Kaze

Geez, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I? I did have writers block and had completely forgot where I left off but now I'm in control again. Dedicated to everyone who reviewed and faved this, I love you all!

Chapter Five
Samaritan's Abyss

Kaye and Roiben are asleep…

Jayde had his arms crossed – smiling amiably as he walked down the path that led to the Crater. It was a short cut he preferred to use to get to his chambers – a vertical tunnel that went straight down. The Unseelie Court was like a beehive, a honeycomb of chambers, both up and down. The monarch of the Unseelie and other favoured subjects lived close to the gates and hall, whereas others such as knights, scholars lived beneath.

People who had all day duties like cooks and cleaners, lived on the bottom row of the Court – but not Skillywidden, the seamstress. She'd set up a mattress in her sewing quarters, so she could be near her work.

In fact, Jayde had just left Skillywidden. He now patted the lavender gown in his arms, absently. The cut was low, and Jayde couldn't wait to see it expose a little more of the pixie girls chest. His eyes sparkled in recollection. Now that he'd found a new toy, he could dismiss the one he kept for the moment.

He smiled, knowing it wasn't a particularly nice smile. He tossed his hair from his face, aqua blue strands still sticking to his cheeks. He ignored them, ruby red eyes flashing in the darkness. As he went along the path he flicked his wrist, snuffing out the candles that hung in the wall brackets.

He could see perfectly well in the dark, thanks to his elf lineage. Glancing over his shoulder to see if he was being followed, he came to a sudden halt and flicked out the last candle. Before him was what appeared to be a poorly guarded hole in the ground.

Jayde grinned and kicked aside the crystal that was setting up the ward around it. No faerie shaman could keep him out of his route home. Gripping tighter onto the silk gown in his arms, he jumped down. The Crater was more like an abyss. An endless silence, the rush of air that spun upwards to greet him, the eternal night that surrounded him...

His feet connected with the ground, aftershock winding up his legs. Jayde refused to notice. He headed down the tunnel before him, candles flickering on as he walked past. As he continued on, they snuffed out behind him magically.

Jayde cam to a stop at his chamber doors, brushing a hand through his hair. He hid the dress behind his back, and turned the door handle – smiling apologetically. The sight was horrific to anyone but he. All he, himself, could see was the beauty of what lie before him.

Jayde shut the door quickly behind him and stepped forward. There, lying spread-eagled on the floor – chained down – was a girl of about seventeen, with long auburn hair in ringlets. Her slip was torn, shredded to the point of mere tangles of fabric. It wasn't covering her otherwise naked body.

She was shuddering with sobs, her eyes pink with crying. Her name was Evangeline, and she was a faerie that Jayde had had the pleasure of meeting at a masquerade ball under Nicnevin's rule. Roiben had only been king a little while, and thus the dance hadn't been that long ago. Already the girl regretted ever deciding to go.

The room smelt of blood and urine. Evangeline had a fierce beauty that made her look like a warrior, but she wasn't so tough. Jayde had barely touched her when she had wet herself. All he'd done was hover above her with a knife and she'd made the room reek to high heaven.

Jayde kept his face neutral. "Sorry to keep you waiting, my love." He called, laying the dress down onto a chair. He stepped into the room, his face shining in the light as he cocked his head on one side. A lantern that hung by the door was glowing fiercely. Jayde reached up and turned it down so the light was barely visible.

Evangeline sucked in a deep breath, her body trembling with each sob. The tears on her face shone, even in the dim light. Her lips were shaking. "Jayde…" she wailed.
Jayde put a finger to his lips and stepped forward, grinning. "Did you miss me?" he asked, his tone soft.

Evangeline's eyes widened in fear as the elf stepped forward, grinning. She knew it was best to lie; she didn't want to anger him. She nodded furiously, tears streaming down her face and staining the perfect porcelain of her skin.

Jayde smiled. He began to slip his kimono out of his trousers, then took it off – throwing it away, discarded. He then made his way over to an end table that stood next to an overturned bed. He'd lost his temper a few nights ago, and had literally flipped. Or at least, flipped the bed.

That was the night Evangeline had won the bruising around her neck – he'd almost strangled her to death when he'd realised what fun he could still have with her.

Jayde picked up the iron knife that rested blatantly on the table. Evangeline's eyes widened at the sight of it, tendrils of fear enclosing around her heart. She couldn't breathe. Tears continued to run down her face as she watched Jayde step over with the weapon. He seemed apologetic.

"Listen, baby, this relationship… it really isn't working for me," he cooed, hovering over her like a predator stalking its prey. He was coming in for the kill, his laser-red eyes flashing. Evangeline screamed, but Jayde was too quick for her. The knife came down without hesitation, and lodged itself in the girl's windpipe.

Evangeline's mouth opened in shock, her eyes still wide with panic. Then she lay still, all apart from her left arm – which was continuously twitching. Blood blossomed in the corner of her mouth and began to trail its way down her chin. Her eyes filmed over and her heartbeat stopped. Her beautiful face was now a mask.

Jayde brushed back his hair, smiling without regret. He stood up, apparently satisfied. Then his mind turned elsewhere. He had to think of a plan for the girl he called 'princess'. First off, he had to find out her name and then get her away from that boyfriend she'd been on about earlier.

But before he could do any of that, he had to get rid of this girl's body. Jayde's face wrinkled in disgust. He pulled a key from his trouser pocket and unchained the faerie, before dragging her over to the hearth at the back of the room. Pulling out a wineskin from his other pocket, he brought it up to his mouth and tugged the cap open before sprinkling the faerie's body with the wine.

She didn't object. She was way beyond caring.
Jayde went back to the lantern, picked it up and threw it in the direction of the hearth. The moment it struck her body, it went up in flames.

Jayde smiled as he watched the girl's body burn. She'd been way too easy…

Lutie watched the man light the girl without so much as a prayer. She flinched, and crystal tears ran down her cheeks at the thought. How could anyone be so evil? He'd just slaughtered her – for no apparent reason. Lutie's heart burned at the thought that he wanted to get his hands on Kaye.

She had flown out after Roiben and Kaye's argument – oblivious to the fact that they'd not noticed her disappearance and had been rolling around together in bed. She'd heard Roiben mention Jayde and remembered someone by the name of Jayde. She'd been told by Gristle what he'd looked like – an elf with eyes the colour of two garnets and hair as blue as aquamarine. She was also told he dressed in Japanese clothing – in kimonos and such. He hadn't been hard to find. She'd known he was probably still patrolling a path beside one of the gates.

And she'd followed him. I have to keep Kaye-Kaye safe. She realised. Yes, she had to tell Roiben what was going on…
"Did Roiben apologize? For killing your friend, I mean."

Lutie started. Her eyes widened in fear. Jayde was still looking into the fire, but he half-turned, making it obvious he was talking to someone behind him. He was grinning. "It's strange, how easily he fell for it. A simple mind trick – that was all it took – and he succumbed like the rest of them."

Lutie blinked furiously, not understanding. She backed away.
Jayde's eyes flashed. "I'd have thought Roiben was the strongest of knights, but after all – he was just as weak as the rest of them. A painted memory –and he wasn't so tough."

Lutie took a steadying breath. Maybe she could slip out… maybe he was just talking to himself. She knew she was being ridiculous, but how could he have known that she was following him? She'd kept a low profile, hadn't spoken once or made herself obvious. She didn't even sparkle in the absence of light.

"Gristle." Jayde said softly, his tone deadly. Lutie-loo froze, her wings stiffening before continuing her regular flight pattern. She gasped.
"He told you about me, didn't he?" Jayde continued. "Said a knight was after him. But you didn't put two and two together. You thought Roiben was the knight, despite Gristle telling you about me. And when Gristle died – you thought you saw Roiben do it. And Roiben even thinks he did it,"

"What do you mean?" Lutie suddenly spoke, trembling.
Jayde turned fully, his expression carved in stone. He was grinning, sending a shiver up Lutie's spine. "I mean, I was the one who killed that little fey. It was easy, I just had to shift the blame and make sure the fey rose up against the Unseelie Court – ready to rip apart Nicnevin's second-hand, Roiben.

Except it didn't work like that, did it? After the 'shifting spell, I thought that you would really care that Roiben had killed your friend. Spike cared. Spike had sense. But he… he was a nasty piece of work, was Spike."

"How do you know all this?" Lutie screeched. "How do you know about the fey?"
Jayde didn't answer her question. Instead he continued on. "I 'shifted into Roiben, killing Gristle so the fey would rise up against the Unseelie. I wanted Nicnevin and Roiben dead. But look what happened? Instead Roiben became king, when it should've been me. I didn't count on Nephamael's betrayal. I didn't know Silarial was trying to run the court through him…"

"You killed Gristle – so you could be king?" Lutie spluttered, confused. She kept trying to back away, knowing she shouldn't be in a conversation with this murderer. But she needed answers. She needed to tell Roiben – Roiben could sort this mess out. Yet'mess' was an understatement.

Jayde's eyes were dark. "I killed that whelp so I could get at Roiben. I even painted a memory in his thick head, making him think he did it – that it was an order from Nicnevin. He's so pathetic, he even believes it. But now he's king, and everything's gone to shreds."

Lutie began to speak but Jayde waved a hand. "No. I don't want your pity," he crooned. Lutie narrowed her eyes, about to say that she wasn't going to give him her pity, when Jayde stepped forward. "I won't bore you anymore with tales. After all, it's all in the past."

Lutie nodded fervently, turning around and flying towards the door. "I'll leave you now," she said quicklyin a squeaky voice. At that instant, a hand clamped around her body – locking her in. The grip was so tight, she couldn't breathe. She gasped.

"I can't let you go, Lutie-loo. After all, you would just go squealing to our dear king, wouldn't you?"
Lutie tried to worm her way out of Jayde's grip but it was useless. Jayde's smile was splitting his face in two. Lutie had never been so scared in her whole life.

Jayde carried her over to a jar sat on a shelf in the corner of the room. Lutie's eyes widened in understanding and she screamed. But no one could hear a faerie no bigger than someone's hand. Jayde locked her inside the jar, grinning maliciously.

"Now, be a good little fire-fly, and shine." He mocked, flicking the jar before going over to his bed and righting it.
Tears ran down Lutie's face. In a moment, Jayde was atop his bed – his breathing deep. He was asleep. All Lutiecould do was watch the flames in the hearthgorge on the faerie girl's dead boy.The fire continued to burn long into the night.