Mona (Part Three)

After two weeks passed, Monalora regained consciousness and sat up.  Her face showed no signs of  the contortions brought on by the palsy and her body also lost the rigidness and twitching.  We helped Jago bathe and dress her and adjust to walking – something she hasn’t done for many years.  Jago’s entire disposition had been changed along with Monalora’s healing. Although he was tough and just into his fifties, he acted shy and child-like every moment he was with this young woman.  

“He’s in love.” Eve announced to me as she sat down at the large table in the main room. “He looks at her with such tenderness and intensity --- she is his reason for living.  He was alone, Joseph.  I can forgive him for killing us with poison to save the one woman he loves.”

“I suppose that I should be grateful for your change in attitude.  I’m glad you don’t want to stab him through the heart again.”  I shaded my eyes from the morning light looking downward as I spoke. “The question is – where do we go from here?”

Jago and Monalora entered the room and sat at the table causing me to move to a different seat to avoid the morning glare.  The woman was dressed in white linen with a thick blue sash around her waist.  Jago politely pulled her chair away from the table and fixed her hair as she sat and got comfortable.  She smiled at the both of us and reached for some fruit from the bowl.

“Good morning.” she said happily.

We returned the greeting and I addressed them both. “We all have to talk about your change Monalora.  Jago have you explained to her what has happened?”

Monalora broke in, “Jago explained everything.  That he and I will be together forever as one.  Our children will grow old but we can stop that with your potion and we all could live forever, together.”

There was a moment of silence in the room. “Joseph.”  Eve said, looking me with her brow furrowed with concern.

I addressed Eve’s concern without her having to explain.  “Jago, Monalora . . . you cannot have children.” I said bluntly.

Jago jumped up as if hot coals were placed on his lap and Monalora sat back with wide eyes glaring as if she had just been severely insulted. “What is this you are saying, Joseph?  We are healthy and strong now.  Why can’t we have children?”

“The ‘medicine’ changed us.  Somehow it took things from us in exchange for the immortality and health.  Eve tried to conceive a child but we realized her issue of blood stopped after taking the liquid. At first we thought she was with child when the monthly flow ceased, but realized it was the medicine that changed this. We have accepted the fact that we cannot have children.”

“Jago, Monalora --- you have each other. That’s a wonderful thing.” Eve added.

Monalora began to weep and Jago’s face faded to hopelessness.  He had been through so many changes and this was another thing that seemed to hurt and confuse him. Without saying anything, they both left the room to Jago’s private quarters. I thought about following them and trying to comfort them, but Eve held me back.  She said that she would take care of this when the time was right and I should let them have this time alone.

After a few days had passed, Eve manipulated Monalora away from Jago to allow her some time to talk and get to know the woman more intimately. Jago and she had become inseparable over the days after her change and neither of us had the opportunity to give her the first hand information she needed regarding her new circumstances.

Eve talked the woman into bathing with her in the stone pool just outside the house.  Three servant girls stood guard over them and assisted with their bathing when requested.  In the ancient past, bath houses were common and bathing outdoors in groups was more social than what it is in the twenty-first century.  Monalora was not the shy type in this situation which surprised Eve.  We supposed it was because so many people handled her when she was feeble, that nothing embarrassed her.

“I am so sorry that all of this is so overwhelming.” Eve said in a quiet apologetic voice. “We learned everything the hard way because we were the first, and now I’d like to share my experience with you and answer any questions.”

Monalora playfully splashed some water at Eve. “I have many questions.  But where to begin is the hardest.  Jago said we cannot die.  Is this true?”

“Yes. Nothing can kill us, but it still hurts.”  She replied.

The younger woman looked down at the water, “Drowning, I suppose, can’t kill us either.  I was always afraid of the water because I couldn’t sit in a bath without slumping over without the ability to pull myself up.  Now it doesn’t bother me at all.  Funny how those things will only be a memory.  But . . . why can’t we have children?”

“In place of the gift the medicine brings it also takes away.  We cannot have babies.  That is just the way it is.  And we can have only one lover as long as we live.”

Monalora thought for a moment. “Jago and I haven’t touched each other yet.  He wants to marry me for all to see. I like that.” she said with a dreamy glaze on her face.

“But keep in my mind my little sister; you can have only one lover.  So if you both separate for some reason, you will truly be alone.”

“Why only one?” she asked.

Eve moved toward Mona and sat next to her in the water. “This is why. It will hurt for a moment, and then you will heal.”

The younger woman was frightened but she let Eve continue.  Eve placed her finger in her mouth and wet it down with saliva.  She moved directly upon Monalora and placed the wet finger over her lips then in her mouth.  Monalora screamed in pain as Eve’s saliva seared her mouth like hot boiling oil.

“Be still,” Eve said, “it will heal.”

Less than sixty seconds passed and the younger woman was fine.  She felt her lips in disbelief and turned to her mentor questioning her relief from the pain.

“This is what will happen if you try to make love with one of us after you are with Jago --- and to any normal person you are as deadly as liquid fire.  The other people cannot harm you, but you can kill them with a kiss or your if you open your loins to a normal man.  So Jago will be with you forever after . . .”

The woman stared down at the water for several moments absorbing the new information as her lower lip quivered from the revelation … "FOREVER"…  She looked up at Eve and with her large brown almond shaped eyes and began to laugh and cry at the same time with the word "FOREVER" echoing loudly into her mind.  Eve has seen hysteria before but not in such a quiet and controlled form as this.  The young woman reached out her arms and Eve hugged her tightly as water splashed around them.  Monalora began to sob loudly, and then lost her breathe as a silent scream whistled from her open mouth as she continued to hear "FOREVER". . . .

“It will be alright,” Eve said as comforting as she could, “it will pass. Trust us.” 

Eve thought to herself, “What will happen next?”

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