Disclaimer: Noblesse isn't mine.

This is an attempt at writing "Broken Glass" from Rai's POV, so if you haven't read that story yet, then don't read this. I just rewrote chapter 3, and I can't really decide it it works or not. I'm not very happy with it, but I guess it's okay. It's just a little weird to have so much from Rai, I think.

The Shattering

Blackness twisted through the trees, strangling their trucks and scaling their branches until even their very tops suffocated beneath the weight of it, and even this darkness was better than the desolation that haunted him inside. The solitude, the absence of a presence, gathered in the farthest corners of the room, stirring the shadows to life as the sun sank deeper in the sky, and the earth rose to strike out the last traces of fading light. Emptiness tainted the atmosphere like a poison and forced itself into his lungs with every breath. It churned inside his chest, tightening until the pain became too great to bear, and he opened the window just to sense the lives beyond it wisp through the air. This small reprieve was the only relief from the misery of his isolation, and he closed his eyes to protect himself from another forsaken night.

And then the fist tendril of someone approaching swayed upon the breeze. It whispered to him faintly as if it was as untouchable and uncontainable as a phantom. It felt unfamiliar and dark and so unlike the souls of the nobles. Hatred collapsed in upon itself as the aura turned against its master, and the owner of the power, although unbound, saw only the depravity of his chains. The man glared into the water as he passed the lake, and his own image trembled unstably on the surface, drowning in the shadow of the mansion. Realizing he was alone, he looked up from this distraction and followed his captor into the house.

"Cadis Etrama di Raizel-nim." The Kertia clan leader spoke softly with a deep reverence that only strengthened the divide between them. "Forgive my interruption. I have a message from the lord." He placed the letter on the windowsill next to his hand and withdrew immediately, reforming the distance he had just gapped.

Wordlessly, he lifted the envelope from the windowsill and removed the letter from within.

Cadis Etrama di Raizel,

If you refuse to join me in the castle, please accept this pet peacock as a companion. He is a little unruly, but at least you won't be bored.

Sincerely,

The lord

"A peacock?" He asked simply without turning from the window.

"The human is to be your servant." Ragar's gaze shifted toward the door.

The prisoner stood just out of sight, unaware that the others had realized his eavesdropping, and his heart fell at these words. A life of servitude was no different than a life of imprisonment. This was not what he wanted.

"I decline."

"If you do not wish to keep him, I will return him to confinement."

The emotions around the human wavered a second time. Dread ruptured his carefully formed resolve, but he concealed this anxiety within himself. Banishing any vestiges of it from his countenance, he peeked through the doorway for the first time. He said nothing as he watched his captor, but the desire for freedom still permeated his thoughts.

"I will accept." The answer formed on his lips before he could consider the consequences.

"I understand. I shall leave him in your care." Ragar bowed swiftly and swept through the doorway in order to give the answer to the lord.

And like that, they were alone.

The man hesitated at the edge of the room, uncertain whether to enter or leave. After all he had struggled to obtain, after finally achieving power, had he only gained it at the cost of his own freedom?

The thought had been asked so vulnerably that he looked back at him. He, too, understood the cost that came with power. The sacrifice that it required.

"I am Frankenstein." The man announced at once, failing to uphold the reverence that the clan leader had used. The genuineness of his thoughts evaporated, and already his eyes filled with deception. "A pleasure to meet you."

He looked away again. Soon enough this man would disappear. Only the darkness kept him company in this place.