The Bride

My Bride. My dove, my perfect one, she is the only one, the favourite one. Other women saw her and called her blessed, for I long to shower her with my love and favour all the days of her life. She is my greatest desire. She is worth more than all the precious stones that I have created; her splendour greater than a thousand suns. Behold her beauty; there is no spot in her. She has ravished my heart with one look, her scent has intoxicated me, her kisses are like honey and I am captivated.

Oh, how I longed for my beloved to make the right choice that day and stay by me forever, but alas she followed the Serpent and was lost to me. My heart agonized in letting her go. But I had to let her make her own choice. In my adoration for her she was free to choose. She was not made to be ruled, but to be treasured, and my devotion for her refused to allow her to remain lost. I followed her out of the garden, out of the paradise I had created just for us.

Her choice to follow the Serpent had left her blind and trapped within an intricately woven net of deception and peril. My spirit traversed the inhospitable wilderness alongside her, providing for her every need. The nights were so very cold and empty, and I would hold her tightly within my embrace, keeping her safe and warm. My left hand was her comfort and my right hand her shield. But the Serpent’s deception ran so deep that she wasn't even aware of my presence. As we awoke to every new day, we would face it together; but apart. There were days I faced the fiercest of beasts, protecting her from death and keeping her from being lost to me forever.

One day patience triumphed and there was a change in her. My heart raced when she smiled in my direction, as though she sensed me beside her. One night she embraced me in return. My heart soared.

The Serpent, however, had never been very far and when he saw the freedom, I was helping her find he pulled her even farther away. He hit her from my sight, behind the vast expanse of a thistle and bramble infested forest, where he constructed a solid stone wall a mile thick, with no beginning or end in sight. Then he built an iron gate with vicious protruding rusted nails, barring entrance to the tower in which he placed my beloved.

I called out to her across the distance, hoping she could hear my still, small voice.

Nothing.

Again I called, knowing that I could not act without her heart guiding mine.

Upon my third call, I heard a soft and fearful reply: “Save me my Love. I have sought you but could not find you, I have called to you, but you gave no answer. I tried to flee but the guards found me, they struck me and wounded me. My heart yearns for yours. Nevertheless I trust in the hope that you are at hand. Your promise to never leave me or forsake me is my refuge. I am here, please save me.”

Her heart found mine and I knew where to go. I knew what had to be done to save my Bride. I battled my way through the forest of thistles and brambles. My clothes and flesh were torn to shreds and my wounds burned with their poison. At the wall I found a small crack, where I kicked and clawed my way through every inch. My feet bled from the cuts made by the sharp edges, my sides were battered and bruised. But with every kick, the wall shifted, until the entire barrier came tumbling down. At the Iron Gate, I saw my Bride in the tower, she looked at me with longing, joy and hope. The gate separating us had an inscription above it.

“Royalty shall pay with blood”.

The trap was set and the price was high but there was no wavering. I walked up to the gate.

“No!!! You can’t!” She screamed. “Those nails are poisoned and you will die. Please my Prince, I am not worthy of such a sacrifice.”

“Trust in your Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding”.

“But my Lord, why me?”

“Because you have set your love upon me, therefore I will deliver you. You are mine and I am yours. Set me as a seal upon your heart; For love is stronger than death."

I spread out my hands and pierced my palms on the rusted nails. The poison acted quickly and excruciatingly through my body. I felt cold and empty. Where was my Bride, where had she gone? I heard a wicked laugh of victory and then the tower that held my beloved transformed into the serpent and she was trapped within its belly.

Within the despairing moment I heard my Bride, “I believe in you my Prince. You are my rock. Your work is perfect, for all your ways are justice, a warrior of truth and light; righteous and upright are you. I have faith in you.” The wicked laugh faltered.

“You will not have her”, he taunted. “She is mine!” he growled as he revealed his true form and grotesque nature.

The words of my beloved spurred a new fire within me, and it burned the poison away. “You have no more power over her Serpent. We are one and our love is eternal. She shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch her out of my hand." Then my royal legacy manifested and with its two edges of righteousness and truth, and on the wings of eagles, the Serpent was slain.

"Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away with me."