Chapter 16: Transcendent

Venus exists outside the realm of mere mortal experience.
She is the transcendent goddess, beyond our mundane perceptions.

A Fool's Book of Wisdom

She awoke to a sound and this time, she smiled. She recognized it immediately although she had never heard it before that moment. A rich, clear tenor voice rang out, as its owner moved about the room, singing words that chilled her heart with their sorrow as her sleep-fogged mind cleared and she understood the meaning behind the beautiful sound. Christine peered through slit eyes, watching the man she had somehow come to love as he busied himself with laying wood in her fireplace and then starting a fire. Soon, the comforting warmth and crackle of flame radiated about the room and she could not help but stretch and yawn. Forsaking her feigned sleep, Christine pushed herself up and rested her back upon the headboard of the bed in which she found herself clad only in a thin cotton chemise. The sound of her gentle movements did not pierce the man's consciousness, as he seemed lost in the heartrending lyrics of his song. His heavenly voice a husky whisper.

She stared at the bent back of the man. She ran her eyes over him and admired his lean, muscular body. He wore only black trousers and a loose white poet's shirt. An involuntary tear rolled from the corner of her eye as she took in the sadness of his song.

"Erik..."

She spoke softly so not to startle him, but he seemed not to notice her call. He remained crouched before the hearth, staring at the flickering flames of the newly built fire.

"Erik?"

She called a bit louder this time and he seemed to take note of her, his head rising and cocking to one side. His hands lifted to his face and after a moment, he stood, turned and walked to the side of her bed. His eyes burned as they raked over the voluptuous curves of her form barely hidden by her thin shift. He sighed as he attempted to bank the fire, which burned brightly within his loins. Tearing his eyes away from her, he cleared his throat before speaking.

"Good morning, Christine. I trust you slept well after your little adventure last night?"

She frowned slightly and watched as an unreadable expression flitted across the visible side of his face.

"Hmmm ... no answer? Well, in that case, I shall leave you now so you can have some privacy in which to dress for the day. I shall inform Madame that you are awake and she will prepare you a meal to break your fast."

He gave her a small bow.

"Mademoiselle."

Her frown increased as he turned and began to walk towards the door of her room.

"Erik? Stop! Where are you going? Please, come here and sit. I am so happy to find myself here. The last thing I remember is falling asleep under a tree after Leshii left. How did you find me? How did I get here?"

The young man froze as her words washed through him and his shoulders sagged. With a voice barely above a whisper and without turning his head toward her, he replied in a low monotone.

"Helen used her power to find you. I simply followed her lead then acted as a substitute for Edgar and carried you here. I failed you last night. I was not there when you needed me. You could have been hurt or lost to us forever."

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Christine's voice sounded from directly behind him and he felt the luscious curves of her body press against his back.

"Erik ... do you realize that you are the only person that has ever been able to make me lose my temper? I am trying very hard not to hiss and spit and stomp my foot in frustration right now, but I believe that even if I did, it would do no good. Sometimes, I really do not understand you. Do you remember the first time we met and we called one another stupid? Well, I do and you are acting that way now. You have never failed me, Erik. You disappointed me by not visiting me more often in our dreams and then saddened me when you stopped coming to me. But, now that I think upon it, the dreams stopped soon after my father died, so I might have been the one that shut you out and not the other way around. No matter, even at your most irritating, you never failed me. And, I have been helpless to do anything but love you." She paused and pressed her body closer to his before she continued. "Ever since the first time we met and argued, I have been head-over-heels in love with you."

For a brief moment, Christine thought she felt a tremor race through Erik's body before he froze and his body turned into a mass of unmoving and unfeeling stone. And, it was that slight tremor, which gave her the hope and the courage to continue speaking to him.

"Mon amour? Do not close your heart to me, please! I feel your fear, but do not understand what it is that you fear. Talk to me, Erik! Please!"

She nestled her head against the broad expanse of his back and held her breath, as the words of a fervent prayer swept through her mind and begged whatever deity who would listen that the silent man hear her words.

"Lord, please let him love me as much as I love him. Please!"

She snaked her arms around his waist and tightly clasped her hands together over his abdomen. She closed her eyes and savored the hard abdominal muscles against which her hands pressed.

"Oh, if you wish to leave, you will have to touch me. You will have to acknowledge that I am here. I am not going to let you ignore me. You owe me more than that. If you wish to walk away from me, I do not plan on making it easy for you as I will not release my hold on you without a struggle, Erik."