A Promise Kept

March 20th, 2005 (Sun.)

The two children giggled and kissed clumsily as they stumbled into the small river hut. She was almost a woman now at thirteen, and he a man. “Do you think they’ll find us here?” She whispered breathlessly against his cheek and into his ear.

“ No, they’ll be gone for hours still, “ his voice was hoarse and full of nervous anticipation, and they both laughed awkwardly as he fumbled with the ties on the back of her wool dress.

Then their eyes met, “Are you scared?” he asked.

“Yes, a little, I..” Her voice trailed off, and they shared a soft lingering kiss. He hardly seemed like the child virgin he was as he caressed her cheek with his callused thumb, admiring their last moments of innocence. Then they tangled themselves together on the small straw pad that served as a bed, lying on the floor. Her pale moon-white skin was dramatic against his deep caramel tan, earned from many hours out in the sun, wearing only a loincloth.

When it was all over she curled herself into his arms, feeling him against her, “Will you love me when you return?”

“Of course I will love you. The war cannot change that, nothing can change that, I will always love you.”

“Forever?” She asked softly.

“Forever.” He sounded certain and confident, “Through all the lives we lead and live, for the rest of eternity, I will always love you, I promise.”

“ Me too. Forever,” she now sounded as assured as he, “I promise.”

Neither at the time truly knew the ripples through the universe those simple words would send, for it was a promise they would keep.

---

History lies.

It is told that the most gifted prophet the world has ever seen was doomed, to see the truth and foretell the future and to not be believed. But in the years after her death, a few came to trust in her most momentous insight. Her lasting gift was a prophecy.

She said a great battle would come, greater than any before, and the world would be at a crossroads. Whether in would plunge into darkness, or find salvation in the light, no one could know, but for one treasure. A king and a queen would lead the fight; relive lives they had seen so many times before. They would be nothing without each other, marked by fate to love only their counterpart and rule complete. They had only to awaken to their destiny.

Without them, the battle would be lost.

Over and over again the king and the queen lived their lives; over and over again they played out their parts, as they had been for thousands of years. Others joined them. Each year the war drew a little closer, and each year more players were reborn, to relive their lives and their loves, and to prepare for their roles as generals, heroes and villains in the great war.