Disclaimer: Blah blah blah blah... none of this belongs to me . . . just read it! Ahh... the gravy thickens!
Erik turned his head for only a moment from his work and heard a crash and the shattering of glass. He leapt down from the balcony with a whip in his hand.
"You idiot!" he let the whip crack down hard on the servant's back whom had been carrying the rather large section of mirror. "Do you know what you have done you ignorant little fool?" he roared at the man who cowered before him.
The man tried to stammer an apology but Erik silenced him, "Enough! You will have to answer to the Khanum for the delay this will cause in the construction, for I certainly shall not!"
The man backed away to recover the broken pieces of mirror that had fallen at their feet. Erik turned and lifted his mask just enough to wipe the frustrated sweat away that trickled constantly into his eyes. It had been a week since the 'bedroom incident' and still he had refused to see the Khanum, even in the presence of her servants and harem girls. It would not matter if the world's population were in that same room, he would still feel the frightening unsure emotions brought on by that woman's reptilian gaze.
The other servants moved quickly to deposit the rest of the ordered supplies to Erik's private courtyard. Although it was going to be a pain to move the chamber once built to the arena in the Khanum's private sector, he simply could not go near that place yet. He planned to built it in sections and then piece them together towards the end of the construction.
As Erik readied himself for bed, he remained deep in split thoughts. One side of his brain remained working on the chamber, while the other dwelled on Nadir's insistence to talk about what happened. How could he tell him? He himself did not know what happened.
Nadir had come to see him the evening after Erik's nerves had been frayed by the Khanum's unusual behavior. Erik refused to tell him anything, but at every moment, his thoughts became more and more tangled and confused, until he himself refused to think about what happened. Just pretend it never happened, he told himself as he devoted every waking moment to the uprising of his macabre creation. And yet, with each of those passing moments, the more he swore to ignore the feelings he had had, the more he unconsciously forced himself to dwell on it.
Nadir sank quite a deal of unsuccessful funds into paying the eunuchs to find out what exactly had transpired between the ruling Khanum and Erik, but since there had been no one present, there was no information to be revealed. He found it unusual that she would have sent ALL of her servants away, after all, Erik was the 'madman' hereabouts and a quite successful murderer to boot.
The Khanum entered Erik's quarters without so much as knocking. She curtly told the servants to wait out in the hall as she wished to speak to Erik in private. He looked up at her from where he sat on the bed with much apprehension and realized that he was without his mask. He fumbled to grasp it in his shaking hands from off the table. It dropped to the marble floor with a soft clatter.
"Leave it!" she ordered. Erik backed away from her as she sat down on the edge of his bed. "You know Erik, about the other night," she began, "I was quite angry with you for leaving me so suddenly."
Erik felt his head hit the headboard of the bed with a dull thump as he realized that he could move no farther away. 'Why am I so afraid of you?' he questioned his brain as she continued to inch closer and closer to him. 'I'm not afraid of anything,' he thought as his hand still feebly grasped in the direction of the mask. His only comfort and defense now lay mockingly only a few feet away from his touch, but he could not move to get it.
The Khanum's hand trailed lazily up the length of Erik's outstretched leg, feeling every muscle tighten to stone as her hand drifted over it.
"Why do you resist me Erik?" she purred as she leaned in closer and closer.
"I don't know," came his whispered reply.
"I know you want this," she whispered back, "I know how you desire this."
With no where to go and the space between their faces closing, Erik's panic paralyzed him. His breath caught in his throat as he felt her lips cover his with a fierce grip, which, after a moment, he found himself returning. Her hands found their way to his shirt, which she tore open with one savage move, moving across his bare chest and lightly scratching with her long fingernails. She released him from the kiss and tossed her head back to see the look of sheer want in his eyes. He lost control and grasped her with both hands, forcing her onto her back, kissing her lips, then down to her neck with a wild hunger that made her scream out with pleasure!
Erik felt something wet as his hands passed over her bared chest and looked down in amazement to find that they were covered in blood.
"What's the matter Erik?" she said, unaware of the blood.
Erik darted off her quickly and looked back. The bed itself had begun to bleed and the Khanum was covered in it. "Come to me Erik," she beckoned with an outstretched hand.
Erik screamed and tried to run, but it was no use, he could not seem to go anywhere. His feet seemed to be nailed to the floor! A wave of blood rushed towards him and all he could see was red. He could not breathe!
Erik awoke with a terrified scream in the silent night air. His breath came so hard that the pain in his chest was crushing him. Sweat stung his eyes and he leapt out of bed to run to the balcony. He hung his head over the edge as he let the nausea overtake him until he could do no more. He stayed out there for a few minutes until his breathing calmed. Why had he dreamed such an awful thing? He could remember how he felt when she started touching him. Oh, how he wanted her. He looked down at his trousers in embarrassment at what had most obviously been the result of that want.
Erik entered his bedchamber once more and changed into fresh clothing that wasn't drenched in his nightmare sweat and rubbed a cool cloth over his face before returning to sleep. Why did she consume his thoughts so? Never in his life had he felt so completely vulnerable. That woman seemed to be some sort of psychic genie who could read his thoughts and find exactly what drove him.
Luciana had never caused him to have these impure thoughts. No, that had been innocent. As tragically as it ended, his first crush had never given him the desire to do more than gaze at her beauty in hopes for the reciprocation of the same feelings. Perhaps his adolescent youth had been a little too innocent. From his time with the gypsies he had repressed his feelings of love and physical desire with a cold iron rod that left no room for anything but his drive to create and survive. And that was just what he had done, up until a week ago.
The next morning Erik resumed his work on the torture chamber. He had the measurements figured just right. It had to be absolutely correct or there could be disastrous consequences for the viewers of the deaths. Not necessarily for the victims, for they were certain to meet their end either way, but if the glass pieces did not fit precisely, it could cause a ruptured explosion from the heated air inside. Erik had to work carefully and be very careful as he cut the glass pieces to fit the outer frame. He was making good progress and was well into the middle of the hot afternoon before the Shah's head manservant interrupted him.
"The Glory of the Empire wishes to see you in the main courtyard immediately," the man said, bowing deeply to Erik.
Erik looked up after a moment, controlling his fury at being interrupted. The poor man had obviously not had a single thought of his own since he began his service in the empire. He had continued to bow, waiting for some semblance of a response from him.
"Tell the 'King of Kings' that if he wishes to demand my time today, he will have to take it up with his mother. I cannot be in a hundred places at once," Erik said contemptuously.
The man's jaw dropped to the ground, too stunned to know how to react. When Erik went back to his work without another word, he bowed and backed away from the strange masked magician to bring the fearful news to his benefactor.
"What?" demanded the young Shah.
The servant inched away on the floor before the royal throne of his ruler. "Oh, Glory of the Earth, I beg forgiveness but he simply would not come."
"He did, did he?" the shah said with controlled fury. "We shall see about that!"
Did we like that interesting little tidbit? PLEEEEEEEEAAAASEE REVIEW THIS! IF YOU LIKED IT AND WANT ME TO CONTINUE THEN PUSH THE REVIEW BUTTON DOWN THERE AND LET ME KNOW IT!
Erik turned his head for only a moment from his work and heard a crash and the shattering of glass. He leapt down from the balcony with a whip in his hand.
"You idiot!" he let the whip crack down hard on the servant's back whom had been carrying the rather large section of mirror. "Do you know what you have done you ignorant little fool?" he roared at the man who cowered before him.
The man tried to stammer an apology but Erik silenced him, "Enough! You will have to answer to the Khanum for the delay this will cause in the construction, for I certainly shall not!"
The man backed away to recover the broken pieces of mirror that had fallen at their feet. Erik turned and lifted his mask just enough to wipe the frustrated sweat away that trickled constantly into his eyes. It had been a week since the 'bedroom incident' and still he had refused to see the Khanum, even in the presence of her servants and harem girls. It would not matter if the world's population were in that same room, he would still feel the frightening unsure emotions brought on by that woman's reptilian gaze.
The other servants moved quickly to deposit the rest of the ordered supplies to Erik's private courtyard. Although it was going to be a pain to move the chamber once built to the arena in the Khanum's private sector, he simply could not go near that place yet. He planned to built it in sections and then piece them together towards the end of the construction.
As Erik readied himself for bed, he remained deep in split thoughts. One side of his brain remained working on the chamber, while the other dwelled on Nadir's insistence to talk about what happened. How could he tell him? He himself did not know what happened.
Nadir had come to see him the evening after Erik's nerves had been frayed by the Khanum's unusual behavior. Erik refused to tell him anything, but at every moment, his thoughts became more and more tangled and confused, until he himself refused to think about what happened. Just pretend it never happened, he told himself as he devoted every waking moment to the uprising of his macabre creation. And yet, with each of those passing moments, the more he swore to ignore the feelings he had had, the more he unconsciously forced himself to dwell on it.
Nadir sank quite a deal of unsuccessful funds into paying the eunuchs to find out what exactly had transpired between the ruling Khanum and Erik, but since there had been no one present, there was no information to be revealed. He found it unusual that she would have sent ALL of her servants away, after all, Erik was the 'madman' hereabouts and a quite successful murderer to boot.
The Khanum entered Erik's quarters without so much as knocking. She curtly told the servants to wait out in the hall as she wished to speak to Erik in private. He looked up at her from where he sat on the bed with much apprehension and realized that he was without his mask. He fumbled to grasp it in his shaking hands from off the table. It dropped to the marble floor with a soft clatter.
"Leave it!" she ordered. Erik backed away from her as she sat down on the edge of his bed. "You know Erik, about the other night," she began, "I was quite angry with you for leaving me so suddenly."
Erik felt his head hit the headboard of the bed with a dull thump as he realized that he could move no farther away. 'Why am I so afraid of you?' he questioned his brain as she continued to inch closer and closer to him. 'I'm not afraid of anything,' he thought as his hand still feebly grasped in the direction of the mask. His only comfort and defense now lay mockingly only a few feet away from his touch, but he could not move to get it.
The Khanum's hand trailed lazily up the length of Erik's outstretched leg, feeling every muscle tighten to stone as her hand drifted over it.
"Why do you resist me Erik?" she purred as she leaned in closer and closer.
"I don't know," came his whispered reply.
"I know you want this," she whispered back, "I know how you desire this."
With no where to go and the space between their faces closing, Erik's panic paralyzed him. His breath caught in his throat as he felt her lips cover his with a fierce grip, which, after a moment, he found himself returning. Her hands found their way to his shirt, which she tore open with one savage move, moving across his bare chest and lightly scratching with her long fingernails. She released him from the kiss and tossed her head back to see the look of sheer want in his eyes. He lost control and grasped her with both hands, forcing her onto her back, kissing her lips, then down to her neck with a wild hunger that made her scream out with pleasure!
Erik felt something wet as his hands passed over her bared chest and looked down in amazement to find that they were covered in blood.
"What's the matter Erik?" she said, unaware of the blood.
Erik darted off her quickly and looked back. The bed itself had begun to bleed and the Khanum was covered in it. "Come to me Erik," she beckoned with an outstretched hand.
Erik screamed and tried to run, but it was no use, he could not seem to go anywhere. His feet seemed to be nailed to the floor! A wave of blood rushed towards him and all he could see was red. He could not breathe!
Erik awoke with a terrified scream in the silent night air. His breath came so hard that the pain in his chest was crushing him. Sweat stung his eyes and he leapt out of bed to run to the balcony. He hung his head over the edge as he let the nausea overtake him until he could do no more. He stayed out there for a few minutes until his breathing calmed. Why had he dreamed such an awful thing? He could remember how he felt when she started touching him. Oh, how he wanted her. He looked down at his trousers in embarrassment at what had most obviously been the result of that want.
Erik entered his bedchamber once more and changed into fresh clothing that wasn't drenched in his nightmare sweat and rubbed a cool cloth over his face before returning to sleep. Why did she consume his thoughts so? Never in his life had he felt so completely vulnerable. That woman seemed to be some sort of psychic genie who could read his thoughts and find exactly what drove him.
Luciana had never caused him to have these impure thoughts. No, that had been innocent. As tragically as it ended, his first crush had never given him the desire to do more than gaze at her beauty in hopes for the reciprocation of the same feelings. Perhaps his adolescent youth had been a little too innocent. From his time with the gypsies he had repressed his feelings of love and physical desire with a cold iron rod that left no room for anything but his drive to create and survive. And that was just what he had done, up until a week ago.
The next morning Erik resumed his work on the torture chamber. He had the measurements figured just right. It had to be absolutely correct or there could be disastrous consequences for the viewers of the deaths. Not necessarily for the victims, for they were certain to meet their end either way, but if the glass pieces did not fit precisely, it could cause a ruptured explosion from the heated air inside. Erik had to work carefully and be very careful as he cut the glass pieces to fit the outer frame. He was making good progress and was well into the middle of the hot afternoon before the Shah's head manservant interrupted him.
"The Glory of the Empire wishes to see you in the main courtyard immediately," the man said, bowing deeply to Erik.
Erik looked up after a moment, controlling his fury at being interrupted. The poor man had obviously not had a single thought of his own since he began his service in the empire. He had continued to bow, waiting for some semblance of a response from him.
"Tell the 'King of Kings' that if he wishes to demand my time today, he will have to take it up with his mother. I cannot be in a hundred places at once," Erik said contemptuously.
The man's jaw dropped to the ground, too stunned to know how to react. When Erik went back to his work without another word, he bowed and backed away from the strange masked magician to bring the fearful news to his benefactor.
"What?" demanded the young Shah.
The servant inched away on the floor before the royal throne of his ruler. "Oh, Glory of the Earth, I beg forgiveness but he simply would not come."
"He did, did he?" the shah said with controlled fury. "We shall see about that!"
Did we like that interesting little tidbit? PLEEEEEEEEAAAASEE REVIEW THIS! IF YOU LIKED IT AND WANT ME TO CONTINUE THEN PUSH THE REVIEW BUTTON DOWN THERE AND LET ME KNOW IT!