The Kingdom of Roses

12

An Obsession Grows

The Bride looked stunning as she rode on a magnificent lioness in the western realms. She wore a flowing, riding dress in a rich black. It had delicate, pink cherry blossoms embroidered on it. They were made of living threadwork and hence, the branches and flowers kept changing as did the patterns all over. Such threadwork was common in the realms. Her hair was partially braided with a string of similar flowers. She had spent time with the different packs and prides, teaching them about the beneficial uses of the new plants that had sprouted in their realm.

The plants in the realms were like the living stones. They cooperated with the living beings in enhancing weapons and nourishing the internal spirit cores when the latter asked them for help. Each plant had its own, special colored flow of sap which was like a molten river of glowing dust within it. This sap flowed out from the tip of leaves, heart of flowers and fruits and into the hands of those who needed it. The plants could also meld into weapons and act as enhancers in duels. The sap was used to make things of beauty in the homes of the living beings, flavoring delicacies, in fragrances, oils and all kinds of beneficial things used by those in the realms.

Pèi Zhōng and Jiā Háo were waiting under a sycamore tree for her. Jiā Háo tossed his lovely, braided mane aside before gently rubbing his head against that of the lioness in a warm greeting. The Bride laughed happily as she, and Pèi Zhōng got off their mounts.

‘Did you find everything?’ the Bride asked him.

‘Almost! The plants and trees graciously gave me the stacte, galbanum, frankincense, and sweet spices. I could not find the onycha though,’ he informed her as he patted the small, golden sack on his back.

‘You need to go under water for that. Find the fragrant reef in the waters of the valley in that direction. The corals there will give them to you. You can also get the salt from those very waters,’ she advised him as she pointed to the south from where they stood.

Pèi Zhōng nodded his head and mounted Jiā Háo to get the remaining ingredients. He was the best maker of perfumes and incenses, knowing which fragrances complimented each other best when blended.

The Bride and the lioness decided to rest under the tree and watch the foxes playing nearby. The sound of flapping wings made them look up. Jiàn Shēng was making his way towards them.

‘Where is Wěi Hóng?’ she asked him.

‘He is sparring with Zǐ Xīn up north,’ Jiàn Shēng replied as he boldly approached, and sat down beside her. He could not help but notice how beautiful she looked in black.

He had plotted this move for many days. He knew she was not drawn to his physical appearance the way she was towards the King. He could not appeal to her eyes. He decided on another approach.

‘Perhaps I need to offer more? Surely she has desires that can be met by those other than the King,’ he reasoned. ‘I will make her an offer she cannot refuse!’ With such thoughts, he made his way to the western realms that day and sought her ought as she rested beneath the tree.

‘I have a question,’ he began. She nodded her head as she continued to gaze upon the mischievous foxes that were indulging in a game of chase.

‘Can you ever love someone else?’ he fumbled, unsure of whether the question would agitate her.

She calmly replied, ‘Of course, I can, and I do. I love every living being in the realms.’ She said this in a very matter-of-fact manner causing him to realize he had to reframe his question.

‘No, I mean, can you love anyone else exactly the same way you love the King?’ he asked again.

She did not hesitate for a single moment, ‘No, not the same way. Love is of different kinds. What I share with the King is special,’ she said.

Jiàn Shēng’s heart dropped a little though he was prepared for her response. ‘How about loving another a little less than you love him?’ he asked.

‘Yes, that would be true of my love towards all others,’ she responded.

‘Hmmm, what if you loved another a little less than you love the King but a little more than you love all others?’ he pressed on.

‘What exactly do you mean?’ she asked as she pondered over what he said. By now, she was looking intently at him.

‘My Queen, would you be able to love me a little less than you love the King and a little more than you love every other being in the realms? Allow me to stay by your side and follow you, even into the mists of Méiguī shān. Let me be less of a guardian and more of a lover,’ he said earnestly with all the love that was bursting through his heart.

She looked concerned as she gently cradled his troubled face with her palm. ‘That is not possible Jiàn Shēng. You have misunderstood what love is. I cannot love you in that manner nor is it possible for you to be in union with me like the King,’ she told him.

His voice rose in desperation, ‘You said there are many kinds of love. All you have experienced is the love that the King has to offer you. You have not experienced the love of another, apart from him. Give me that chance to lavish my love on you and it will be sweeter than the choice perfumes of Méiguī shān. All I desire is to be yours,’ he pleaded. Then he added, ‘Surely, there must be something within you that can only be satisfied by another love?’

‘No, there is nothing within me that has such a need,’ she said gently. ‘You do not understand many things about the King and me. Our love and union holds the realms together in harmony. We cannot be separated and there cannot be another in the bonds that bind us,’ she continued in the hopes of turning his heart away from a fruitless pursuit.

‘There must be a way! You said that we are so much alike!’ he stubbornly went on.

‘Jiàn Shēng, indeed you are a kindred spirit of mine, but we cannot be bonded in the manner you desire or hope for. There is a way though, to purge your heart of what is wrong and the corruption that has entered it. Come with me to the King and we will help you,’ she pleaded with him earnestly.

‘Give me some time. Let me deal with it myself and if I do not succeed, I will seek your help,’ he said as his face suddenly became resolute. It was a mask that covered his true thoughts, ‘How can something so good and beautiful be so wrong? No, there must be a way and I will find it!’ He took to the skies, annoyed with his own vulnerability. He tried to suppress the rush of emotions with a stoic look as he returned to the southern realms.

The Bride was deeply troubled as she made her way back to Méiguī shān. ‘This will not end here. It will only grow worse like a poisonous seed within him,’ she thought as she decided to discuss the matter with her beloved.

Pèi Zhōng and Zhì Shēn were already filling the censers with coal and incense that was refined and blended to perfection. It was the same fragrance the Bride had hidden in the locket she gifted her beloved. He had grown to love it because it reminded him of her.

The Bride arrived at the time of the evening incense. The skies were spectacularly beautiful, glowing like embers of pink and orange as night drew near. Time as we know it did not exist in the realms. However, that does not mean that there is no differentiation between day and night or the evening which is the intermediary light. The sun and moon were not like the ones of our world. What was called ‘sun’ was in fact the King’s light that filled the skies with their ambient glow. Similarly, the ‘moon’ was the Bride’s ambient light. She was also the source of the darkness that brought rest. The stars were larger particles of sparkling dust. This was the same dust that rested on Dàshān from which the Tiānshǐ were created. The evening skies were a blending of the ambient lights of the King and his Bride as the transition from day to night occurred.

She did not stop and admire the beauty around her as she normally would. Instead, she rushed past her Watchers like a wind, up the stairs and into the gardens on the heights. For the first time she sensed a deep foreboding within her spirit that had never been weighed down thus far.

The King was using the tip of his finger to write a love poem for his beloved woman. Each word glistened in gold light as he traced it upon a rock. It was incredibly soft and would make an ideal rest, and the poem would surround his beloved with vivid images of their love when she leaned on it. He had just finished when he heard the sound of rushing wind. Turning around, he saw her troubled face as she came towards him.

He knit his eyebrows in concern as he asked her, ‘What has happened?’

She told him everything that transpired that day and the words that Jiàn Shēng had spoken. He listened carefully before he spoke, ‘You are right in saying that such an obsession is not easily removed. He will need help. At this point we cannot compel him lest force serves to turn him faster towards greater evil. He must see his own folly and choose to seek help. This is in line with the law of freewill. We will give him the chance to turn around.’

He did not doubt the love of his beloved for a single moment. He gently pulled her into his arms and softly whispered to her, ‘Here, now! Do not be troubled. Come and rest with me and let me remove the burden weighing your heart.’ Both of them leaned against the rock upon which his words of love were inscribed. As she drew close to him, he hummed a song before singing over her. Simultaneously, the words of his love poem began to take form and whirled slowly around them. There were images of them running with the deer through the forests and stopping by the streams to drink and delight in each other, among other things. Slowly her heart felt lighter in his embrace, and she began to rejoice in his song and words of love that calmed her inner most being.

Hers was not the only troubled heart. There was Jiàn Shēng resting in his home in the southern realms. He rose and went out into the balcony from where he always gazed upon the distant Méiguī shān. He desired to be in the mist-cloaked heights with her.

‘If only she had agreed! I would have found a way to slowly win her over and make her completely mine. Then there will be no room in her heart for him and I could get her help to get rid of him. Since she refused, I will have to find another way to separate them and win her love! There must be something to draw her after me,’ he thought to himself.

He pulled out the mirror she had gifted him a long time ago. He treasured it above every other special item he had collected. He had a hidden place where he kept all that she gave him. He often opened it at night and gushed over each item and memory like a child who had just received a long-desired toy. The mirror was particularly dear to him because it not only showed him his own image, but also different beings and things in the realms. He had discovered that he could manipulate it with his power to delve into images of the Bride within it, as it was made from her waters. It showed him things further and deeper than when he first stared into it, just as she had told him when she gave it to him. The more he looked upon her reflection, the more he desired her.

Suddenly a darker idea arose within him. He quickly went to another part of his home where he had kept the Red Phoenix that he won during the hunt. He brought it back to his room and spoke to it gently, ‘I need your help,’ he said.

‘What do you want me to do?’ the Red Phoenix replied. It was a living stone that could shift its shape and change to any other life form in the realms.

‘Would you be able to take the form of anyone that you see?’ he asked it.

‘That is very easy!’ it replied.

He showed it the image of the Bride reflected in the mirror before him. The Red Phoenix began to liquefy and form a replica of her before him. His eyes lit up with delight. He approached the shadow of her form that the stone had changed into and gently held her face in his palms. Caressing it he said, ‘Only a shadow, but still so perfectly lovely.’

He could do nothing more than touch, kiss and embrace it, but for now he was happy with the counterfeit before him. He slept peacefully for the first time in a long while, with the replica in his arms.

He was steadily feeding the heady obsession of his heart which was threatening to wash over him from his head to his toes like the fragrant incense wafting down the slopes of Méiguī shān.