The Dawn of Light

(25)Shamrock Luck

Casseus' POV

Claudeus was standing beside the large, hot pool. The steam rose around the chamber and the sunlight shinning through the skylight high above reflected off the clear, blue waters.

Manos sat with his back to me in his private bath. No one else was allowed to enter the chamber, except for Xon, myself and Claudeus. We were his personal servants and were there to ensure that he was always taken care of.

At that very moment, Claudeus was filling Manos' wine chalice with more red venom. Not actual venom, unfortunately. But Manos' wine was so sour and dry that it nearly tasted exactly the same.

I approached quietly, but addressed the king as I entered; "King Manos?"

He turned his head slightly at the sound and answered; "What is it?"

"Queen Xon wishes to move dinner to a later time. Perhaps at eight, if that suits your majestic?" It left an odd taste in my mouth having to address a mortal man with such a high title.

"Hmm." He waved his finger in the air and leaned his head back to relax. He was surrounded by steam and his hair was wet.

Claudeus moved to place the wine next to our new 'master' and I caught his eyes. He was looking at me with a wide, alert gaze.

I frowned and followed as his eyes darted back and forth between me and the human king. I shook my head and pulled a questioning face. What in the hell is he on about?

We couldn't exactly speak- Manos was seated right in front of us, in the pool. But Claudeus didn't want me to speak- all he wanted was for me to look down.

I lifted a brow and followed his finger when he pointed to Manos' back. I caught the small glimpse of something black.

A tattoo?

I shot my brother a look and scowled. Claudeus sighed and tried a different route. He turned to the king and carefully asked; "My king, I believe you have an appointment with Master Helius soon. Do you wish me to bring you a towel to dry off?"

Manos was still relaxing his head against the tiles behind him. He muttered a reply, his eyes closed; "I suppose so... The man becomes remarkably annoyed when I'm late. How tedious." Manos muttered to himself and sat up straighter.

Claudeus quickly grabbed a towel from the wooden rack behind us and pointed at Manos- ordering me to watch. I cringed. What did he want me to see? The man's bare rear? Gods...

"Here you are, my king." Claudeus held out the towel for Manos to take and the king stood up from his comfortable seat in the pool.

My eyes travelled down- they got caught on something black.

It certainly wasn't Manos' ass- he was luckily wearing briefs. No, it was a tattoo, like I'd thought.

And it was big.

My eyes widened and with shock, I realised what it really was- it was another poem fragment! Manos had his part of the peculiar and creepy poem tattooed onto his back. I wasn't going to pretend like I knew what mortals were thinking most of the time, but this was a new one, even for me...

The king slipped his towel over his back, blocking my view. I shot Claudeus a look and he waved at me to just wait.

Manos casually asked; "Is the queen still in her chambers?"

I was so focused on his back that I'd nearly forgotten to answer. I stuttered, but quickly brought my charm up to speed again; "Uh- I'm not too sure, my king. I can go check, if you'd like?"