Sinister Secrets

I Saw You First

The balcony connected to the Dark Lord's manor overlooked a small village nestled at the mountain's base. It was a cozy town with paths made of cobblestone, a man on the corner selling fresh bread, and a series of small shops. It wasn't too terribly far off from the look of The Wall. It was as if the Elders designed the interior of The Wall to resemble the Dark Lord's village. Two women ran into one another and paused to talk. I watched as they regarded one another like any other sort of interaction. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, maybe more creatures engaging in murderous acts rather than people buying bread and heading home to make dinner. The normalcy of it all was odd to me. Something we were taught was so bad and so wicked, may have been that but it was also so much more. Not all the people who lived in the Dark were bad. My eyes slid along the path throughout the village to the edge where the mountain ended and the forest began. I stared at the guards lining that dark forest and thought of the Jester. Did the people in the town know how bad it was out there? I would assume they did. They did live in the Dark after all, but to know that something so sinister lived so close had to be a little unnerving, right?

The Dark Lord's shoes on the balcony tile weren't the only indication he was behind me, the vibration of his power filling the open air around me like a soothing blanket was enough of a warning. It was funny to me how I'd once been so afraid of that power and now I saw it as a caress of comfort. It felt good to know he was near. It felt safe. He paused a few steps back, I turned my head, glancing over my shoulder.

"Ezra is on his way to retrieve Amos." He said quietly.

"Thank you." I whispered.

He nodded his head as he sauntered toward me, his hands in his pockets, his sleeves rolled to his elbows.

I stared at his inked forearms. Wondering about all of it. He watched me as he closed the distance between us. He leaned against the stone railing beside me as I reached out and tapped the ink on his arm with my nail.

"How did you get these?" I asked, my voice just above a whisper.

"The magic." He said. "It commemorates any memories it thinks I shouldn't forget."

I ran my nail along the vine winding down the front of his arm. He let me pull his hand from his pocket, his cool skin against mine as I examined the ink. A large skull on the back of his hand lead to a snake wrapped around his ring finger. The silver ring on his pinky sat below the small outline of a mountain. A moon and stars sat along his middle finger. A second silver ring on his pointer finger sat below a crown with violet gems adorning it. A dagger was etched into his thumb. I ran my fingers over the back of his, the cool metal of the rings running along my skin.

"Even these?" I asked.

He nodded once. "Even those."

I ran my nail along the scales of the snake wrapping around his ring finger. "Odd placement."

"I assume one day that one might change."

"Priscilla." I said her name carefully as my eyes slowly met his.

He stayed vulnerable with me, which I was surprised about as he nodded once. "Priscilla."

"I saw the way she looked at you in The Wall."

"Unfortunately, there are times in our lives where we make bad choices and there are times when we know we're making a bad choice." He said. "Priscilla is one of those for me and I am for her as well."

"Did you love her?" I asked, my voice small as I traced the snake with my nail.

He was quiet, but I could feel his eyes on me. "I think I loved her as much as a young clueless boy could when it's the first woman he spends time with. We were young and I didn't know anything about love, but still I cared for her deeply, yes."