Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
chapter one
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
Such a pretty face, she thought.
Hair rosé-tinted as the water lilies her mother once told her about, eyes sparkling like rubies — such a beautiful face, with that kind smile, those lips like the petals of a rose as she spoke softly, whispering words of affection to her, whose heart felt like being laid in repose for anybody to see.
A burst of color flooded her pale green eyes as they traveled around the room. Green. Red. White. Chestnut. Purple. Cyan. Pink. Blue. Eight people with staffs in their hands stood scattered around the room, looking down upon her as she was trying to sit up in bed, scanning their faces fleetingly in the attempt to find a reassuring gaze to hold on to.
"Where am I?" Her words were a low whisper underneath her breath, hardly audible.
"Don't be afraid, you are in King Solomon's kingdom. No harm will come to you."
A sing-song voice, so sweet, so gentle soothed her, slender fingers combing through her mess of blonde strands, still smelling like the ocean. She closed her eyes once more, relishing the feeling of gentle fingers brushing the pale skin of her forehead.
"What is your name?" The woman asked her; kind smile never waning. "I am Sheba. We found you at the shores, do you remember?"
The girl averted her gaze as a sense of horror overwhelmed her, squeezing her eyes shut.
Did she really do it? Had she really lost all hope and strength committing a thing so horrible? What would her mother say, if she still dwelt among the living? And her father? Or did he even care?
Questions flooded her mind, as tears fell from her eyes, hot and unrelenting; heavy sobs hardly escaping her fragile throat, leaving her with a feeling of suffocation rather than drowning this time.
Words of solace and consolation hit her eardrum — a current of sweet nothings, but the woman's voice was as gentle and calming as her mother's used to be, eventually succeeding in appeasing her inner turmoil.
However, it was an unexpected touch upon her shoulder, which rendered her rapid breathing to cease. His hand was warm, the gesture reassuring and more comforting than the young woman's loving words.
"If you don't want to talk, it's fine for now. Don't feel pressured."
Light green eyes met his deep blue ones, their color reminding her of the sea she had longed to be swallowed by so badly. A sense of tranquility overcame the young girl as she stared a little longer, nodding her head weakly.
