Family Secrets

Chapter: 6

Mysterious Count Greywords

Next chapter up. Sorry it took a while but I haven't had much time to myself with the beginning of the new semester and moving into a new place. But, as a reward for your patience here is an extra long chapter.

Lina sighed as she looked out the window of the old library in the west wing of the castle. Outside the wind blew and the rain poured as a storm made its way through the country side. 'Man, what a dreary day,' Lina thought as she looked out on the land.

It had been about a month since the incident with the painting but Lina and Zelgadis' relationship had gone back to normal. He was the teacher and she was the student as usual. That is except today. Lina sat and waited for Zelgadis but the stoic count was uncharacteristically late. She glanced back outside and watched the rain before she heard a horse. She walked up to the window and looked down to see a man in a very familiar gray cloak mounting the horse as he prepared to ride off. She quickly took off from the library and began to make her way to the front. As she was descending the stairs she could see the horse begin to trot towards the front. She jumped from the fourth step up and hit the ground running after the rider. She grabbed the black cloak that Sylphiel had made for her for rainy days as she kept running. Lina lowered her shoulder and body checked one of the large double doors open as she kept running into the rain soaked road. She saw the rider ahead of her and could tell that he was taking off rather quickly. "Where are you going," she shouted to try and get the rider to stop.

It was no use for the rider continued at his generous pace as he headed towards the forest below the mountains. Lina continued to run at her full pace to try and keep the rider in sight. She was not as fast as a horse but she was could run at a decent clip. After about fifth teen minutes she reached the forest and continued to run while listening for the sound of hoof beats. She could hear them faintly and chose the direction she would go from the sound, "Damnit...I...I..could've...stayed inside and been fine but no I had to chase after him," Lina berated herself as she heaved breathes as she kept running.

After another thirty minutes Lina's body was ready to give out. She stopped and leaned on a tree to help keep herself from collapsing. As she gasped for air she could not help but continue to berate herself mentally, 'What am I doing? Why do I care were Zelgadis is going? I mean am I that worried that he might be going to see someone other than me,' Lina shook that thought out of her head and continued, 'No, it's because he didn't ask for leave and left me sitting in the library.'

Lina nodded her head at her own explanation situation and stood up fully before taking in a big gulp of air. After catching her breath she began to walk in the direction she thought Zelgadis went. She walked on for another thirty minutes when she heard something coming from the south. She quickly spun in the direction and took off running in the direction she heard the sound. After a few minutes she came to a large root and instead of slowing down she just leaped over. Much to Lina's chagrin as she cleared the root she noticed that it was quite a fall. She started to plummet while shouting, "Zelgadis you arrogant bastard I'll kill you for this," before everything went black.

Zelgadis had finally arrived. He only came to this place once a year and he would not miss this occasion no matter who was his master. He tied the horse to a tree and began the short walk up the path he knew so well. As he walked up the old path he pulled a single delicate, white rose from within his cloak. He carried the flower with an almost reverence as he came to the end of the path. He came to a small clearing that held a stone marker in the middle. He walked towards the marker and kneeled before saying, "It's been a while I know. But, I'm here now."

He smiled as he laid the rose down and whispered, "Happy Birthday dear."

As he looked at the stone marker he sighed and said, "Hopefully this will be the one. If I serve her well maybe she will be the one to end the curse that Alfred put on me. If she is then it won't be long in comparison to how long I've waited."

He was about to continued when he heard, "Zelgadis you arrogant bastard I'll kill you for this," followed by a loud crash that made him wince.

He sighed as he got up and took off running at high rate of speed. He followed the path back down and then took off in the direction the scream came from. 'Don't I wish that she could actually carry that threat out,' he thought as he came upon the landing zone.

He looked with wide eyes at the broken tree limbs and underbrush. Soon he spotted Lina's red hair and ran over to the spot. He lifted a tree limb off of her body to discover an unconscious and bleeding Lina Inverse. He sighed as he bent down and checked her pulse. "She's alive just beaten up," he said to himself as he scooped the young girl up in his arms.

Zelgadis moved slowly as to not jostle Lina too much and made his way back to the clearing. As he made it back to the clearing he heard a thunderclap above and scowled at the sky. He looked around and remembered the mountainside next to the clearing had a cave. He walked into the cave before laying Lina down. As he took off his cape he saw that Lina was shaking from the damp clothes on her. Zel shook his head before saying, "Better find some wood before it starts to rain again."

Zelgadis took off again and came back in fifth teen minutes with two armfuls of wood and tender. He set the wood down and built a fire. As he finished he felt for his flint but remembered he did not bring the item. He sighed before thinking, 'She is out...she won't notice and it won't spoil anything...I can still test to see if she is capable of this later.'

Zelgadis began motioning with his hands before saying, "Flare Arrow," and cast an arrow made of pure fire into the wood.

Smiling at the now roaring fire Zelgadis could not help but think, 'I've still got it,' before turning to his next task.

As he looked at Lina's shivering body he began to pull her clothes off. He first removed her boots and then socks before setting them on the other side of the fire. Next, he removed her cloak and her belt and placed them next to the boots. Now came the tricky part. Zelgadis slowly proceeded so as to not wake Lina in the middle of the task, 'If she wakes up now then I'll never hear this down,' he thought as he began.

He slowly unbuttoned and unzipped Lina's blue jeans before slowly rolling them down her legs. Zel blushed as he got a view of Lina's black lacy undergarment and the white, creamy legs that were just below. After what seemed like an eternity of holding his breath; Zel finally pulled her jeans off and set them near the fire. He next moved toward Lina's upper body and with the same carefulness pulled Lina's tee-shirt up and over her head. He placed the shirt near the fire and finished by removing her matching undergarments and placing them with the rest of her clothes. "Now just to move her and I will be out of the death zone," he said jokingly to himself as he grabbed Lina's now dry cloak and laid it down near the fire.

He then slowly picked up Lina's nude body and moved it onto the cloak with a bright blush staining his face. After laying the young girl down he took off his cloak, that through a few tricks remained dry, and laid it over Lina. After covering Lina and making sure she had stopped shivering he leaned against the cave wall and slowly sat down. He sighed before saying, "Now to just wait out the storm."

Lina awoke with a start and sat up quickly. It was soon after that she was reminded of her fall by the splitting headache she had. Lina held her head in her hands as she waited for the pain to pass. As she breathed slowly she heard someone clear their throat. She looked up to meet the sapphire blue eyes of Zelgadis Greywords. She was about to speak but stopped when Zelgadis looked away and said, "You might want to cover up," before a slight red came over his face

Lina cocked an eyebrow at his statement before looking down to see that she the only thing covering her nude body was Zelgadis' cloak which had slipped down to her lap. Lina squeaked in surprise as she quickly pulled the cloak up and blushed as red as her hair. After a few moments she glared at Zel and asked, "What did you do to me?"

Zelgadis just shook his head and replied, "Your clothes were soaking wet so it was either undress you or let you catch cold."

Lina pulled the cloak even closer before she shouted, "That still doesn't excuse the fact that you saw me! What kind of gentlemen are you supposed to be if you go around stripping unsuspecting girls like me?"

Zelgadis clenched his fists at this slight but reminded himself that anger would only provoke her more. He sighed before looking away and replying, "I gave up the role of gentleman a long time ago. I am nothing more than a weapon now. And, a weapon needs no manners."

Lina blinked at his answer and just stared at the young man before her. After a few minutes of silence she asked lowly, "What do you mean?"

Zelgadis just sighed and replied, "Ever since your ancestor defeated me in battle I have been a servant to the Inverse family. My main function of service is a weapon of the family. I take care of their problems through force while they're hands stay clean."

Lina looked directly at Zelgadis in shock as her mouth gaped open. "Were you like an assassin to get rid of my families enemies?"

Zelgadis looked at Lina without moving his head before smirking slightly and answering, "No, there's no one in this area dumb enough to be your families enemy. No, there are much more dangerous things out here than humans."

"Like what," Lina asked as she looked out the cave to see that it was still raining.

Zelgadis stood as he moved towards the front of the cave and said, "I'll teach you about that when the time is right. But, for now I think it will be better for you not to know."

Lina watched as Zelgadis traced his fingers along the opening to the cave and slowly drew symbols with his fingers. After he finished the circle of invisible symbols he turned and sat at the front while looking straight ahead at the opposite wall. Lina slowly turned; making sure the cloak stayed in place, until she was facing Zelgadis. "Why are you teaching me? I mean I would think you would just continued as you normally did."

Zel sighed before pulling his arms into his shirt and pulling it over his head. He finished taking off his shirt before tossing it to Lina while saying, "Put that on so you don't have to clutch the cloak like a security blanket."

Lina caught the article of clothing and looked at it while she blushed bright red. She looked towards Zelgadis before averting her eyes and asking, "Could you please turn around?"

Zel nodded before turning and looking out the cave. Even though he was not looking at her his sensitive ears caught every sound no matter how much he tried to block it out. He began to blush himself as he waited for Lina to give him the okay. "I'm teaching you so that your family won't fall into ruin when I am no longer around," Zelgadis replied as he waited.

Lina stopped smoothing out the shirt and looked at Zelgadis' naked back. His smooth white skin seemed to shine in the low light of the fire. She could feel her blush increase as thought about running her hands over the smooth surface, 'Lina get a hold of yourself,' she thought before asking, "What do you mean when you are gone? If you've lived this long then I don't see what will kill you. And, you can turn around now."

Zelgadis turned to be might with Lina standing in front of the fire. He could not help but look her over as the shirt barely came down to an acceptable level on the young woman. Most of her white legs where exposed and shone with the firelight. Her porcelain face was cast in shadow as her ruby eyes gazed at him. He coughed and looked away before replying, "Because your ancestor Alfred placed a curse on me that keeps me alive. There are only two ways for me to die. Either you use what is locked away in that amulet to destroy me or to release me from the curse. I am hoping that one day I will be released."

Lina cocked an eyebrow as she caught the amulet in her right hand. She brought it to face her and felt the front for a moment. She found that it shifted and that there was something inside. She looked to she a small portrait kept within the amulet. The portrait was of an old man that looked to be only skin and bones. He had no hair left and looked like he should have been dead a long time ago. She then noticed the sharp sapphire eyes and knew who the was held in the portrait. She looked up to Zelgadis and before she could ask he replied, "That is my portrait. It was part of the curse. As long as that portrait exist and I don't look at it then I will not age or die. So it ages in my stead."

Lina gasped at the finding and did not know how to react. She quickly closed the amulet and just stood in place trying to think on what to say. 'What can I really say...'Sorry my ancestor cursed you like this,' yeah that will work,' Lina thought sarcastically as she stood still.

"Well, it is getting late. I had better go hunt something to eat," Zelgadis said as he rose, "Make sure you do not step outside of this cave."

Lina nodded at the command and watched as Zel disappeared into the forest to look for something that would suit as food. She sat down after about a minute began to ponder about this new situation. 'Well, this is an interesting turn of events. I have the thing that keeps Zelgadis alive right in my hands. And, he said he was training me so that one day he will hopefully be released...is he wanting me to release him? I can't do that! I don't even know how I'm supposed to use this to release him,' Lina thought worriedly as she looked up at the cave opening.

Lina waited for another twenty minutes when Zelgadis came in with a few dead rabbits in his hands. He sat down near the fire and produced a small utility knife from its hiding place in his shoe. He then carefully began to skin and butcher the rabbits so that they could be eaten all the while not saying a word. Lina watched as he continued in his task but her attention was not on the rabbits. It was Lina's turn to feel like a lecher as see kept her eyes on Zel's naked torso. In the light of the fire she watched as his well toned muscle appeared during his work. His lithe form reminded her of guys she had fawned over when she was in high school. 'And, to think this one is my servant,' Lina smiled lecherously before shaking her head and berating herself mentally, 'No, Lina now is not the time to forget this guy only wants you to release him.'

Soon Zelgadis had finished his task and set the meat on spits to cook near the fire. He turned towards Lina to see her scowling at something that did not exist. "Lina is something wrong," Zelgadis asked.

Lina came back to reality and blush being caught off guard. She coughed to cover her embracement and replied, "No, I'm fine. Say Zel why was it you were cursed?"

Zelgadis' demeanor turned sour at that question. He did not like to think about his past and Lina had hit the worst possible moment in his life. He sighed and replied, "It was because I took revenge for my wife's death out on the townsfolk...So you ancestor cursed me to this life in repentance for my crime."

Lina frowned and looked at Zel with pity before asking, "If it's not stepping over my bounds what was you wife like?"

Zelgadis looked up at Lina in surprise. This was the first Inverse to ever ask about her. He coughed slightly before smiling at her memory, "She was a sweet and caring young women a little younger than you. She had raven hair that somewhat matched my hair style and was a bundle of energy. He blue eyes always shone with love as she took every task to heart. Both the townsfolk and I loved her for the light of happiness she showed us," Zelgadis replied before trailing off.

Lina sighed, 'He loved her a lot didn't he,' she thought before asking, "What was her name?"

Zel smiled as he handed Lina her rabbit and answered, "Amelia wil Tesa Sailoon Greywords."

Lina cocked an eye at the name while she ate, 'What a long name,' she thought as they continued to eat in silence.

After finishing Zel yawn and said, "We should get our rest so we can get back to the castle early the next day."

Lina nodded before yawning and stretching like a giant cat. She then laid down on her cloak and curled up as she prepared to sleep. As her eyes were closing she felt something being laid on her. She looked up to see Zel covering her with his cloak. "Don't you think you'll get cold?"

"No, you need it more than I do," He replied as he moved away to the spot he choose and laid down to sleep.

Lina being too tired to argue passed into oblivion in no time.

A while later Lina awoke to a loud noise. She sat up quickly and looked to the from of the cave. Nothing was there. As she was still looking she heard it again but it was coming from behind her. She turned to see Zel shifting uncomfortably and grimacing at something. "No...Don't...Let me die and be with her," he moaned out in his sleep.

Lina held her hand to her mouth as she thought, 'He's have a nightmare. How can I help him?'

At that moment Lina had an idea. She stood up with Zel's cloak in hand and walked towards him. She laid down and covered both of them with his cloak. She then slowly backed towards Zel's sleeping form. When she got with a few inches it was as if Zel could sense her. He reached out and pulled Lina's back flush against his chest. Lina's eyes widened from the force but then because of his hands. She had to suppress a moan in fear of waking Zel up as she felt his right hand run up her thigh. His hand came to rest on her hip as the other arm snaked under her and embraced her. Lina breathed heavily at Zel's touch and wondered, 'Am I that lusting for a guy's touch or is it something more,' before her eyes widened again

Zel's right hand had moved up again and brought the bottom of the shirt with it. Lina was now nude from the stomach down. 'This will be interesting in the morning,' she thought as sleep won over again and she feel asleep in Zel's arms.