Author's Note: First draft. Unedited.
Snake Charmer
A Word of the Day Ficlet
By Kysra
It's not enough.
He watches through hooded eyes, his lips smiling without his will or knowledge. She has that sort of effect on him when her limbs are on fire and her body is writhing with the dance.
Distantly, he wonders, as his hands strum the scimitar automatically - plucking sharply here to coax her hips into a pointed twist then smoothing the rhythm till her body begins to undulate in waves from pelvis to head - how it is she can hold him enthralled without even really trying.
She's not a great dancer, will never be famous or rich for it; but she is all graceful lines and unmistakable passion, her smile as innocent as it was when he first met her, somehow yet untainted by bitterness or sadness or anger at the predicament of her existence.
Here, as she moves and turns and bends and contorts without an ounce of self-consciousness but filled with conviction and something else - sweet and precious and her, he understands that this is when she is happiest, expending her energy and delighting in the interest of her audience.
And he knows, her real motive, is to see his smile . . . knows her soul better than she does. She is so young, just a child, and yet he watches and waits for -
. . . still not enough . . .
He could have taken her borrowed life at any time; however, somehow, during the twelve years between them, he has stopped thinking of her heart as rightfully his. Rather, his heart is hers, wholly and completely; and he would rather bear the suffering and insanity that came with a defaulting contract than harm her.
So he guards her, protects her - from other demons, men, and himself - knowing what drive her to dance will also drive him into insanity, into the earth, into a willing and welcome death.
Word: Enthrall