Chapter Three
Story Time
I only had a little of the pizza, while I watched her devour the majority of it. She was quiet and pensive looking as she ate. She looked like she needed cheering up. I glanced at a clock above us, there was enough time.
I leaned forward across the table and engagingly asked, “Want to hear a story?”
Her eyes lifted to mine and I saw curiosity gleam brightly in the smoky brown depths of them, “What kind of a story?” She asked slowly as interest lightened up her downcast features.
She really was a gorgeous woman. I was getting myself in deeper, but there was no hope for it.
“I know many stories. Come up with a sub genre type story and I’ll try to pick one out for you.”
Her eyes now positively glowed, “For real?” She asked excitedly.
I nodded thinking again to myself how different Maria was from whom I thought she had been.
“Hmmm, I want something old and Robin Hoodish.”
I put my elbows on the table and leaned forward conspiratorially toward her and watched her eyes get big. I began my tale, “Our story began a very long time ago in a kingdom that has since been swallowed up by the sea. The kingdom of Artaxoriana was a prosperous one ruled over by a wise king. It was a tumultuous time in the world, where small kingdoms fell all the time, but such was not the case for Artaxoriana. Since its inception by its king it was a place of well-run order, for her king adhered to the old ways and was just and righteous. For 300 years this king ruled and governed his people well. Time caught up to him and he made plans for his departure from this life to the next. He wanted all of his children to be left with something. He had several wives and had accumulated over the years in excess of 100 children. He planned to give something of value to all of them. The youngest son fearing that his inheritance and position of prominence would be least of all, chose instead, to ask his father for his blessing to leave the kingdom and venture out and make his own way and be prosperous on his own terms. All he asked his father for was his blessing. His father gave him his blessing and the son left, but he didn’t get far. Two days later traveling along the seacoast he was picked up by pirates and turned into a galley slave. The king died and the son he appointed to rule in his stead was murdered by some of his brother’s who ransacked the kingdom. Many atrocities were committed. Four brothers by one of the old king’s wives rose to the forefront and eliminated all the other sons of the king as well as his daughters, who they abused horribly before they let them die. The brothers mother came of a different belief than the old kings had been and she had warped her sons with the unclean tenets of her faith in the dark arts. She believed her blood was of pure divine origin. They went so far as to keep the purity of their blood that all four brothers jointly married their one sister. The kingdom was thrown into ruin and chaos. Outlying towns were raided and traders left off trading with the kingdom, because of how they were treated by the ruling brothers and their sister. Several kingdoms banded together to attack Artaxoriana in order to end the rule of the brothers, who were bringing instability and economic loss to the whole region. The attack failed and the other kingdoms were brought under harsh submission. Help for the situation came from an unlikely source. Pirates. Without the heavy trading income, which brought trade ships for the pirates to prey upon they had no rich game anymore, because of the four brothers harsh mismanagement of the kingdom and of the surrounding kingdoms. The youngest son managed to escape the life of a galley slave to become a pirate in order to save his life. He was as his father had been and soon the pirates of the galley looked to him as their leader. Instead of attacking what few remaining trade ships were left they protected them in exchange for enough to get by on. The youngest son had a bigger idea though. He took the initiative to solicit other pirate ships to do the same. He even married a pirate queen in the process. Instead of just protecting the remaining trade ships that made their way around the surrounding kingdoms they began to use the pirate galleys as trade vessels as well. They aided the surrounding kingdoms to build back up in this way for which in return the youngest son asked only that food be given to the starving people of Artaxoriana by the surrounding kingdoms. They did so and as news spread that a son of the wise king yet lived the people rose up and the army switched sides and heralded the arrival of the youngest son of the old king at the head of a motley band of pirates turned kingdom savers, with his beautiful pirate queen by his side. The four brothers and their sister were removed from power and within fifty years the prosperity of the kingdom was restored aided by the pirates that now protected the trade routes themselves, who in turn were made fabulously wealthy by the protection tariffs that they charged. There you go, was that Robin Hood enough for you?” I asked, as I leaned back into my seat and away from the table.
She was smiling as she said, “You just made all that up.”
“Sure.” I said smiling easily.
With a sparkle to her eyes Maria asked, “So what happened to the incestuous group of five siblings?”
“They were marooned on a desert island that had giants living on it.”
Maria looked at me uncertain as to what that meant so I elaborated, “They got eaten.”
Maria’s eyes widened as she said, “You didn’t make the story up did you.”
I didn’t say anything but I could see her mind racing with the possibilities.
“How long ago was this?” She asked casually.
I just smiled at her and she guessed that was all the answer that she would get so she settled for asking another question, “Did the story end well for the young king and his pirate queen?”
I sighed and looked down at the table, “It did, but fifty short years after they were gone their grandchildren and the people of the kingdom were sacrificing their children to a moon goddess.”
Silence lengthened for a moment and I broke it by grabbing the bill and getting up. What more was there to be said of such a story?
I’d been trying to cheer her up and I had depressed myself with memories of the past.
I stepped up to the cash register and glancing around I found a box of chocolate bars. I threw two of them down with the bill and then moments later I walked out the door to where Maria was waiting on the street.
I tossed her one of the chocolate bars and she caught it with a surprised look.
“You like chocolate don’t you?”
The look on her face was answer enough to that.
“Behold your desert. Now shall we return to the scene of our crime and see if the ant colony has calmed down yet?”
Maria did something then I’d never heard her do before, she giggled. It was a lovely sound.
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Maria lay awake in her bed by the window. She knew Elon was still awake.
“What part did you play in the story?” She asked softly into the soft gloom of the room.
There was a long pause, with the AC being the only noise within the room, before Elon responded, “I helped convince the pirate queen not to kill the son and I helped advise the old king early on in his reign.”
Maria glanced over in the dark towards Elon, “Good night Elon.”
“Good night Maria.”
Time passed and Maria heard Elon’s breathing even out into sleep. Sleep was far from her though. She turned over on her side to face the window.
Her mind filtered back over the evening and what a wild turn of events her life had taken. It didn’t promise to get any less exciting anytime soon either. She had her life back and a heavenly purpose to go with it, if she chose to accept it.
It seemed so strange, even carnally simple, what God was asking of her, but who was she to judge God’s motives? That point had been made very clear to her this evening and she was never ever going to make that mistake again.
A tear slipped down her face as the last of her will was surrendered. Softly she said, “Okay God. It’s Your show. I’ll do whatever You ask of me in concern to this man. I’ll pray for him and I’ll give myself to him if that’s what You want.”
Instead of tension over what she had just promised, peace overwhelmed her beyond any comprehension and her head sank into the pillow and all of a sudden she felt very sleepy. Her mind already foggy with tiredness she asked, “He doesn’t want a relationship with me. He fights against his desire for me?”
“He won’t be able to resist you. He will have to give his fears to Me as they come between us and obstruct the deepness of our relationship.”
Maria’s eyes opened for a moment, “Elon has fears?” She asked surprised.
“Many.”
“Why do You talk with me? I’m so unworthy of it!”
“I choose whomever I will to fulfill My will and I long for deep relationship with those of My own creation.”
Maria had a question, but she held it back.
“Speak.”
Hesitantly Maria asked, “If I hadn’t agreed to do Your will would You have found another?”
“I would have.”
Maria swallowed hard, as an intense emotion welled up inside of her at the thought of Elon with another woman. Shocked deeply by the emotion Maria had no choice, but to accept that somehow she’d already welcomed a relationship with Elon before she had even known it.
How was it possible not to like a man who helped clean up your puke and save face the way he had for her. He hadn’t had to do any of that for her, but he did. She knew so little about him and yet she knew so much. What would tomorrow bring?