Creatures of The Dark

Chapter IV

"She has truly spoken to know one?" His voice was a seething hiss. He had been increasingly agitated over the passing weeks, consumed with thoughts of rebels and traitors. He trusted no one, only me, a slave he had somehow convinced himself loved him. I didn't think he slept anymore.

"N-no. She only speaks to a few courtiers. She seats them for tea and nothing else." My voice was a whisper and I hoped the truth I spoke was convincing enough to soothe his growing rage.

"That won't do. I need you to try harder, Lucius." He shook his head. He looked away, staring at the now dust covered chest board we once so adamantly played together. When he looked at me again, his demeanor had changed, twisted and hungry. "I know how you can make it up to me." My stomach rolled. Everything in me screamed to get up, to leave. Obey.

His eyes devoured me, leaving my skin crawling. "So beautiful." I knew it couldn't be true anymore. Everything I had he would take and take. It didn't matter how much of me was left, he would happily steal from the ashes. "Kneel, Lucius." My name was curdled milk on his tongue. At my hesitation, he backhanded me, hard enough for the room to spin angrily. I watched him rise above me as I did as he asked, a cruel smile playing at his lips.

"I like you there."

I focused on controlling the tick in my jaw, controlling my anger, my shame. His hand grazed my hair, stroking before grabbing a fistful and yanking my head back. '"It is getting so long now. I like it," the Dark King had told me'. I grimaced as I watched him rub himself through his trousers. I didn't allow a sound to escape my lips as he tugged at the roots, forcing my jaw up.

My eyes connected with his. I forced them down, for I knew the hatred there could not be smothered. He strained my neck until I hovered above his length–

"Lucius." I hated how he said my name.

"...Lucius," the voice was soft, female. Alexandra was speaking to me. It took me a moment to remember where I was, who I was now expected to be.

"My apologies, my lady," I said. I picked up the pot of steaming tea and walked over to her group of lady's maids and courtiers. It was small and always the same three females. I poured the tea carefully into their teapots.

Alexandra eyed me, her face for a moment full of concern. I gave her a tight-lipped smile, bowing before returning to my post underneath the shade of a tree. She made a point of doing this everyday, picnicking in the enclosed courtyard. Every afternoon at noon, she would meet with the gossiping females and talk. Then, they would talk some more. Hours would pass, the tea would long go cold before they ceased their conversation. I had nothing to do but listen to their conversations or dwell on dark thoughts and forgotten memories.

One female with lingering eyes said loud enough for me to hear, "I heard your uncle scrambled his brains with darkness. That's why he's that way." Alexandra had gone as still as I had gone cold.

The fae next to her, a female with dark skin and amber eyes, nodded in agreement, "Think about it. How else would they contain that type of power." She sipped her tea, her eyes wandering around the courtyard as if her words meant nothing to a lowly slave like me. As if I was nothing. Whore. Slave. Powerless.

"At least he had the brains to scramble, Ulania," Alexandra smirked. Her eyes danced as she reached for the tray of sugar, skipping all etiquette and popping four cubes into her mouth. The females' mouths dropped to the floor, one opened a fan to cover the redness on her face, the shock. My heart thudded heatedly against my chest as I stared at the dark fae.

She did not wait for me to move to help her, but started gathering her things. She smiled down at the still shocked ladies and told them that she would see them tomorrow. I quickly gathered the tea cups on a tray and rushed down the echoing hall.