Farewell in dreams

With eyes like hers, I knew she could capture a kingdom by merely fluttering her thick black lashes - but all of us knew she'd never try. God, she was beautiful. My hands trembled slightly above her perfect porcelain skin, somewhat graying and very cold. Slowly, so slowly, my fingertips traced her frail cheek, losing all the warmth in my body, just as she had. How could this have happened?

I yearned to kiss her more than anything. I needed to revive my Snow White, but she remained stone dead, forever removed from my grasp. I cautiously wrapped a strand of her raven hair around my fingers, curling it and preening it with utmost care. She used to love when I did this. What I'd do to hear her laugh about it again.

"She was carrying a child, son." My father told me, the evening of my wedding. She lay motionless before me, caked in blood, staining her gorgeous cream gown with carnelian parades. I looked at him, rocking her lifeless body in my arms and shook my head with fury.
"She's sleeping. It's all theatrics. It's not real. She's quite an actress!"
My mother laid a hand upon my shoulder,
"She's gone, my dear," she whispered, for her voice had gone hoarse, "and so is your child."


I never thought the woman would carry my child. She was always so terrified of committing to anything with me. Shockingly, she'd agreed to marry me, and I'd never been happier - but it took effort on my part, lots of it. I started to imagine what my child would have looked like, what it would have been, how I'd even manage to raise it...but I couldn't see anything.

I ached to vomit because of how distraught I had become. Maybe things did happen too soon between us, but she left me even sooner. I ran my fingers across the engagement ring I'd given her and brutally fought the tears that soon defeated me. Even stained with blood, she never failed to amaze me. I covered her face with the sweet lace veil that she had intended to wear for our service, and with one final holy kiss, I sealed a goodbye to both her and our baby.

God, she was beautiful.

I woke to the sound of sobbing beside me. I looked over at him and frowned with compassion. I didn't understand and didn't ask. I placed a hand softly on his spasming back and squeezed his shoulders.
"Don't leave." he whispered before pulling me into a brutal kiss. I closed my eyes.
"I'm not." I replied.
He gripped my hands so tightly that tears began to form in my eyes.
"Don't leave..."
"I'm not going to." I reassured him. He nodded and kissed me passionately, pinning me to the mattress. I closed my eyes and let him fill me.
"This could be our only chance."