Blood (Epic of the Mediterranean) [Book 1]

Chapter 9

Weathers change but we stay, only with hopes that fate doesn't think otherwise. We have been alone for far too long, so that the warmth of being close scares us now. Are we capable of love, of understanding this lust beyond illusions?

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Naya pushed herself off of the chest of Asmaka with a vigorous jolt. How utterly wretched. A wooden stand of indoor plants stood at the edge of the bridge for mere visuals. Her back rammed into it, causing a smash of soil and stems all over the ground. She spared a brief glance before straightening her spine and standing formally with her head facing away as if all the ruckus wasn't her fault. She looked at the Lord from the corner of her eyes, being instantly reminded of how she had shamelessly felt up his body. Her stomach churned in mortification as she cleared her throat, "Pardon me for intrusion. I didn't mean to do it."

Asmaka rubbed the space between his eyebrows, observing at the vestiges of the clay pots around his feet. This woman was completely capable of unintentionally causing her own destruction. He shifted his weight onto the door frame, "Didn't mean to do what?"

"I", Naya stood with a loss of words, not finding a reason for lying anymore. He stood right there, and he knew what this was all about. "Well, I heard you and came here. There can't be any harm in sparing a few minutes."

"No harm you say", Asmaka's brows raised in exclamation, "When you return, ask them what I have told them regarding trespassing. Also, it was a praise, not a song."

"I know. Even though I didn't understand the words, it was eminent." For understanding music, understanding of the language isn't necessary. The emotions underlying the praise had made Naya feel a similar ache. A plea, or scream woven in harmonious tunes. This is what had attracted her, and made her wonder whether it was a way of conveying something which would be understood only by the one who should.

"An-Ki", he emphasized the name to which she reflexively turned her face towards him. "The name stands for Anu and Ki, isn't it?"

Anu was the divine father of the heavens and the embodiment of the masculine energy whereas Ki was the Goddess of Earth and represented the feminine in the Sumerian religion. "This temple is devoted to God Shiva, the divine entity of the universe. And the heavenly mother is Shakti, the Ki, who is the energy of the entity." If Shiva was the world, Shakti was the life which made it run. Together, they formed the supreme. Even the slightest imbalance between the two elements creates disturbances in the nature. All the humans had both the aspects inside of them, even if one exists in the smallest of frequency. Only when the two interlace into one another, they represent the eternal ecstasy.

"It does", Naya looked at him as he walked closer to her, his arms crossed over his chest which was as finely trained as one would expect from a person indulged in constant warfare, "Only, my name was pronounced to represent their union. Our ancestral deity is Enlil, so it becomes more reasonable for he is the son of Anu and Ki."

"Thoughtful. Rather, pleasantly carved", Asmaka placed his elbows on the balustrade casually, the words leaving his mouth before he had a moment to introspect. He bit his lip in comprehension, the known sense of pique crossing his mind. Yet, it failed to resonate into action and ended up subsiding.

Naya's eyes flashed at the surprising compliment before transfiguring into a distant smile, "Your name, it resounds the soil of antique lands. It must be holding a pleasant meaning too." She wasn't quite as curious, yet she felt the obligation to carry the words further.

"I don't know really, in what context they named me", for most of his childhood was spent in hiding it, having one was as good as having none. His identity had been a threat to him. Padmanjari had asked him about it, only for the question to be left idle. This had made her twist her lips, for the name is supposed to be a mortal distinctiveness. "Royal teacher had taken the pain of letting me know. Asmaka is the strength of thunder which has the might of shattering the earth."