“Does it gratify you?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, I love it. I need you. I want you. Stay with me.”
“I’ll fuck you until you’re raw,” he said.
“Promise me,” she said, unashamed.
Holding hands, Lela and Xavier came upon a vast dead clearing. Dried, crusted earth was all that was beneath them. Ahead, they could see animal skeletons. The air was pungent and thick.
“What is this place?” Lela asked.
Squeezing her hand, he said, “It’s a sign. We’re near the Kingdom of the Dead.”
She gasped. “Let’s keep going.”
“The sun will set in less than an hour. We should find shelter and come back at first light.”
“No! We’re here now,” she said.
“We have no idea what is out there. We have no light with us. You’re not being rational.”
“You don’t have to come with me. But, I’m going. I can’t turn back. What if when we return in the morning, it’s gone? What then?”
Xavier lowered his head and exhaled a long sigh. “You win. Let’s go.”
They resumed walking. Lela was completely afraid but she’d not let her fear break her down. As they walked, the calm air turned to wind, picking up dust and hurling it at Lela and Xavier.
Shutting her eyes, she brought her hand to her mouth. The wind became stronger, nearly knocking her down.
“We must be very close!” Xavier yelled. “Keep your balance and don’t speak.”
Onward they went, pushing through the cloud of dust, the wind getting stronger and stronger.
Lela could not sense Xavier. She felt as if she was walking alone through a tunnel.
“Xavier!” she yelled. “Where are you?”
“My, my,” someone said.
“Xavier?”
“Your angel is no longer here,” the person said.
“Who are you?” she asked, feeling the air with her hands.
“While you were frolicking, your father, oh your poor father was pleading for you…begging me not to hurt you.”
“Are you Godfather Death?” she asked, unable to open her eyes because of the wind and dust.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess of the Kingdom of Barmoth. Stiltz told me you’d be coming to visit me. She’s such a wretched witch, isn’t she?”
“Please let my father go!” she yelled.
“You’re such an interesting girl. I have to admit I’m quite taken, quite, indeed.”
“I’ll do anything. Please…I’m begging.”
“Unlike Xavier, I have no desire to possess you,” he said, laughing.
“What then?” she asked. “What do you want?”
“What makes you think I want something? I didn’t ask for any of this. You may thank Stiltz for your predicament. She sent your people and your father here. She’s quite the thorn…always vanishing people.”
“Will you set my father free?”
“Of course not! He’s mine.”
“Let me see you,” Lela said.
“You’re in my kingdom. Make no demands of me!”
“I meant no disrespect,” Lela said.
“You’re never going to see your father again.”
“No! Please tell me what you want. Take me instead.”
“That’s not how it works, dear princess. I decide when to take someone’s life. And I don’t want yours. You’re only just beginning your life. I want to see what you do with it. Go back to Barmoth and lead your people. They need you. Your father is old and ill. His time as king has passed. I’m keeping him as an act of mercy and well, because I’m also curious about you. I want to see what you become. Will you take your place as queen or will you hide in the shadows of the Barmoth forest with a vampire?”
Lela started weeping. She wanted to pull out all of her hair. She wanted the wind to pick her up, carry her high into the air and then let her go. She wanted to die. Let the Kingdom of the Dead take her, too.
“Will you not change your mind?” she asked.
“You shouldn’t have come here. This place is not for you. When I’m ready to take you, you’ll know it.”
“What do I do now?” she asked, crying.
“What you do with your life is your decision.”
“How do I get home?” Xavier, oh angel, where are you?
“I shall return you to the place your heart is craving.”
“I want to go home,” Lela pleaded.
“Open your eyes,” he said.
“I can’t. The wind…the dust.”
“Open them! I’m losing patience.”
When Lela opened her eyes, she was standing in the foyer of Eldrich’s house. Grasping the door handle, she unlocked the front door. She’d not stay in his house.
“Don’t go.”
“I didn’t come here by my own will,” she whispered.
“Your hair is completely red. What happened?” he asked.
She glanced down at a strand. Her hair now resembled the red sky of the place she and Xavier had traveled through.
“I’m not the same person,” she said.
“Is your father safe?” Eldrich asked.
Sighing, Lela lowered her head. “I failed him.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I need to go back to the castle. It’s where I belong,” she said, stepping outside onto the porch.
He joined her.
She couldn’t bring herself to turn around. She didn’t want to see him.
“Will you ever forgive me?” he asked.
“You broke my heart.”
“Not telling you the truth was wrong. But please, you have to know I didn’t want any part of what my kind did to your mother. I abandoned my kind after that night. I abandoned my place as prince. I regret it all. I regret not telling you.”
Tears in her eyes, she turned to face him.
“I want to hurt you,” she said.
“I don’t deserve anything less,” he said.
“I wasn’t faithful to you,” she said, swallowing.
He looked at the moon and then back at her.
“I enjoyed it,” she said, tears streaming down her face.
He rubbed his brow.
“Say something!”
“Have you stopped loving me?” he asked.
“I enjoyed it all so much. Do you hear what I’m saying to you? I fucked someone else!”
“You wanted to hurt me. Well, you’ve done it.” He entered the house.
She went after him. “Is that all you’re going to say?” she asked, standing directly in front of him.
“I love you more than anything in this entire wretched world. I would do anything for you. Anything. I can’t breathe without you. I can’t sleep. I can’t think. I’m hopeless without you. My heart…my soul…my everything belongs to you,” he said.
