Fragments of Ash Vol. 1 (Urban Fantasy)

Chapter Seven: Amelia's Pet

The day came and went. It was a ghoulishly dark night. Amelia, who was still wearing her uniform, stepped into the cold metal room that sat at the bottom of the Spell Fencer barracks. The dungeon. A blank, grey room with no heating at all, usually it was so cold that it made steam clouds in the air whenever anyone spoke; almost impossible to live in. There was nothing but a small table, a lantern that was struggling to keep the room warm, and a bed. Most worthless of all, at least from Amelia's perspective, was the young woman curled up naked on top of the mattress.

She was sleeping, her short, ruffled blonde hair covered her eyes. Her bright, radiant skin was so still she almost looked like a stunningly beautiful porcelain statue.

"Wake up!" said Amelia, kicking the bedpost,

The girl looked absolutely exhausted, Amelia drew her sword and poked her neck with the tip,

"Come now, I'm not one for pets who don't listen to their masters."

The girl opened her shimmering blue eyes, she noticed the sword and tensed up, a look of fear and dread shivered through her body.

"Hm, you don't look particularly pleased to see me." Amelia shrugged, "And to think, I came all the way down here to visit you."

She didn't respond,

"Mmmm, it looks like the cold is really getting to you, look at those goosebumps. And not to mention how hard-" Amelia stopped, "you know this monologue won't stop until you chime in."

"Thank you for visiting me." the girl murmured soullessly, not a speck of emotion on her face.

"A bit louder please."

"Thank you for visiting me!"

"That's better. Much, much better. Apologies for my absence for the past few weeks, but my zero-tolerance rule towards colonies that refuse to kneel when I tell them to, meant there was a lot of work to be done." Amelia felt profoundly smug, she was fairly sure she'd broken several world records in her latest outer operations. She sat close to the girl, took off her glove and slowly ran her hand up the girl's body, all the way to her face, she made sure to gently explore and caress every curve and crevasse, "but now I'm back."

The girl trembled.

"You like that?"

She didn't reply,

"Come now."

"Yes. I like that."

"Very good. So you should. Anyway, I've come to tell you I've got a gift for you. You know usually I make my pets beg before I give them something but this time I'll be blunt about it. I'll be taking you to a colder climate. Melchiezedek."

The girl's eyes widened,

"It looks like fate is bringing everyone together. Maybe if you listen quietly you can still her howling throughout the wind. Like all your sisters did."

The girl grit her teeth.

"Oh come now. I'm just joking!" Amelia laughed, "honestly," she kicked over the lantern, putting out any source of light and heat the girl had, and then walked out of the door, "No-one seems to have a sense of humour these days."