The Temptress
Maedus stepped slowly, but with purpose, as he neared the source of the disruption so early in the morning. Much to his surprise, he found the source left alone against the marble outside. Having arrived on the veranda only moments after Chalea's prompt leave, Maedus saw only the flash of white disappear beyond the gates to the garden as he reached down and lifted the lute with one hand, still assembling the pieces in his mind.
He was no fool, and knew the extent of Chalea's talents; he would hold her musical ability in no high esteem, and so assumed immediately that his nephew had been rummaging through his possessions and discovered his observatory, a room which hadn't so much as crossed his thoughts in years. Still, that only served to settle one point of intrigue; the flash of fabric far too delicate for a man's frame was an all too telling addition to the scene beginning to piece itself together in his mind.
Aesus had no more been plucking lute strings alone, than Chalea had been enjoying a leisurely stroll through the garden without undeserved company.
They were together this very instant, he concluded, and his mind began to reel with jealous imaginings of what the night might have held for them as he slept - both were tragic players on this unexpected romantic stage, so what sort of comfort might they have sought in each other's embrace? His suspicions were no more justified than his own delusions of brilliance; nevertheless, simply the thought of his canary singing for another set a fire in his stomach.
"The whelp certainly seems subject to the gravitas of his own ilk..." he said spitefully, readying the lute, and beginning to play. Despite his absence from the art for so long, his skill was as flawless as ever, and he was soon picking with as much candor as Aesus had been only minutes before. It was once his pleasure to sit for hours in the chair to his telescope, picking aimlessly and light-heartedly as he kept a ready eye on the scope to the stars. A hobby, and no more, Maedus found a certain tranquility and escape from the stress of his trade that was matched only by Chalea's charm... once, long ago.
But painful memories they were, now that all joy was gone in the world and his only solace was the cold, hard, laboratory that delivered a more objective view of his environment.
His playing stopped abruptly as he glanced down at the lute once more. He stared, as if his gaze might succeed in causing it to burst into flames. No matter; the past is easily washed away.
Maedus released his frustration in a wild swing that placed the lute broadside with one of the marble columns spaced evenly about the veranda. The instrument broke into pieces with a piercing twang before he released the neck to allow it to fall to the floor in a heap. Instantly, the pain of his memories was replaced with regret as thought seemingly every joy he'd ever experienced in the world had been extinguished.
"No matter, I'll have what I need of him soon enough... Enjoy your new pet, my dear -- while he lasts..."
He felt the sting on his heart as he took one last look at his destruction, before turning and re-entering his home. He made no further fuss over his assumptions regarding Chalea and his nephew; having confirmation enough for now, he wanted nothing more than to allow this farce to run its course, only for the opportunity to see it all fall to pieces before Chalea's very eyes.
-
Aesus allowed himself to be led away into the garden before noting the seemingly rushed manner of Chalea's pace. He glanced back towards the house. Without a view of the veranda from their location, Aesus finally began to question the motive behind their departure as well; it would have been much faster to simply return inside through the backdoor only a few feet from where they were. It made no sense to take this way, unless Chalea were more concerned with evasion than haste.
Chalea, on the other hand, was glad when Aesus followed her without question. She lingered a slight way behind him, her paranoia dominating her sense as she barely refrained from shoving her companion along the dirt path that led towards the side entrance. Her composure was flawless, of course, but oh, if only someone could fathom the fear in her heart that made her so wary of Maedus' jealous rage!
The girl almost stopped short when she heard that eerily familiar melody piercing the air, the urge to pluck it from the sky and tuck it into the nadir of her memories almost too strong to resist. However, she was quick to start again, moving with even more hurried grace than she had ever thought possible from her feeble and clumsy being, once she had realized that Maedus must have already been synthesizing what he deemed an appropriate situation coinciding with his view of her, his nephew, and the obvious connection that existed between the two.
She shivered against the cold wind as the tune began to fade, and flinched visibly as it was punctuated with a sharp crash that could only mean the instrument had met its grueling, destructive end.
The tingling in her fingertips began to fade as Maedus drew away from them, and Chalea was once again able to revive her feigned luster for the sake of Aesus' placidity. They reached the door and Chalea opened it, leading the boy into the darkness before shutting it and attempting to calm her pounding heart against the faint, omnipresent echo of stone against wood.
Aesus was no fool; the moment the door fell shut, he stopped in his tracks, adamant about getting to the bottom of what he was beginning to suspect was more than a slightly abusive business relationship.
"Who are you?" he asked, sounding more critical than curious, as if it was clear he knew something was awry and was determined to bring it to light. "More specifically, who are you to my uncle? You are no mere servant. Of that, I have no doubt."
The ferocity of his question caught Chalea like a slap to the face, and the cloak that she had been freeing herself of fell to the ground with a dull thud. A series of emotions crossed her face, beginning first with shock, then confusion, disbelief, horror, insult, and then finally, a kind of anger that was uncharacteristic to her nature.
"My relationship with Maedus is none of your concern!" she snapped, immediately regretting the appearance of an alternate side of herself, which had only come into existence after Maedus had successfully violated her very essence. She turned away in shame for a moment, before reverting her gaze to his likely shocked face.
"I... I apologize," she replied meekly, her face barely visible but for the dim flickering of the candles that adorned the walls and cast grotesque shadows on the ancient stone. "It's a topic never discussed within these walls. As I mentioned yesterday, curiosity is a dangerously binding thing, at least in here, and I can surely tell you that those who know too much about our internal affairs usually do not last for very long..."
Aesus' eyes landed on her forlorn face, searching for an answer behind that guarded mien. "I… I don't understand," he muttered, resisting the temptation to reach out and grasp her into his arms. She seemed so small, so terrified - it irritated him immensely that she was forced to choke her words, that she had to hide what, in his eyes, should have been a simple answer.
"If you really must know," Chalea said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, "I can tell you this: Maedus and I have seen... better years. Believe it or not, we were once very much in love, so much that we decided to... Aesus... my full name is Chalea Dutevant-Rocelza..."
She grit her teeth before adding in a darkly hushed tone, "I am Maedus' wife."
Aesus didn't know what to think; Wife? he wondered. How was that possible, and what did that make his uncle if it were?
At first, he felt as if she had been robbed from him, and he felt his new sense of comfort and belonging waver for a moment. Was just the sight of her, the sound of her voice, and even the sweet scent she carried, enough for such a drawing conviction? They'd known each other for less than a day, yet he felt as if he were suddenly unworthy of her... but he remembered the night before, and noticed the small blue sliver of skin just below her right eye. His dejection melted into a discontented compassion and he wanted to apologize almost immediately, as if he had been the one to deliver the strike.
Chalea's dark confession stung in the farthest reaches of her heart, even more so when she saw that tell-tale look of rejection washing over Aesus' young face. She looked away as she let her words sink into him, and a flurry of thoughts crossed her mind.
Chalea had often asked herself the same question, and never had she been able to come up with a comprehensible answer. The decision she ultimately reached was always the same: stay. Escape was impossible. Death was too probable. To run away would mean death anyways, since Maedus knew where she was at every hour of every day, and he would be alerted as soon as she left the castle grounds.
She had caught herself in an inescapable net, and not a single person had enough skill to wield the sword that would set her free.
Returning her gaze to Aesus, she realized that he was intently studying her face, and immediately she felt self-conscious of the small mark left on her cheek by Maedus' loathsome reaction to her argument last night. Her fingers reached for it, covering it instinctively as it began to throb now that she knew it existed. She could feel the impact of Maedus' hand all over again, and it was all she had not to run back into her room and hide for the rest of the day.
"I'm... sorry. Forget I said anything," Aesus said after a moment of silence, his unease so clearly defined in his voice. He didn't have to say that he knew the implications of her words, though they did serve to set himself at a certain level of curiosity unanswered, mainly regarding why she still remained.
"Don't trouble yourself," she said with a kindly smile. "I wouldn't have expected you to know."
"I know, I just... didn't realize my uncle was the sort; mother spoke little of him, but what she said always seemed heartfelt praise."
Chalea was heartbroken to hear the ever-present doubt in the young man's tone.
"No, no!" the girl insisted, automatically setting in to defend Maedus' actions, although she knew she would never, ever let him hear it with his own ears, and it was not truly in her heart to tell him. "I'm sure everything that your mother said was true. It's just that... well, Maedus is incredibly passionate about his work now that he's discovered... new things, and he often resorts to unconventional methods for letting out his frustration. It's nothing to judge him by, simply that he sometimes does not think before acting. But what man is not guilty of that?" she added with a small half-smile that did not hold nearly as much reassurance as it should have.
Aesus didn't want to remain on the subject; as uneasy as it made him, surely Chalea was even more disjointed speaking of the matter. But it was a clear conflict, and Aesus was a sucker for a challenge. A flash of blood blazened his cheeks for only a moment as he looked up to meet Chalea's eyes. He stepped forward, taking her hand in his.
"I can protect you from him," he said confidently, staring deeply into her eyes.
He believed it too; his uncle had already indulged him in allowing Chalea to sit with them at dinner. Aesus' assumption paired with what Chalea had revealed led him to believe that she'd not shared a meal with his uncle in some time. If Maedus had so easily indulged something so trivial, without any foreknowledge or effort on Aesus' part, who knew what sway he would hold with a level of effort?
Chalea felt her heart race as she drew closer to him. This wasn't good... in fact, this wasn't good at all. And yet... it was better than she had ever imagined. Their eyes met and he seemed to read her; she moved closer still, could feel his breath on her cheeks as she wondered what would happen if she brushed her lips against his, just for a moment... just long enough to remember how it felt to be wanted.
She shivered at the thought of all of her secrets being laid bare, and when Aesus spoke the fated words, she bit back tears.
"If you truly think you can protect me... then you are more foolish than I thought," she whispered, her voice no longer sweet but reverberating out in choked whispers that were saturated with worry and hopelessness. "If you truly wish to help me, than you must do so by leaving this place as quickly as possible. Leave, before he-- !"
She stopped as her hands began to shake. No... he couldn't... how didn't she notice the tingling in her fingers?? She began to breathe rapidly, her vision swimming as she attempted to retain her sanity.
"M-Maedus..." she stammered, pulling herself into Aesus' embrace as the hallway suddenly seemed to chill and Chalea could feel the monster's jealous eyes tracing her outline as she shut her own and everything seemed to be plunged into an eerie silence.
Aesus could barely begin to voice his objection before she pulled herself into his arms. He embraced her tightly, as he looked ahead. There at the end of the hall stood a figure, looming in faded shadow. Light from a window illuminated a haunting half-image of Maedus, stare glued on the pair.
Aesus focused on his uncle with a serpentine glare as Maedus approached, hate burning in his eyes.
"It seems we are more alike than I knew, Aesus," Maedus chuckled as he neared, making no apparent implications of just how much he actually suspected - or just how far he planned to let it go before taking what he was owed. "Eager to wake before even the sun... an admirable trait."
Chalea was terrified, to say the least, and furious at her own carelessness. Had she really been so lost in her own self-pity that she had failed to notice Maedus' presence? She turned her head in the direction of the ominous footsteps that clacked across the stone floor, unable to avert her eyes even as Aesus clamped her into his protective embrace. She bit her tongue as their conversation began, knowing that even a single word from her lips at this point would mean a fate worse than death for them both.
"I doubt you've any true notion of what becomes a man, uncle," Aesus responded coldly.
"Oh?" Maedus responded with a coy smirk. "And what does a boy know of such things?"
Aesus arms tightened even more around Chalea.
"I know what distinguishes a man from a coward, and the fruits of your abuses define you well enough."
Maedus' amused expression quickly shifted to a more sinister and threatening one to match his nephews cautious stare; then his eyes landed on Chalea, and he seethed with fury bubbling just beneath the surface.
Because that was her fate, she had realized long ago. She was doomed to repeat the same mistake over and over again, until the day that she would be granted merciful death.
Chalea could not force herself to turn away when Maedus met her eyes; years and years of unquestioned servitude had brought about a certain amount of rigid fear that froze her to the bone every time she knew that she had done something to displease the Master of the house.
"Is that so?" Maedus asked callously. Still looking at Chalea, his tone shifted to a calm, calculating tambour. "...release her to me."
Chalea half-expected him to tear the two apart; however, such a thing did not occur, and Chalea grew even more afraid. If Maedus did not even bother to so much as lift a single finger to reclaim her, that was a sign that he had already planned his work ahead, and that he saw no need to use force to achieve his means. Blinking back tears, she attempted to jerk herself free, but found that she hadn't the willpower to resist. She was wracked with indecision, not knowing what else to do but to stand there and take it, like she always did.
"I will not. You're torment will end this day," Aesus barked in reply. "I'm not going to let you hurt her anymore."
"How unfittingly noble of you to shield her! It warms my heart to see such chivalry in the bastard son of a whore," Maedus spewed with cruelty and malice. "I will not ask again... release her to me!"
Chalea could no longer hold herself. "He is no more a bastard son of a whore than you are my loving husband!" she screamed, eyes hot with rebellion and anger.
"I will not!" Aesus blasted, just in time for Maedus to take him brusquely by the arm, jerking him free of his hold on Chalea, before producing a small injector he used to administer a fast acting sleep inducing serum. Maedus reacted quickly, catching Aesus and supporting his weight before draping his body over his shoulder.
Chalea watched with helpless eyes as the boy was drugged down before her, able to do anything but let the tears flow down her face as she turned to run.
Maedus was upon her before she could escape, meeting her resistance with a strong hand that took her collar firmly in his grip.
"You mustn't blame yourself," he said pulling her close so his soft words would still carry their intended weight. His words were sharp with sarcasm, implying that for everything that was about to happen, Maedus at least was content to blame her.
"Of course I will blame myself," she hissed, "but even more so, I shall blame the Grimoire. It has corrupted your soul to the point of no return, turning it into a well of blackness that shall never again see the innocence of light it once possessed. Aesus, at least, still holds the shine that you lost long ago."
"Bah," Maedus spat, "he is far too perceptive, the whelp. He does indeed possess a strong inventive mind... such a waste, but his meddling is an unwanted distraction." He paused, seeing no further need for euphemisms. "Though, I suppose it comes as no surprise that he would so feebly fall to you, temptress. I must say, you played your part well, but it's time I remind you, just to who your heart truly belongs."
She grit her teeth as he called her a temptress, telling herself that she was a human being, and not a demon sent to do the wicked man's bidding. But his comment stung; she knew deep within herself that she had, once again, done exactly as he had planned, all while thinking herself to be wise and surreptitious. But Aesus was doomed from the moment he stepped in the door... of that there was no doubt in her mind.
"You are coming with me," Maedus continued, "and you will watch as I destroy him."
His icy affirmation sent bubbles of euphoria through his body as he proceeded to carry Aesus towards his laboratory, leading Chalea behind him by his vice grip on her collar.
"You will not harm him!!" she screamed, knowing her words would have no effect. "You are sacrificing your last chance for redemption!! And... and if you do, I will shut my eyes and deafen my ears so as not to give you the pleasure of hurting me!" That was the only thing she could threaten him with as he dragged her down the hallway.
She blinked back tears. It was true... everything was true. And it was that very thought process that kept her silent as she was dragged along the hallway, her hair hanging in her face as though to tell the world that yes, this was she. She was unworthy. She was shamed.