Burning Phoenix

Chapter 1: Part 1

     Memories. All I have of you are memories. I have a thousand years worth of memories and the few I have of you occupy my mind the majority of the time. They are all bittersweet.  I wonder if I had the choice to make again, would I have seized the crown stained with your blood?

                                                                                              -From the personal writings of Felix Michealson

600 years ago...

     He gazed at the odd looking beauty before him. With her moon colored hair, fair skin, and big blue eyes, she looked unlike any person he had seen before. His people all had dark hair, ebony eyes, and those with nobility could only try to attain the skin color she possessed.  Though she was presented in his court in nothing but rags and shackles, she stood proud as any queen before him. Her sapphire blue eyes glared defiantly at him, as if daring him to touch her. She didn't know his language, he didn't know hers. She seemed to come from the Heavens like a fairy in the legends he grew up hearing. The shackles had rubbed her neck, wrists, and ankles raw but they didn't seem to weigh her down. The dirt she had accumulated on her face showed the fresh tears she must have shed but now not a single tear could be detected in her eyes.

     With a nod to guards, they unshackled her restraints leaving her free to rub the raw places on her neck and wrists. Sudden anger filled him that such a beautiful creature would be treated in such a manner and the pain she must have gone through. He stood from the gilded throne he had been sitting in, tossing his waist length black hair behind his shoulder, and walked to stand directly in front of her. His face showed no expression as he reached out to grab her chin in his hand. Her back stiffened even further but she didn't back away. Fresh tears gathered in her eyes as she continued to glare at him. His lips formed a small, quick smile that others would have missed. She saw it. She jerked her chin out of his fingers, turning her head to the side to hide her face behind her curtain of dirty, matted hair. He walked slowly around her, his black robes brushing the stones floors in a swishing sound. She stood still, allowing his visual pursuit.

     As he came back in front of her, he asked his personal bodyguard in a lazy tone, "Where did you capture her?" His gaze never left her face, hidden though it was.

     His bodyguard, clad in black leather armor, bowed over his clasped sword. "The representatives of the Choi family say she is a princess in her land across many seas. They brought her here as a gift to you, Your Majesty."

     He touched his tongue to his teeth, making a tch sound in disgust. The Choi family, who hoped to marry their way into royalty, were notorious flesh traders. By accepting this gift, he would be forced to grant them an audience. They would no doubt try to push their daughter onto him in hopes that he would take her for his wife or concubine. Disgust filled him at the thought. When his people mated, it was for eternity. And eternity seemed entirely too long to spend with someone who made his flesh crawl.

     He turned from the girl, flicking his flowing sleeves behind him as he walked back to the throne. He sat, placed his chin in his palm as he contemplated the situation before him. He couldn't let this exquisite creature go back to the Choi family. They would destroy her. As he gazed at her, she again turned her head and met his eyes. The defiance was gone, replaced by bleak acceptance. Looking into her eyes, he felt something stir inside him that he had never felt before. A heat seemed to be building in his chest and he heard a faint voice whisper inside his head, "mate." He abruptly straightened in his seat, clutching at the burning in his chest.

     His deep voice filled the hall as he told his bodyguard, "Take her to my manor and have the maids wash her. Find the best silks to adorn her and fetch the physician to care for her wounds."