Lola cleared her throat, and Melissa waited eagerly to hear the story that, in some way, connected to her best friend.
"Once upon a time, in a village covered in ash, a woman stepped out of her house. She looked in despair at what the fire had caused and then looked further at the backs of the disappearing guards. They rode on their horses back to their king, who wallowed in sorrow over the loss of his son. The guards told their king of yet another village they had plundered. They had burnt their homes in front of the villagers' eyes.
'We told them, my King, how to make it stop, but none stepped forward ready to pay the price.'
The king had sent guards to plunder village after village and bring back his heir.
The king rose from his throne and lifted his sword in the air.
'I will go to the village and talk to the people, with the promise of gold and new homes.'
'My King, if they resist, what then?'
'If they resist, I give the kingdom my word that I will burn their starving bones.'
The woman in the village held her growing stomach. She looked at the destruction and at the neighbors who stood in fear.
They held their children closely, refusing to give them up, and the woman whispered to the air.
'All the King wants for this to stop is for a villager to provide him with an heir.'
She stepped into her withering home and looked at her boy hiding in the corner.
'Shh, stay there, my love. Mama's going to fix this,' she said and began making true to her promise.
The woman took out candles and closed her tired eyes.
'Please, gods, hear my pleas. I need your help in these difficult times.'
The candles' fire erupted in the room. She needed to hurry, for no one could hear her forbidden words.
'We must put an end to the slaughter of our people, and for that, I reach out to you. Please give me a boy strong and worthy to carry the title of king. Please grant him beauty, a mind made for leadership, and a brave heart fit for war. Gods, give me a child with magnificent health. Give me a child to give to the king, and I swear on my life I will never ask for another thing.'
Months later, on the night of the blood moon, the child was born. It cried as it lay on its mother's chest. The woman looked down in sorrow at the girl on her breast.
'I asked for a boy. Gods, what have you done? You gave her the beauty of a goddess, but I needed a son. The King needs an heir, a boy, for the throne. He will never accept her. Oh gods, what have you done?'
Little did she know that the gods did hear her and had given her a child for the king to take care of.
The king arrived some moons later to bargain with the villagers or continue the slaughter.
Whichever they chose, he was ready to offer.
'I will ask only once. Bring me a boy to raise as my heir, and I assure you you will be rewarded. With new homes, more land, and a bucket of gold, all you have to do is do as you're told.'
The woman stepped out, cradling her child.
'She is a girl, my king, but I promise you will want her.'
'A girl?! What use will I have for her, you fool? I need a son, someone worthy of the throne.'
'You can marry her off, my king, to a prince. Combine your kingdoms and grow twice as big.'
The king looked at the girl sleeping in her mother's arms. Mesmerized by the little one's beauty, the king accepted to take her as his own.
The girl grew up in grace and beauty, with secrets in her skin that nobody knew she carried. The gods had listened and given her strength and bravery. She married a prince who did not treat her fairly. On one faithful night, the prince raised a hand at her- afraid, the princess cowered away and hid behind her hands. With no wound on her body, she could not explain the feeling of power that burned in her veins. She looked at the prince discussing with the king, and the power grew until it erupted in a ring. Her eyes had the glow of a million moons, and the power surged and ignited the room. The light was brighter than the sun in the sky, and the king saw the princess and prepared for a fight. He charged at her with a sword in hand, and the guards rose to their feet to fend for their land.
Captured and detained, the princess could not begin to imagine the things she had done. She did not know from where the powers had come. Was it magic or a curse, perhaps a fault of her own? Still, what would the king say... He would protect the heir to the throne.
The king entered the tower with a sword ready by his side and gave the princess a sedative to make her sleep for the night. When the princess awoke, she saw wounds on her arms, and an army of guards had gathered around her bed. They stood tall and prepared, but for what, she wondered. Was it her they were fearing, she who never could harm another?
The king came in with the doctor by his side, and they reached down to take more of her blood. The princess's eyes were pleading with her father. 'Please hear me out. I do not know of any powers!'
Her blood was taken each day and night, for the King had been gifted with eternal life. Each time a wound or a sickness occurred, he would drink her blood, and all would be cured.
The King had realized the gift he'd been given by that woman in the village, she who had prayed to the gods to give her an extraordinary child.
The princess never left the tower and was kept under lock and key. No prince came to save her, nor did her father, the king. Alone and afraid, with a mind so confused, her blood kept being taken until the last drop was used.
Her eyes had been closed for many a moon, and as she drew her final breath, her soul was free to leave the room.
The king was informed of the princess's passing, and he shouted, 'Good riddance. The witch is finally dead.'
Dead but not forgotten, for you see, the princess was a child of the gods, and her soul was merely a seed for the gods to sow. This, dear reader, is the story of the world's first, everlasting Doe."
"Please...please tell me that this is not a children's story..." Melissa said, boggled by the story she had just heard.
"I never said it was a happy story and it's not something you read to your kid at night. It's something that schools usually make high school students read for a literature class, this is only part of the story. The real one is bigger," Jax explained.
"Her mother sold her. She sold her daughter," Lola whispered and closed the book. She dragged her fingers over the pristine cover.
Jax reached out and grabbed Lola's hand. He tangled his fingers with hers and gave them a light squeeze.
"Whatever happened in the past doesn't define the future."
Lola smiled and turned to him. A mischievous glint flickered in her eyes.
"Are you saying you will never sell me?" she joked. However, it was anything but a joke to Jax.
"Lola," he said softly, gaining her undivided attention. "I'm saying I will never leave you."
The pressure of the tears behind her eyes began to burn, but they wouldn't fall.