The Lamb

4

I sit in my bedroom at Nyx's staring at the bell. I sigh and give up, giving it a ring. I wait for a servant to answer, and after only a moment there's a knock at the door.

A rap even.

I open it. There grins down Nyx. "Yes?"

"I rang the bell I thought..."

"Yes? I am here. How can I assist you?"

I peek past him into the hall. He doesn't have servants does he? Isn't he the Lord of this place? Why is he answering servant bells?

"I was wondering if I could get some paper and a pen?"

He blinks and then nods. "Why of course. I'll have that to you in a few minutes.—Just jesting, what am I a loser with no magic?—here," he appears in his hand, he shoves them into my hands. "Right! Well! Anything else?"

I wish I could figure him out. I know I should be delving into the mystery of...me and what I'm doing here, and where here is. I've seen things I'm sure I've never seen.

People who aren't people. Faces without features. Hunger without satisfaction. Despair without end. Horns, and magic—curses and beings of awesome power.

But the only thing I can seem to think about is Him. The lord of this place—of the dark. He's so...odd. But it's a seemingly crafted oddness, an oddness that was made rather than born.

He's the strangest thing I've seen so far.

I set all the utensils on the bedside table and sit on it. He stares at me with a large awkward smile, then to the spot on the bed that I pat as an invitation.

"Busy, busy," he trails, unsuccessfully excusing himself.

I just pat the spot next to me more insistently. "You asked if there was anything else. I think I'd like some company. Is that alright?"

Nyx heaves a sigh, but crossing the room and sits next to me. He leaves plenty of room, sitting at the foot of the bed. He crosses his legs and looks straight ahead.

"Company, eh? I can't say I'm great company. Entertainment perhaps, but that's not quite the same is it?" He asks me.

"I hear sounds. Sounds and smells of the night from you. Cicadas, summer nights. Like old rain in the morning, like dew and frost. But also..." I shoot a look his way.

Nyx, normally smartly dressed in an all black suit, is instead wearing something like a toga, a fact I had not noticed in the excitement.

He must've been relaxing. So this is what he really feels comfortable in. It suits him actually. I look at him while he stares back at me.

The black toga is loose fitting, showing some definition in his arms, though not much. He's probably very strong though, he'd have to be, wouldn't he?

"Did you call to ask if that were true? If those sounds were real?"

"Yes."

I never doubted I was correct about what I was smelling and hear. Despite this bizarre turn, I don't seem to doubt myself. I guess I'm usually pretty confident.

Still though, I think going this route is better. He does hate when I ask about himself directly.

"I mean...if they were real...it's not possible right?"

A crack settles between us as Nyx's smile widens. "Is anything you've seen here usually possible?"

"True. But no one else had their own soundtrack. Do others have it? Can I? I'd like classical music," I hum with wild abandon.