AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Turning, I step toward the lifeless fireplace. Kneeling before it, I realize that it has been centuries, if not millennia, since I last had to worry about lighting a fire. I scowl at it for a long moment before rising to my feet and making my way to the kitchen to get a tinderbox.
Returning to the cold sitting room with a tinderbox as well as several furs in hand, I set to work warming the girl back from the brink of death.
Wrapping her in the furs, I turn toward the fireplace once again with a heavy sigh.
I set my jaw as I struggle to bring the fire to life. As soon as it finally takes, I step back quickly from the burst of heat.
Watching from the darkest corner of the room, I wait for the girl to wake.
The fire casts a soft glow over her, almost instantly bringing color back to her cheeks. Her lips slowly changing from blue to purple to a delicate rose.
And then I hear it, that same strange song faintly calling to me.
Relief washes over me, and I am not quite sure what to make of the feeling. Shaking the feeling, I turn my thoughts elsewhere.
I wonder where this small fragile creature came from, and what it is she intends to bargain for.
I cannot remember the last time someone came searching to make a deal with me. It was always me having to go to them, and they were always criminals. Corrupt royals or nobles looking to climb the ladder. Greedy men and women eager to get their hands on what others had, without having to earn for themselves.
They were always selfish people who had no interested in anything but themselves.
And yet, this girl seems to be none of those things. Neither corruption nor greed mar her features.
So, what is it that she wants?
I cannot help the way I find myself admiring her delicate features, and the beauty buried within them. The soft rise and fall of her body buried beneath the furs.
I almost want to feel the pain of her heat seeping into me as it had earlier, and I find myself taking a step toward her before I stop myself.
I frown, unsure of what to make of this strange desire to draw near her, to hold her in my arms again. The very thought of her warmth should be off-putting to me, and yet, it is not.
Sighing deeply, I shake my head, chalking it up to curiosity and my desire to study her. There is something different about her, and I intend to find out exactly what that is.
Besides, it is not often that I find myself spending time in the company of the living, and never before has one entered my home.
Perhaps I have spent too many years amongst the dead, too many years wandering these halls alone. Already, I can sense that her mere presence alone has changed the very essence of my palace.
The air is shifting, melting, and I do not know what to make of it.
Perhaps I should send her on her way before she ruins everything that I have worked so long for. But then again, what harm can a mere human truly do?
No, I am not quite ready to have her gone from here. Not until I can glean my own answers from her.
Even if it means I and my halls must endure a little change.
13
Hazel
My eyes flutter open, the weight of my lids heavy as I glance about.
This place is unfamiliar to me, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember how I got here. Let alone wherehereis.
Slowly, I push back the heavy furs covering my body and take in the roaring fire. It's warm, but does little to fight off the true chill or shadows that seem to fill the place.
Cold and dark, the room itself almost seems as if it's been created by that same inky darkness that I'd encountered in the forest. The same presence that still seems to linger in the corner of my eye.
Frowning, I turn back to look at the fire. Even it seems wrong. I'm nowhere near as warm as I should be given my proximity to it. And the way its flames lick at the wood, the strange blue-tinged hue … I've never seen a fire burn like this before.
