Forbidden Fables, page 27
Would he try and harness my magic? Take it from me entirely?
Maybe he’d planned to use me as a personal feeding troth until he eventually drained me of blood entirely.
Better go.
I argued with the internal voice inside my head that never left.
The Dark Mother.
This is not your debt to pay, flee now, my child.
I clenched my fist at my sides, knowing now would not be the time to argue; her voice never steered my wrong.
I pulled on the heavy wooden door, but it would not open—locked from the outside. I peered through the small keyhole, noting the empty hallway on the other side.
Who would knock and disappear? Perhaps someone had let me know the coast was clear?
I let this thought roll over in my mind while I paced. The only possession left on my body was a hair pin I’d whittled from a piece of bone. I took it from the tangled mess on the top of my head, kneeling back down to the keyhole.
A few minutes had already passed, maybe I’d missed my window.
Fuck it, I must try.
Using my keen eyesight and small fingers, I was able to pick the lock with a click, stepping back as the door opened toward me.
I walked to the door and poked my head around it, just to be sure, and tiptoed to the un-obstructed entrance, waiting, listening. I blinked a few times, feeling the hairs on my body raise.
I was barefoot, and my dress was torn from the bent metal of the cage, but I was well enough to walk. I pulled the door back gently, looking both ways down the long hallway. Not a soul in sight—it was late dusk, and I would guess most of the inhabitants were safely inside their quarters.
I pressed my back against the shadowed wall, careful to watch my breathing in case the blood-sucking creature could hear me or smell me from miles away—surely it was both.
Just as the thought sent a shiver down my spine, my head was slammed back against the wall and a large, pale hand was around my neck, squeezing.
“Sweet, sweet Freyja. Do not run, my darling. Where would you go? We’re in the middle of France now…you will not last a moment out there in these unkempt woods.”
The smell was back, but now I could barely breathe as he cut off my ability to swallow. I began to see spots, and my eyes were rolling back into my head. Bursts of fire bled behind my eyelids, and the image of a naked woman beside a tree filled my vision. A behemoth of a snake crawled between the branches of the tree she stood beside.
Dark Mother?
“Just close your eyes, Mon cher, we have so much to discuss. You are going to bring me back my Melody with your inherited magic.”
Everything turned black, and the stink of meat floated through my nose, permeating my vision with images of dead animals littered at my feet.
Chapter 3
Domenico
She had fainted, which didn’t give me much confidence in her magical abilities. Freyja’s wards had been strong enough to keep my men from her cabin, and the ones who did manage to sneak through had told stories of sexual dreams feeling as if they were real. Bite marks trailed their necks when they returned, and each time I ran my fingers over the cuts, Lilith’s scent of honey and fire permeated the air until they left me, bewildered and dazed.
I stared down at the deep purple stone I held inside my lined palm. The night air was cool enough to sting my lungs as I walked the gardens, but the fresh promise of fall lifted my listless mood.
This was the last remnant I had of my Lilith, but she would be returned to me, soon enough. If Freyja obeyed.
I wasn’t sure what to expect of Freyja; if she would respect my orders or simply turn this all into a game for her freedom.
What powers did she hold? Was she a danger to me and to Charles?
I had trusted my youngest and most faithful brother, Dante, with the task of keeping watch over Lilith’s lineage. And while he reported to me often, his men seemed to have plans of their own.
Was it a mistake for me to ask him to take watch over the woman I loved? The woman that I knew he coveted but hated himself for it?
I had too many churches to over-see, thousands of flocks to pass the word of the Lord onto. If I wanted our true identities kept hidden, this secret must stay nestled deep inside the cover of religion.
“It is done, she has been casted into this stone with a binding spell. Her lineage will never know of the power they hold. We will not have to fear her wrath any longer.” I took the stone, turning it over in my hand, feeling a prick of sadness ebb at the corners of my eyes. My one true love, the only woman who saw the monster I was and loved me for it regardless. We were both monsters, and the euphoria we shared would stay etched in my mind forever.
“But what of Melody? She sleeps forever with no way of undoing it. She is my blood-bound child…I must bring her back.”
Dante shifted on his feet, looking back over his shoulder toward his apothecary room filled with potions and dark magic. He never allowed anyone passage into that room, not even me.
“I will find a way—without her.”
Only, he hadn’t done it yet, and I decided to take matters into my own hands. I didn’t want to wait any longer, and if Lilith was the key to waking my sweet girl, then so be it. Deep down, for my own selfish reasons, I wanted—no, craved for her return. Would we reunite in love? Would she hate me, blaming me for everything that had happened? I knew bringing her back was reckless. I didn’t care, I would pay the price with my own life if I must.
My body felt old, maybe even weaker. I needed something to put back a spark into this endless life—what she did for me that day in the courtyard. I wanted it back, no matter the consequences.
I squeezed the amulet in my palm until it burned, and I hissed her name into the night, into the endless black sky that stretched beyond the forest border, and beyond this dreadful linear timeline called the present.
If only I could transport back to that fateful day, the day we met in 1544. Would I have changed it? I knew the answer already. I wouldn’t change it, because now, I just wanted to relive it.
Chapter 4
Charles
After Charity excused herself from the dinner table, I made a move to follow her, but Domenico quickly stopped me, grabbing my arm.
“So, we have some catching up to do, do we not?” He smiled, a knowing smile, the small secret between us living inside my head rose to the surface, and I pushed it down.
“I really didn’t want you to know the truth about what I was, because, well, I didn’t want to frighten you. Though, I do think a lot will make more sense to you now…about your…unique upbringing. It was not a traditional one, I know we can agree on that.” Standing, he walked to my side of the table and leaned on it, his hand very close to my arm.
He was handsome and fit. He smelled of pepper and musk, creating a perfectly heady cocktail of confidence and sex.
If I had to admit it, I was most definitely attracted to him in every way I wasn’t supposed to be. But he was right, our relationship was not one that was traditional in any way.
I’m sure it hurt a little at my announcement, but he wanted what was best for me after all, and he would want me to have the most traditional relationship for a boy raised by a priest.
“I’m not frightened.” I wasn’t certain why my brain picked that one part of the sentence to focus on, but it struck me somewhere deep, and I needed to make that clear to Domenico.
I was not afraid.
“Good, good. You are safe here…I swear by the Grace of God.”
Ironic how he kept mentioning God, but I didn’t know if God had allowed a spawn of Satan to walk among his crosses and statues. I’m sure God wasn’t pleased with this situation.
I moved away from the table, pushing back away from Domenico and his sweet, spicy smell.
My thoughts hovered over Charity and if she was all right. I needed to be there for her if she was sick or needed comfort. I wanted to be her rock.
“And what will you do with Freyja?” I asked, feeling the need to further prove my point that I was not scared of him.
“We will know soon enough,” he said, returning to his seat at the head of the sprawling table full of wine and food.
I had forgotten about the sleeping girl and resisted bringing her up, since I knew that was the real reason behind this. Domenico thought I was foolish, I knew that much. At this point, I would continue to let him think that way of me. It would only make it easier for me to find out more.
However, I wasn’t brave enough to push the issue. Not quite yet anyway. I excused myself abruptly and hurried down the long, narrow hallways to our sleeping quarters, only to find Charity was gone.
I mean, really, I should’ve known better.
Of course, she searched for Freyja. It was her idea to venture into the woods that morning beside me, refusing to turn back. Of course, she would go in search of someone she cared for so deeply.
A pit began to form at the bottom of my stomach, and I fought back the urge to sob.
Did she still want me and Freyja? Or was I just a way for her to get inside these walls and rescue her beloved? A sharp dagger of jealousy pinched my heart, and I decided that I would not let Freyja interfere with my plans. Even if it was the last thing I did, I would marry Charity and she would be mine. I didn’t need to share.
Doubt flooded my mind, even as I said it to myself. A nagging at the back of my mind wouldn’t let me entertain the idea that she only had eyes for me. I knew that she didn’t; I knew how she felt about Freyja. Was I selfishly trying to help Freyja, just so I could get her out of the way? Or did I truly want to see Charity safe and happy? I didn’t have the answers to that yet, but I told myself it would all work out in the end. God would see to it, and I knew now that he would favor me over these monsters.
Chapter 5
Lilith
THE PAST
The mortal world was a boring one. I was stoned if I was naked in front of humans, cat called and ostracized. There was no endless supply of food or water; I must find those things on my own, and often, that meant someone must die in the process. I didn’t fit in sixteenth century France either. I’d noticed a theme around that. I craved acceptance and needed mercy, but how does one receive mercy and acceptance when they were destined for adoration and devotion? Mercy was given to the poor, the inept. I wasn’t kind to men, and women seemed to fear me at the very least. It was no bother, I didn’t care for the opinions of others—I was a Goddess, and I would walk to the ends of the earth until I was rightfully worshipped.
The clothes of this century were uncomfortable to say the least, the corset hugging my waist and hips made me feel as though I’d suffocate. What was living if it wasn’t steeped in the small pleasures of life? Why would I ever want to squeeze my insides so that I may have a small waist? I would rather jiggle my hips and my arse all the way down the dirt and stone pathways, without one care in the world. Let them stare, let them say what they may—it didn’t affect the way I felt about myself. It was them who were bothered by it, not me. Perhaps I should remain deep inside the woods and stay in my naked, natural form beside the animals. It would be much like Eden, which was exactly what I didn’t want. I came here looking for more, and more was what I would have.
I sat at the edge of a fountain in the middle of someone’s courtyard. I’d fallen asleep against a tree this morning, after an invigorating kill—a deer and her fawns. They were delicious, the meat gently warmed by a fire. I had also taken some cheese from old lady Marie, who had a habit of leaving her doors unlocked at night after her husband died suddenly.
The courtyard was not modest by any means, but there were no horses with carts, only crosses and heavy iron gates. The full moon hung above me, and I looked up at it longingly, reaching out a hand as the white light bathed my body.
I was naked again, but my wavy hair reached my thighs and covered my breasts. I crossed my legs, eating an apple and surveying the tall steeples and windows that surrounded me.
Someone must have brought me here, I was powerful, but not powerful enough to travel by thought, not yet. I was working on that. My strength was unmatched, and I’d killed bears bigger than I. I was unsure of my immortality, but I was most fearful of being caged again.
A man, taller than I, emerged from the shadows below the eaves of the windows. His hair was black as night, with grey dusted at his temples. His body was tall and lean, and his smile was nothing less of the Devil’s—sinister and full of mischief. He was clothed in a tight fitting, grey tunic with a high collar. He looked regal, royal almost. Yet his dark eyes held something inside of them that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I squeezed my thighs together as he walked towards me, sparks tittered up my lower abdomen and flourished around my hips and around to my lower back. I took a sharp breath in as he reached me far quicker than I anticipated, his hands folded behind his back.
“Breathtaking, and bold. Not very often I meet a woman like that anymore. You are seated naked, without shame, in front of a priest. Do you feel ashamed?”
His voice was deep, and the bass of it hit my nipples. I grinned at this question.
Feel ashamed? I was a damned woman, I didn’t know how to feel ashamed.
I had never met a man like this before, commanding my attention with just his smile and honey-dripped words.
“Ashamed? Would you like it if I felt ashamed?”
His smile was shadowed by the steeples, and I couldn’t tell if he was pleased with me. Something told me he was.
“Darling, my job is to make people recognize shame, and why. Atonement is the end goal. Do you atone for your sins?”
I straightened up at this, pushing my shoulders back and canting my head. “If by atonement, you mean payment, then yes, I have atoned for my sins.”
I didn’t need to answer him, he had no right to judge me. No man did. Did he feel he had the right simply because he had dedicated himself to an unseen deity? That sounded like ignorance to me.
He let his gaze slide down my body, down my legs. His eyes looked hungry, as he fixed his stare on my face.
“Sins are tricky things…after all, one man’s sin could be another man’s guilty pleasure. It all depends on whose eyes it is seen through.”
I blinked slowly a few times, letting his words sink in.
My sins were not claimed as my own, they were claimed sins by another.
“Is insolence a sin, father?”
His eyes flicked down to the ground, as if deep in thought at this question.
Good.
“To some…yes. But not to all, that is my point.”
I bit my lip at his answer, and a wave of electricity whips through me like the wind. I like this man.
My pupils expand, the feral Goddess inside of me begging to be worshipped, knowing this was the precipice of what I desperately desired. Perhaps, this could be the one, the man who would fall so deeply in love with me that he would speak my name more times than his own, a holy sermon to me, hour after hour. My name, a commandment on his lips.
“Not often I meet a man that can make my cunt a slippery mess just by his mere presence.” I smiled, uncrossing my legs and opening them a little, eager to see his response.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’d seduced a man this way before, but never had I found the one who would remain beside me eternally.
I wondered momentarily if my crass words would offend him or intrigue him, but he only reached for the blanket he held under his arm, extending it to me. I took it, wrapping it around me, remembering how offended these humans were of the naked form.
Pathetic mortals.
“I am Domenico, the Deacon here at Castle DeLeseeps. I see you are not fearful of strangers, but aside from your wet middle…are you well?”
I scoffed at his jest, taking his hand, and following him to a large wooden door to the left of the tall, front entrance.
“I am well…but perhaps I could stay with you for a while?”
He turned to me, that devilish grin plastered on his face once again. “You may stay here as long as you need, this is mine and my brother’s congregation. All who are lost are welcomed.”
“Lost? I am never lost.”
Chapter 6
Domenico
THE PAST
Ilusted again. Boredom wracking my mind until I felt I had sunken into complete madness, my body too keen on a pliable, soft body that desperately needed plundering. She was divinity embodied—rich curves of womanly hips and thighs, an ethereal aura of power and strength. She was naked, appearing enchanting, even intimidating in her pure form.
She was brought here last night by a distraught Dante, my youngest brother, who just wanted to make sure she was not dead. After careful inspection, the church's physician deemed her abnormally healthy and could not explain the blood that smeared her body.
She must have tried to escape but failed, the heavy gates locked each night. Now she sat at the fountain in the middle of my courtyard, looking like a fallen angel.
My fangs and my cock tingle in unison, like a beating heart, something I no longer had. I was already hard for her, steel straining against cloth, and I absentmindedly stroked it, just before I revealed myself from the shadows.
It didn’t take much to convince her to stay, as if she had already decided it once she saw me, eyes wide and pupils as large as saucers.
There wasn’t one soul who knew what I really was, what my brothers were. Hiding behind the guise of Holy men, and not one person ever dared to challenge that.
We did our part in leading the surrounding communities to the word of God, and there was no harm in that, only good.
I ushered her inside, and as we walked down the winding corridors, I looked back at her, watching as she dragged her hand along the stone walls.
