The Scattered Bones

by Nicole Scarano

Worse fates await me if I escape this desert, but I must survive… for him. This is all for him.

I pray his name again. I won’t stop reciting it until I’m dead.

I’ll find the rest of his scattered bones. I don’t care how long it takes, how far I have to travel, or how much evil I must battle. I’ll recover every severed limb, and then? Then I’ll learn if The Stranger was telling the truth.

His shattered body, his broken heart. He wants me to find him, to make him whole. Or perhaps it’s our vows that guide me, and that’s how I came to stand before these ruins. Not even death can part us, for we are one.

Our vows, our promise, our love. It cannot be silenced. We’re bound even in death, and that’s why I still sense him.

“Perhaps I’ll see you again… so you don’t have to be lonely.” He shrugged mischievously. “I’m very good at getting into places I shouldn’t.”

He made me whole and happy and beautiful. He made me Sellah. Kaid was the only person who let my true self bleed to the surface.

He loved every part of me, body and mind. I adored all of him, soul and form, and my heart breaks all over again.

“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t sit here and wait for you to leave me. Every time I look at you, I see the end of the greatest thing in my life. You’re my best friend, my confidant, my heart. I love you, Sellah.

Varas may be the god I’ve pledged to, but you’re who I want to swear my future to. You’re the altar I pray at, the deity I worship, and I would sacrifice my life for you,

You were forced into this life. You only believe it’s your destiny because they gave you no other choice.

I was trapped in this temple, my future not my own, but my love was mine to give, and I offered it to him.

“You don’t understand how desperately I crave your lips on mine, your body pressed against me.

“You are my goddess.” His low admission rumbled through his ribs, vibrating against my skin. “You are what I pray to, what I worship, what I adore.” “Then show me,” I challenged, and it was all the permission my thief needed.

“I love you, Sellah,” he whispered into my hair. “You own me. All of me. Forever.”

“I know you hate being valued for only your appearance, but I love all of you. You’re still my best friend, but gods, you are perfect.”

“I love you so much, Sellah.” He stared into my eyes. “You’ve ruined me. I’ll never be the same.”

“I’ll never love another woman,” he said. “I’ll wait for you. I’ll swear a vow of celibacy, and when your spirit returns, I’ll be here because I don’t want anyone else.”

“My thief, I want a future with you, for you have stolen my body, mind, and heart.”

“I’ll want you even in death, Sellah. There’s no afterlife, but that doesn’t matter. I’ll love you until I’m dead in the dirt, then I’ll love you until my body is nothing but bones. And when my bones fade to dust coating the earth, I’ll still want you.”

“Get your filthy hands off my wife.”

I told him I wouldn’t leave him alone. Until death. Until we were dust.

“I don’t love you.” I cover his entire face with kisses until he attempts a weak smile. “Because love isn’t enough for what I feel. It is too much. It’s everything.”

Your despair was so great that in the darkness, you longed for a way to undo your pain. You didn’t realize it, but your longing was almost a prayer, and I heard you.

“You and I are the same. We understand what it is to lose love at Hreinasta’s hands.”

I would suffer through all the pain life inflicted on me again, because I’ve loved my thief from the moment I found him in my room, and I’ll love him until I am dust.