The demon and his bride [JMontavale and Ashleebabe]

I looked at myself in the mirror before I turned to change for bed. The moon was full, what most people would call the twilight of the night. Most of the children were tucked in their beds after their evening meals and prayers. The elders of the households were discussing matters of business with their spouses while enjoying a night cap. The woods lay still, only the briefest noises of birds dancing from tree to tree or a howl to signal the wolves’ arrival to their mother moon. These noises were what I have been accustomed to all my life since infancy and here I am, staring up at the same moon in a different form. Tonight I was offered to another outside of my family and I have been weighed with such a heavy burden.

My father called for me to dress in my finery and make my haste appearance to his study immediately. I was to meet my future husband and he, if he so liked me, choose a date when we should wed. I, however, pleaded with my father to reconsider such a barbaric tradition, but I was the last of his children at home and he thought it was time for to start my own home. He expected me to breed the next generation of perfect ladies and dashing gentlemen. I wanted to travel the world and read for knowledge; we did not reach a compromise. I was to be married by the next moon cycle and I had no choice in the matter.

I am envious of that moon. It can be seen from all over the world and yet can never have the same protocol we have. I wished I could be away from everything and not be forced into such an arrangement. But I could not let my father down. I was his only little girl.

My mother died when I was only six. A tragedy that could not be foreseen, a illness that attacked our village with such ferocity that it left most of the village with one family member in the ground. We were blessed with only one death since our household was filled with three boys and a little girl. I was the only one forced upon these rules. My father told me when I was old enough to know why he never truly wanted me at home. He wished to send me off to court or marry me young because I reminded him of the wife he lost. I was thankful that I was allowed to stay.

I decided to take a walk instead of undressing and going to bed. I slipped on my lace shawl and slipped into my gardens. I prided myself on my roses and tulips. It took me years to perfect such a little Eden in my home. But soon it was not be my home. I stood on the bridge that provided a walkway for the visitors to use when they did not want to step in the creek to cool their bodies. I wrapped my arms around myself until I heard something behind me. It was subtle; a snap of a twig that could have been a number of creatures. There were numerous creatures that roamed the grounds and the surrounding woods at night. I must have been playing into my fears. Those fears should have been more in my mind then the matter at hand. Those fears could have saved me that night.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck tingle in fright and I turned to investigate it, silly thing to do in the middle of the night. I was about to turn in when I encountered a man. He towered over me. I was about to ask about his purpose in being on my property at night when a hand came from behind me and covered my face with a cloth. I inhaled something horrid and then the world went dark around me.

When I awoke again, I was being transported into a castle, the turrets loomed over us but I thought nothing much of at the time. I should have been paying attention. My captors were carrying me to another room. I screamed but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. I saw a bed next and then a lump in the middle of it. Was I the sacrifice? Am I to be offered to some sort of god? I tried to move out of his grasp but it was useless, they were stronger. They sat me on the bed next to the creature and withdrew a knife. My screams were silenced by the sight of the blade. This was it; I was to die for a ritual. I took a deep breath as the man stroked the blade against my wrist. The blood splattered over the lump in the bed and soon my world was darkened again. I could vaguely hear chanting and whispers surrounding me but I think I was imagining it. I decided to let it go and drift on the cloud of unconsciousness.

I felt the hot blood fall upon my bare skin. How long had it been since I'd felt? Where was I?

I heard the voices chanting then. I knew the words, though they pronounced them wrong. An old language... maybe as old as me. I couldn't remember.

They were praising me... praying to me. They offered me something... a sacrifice and wanted my favor in return. If they wanted my favor, they would not have forced me here. If they were wise, they would not awaken me now, but like all who sought power and expected others to pay for it, they were fools. I felt the blood awakening me, and I felt the embers of anger kindled in my heart.

I rose from the bed, and the robed fools fell to their knees. Their proud eyes cast to the ground, but they thought they were in control. I decided to show them otherwise.

The tall one seemed to be the leader. He wore the most finery and tokens of magic. I tore his head from his shoulders with a single swing of my angry hand. I let the spray of his blood fall upon my body and took strength from it. The others recoiled in fear, but they did not run. They were frozen by the gaze of my bottomless black eyes. I dispatched them quickly, their blood made me stronger and their pleas found no merciful ear.

Once they were dead, I spread my mighty, ebon feathered wings and stretched. I had been too long an inert captive. The wizard who bound me was no doubt long turned to dust. I drew my wings in, so that they shrank until they disappeared. I could recall them when they were needed.

I turned back to the bed and saw the lovely young woman they had thought to offer me. One should never offer what one has no claim to. This woman's blood was her own, and I would not take it, but her body... She was most comely and I had been long a prisoner. Her body I would have, if she could be persuaded to give it too me.

I bandaged her wound with a torn sheet and carried her to another room. I placed her on a clean bed and made a fire in the stove there. I loosened her garments so she would be more comfortable.

I found a mirror and looked upon my reflection. I willed my horns to become invisible. I could not fully hide my nature. If someone touched my forehead, they would find my horns there beneath my long, silky, black hair. My eyes too were scarcely human, but that might be overlooked. My body was lean and strong, my skin like ivory. I hoped the woman would find it desirable, but I remembered human modesty.

I sought out trousers and a coat that would fit me. They were the tall man's, but he had no further need for them. I put boots on my feet. Then, I returned to the room where I'd left the young woman. I would be her rescuer. In a way, this was true.

I opened my eyes a few hours later a little confused. I shot up out of the bed but soon fell back seeing the room spinning around me. I gasped and tried to make myself calm until I saw that I was not alone. There was a breeze sifting through my gown and I noticed my dress was loosened. I immediately covered myself and tried to find my voice. The man was handsome but nothing like the creatures that had kidnapped me. This man seemed to hold and heir about his nature even in the way he was sitting.

I decided that it would be good for me to talk. "W-w-where am I?" I asked rubbing my temples and laughed in my mind. My voice was laced with sleep and did not sound like its own sweet tinkering lilt. I attempted again to sit up and succeeded, ut I rested my head on my knees.

"May I ask who you are and how I got here?" I added as I slowly allowed everything to sink into my mind. Was he some passerby who happened to see me taken or was he the creature I was fed to? I was a little nervous being alone with a stranger who may have a secret motive to his kindness.

I tried to smile kindly to the lovely young woman. I hoped my sharp canines didn't show too much. I wanted to stand and walk to her, but I thought that I might seem less threatening if I stayed where I was.

"You may call me Focalor," I told her in what I hoped was a soothing tone. My memory was still cloudy and incomplete from my time imprisoned, so I was not at my best. "I was a prisoner, just as you. Our captors were... careless with me, and they will no longer be a threat to you. I have cleaned and bandaged your wound as best I could." I pointed at the young woman's wrist.

I shuddered for a moment as she seemed to glow with her innocence. What is it about innocence? It is so dangerous, but so enthralling. Though I fancied myself in control, I sensed that she was like a flame and I like a moth drawn to her. Still, it was an attraction I did not wish to resist.

"We are still in the castle of your abductors. I did not wish to leave you alone in this place so that I could go forth and learn of my surroundings, so I do not know more than that."

I heard the name and thought it was an odd one indeed. I was a little confused on how he had become prisoner like I had because he was much more stronger than myself. At least he looked at way but there was something about him that did not add up. Maybe it was I was very tired and still was not myself. I wished to think more of the positive, the fact that I amalive and not too far from my home.

I thought for a few more moments and then opened my mouth to speak again. "Focalor, I think we should be getting out of this place before reinforcements may arrive. I am not sure how this works but I do not want to relieve this again." I admitted as I moved out of the bed with a little stumbling and tightened my dress a little so I was not showing too much. My hair had come loose and flowed like a dark wavy curtain around me.

"Maybe we should get going. I think I know where I am and I can help you into town. Its the least I can do."

I stood then, and offered my hand to the young woman. My 'borrowed' coat hung open, showing that I hadn't bothered with a shirt.

"Then let us be off, Miss... May I ask your name?" My memory and faculties were still not fully recovered. I felt foolish indeed for not asking the woman's name. "I am... glad of your help. I do not know this place and would be very lost otherwise."

It was the truth, at least in part. I had been a prisoner for a very long time. Wherever I was, it would be a new world to me, not that the mortal realm had ever been my home. But I would act a little more helpless than I truly was. I would seem less threatening and perhaps more endearing to her.

Ii shook my head for the moment and exhaled. I took his hand without a moment more of hesitation and placed my delicate hand in his. "Where is your shirt? Did you lose it in the capture?" I added and shook her head. "I'm so sorry about that. My name is Marguerite. I do not think we can get to my home but there are a few Inns in the area I'm sure I can trade a dress or a few hair pins for a night of board."

I was nervous to leave this place but I needed to get back to my home. We went through the mazes of rooms and halls until we reached the outter walls. I smiled as the moon danced over my pale skin. "Isn't the night lovely?" I asked in awe as we began down the path towards town.

"I awoke unclothed," I told her truthfully, though withholding the fact that I was most often nude anyway. "I took the garments of one of those abductors. I didn't find a shirt." I hadn't looked very carefully. I reached into one of the coat's pockets and took out a hand full of coins. "Let our jailers pay for our lodging," I suggested.

In many human societies, they cover their bodies completely and try to pretend that the attraction and desire between man and woman does not exist. In such a society, the mortals often become fascinated by this desire and the bodies they are forbidden to see. If this was such a society, Marguerite was impressive for not being the least bit curious.

I was certainly not so innocent, nor did I have any wish to curb my appetites. I watched Marguerite walk with innocent joy into the moonlight. Her fair skin already glowed to me. Indeed, she outshone the moon to my eye. I ached for her, but knew she must give her body willingly to me. Still, perhaps a well timed word.

"You are very kind to help me, Marguerite. I wish I had means to repay you, but it seems I am destitute but for the clothes and coins I have taken from the abductors. Still, I wish to find some way, some token with which I can repay some small measure of your kindness."

I felt eyes on me but I thought it was of my new companion not another one of those ghastly men. They had been taken care of by Focalor, he said at least. I listened to the fact that there was no shirt available but he coat was not too open for me to see. It was not my fancy to fantasize about a man who was not my fiance, a man I had not met.

We made our way down the path towards the town with leisure. He spoke of repaying me but I shook my head. "No need to repay me for anything, I am greatful you saved me when you did. That is payment enough." I added as I had to sop at a nearby tree to rest. I was still tired and eak from my earlier ordeal and could scarcely keep going without a rest.

Marguerite sat down under a tree after we had walked for a time. Mortals are not the strongest of beings, and she had suffered a trying ordeal. It was natural that she would need to rest, but perhaps I could now be of use to her.

"If you do not wish to pause, I can carry you while you rest," I tried to sound sympathetic. "I know you may not wish to linger near the castle."

I looked at him for a moment but rested my head on my knees. "I cannot even think to consider such a thing. You have been through an ordeal and I only needed a moment to collect myself and catch my breathe." I added as I up and swayed on my feet. I stumbled on a tree root and thought myself was going to fall.

I was impressed by Marguerite's determination and unwillingness to allow me to help her even as these traits vexed me in my efforts. I saw how uneasy she was on her feet, so I had a warning that she might fall.

When Marguerite began to trip, I rushed forward and caught her. I swept Marguerite up in my arms. I felt the power of her innocence seep painfully into me, but I would not simply drop her. I can be determined too. Instead, I held Marguerite to my chest. I was not harming her, or trying to take her without her permission, and the pain eased to a mild irritation after a few seconds.

"It is no hardship," I assured Marguerite, my bottomless, black eyes looking into hers. "Let me carry you. I will not push myself beyond my endurance."

I was in his arms and I closed my eyes. "I think I shall have to let you win on this. I am very tired and I think I would slow you down." I whispered as I soon decided that his strength would be enough for the both of us. "If I get too much for you , please let me know." I closed my eyes and soon drifted off in his arms. What trust I had in this stranger.

I began to walk down the path. This place was unfamiliar to me, but I did not worry. I would simply follow the direction Marguerite had been going and I would find a road or some other mark of human civilization eventually.

I felt Marguerite drift off to sleep in my arms. Were I a mere mortal rogue, I could have acted then to sate my lust. But, I am no mortal, and fiend I am, but not rogue. Her, lovely face, so at peace and so trusting brought an unfamiliar smile to my face. It was not the cruel smile I show the foolish sorcerers who deliver themselves into my hands. It was not the smile of victory I show vanquished foes. It was... different. I held Marguerite closer so the heat of my body could help keep her warm.

I opened my eyes weakly when we entered the village. "There is an Inn about a mile up the road. There should be at least once vacancy. I hope we will not be a bother to the owners." I muttered trying to stay awake. They made their way through town and to an Inn that only had one room. I could scarcely stand on my own two feet when he talked to the Innkeeper. "What is our story going to be? Am I your sister or an relative?"

I thought on Marguerite's words for a moment.

"We look little alike," I said. "They may not believe we are brother and sister. Perhaps we may say we are cousins?" Of course I did not wish to be her cousin. I wanted to be Marguerite's lover.

My knocks did indeed wake the innkeeper. He came to the door in nightshirt and cap with a candle in hand and bade us enter.

"Welcome to my inn, gentlefolk," the innkeeper said, though like most mortals he would not hold my gaze. "You are too late for a hot meal, but I have cheese, bread and pickled eggs I can offer. The ale is good and strong as well. I have but one room to offer however, sir. Is this lady your sister, perhaps? Or your wife?"

"This is my cousin," I said. I tried to not smile at drawing Marguerite into a lie. It was a small step down the path, but a step nonetheless. Still, I felt a brief, unfamiliar pang. No doubt from being so near one so innocent.

I nodded and just wanted to get myself to a bed and a bath. "We are traveling to our host's home and we needed to aplace to stay this eve. We can manage with one room. I am fine with one room and so is he. I would just like to get to bed, I am rather tired this eve." She added weakly and then rested her head on his shoulder.

I also wasn't hungry... at least not for food and ale. I paid for the room from the money I'd taken from the fools I'd killed. Then, I helped Marguerite to our room. I ushered the innkeeper out as quickly as I could without throwing him out the door. Then, I kindled a fire in the room's small stove.

"The bed is yours," I said with a gallantry I didn't feel. "I will sleep on the floor." I removed my coat, leaving myself bare from the waist up, and placed the garment on the floor. It would be my bed, unless Marguerite asked me to share hers.

I moved into the room and yawned. "No, you have been in a horrid ordeal as much as I have. I can take the floor and you can have the bed." I took a pillow and curled up on the floor shivering as I waited for the fire to heat up. This would be a game of "You take the bed, no you take the bed," but I would be willing to play. I was tired and sore, sleep sounded like heaven. "Focalor please you should have the bed, or we can share it. We are both adults who are tired. I think we can handle a night of sleep."

"As you wish, Marguerite," I said. "We will share the bed. May I suggest, if you are cold, I can share my body heat with you. You are very worn, and I would hate for you to catch a chill."

I removed my boots and got into the bed under the covers. I held the covers on Marguerite's side up so that she could get in more easily. I am not a great fool. She was obviously exhausted by her ordeal, so I knew she would not give her body to me that night. But I hoped she might be more comfortable around me after we shared a bed for the evening.

I opened my eyes and moved towards the bed. I stopped and unlaced my gown so that I was only in my chemise, the fabric pooled to the floor around me. I curled up into the bed next to my new friend but left ample space betwen us. My mind was racing on how improper this was and how my family would be outraged but I knew they were not here. "After tonight, I must return to my home and..." I paused not wanting to say the words that were echoing in my mind. "My fiance." There it was out and now I had to deal with the awkwardness.

I felt angry frustration when Marguerite said she had a fiance. I also felt a spike of jealousy in my heart. The thought of Marguerite... my Marguerite having a fiance was a horrible revelation. But I am skilled at hiding my emotions, even when they surprise me, like the sense of loss I didn't understand. I could still be sly and manipulative.

"Please don't let your worry about appearances keep you from being warm," I said with a reasonable voice. "I am not surprised that you have a fiance, Marguerite. It is clear to me that you are a very proper and beautiful lady. Your man is very lucky, and though, if things were different, I could wish to be loved as you must love him, I am not interested in stealing your virtue." That at least was technically true. I wished my lovely Marguerite to give her virtue to me. "I only wish for your good health. Now, please let me share my body's warmth with you. It is not as if we are nude, but even if we were, I would not try to force myself upon you."

Learn to enjoy my hot embrace, I thought. Then, with time, you may come to feel that having me for a lover would not be such a bad thing.

"I do not mind saying that I do think this is odd sharing a bed with you but what am I to do." I added as I moved a few inches towards the edge of the bed. I was going to just let it pass until I heard him talk about my fiance. "I have yet to meet my fiance so it does not matter if I would have loved him. I hate that men think of me only as a pretty face and you are not an exception." I rose from the bed and moved towards the window seat. I took the pillow and blanket with me.

"I think I will just sleep here. I do not want to interrupt your sleep anymore so." I added as I soon drifted into an uncomfortable bout of unrestful slumber.

I rose from the bed in a great anger. It had not been my wish to offend Marguerite, and I felt an unaccustomed desire to apologize, but then she compared me to mere mortal men, and wounded my pride.

"Forgive me," I said through my teeth, sarcasm leaking into my tone. "I made your acquaintance less than three days ago, under less than ideal circumstances. I am sorry I have not spent the time getting to know you instead of tending your injury and helping you to leave that terrible castle behind. No doubt if I were more than the base barbarian that I am, I could have readily learned all about your character, your interests and, and your life history." I snatched up my boots and coat. "It was not my wish to offend you, but offend you I have. You have suffered more from your ordeal than I have from mine, and I'll be damned if I am going to enjoy the comfort of a bed while you suffer further.

I stormed from the room, leaving the bed to Marguerite. It was my pride that compelled me to leave, not sympathy... I have no such tender feelings, least of all for a mortal.

He stormed out of the room for a hurt pride and I rolled my eyes. Men were more fickle than flowers in the winter months. He was so unnerve by my words about my looks it irritated me more. Everyone looked to me for my cursed beauty and I wished to be seen as a person. His sardonic behavior was rude and I wondered why he was so irritated with my simple wording. I moved from the window and back to the bed. I was finally able to curl and asleep in peace.