A FORGOTTEN MYSTERY

  ‘’How long could you do that?’’I asked her as we were walking to the market place.

  Lyssandra looked at me, confused, but she soon realised what I meant. She explained simply that she didn’t know.

  ‘’Maybe since the beginning’’ She muttered and kept looking at the jewelry in the shop.

  ‘’How does it feel?’’ I asked once more, and her eyes looked down at one silver bracelet with bright emeralds. She seemed very keen on buying it, and I raised my hand to the owner, telling him that we would buy it.

  ‘’Sometimes, like nothing. As if I asked a question and you are answering. Other times…’’Her voice became heavy, but the owner now gave us the bracelet and helped Lyssandra to wear it with his eyes shaking from her face. I gave the money that she had handed to me before, and we walked away from the shop so she could admit it out loud.

  ‘’As if I am forcing it on them. I can feel the disgust on my tongue, thick poison on my saliva as I am listening to the people talking.’’

  Our eyes found a caravan that was playing music, and people were telling stories of old kings and events with such a comedic tone. People down below were laughing when they saw men dressed as kings with fat noses and stomachs, men with big breasts that were weeping. I wondered if they would make a play for the current king when his time would be over? Of a sick ruler who was a puppet that was being used by his snake of an advisor? Will the people laugh or cry at that story?

  ‘’In china’’Lyssandra spoke. ‘’They are using shadow puppets.’’

  Those words grew my curiosity.’’Shadow puppets.’’

  She nodded. ‘’They have made specific puppets, and they are using them behind thick paper. Then, when there is darkness, they light a fire so the shadow of those puppets will be sown to the crowd.’’

  ‘’Have you ever participated?’’ I asked her.

  ‘’I tried, but they said that I was a terrible actor.’’

  I opened my mouth. The woman who was a fake oracle and played as a man for all those years.A terrible actor.

  ‘’I think that you would have been a very good actress’’

  I could imagine her playing the part of a warrior. Everyone in the crowd gushed with amusement, people falling on their knees for her, telling how good an actor she was. A great man they would call her, but little would they know that behind those heavy garments, there was a beautiful woman hiding, tricking everyone with one sight.

  ‘’So, what will we learn today?’’ She asked me with her eyes glued to her new bracelet.

  ‘’Does the king need better guards?’’I asked, and she let out a beautiful snort.

  ‘’That creature is like a siren. The guard did say that with his voice, he got lured in’’

  Well, those words made me curious now.

  ‘’How did you catch it then?’’ I asked, and she stopped walking. She wouldn't tell me. She would keep it to herself. But why?

  That night, old nightmares visited me. Of people that I hurt, that I betrayed. My family was slowly being buried to the ground, and I could do nothing. My son, my children, left me,e and I could do nothing. And the woman who was lying next to me was growing old, and I was still young like a god. Why are you hurting us? Why? Why am I hurting you? Why am I this weak?

  I woke up with the sun still sleeping, and I was walking around the halls until I found myself in the garden. Roses and magnolias were slowly opening their petals to welcome the warmth, while Hector was a bit further, moving a fake sword like a maniac. So, I followed him.

  His body was in pain, with his bare skin sweating heavily, from a single move of a sword. The man lost his arm a few days ago, but he would rather die than not have the body of a warrior. His sharp blue eyes found me, and he stopped. I couldn't help but smile at his pathetic face.

  ‘’Oh, please continue, I enjoy this’’I said, and he rolled his eyes. Around the fake weapons, the only real danger that I could find was a bow and long arrows.

  I looked down at my palms, thinking about how long it's been since I used any kind of weaponry. How easy it was to draw out light and make one of them. And Hector did notice that I was drawn to it.

  ‘’Are you an archer, sir?’’He asked me with a pant, and he finally stopped acting like a fool.

  ‘’I was once’’I said and picked the bow and one arrow. The familiarity of the touch tingled my skin.

  ‘’In which battle?’’He let out a chuckle.

  I could have said ‘’Well, I was against the Giants, I fought Python, and I fought for Troy.’’ But I knew that he would call me insane.

  I drew the string and aimed right at Hector, who was smiling, thinking that I wouldn’t shoot. But I did and intentionally caught a few strings of his slick hair. His smile faded immediately, realising what happened.

  ‘’Small battles, history hasn’t announced them yet’’I said with a smile, and he looked down at his sword.

  ‘’What about blades?’’

  I was always terrible at those. So, I tried to ignore him. But of course, that snake spoke out.

  ‘’I haven’t seen your wife around these days.’’

  Because she is busy healing your king, trying to find the monster in your kingdom. Jobs that you should have done a long time ago.

  ‘’Shame, she is such a peculiar thing.’’

  ‘’She has a name.’’I reminded him. And he made an upside-down smile.

  ‘’Does she?’’

  Alright, Apollo, you have met men like him. You don’t need to make a fight out of it.

  ‘’It’s strange that she acts for you’’He explained curiously. ‘’Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised that this prisoner escaped if she was the one who caught him’’

  Well, I was now in Paris. Not Apollo. And that meant that I grabbed one fake sword and attacked him. He was dodging my attacks fast like a true warrior. What war did he fight again? Lyssandra never mentioned anything about battles. But one thing was true about his techniques. He was the one who won those battles. He was faster and stronger than me. Probably hiding his true power, too. Was I a toy to him when he shoved me to the ground? No. I wouldn’t let him win. Not when she was talking about her that way. I hated this man. I hated him when I pressed the fake blade to his wound.

  I hated the way he was thinking about her, and I pushed him to the ground as he was gasping from the pain. I hated that he was thinking of her as someone beneath him, and I began to hit his face. But he attacked me back, making my ears ring. Was this pain? Was this my blood that was dripping down?

  I hated him. I hated him. Because I was once like him.

  The king had given Lyssandra a room to make medicine and heal people. It was filled with every herb and medical instrument that existed. And she was there, dressed as a healer, glaring at both of us with anger.

  ‘’I won’t ask’’She said with her arms crossed. My face was bleeding and got all swollen, but Hector’s stitches got lost, so he was the first one to get treatment.

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  ‘’You stitched me very lightly’’He tried to insult her and she smiled as she made the new stitches even tighter.

  ‘’You are right’’She said nodding.’’I should have known that boorish men like that do not get the rest they deserved’’

  He let out a painful sound that was music to my ears. And I could see that Lyssandra was also trying to hold her smile. The man was now pouting, trying to hide his shame and his face fell to the floor.

  ‘’You are done’’She said and with her hand, she patted his wound, making him hurt even more. ‘’Now, go rest. Alright?’’She tried to remind him and his eyes ignored her. So, she grabbed him by the face, forcing him to stare at her. ‘’If you come here like this I will not treat you and your shoulder will turn purple. The only thing that will be left after that is to chop your arm off. ‘’

  There was a sudden fear on his face now. She knew that she meant each and every one of her threats.

  ‘’Am I clear?’’

  And Hector nodded. ‘’Yes, ma’am.’’

  So, he stood up and walked fast away from the room, leaving us alone. She still looked angry but I couldn’t help but smile. Even furious, she was so beautiful.

  She stayed silent as she was washing me off, moving the blood away with cold towels, trying to get rid of the bruises.

  ‘’Why did you do it?’’She asked.

  Tell her. Tell her what he said about her. But I have thought the same things about her. I was horrible at her. But I wasn’t this man now. I was once.

  Am I still the same?

  I could say nothing, so I hugged her tight.

  ‘’He got the better of me.’’ I admitted. ‘’Won’t happen again.’’

  And she let out a heavy breath. ‘’Good. Because I do not want to have him back’’She explained and walked back to her books and I followed her, trying to see what she was reading. I was expecting books about monsters or even poisons against them. Instead, she was reading the history of the Roman gods. Why was she doing that?

  ‘’I could turn him into an animal, "I suggested, kissing her cheek. And she laughed.

  ‘’What kind?’’

  ‘’A fat tasty pig.’’I hummed. ‘’So I would cook him for you’’My lips moved on her bare shoulders.

  ‘’You shall do it after we are over from this place’’She said, closing the book and turning to me. ‘’Am I clear?’’

  And I replied with a nod and kissed her chin. I was so weak against her. And I had to admit. I loved it. I wanted to be human around her. And it scared me of what could happen if she was the first one to die.

  The weeks were passing and the king was now walking around the halls with a cane. But he had the energy of a young man as he had returned to his throne, leaving Hector back as an advisor. However, Lyssandra suggested to the king that once a day, he would send food to the ones in need. The advisor laughed at first but the king agreed instantly. He was realising soon how much power this woman had and I was glad for it. We kept watching at the guards, making sure there were enough of them and they were also working as we set a few traps in the corners for the monster not to attack, even if there were not any signs of it. But Lyssandra kept reading the same books? Why was she reading those books?

  The day arrived where the prince appeared in the palace. Red hair, olive skin and bright blue eyes. The image of his uncle as he was kneeling at the sight of the king. And his uncle showed him Lyssandra and me.

  There was a kind expression to his face when he was facing Lyssandra.

  ‘’You are the one who helped my uncle’’His voice was stuttering from the shock as he fell to one of his knees.

  ‘’Marry me.’’

  Both of us blinked in confusion.

  ‘’I am Hildeprand, nephew of the king. You will have a crown, and a good home’’

  As he was about to keep talking until the end, Lyssandra caught him off and showed me and the rings.

  And Hildeprand turned red, and everyone was laughing at the court.

  Everyone looked as if they had begun to respect her after the healing of the king. Even Hector was trying to speak to her in the hallways but she was ignoring him completely with now every servant around was preparing the palace for celebration of the return of the prince. But I could listen to things about myself, too. That I was a murderer. Hector probably told everyone that I was a killer, even though he knew the truth. And everyone was looking at me with fear and hatred when I was walking around the room.

  And with those preparations, I heard Lyssandra arguing to the room of the king.

  ‘’I will thank the crowd. That you saved me, that you helped so many people’’He explained. ‘’Everyone will bow for you.’’

  ‘’But Paris won’t be there’’She gasped angrily. ‘’Why?’’

  ‘’You have heard the whispers of Lyssandra. People still believe that he was the one that killed all those people.’’

  ‘’But you know the truth you are the king.’’

  ‘’Do you want me to cut everyone’s tongue who are talking mean against your husband?’’ The king asked and Lyssandra was about to say yes.

  And she let out a heavy breath.

  ‘’I will leave today’’She said and was about to walk outside the door.

  ‘’You will be considered a traitor.’’He explained calmly to her.

  ‘’If you stop me, I will speak of what you did to the previous king.’’

  And there was silence. What did he do? What was a lie, and what was the truth?

  ‘’You were a lost pup when your father betrayed the king of Lombards and you walked back to him. Without me, you wouldn’t usurp him.’’

  ‘’And without me’’The king spoke now high mighty. ‘’Your husband doesn’t know what kind of creature you lost.’’

  What? What were they talking about? What creature was everyone after?

  ‘’I will speak to him.’’

  ‘’When? ‘’There was a cruel laugh. ‘’When will you say to Apollo that the monster you hid, you captured is a god?’’

  My heart was shattering at those words. A god?

  ‘’Tell him how many centuries you were on that cell, torturing his own kind, enjoying the blood dripping down-’’

  I couldn’t stop myself. I opened the door. What were those words? What was he talking about? I faced Lyssandra, who was looking at me petrified, just like the king who was surprised that I was listening to everything.

  ‘’Paris’’Her voice trembled.

  What god did she trap?

  ‘’Who will court her at the celebration?’’I looked at the king. I did not even try to look at her again. I did not want to face her. I did not want to see her pathetic expression.

  ‘’Hector was insisting’’

  My stomach tightened.

  ‘’But I commanded my nephew to-’’

  ‘’Good’’And I lowered my head before leaving the room with Lyssandra following me.

  Killer, the whispers became even louder. Monster. No. I was no monster. I was not a lying creature. The one who had to be called is the savior that everyone was celebrating. The woman who was lying on our bed. The woman that I had fallen in love with.

  We were inside the room and we didn’t speak. Who shall give up? Who shall show weakness and speak?

  It was me.

  ‘’When?’’I asked her, letting a burning pain spit from my throat. ‘’When were you about to tell me?’’

  Why so many lies? Why do I?

  Why did she hide that she had captured a god?

  ‘’I was trying to find the right time?’’

  ‘’Would that me in your deathbed?’’

  I was not mad that she captured the god.I was mad, afraid to find the reason that she was hiding it from me. What was that deep secret that she was keeping?

  Her face was turning so painful. I did not want that. Everything was a lie. And only two people knew it before. But now, there are more.

  ‘’Tell me Lyssandra’’I walked closer to her and her body began to shake. ‘’Who is the god that you are hiding?’’

  ‘’I cannot say,’’she admitted.

  ‘’You cannot say to me’’I corrected her. ‘’I am giving you space, time to explain. But you do not-’’

  ‘’Paris’’ She said that name. Maybe I was weak. I was weak and a fool, trusting her completely. Maybe it was wrong that I even got so close maybe it was wrong I turned mortal or that I had fallen-

  ‘’Stop’’She shouted and my eyes darted, realising that I was holding her wrist tight. When did that happen? Did I do that? No, I couldn’t have done that. I couldn’t do it.

  ‘’Oracle I am sorry-’’My lips tried to speak but I could see her red hand.

  You are hurting me, stop.

  ‘’I am sorry, It won’t happen again-’’ I tried to move my arms close to her body but she pushed me away with one single glare.

  ‘’I have to get ready’’She explained and went to bathe alone.