The Lord of Shadows

by E E Ewer

  She could feel the blood rush to her face as she blushed. Something about his eyes made her unbelievably nervous, and her heart beat faster in her chest as she quickly looked away. She sat back as she stared at the pond, and all the flowers that surrounded it.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, and was surprised when she noticed that Lucian had joined her sitting on the grass, his long legs bent out in front of him. Long way down… she thought.

  “This is my private garden,” he explained. “You are welcome here anytime you’d like. It’s a good place to come when trying to escape the normal rush of this castle. No one else comes here.”

  Nire thought for a moment. “Who takes care of it then?” she asked curiously. It certainly looked like it was maintained on a regular basis.

  “I maintain it myself,” he said. Nire had a hard time imagining the Lord of Shadows as a hobby gardener and made a funny face. “It takes a considerable amount of energy, but I find it worth the expense,” he added, hinting that he did not physically maintain it.

  “Oh…” Nire said as she imagined floating pruning shears hovering through the garden. Nah, it probably just stays nice on its own, she decided. Oddly enough, she did find herself feeling more comfortable now. The beauty of the scene in front of her had captured all of her attention, and didn’t leave much room for feeling anxious.

  A cool breeze came down from the walls and brushed Nire’s bare shoulders, causing her to shiver.

  “Cold?” Lucian asked.

  “No,” Nire said quickly and assertively. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel the need to be a gentleman and give her his jacket. Having him sit next to her was strange enough. Lucian raised an eyebrow at the sharp response.

  “Very well,” he stated.

  Damn it, I am cold, Nire thought. That was kind of stupid. After sitting for a few minutes in the cool air with her shoulders tensed, the demon next to her moved to stand, and placed his hands on her shoulders, feeling the chill on her skin as he kneeled behind her. She nearly jumped at the touch, but his hands were warm and sent tingles down her spine.

  “Perhaps we should go back inside,” he offered gently as he spoke almost directly into her ear. Nire gulped at the sensation of him being so close. His hands slid off her shoulders as he stood, and the cold air that replaced them was unpleasant. Nire stood, and upon turning around she found his arm offered to her once more. Smiling softly she took it and he led her back into the castle.

  The journey to her room was silent as they walked. Upon reaching her door she turned to face the tall demon that stood beside her.

  “I hope I have eased your anxiety some,” he offered gently. “Perhaps tomorrow evening there will be more to talk about.”

  Nire realized he was suggesting they eat together again. She did feel a little better about being around him, knowing that he seemed to be fairly forgiving of her inexperience. All in all she didn’t think she’d made a complete fool of herself, and the garden had been… nice.

  His golden eyes pierced straight through her, she smiled shyly and looked away, nodding. He gave her a single nod in return before turning and walking back down the spiral stairs. Nire sucked in a deep breath as soon as she was closed within her room, and sighed.

  He was… nice. She found it a bit surprising. He didn’t seem particularly overbearing; aside from the fact that just being near him made her stomach release an arsenal of butterflies. Okay. She thought. Maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

  She found that her clothes had been placed in the armoire, and there was a night dress laid on the edge of the bed. She changed out of the green dress, and brought a small pinch of the creepy black stuff with her to her bed. She decided she would need another dish of the glow dust to put on her night stand, but since the moon was full tonight, she wasn’t too concerned.

  Blowing the strange black things into the air, she watched as they found each light and snuffed it out, sending a trail of glitter to the floor. Settling into the large green bed, she felt quite comfortable for the first time since she’d gotten there. The bed was warm and pleasant, and somehow this room felt very much like home.

  Chapter 7

  Table of Contents

  There was screaming all around her as she sat crouched in the dark, trying desperately not to make a sound. When everything had been quiet for a while she considered moving, but just as she thought it might be safe to leave her hiding place the sound of heavy footsteps entered the house. She held her breath as they moved closer, and then stopped.

  Through the crack in the wood, she could see the black boots as they stood over the lifeless bodies in the main room. All she could see of them was her mother’s hand, but she didn’t need to see the rest to know what had been done. A muffled voice came from somewhere outside, and the boots turned towards the doorway. The house settled under the movement, and the breath she had been holding came out as a small squeak.

  Realizing her mistake she held as still as possible, but the boots turned back, and began walking towards her. She closed her eyes and tears began to fall down her cheeks as she clenched her tiny hands and hoped he wouldn’t find her.

  Just then the cupboard door swung open and she let out a small cry. She kept her eyes shut tightly, waiting for the worst.

  “Come child,” came a low voice. Why does that sound so familiar? She thought to herself somewhere outside the current scope of reality. Opening her eyes slowly she saw two large gray hands being held out to her. In a sudden realization that this person was not here to hurt her, she flew out of her hiding place into the outstretched arms and began to cry.

  She felt the strong arms wrap gently around her and lift her from the floor. Lying still against his chest she watched as his feet walked steadily across the barren ground. Closing her eyes she hid her face from the rest of the people who were walking through the town. A sense of security filled her tiny heart as she clung to the cloth of his jacket and cried.

  The sound of the door handle caused her eyes to shoot open. What a strange dream… she thought. It was so vivid… Rolling over she sat up to find Margery fishing out the gray dress from the armoire.

  “Marge?” she asked as she wiped her eyes. “What are you doing here so early?” The atmosphere was still cool and misty in the morning light.

  “Don’t you recall? You’ve been promoted to my new assistant,” Margery said sarcastically. Nire realized that even when he appeared to be joking, everyone still took him seriously.

  “You mean he really wants me to help you out?” she asked, confused.

  “Well, his exact words were to keep you busy, so that’s what I intend to do,” she explained. “Now come get dressed and have some breakfast, and I will find a few things for you to do around the East Wing.” Nire sighed. “Well, no one’s going to make you do it if you don’t want to,” Margery added at Nire’s response.

  “Huh? No, I don’t mind. I was just thinking about a dream I had,” Nire said as she slid off the side of the bed.

  “Oh?” the old woman asked curiously as she prepared the gray dress for Nire.

  “It was the strangest thing… I was a little girl and… well… I don’t really know. Someone saved me from something… but I can’t really remember what it was I was so afraid of.” In the dream it had been so clear… but now it seemed all the details were escaping her. She shrugged it off as Margery helped her into her dress, and the two women headed towards the kitchens.

  After a short breakfast Nire was led through the main hallways to the East Wing. There were guards posted on both sides of a wide set of stairs. Nire looked at them cautiously as Margery led her through. After the guards were out of earshot, Nire turned to Margery and spoke quietly.

  “Marge… how come we aren’t using the service halls?”

  “There are no service halls that lead in and out of the East Wing,” she explained. “For… security purposes.”

  “Oh.”

  “There are, however, service halls wi
thin the East Wing, but it’s almost entirely unnecessary to use them as the only people here are guards, maids and his Lordship. Mainly, they are just used for ease of access. For instance…” she said as she stopped and turned to the wall, pressing on the right side of an arch decoration. The door opened to the inside as she pushed gently. It was seamlessly hidden in the decoration of the wall, and completely unnoticeable unless you knew what you were looking for.

  Nire followed the old woman through the doorway into a service hall. Closing the door behind her, Margery took a few steps to the left where another door stood on the opposite wall. Taking hold of the handle she opened it and gestured for Nire to walk through.

  The brunette stepped into the room, which appeared to be another library. It was not nearly as large as the one in the North Wing, but it was still impressive. Looking around she realized they had come in somewhere near the back, and as she turned to look at Margery, she saw a second door positioned directly next to the one they had just emerged from.

  “Normally,” Margery stated, “we would have had to go all the way around to the other side. Service doors are almost always positioned on a wall far from the main entrance, so they often make good short cuts when you’re in a hurry,” she explained. Nire tried to listen to what she was being told, but her curiosity was killing her.

  “What’s that door go to?”She asked as soon as the gray haired woman finished speaking. Margery turned and followed Nire’s gaze.

  “Records room,” she answered in short. “You need a key to get in.” With that she led Nire across the library, scanning the ladders as she did so. “Ah, there she is. Eireane!” Margery called up a ladder.

  At the top was a girl who appeared to not be much older than Nire, with black hair and blue eyes, wearing the same gray housemaids dress.

  “Hmm?” she said before looking down the ladder. “Oh.” As she noticed Nire she began her descent. Upon reaching the floor she extended her hand to Nire. “Hi, I’m Eireane,” she introduced herself with a smile. Nire smiled in return and took the girls outstretched hand.

  “This is Nire,” Margery stated to the other girl. “She will be helping out here in the East Wing for a while.”

  “Oh, I didn’t even know we were accepting new staff members,” Eireane said in a sweet voice.

  “We’re not,” Margery stated flatly. It was difficult for Nire to hold in a laugh. The black haired girl gave her a confused look. “His Lordship requested I keep her busy. She is a guest here. So she will be helping out where she can.”

  “Oh… Well, that’s a bit unusual,” Eireane commented as her blue eyes studied Nire for a moment. “Well, welcome in any case!” she continued with a smile.

  “Eireane here manages the East Wing library. She’s a human as well, Nire,” Marge added. “Why don’t you two get to know each other a little? I’m sure Eireane can find plenty for you to help her with here. I will be back in a few hours to show you a couple other key areas.” Nire nodded and Margery turned to leave.

  “So, you really take care of this entire library yourself?” Nire asked the other human girl.

  “Yup. It’s not so hard really, considering his Lordship is really the only person who comes in aside from Margery. Mostly a lot of dusting,” she laughed.

  “It must be… quiet, being here all by yourself.”

  “Yes… actually I don’t mind it at all. I’m a little shy, and the demon residents make me a bit nervous. The kitchens are always so busy and crowded… I can’t stand it. It’s much nicer being able to be here by myself. I’m less anxious when there aren’t so many people around all the time,” the girl explained.

  “So… what is it you are doing?” Nire asked.

  “Dusting the top shelves, and making sure everything is in order. If you’d like you can look around at the books, just so long as you put them back where you found them. I actually can’t think of anything for you to help me with right now unless you really like to dust.”

  Nire laughed. “Ok. Well, just let me know if you need anything,” Nire said as she turned to wander around the library. Eireane resumed her duties high on the ladder and watched the other girl as she explored.

  There were rows and rows of books, and Nire couldn’t imagine what on earth one person would need all these books kept privately for. Thinking back to the garden and what he had told her about escaping the rush of the castle, she wondered if it weren’t simply so that he could be alone. It must be hard sometimes… people always needing something from you. She thought.

  Finding her way to the desk at the front, she noticed an open register book. Curious, she walked over to it and glanced at the pages. It was turned to page 453, and half of the left side was filled. The handwriting was extremely precise and done in beautiful calligraphy. Each line’s writing was identical to the last as it listed the titles of books, what appeared to be a date, followed by the initial of an L.

  She found it a little amusing that he signed his initial when he checked out a book, considering he was the only one who ever came in. As she flipped through the last few pages, musing at how frequently he took out the same books, she took a short stack of pages in her fingers and flipped them all at once to page 389, and stopped.

  There was a different set of handwriting on this page, and the initial was an N. The handwriting was not nearly as precise, but it was nice enough. Filled with curiosity about who ‘N’ was, she continued to flip back a few pages, and she watched as the handwriting matched with ‘N’ became less and less delicate, until she came across the first entry by ‘N’ on page 382.

  It was rough, and looked like the handwriting of a child. While staring at the register, the image of a child being lifted up and writing the title of a book letter by letter flashed through her mind. Then, doing the same as all the other entries before her, she signed with only the first letter of her name. A strange feeling filled Nire as she looked at the handwriting in the book.

  She flipped forward to page 389, and decided to find the last entry made by ‘N’. It was on page 392. There were no entries made by ‘N’ after that page. Examining the book carefully she noticed that not all the entries were check outs. Some were marked with an O and others with an R. Nire suspected those letters stood for “Out” and “Return.”

  The last book checked out by ‘N’ was “Natural and Magical Flora of the East.” And as she scanned through the entries she found that it was returned by “L” on page 394. She felt sad for some reason. She felt as though she was getting an unusual glimpse into Lucian’s past. ‘N’ must have been fairly important to him for him to have allowed him or her to take out books from his personal library.

  Nire turned the register back to page 453 and began scanning the shelves. They didn’t seem to have any signs on them that listed where you might find something. Probably because there were only a couple people who needed to know. Finally she made her way back to where Eireane was dusting shelves, and she called up the ladder to her.

  “Eireane, where are the books on plants?” she asked.

  “Five rows to your left,” she called back down to Nire, just before sneezing from the dust.

  Nire counted 5 rows of shelves as she walked, then turned into the section Eireane had directed her to. Scanning the titles of books, she followed the alphabetical order until she found the N section. Oh, there it is … she said to herself. Natural and Magical Flora of the East. She pulled the book off the shelf and sat on the floor.

  Opening it to the center, she saw the beautiful illustration of a flower, and text on the other page listing information about it. Flipping through the pages she quickly fell in love with the book, and wanted to read all about the plants that Miko had shown her. Keeping it in her arms she walked back to where Eireane was still posted on her ladder.

  “Hey, Eireane … do you think he would mind if I borrowed a book?” she asked.

  “Hmm? Well, probably not. It’s on plants you say? He hardly ever reads those. I don’t see why not. Just
make sure to sign it out in the register. If he asks I will let him know it was you,” she shouted down. Nire smiled and hurried to the register.

  Picking up the pen she wrote down the title of the book, and then realized she had no idea how to write the date. Running back to Eireane, she called out again.

  “What’s the date?”

  “92,” was all Eireane shouted back. Nire didn’t want to sound stupid, but she didn’t have any other options.

  “Um… actually, I have no idea what that means. I’m not from… here… How do you write it?” Nire asked. Eireane looked down at her.

  “Not from here?” she asked.

  “Uh… it’s kind of a long story. But I kinda got lost here from… a different world I guess,” Nire tried to explain.

  “Oh… um, alright. It’s the 92nd of the 521st year of Air. Write it: 92-521-A,” Eireane said, a bit confused still.

  “Okay, thanks!” Nire said before hurrying back to the register, repeating in her head as she went. 92-521-A, 92-521-A… 92-521-A. “Okay…” she said out loud as she approached the large book. “Ninety two… dash… five, twenty one… dash… A. There!” she exclaimed. “Oh and….” She paused for a moment before signing her initial. She considered quietly for a few moments, and then shrugged. “N.”

  She brought the book to a chair in one of the corners and sat down, flipping to another of the pages. She’d not been there very long when a sound from the back of the library caught her attention. She could hear Margery’s voice as she spoke to Eireane, and stood to go to her.

  Margery met her halfway, and noticed the book in her arms.

  “Eireane said it was ok if I checked it out,” Nire said immediately. Margery shrugged.