Does it please you to be a prisoner now? Madael tipped her lightly onto her back and leaned over her himself. Powerful arms braided with gold bracelets rested on either side of her shoulders. Strands of long blond hair hung down to touch her face.
Oh, yes, Rhianon felt something hard press against her stomach and involuntarily moved her knees apart.
He stared at her for a moment, as if painfully aware of all the human frailty of his captive. Her slender, almost lean body, her golden curls spread across the pillow, her small breasts and fragile arms. She tried to put her arms around his neck. He was so close and at the same time seemed out of reach with his wings spread over the bed. They hid them like a canopy, all the threads of which glowed with a ghostly, unearthly light. Rhianon wished it were him who lay below. She wished she could see his head on the pillows and press his fluttering wings to the bed. But perhaps they could try it out later. After all, now was only the first time.
When she felt the first powerful thrust, she cried out, but there was no pain. Strangely, it felt as if a piece of marble or the edge of a sword had jammed into her, but there was only pleasant warmth all over her body. She leaned toward him, as if she could feel the intoxicating sensations of pleasure. In a moment they were already moving together, registering each others rhythm. He was careful at first. Then the thrusts became stronger. It was as if he wanted to win another battle. She was already his captive, but it was as if he had forgotten that, as if he wanted to prove once more that he had truly captivated her. In that moment, when they reached the peak of pleasure, it really was. For a moment their bodies became one, her human and his angelic. Rhianon closed her eyelids, feeling the beads of sweat forming on her forehead and the last of her sweet urges subsiding in her womb. His hands caressed her shoulders, touched her elbows, and intertwined as if toying with her fingers.
Now I feel truly victorious, Madael lay down beside her and hugged her tightly.
Its your defeat, not your victory, you must have sworn youd never know, she wanted to tell him, but instead she just clung to his shoulder and asked softly:
Would you fall again for me?
Yes, he answered quickly and without hesitation, his thin, inhuman fingers gripping her even tighter, as if he would never let go.
Why? She was probably more preoccupied with the question than he was. Madael only smiled faintly, ran his fingers gently along the line of her spine, touched her neck and stroked her cheek. He must have been learning to love for the first time, but these touches made it possible to melt.
Because youre worth it, he finally answered. And I dont need your soul at all. What you can give me, along with your body, is already worth everything.
He kept his promise and resolved to give her everything he had. And that was a lot. As Rhianon learned, all the treasures of the world came from the fallen. There were gems, metals, especially gold. Everything that causes war and greed the greatest warrior brought with him. To humans it was evil, alluring and destructive. If she had been smart she would have given it all up, but, God, how nice it was to have it.
Rhianon weighed the gold necklace in the palm of her hand, which from a distance might have appeared to be a lace thread with pearls woven into it, so expertly made. She could tell at once that it was not the work of mortal jewelers. And neither was the chest of precious trinkets that now stood before her on the table. There were rings, rings with large stones, bracelets, chains, medallions, tiaras, and crowns. Rubies, sapphires, and diamonds shimmered on delicately twisted gold plates. You could see the colors and the variety of gems, but gold was the main ingredient of everything.
It does look like you, she remarked, watching the light reflecting off the gold rim of the necklace in her hands. Its like you. When you look at it, it seems to be the only light that shines out of it and that there is no other light source.
This is the source, he reminded her. A red-hot sunbeam that can make anything you want.
You made yourself a piece of jewelry with it?
Yes, a long time ago He hesitated, as if remembering something. No one up there had the right to wear jewelry. There was nothing to distinguish us. And we didnt need decorations. We decorated the heavens ourselves. I was the first to be conceited. I wanted something to distinguish me from the others. And now I will adorn you.
He dipped his fingers into her locks and suddenly Rhianon felt the weight of the pearls in her locks. The pearls were wound tightly around each strand, as if they formed a net, while at the same time the hair was left loose on her shoulders.
You did well, Rhianon ignored the fact that there were now living pearl snakes in her curls and gazed at his hands entwined with gold plates. It suits you very well.
He looked down for a moment at his gold-patterned fingernails and fingers. The gold tubercles stood out sharply against his skin, growing into it at the same time.
You didnt even ask if I could take it off.
Couldnt you? She put aside the oval gold-rimmed mirror in which she was already examining herself. It seemed to her, for some reason, that there was someone living inside the tiny glass and laughing watching her, so that at the right moment to correct a broken curl or to erase a mimic wrinkle in her reflection and then these changes would happen in reality. Trying to catch the alien creature in the mirror Rhianon did not immediately grasp the essence of his words.
I think I can, he glanced at the bracelets as if assessing them.
He looked at the bracelets as if he were evaluating them. You need them, she didnt know how to say it. It was as if the jewelry was a mystery to him. They merged with his body, but lived as if they were separate from it.
I must not take them off, Madael said. Rhianon realized that the subject was exhausted. He let out a long sigh as if he were trying to say something more and couldnt. But she had already turned her gaze to the box full of exquisite wares of large pearls. She appeared here suddenly. Rhianon had never seen anything like it until a moment ago.
Its not gold anymore, she observed.
It is tribute from the sea creatures, he said with obvious disdain. They always bring back pearls and coral. It is so similar to their tears. Theyre always bloody and white.
You mean you collect tribute she marveled, though what was so objectionable about that, he being their Lord, and didnt she know before that someone was taxing all magical creatures and putting a terrible fear in them, too. It was not surprising. Of course, he had summoned them and seduced them. Watching him, it was impossible not to be seduced, but now Rhianon partly understood their anger and rage. She involuntarily sided with them. But they had fought with you.
And they had lost. If they had not been cowardly enough, it would have been different. Especially your pet faeries were a failure. Their weapons were nothing but taunts and jokes, and anyone could handle them by force without difficulty. The others were stronger, but we had a weak rearguard. And it was too arrogant leader
Oh, you blame yourself, too?
I should have thought more of the battle itself, rather than boiling with hatred and lust for revenge. Anger only takes strength, not strength, even if its righteous.
And they had lost. If they had not been cowardly enough, it would have been different. Especially your pet faeries were a failure. Their weapons were nothing but taunts and jokes, and anyone could handle them by force without difficulty. The others were stronger, but we had a weak rearguard. And it was too arrogant leader
Oh, you blame yourself, too?
I should have thought more of the battle itself, rather than boiling with hatred and lust for revenge. Anger only takes strength, not strength, even if its righteous.
Revenge? She asked incredulously.
Remember when I stood up for my rights?
She remembered all that could be read about the rebellion of Dennitsa from the scriptures. Most of it was just incoherent scraps that gave little insight into the whole shattering picture of the celestial struggle, and there were certainly no clear descriptions of its causes and characteristics. How had he risen, accompanied by what forces, why, why, what was he displeased about? All this remained a mystery. Gradually, however, she was learning something for herself. Perhaps the knowledge was passed down to her from him. Often she looked into his eyes and saw in them fragments of his grandiose past.
You were hurt, she remarked, not a question but a statement, and she wasnt referring to the punishment that had befallen him after the battle, but to what had happened before.
It always hurts to find out whats wrong before youve done it, he said. Its different now. I took the first step into the abyss and the pain is gone. People can die and torment each other around me, and I dont care. I pass without looking back at their trickery and torment, because I myself have become the worst.
No, she protested so vehemently, as if she were among his legion of angels herself. Youre not the worst, and you never will be. Youre better than everyone and everything Ive ever seen.
People tend to worship only those who do favors for them.
She shook her head.
Gods perfect creation had only rebelled against him because it couldnt stand the fact that everything around it was imperfect. There is no evil in that.
Then there wont be any, either, if you rebel against me one day. Its just that the wheel of inevitability will turn again. Then I will suffer the same thing I once did.
She frowned.
Is that what you want?
Madael shrugged only a little.
Thats what Im afraid of.
What do you mean, we cant step on it? Manfred yelled like a madman, not a bit embarrassed to see all the advisers huddled in the corners of the hall listening to him. Just a moment and the golden goblet flew into the ambassadors head. Manfred missed just a little. The young man, who had survived only because of his youthful agility, dared not speak any further, and Leroy took the floor. He rushed here as soon as he heard about the emergencies in the fields near the intended rally. At first the peasants were afraid to report it for fear of trampling their crops. But then they had to confess.
The frost that covered the fields wasnt the only reason, the young man began in an uncertain tone.
Not the only reason? Manfred clenched his fists so white his knuckles and Leroy was not unreasonably afraid that the next heavy object the monarch encountered would strike him. The king was now so enraged that one could have no doubt that if necessary he would remove the heavy crown from his head and use it as an instrument of punishment, and yet Leroy took the liberty to continue.
The thin ice is too slippery for our horses and lancers. And it cant even be melted by visible warming and fires. Sometimes there seems to be something under the ice he paused to explain in words what hed recently seen himself. It seemed to defy any explanation. Neither the sounds, nor the voices, nor the movements of the tiny bodies beneath the ice could be described in words, much less convinced that this was not nonsense, but Manfred seemed to understand and nodded.
Go on!
Courageously the young man took a step forward. His hands were trembling and he clasped them in front of him. Even on the battlefield, in the midst of the carnage, he did not feel as helpless as he did here. On the contrary, there he was in his place. Physical strength was all that mattered in battle, but here a single word from the king was enough to make him lose his head. Leroy had already imagined the execution order and the executioners axe. He decided to be honest before he died. There was nothing left to lose anyway.
The local villagers swore they saw someone in the fields, some who were more courageous, who had been near the battlefield, swore they had observed corpses cowering or some creatures near the corpses. Of course, we executed the witnesses as looters, but the rumors didnt stop. They say someone is knocking on peasants houses at night, trampling and burning crops, even eating corpses in cemeteries and battlefields. We didnt believe it, of course, but at night when we decided to go out again we did see he swallowed hard, not knowing how to describe it. It was a whole field of these creatures. There were black creatures. And they really do eat corpses.
Did they threaten you? Manfred tensed.
It was not in words, the young man admitted honestly. He really couldnt hear the words, only the clucking and writhing, like all his companions in general. It wasnt the speech either, but their looks, their movements. It was hard not to understand their intentions. They wait for us, every time we are about to approach the mountain range. They wont let us into Menuels territory.
Cant you fight them because of the ice? One of the counselors grinned, but Manfred signaled him to be quiet.
Where is the warrior who helped you to win the first victory? He asked. Where has he gone? Why is he not with you now, though he was at your side in the first battle? They say he never leaves those he fights for. He brings victory.
Leroy didnt know what to answer and nervously studied the floor with his gaze. The king was close to the truth. The first time it really was. But then they began to be haunted by bad luck. It was after the incomparable warrior disappeared.
No one knows where he is, the young man finally muttered, already sensing that another outburst of royal wrath was about to follow. He disappeared just after he helped us gain the upper hand. Hes elusive. He comes and goes as he pleases. And it is impossible to find him again.
It is not impossible, Manfred bellowed, and then another of his cries echoed sharply through the hall. The walls of the palace seemed to tremble. Douglas!
There was no need for such a cry. The young warlock, dressed as a raven in black, strode out from behind the throng.
He wanted to bow politely, but then realized that was unnecessary. Manfred was quite out of breath. He beckoned his extraordinary pet to him.
Think of something.
Douglas shuddered; never before had the king made such a request of him in front of witnesses. After all, everyone would have subtly realized that it was a matter of forbidden techniques, or rather of witchcraft. But now no rules of court etiquette mattered. Douglas only straightened the black lace sting that suddenly tightened around his throat like a noose, and nodded courteously. There was nothing he could do.
Sire, I He did not know how to confess at once, and so he hesitated. There was something he had to explain before there could be any unnecessary misunderstanding. Sometimes even I am powerless.