Eternally Yours

Sham The Shaman

"Garin, are you there?” Hannah called out to him with her hand out for him.

“I’m here, My Love. I’m right here,” Garin said and took her hand.

Isabelle had asked him to move Hannah to Josh’s bed so she could be more comfortable and so he did. He had tried to heal her again but his power to heal was just gone and he couldn’t do anything to help her.

“Garin, stop trying. It’s not going to work,” she said to him about trying to heal her wounds.

“I don’t understand why this isn’t working. You taught me how to do it in Harlem but why isn’t it working now?” Garin said in frustration. He placed his hands on her body and tried again but she stopped him.

“Stop it, Garin, just stop,” she held his hands, “Don’t worry about that right now. I’ll get better soon even if it’s not by your hands.”

“What can I do, Hannah? Tell me what I can do to make you feel better,” He asked, desperate to ease her pain in any way he could.

“Tell me the story about the painter, the Queen and the King. I always loved that story and I’ll feel so much better if you told it to me,” Hannah smiled at him.

“Of course, my love, of course,” Garin got on the bed, wrapped his arm around Hannah and placed her head on his shoulder. He cleared his throat and began the story.

“Many years ago, there was a painter who was obsessed with painting beautiful things, people, places, items, and even animals. He travelled far and wide to the farthest reaches of the globe, painting whatever he saw and felt was worthy of being immortalized by his brush. He went to a foreign land ruled by a ruthless King who was married to a very beautiful queen whom he had stolen from her home because he was obsessed with her and enchanted by her beauty. He wanted nobody else to ever gaze upon his Queen's face so he kept her hidden in his castle.

“The painter learned of this and was determined to see the queen so he could paint her like he painted everything he found beautiful. So he sneaked into the castle and broke into the Queen's private chambers. At first, she was frightened by him but he managed to convince her that he was sent by the King to make a painting of her so she posed for him. He painted her, never once tearing his gaze from her face. He painted every curve, every contour, and every detail to perfection. He was entranced by her beauty and he was lost in her face.

“As soon as he finished, the King entered the room and was overcome with rage when he saw someone who wasn't him staring at his queen and took out his sword and slashed the painter's neck clean off. The King saw the painting and was mesmerized by it so he kept it. Many years later, the queen fell ill and died from her illness. The King was devastated and missed her so much that he stared at this painting every day till his death. Many say he went crazy, just staring at it but I guess the painting was a perfect image of his queen so he just looked at it every day, relishing the immortal beauty forever imprinted upon the canvas."

Isabelle had been at the door the entire time, watching them with a smile on her face when she saw how much they cared for each other. She decided to leave and give them some privacy so she quietly closed the door and went back downstairs to call Josh to inform him that they were there so he wouldn’t be surprised when he came home.

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“Are they okay?” Josh asked on the phone.

“They’ll be fine as long as nobody comes here looking for them but that’s not going to last long. I don’t think they’re safe here, Josh. I mean, they’re literally running away from God and the devil. Realistically, they don’t stand a chance. I’m even surprised that they’ve lasted this long,” Isabelle whispered so she wouldn’t be heard by the couple.