Lord of Eternal Night by Ben Alderson

5

On the fire burned, and still he did not come. Not as the fire spread from the curtains to the aged, wooden frame. Nor when it filled the room with black, heavy smoke. Carefully I kept the flames away from me with a swatting hand of dismissal, but the thicker the smoke became the harder it was to hold focus.

He will come.I hoped.

Although the fire stayed far from my skin, the smoke didn’t. With each passing moment it thickened, making each breath as painful as the next.

I coughed into the crook of my arm, trying to keep my lungs clear.

I should stop this.The thought rang true. All around me was the raging red of fire. It burned as though it had been starved for centuries, devouring the area around me in only moments.

My gaze flicked to the door constantly. Come on. He had to come. Come on. Dread strangled my lungs. Come on. Then my heart skipped a beat. The key. I had left it in the lock on my side.

Horror cut its claws down my spine.

I moved, swinging my legs from the bed. But the fire crackled across the bedframe, spitting red fingers out to reach me.

It kept me in place.

The smoke was becoming unbearable. Each breath weaker than the next.

I was surrounded in flames.

Heat seared at my skin, threatening to melt it clean off my bones. I pulled my legs to my chest as the fire found its way onto the sheets.

I was losing my mind. Unable to hold a grip onto reality. Each blink was longer than the last. Each time I fought to open my eyes, the fire was closer than it was before. The open window did little to rid the room of the engulfing smoke.

Mother’s voice rang clear across my foggy mind. You have doomed us all.

Wooden beams snapped, raining debris over me in sprinklings of burning ash. I raised a hand to batter it away from catching across my hair, my face. In that moment I felt the world slow as the amber glows flew around me. My breathing hitched and my eyes grew heavy, each blink dragging on into an eternity.

My connection to the fire dissolved with my lack of clarity. And in that moment my eyes refused to open again.

Then I felt a touch.

The cold kiss of ice that wrapped around my body, lifting me from the bed. My neck lolled back and I was unable to lift it up. It was as if I watched from a deep cave in the darkness of my mind, unable to act or speak.

The world was upside-down now.

The room moved away from me.

“Be still.”

I wanted to breathe but my lungs hurt too much. The pain was terrible, yet in the same moment I couldn’t register it.

“You foolish boy.”

My chest heaved as I tasted my first gulp of fresh air. Air unspoiled by smoke or fire. It slid down my throat and stretched my lungs. I breathed, in and out, eyes still closed as though if I dared open them, I’d see my skin melting from my body. I feared this was a trick, my mind’s way of lulling me into a false sense of comfort whilst my mistake burned away at my skin.

“Wake.” I barely registered the growl, even though it was inches from my ear. “You come into my home, raise a hand against me. Now you will for it to burn.”

I cracked an eye open, only enough to see a face of woven moonlight hovering above me, nose close to the tip of my own.

Then I forced the other open only to see the points of sharp, white teeth before me.

* * *

I bolted up to sitting,aware of the way I melted into the bed I was in. The chill of air brushed against my bare chest, kept from my knowingly naked body by a thin sheet tucked around me. I half expected to see nothing but red. But there was no fire here. Nothing but the few candles that barely light the room I was now within.

That and the broad figure that blocks their light from reaching me.

He stood before me. The creature. Shadow cast across his cheekbones which hollowed out the features of his devilish face.

I looked down, unable to hold his blood-red stare and muttered, “You saved me.”

Even in my state I knew how to act. Humble and… submissive.

“I merely prolonged your stay. It has been many a year since a Claim attempted to end their visit early… prematurely. I vowed I would not do it again.”

I spoke to the sheets that protect my modesty. “It was an accident. A slip of a candle.”

“Then you are a nuisance and clumsy. What two… inseparable traits.”

“Thank you,” I forced out, glancing up into his never-ending stare for a quick moment.

He raised a hand, his eyes closed. “Stop.”

I stilled, swallowing my next words. The sheets were stiff in my hands and I gripped on tighter, pulling them up to cover my exposed skin.

His eyes tracked my movements.

“I could not stand the smell of your clothing. It had to be removed.”

“Next time ask… please.”

I tried hard to keep my face soft. Just like Mother had taught me. I could not mess this up. Be beautiful, get close to him.

“I have not needed to ask in years. I will not start with you.”

My knuckles paled as I gripped the sheets tighter. “Have I…”

“Burned the chamber to cinders? Likely. Now we must think of a new place for you to stay.” His nails were pale and sharp. He tapped one on his chin as he lost his stare to contemplation.

“There are plenty of spare rooms,” I said.

“You have explored.” His gaze narrowed on me. “Of course you have. Did you find anything of interest on your travels of my home?”

“Perhaps.”

“Perhaps?” He tilted his head. “You have little words for an arson criminal.”

“It was an accident.”

“So you have said.”

Before I could shift to move from the bed, he was on it, hands pressed on either side of me. He was like a shadow, no more than a whisper of smoke as his outline settled into physical form again.

“Is my bed not good enough for you, Jak?” he snarled, face inches from mine. “Would you prefer to lay in cinders than comfort? For if that is what you so desire, I can ensure that happens.”

I felt my cheeks blush with warmth, no matter how I tried to fight it. I risked a moment to break his entrapping stare to scan the room I woke in. Everything about it was dark. From the patterned wallpaper to the stained furniture. This place was a cavern of gloom and elegance.

“I do not mean to offend,” I said.

“We are far past that.” He glowered. “You will stay here until a new room is prepared.”

Lines creased the sides of his eyes, the only imperfection I could see.

“I—”

His fingers pressed against my lips. Cold, so cold. I almost swallowed my tongue at the shock of his touch.

“It is early so I must retire.” The curtains were drawn across the stained-glass window to my left. Although the crack in the middle allowed me to see the lightening of the sky. “Please refrain from setting this room ablaze. I have grown rather fond of these four walls.”

His eyes took me all in. Trailing up my bare-chest, my shoulders, and stopping only at my own stare. I spluttered a breath as he released his finger from my mouth, moving it to the strand of loose hair that fell across my forehead.

“Thank you, Marius.”

He tilted his head, not once inquiring how I had come to learn his name. In a blink he was off me, seemingly floating across the slabbed floor to the door that my eyes soon found at the far end of the room.

“Where will you stay tonight?” I asked, keeping my voice as gentle as I could muster without dropping his piercing stare.

He paused, face turning slightly, only to show his side profile. “Is that an offer?”

Mother would want me to say yes. I could almost hear her answering for me.

“Am I in a position to make offers in your own home?” I questioned.

He grinned slowly. “No, no you are not.”

I blinked and he was gone, his final words hardly finished before he vanished. Only the phantom sensation of his touch was left.

Not even the air seemed to quiver as he simply disappeared. No door was opened or closed, no pattering of footsteps. Just… gone.

I relaxed my hold on the sheets at last, letting them slip over my chest once again.

You have done it. My attempt had got me into the heart of his own personal domain. This was more than a step in the right direction. Even if it meant nearly risking my life to get here. If I failed, I died either way.

I leaned back in his bed and sighed, hands resting behind my head.

Rather die by my hands than his.