The Shadowman and his Queen

...Either Way I Don't Want to Wake Up from You

ShadowQueen Ch. 4: ...Either Way I Don't Want to Wake Up from You

After being tortured in his sleep Samdi decides not to even attempt to reenter the land of slumber and dreams. He instead chooses to get up and do something with himself to keep him awake. He eases himself from under Regina and positions the goose down pillow under her head so that she may continue to sleep comfortably even in his absence. Once up, he pulls a robe out of the closet for Regina to put on when she arises, pulls out his own clothes for the day and proceeds to take a shower. He turns on the water, gets it to the perfect temperature, adjusts the shower head, then stands under the spray. He allows the water to beat down on him hoping that the rhythm of the pelting droplets will massage him into a much-needed state of relaxation. As he washes himself his mind goes back to the Shadow Man's final words "As long as I exist, you'll NEVER fully have her."

As much as he hates to admit it the dream was more than a nightmare, it's a foretelling which makes the thought of its reality more frightening. Although the dark stalker showed in a dream he is most definitely real. Samdi knows this as fact because he is indeed the Shadow Man. The Shadow Man is the portion of himself that tricks, steals and lies; the worst parts of himself. The parts that have caused her hurt and pain. The parts that have been the root of their demise each time they've separated. That is with the exception of their very last separation. That was caused by Drizella's curse. Yet and still, the truth remains the same, unless he can rid himself of the Shadow Man he'll never be able to fully have his love in the way that he desires. He will continue to have one foot in the light of happiness and the other in the darkness of a very unpleasant place of a possible existence without his love Regina. He knows what needs to be done, it's just a matter of doing it. He's done some of the work already. The firefly ruby he sequestered from Tiana helped to cleave him from the Shadow Man however he is still in the debts of "his friends from the other side" so a piece of him remains fettered to the Shadow Man and all his wrong doing. Samdi turns off the water, displeased that even the soothing heated massage of a morning shower was powerless against the chaos in his mind.

After he gets out of the shower he decides not to dress for the day just yet, so he adorns himself with a plush robe identical to the one set aside for Regina. Finishing the knot on his house coat he proceeds to the kitchen where he begins breakfast for Regina and himself. He moves to prepare a spread of Regina's favorites, a breakfast that's sure to please.

As the breakfast preparation nears its end with most of the food ready to be plated, the smell of bacon, eggs, pancakes and coffee wafts passed Regina's nose gently coaxing her from the land of sleep. When she opens her eyes, she looks for Samdi only to find him gone. If she weren't in his bed in his home, she'd be sure he had pulled another one of his disappearing acts. As she becomes more awake she finds that the smell of breakfast foods that lured her from sleep was a reality not a dream. "The Baron Samdi, cooking?... No way." She thinks out loud in utter disbelief. "Either he has a cook or...I must still be dreaming." When she goes to get out of the bed and feels the dull ache of her muscles along with the blissful soreness in her lady parts she knows for sure "nope...definitely not dreaming. When her body protests her moving again she concludes, "whew! Wow, not dreaming at all... He must have a cook then."

Despite the welcomed ache of the remnants of a very pleasurable night, she rids herself of the duvet's cover, swings her legs over the side of the bed, places her feet on the floor and stands from the bed. She walks to the bathroom in all of her naked glory where she spots a robe with a note attached, "For you my love, to cover yourself beautiful... If you want to ; )." At reading the note she smiles from ear to ear, puts the note down and puts on the heavy, soft, long, Egyptian cotton, RMS engraved robe but does not tie it. She is feeling a bit like a tease this morning. She then walks down stairs toward the smell of the food where she finds Samdi plating breakfast to take it to the table.