Demus Oneshots

Shrouded

Janus pulled on the hood of his cape as he walked through the corridors of the castle. He needed a moment to get away from everything, to just find a place where he could be alone.

Music floated down the corridor and made Janus stop dead. Piano music? No one had played the piano since the queen had died. So who...?

"I'm going to murder whoever's playing that damn thing." He muttered to himself. Janus turned on his heel and marched in the direction of the music.

The music was coming from the sun room. Again, no one had been in that room since the queen had died. Janus took a slight step back, his resolve faltering. Even from the doorway, he could still see the walls that had been stained with so much blood...

Janus took a breath and pushed the violent sickness he felt down. Quietly, he pushed the door open. The words on his tongue disappeared.

Maybe it was just the way the light caught them. Maybe it was just the way the sun bounced off their hair, turning the brown to a burnished bronze. Maybe it was the soft smile on their face and the tilt of their head as they focused on the sheet music. Maybe it was all of these things or maybe it was nothing at all but Janus found he couldn't yell at this person. He couldn't do anything but stand and stare, slowly blushing pink.

They finished their song with a little flourish and laughed, grinning. They looked up at the door and saw Janus, their smile dropping.

"Oh shit! Your Highness! I am- I am so sorry." They gabbled quickly. "I, um, I know we're not meant to be in here and I'm really sorry and-" They stood up and tried to grab their sheet music, instead tripping over air and falling back onto the piano stool. They covered their face with their hands and groaned.

"I'm going to be fired, aren't I?" They asked quietly. Janus pulled at the hood of his cape again.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Remus." He said. "Remus Winston." He sighed. "I'm really sorry, your Highness."

"You've said." Janus said dryly. He took a small breath and stepped into the room, sitting down on a sofa by the door. "Can you play anything else?"

Remus blinked. "Um, yeah. Uh- I can play lots of different stuff. Why?"

Janus shrugged. "There hasn't been any decent music here since my mother died." He said. Remus looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry for your loss-"

"I don't care." Janus said, his tone cold. "Everyone always says that. They don't mean it. It's just something you say when someone's died. Besides, it happened years ago. Anyway, there hasn't been any decent music here since that happened." Janus pulled on the hood of his cape again. "Maybe, if you can get shifts off of work, you could come here and play a song or two. I assume you work in the garden." He eyed Remus' soil-covered clothes.

"Yep. Just an apprentice at the moment but it's gonna be a paid job soon." Remus said with pride.

"Hm." Janus hummed with a little nod. "Could you play something else?" He asked, almost embarrassed to ask.

"Uh, sure." Remus said with a grin. "If you don't mind my asking," Janus internalised a sigh. He could guess what the question was. "Why do you wear a cape? From what I've heard, you never used to."

"What clothing I wear is none of your business." Janus snapped. He'd been asked this question hundreds of times, he shouldn't get so angry about it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." Remus said, a small hint in his tone.

"Well you were." Janus snapped. He got up and left the sun room.

"Ignorant little..." Janus muttered to himself as he stormed down the corridors but, to his surprise, he could find no way to finish his insult. "Whatever."