A short excerpt from
'Of Castle and Cloak'

They each stood there for a second, lost in that moment of it all, hearts pounding as the world enveloped them and threatened to wrest all sanity from their grasp.
He looked into her eyes, unwavering.

She could read those eyes; she knew what it was that he was asking for, knew that which she knew he desired most.

Cautiously he moved towards her, his whole body asking.

He leaned in towards her.

And she pulled away.

Tears were in her eyes as she spoke, they glistened in her eyes as she spoke her own truth, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know.....I know, but I can't. I'm so sorry."

Those tears, shining like iridenscent pearls on a lake of midnight silver, cascaded down her soft features, soaked her pale skin with their wet dew.

She looked up, into his eyes, pleading with him. "Please don't. Please, I can't take it. I'm so sorry."

She kept repeating those three small words, over and over, her crimson hair falling over her face, covering her eyes that were filled with both hope and pain. She could not bear to look at him; yet she could feel the hope being wrung out of him, draining away into the night like an open wound whose bleeding could not be clenched. She stifled a cry, bent over and wept, rocking back and forth in small circles on the ground where she now lay a crumpled heap.

He watched her there, struggling to understand; yet still not completely comprehending. He could see she wanted it; yet why was she in such pain?

So involved in her crying was she that she did not hear him approach her once more.

His cupped palm lifted her chin; her eyes were forced once more to meet him.

As he kissed her.

"Oh god." Those were the only words to escape her lips.

She looked up, into those eyes that refused to free her.

"Thank you," she whispered, smiling shyly up at her prince.

And then that second caught up with them, and she collapsed on the ground.