Anachronistic: Endless Masquerade

1 | Conditional Love | nsfw

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Lilith knew that God shines his love down over the whole world, watching over and protecting his loyal followers. Both her father and the church had drilled that lesson into her. It wasn't a matter of opinion or belief, it was fact. But now, as the night of the hunt drew closer doubts crept in. Could she really trust God when her father's life was on the line?

        Lilith sat on her bed, searching for anything to distract her from her thoughts. Reading had gotten her through many tough times in her life, but tonight only one book would do. She opened 'Chains of Love' by Christina Claremont. A romance between a captured spy and the guard assigned to be her executioner. It was her favorite story, though the physical book was growing increasingly unnecessary. The plot lived free in her heart; word for word in the case of her favorite sections.

        Lilith flipped through well-worn pages searching for the chapter where the two lovers first meet. As usual, she replaced the names as she read along; her own name taking the protagonist's place:

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        [Lilith] had been to every country on the continent five times over at least. Yet, none of the border crossings filled her with dread the way entering Galmura did. They had been threatening war against her home for over a decade. The size of their army would guarantee them victory alone, but their leaders were clever as well. If war broke out the fighting would continue until the maps were redrawn, this time without Olexa. [Lilith] vowed to flip the power balance and if today's meeting went well maybe she stood a chance of succeeding.

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        Lilith had always felt drawn to the heroine. She envied the way she got to travel the world having grand adventures. Something Lilith would never have the chance to do. She was imprisoned by her condition, unable to leave her room without help. She had more in common with the spy at the novel's midpoint when she would be captured and thrown in jail. Only Lilith wouldn't be set free by the power of love at the end of the book. Her body simply didn't work.

        Lilith sighed. This was supposed to take her mind off her problems, instead, she was depressing herself. She flipped ahead in the chapter. The protagonist was going to meet an informant who ended up betraying her. She wanted to skip right to the part where he held her at knifepoint, threatening her for a larger payment. Thinking the spy was being robbed, the love interest was going to jump in and save her.

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        How had he moved so fast? Before she could react, he had a blade pressed against [Lilith's] throat. She felt the wet trickle of blood slide down her neck. Then the knife was gone. [Lilith] turned to find the informant laying in the shattered remains of a market stall. Expensive spices poured down on him like the sands of an hourglass.

        "I hope I'm not interrupting but it looked like your conversation had ended."

        [Lilith] turned to the voice and was met with eyes as blue as the summer sky. It was a man close in age to her. A city guard judging by the sword at his hip. [Lilith] was best off not getting involved with the law, but something about him set her heart racing. Maybe it was his raven dark hair or the definition in his arms, strong enough to peek through his leather armor.