, feeling her stiff muscles lengthen and loosen as blood flowed through them. A deep contented sigh left her lips as she settled back into the warmth of the bed, closing her eyes and taking in the musty scent of the room.

"How do you feel?" There was concern in his voice as Lyonis threw the book he was reading onto the floor, rolling over and gathering her in his arms.

"Hmm... Sore... But I've felt worse." Cordelia's skin tingled as Lyonis pushed his body up next to hers. Rough fabric of the pants he wore brushed her bare backside. It dawned on her that she was still very naked and couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed by her shamelessness. Seeing the room lit up with warm sunshine, Cordelia shot up quickly, "Oh my gosh! What time is it?"

"Doesn't matter..." Lyonis reached toward her encouraging her to lay back down but she shot him an irritated glare.

"Who will open the store today?!"

"Nobody...." Lyonis chuckled, "I think everyone will be just fine without you for a single day. Stay with me..." But she felt conflicted, and she fidgeted, looking around the room for her clothes. They lay in a torn, crumbled mess on the floor. "Cordelia... my love. Stay with me. If only for today." Seductive, soft words coaxed her back, and giving in, she slumped back into bed. Celebrating his victory, Lyonis buried his face into the skin of her neck and inhaled deeply, kissing her bare skin.

The two of them laid there for a while in silence, listening to the sound of gulls on the docks flying above the deck of the Chimera. Thier bodies intertwined, thier hands caressing one another softly.

"Lyo..." Cordelia finally spoke. She had been mulling over her thoughts for some time as she ran her fingers through his soft hair. She tried to push the thought away, but it lingered, encouraging her to speak. He grumbled in response, letting her know he was listening. "Why... did you... hmm..." She paused, wondering if she should really ask such an obvious question.

"Go on.... I'm listening." He opened his eyes and looked at her. In thier close proximity and in the light of the sun, Cordelia noticed his amber eyes seemed to be flecked with sparkling shimmering specks of gold. She couldn't help but smile and sighed.

"Why did you pull out of me last night?" Referring to him releasing his seed all over her navel.

Lyonis pulled his eyebrows together in humored confusion as if the answer was obvious, "Cordelia... It would be irresponsible of me to put a child in you. Not only would it be out of wedlock, but... I couldn't leave knowing you potentially carried my child."

She sighed, "I thought so... I appreciate the sentiment but.... just so you know... I...." The words were almost painful to say, but she swallowed the feeling, "I cannot have children." She hoped she was able to keep the comment as free of emotion as possible. She did not want to concern Lyonis.

"What? How do you know?" Concern caused deep creases to furrow between his amber eyes, and his worry filled her with admiration.

"Lyo... I'm over 270 years old...And I am a witch. My body does not work like normal humans. It is just the way of things. Please, don't fret over me. I won't tell you what to do, but you don't need to hold back on my part. I simply wanted to keep you from worrying over unnecessary things." In reality, the reason why she couldn't have children was much more tragic.

...

The Empire craved power and control over all things. When Emperor unified the continent over 500 years ago, he sought to capitalize on the witches' power, encouraging them to join his army. When it became apparent to him that no witch wished to give up thier freedom for him, he grew desperate. Fearing thier power, he proclaimed by royal decree that witches were dangerous and evil. And as a result, forced many into hiding.

For decades, witches were hunted, round up to be placed in slave camps, or killed without mercy. Thier only salvation from the fear that swept through the land was to serve under the protection of the emperor. Cordelia's mother was one of the first to give herself over to the Empire, helping the Emperor seek out and recruit more of her kind. When they refused, she simply murdered them or placed them into slavery - all under the guise of justified protection of the Empire. Eventually, the number of witches dwindled significantly. In order to protect their lives and thier families, many saw no other choice but to turn themselves in willingly.

Witch children, in particular, were extremely valuable. They were separated from thier families and placed into camps where they were indoctrinated and brainwashed to become loyal to the Emperor and the Emperor alone. He became obsessed with creating a legion of witches loyal to him and ordered all to hunt down and steal away any young witches. Paying exorbitant amounts of money to anyone who brought him a witch child.

However, the conception of magical creatures, of witches, in particular, had remained a complete mystery. Babies could not be conceived in the traditional way, and when Cordelia was born, it had been over 50 years since the last witch child was brought into the world.

By the time Cordelia was recruited into the empire's ranks, the number of witches had grown threateningly low. The countless wars only lessened that number, and in a panic, the Emperor demanded every female witch provide the nation with a baby. Which proved impossible for many - desperate, the Emperor commanded all the female witches to be experimented on.

For ten years, Cordelia was forced to endure hundreds of unspeakable, horrific, and painful tests. For every baby born, four witch females perished during the experiments. After it became apparent the costs far outweighed the risks, the program was canceled. But not after the final experiment. The last ditch effort to harvest a child had been on her. Since she was the strongest and the Emperor's personal favorite, he commanded them to try everything in their power to put a baby inside her.

And there had been one. After her conception, every effort was made to bring the child to term. But even despite all the mana, magical artifacts, and potions that had been poured into her, the baby miscarried well into the 2nd trimester.

All the experiments, along with the difficult pregnancy, had destroyed her body and her spirit. When the baby miscarried, it was the closest she had ever been to tasting death. The feeling of her child dying inside her haunted Corelia endlessly for years and years afterward. Nobody knew why she had lost the infant. Except for Cordelia.

She had killed her baby.

...

"Cordelia... Cordelia..." Lyonis's voice broke her from her thoughts, "My love, you're crying. What's wrong?" He gathered her in his arms, wiping the tears from her eyes. Concern was buried deep in the creases of his forehead.

Cordelia blinked a few times, startled that even after all the years, she still had tears for her unborn child. She thought she had used them all up. Shocked by the tears that were running down her cheeks, she gathered herself and wiped her eyes, smiling at Lyonis, who was looking at her with wide, scared eyes. "I'm sorry, Lyo. I don't know what's come over me. I'm ok. I promise."

But he wasn't sold on her attempt to console him, "Cordelia... I"m here for you. You can talk to me if you wish." There was genuine concern in his amber eyes and she couldn't help but feel comforted by him - even though she hadn't told him anything. Somehow it felt safe in the cramped captain's quarters of the Chimera as if the outside world couldn't reach her from the warmth of the bed.

"Lyo... It's not a pleasant story..." She had never discussed what had happened to her during those tortuous years with anyone. Speaking about it now would only reopen the wounds of her past. And there was nothing she wanted more than to finally be free of those sins. "I do not want to ruin this moment with such sadness. It is in the past, where it belongs." Trying to ease Lyonis, she ran her fingers softly through his hair.

"Cordelia..." Before Lyonis could finish his sentence, a series of knocks rang out on the large steel door. An annoyed male's voice spoke out in the Gresas native tongue from the other side of the door.