Author's Note: Nergh! I got so tired!! I tried to update but I've had to work six hour shifts every weekend!!! Its so boring and late at night…. :P Anyways, thanks for the very encouraging reviews. I am very touched… sniff… BLORK o__O (blows nose). Special thanks to those who keep rooting me on and special special thanks for the ideas-- I am actually working the ending with one ^__O
Dark eyes.. .Maten's…
…blue eyes; her eyes…
Like fire-- they burn me like fire!
Flame… consuming, pain, and burning…
I die…
With a start Hiten bolted upright, hand wildly groping for the dagger resting on the cushion next to his head. Muscles trembling, he scanned the room; It was only a dream… Sinking back down on the bed, the youkai let the knife drop from his stiff fingers and ran a hand over his sweat-slicked chest, feeling the erratic beating of his heart within. I do not dream… yet why these visions come to me in the middle of the night, I do not know. Youkai do not dream…
With a frustrated growl, the lord rose from the cushions and silks. He made his way across the pitch-black room, golden yellow eyes easily cutting through the darkness. He slung a robe around his bare shoulders and exited his dark sanctum, sliding silently over the polished floor.
Shadows seemed to cling to his form as he walked the long corridors, eyes sliding unseeingly over the wealth of objects lining the way. How strange that in this fortress, there is but one place that I would be… I have spent more years there than in any other room. So many handfuls of years I have wasted in that place…
A kind of quiet seemed to settle over the youkai lord at the familiar feel of the weathered wood door beneath his fingers as he pushed his way through the entrance. The soft glow of stars illuminated his path through the wild and untended vegetation of the garden as the white gravel crunched beneath his feet. As Hiten allowed the familiar smells to draw him in, he noticed a strange undertone; he was not alone. His blood heated at the thought of someone intruding on this most sacred of places. But the scent was somehow familiar… human, female; the girl.
A tremor ran though his mind as the girl's face came to his mind; quietly the youkai moved quietly towards the center of the garden, the soft sound of moving water reaching his ears as he drew near.
Not long after she had snuffed out the last lantern in the great hall, Naga had found her way to the garden again, ears still ringing with the abuse of only hours before. Muscles protested as the slave shifted from her makeshift seat, an unremarkable yet convenient rock; as the girl lifted her face to the night darkened sky, she found herself wondering. Only a few passings of the hour and yet my mind cannot comprehend the happenings, as if they were long forgotten memories…
A twinge in her shoulder promptly reminded her that the bruises on her jaw, neck and arms were real enough; she leaned over the smooth surface of the water to asses the damages. The pool created a mirror for the refracted light of the stars, giving Naga's surroundings a faint celestial glow; small pale forms shimmered undisturbed just below its glassine surface. The image in the water stared intently, face pale and smooth in the half-light; a bruise ruptured the skin just above and to one side of her chin. Naga touched her smashed lower lip hesitantly, fingers sliding over the tears the youkai had left from his casual usage of her.
Anger ran suddenly hot in her veins as the scene replayed, suddenly fresh in her mind. Slave or no, I am not an animal to be used and thrown aside like refuse. No man would treat a woman as that supposedly exalted youkai used me. Even as Naga clenched her fist, the emotion ebbed; anger was a powerless emotion, a poison that she knew she did not need. If she were to survive this treacherous lifestyle, insolence would bring her only painful--and fatal--chastisement. And I do mean to live through this… and past it.
Without a second's warning, clawtips rested lightly against her throat; she froze, breathe catching as her heart skipped wildly.
"You might have been dead, foolish girl. Imagine it; your blood thickening in a pool beneath your cooling body, your assailant walking away." Lord Hiten said with disgust. "What useless nubs your ears and nose are." Sharp tips briefly pricked at her ear, gentled enough not to draw blood, only leave whitened impressions of the youkai's fingertips.
Naga remained still as the hand withdrew, her pulse receding as she listened to her master's voice, sliding over her as she gazed into the mirror that revealed his presence to her.
The youkai stepped in front of the slave, blocking the stars as he seemed to loom over her; she bowed her head to hide the heat that threatened to rise in her face. Her master was clothed in only a robe that seemed casually wrapped around his form and his hair unadorned and loose. Perhaps he came to send me away from this place… perhaps he has no modesty, no concern. What does it matter what I see or think?
"When did I give you leave to roam about this place; has the slave grown brash in my absence? Forgotten her place?" Her master's voice was soft, yet edged as he looked down upon Naga. A fingertip lifted her face, deceptively gentle, to meet his gaze.
Swelling disfigured the features revealed to Lord Hiten in the cool light and bruises; smashed lips and battered cheek stood out against the soft white skin. Her eyes seemed luminescent and large, too big for her small delicate frame as the not-man looked down upon her. Damaged… my loyal servant has disfigured my slave. Perchance I should put to the test his so-called loyalty… With an expression of annoyance, he let his hand drop, almost flinching away from the contact.
After a moment of silence the youkai moved away, careless of the robe slipping from his shoulders; had he been alone, the clothing would have been discarded, most likely. Strangely, the stillness was not an uncomfortable one, but what were words to one who could not speak them? Hiten turned to face the girl, who sat patiently on her stone, as if waiting for him to rant and tirade her with commands. Despite her attentiveness, his eyes did not fail to notice the smudges under her eyes, the slight slouch of her spine.
As his lips parted to speak dismissal, a sudden thought struck the lord; did he want the silent, strange girl to go? In this place, on this night… Hiten was no longer certain, for once, of anything.
Authors' Note: Ouch… I have writer's blokk… I was going to wax all poetic and philosophical and now… drat. I was even thinking about a little touchy-feely junk…. Oh well. I'll make up with one very good chapter… So don't eat me!! If you eat me, my secret thoughts and plans and plots will not be assimilated into your mind. Trust me. Gnnrrr. I swear though, I might do 2 chapters at once-- u know-- upload 2, back to back episodes! I'm thinking this thing will probably be at least 20 chapters… originally I thought 15, but it ain't gonna happen… unless Hiten dies suddenly … again. ^__^ Heh. Heh. (Author has thought of way to surely get herself killed by enraged readers…)