Spirited Away: Sacrificed to the Dragon God

Two

After that startling revelation, he showed a little of his before escorting me to my new chambers. Unfortunately I don't remember much, if anything, of what he showed me.

My new room was more luxurious than anything I'd ever seen. It was large enough to fit my parents' whole house into it and still have room.

It was very lavishly decorated.  The furniture was carved from a scented dark wood. There was a table with three chairs surround it, a writing desk; a bookshelf that currently stood empty; and a painted screen.  The bed was draped with an almost translucent material and covered with a deep blue coverlet.  There were vases of flowers that I remembered seeing in the gardens; and on the walls hung beautiful paintings of goldfish and dragons.

The table was set for the midday meal for one person. It was fairly simple fare; steamed fish, vegetables and rice. Not unlike what my mother would have served.  My stomach chose that moment to make its' hunger known.  I was thankful there was no-one present to hear it.

Taking a seat at the table, I started to eat. While I didn't fall on the food like an animal, I did consume it faster than I normally would have.

It was delicious. The fish had a subtle sweetness that I enjoyed, the vegetables were tender with just a bit of crunch, and the rice wasn't too wet or dry.

After eating, I took the flowers from my hair and scrubbed the make-up from my face and was now combing my hair.

I am unsure how, but when I turned around a set of silk nightclothes in sky blue had been laid out on the bed where they had not been before. What confused me most was that I had not heard anyone enter or exit the room.

I touched the garment tentatively. It was smooth, like cool water.  I had never worn such a fine garment before.  I decided not to question it further, and started to undress.  Just as I was undoing the last tie to my nightshirt, there was a light tapping on my door.

Curious, I went to open it. It was the dragon god. He was now in simpler clothes and his headdress was gone. But that did not diminish his sheer presence. The sense of power and confidence practically oozed off of him.

I stepped to the side to allow him in. Briefly I panicked at the possible implications, but then I remembered this was his home and for some reason he viewed me as his wife.

'I came to see how you were settling in,' he said, quietly. 'I hope you like your chambers.'

'It is very fine, my lord.'

'But do you like them?'

'Well enough.' What else could I say?

'Will you tell me your name?'

'Xiao...Lian.'

'Xiao-Lian,' he annunciated, as though he were testing the sound of it. 'Such as beautiful name.'

Then he began circling me, making me feel like I was a young doe and he my hunter.

And then his nose is nuzzling the back of my neck. 'You're even more beautiful in the flesh,' he murmured against my skin

'My lord...?'

'Qing-Yao.'

'What?'

'My name...is Qing-Yao.'

'Qing-Yao...'

Suddenly, his hands and arms were encircling my waist.

'What are you doing?' I asked, panicked.

'What does a male do with his bride?'

'But I do not know you, my lord.'

'But I know you.'

What?

His hands trailed from my shoulders to my arms.

'Please, stop,' I begged.

Hearing my plea, he seemed to come to his senses.

'My apologies,' he said, seemingly distressed. 'I'm afraid I lost control of myself. I only...I did not mean to get so carried away.' He paused before composing himself. 'You need not worry, I'll not touch you. Not until you tell me that you will accept me as your husband.'

I did not reply, but I was very grateful but at the same time his words filled me with trepidation.

The Dragon seemed to understand.  He slowly lifted his hand to my face. He did not touch me, but it had the same effect as if he were touching me.  'If you wish to speak to me, simply call my name and I will come to you.'  And with that, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

My knees buckled and I fell to my knees.  My heart beat so rapidly that I thought it would burst from my chest.

Tian! What would have happened if I had not begged him to stop?

#

Days later I found myself contemplating my situation as I combed my hair before my vanity mirror. I missed my home dreadfully. I missed my father's voice, my mother's gentle touch and the big smiles of my little brother.

Qing-Yao had not come to my room since that first night.

To my relief, he kept to his word. He never touched me. In fact I did not see him at all. However, he did not allow me to forget him. He sent numerous gifts; hand-picked bouquets of flowers, jewellery and clothes.

I was grateful for the clothes, but I felt that that the flowers and jewellery were unnecessary. It occurred to me that if he kept sending me these gifts, soon I would have no room. A thought which dismayed me to even think about given the abundant space in my chambers.

As I sat there a sweet lilting melody drifted in through the window that I had opened it to let a breeze in while I slept.

I followed the sound to the gardens, where I found Qing-Yao playing a flute. He was standing by a pond outside to his personal chambers; I remembered from the brief tour he'd given me when I'd first arrived.

His figure was illuminated by the moonlight, and only seemed to add to the song he was playing. All together it made a very beautiful but sad image.

I don't know how long I stood there and listened, losing myself in the music before I felt something wet on my face.

I looked up, but there were no rain clouds.

Touching my face, I realised it wasn't raindrops, but my tears.

Then the song ended, and he lowered the flute from his lips.

He must have sensed my presence because he looked up, startled.

Embarrassed at once again being caught staring at him, I stuttered an apology. 'I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you.'  I turned to go.

'You did not.'

I turned back to look at him again.

The way he looked at me made me shiver. And my mind went blank.

He began walking towards me and before I even realised it, he'd stopped in front of me.  Slowly, he lifted his hand as if to touch my face.  I thought he was going to break his word but at the last moment he let his hand drop to his side.  With a final look he was gone.

I furiously wiped away the tear tracks.

What is wrong with me?