Tallis appeared, and gave a
shout of joy when she spotted Mirra, running towards them. Mirra
dashed to meet her, and they hugged, jumping with happiness.
Tallis' soft brown eyes sparkled with joy, and a huge grin wreathed
her square, staid countenance framed by bouncing brown curls that
fought to be free of an untidy plait.
Ellese looked at the Demon Lord,
who watched them with a slight frown. His clear, intelligent eyes
gleamed with curiosity, and something else, which she could not
fathom. It might have been resentment, bitterness or jealousy, she
could not tell. Ellese walked on, and he followed, glancing back
often at the girls, who happily chatted, their arms around each
other's waists. Again she caught a flash of some strange emotion in
his eyes.
"They are friends," she
explained.
"Friends? One owes the other a
favour?"
"Is that what they told you
friendship was? Nothing could be further from the truth, but you
will learn. Here is your room."
Ellese opened the door of a
cramped cell with a dim window, narrow bed, well-worn table, an
elderly chair and a painting of a sunny landscape on its pale grey
wall.
"I am afraid it is not much, we
are rather full at the moment. We do not have a lot of time. The
Black Lord crossed into the New Kingdom yesterday. He leaves a
trail far bloodier than yours, if that is possible. Fortunately for
us, his slaughter slows him, which buys us a little time, though
not much. Once he learns of our plan, I think he will approach much
faster. Your purification will start tomorrow. Would you like me to
tend to your cut, or shall I send Mirra?"
He dumped the pack on the floor.
"I will do it."
"Of course. You do not need our
help."
Bane's eyes flicked up to meet
hers, filled with angry suspicion.
She smiled. "It is all right, I
understand. Down there, if you accepted help, you owed a favour. Up
here, it is free."
"Is it?"
She shrugged. "For the most
part. Rest now. I will send Mirra with your food later. It will not
be poisoned, but she can taste it for you if you like."
His expression darkened further.
"Did you spy on everything I did?"
"I did not spy, although I am
certain that is what they would call it. I watched you, suffered
with you, wept for you..." She shook her head at his hard,
unyielding expression. "Oh, what is the use? If you want to talk, I
shall be in my study. It is down the corridor, the third door on
the right."
She went to the door, then
turned. "Oh, one last thing. If you want to wander about the abbey,
ask Mirra or I to go with you. I do not want my young acolytes
having hysterical fits because the Demon Lord gave them the evil
eye."
He smiled with weary bitterness.
"As you wish."
Ellese left him to tend his
wound in the solitude of his cell and walked to her study,
pondering him. How she longed to throw her arms about him and give
him the love he had never received. So many times, he had haunted
her dreams, a small boy with hunted eyes who ran through the
Underworld's empty caverns, seeking to hide from the demons'
endless taunting and cruelty. So many times, she had seen him fall
and lie bleeding and crying for hours before an angry droge came
and smeared the burning ointment on his wound, cuffed him and left
him to sob, or shouted at him to be quiet until he was. It had
tormented her to see him whipped for no reason, mocked for his
weakness and taunted for his cries of pain. A feral look had
replaced his innocence as he hunted the small Underworld creatures,
clad in filth and matted hair.
Then an angry teenager had
stalked the caverns, trying so hard to give what he had so often
received, but unable to hurt the elusive demons or the droges that
felt no pain. How they had mocked him, scorned him and humiliated
him over and over again, stoking his futile rage until it seemed
likely to consume him. She had watched his lost young eyes fill
with bitterness and hatred, seen his face settle into cruel, harsh
lines. With his mastery of the power had come a transformation. The
filth had burnt away, and his tangled mane had become a silken fall
as glossy as a raven's wing.
What a beautiful child he had
been, and what a striking young man he had grown into. Had he lived
a normal life, he would have had the maids swooning over him, and
probably would have been wed with a babe on the way by now. His
life had taken a different course, however, and he had grown up a
solitary, unloved boy. After eighteen years, he had been unleashed,
filled with power, bitterness and hatred for all things. She shook
her head in wonder, pushing open her study door.
At last he was here, as she had
so often dreamt, but a grown man now, hating the world and all in
it, save Mirra. His feelings for Mirra were indeed baffling him.
The flare of jealousy he had experienced when she had greeted
Tallis so effusively had confused him still more, and it would take
a while for him to understand it.
Bane sat on the hard bed, gazing
blindly at the grey wall. Events had taken an unexpected turn, and
he struggled to deal with it. He had expected a cold, even hostile
reception from the healers, and a business-like offer to heal him
in return for his help. Instead, after the initial slap, which was
supposedly his punishment, he had been welcomed, and offered
friendship without any bargain being struck. He was suspicious of
everything that was said and done in this nest of witches. He
trusted none of them, especially the old spying one. When he had
told the old witch that he had not agreed to help them, however,
she had not turned a hair, as if that was no news to her.
Yet she spoke of his purge
beginning tomorrow, so he might be healed. What did they want of
him, these women with their strange ways and inscrutable smiles?
All were like that, save Mirra, whose feelings shone so clearly in
her eyes. Feelings he did not comprehend. All he knew was that she
liked him, for she had told him so. The look in her eyes spoke of
something more than mere liking, but he knew not what. He had been
surprised and hurt to see the same look on her face when she had
greeted her friend, and wondered why it hurt. Why should he care if
she liked others too?
The Demon Lord rose and paced
the room, his thoughts whirling in a wild jig. He did not care
about these people, not even the girl. He was merely a little
grateful to her for saving him. Then again, why should he be? She
had only saved him in the hope that he would save them. Her talk of
his humanity, confirmed by the Black Lord's cruel words, irked him.
More than anything, he longed to return to the Underworld, where he
belonged.
That was no longer his home,
however, no matter how much he missed it. He was an outcast, hated
by the people of the Overworld and the demons below, although they
had to obey him while he wielded the dark power. The one being he
had counted on, looked to for guidance and respect, had turned his
back on him. Now that the girl was amongst her own kind, she no
longer needed him, and he was useless, rejected, lost and alone as
never before. All he had left was his hatred, which burnt in him; a
fire that ate at his guts. Hatred for the Black Lord, who had
deceived and used him, then left him for dead. Hatred for the
healers, who also wished to use him, whose foul plan had denied him
the release of death by forcing him to protect the girl.
Bane stopped before a wall,
banged it with his fist, then turned and flung himself onto the
bed, which creaked in protest. The whirling jig in his head had
slowed to a stately dance of dark and gloomy thoughts, filling his
heart with bitter coldness. The idea of vengeance had appealed to
him when the girl had suggested it. The dark power within him
agreed with that kind of wish. Nothing would bring him more
satisfaction than to destroy the Black Lord forever, not to save
this ugly world, but for his pride, which the Black Lord had
trampled so harshly into the dust.
For that, he would undergo the
healing the witches offered. Let them think it was for their sake,
but once he had won his victory, he would go down and take the
Black Lord's place as ruler of the Underworld. The thought brought
a cold smile to his lips as he pondered his plan. Once he was
enthroned in the Underworld, the Overworld would be at his mercy,
for nothing could stop him from rising and sporting with the feeble
humans.
His satisfied smirk faltered
when he thought about the girl, for she would still live above,
that was certain. He squashed the thought savagely, angered by it.
She would do as he wished. Why did he care where she was anyway?
The stately dance speeded up, spurred by this intrusive thought,
and his mind spun again, looking for a way out of the trap. His
mood darkened when he realised that he was still caught, still held
by the healer's spell, and he cursed her.
Mirra and Tallis chatted
excitedly in the corridor, both so filled with news that they were
too impatient to listen to the other speak. Their chatter rose to a
gabble, and Mirra tugged on Tallis' arm to quiet her.
"Do you want to meet him?" Her
eyes hunted Tallis's face for the same kind of enthusiasm and
fascination for Bane that she had.
Instead, Tallis paled. "He is
the Demon Lord."
"His name is Bane, and he is my
friend."
"I know what his name is,"
Tallis almost snapped, "and I know what he did to you. How can you
claim him as a friend?"
"It does not matter what he did,
he has changed."
Tallis pulled a face. "I doubt
that."
"Well he has, and I want you to
meet him. He needs friends."
"Friends? He is a monster!"
Mirra shook her head. "No he is
not, he is just lost. He needs to learn that people can be nice to
him."
"It would help if he had ever
been nice to someone else."
"He has. He saved my life more
than once. Does that not count in his favour?"
Tallis sighed. "It would, if he
had done it for a better reason than so that he could torment
you."
"He is not
like that
anymore."
"He is still evil."
"Tal, he is going to save us
all."
"We hope."
Mirra grabbed her friend's hand
and dragged her down the corridor. "Come on, you will like him
too."
"Could we not just go somewhere
and talk? You have spent months with him, give him a rest."
"I want to make sure he is all
right."
Tallis hung back. "Mir, is he
not dangerous?"
"No! Well, maybe, but he is not
going to get angry with you. Why should he?"
"I do not know. What if I say
the wrong thing?"
Mirra snorted. "I will not let
him harm you, he listens to me." She spoke with all the proud
confidence of a sixteen-year-old lion tamer.
Mirra
towed
Tallis to Bane's door,
where she knocked. A gruff reply told her to come in, and she did,
pulling Tallis. Her smile faded.
The Demon Lord sat on the bed,
his back against the wall. His cloak draped the bed like a pool of
blood, and his boots rested on the clean linen. He looked so tense
and alone that her heart cried out with pity, and she longed to run
to him and hug him, give him some of the comfort he so plainly
needed. His cold eyes daunted her, however, flicking to Tallis with
a freezing glance. Mirra ignored his warning look and tugged Tallis
forward.
"Bane, this is Tallis, my
friend."
"What of it?" His tone dripped
contempt.
Mirra sighed. "I wanted you to
meet her."
His eyes sent needles of ice at
Tallis, who bobbed and mumbled. His cold gaze slid to Mirra, not
warming one iota. "Well, now I have met her, so you can run along
and have your little girlish chat."
Mirra snorted, releasing Tallis,
and walked over to sit on the bed beside him. His tension
increased, and he watched her with suspicious, angry eyes. His
expression told her that he did not want company, hers or anyone
else's.
"Why do you not relax?” she
asked. “Be nice."
Bane regarded her steadily, and
Mirra beckoned to Tallis, who hovered. "Come here, Tal, he does not
bite."
Tallis approached, and Bane
waited until she was almost at Mirra's side, then sat up.
"Do not be so sure, girl," he
growled.
Tallis squeaked and fled.
Bane laughed, his eyes flicking
back to Mirra, alight with malice. "Your friend seems a little
frightened of me. I wonder why?"
Mirra shook her head in gentle
reproof, puzzled by his black mood. "That was nasty."
"I am a nasty person." His eyes
narrowed. "You think you are safe, and perhaps you are, but do not
tempt my anger with your foolish little friends. I did not come
here to be shown off like a caged beast, for you to brag about to
your friends, tell them how harmless I am now that you think you
have drawn my fangs with your spell. Think again."
"If it seemed that way to you, I
am sorry, I did not mean it like that. All I wanted was for you to
meet Tallis, make another friend, so you would not feel so terribly
alone."
H
e studied the wall.
"I do not feel alone. I am used to it. I do not need friends, and I
do not like being disturbed by gibbering girls who wet their pants
at the sight of me."
"If you did not look so
forbidding, and were a little friendlier -"
"I have just said I do not want
friends," he interrupted, his angry gaze flashing to her.
Mirra frowned. "Do not let your
bitterness eat away at your heart. Friendship is a wonderful
thing."
"How would I know? I enjoy my
solitude. The old crone warned me not to stalk about and frighten
the little girls, but she did not say I could not if they invaded
my room."