He led me to a banquet hall on the other side of this castle. Chandeliers with centuries of melted wax caked upon them hung above a long wooden table. Only one end was set, and dishes covered with domed metal lids waited. He pulled a chair out for me to sit and pushed it back in before he walked to the end and seated himself. With a snap of his fingers, a waitstaff came from behind a tapestry hung on the wall.
I turned, startled by the sudden presence of more people. A man with scars on his face carried a bottle of wine to the table and filled our goblets. Even though I stared at him in hopes that he would show any flicker of sympathy for me, his gaze never lifted higher than the surface of the table. Then he and the other two that had come with him, turned and left back behind the tapestry.
The Devil reached for the cover of one of the dishes and set it aside. His eyes drifted to mine briefly before he scooped food onto my plate. "You need to eat."
Being the resistant little shit that I was, I said, "What if I'm not hungry?"
His eyes brightened like a hot coal in the wind. "Do I have to make you eat?"
I shook my head quickly and picked up the fork. Though I suppressed a groan of delight. I couldn't deny the food was delicious. Savory vegetables that were expertly prepared and cooked to a perfect tenderness. The spices and natural flavors of the meat blended harmoniously in my mouth as I savored each bite, but I noticed he wasn't eating. He was just sitting there watching me eat far too much while he sipped his wine. I wondered if he even needed to eat to sustain himself and if he had this prepared for just me.
He seemed more silent than usual, especially since he seemed to delight in torturing me with his words and touch. Dabbing at the corner of my mouth with the red cloth napkin, I said, "Thank you for dinner."
The corner of his lip lifted in a partial smile as he nodded before he pulled in another sip of wine. Was it odd that I wanted to hear his voice, even if it was to taunt me? "You're quiet," I said as I reached for the goblet of wine, keeping him in the corner of my sight.
The flash of his eyes as they landed on me lit my peripheral vision. I felt the heat of his gaze, but he didn't respond.
"Something on your mind?" I pressed as I leaned against the high wooden back of the chair.
He swirled his hand lazily through the air, elbow propped upon the armrest. "Matters of business little one. Nothing to concern yourself with."
"What sort of business does the Devil have?" I inquired. If there was something to know, I wanted to know it. Any information that I could gleam, could be potentially useful, though he didn't seem like he was willing to divulge.
"I have a name too, you know," he deflected as he rose from the table, pulling my chair out and taking me by the hand.
"Satan?" I huffed as I trailed along beside him.
He shook his head before glancing over his shoulder at me. "Lucifer." It sounded so good as it rolled off his tongue, and my pulse quickened.
"Either way," I shrugged, "you don't often call me by mine." I peered up at him and took notice of the subtle upward twitch of his lips as he continued down the hall. Dark wooden doors lined both sides of the hall that led to places and rooms that I imagined held all sorts of curiosities.
Curiosity was always a problem for me, and I wanted to explore this place. My eyes lingered down a hall we passed by with a door at the very end. Pale blue light seeped from behind it as it glowed through the stone arch around it and beneath the door.
YOU ARE READING
The Devil and I
Romansa"I like looking at you," he breathed. "Looking at you is like taking a breath of fresh air. Not the polluted gas above," he waved his hand dismissively. "But fresh air, like from the garden." He stood from the chair and walked to the end of the bed...
