Hello once again to all my Phellow Phans!
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Phantom of the Opera, as they belong to M. Leroux. This work is based on Susan Kay's novel Phantom, to which I claim no rights to either. The story takes place in Erik's earlier years before his "occupation" as the Phantom of the Opera and before Christine Daae. Erik is in Persia under the commission of the Shah and his mother the Khanum.
Read on and enjoy! Please review this and tell me what you think! If I get at least ten reviews I will post more!
A sickening crack rang through the small arena followed by a dull thud as the prisoner's body hit the dirt floor. Erik's lithe body returned to a relaxed stance from its taunt panther-like attack pose. He sighed as he wound the Punjab lasso back beneath his black performance cloak as he studiously ignored the cheers and clapping from the balcony above him.
How he hated and loathed the Khanum for insisting upon these death matches for her morbid entertainment. Erik solemnly wondered if she would ever tire of seeing him kill and how many more would fall by his hand before she realized that there was no man living who could escape his keen eye and quick hands when dealing with his favored weapon.
He shrugged his shoulders to himself as he calmly walked to the body and stared down at the poor wretch with a slight feeling of pity. The Khanum pulled at least fifty of these thieves and cutthroats each week from the Mazanderan prison to fight in her private arena. The deal was simple; defeat him and they may go free. Of course they did not have any choice in the matter. If they refused to face him, they were executed, and every man in the kingdom knew Erik's skill with the Punjab lasso. That little string of catgut weighted with iron to crush the back of the skull was a common weapon, but required amazing dexterity to maneuver to the point where death where assured with every strike. Erik's fame had spread so widely and the rumors fanned so deeply that even the most skilled murderer was apprehensious at entering the arena to face this deadly killer.
Erik waved his hand for two eunuchs to take the body away. The head lolled to one side as they picked it up, clear evidence of a broken neck by the lasso. Erik turned on his heel when the body was out of sight to face the Khanum who was looking down with delight from her balcony window.
"I trust you are satisfied for the day Madame. If it so please thee, I should like to return to my quarters."
The Khanum did not answer for a few moments. She enjoyed making him wait for her answers. He was so pleasing to watch when he became impatient and agitated.
"I take your silence as a yes," Erik said icily and turned to leave but she stopped him.
"Wait just a moment you disrespectful corpse. I never dismissed you," she hissed at him through her veil.
"Madame, when will you learn that I never wait for anyone's dismissal. I leave when I choose to."
The Khanum's attitude changed and her eyes softened. "That may be true, but I desire your presence in my room. I'll expect you shortly." She turned to leave the open balcony and did not wait for him to argue.
Erik bowed and said through his teeth, "With pleasure."
The eunuch accompanied Erik to the Khanum's quarters but trailed just far enough behind him to be out of arms' reach. Erik tried not to notice how everyone shrank from him. It was an all too familiar reminder of the fear that his face invoked, but at the same time, he felt incredibly powerful. There were only a few men he had encountered in his life who were capable of inflicting fear with a glance and all of those were either royalty or rulers of some sort or another. Erik felt very smug about having elbowed his way in with the likes of them, but ironically he did not care because they were part of the human race he so despised. As much as he enjoyed the power given to him, he still could not deny the fact that he hated every one of the people who gave it to him.
When he entered the Khanum's room, he found her in her usual place, propped up on pillows behind a thin gauze curtain. It was a sentence of death to any man who gazed upon the Khanum's uncovered face or body, even when invited for a personal audience. The only acceptation being the eunuch's who had been stripped of their manhood at a very early age. The young servant girls who frequented her wing of the palace all shrank away at the sight of Erik in his black battle mask and cloak. He hardly glanced in their direction as he felt once again the bile rise in his throat at the remorseful thought that no woman would ever want him.
Well, almost no woman.
The Shah was probably the only person in the kingdom who did not notice the sadistic way she seemed enthralled by watching Erik kill. It was well whispered through the servants quarters and the harem that her intentions for Erik's services went well beyond her desire to see blood spilled in her name. Everyone could see that, except for her son, and Erik.
Erik was in his early twenties. No matter how many men he killed or how grand his inventions were, he still retained that boyish innocence when it came to the opposite sex. In his desperate battle to ignore his pulsing instinct, he had convinced himself that because he would never know a woman's touch; he had no use for the knowledge that accompanied it. He ignored it so much in fact, that he could not see that the Khanum used it against him.
"I suppose you want to know why I summoned you?" The woman slyly asked.
Erik did not answer but nodded his head.
"As interesting as your so-called fights may be, you are beginning to bore me and that is not a good quality in a servant who..."
Erik cut her off, "Madame, I am not your servant, might I remind you. And I if I bore you, then there is no hope in satisfying your insatiable desire for I am the only person capable of that!"
The Khanum smiled seductively and said, "You may be more right than you know."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Never mind about that now. I desire a small task of you that would result in a hefty sum of money if you succeed," she replied.
Erik sighed wearily, "You know that money holds no interest for me."
"You ungrateful little dog! You don't even know what it is I offer you! Perhaps in the future you would oblige to hear me out before you go refusing!" she snapped.
Erik made no move to reply and stared at her with a venomous look that no mask could conceal. He waited for her to make her proposal but as usual she let him wait impatiently.
"Well? What is it you want me to do?"
"I'm not so sure I want you to perform this task for me now. And take off that infernal mask. I cannot stand it when I am unable to see your hideous face!"
"As you wish Madame," He hissed as he untied the mask and tossed it at the foot of the canopied bed.
She waited another moment or two, reveling in his angered ugliness before telling him what she desired.
"I wish for you to build something for me."
Erik replied sarcastically when she did not continue, "Something? Is there anything in particular you wanted or should I take it that you have assumed I can now read minds?"
"You know how I love a good execution. I desire you to build a sort of torture chamber. One in which I can view amusing deaths without the condemned victim knowing."
"A torture chamber?" he echoed dully.
"Yes! Do I have to repeat everything to you? For a genius your stupidity really grows on my nerves!" she snapped back at him. That did it. Erik could take his physical appearance to be mocked and jeered due to a lifetime of enduring it, but when one tried his intelligence, his temper flared madly and threatened to burn him through.
"A torture device? Yes I suppose a torture device will do quite nicely in your courtyard. Perhaps I should paint it red to match the blood that already paints the floors!" Erik yelled madly. "Now if you will excuse me, Madame," his voice dripped with sarcasm, "It would seem I have work to do!"
He did not wait for her dismissal and stormed out of her bedroom, leaving her smiling with satisfaction behind him.
Please review this Phiction if you desire to read more of it! Pretty pretty pleeeeeeease!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Phantom of the Opera, as they belong to M. Leroux. This work is based on Susan Kay's novel Phantom, to which I claim no rights to either. The story takes place in Erik's earlier years before his "occupation" as the Phantom of the Opera and before Christine Daae. Erik is in Persia under the commission of the Shah and his mother the Khanum.
Read on and enjoy! Please review this and tell me what you think! If I get at least ten reviews I will post more!
A sickening crack rang through the small arena followed by a dull thud as the prisoner's body hit the dirt floor. Erik's lithe body returned to a relaxed stance from its taunt panther-like attack pose. He sighed as he wound the Punjab lasso back beneath his black performance cloak as he studiously ignored the cheers and clapping from the balcony above him.
How he hated and loathed the Khanum for insisting upon these death matches for her morbid entertainment. Erik solemnly wondered if she would ever tire of seeing him kill and how many more would fall by his hand before she realized that there was no man living who could escape his keen eye and quick hands when dealing with his favored weapon.
He shrugged his shoulders to himself as he calmly walked to the body and stared down at the poor wretch with a slight feeling of pity. The Khanum pulled at least fifty of these thieves and cutthroats each week from the Mazanderan prison to fight in her private arena. The deal was simple; defeat him and they may go free. Of course they did not have any choice in the matter. If they refused to face him, they were executed, and every man in the kingdom knew Erik's skill with the Punjab lasso. That little string of catgut weighted with iron to crush the back of the skull was a common weapon, but required amazing dexterity to maneuver to the point where death where assured with every strike. Erik's fame had spread so widely and the rumors fanned so deeply that even the most skilled murderer was apprehensious at entering the arena to face this deadly killer.
Erik waved his hand for two eunuchs to take the body away. The head lolled to one side as they picked it up, clear evidence of a broken neck by the lasso. Erik turned on his heel when the body was out of sight to face the Khanum who was looking down with delight from her balcony window.
"I trust you are satisfied for the day Madame. If it so please thee, I should like to return to my quarters."
The Khanum did not answer for a few moments. She enjoyed making him wait for her answers. He was so pleasing to watch when he became impatient and agitated.
"I take your silence as a yes," Erik said icily and turned to leave but she stopped him.
"Wait just a moment you disrespectful corpse. I never dismissed you," she hissed at him through her veil.
"Madame, when will you learn that I never wait for anyone's dismissal. I leave when I choose to."
The Khanum's attitude changed and her eyes softened. "That may be true, but I desire your presence in my room. I'll expect you shortly." She turned to leave the open balcony and did not wait for him to argue.
Erik bowed and said through his teeth, "With pleasure."
The eunuch accompanied Erik to the Khanum's quarters but trailed just far enough behind him to be out of arms' reach. Erik tried not to notice how everyone shrank from him. It was an all too familiar reminder of the fear that his face invoked, but at the same time, he felt incredibly powerful. There were only a few men he had encountered in his life who were capable of inflicting fear with a glance and all of those were either royalty or rulers of some sort or another. Erik felt very smug about having elbowed his way in with the likes of them, but ironically he did not care because they were part of the human race he so despised. As much as he enjoyed the power given to him, he still could not deny the fact that he hated every one of the people who gave it to him.
When he entered the Khanum's room, he found her in her usual place, propped up on pillows behind a thin gauze curtain. It was a sentence of death to any man who gazed upon the Khanum's uncovered face or body, even when invited for a personal audience. The only acceptation being the eunuch's who had been stripped of their manhood at a very early age. The young servant girls who frequented her wing of the palace all shrank away at the sight of Erik in his black battle mask and cloak. He hardly glanced in their direction as he felt once again the bile rise in his throat at the remorseful thought that no woman would ever want him.
Well, almost no woman.
The Shah was probably the only person in the kingdom who did not notice the sadistic way she seemed enthralled by watching Erik kill. It was well whispered through the servants quarters and the harem that her intentions for Erik's services went well beyond her desire to see blood spilled in her name. Everyone could see that, except for her son, and Erik.
Erik was in his early twenties. No matter how many men he killed or how grand his inventions were, he still retained that boyish innocence when it came to the opposite sex. In his desperate battle to ignore his pulsing instinct, he had convinced himself that because he would never know a woman's touch; he had no use for the knowledge that accompanied it. He ignored it so much in fact, that he could not see that the Khanum used it against him.
"I suppose you want to know why I summoned you?" The woman slyly asked.
Erik did not answer but nodded his head.
"As interesting as your so-called fights may be, you are beginning to bore me and that is not a good quality in a servant who..."
Erik cut her off, "Madame, I am not your servant, might I remind you. And I if I bore you, then there is no hope in satisfying your insatiable desire for I am the only person capable of that!"
The Khanum smiled seductively and said, "You may be more right than you know."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Never mind about that now. I desire a small task of you that would result in a hefty sum of money if you succeed," she replied.
Erik sighed wearily, "You know that money holds no interest for me."
"You ungrateful little dog! You don't even know what it is I offer you! Perhaps in the future you would oblige to hear me out before you go refusing!" she snapped.
Erik made no move to reply and stared at her with a venomous look that no mask could conceal. He waited for her to make her proposal but as usual she let him wait impatiently.
"Well? What is it you want me to do?"
"I'm not so sure I want you to perform this task for me now. And take off that infernal mask. I cannot stand it when I am unable to see your hideous face!"
"As you wish Madame," He hissed as he untied the mask and tossed it at the foot of the canopied bed.
She waited another moment or two, reveling in his angered ugliness before telling him what she desired.
"I wish for you to build something for me."
Erik replied sarcastically when she did not continue, "Something? Is there anything in particular you wanted or should I take it that you have assumed I can now read minds?"
"You know how I love a good execution. I desire you to build a sort of torture chamber. One in which I can view amusing deaths without the condemned victim knowing."
"A torture chamber?" he echoed dully.
"Yes! Do I have to repeat everything to you? For a genius your stupidity really grows on my nerves!" she snapped back at him. That did it. Erik could take his physical appearance to be mocked and jeered due to a lifetime of enduring it, but when one tried his intelligence, his temper flared madly and threatened to burn him through.
"A torture device? Yes I suppose a torture device will do quite nicely in your courtyard. Perhaps I should paint it red to match the blood that already paints the floors!" Erik yelled madly. "Now if you will excuse me, Madame," his voice dripped with sarcasm, "It would seem I have work to do!"
He did not wait for her dismissal and stormed out of her bedroom, leaving her smiling with satisfaction behind him.
Please review this Phiction if you desire to read more of it! Pretty pretty pleeeeeeease!!!!!!!!