ONC 2022 Longlist / Top 25 The Historical Award 2022 & 2023 hosted by @HistoricalFiction / Featured by multiple profiles
In the tyrannical kingdom of Aratta, a young widowed mother returns alive from the den of a mysterious king where women go only...
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"And we meet again, Borzou Eskander."
The overpowering, stealthy stare now appears like the last look of a man nearing death. His lips are parted in shock. We breathe against each other, unyielding to one another's power.
I feel the tears stream down my face. I can't stop myself.
I never expected this. Not even when Mother had warned me before coming here.
"Don't fall again."
Her words ring in my ears. Of course she knew who the king is. "I can't imagine that you are this monster, Borzou."
His flushed cheeks turn wan, a shroud of ominous darkness falling over his face. The blonde locks hide his hunting gaze like a mesh of wiry aurate strings. He circles around me like a lion protecting its prey.
"Life is unexpected, Sitara." He scoffs.
I want to kill him with my own hands. But can I even bring myself to do it? I must. I must hate him with every fibre of my being. He isn't the man of the past.
He is the devil unleashed.
"You had been a messiah before. You had promised to not fail me. I didn't mind you breaking the vow though." Unshed tears sting my eyes. "But what a despicable entity you have turned into! Why, why did you return?"
"Vivasvat had said you were dead. So I refocused my mind on more productive issues."
"I can very well see that."
He begins laughing hysterically, thumping his chest and banging on the table.
He is possessed for sure. God knows what happened in those years which made him this unrecognisable. Can Time be this treacherous?
Our lips had touched– he can't be an apparition. As I behold this maniac, I see every familiarity with his past looks. Only what seems nonexistent are his morals and love.
Had he even loved me? That mere piece of the jinxed crown can't lure this man here. When did he grow so obsessively fond of luxury and a salacious life?
"We weren't supposed to meet again." He smiles, somewhat forced, somewhat bitter. "Yet see how adventurous life is."
"I regret that I am not dead as you and Vivasvat had assumed. I really regret seeing your face a second time."
"Alas, you must see me now everyday." He smiles sardonically. "Until I die."
"I pray you die soon."
He clicks his tongue. "Rude. You have become very rude. Widowhood must be heavy, right Sitara?"
"I can't believe you are the same Borzou I knew!" I scream in agony. He rips my heart like an old bundle of rags.
He frowns, twisting his lips and scrunching his nose. "I am the same Borzou"–he goes to the bed and shows me the khopesh Puloman had gifted him–"just a bit more hardened, a bit more selfish, and a bit more gruesome."
