Heir to the Throne of Roses
Trinity Blood
Ch.7 Miss Delphine
Note: The name I've chosen for the newest character is Delphine Lalaurie. If anyone has heard of her, she was a notorious New Orleans murderer. She is known for the mutilation and live torture of slaves. So the name is not 'pretty' like a friend of mine described it, but if anyone is interested in a scary story, read about her murders.
In the Orden
"Miss Delphine my lord will see you now." Isaak opened the large brass doors to the Contra Mundi's main rehabilitation room. With a smirk, the shapely woman of about 20 dug prints into the floors with stilettos sharpened to a point. The magician, noticing for the first time her vulgar shoes, placed a hand on her well formed breast to stop her from entering.
"I must ask you to remove those." He said smoothly. His black hair veiled the fresh scar given to him by his master. She studies his face, being the kind to draw from inspiration.
"Not a problem." The girl said dismissively. In the blink of an eye, the steel stiletto heels morphed into black laced china slippers. The magician removed his hand, and the young Methuselah stepped through the doorway and into a large maroon bathroom. The floors were spotless glossy wood. His employer basked in a large tub of black liquid.
"Welcome Miss Lalaurie. Have a seat." The blonde twin of Abel said, rising from the black tar-like substance in the large bathtub and, not even bothering for a towel, sat across from the Methuselah, soiling the chair with the muck. The Magician held his breath at the mess he would have to clean, at risk to deeper wounds. Flinching, he closed the door to leave the two.
"Morning." She said in a raspy voice. It was pitch black outside.
"Your assignment begins tomorrow morning, I expect you to show decorum on this mission, and most importantly, self-restraint. If the queen is missing, I'm missing a very influential pawn on my board. Do you understand me?" he said with poison on his breath.
"Perfectly sir." She responded. A stray strand of hair was beginning to tickle her shoulder annoyingly. Without even bothering to flick it away, her eyes narrowed. She retracted her black hair into her skull. Checking her new bob on the polished floors, she fixed the several strays left long.
The Contra Mundi smiled in anticipation. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a slightly faded photograph of a tall red-head. Eyeing it nostalgically, he slid it across the table to her.
"This is the woman you will be impersonating. As for her voice, I will leave it up to your expertise." The tall man handed the shape-shifter the photograph of Lilith. Running a large ivory hand through his light hair, he tipped his chair on its back legs, aware but uncaring of his exposed body.
"I'm payed by the hour." She reminded him sneakily.
"I have no intention of granting you any more than the spared lives of your brother and daughter." She ground her teeth at him, hissing as he simply sat with that inhuman peace.
The hired Methuselah studied the picture intently, taking in the strong eyes and long flowing hair. Slowly, her skin began to darken, and hair growing longer and fuller into a crimson stream. The blonde demon watched her, grinning wider and wider.
He laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them. The smell of his soak was so deeply embedded in him that he sweats it through his pores. He liked at the black fluid seeping from him, the fluid that ran through his veins.
"She had much kinder eyes. Merciful." He said cruelly under his breath.
"What was that?" the girl asked, tilting her new head to the side.
"Nothing you can help." He responded dully. The hired Methuselah was a notorious murderer, and highly paid prostitute. Expecting the same saintly grace and kindness he found in Lilith's eyes was beyond reasonable. "Though the piercings won't be necessary, or the tattoos. Just the face. And also, could you be about a foot shorter? "
The girl followed his critique. Awkwardly, her height crippled, first head, then neck, and body following in a wave.
"Yes." He sneered. "Also, could you look younger? 18?"
"The girl's face slowly morphed into a much childish face of the woman he murdered.
Standing, he circled around the woman, examining every centimeter of trial flesh. Shooting commands like, "shorter hair" and "no, greener." The Methuselah grew impatient, but didn't dare snap at the man that held her family captive.
The goal was not to make a woman that would crash Abel into tears at the memory of Lilith. It also wasn't the vixen the girl kept trying at. The main target was not Abel at all. The helpless idiot would simply be the finishing touch. There was no meaning in her appearance arousing Abel, her body was being designed to fit much younger tastes. She simply needed to be enough, to keep him from resisting for a second.
The final product was a beauty that Abel couldn't possibly ignore, without being one to distract him.
At the Palace
The glow of morning filtered through the intricate curtains, bathing the silver hair of the ex-priest. Having slept soundly for longer than he had in several months. Not counting when he passed out from exhaustion, this had been his most restful night's sleep. Blowing his unruly bangs from his eyes, he turned to face the incoming light.
The events of the night before danced behind his eyes. Sighing dreamily, he rolled on his back and looked up at the ceiling longingly. He pictured Esther's face on the cream colored wood. He mentally painted her twirling and laughing, and holding him close. Smiling like a fool in love, he sat up vigorously. He wanted his day to begin as soon as possible. It felt like Ney Year's, a day to start over anew.
Swinging his long legs out of bed, he stood and tightened the damp towel he had slept in. Too high with his own drug to care about his still missing bags, he pressed the bell for maid service. Apparently, it wasn't instantaneous. After a few minutes of pacing around the spacious room, the tall man plopped down on the long couch and kicked his legs up. The fireplace had died out to glowing embers, but today he produced his own warmth. Hugging a cushion to him tightly, he smelled in the lingering scent of his lovely princess.
Throwing his head back, he relived their kiss for the thousandth time since their lips parted. He would launch into Crusnik just to be able to pick up on the minute scents that human noses could not find in the air. Abel snapped back when he heard a knock at the door. Standing to open it a bit, he found a small red head.
"Esther?" he said happily. But opening the door further, he realized with wide, disbelieving eyes that the red hair was much longer and thicker. The young girl that smiled up at him shyly was not his love. Her eyes caused a kick in the man's gut. Looking devilishly at him, the maid handed him his bag and with a slight bow and sung in a voice completely pure. "Is there anything else my lord would need?"
Speechless the priest clutched his chest above his heart. The girl was the spitting image of his dead Lilith.
"Very well then." The servant began to walk away, oddly slow, as if giving the man time for a reaction. She counted by her advanced seconds impatiently. 'Damn terran' she thought.
"Wait!" Abel roared. The young maid turned to his voice with her best puzzled face. She hid the smile that threatened her lips as she stood overly close to her target. She morphed her eyes to shine like wet emeralds.
"What is your name?" Abel grabbed her shoulder. He looked awfully frightening, but to the Methuselah, a 'human' like him was no match for her. She jerked forward as if his grip had made her stumble. The Contra Mundi had found the most talented bait for his latest scheme. She gasped innocently and laid her small hands over Abel's as if to protect herself. She felt him twitch under her delicate touch.
"They named me Lily. After my mother." The spitting image of Lilith winked at him. If she had the photograph of her model, she would most likely show it to him, just for kicks. But then again, that was not an action suggested by her employer. She knew that just one wrong move meant injury to her captive family. Resuming character, the girl dropped her sexy grin, and pouted.
"Your mother…" The silver-haired giant trailed off, loosening his grip on her shoulder. Seizing the opportunity, the girl bowed once more and skipped away before he could open his mouth to say anything else. He swore he heard a faint giggle.
Abel was left leaning out of the door. After a pause, he cleared his throat and slouched back to the couch, falling in between the cushions. He coached his mind away from the thought of Lilith having a child, or anyone else like Lilith on earth. Rubbing his palms into his eyes, he bent down to open his luggage. The clothes, searched thoroughly, had been thrown back in carelessly, leaving him with a bag full of wrinkled shirts.
He pulled out the untidy black robes to the light, feeling somewhat guilty to wear them. After all, last night he had officially resigned as priest. He was no longer working directly for the AX or for the church, and had committed more sins in attempting to defeat his twin brother that wearing a cassock while doing all of that. Tossing them back in his leather bag, he rummaged under the layers of balled clothing to find what he considered before to be 'outdoors clothes'. As a priest, it was mandatory to be out of his black uniform, but there were seldom times he needed the flexibility of ordinary clothes.
Laying out a slim fitting black V-neck undershirt, a little worn from work, and a pair of black pants. He was forced to wear his AX boots, which he didn't mind wearing, but ripped off any plating that involved crosses. Slipping of the still damp towel, he slipped into the clothing and went to ready for breakfast in the bathroom.
At the Table
Princess Esther, in a particularly giddy mood, skipped into the white and gold room from the gardens. Her weekend dress was shorter, only below her knees, and allowed for this almost unheard of behavior. To the shock of her maids, the bright red head bounced in with a large bouquet of blue and white roses. The shorter black haired maid whispered to the new red headed one that the princess was never in such a mood.
The new maid was approached by Mary, who glared at Esther in her happiness. Crossing her arms, she asked the girl to introduce herself to the Princess, since she would be working under her palace.
"Princess, this is our new chambermaid Lily. She will be tending to your guest's rooms until their departure."
"Departure?" The princess questioned half mindedly, preparing an ice water vase for the fresh flowers. Turning to glance at the new maid, she gave her a warm smile and nodded. The maid curtsied to her and tucked a wave of crimson behind her ear. "No need to rush them"
Dismissing them politely with her lack of attention, Esther turned back to the roses, plucking a few petals to scatter over the tablecloth. The breakfast china sparkled in brilliant white on the champagne colored cloth, and the roses made it look like a scene from a dream. Esther began to hum in her throat the song from the night before. No one in the palace had ever seen her this way. Not even the day she was crowned. Mary scoffed at her sudden interest in china and flowers, spinning around on her heels in her military uniform and meeting her assistants for paperwork. Esther felt bad that Mary was pushed with all the work this early in the day. She hardly got in a breath in the morning before more documents were shoved under her nose. The princess needed a royal husband to become Queen, at least an influential member of the military.
Esther's ears pricked when she heard coming footsteps.
"Abel?" she said. If she had a tail, it would wag with joy. But the footsteps were much lighter, royal, unlike Abel's heavy kicking. Ion tip toed into the room with grace, in his intricate palace clothes. She felt that all that was missing was a sword from his hips as he strolled, hair combed and shimmering, into the dining hall. She noticed he was hiding something behind his back.
"Ion" the noble boy corrected painfully. He approached the princess, closing almost all space between them and revealed the hand he was holding behind him. In his palm was a large white box. "Open it." He said eagerly. The contents panted rapidly. Almost fearful, Esther lifted the lid. A white rabbit twitched and sniffed at Esther's face.
"Ohhh, It's adorable!" she squealed, lifting the small fury animal out of the box and up to her face. The rabbit kicked and settled into her cradling arms. The small princely man fixed the UV gel on his smooth face, distributing the access. Having to wear this mask of grease to speak to Esther in her light was a task he dreaded. He had awakened so young. He didn't have time to treasure his sun.
"We felt horrible, not having brought you anything after being away so long." He admitted. Late last night, he had been pacing restlessly. He smelled her scent lingering all over the palace. It drove him near madness. In an impulse, he fled using haste and bought the small present from a local pet shop as soon as dawn broke. The petite noble had not slept a blink all night. The boy flashed a toothy grin at her before placing the box on the floor and kicking it to the maids. Esther's eyebrows sunk at this, but because he was being so charming, she forgot about the rude act quickly.
As they chatted over all the time spent away, a sound of clinking boot steps entered the hall. The princess, awaiting him since she first opened her eyes at dawn, smiled so wide her cheeks ached. Petting the rabbit laid across her arm, she fixed her posture. Walking over calmly, the man gave her a very intimate hug. They rocked a bit in pure fluff, then holding her at arm's length Abel greeted her "good morning."
Ion, standing by ignored, ground his teeth and pulled out a chair and sat down in it. The two locked in each other's eyes, hardly noticed him move. Not bothering to act noble anymore, he knotted his hands together and bit down on one of his feminine fingers, his back turned to them. The gel was bitter and dried his mouth. Stealing his thunder, Abel laughed with the girl as he tickled the small jumpy animal. He wanted so badly to plant a kiss on her, but decided this was not the correct place to do that. There would be time later tonight…
Ion's bite doubled in strength and anger as the smell of the supposed priest reached him. He smelled like Esther, yet they had only held each other for a second jut now. His advanced senses lost the smell of her mouth in the toothpaste. If he hadn't Abel would be choking in his grasp.
A small frustrated tear formed in his amber eyes, almost pristine gold. Standing from his chair with a loud rattling of plates and silverware, he rushed away into the garden with his chin held high. The chair fell backwards behind him. The pair stopped laughing and batting eyelashes to follow him with their eyes as he stormed away. Not sure why, Esther thought to call out to him. Looking up to her lover's eyes, she searched him for a clue. Abel, knowing better, separated himself from the princess and frowned.
