The End of Eden

XXII

I open my eyes to the grey sky, snow falling onto my body, but I only feel warm kisses on my skin from the flakes. I sit up and see Sleep standing in the Fields of Elation. After I rise up, I pick my way through the millions of flowers to his side.

"My bride," he whispers in his ethereal voice, extending his hand to me. I smile at him, and slip my left hand into his, his own hand dwarfing mine. "You have done so well."

"You honor me with this," I reply in reverence. I can feel my body pressing into his, warmth creeping through my side as it connects to him.

"You have always been The One, my bride, even before you came here, even before I visited you in your dreams the first time," he says, his hand settling in my hair. His presence comforts me, and I relax into his touch, which is so much like Vessel's. "I have known of your purpose for a very long time, as my vessels did, too."

I raise my head to look up to him, his eyes blinking down at me, a soft smile on his face. Eons pass, sunrises and sunsets, the bloom and decay of all seasons, before Sleep speaks again.

"You have always been The One, my bride. I picked you, I brought you here, and have made you ready to carry the burden of being my bride. You are my bride on earth, through my vessels. Do not forget you are The One I chose. Others will try to belittle you for it, but you have my love and my favor."

"I will not forget it," I say, watching snow fall onto the flowers around us as the sun rises again.

I look back up to Sleep, his face still peering down at me. "We are one, my bride."

"We are one," I repeat to him.

"We are one, my love."

"...my love..."

"...my love..."

"...my love..."

"...we are one, my love..."

When I wake next, I am alone in the soft sheets of Vessel's bed, the white satin ribbon of my blindfold gone from my eyes, but tied delicately up my right wrist, the length wrapped many times around before being tied off in a bow. Sun pours in from the windows in the ceiling, casting white light onto the pomegranate trees and on everything in the inner sanctum. I let my eyes close against the light, and lay my head back down, pulling the covers up higher over my naked body.

There are parts of me that ache that have never ached in such a way before, and I revel in the thrum of them. My hand travels along my body, touching all the tender spots on my neck, my chest, between my legs. I sigh contentedly and flip to my stomach, tucking a pillow under my head, not a single care in the world, and ready to drift back off to Sleep.

I hear the door swing open, a silent swish just on the edges of my hearing, but the tap of soft fabric covered feet is unmistakable as he comes closer to me. The bed sinks low as he sits down, and I flip back over to see Vessel, his white mask on but a simple hooded sweater on instead of his usual open hooded cloak. It's such a strange look on him, like he is any other vessel except for his white mask marking him the Vessel. Over one arm my robe is tossed, and the platter in his hands is laden with morsels of food.

"Good morning," I say as I sit up. I see his mouth tilt up in a smile under his mask, and my eyes drop to his hands, to the plate of food. Curiously, his hands along the rest of his exposed body are devoid of any paint. It's atonstrnage, my eyebrows furrow.

"Good afternoon," he replies. I suppose that's why he was smiling; I've slept the whole day away. "I know you barely ate yesterday, and you have missed everything yet today, so I have brought you something to eat, along with a little something to wear."