An Afternoon


Blossom felt well-rested when she awoke, smiling as she recalled how Brick had stormed off after she resisted his compulsion. Having his entire bed to herself was pretty great. She spent the morning figuring out the shower with a little effort, then reorganized her clothes in the armoire. On the way out she fastened the Tear of Iris around her neck, studying her reflection in a full-length mirror. She would be its keeper until the end of her days, or until she had a daughter to inherit it. The notion of procreating with Brick put an ache in her gut that only a dagger could relieve.

Morrigan greeted her in the dining hall. "Good morning, Mistress. The kobolds have prepared fresh Florian fruits and flower nectar to sate you."

"What do you have?" Blossom asked, eyeing her plate.

"Crab cakes and breaded oysters with lemon cream sauce."

Her mouth watered. "May I have that as well? And a glass of clover nectar if it is no trouble."

"Our familiars exist to take orders. You should try exercising your authority, Mistress." Blossom made eye contact with an expectant kobold and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Morrigan sighed and conveyed the breakfast request herself. Once they finished eating she had the table cleared. "Have you any plans for the day?"

"I thought I should better learn the layout of the castle," Blossom replied. That way Brick couldn't trap her in a corner. "I may do some reading afterward."

Morrigan ducked her head. "I wish you luck in your endeavors. Should you require anything, simply shout and a familiar will answer. They have excellent hearing." The two women went their separate ways.

Blossom decided to start from the bottom up, but the floorplan didn't go any lower than the kitchen cellar where she found perishables stored in clay urns layered with sand and water as opposed to the magicked ice boxes her people used. While wandering the halls she spied metal grates affixed to the floorboards at regular intervals. In the heart of the castle she discovered a furnace-like contraption with myriad pipes coming out of it, realizing they were embedded within the walls, floors, and ceilings and connected to the grates. The furnace was currently empty but there were stockpiles of wood, coal, and hoarfrost which must have been quite expensive to import from Fairweather. She deduced the machine regulated the castle's temperature.

She returned to the observatory where the instruments now glimmered in daylight. A spiral staircase wrapped around the telescope and led to a jeweled orrery overhead. Carefully calibrated mechanisms moved a model sun and moon around Erd in real-time, and the circular mahogany desk was covered in star charts. She hadn't noticed last night that several of them were scrawled with handwriting, presumably Brick's. He'd attached questions to certain objects such as Planet? Other sun? Dying star? Why blue? Blossom's nose wrinkled at his apparent interest in the heavens. How dare he have something in common with her.

She made her way to the archives and explored the shelves thoroughly, finding the tomes cataloged by subject, then region, race, and lastly author. If Brick amassed the collection himself, she was impressed that he hadn't omitted any authors even if they were considered controversial, like Brynmor. Other political philosophers loved to degrade his opinion that a kingdom was only as strong as its citizenry, not its monarchs.

Blossom plucked a few books from their slots and made herself comfortable among the pile of cushions. At some point the doors creaked open and a kobold poked its head in. "Mistress Blossom?"

It took a moment for the voice to breach her fantasy world. "I am here. What is it?"

"Um, err… the midday meal is being served."

She noted the trepidation in the creature's tone and got up to meet it at the threshold. "Thank you for letting me know. Is something amiss?"

"Umm, err…" it hedged some more, and answered her question with a question. "How're you feeling, Mistress?"

Blossom blinked. "I am fine, as you can see."

"Yes, yes, very good." The kobold's eyes swept over the rotunda in a fearful arc. "You haven't… heard anything?"

"Only the wind," she replied.

"Good, good." The familiar gulped. "As I said, the midday meal is ready."

It started backing away from the door before Blossom spoke again. "Thank you, but I am still sated from breakfast." As soon as it heard that, the kobold ran down the hall as if fleeing from a pack of wolves. She watched it with a quizzical expression before returning to her spot.

Blossom lost track of time while losing herself among pages. She had always been a voracious reader, a glutton for knowledge, and the archive contained many texts she'd never had the opportunity to study because they were banned in Floria for various reasons. Her wings stirred up dust each time she reshelved a tome and sought a new one; she wondered if the kobolds didn't clean the archive because they were afraid to enter, if they feared something it contained. But books were only full of ink, not malicious energies or anything silly like that.

No sooner had she formed that thought than a shiver went down her spine. All of a sudden the air felt heavy, so she ascended to the ceiling. She didn't spy anything below, nothing tangible to have triggered her flight instinct, but there was a palpable, ominous presence about the room. It seemed hungry yet she intrinsically knew it didn't wish to consume her. Blossom exited onto the widow walk and flew through the bedroom window, alighting on the carpet where her nerves soon calmed. Whatever she sensed in the archive hadn't followed her.

The door opened and Blossom whirled around with a gasp, screaming at the sight she beheld. Brick scowled at her, his red eyes piercing through a veil of pitch-black grime. "That's a fine welcome," he grumbled. "Good afternoon, Blossom. How was your day?"

"I… I apologize." With a hand on her pounding chest, she looked him up and down. His charred skin was covered in soot, ash, and cooled magma. "What on Erd happened to you?"

Brick skirted her on his way to the shower. "Job hazard," he answered curtly.

"Your… job?" Blossom followed, stopping at the threshold. "What do you do?"

"I'm an overseer of Hael's above-ground mining operations," he replied.

"Why does it appear as if you survived a fall into a volcano?"

Brick chuckled while turning on the cold water. "I didn't fall, I descended cautiously into a volcano." The desire for answers was evident on Blossom's face but he wasn't merely going to provide them. "Did I forget to mention I'm immune to heat and fire?"

"You did indeed fail to mention that." She inched into the bathroom. "You are not burned or injured?"

"Not at all." Brick entered the frigid spray where murky liquid pooled at his feet. After rinsing his face off, he offered her a smirk. "Join me and you'll see that every part of me still functions just fine."

Blossom rolled her eyes, folded her arms, and turned her back on him. "How does one become immune to fire?" she asked. There were spells that temporarily granted increased resistance, but not outright immunity.

"…It was a trade."

That hesitant, bitter reply almost made her face him, but she was fairly certain the tinkling debris belonged to the cremated remains of his clothing and she did not wish to see him naked. "What sort of trade? Do you carry a relic, an artifact or the like?" His snicker informed her that she was off the mark. Blossom huffed; she was too mature for silly guessing games. "Will you not tell me the cause of your immunity? I am your wife, after all. I am entitled to know such things about my husband. I deserve full disclosure regarding magical augmentations!"

Brick's brow rose. "You deserve to know? You're entitled?" The water cut off and he wrapped his wet arms around her, earning a gasp of indignation.

"Release me!" Blossom demanded. He wasn't even holding her tightly, she just lacked the strength to break free.

Warm lips brushed her ear. "If we're discussing marital entitlements, there are many things I deserve, like spending the night in my bed with my wife."

"I did not force you to leave!" she shot back. "You made that choice!"

"Yes, I chose to sleep in the guest bedroom instead of punishing you for defying me."

Blossom scoffed. "I would not defy you if you stopped trying to compel me to do your bidding."

"What choice do I have when you don't obey?"

She craned her neck to give him an incredulous look. "Stop ordering me and ask nicely."

His hold loosened. Maybe Boomer was right about something for once. Maybe Brick would get what he wanted from Blossom if he wasn't such a dick to her, but he didn't really know how to be anything other than overbearing. It was his birthright, to give orders and have lesser Demons obey them. But Blossom was neither a Demon nor beneath him in social standing, she was his equal, and he wouldn't have accepted anyone other than a princess as his bride… or any woman less beautiful.

"Very well," he said, deferential. "Will you welcome me home with a kiss, Blossom?"

She regarded him in abject confusion. Who was this man and what had he done with Brick?! In the three days she'd known him he never sounded so pleasant, not even when he compelled her at the fountain. Blossom searched his features, finding no trace of malicious intent. He ducked his head but then hesitated, and she drew a hand to her mouth. "Wh-why do you falter? Is my breath foul?"

"No," Brick answered, "I'm just surprised. I assumed you would recoil."

"If I recoil from you, it is out of instinct to escape that which threatens me."

He encroached a little more. "You don't feel threatened now?"

"Why would I? You are the one who is nude and vulnerable."

"Is that so?" Brick kissed her then, gently, lingering until she placed a hand on his chest. After he pulled away they searched one another's gazes, asking silent questions and receiving unspoken answers. When he came in for another kiss Blossom lifted her lips to him, eager, her fingers tensing. Brick fought not to construe it as her grabbing at him to bring him closer. He cupped one of her cheeks, brushing the divot behind her ear.

Blossom exuded an airy sigh while sinking into him. His skin was so soft after receiving that charcoal treatment. Her palm idly drifted across his pectorals, exploring him, learning the terrain of his body. And still he kissed her with gentleness and restraint, such a far cry from the slavering creature who kissed her at the altar. She liked this. She enjoyed this… or at least she did until Brick started getting handsy, caressing the space between her wings. They fluttered in response to the pressure and she pushed herself away. "Do not touch me there!"

"Why?" He drew her back in. "I know for a fact it doesn't hurt."

Blossom's eyes kept falling shut as he massaged her back. "H-how, pray tell, do you know that for a f-fact?"

His lips quirked. "You nearly moaned just then."

"I do not moan! I would never!" Her cheeks were red.

"Never?" Brick held her firmly. "Not even when I do this?" He pressed down on either side of a tendon with two fingers and traced it to her spine. Blossom went slack in his arms but did not moan, much to his disappointment.

"You… that… I…" She inhaled a shaky breath to regain her composure. "That was an advanced acupressure technique! How did you learn it?"

Brick smiled, smug. "Does it matter? You liked it." She didn't refute him. "I can do many more things to make you feel good."

"That will not be necessary," she muttered. She had no idea how Brick knew about the more sensitive parts of her anatomy, but she wasn't going to let him fondle her since he expected her to reciprocate. He could keep ogling her and expressing his want for physical intimacy, but Blossom was not attracted to him in the same manner… never mind her newfound appreciation for his upper body.

She started to leave, glancing over her shoulder. Brick stood naked and smirking. Although Blossom's expression betrayed none of her thoughts, he believed she liked what she saw; her attention even lingered on his cock. "It's all yours, Princess," he gestured. Her flush darkened. "I'm all yours as much as you're all mine. Do with me what you will."

"I want nothing to do with you," she said haughtily, striding out of their bedroom. Brick chuckled at her forced tone. He attributed her reluctance to being inexperienced with men, but Blossom was the type who detested her own ignorance. The need to educate herself would make her curious about him, so all he had to do was have a little patience and let her discover him at her own pace.