Thief, Acolyte, Consort by James Robert Paige

Author:James Robert Paige
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: James Robert Paige
Published: 2020-05-02T04:00:00+00:00

Consort

Catt woke up slowly.

It took some time for her senses to untangle waking from dreaming.

The morning light was dim and strange. The surface beneath her was too soft. There was pressure and warmth at her side. A weight was nestled into her shoulder. The soft sound of breathing.

Segna was asleep.

Catt understood where she was. Her senses continued to grow clearer.

She could make out the shape of the room in the dim light. The open archway to the next room admitting red morning sun. The magic lanterns on the walls faded away to nearly nothing.

She could smell perfumed oil, and feel the tangle of silk sheets haphazardly around her, and she could feel the gentle in and out of Segna’s respiration.

Catt thought about where she was and what had happened.

Catt tried to carefully wriggle herself loose without waking up Segna, pillowed on her shoulder. She felt as if she had to get up and sneak out, and let the memory of this perfect night be self-contained. She had bedded a King. She had made love to the most beautiful woman in the city of Great Bakak. It was the perfect one night stand. She told herself that she had to leave now so she could remember it that way. She almost half believed it.

Catt gently dislodged her shoulder and sat up. She looked around the perimeter of the colossal round bed. She didn’t see where her clothes had ended up. As she started to move, she felt a hand touch her.

“ Catt,” whispered Segna.

Catt looked back. Segna’s eyes were still half closed. Catt felt as if butterflies were inside her again.

“ I have to go,” Catt managed to say.

“ Will you come back again sometime?” Segna asked drowsily.

Catt felt a facade crumbling in her imagination. A moment ago it seemed possible to run away and preserve a perfect experience, isolated in time, and to avoid the pain of it ending.

Now maybe it was too late. If Catt said “No” she would hurt Segna and regret it forever. If Catt said “Yes” and it was a lie, she would hurt her even more.

But if she said “Yes” and it was the truth, this perfect moment could be repeated– not forever, the pain of it ending would still have to come, but it could be delayed.

“ Yes,” said Catt, “I’ll be back some other night.”

“ Good,” murmured Segna. She smiled and stretched and resettled and seemed to fall back asleep.

Catt found her clothes on the floor at the edge of the plateau of bed. They were folded and stacked neatly.

Catt looked back at Segna, nestled peacefully in the sheets. Had she woken in the middle of the night and tidied up?

Catt dressed quickly. She went towards the arch that was now streaming sunlight.

Through the arch and into the next room. There was the wide balcony. There was the big chair and the table. Someone had cleared away the cake plates.

Catt startled to see that there were two people in the room, one sweeping the floor, another on a stepladder polishing one of the magic lanterns on the wall.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.