A/N: So, I'm in a writing mood tonight apparently. School starts back up on Monday and I know I won't have much chance to write anything for pleasure until... well, next summer. So I'm getting it out of my system on one of my only days off.
This is a one shot phic that will be a couple chapters long, like all my other one shots I've ever written. I know, it's a bit of an oxymoron, but that's how I write. I'm going to try to get it all written and posted tonight, but I might have to extend into tomorrow.
To give you a little background info, this is in Persia, Erik is right around 20 years old, give or take a year. This first chapter is completely and entirely from Susan Kay's Phantom. I am NOT plagiarizing! I claim none of the first chapter after the title for my own. I only wish I was such a literary goddess like Madame Kay!
This is from the point of view of Nadir, for those of you who have only read Leroux's version, Nadir is the Persian. For those that haven't read any of the books, Nadir is the daroga of Mazenderan. Basically, he's the chief of police for the shah of Persia. The khanum, who is briefly referred to in this excerpt is the shah's mother and since the shah is pretty much a mama's boy, she more or less rules the country and has a rather perverted taste for torture. Naturally, she throughly enjoys what new devices of pain Erik can devise.
Past this first chapter, the point of view will change to Erik's and will be entirely my own from then on. It's going to get pretty mature, so please don't read if you're underage. I really to hate being responsible for corrupting innocent minds.
So enjoy! Please let me know what you think. And if you hate it, then at least you can go away with the knowledge that you have been blessed enough to read at least a tiny portion of Susan Kay's work.
The Chance To Change It All
The girl was an odalisque, a slave of the royal harem who had completed her training as a concubine, but not yet been chosen to serve in the royal bed. There was no greater honour for the shah to bestow upon the favoured servant than the gift of a harem virgin ... the gift of a wife.
When I had stammered my rehearsed piece, here was a deathly silence in Erik's softly lit apartment, a tension that pulled muscle as taut as a bow string.
He stared at the girl with a ravening hunger that the mask could not disguise and his sudden, overwhelming desire was like sheet lightning, shocking in its savage intensity. I saw his shoulders hunch against the pain, his hands lock on his knees and claw upwards into his flesh in a desperate attempt to contain the screaming tyranny of his own body.
When he looked up at me it was with bitter hatred, as though he understood the exact purpose of my presence here tonight.
"Bring her forward," he said.
Erik's voice had lost all its beauty and become a harsh, metallic rasp which made the girl shrink instinctively against the arm of the eunuch who restrained her. She was dragged across the room and thrown at his feet, in accordance with his curt gesture. Rising slowly, like some great unfurling shadow, he leant forward and pulled off the girl's veil to reveal huge eyes edged with antimony, staring up at him with undisguised terror.
"How old are you?" he demanded harshly.
"Fifteen, master." Her voice was barely audible.
"Have they told you what is expected of you?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"Very well. I have seen what lies beneath your veil, my dear ... now you shall be accorded a reciprocal honour. Come forward and remove my mask."
The girl did not move; she continued to kneel at his feet staring up at him in horror.
"To refuse me now is to refuse the shah himself," said Erik steadily. "If you resist I shall take you by force and then return you to execution at his hands. But only come to me willingly for this one night and I swear you shall go free at dawn. One night buys you the rest of your life and the means to spend it in honourable comfort. And perhaps, after all, that night will not be so terrible as you fear ..."
As he bent to offer the girl his hand, she shrank away, pressing her hennaed fingers together in a desperate gesture of supplication.
"You would rather die than lie with me?" he demanded with pained disbelief. "You would truly rather die?"
The girl collapsed at his feet in a weeping ,hysterical heap and Erik turned from her abruptly, clenching his hands around his arms.
"Take the child away," he said.
The eunuch looked at me in astonishment, expecting guidance, and I went hurriedly across the room to speak in a low urgent tone.
"Apparently you have not understood the custom, Erik," I whispered. "The girl is the shah's gift, a personal token of his esteem. To return her in this fashion would be counted an unforgivable breech of etiquette ... an insult that would never be forgiven."
"Take her away," he repeated tonelessly. "Tell the shah that I have no desire for nubile girls. Tell him I am ... incapable ... of using such a gift. Damn you, tell him whatever is necessary to ensure that she receives no punishment."
I made a sign to the eunuch, who promptly dragged the weeping, hysterical girl from the room. I knew it would not be possible to buy his silence the man would accept whatever money I cared to offer and still run blabbing to the harem with his tale. Malicious gossip was one of the few pleasure left to the frustrated , incomplete male. Whatever I chose to tell the shah when I gave my report, the khanum would most certainly hear the truth.
When we were alone Erik poured a glass of arak with trembling fingers.
"You had better go," he said wretchedly.
I shook my head. "I would like to talk to you first."
He passed one hand across the mask.
"Yes," he said, "that is a right I cannot deny you ... but I should be grateful for a few minutes of privacy now ... just a few minutes alone ... you understand?"
I nodded slowly, turned towards the door and paused to look back at him.
"Erik ... why did you send her away? You desired her and she was yours to use exactly as you pleased. Why risk offending the shah for the sake of a girl who is only a slave?"
He have a great cry of rage, lifted the table in front of him and threw it across the room with a force that splintered the legs asunder from the marble top.
"Only a slave ... only an animal!" he roared. "You asinine Persian dolt ... get out of my way quickly, before I forget all that I owe you!"
I shrank back against the wall as he made for the door, pulling it open with a savage force that tore some of the hinges from the jamb.
As I watched him stride away, with breathless apprehension, I knew that anyone who crossed his path tonight would not live long enough to repent of their folly.