Serrated Love's Deceit

Chapter 11: Arranged & Allowed

They snap their fingers in unison and we appear on the cliff-side of an island. I walk outside of my trunk and look at the night sky over the dark ocean waves. The moon is still full. "Follow us to the castle." The lady with the raspy voice says. A light warm wind gust makes the leaves on the willow tree I was in dance.
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Inside the massive stone castle, I gently glide my hands on the rough etchings on the wall. Torches hang on the walls. We arrive in the stone throne room, a male sits with his shoulder length black hair veiling his face. He looks up with a scruffy beard and tired eyes. "Baran?" He focuses his gaze on me and shakes his head. "Ash, I thought there was no desire, dream, and the like you wanted to share with me." He says.

"You're Brother? Is Twilight involved with this? How long have I been sleeping?"

"It may seem like a lot of time has past but time runs slower in our so called waking reality. What is the dream and which is the reality? Like beauty it all depends on the eye of the beholder. What if you choose to not go back to the world we're used to? Are you dead or alive?" He cocks a dark thick brow.

"I'm here for an upgrade in my power. So, let's get this marriage over with."

"How depressing? A marriage based on business." He quickly looks to the side and scoffs.

"A marriage is a business agreement Baran." I fold my arms over my chest.

"Don't call me that here. Here-"

"Brother?" I look at him quizzically.

"Why would I want my wife to call me Brother?" I laugh.

"Does it matter?" He closes his eyes.

He sighs and slowly stands to his full height. "My name is Jimmy to you. Now, I need you to put your symbol on the wall beside my star etching." He says.

"How do I carve my symbol?" I walk over to the wall and look back at him dumbfounded.

He walks up to me and grabs my left hand. He places my hand before the side of the star etching and warmth heats my hand up. He holds my hand to the wall as a golden light shines underneath our hands. When the light fades away, we move our hands and a tree is etched into the stone. "It's an ash tree." The girls behind us whisper in unison. It looks like a basic symbol of a tree. I don't understand or see how they can get the specific type of tree from such a basic drawing symbol of it.

He claps his hands and the room around dissolves into tendrils of smoke until there is nothing left but torches dancing in the dark on shadowy walls. Arms wrap around me and lift me up. A well lit patio with it's stone door left wide open gets closer and closer. Once we pass the threshold, Jimmy puts me down and spins me around to face him. He looks down at me and leans his face closer to mine. "It only can be you. She won't let me be with anyone else but you." He says in despair. He buckles his knees and drags his face down to my abdomen. He looks up at me with glassy eyes and clench his fists on the bottom of my dress. "Asha, please help me I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I'm ready for this." He says and weeps into my dress.

"What are you talking about?"

"Mother wants us to be her parents to come into this world even if it means we're the grandparents. We have to make sure our bloodlines and paths intertwine."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now."

He starts pulling my dress up my thigh and a blue lightning strike hits a spot nearby on the patio. No thunder or grey cloud in sight. A light wind blows by us and a big, lean pale blue hand shoves Jimmy's kneeling form away from me. Jimmy lands on his back on the other side of the patio. He grunts then starts whispering in tongues and convulsing on the ground.