If you'd like to know what each chapter is based on, I have an index on my tumblr under the username ladyillusion.
ALL FOR A ROSE
"Do you love me?"
Kurama swallowed audibly, his chest growing tight. What was he supposed to say? 'Love' was such a strong word. Love implied a commitment that he wasn't sure he could make.
Which seemed a bit ridiculous since he'd already made a huge commitment just by agreeing to stay here. But he hadn't had much choice in the matter. He'd had to stay for his father's sake.
Candlelight flickered in crimson irises, making the eyes look like they were burning. Kurama struggled to hold their gaze. It was preferable to looking elsewhere.
He was grateful for the dim lighting provided by the candles as it rendered his dinner companion in shades of shadow, though every now and then, the shifting of a clawed hand or the tilt of an inhuman face would catch light on shiny scales.
Kurama's dinner companion was not a man. He was a creature out of nightmare. His skin was coated with black scales as hard as diamond. His eyes were a bloody colour. His teeth, set in a protruding jaw, were sharp. His nose was more like a snout. And, trailing on the floor behind him, was a long, thick black tail tapering down to fork at the end.
Though Kurama had remained silent, his host had not repeated his question. It was the same question he'd asked every evening since Kurama's arrival three months earlier.
And Kurama could only give him the same answer he'd given him every previous night.
"No. I don't love you."
The words dropped into a still silence like a bomb dropping on a sleepy country village. The impact was about the same. The creature rose, baring wicked white teeth at Kurama for the barest second before whirling out of the hall. The candles flickered once, then went out, leaving Kurama sitting at the long table in silence. He listened to the creature's heavy footfalls recede down the corridor, taloned feet tapping out a harsh rhythm on the smooth surface.
He buried his face in his hands. Why did Hiei keep asking that question? Wasn't the friendship Kurama offered enough? Why did he continue to push for more? The dinner had actually been enjoyable up to that point.
If Hiei had bothered to stay instead of storming off in a temper, Kurama could have told him that he enjoyed Hiei's company. That he appreciated the lengths Hiei went to to make his enforced stay in his cold castle trapped in eternal winter welcoming and comfortable. That he enjoyed their conversations. But Hiei never gave him the chance.
A single candle fluttered to life in front of Kurama, light as fragile as the petals of a rose. A ghostly voice floated to Kurama's ear though the speaker remained invisible to his eyes.
"Please don't mind his temper, sir. It's nothing personal."
Kurama smiled thinly in the direction of the disembodied feminine voice.
"I understand," he said, though he truly didn't.
The candle rose up from the table, as if lifted by an invisible hand.
"We have your bath ready, sir."
"Thank you."
Kurama rose to his feet and followed the bobbing candle out of the hall and into the dim corridor. As he passed a tall window, he paused to look outside.
Moonlight caressed a white carpet of snow. Flakes fell soft as a shy maiden's kiss. Before he'd come here, Kurama had never appreciated the beauty of winter. Winter was cold. Food was scarce. Work was scarce. Winter was something to be endured, not savoured.
But now, trapped inside this unearthly magical place, Kurama was coming to see that even winter had it's charms.
As did his host.
"Sir?"
Kurama pushed the thought aside and turned back to his invisible companion.
"Excuse me," he said apologetically. "I was distracted for a moment."
Kurama's slippers padded across rich, thick carpet as he passed by exquisite artworks and sculptures. His host had spared no effort in making him comfortable. He was treated like royalty, his every whim seen to.
Except one.
Kurama sorely missed his family. It was a constant ache in his heart. His father must certainly fear the worst for him.
Kurama wished that he could tell him that he was being treated well. That he'd been given a large, luxurious room, the finest clothes he'd ever laid eyes on, more books than he could ever read in a lifetime…
But he was not allowed to contact his family. That was part of the deal made between his father and Hiei.
The small glimpses he caught of his family in the enchanted mirror that his host allowed him to make use of only made that ache more pronounced.
He was a bird, trapped in a cage. A beautiful cage but a cage all the same. His word was his fetter, preventing him from flying free.
"Do you love me?"
The loneliness in those words whispered to Kurama's heart. But, as long as this castle was his cage, his answer would be the same.
"No."
