Around her the inferno raged and rose higher, engulfing the edge of her skirt, singing her long cardinal hair; she closed her eyes and fought back tears and focused her mind on his image.
She remembered the day she first laid eyes on the demon that had caused her to forfeit her life, body, and soul. He had seemed a man like any other set apart only by his regal bearing and piercing eyes. His black leather boots were caked with dust from the road and despite the blistering heat he wore a black jacket over his crisp white shirt and had shed not a drop of sweat.
His hair shone like a raven's wing in the sun and fell in a cascade of curls bound by a single black satin ribbon down his back. His eyes were pools of warm chocolate that had the tiniest flecks of gold and amber shining in their depths. His mouth was strong and sensual as it curved in to a smile when his eyes fell upon her in the field. His skin shone with a golden gleam that was accentuated by the stark whiteness of his shirt and made his smile shine even brighter. A deep cleft was set in his strong chin and his smile made dimples appear almost magically in his cheeks. He took her breathe away as no man ever had for he looked like no man in her village. His rumbling voice called to her, " Good day, milady! Might you know a place that I may stay for a night or two?"
That simple question marked the beginning of her fate.
She could scarcely believe he was speaking to her for few rarely did. She lived on the edge of the village alone on the farm her parents had once worked. Most ignored her, as she didn't fit in. She had taught her self to read and write something no other girl in the village could do and her beauty was the stuff of fairy tales. Her skin was a flawless cream unmarred by the sun no matter how many hours she spent in her fields. Her eyes a fiery luminescent green that flashed with untried passion. Her mouth was full lipped and naturally the color of fresh poppies, but her hair was the sole feature that bothered the villagers. Her hair was thick and luxuriant falling past her hips in soft waves, but the color was a startling red, a red as deep and vibrant as a cardinal's plumage an unnatural color the villagers whispered about whenever they saw her.
In a voice as clear as a bell she called back to him, " Yes milord the inn is just past the center of town, they should have a room available for you." He nodded his head and continued past her farm into the village. She sighed and went back to pulling up the vegetable from her garden for her dinner.
The acrid smell of smoke broke her reverie and she was scared to open her eyes, for fear of panicking and giving them the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Through the crackling of the fire she heard their accusations ringing in her ears. "Witch! Whore! Sorceress!" but the only one that hurt was "Where is your demon lover now?" She retreated to her memories of her time with him, with her love.
He was laughing a wonderfully musical sound and smiling that amazing smile of his. He had come strolling by her farm again, and was laughing as she tried, very unsuccessfully, to pull up the roots of a tree that she had chopped down but was starting to grow again.
"If you think it is that easy and funny to see me doing this", she growled at him, "you do it."
She couldn't believe it when he stepped over her fence and whispered in her ear "It would be my pleasure to help such a beautiful damsel in distress." He took his jacket off, stripped his shirt off and handed them to her in a neatly folded pile.
"Be a good girl and hold these," he said smirking.
Before she could respond he leaned over and grabbed the stump with both hands. His back muscles rippled and glistened under the sun as he tensed up and pulled the stump up in one swift move. She was amazed by how easily he wrenched the roots from the ground and couldn't help but stare at his naked back. He turned to her and raised in eyebrows and nodded to the stump he still held in a query as to what he should do with it. Mesmerized by his bare chest with it's sprinkling of hair that drifted down below his belt, she merely pointed to a spot by the corner of her cabin. His eyes were full of laughter as he if he knew what she was thinking. Her cheeks quickly flushed the color of fresh rose blooms and her eyes searched the pristine whiteness of his shirt.
"Thank you, Mr..." She called to him, "I am afraid you still haven't told me your name, sir. Nor have I told you mine."
He laughed a wonderful rumbling sound and called back to her, " Bida, Bida, Bida", he shook his head, " really I thought you would have known me when you saw me. Oh well, I suppose I shall have to tell you again. My name is Samael Troian." She looked puzzled; as if she could half remember a dream where she had known this man. His name rang in her ears a distant memory.
"Samael... Samael," she murmured to herself, liking the way it rolled off her tongue. She turned to look at the road leading to the village and sighed.
"So, Mr. Troian, I thought you said you only needed a room for a night or two? When will you be moving on?" she started to ask Samael, when it hit her that he had called her by her name.
"How did you know my name!" she spun around on her heels to face him.
Bida's face turned to a mask of surprise as she realized that Samael was gone and she was no longer holding his clothes. She turned and stared hard down the empty road that lead to her sleepy little village before bolting past the hole were the stump had been to the corner of her quaint cabin and then past it into the field were her only cow grazed peacefully undisturbed by anyone. She stopped and surveyed her land straining her eyes towards the woods at the edge of her property, but nowhere was there any sign that anyone had been with her only moments before. Slowly she walked back to where the tree stump should have been and saw instead of the stump she expected a bouquet of flowers. Bida shook her head staring at the flowers in disbelief before bending over and gathering the flowers up in her arms. Carefully as if she expected them to disappear, she deeply breathed in their perfume and suddenly her mind flashed with wicked images of herself and Samael doing things she had never thought she would do. The flowers fell to the ground. Bida gasped and violently shook her head desperate to clear the wanton thoughts and images that danced through her mind. Gulping deep breaths of air, she finally calmed herself.
"Bida," she scolded herself, "what on earth has come over you?? There is work to be done and you are standing around like a girl in love. Foolish, foolish girl. He hasn't even shown an interest in you, and he is leaving. You are never going to see him again and surely he will not think of you once he is gone." Sighing so deeply her chest shook, she went inside her cabin to start on evening chores.
