The Devil's Smile

Chapter 25

Amina had found herself wondering if she had been wrong. At first she had believed that Moras wanted girls around because he was lonely and wanted a friend as well as food. But the more he growled and glared, the more Amina found herself doubting that original conclusion. He was mean and unpleasant no matter what she said. She didn't know what to do.

She forced herself to stop thinking about Moras. What she wanted right now was to see the sky and the only place she knew where she could do that was his room. Her brain was working on an excuse, in case he found her there, as she walked out the door of her hallway and headed toward his. She held the lantern high in the air, sending light scorching down the dark hallway. Amina started by checking the main room at the end of the hall, where she had always found him before. The room was dark and cold. He hadn't been there for some time.

Amina crept around, opening doors and looking for him. But every room was dark and there was no sign of Moras. A sick feeling started in the pit of her stomach. What if he was sent on an assignment? She didn't know how much worse what had happened to her could be. The idea of finding out wasn't high on her list of things she wanted to do in the near future. Once she had established that he wasn't anywhere nearby she snuck down the hall to his door.

Reaching out she grabbed the handle and started to turn. A noise down the hall made her jump and she held the lantern up to see if he was coming down the hall. An image of a gaunt, pale, beast with black cold eyes returning from an assassination or some other evil assignment flashed through her imagination and she suddenly felt eyes on her back. Amina held the lantern up higher and looked around at the darkness. The idea of returning to her room and going back to hiding under her blankets was becoming more tempting.

Just then a soft breeze wafted from beneath the door, as if it was calling to her. It had been so long since she had felt anything save the still and dark of this place. With a new resolve Amina turned the handle and pushed the door open. The hall was completely black and there was no light from the end where his bed was, not even a dim light speaking of a fire in the hearth. She crept down the hall. Another noise had her turning and holding up the lantern again. Her heart was thudding in her chest. Amina feared he'd hear the thumping noise and come find her. Suddenly it occurred to her that he might be in bed asleep. She stopped again.

The lantern light began to waver as Amina started to tremble. Why am I so scared? What's he going to do? Bite me? He's already done that. I survived. Her brain was working over time. Amina resolved to leave the lantern on the floor and go the rest of the way with just the light it was throwing. She could see the door to his room, it was open. The lantern was throwing enough light that she'd be able to get inside and she'd decide what to do then. Besides, if he was asleep then the less light the better. She just wanted to see the stars and feel the breeze on her face and then she'd leave.

Glancing behind herself one last time, Amina slunk the rest of the way down the hall. She realized as she poked her head in the door and stared into the dark that the reason she was frightened was because she was doing something she knew she shouldn't. She felt like a little kid trying to sneak a sweet from the jar, when she had already been told 'no.'

Carefully, Amina tip toed into Moras's bedroom. A sudden flash of light from a square in the ceiling beaconed to her. Amina realized that it would take an awful lot of wind to blow down the shaft as strong as she had been feeling it. There must be a storm, she thought excitedly. She almost forgot that Moras could be in bed asleep as she eagerly worked her Moras watched her walk down the hall opening doors and sneaking about. What is my brave one up to?

He had taken the rugs to the cave entrance with the intention of leaving them where air could get to them so that they would dry. But a thunderstorm was threatening. He had stared into the sky for some time. Warm, humid air stuck in his lungs as he breathed in the night. Once he had thought he would grow used to being in the crypt he called his home. It had taken time, but he eventually realized that his desire to sleep beneath stars would never be abated.

When Amina neared his door with the obvious intention of going inside, Moras nearly stopped her. Tension held him in the shadows as he wondered if he had locked his door when he left, until she disappeared into his hall.

He was swearing to himself as he followed her. But if she's looking for you, shouldn't you be pleased, he said to himself. The emotional torrent that had been plaguing him since her first defiant stare began tugging at his mind. I told her not to be in my rooms, he growled to himself.

The indecision of how to respond to her blatant disregard of what he had told her and the desire to know what exactly she was up to, kept him in the shadows. He was partially amused by her attempts to see if she was being followed. He even made some noises to scare her off. He figured that if she thought she was being watched she might run back to her room. There was fear evident on her face. Moras was very familiar with fear. But Amina continued in her purpose. First came the soft feelings of adAmination for her determination and ability to continue in the face of being frightened. Then came the anger for the fact that she should be listening to him and she wasn't.

Moras snuck into his own bedroom to see what Amina had come here for. He had expected her to call out or to check his bed. Does she really think she's sneaky and clever enough that she would be able to do this unnoticed? Does the fool girl have no respect for what I am or what I could do to her? The soft feeling hit him in the stomach again. She really doesn't think I'd hurt her. That's what makes her so brave.

Amina stood under the shaft staring up into the darkness. Flashes of light streaked across the sky and were followed by a strangely muffled crackling. "Even the thunder is strangled down here," she said in a sad whisper, without realizing that she had spoken aloud.

Anger and frustration boiled in Moras again. Such a small comment and yet it stung him deeply. Elizabeth had said things similar. By all the Gods she is so much like Elizabeth.

There was more muffled thunder and then a trickle of water came down the shaft. It was cold and clear and clean. This was the point where Moras usually put something beneath the shaft to catch the water so that it wouldn't make a tremendous mess on the floor. He almost stepped out of the shadows.

Amina reached her hand up to the water and felt it trickle over her palm and down her arm. She breathed in the fresh clean breeze. Something about the darkness she had been in for all these weeks made her appreciate the experience all the more. Amina stepped under the trickle of water and let it run over her face, down her neck, and across her chest. Goosebumps arose on her skin as the cold water trailed over her flesh.

Moras hadn't seen beauty like this in so long. The girls usually lost their glow relatively quickly here. He breathed slow and deliberate, watched the water caress her skin, and wondered briefly what it would taste like to drink it from her as it ran along the curve of her breast. He wished she was naked so that he could watch the water trickle along her stomach and legs as well.

He hated her for making him feel like he should let her go and not curse her with a life below ground with him. "I thought I told you not to come in here," he growled.

Amina flinched when she heard his voice. Then her blood ran cold as his deadly tone sunk into her. She didn't need to see him to know that he was furious beyond anything she had yet to see. "I," she faltered. From somewhere deep inside her anger wrapped around her fear and bubbled to the surface. It wasn't fair. He kept the only air in this place for himself. Why was he so mean? "I just wanted to see the sky. Do you always have to sneak up on me like that? It's obnoxious," she growled right back.

Moras was taken aback at first. He never, in all his years, dealt with a woman this blatantly defiant and argumentative. He stepped toward her until the light from the lantern fell on him and shadowed his features menacingly. "This is my place. I've never had to punish one of you before. But I'm seriously contemplating it. You have no idea how much your behavior is trying my patience."

Amina flinched again on the word 'punish.' She didn't think there was any way that he could devise something more miserable than what had already happened. But she did get the impression from him that he would try. Somehow, though, she just couldn't stop her mouth. "My behavior? At least my behavior is consistent. You're the one who seems gentle and caring one minute and then turns into a goon the next. You said that I was supposed to be a companion to you and the druids did me an injustice in their training. But you behave companionable one minute and turn into a monster the next and I'm not referring to the blood drinking. Even that was preferable to the way you're treating me now." Amina was trembling. She didn't know what to expect after her tirade.

"Get out before I bloody my hands with you," he sneered at her.

Amina looked up at the shaft and then back to Moras with tears in her eyes. "This is the reason they wanted away from you," she said softly and started to walk past him toward the door.

The comment pushed Moras over the edge and he grabbed for her as she tried to pass. Amina dodged the grasp and screamed then started to run down the hallway. There was nothing save silence following her and as she neared the door she glanced back to see if he was following. Out of nowhere he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her back against the wall. Her skull cracked harshly against the stone and the wind was knocked out of her lungs. Amina was trying to fight the spinning and the lack of air as he began speaking.

"You b***h. You have no idea what I've been to others. What do you want? To go outside? For me to be sweet and kind to you? I've gone the route in the past girl. You'll beg for one day. Just one. You'd swear you love me and promise to come back. And as the sun rises above the mountains and I'm trapped in this hell you'd enjoy the feel of the air and the grass and the breeze. You'd feel the warmth that only the sun can give. Then you'd come back. You'd keep your promise. Only now you'd be more miserable, because you'd have seen what you were missing. Then you'd beg for another day and give more promises. Then it'd be a week. Then more. Until you wouldn't come back at all. And I'd not blame you. But for the lies you told me. And even those I would eventually forgive and understand. How could you possible want me over the sun? Then I'd curse myself a fool for having allowed another woman to creep into my soul, when I already learned that lesson once." As he spoke his words gradually lost their vehemence and Amina thought he sounded as though he may cry. "Go back to your room girl. Do not come here again. I promise I won't be so kind next time. I keep my promises."

Moras dropped Amina to the floor and began walking toward his room. Tears streaked down Amina's face and there was a red handprint that was already beginning to show signs of bruising on her neck. Amina couldn't decide if the tears were from what he had done to her or from what he had said. She walked out the door, knowing better than to push him any farther that night. She had a great deal of thinking to do.