• III
    Talon Key decided to bring her dearly beloved lover back from the dead himself since so one would dare tempt it. They feared curses but his kind was immune to curses and when Lily Petal’s lover passed through the threshold of death back to the living, he was intact in every way. Lily Petal was brought in to have some private time with him. She immediately knew her lover to be the way she remembered and he recognized her right off. Yet, he feared to hold her close.
    “Why?” he asks as she sat down opposite of him in the dimly lit side chamber. “He’s trying to get me to use my powers. You know how they got out of control when you died that I fear to use them to their full extent.” He tilts his head then sighs at the sad look on her face. “You shouldn’t let sadness consume your soul, Lily Petal. It drowns the whole world in darkness and you are connected to the world in more ways then one. I can’t die again, Talon Key made sure of that for he knows that I was your only soul mate. I’m sorry.”
    Lily Petal looks at him then shook her head at his regret. “Barbolt, we regret more then we think and if the world should drown, I’ll let it.” She got up then stop as he was about to get up. “It might be wise to stay away from me for a day and tell Talon Key that or I’ll throw more then an orb at him.”
    Talon Key didn’t need to hear the threat from Barbolt for he had been eavesdropping on them the whole time. When he heard Lily Petal leave, he conceal himself in a shroud of shadows then watch her leave. She was in a foul mood that Talon Key kept his distance from her for a couple of days.
    He wasn’t frighten or scare, just wanted to observe from afar to figure out a possible way to subdue her power for awhile.
    Barbolt slept in a room next to hers, glad to have a thick wall between himself and her till she cooled down. She got like this a couple of times and never wise to go near her without a way to protect your body from unimaginable torture. In a way, she was a danger to herself as well others.
    The sisters tolerated playing with others in the colonies after being paraded around in grandeur. All they wanted, ever since they heard of Lily Petal, was to be part of her world and learn from her.
    A couple of days later, Lily Petal was calmed down. She requested seeing the sisters but Lavender Blood refuse her request and insisted on her seeing other children. What made it worse was Barbolt backing the suggestion up and drag her along to the colonies at times when children were playing. He kept to the secluded parts away from the lords and ladies’ sections. Lily Petal put on a good face and barely tolerated the children’s presence. Barbolt didn’t notice the act thinking she was actually enjoying herself.
    At night, they could all hear her hammering away at something then everything fell silent which meant she was asleep. Barbolt spent time with her often on walks during sunset, afternoon, and midnight when she wasn’t working on her secret project. She hardly smiled or laughed but he kept trying choosing his words carefully. However, she brought up the colony children and didn’t bother to conceal her distain from playing with them. Yet, Lily Petal told him about her true past.
    Overall, she barely had a childhood living in exiled where few children were to be found and her parents busy making a living for them. When they found out she was a prophetess, they sent her away to school and from there, everything went downhill. Her whole life had been a downwards spiral with few uphill achievements that she got close to on a daily basis. After his death, before he was brought back, Lily Petal detached herself from the world never caring enough to get close to others lest she would lose them in an imagery climb for something out of reach.
    Barbolt tried to promise he would help her achieve the climb but she refuse telling him it was her own battle as it always been. In truth, she hated the world and its grim reminders that sprung up everywhere. The only one she truly counted on was distance and close at the same time.
    Unfortunately, Talon Key went into her room and discover the finished project sitting in the far corner out of sight. It was never a wise spot to hid things for his people always looked in the corners first. He marveled at the sheer beauty of the piece with its wide gold glided wings reaching toward heaven, full prophetess outfit flared about as if dancing in the wind, and Lily Petal’s beauty render perfectly in polished materials that gave it a life-like appearance. He carefully replaces the white cloth over it and saw Lily Petal glaring at him from the door.