Tigerlily

Austen watched his wife glide from the dresser to her side of the bed. She always appeared to be walking on air, her every move was swift and coordinated. Under the dim yellow night lights radiating from their lamps, her deep chocolaty skin glittered like polished onyx. She shined, her exposed skin reflecting the deep yellow lights as she flopped onto their bed haphazardly, spreading her arms to either side of her. Austen smiled at the childish act, he registered her hardened nipples peeking through the thin satin of her nightgown and bit down on his bottom lip.

Despite the gorgeous lady beside him being his wife, he could never shake the feeling that he hardly knew her. Afterall, their union was more or less arranged by her guardian and his father— even more surprisingly, she was the one who requested a matchmaking be done for her. On the afternoon of their first meeting, he recalled doing most of the talking too. It was more like an interview over pastries and freshly brewed coffee than a date; Angelique had many questions. Some of them basic, others …rather odd.

“Do you like pets?“, she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Yeah, I do. I have a dog... a corgi”

“Oh, I like small breeds too. Wish choice. For me, I like rabbits”

Before he could even get a chance to ask her about love for rabbits, Angelica interjected.

“Does your dog have the habit of barking at completely random people? Or in the middle of the night when there’s seemingly nothing to bark at?” She asked.

“Yes actually might get violent too, he’s usually so friendly but there’s just people he can never get use to”

“Interesting... Corgis are a friendly type. Out of character for them to have... bite,” she said, looking at Austen dead in the eyes. Her feline orbes seemed to glow.

“Is there anyone in particular? Any regular around your home that he can’t just get along with?”

“Hmm, well yes, my new assistant. She’s not so new anymore but he hasn’t gotten used to her coming around. It’s probably just his dog brain not registering her.” Austen said with a wave of his hand as if to dismiss the issue.

Angelique, with her elbows propped up on the table and fingers linked supporting her chin, smirked.“Perhaps.”

“I don’t think I’m too comfortable with a female PA. I can be very... protective.”

Austen laughed, “Don’t worry, she’s not my type.”

“Oh? And am I?”

“You’re... fascinating, mysterious and a little quirky.”

“Quirky?” Angelique chuckled.

“I don’t believe I’ve heard that one before.”

“So what do people usually say about you?”

“People have said many things about me. Some good, several bad and horribly misinformed. I only value what I think of myself.”

Austen nodded, “You’re also very witty, very level headed and shrewd. The last hour has felt like I’m sitting with a sage or something.”

“My mental age is 1267 years old,” Angelica grinned.

“That’s a very specific number,” Austen joked.

“Yes ... I’ve been keeping track.”

Austen gave a hearty laugh, “And here I was thinking you didn’t have a sense of humour.”

“I know I’m rather placid, but I do enjoy a joke or two.”

“Witty, logical, funny and beautiful. What a package. I’m sold.” Austen said with an air of finality.

Giggling, Angelica asked “Aren’t you concerned about whether I can cook and clean, and perhaps if I have a body count?” You know, the typical stuff men would ask a potential life partner?”

“My pops says your late grandmother filled him in on those details. He also says you make some killer nunu and fisherman soup.” Austen said with a grin.

“Well I do, amongst other things. What else did she say?”

Austen became solemn suddenly, a look of sympathy on his face, “She also told me about what happened with your former employer. I’m sorry you were taken advantage of like that.”

“Don’t be sorry for me. The bastard got what was coming to him.”

“Yeah but, you were only trying to make a living, he took advantage of your financial situation and your naivety. He ...”

“He’s dead. Long dead and he’s now just another memory, Austen.” Angelica interrupted and placed her finely manicured atop his.

“Look at me. I’m alright now, I’m living well now.”

Austen nodded with a deep sigh as he looked at his watch. It was about time he left to tend to work related matters.

“Time to go?” she asked, a slight tinge of disappointment in her voice.

“Yes”, said Austen, “I’d like to see you again. How does dinner on Sunday sound?”

“Wonderful” Angelique smiled.

That was Austen’s first meeting with his now wife Angelica. They had several other dates, he proposed and had what he would always remember as the sweetest love he’d ever made on the night of their engagement. Angelica would have conceived that night if they hadn’t been interrupted by a loud, stinky one he ripped. Even through all that Austen couldn’t shake the feeling he hardly knew her. She wasn’t much of a talker, but she asked a ton of questions. She seems to move through life buried in books when she wasn’t working. Fiction, philosophy, theology, poetry, she read them all. And because she was a reader, when she did speak, she was also a great storyteller. As rarely as she did, when Angelica had a story, Austen was all ears. He just wanted to hear her talk uninterrupted, observe all her gestures, the shape of her lips, the rise and fall of her voice. Tonight was going to be one of such nights. Angelica exhaled as Austen threw a toned and lean arm around her.

“Do you want to hear a story?” She asked.

“Of course, I love to hear your pretty voice.” Angelique laughed, giving his arm a slight pinch.

“Tonight’s story is long though.”

“I have time.”

“Alright Aussie” Angelique said and turned to her side so they were face to face.

“There was a girl, her name was Dakorite. Dakori for short. When she was born, everyone knew she was a special little girl.”

“She had a gift, you see. She could bend the elements, she had strength and speed that were near superhuman.”

“How’d she get those powers?” Austen asked.

“She was a reincarnation, Aussie. The legend according to her people, the riverine people, is that the river goddesses wanted a sister-- someone who embodied the strengths and characteristics of them both and could maintain the balance between the elemental forces and the people. But to produce the child, they needed a human woman to conceive her. There was a barren woman who came to pray to the goddesses, and so they struck a deal with her. She’d bear the Prebo-siri, the tiger lily. She’d raise her as her own but she had to bring the girl to the river each year on her birthday to see her sisters, and on her nineteenth birthday she’d receive all the power reserved for her...”

“She would become a potent creature, the union of order and chaos that creates balance. A perfect duality that would be unstoppable, much more powerful than her sisters, and of course, more human. She needed to be, because one day the humans would forget their ancestral gods for the worship of the Almighty. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Afterall, God created everything. But humans aren’t principalities, they’d always need as much help as they could get. Especially when the elemental spirits sought to overstep their boundaries.”

“And elemental spirits are different from gods?”

“Yes, they are. The gods were principalities, but they only had power as long as humans worshipped them. The elementals just... exist and have always existed. Spirits of air, in the water, the foliage, familiar spirits that attach themselves to humans, that taught humans sorcery and witchcraft, the likes.”

“Aren’t they the ones people refer to as ‘spiritual husbands’ or whatever?”

Angelique chuckled, “Yes, those ones. When they never liked the gods and when the gods became irrelevant, they thought they could have free range on humanity”

“But what about God?”

“God is in charge of the affairs of the realms. But He has bigger fish to fry. His is a redemptive work, those who know Him and are for Him will reach heaven. Not everyone knows God, not everyone cares about His statutes. Heck, not so many people are unaware of the elementals and how widespread their influence is. In that sense, Prebo-siri is a tool in the hands of God.”

“Anyway, Prebo-siri did her work well in that first lifetime. But of course, there were elementals that would not submit to her authority, particularly those wicked familiars that would latch onto even generations of people and spread their influence by initiating others through the human vessels.”

“They wanted to be gods” Austen whispered, nestling into his pillow as Angelique smiled, “Exactly” she said.

“Worship should have always been a matter of conviction. The gods knew that, God even gives grace to be convicted. Only the elementals want to trap people into worship. Prebo-siri stood in the gap, she was a diplomat, she was a warrior. But she eventually grew older and the lineage had to continue. The first Prebo-siri, whose name was Kalamaman gave birth to the second, her name was Iyante and gave birth to her daughter, Soibie and that went on till Tubobere in the late 19th century.”

“But Tubobere could not give birth to a daughter and the powers in her bloodline couldn’t be transferred. There hasn’t been a Prebo-siri since then... Not until the turn of the 21st century”

“Oh?” Austen hummed.

“Yes, there’s a new Prebo-siri walking amongst us. And what a time for her to be alive. Now here’s where our story really starts. In the place called Elomenna, a lovely seaside port town. This is where Dakorite lived with her granny, making ends thinly meet by selling food.”