godhead [COMPLETED]

53

Lightly edited!
Working on the next chapter rn cause it was too long!

Donatello

Here I was in my studio, thinking about her. Perfecting the lines I forced myself to forget.
Smoothing the curves I once fantasized about in daydreams long forgotten.

Calla.
The name that brought me peace
The name that made me sane.

Hope.
It flooded my senses like the crashing waves of the winter sea.
Hope.
Pulling me into my selfish fantasies of a future with Calla. A life void of Emperor Leonardo.

When I heard news of the empress's unexpected trip to Spain, I thought it strange. Why would the reigning empress of Genovia venture to meet a insignificant artist such as me? She didn't even remember me?
Last I heard, she had forgotten everything; a spell of amnesia. That is what Oslo had written in his last letter to me.

I accepted the invitation after some time and convincing from mother. I thought I could prove to her and myself that I was over her. That I was sane.
I was engaged to my betrothed! A woman who loved me for me, no inconveniences attached.

I promised myself and my sanity that seeing Calla would be nothing more than a formality. A reunion between to forgotten lovers. We would be great friends and nothing more, but my temperance proved me wrong.

Once she stepped out the carriage, my heart was spellbound. Emotions of love and passion filled my heart, pushing it into an eternal pool of desire.

"You paint well Sir Donatello" 

That was the first sentence she had spoken to me in 6 months.
It was 5 measly words. It couldn't have been more than eight syllables and yet, here in I was mesmerized. Her voice was as crisp as the grapes of the vineyard, itching to be plucked from its bountiful vines. Her words, placing me in a trance, like a snake being swayed by the flute of its charmer.

But I had Isabel?
I was the one who proposed; the very man who swore that I would make her mine.
So why was my mind on Calla? Why was my sanity dwindling evey time she glanced my way.
Everytime her fingers brushed against mine.
And her skin...it had become richer.
More umber than before.
I wished to taste her essence.
To feel her beneath my body as she whispered my name, begging me to never stop.

How foolish my thoughts were. She hadn't even remembered my name or the time we shared.

———

6months earlier
Right after Calla fainted

"What's with the commotion?" I muttered, gently making my way through the gathered crowd of people. They were congregated around the emperor's doors that lead to his room.

"The empress!" One woman exclaimed excitedly, tiptoeing over the bounty of people for a better look.
She looked over at me and nodded, recognizing me as the painter who frequented the empress after hours. "Oh...Sir Donatello" she bowed. I nodded, gently lifting a hand, signaling her to rise. I had never been bowed to but I guess it was due to my association with Calla.

"Rumor has it that the empress has lost her mind"

"Lost her mind?" I repeated after her, turning my head to observe the crowds again. It seemed like a lot of fuss for something that wasn't even confirmed as factual.

"She hit her head on the emperor's tub and has been immobile ever since" she frowned, snapping her head to the doors as it opened. A guard came out but quickly closed the doors.