Word Count: 719
Date: 2019
Girls of Honey Ash
Who are you when you don't remember your face or your voice?
Clothes of translucent silk, a soft couch like clouds and a luxurious room filled with exotic women of charming personalities, all surrounding and competing for the attention of one man. King of kings, the absolute power of the empire. The King enjoyed the surrounding pleasures as long as he possessed power.
She had always lived like this, from bed to bed, between kisses and caresses, but, perhaps, it was just that this person was special, and she wanted him to see only her, that she realized that she herself did not know who she was.
Thinking of her existence as something fleeting, the succubus in the imperial harem, possessed a striking aura, noble and melancholic, which placed her as one of the most favored by the king. But what happened? Where did the king get the strength to punish the woman with eyes as crystalline as the sky?
Imprisoned with ties of precious stones in a turquoise armchair, being the audience of the King's orgy, her eyes glistened from the tears she refused to shed, and her pale skin blushed from the effort to remain indifferent. Anyone who saw her would feel their heart being scratched, fast in begging for forgiveness, offering salvation to the muse.
The King, finishing his activities, dismissed his women with a gesture and, calmly and slowly, approached the most beautiful woman in his harem.
"I hope you understand that you are worth nothing to me but your body and a moment of pleasure."
His words, mercilessly branded her, what exactly was she living for? Was it wrong? To desire to be real? To desire to love? What happened to his words of desire and affection? When he would gently take her hand and give flowers to her and only her. When he held her in his arms, and they only slept, because he trusted her words and heart.
The King stops himself from speaking further, as he sees a tear slide down the cheek of the jewel in his eyes. God alone knew the strength of will it took not to comfort her, but he could not endanger her more. His sandy kingdom was falling apart, and the luxuries present were all but an illusion. Except for her. His beloved.
The rebellion was on the rise, and he had to take from her, with his own hands, all the love and importance she represented.
"Your tears soften my heart, but mean nothing to me. Until you learn your lesson, tomorrow you will be sent to the Ash Palace. "
The Ash Palace, the farthest place from the King. Gradually, the vitality in the succubus' eyes diminished with pain, the King, unable to bear it any longer, turns his back on her and leaves the room, slamming the door hard as he closes.
Abandoned in her solitude, the women who had just gone out or danced with the King come to her. Looks full of superiority, disgust and glee assailed her from every direction.
Harpies girded themselves around her, threatening to drown her with their scorn and despair, singing heartbreakingly of all she lost by the crime of confessing her love to the King.
♦ ♦ ♦
Night fell, the succubus, hungry and broken, gained strength from the darkness.
"What's the difference, if I can't have you, what's the use of being me?"
Even as the grief in her heart screamed indignantly, she could not bear to have that man she loved to rest his gaze on some other woman. She was hungry, thirsty for life, and so, with silent steps, she came to the common quarters of the harem in the dead of the silent night. Even in oblivion, she was the only one who slept with the King at night, and she would make sure it stayed that way.
Just as she came to life, to know the world, pain, love and pleasure, so she would fade away, but she would not do so alone. The succubus looked at each of the sleeping women and began to dance, taking with her the lives of the ladies, one by one, until, at sunrise, in that earthly paradise, only golden ash like honey could be seen, where the maidens had lain the night before.