The heavy doors opened into a room that would have been elegant had it not been so dimly lit and poorly maintained.
It was an archaeologist's dream. Gleaming artifacts littered the floor, books swollen with age spilling from the bookcases against the walls. Bloody rubies poured from the mouth of a jackal-headed statue.
Despite the riches around her, her eyes were immediately drawn to the source of the strained breathing.
A massive cage, rounded at the top like a bird’s cage. The boy huddled inside was wan, painfully thin, his bones sharp beneath the skin. His clothes were dirty and torn, his skin marred with bruises and the puncture of a beast’s teeth. He flinched when the door opened, dark eyes turning fearfully upward.
“Please,” he whined pitifully. His voice, like the rest of him, was thin, cracked. “Please, I’ll be good, please don’t…”
The vampire knocked the side of his boot against a metal bar and the piteous creature inside recoiled as though he’d been struck. “Enough of your mewling,” he said evenly.
Her lips curled in disgust.
“What does he have to do with this?” she demanded of the vampire’s back as he idly browsed a shelf against the wall.
His fingers paused in their inspection of the books before him. “The boy?” he asked, a curl of smoky humour in his tone. “Nothing, unless you are hungry.”
Hot anger rose in her chest. Her clenched fist rocked against the hilt of the sword on her hip. “You are vile.”
“Yes.”
“A monster of the most loathsome order.”
“Mhm.”
“And soon you and every foul beast like you will be-”
“My good lady,” he said, snapping the book in his hand shut with a dull thud. “If you have come to tell me what I already know, then I will gladly conclude you have lost interest in our agreement and show you the door.” His pale eyes reflected the shadows in writhing, serpentine shapes.
He extended the book, its cover scaled with rot. “Otherwise, here is what you came for.”
Her heart skipped. She reached for it greedily, the words on her lips forgotten nearly as soon as she had uttered them in her new preoccupation with this prize. “And I will take the boy as well.”
He was deviously quick when he snatched the book out of her reach. Her eyes darkened. The boy in the cage whimpered.
“That,” said the vampire softly. “Is not how bargains work. The book or the boy, but not both.”
She put a hand to her sword and he laughed, a rustle like dry leaves. “You know better than to think you could hurt me in any way that matters.” He crossed his arms, the precious book held idly in one hand. Silvery hair fell over his shoulder when he inclined his head. “What will you leave here with?”
She could have spat fire. She could have clawed out his horrid eyes with her bare hands and relished in the blood and frenzy of it.
Instead she exhaled slowly. She carefully released her sword and extended her palm. Her fingers trembled. The knuckles were still white.
“You will get what you deserve, bastard. And the ground will not let you rot peacefully within it.”
He dropped the book into her open hand. His sharp teeth shone like bone. “One can only pray, fair knight.” That the words came from his foul mouth only sharpened their mockery. “I hope it is what you are looking for.”
It was an archaeologist's dream. Gleaming artifacts littered the floor, books swollen with age spilling from the bookcases against the walls. Bloody rubies poured from the mouth of a jackal-headed statue.
Despite the riches around her, her eyes were immediately drawn to the source of the strained breathing.
A massive cage, rounded at the top like a bird’s cage. The boy huddled inside was wan, painfully thin, his bones sharp beneath the skin. His clothes were dirty and torn, his skin marred with bruises and the puncture of a beast’s teeth. He flinched when the door opened, dark eyes turning fearfully upward.
“Please,” he whined pitifully. His voice, like the rest of him, was thin, cracked. “Please, I’ll be good, please don’t…”
The vampire knocked the side of his boot against a metal bar and the piteous creature inside recoiled as though he’d been struck. “Enough of your mewling,” he said evenly.
Her lips curled in disgust.
“What does he have to do with this?” she demanded of the vampire’s back as he idly browsed a shelf against the wall.
His fingers paused in their inspection of the books before him. “The boy?” he asked, a curl of smoky humour in his tone. “Nothing, unless you are hungry.”
Hot anger rose in her chest. Her clenched fist rocked against the hilt of the sword on her hip. “You are vile.”
“Yes.”
“A monster of the most loathsome order.”
“Mhm.”
“And soon you and every foul beast like you will be-”
“My good lady,” he said, snapping the book in his hand shut with a dull thud. “If you have come to tell me what I already know, then I will gladly conclude you have lost interest in our agreement and show you the door.” His pale eyes reflected the shadows in writhing, serpentine shapes.
He extended the book, its cover scaled with rot. “Otherwise, here is what you came for.”
Her heart skipped. She reached for it greedily, the words on her lips forgotten nearly as soon as she had uttered them in her new preoccupation with this prize. “And I will take the boy as well.”
He was deviously quick when he snatched the book out of her reach. Her eyes darkened. The boy in the cage whimpered.
“That,” said the vampire softly. “Is not how bargains work. The book or the boy, but not both.”
She put a hand to her sword and he laughed, a rustle like dry leaves. “You know better than to think you could hurt me in any way that matters.” He crossed his arms, the precious book held idly in one hand. Silvery hair fell over his shoulder when he inclined his head. “What will you leave here with?”
She could have spat fire. She could have clawed out his horrid eyes with her bare hands and relished in the blood and frenzy of it.
Instead she exhaled slowly. She carefully released her sword and extended her palm. Her fingers trembled. The knuckles were still white.
“You will get what you deserve, bastard. And the ground will not let you rot peacefully within it.”
He dropped the book into her open hand. His sharp teeth shone like bone. “One can only pray, fair knight.” That the words came from his foul mouth only sharpened their mockery. “I hope it is what you are looking for.”
