Mahila gripped the arrow protruding from her upper belly, blood streaming out to stain her flowing silk gown.
She knelt on the floor and watched as her lover and soulmate, Xerxes, sheathed his sword and ran towards her.
"No! No. It wasn't supposed to happen like this," he cried, cupping her beautiful face. "His head is on a spike over there." Xerxes pointed trembling fingers to the battlefield overrun with soldiers on horses fighting, severed, bloody limbs scattered on the ground.
Mahila smiled through her tears. She was forced to marry Osulf, a wealthy king's council, at the age of seventeen so that her father could have a seat at the king's high table.
She detested Osulf and he made life unbearable for her until she met Xerxes three years later.
Xerxes loved her as no other human being could. He promised to free her from the atrocious Osulf during the battle of Hamadan when the Resistance would take over the kingdom of Xeranthia from her wicked king.
The battle was going in favour of the Resistance until Xerxes, their leader, saw his lover going down on her knees with an arrow inside her.
"It's going just like we hoped it would," Mahila whispered, gently patting Xerxes' face.
"But not with you wounded. Stay put and let me take it out."
He tried to turn her but Mahila resisted. "Don't Xerxes. It's poisoned and it's no ordinary poison. I feel my life ebbing away…"
"No! I don't accept that," Xerxes shouted.
"Listen, Xerxes. This is not the end."
"What are you saying, my beloved?"
Mahila took a deep breath, for her sight was becoming blurry. "This life is not the end. Our love story is just beginning. Let's make a pact to meet again by Orion's well."
Orion's Well was a magical well located in the centre of the kingdom. Only one key could unlock its power—love. Very few have been able to access it.
Xerxes nodded vigorously, tears streaming down his face. A fellow soldier ran towards the couple, saw Mahila bleeding from an arrow wound and clapped his two blood-stained swords together. Four more soldiers drew near and together they formed a circle around the grieving couple, their shields raised in midair.
"Are you sure?" Xerxes asked.
"Do you doubt our love?" Mahila brushed her lips across her lover's. "Don't. Let's meet again a hundred years from now. I perceive the world will be better then."
"Anything for you, my love."
Xerxes gently laid Mahila down on the ground and stood just as one of his soldiers deflected a stray arrow with his sword. He spoke to the group of men. Their faces transformed from shock to anger. Some shook their heads disagreeing with his plans. Eventually, he convinced them and appointed his right-hand man, Urianus, in his place to be the king.
The men were very sad but escorted Xerxes carrying his lover in his arms to Orion's well.
Xerxes gently laid Mahila on the closed well. He couldn't stop the tears from falling from his eyes. Mahila was too weak to open her eyes but she gripped his hand once signifying she was ready and whispered a few words.
Xerxes gave a loud gasp, his face raised to the sky as his final breath left his body entwined with Mahila's as she exhaled her last. The soldiers watched in awe as a bright amber light flashed from within the well to swallow up the couple.
Many years later….
A gentle breeze stirred the dried leaves and dirt around the cobblestoned fence that surrounded an ancient well. Tiny grasses grew from the paved ground, displaying the unkempt state of the well.
It was once a tourist attraction for people who visited the kingdom of Xeranthia but not anymore.
A bright light flashed from within the well and slowly died, revealing a sleeping couple locked in a tight embrace.
The woman, redheaded and beautiful, opened her eyes with a smile. She gently shook her lover awake.
"Xerxes. We are here."
What I see
An old and abandoned well-fenced round with small rocks.
What I feel
It's a place preserved for the past to catch up with the future.
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