The windows in the room were shut. Not a sound, not a suspicious movement disturbed the apparent peace of the man sat in the elegant and antique velvet armchair, wrapped in the twilight, his eyes half closed and hidden by his right hand.
A slight knock on the door distracted him.
Upon his consent, a female figure entered the room, and after closing the door behind her, came towards him.
-Did you call me? - she asked, in a tone that betrayed some of her usual sarcasm.
Valtor finally looked up. Darcy's slender figure stood in front of him, wrapped in the purple light silk of her dressing gown, illuminated by the faint reflections of the moon.
Although the man hadn't gave her an exhaustive explanation, she had not hesitated to present herself immediately, following the telepathic call, as the most diligent of allies, despite wanting to go to sleep.
-Yup. I summoned you for a specific reason. It seems that my spell, the one that keeps my minions under control, is weakening. I'm afraid this may only mean one thing: that Griffin is slowly regaining her mental control over the tower.-
Darcy did not seem so troubled by that confession as much as she could see by the tension painted on the man's face.
-But she is imprisoned in the dungeons, and she's hardly standing up. How do you think she still has enough energy to maintain all that control?-
She made him understand that she wanted to fully understand the situation, despite having already done so for long time. She had never doubted Valtor's great powers, not even when he seemed to be losing everything he had achieved; she had always believed that nothing would stop him, and had always made sure to let him know.
-She's not to be underestimated. She has little energy left, but she has an iron will. For this I need a psychic spell, which is very powerful and able to hypnotize those minions and chain them in a state of irreversible trance. May I count on you to combine our forces and bend Cloudtower to me again?-
Darcy let out a flattered smile.
-You have my word. And coincidentally, I have something for you here.-
With a quick snap, she made a tiny crumpled scroll of parchment appear in front of him. The ink bearing the sharp characters of her handwriting was still neat.
-It's a formula that I keep for special occasions. Maybe it can be useful .- She grinned.
Valtor gave it a not too careful look after having spent a few seconds more on his ally, before returning to bask in his anxieties.
-Well. We will work it out tomorrow when the full moon will favour us. Now I'm so tired ...-
He reclined against the back of the chair and covered his face with his right hand.
-As you wish, my lord.- Darcy said, making sure to tickle his ego with that name.
Valtor stayed silent, doubting the possible idea of getting his worries out, in front of a young witch whose ability to be subtle and mean was known.
But his anxiety had been continuously increasing for days, and he knew that if he kept everything inside, he would explode, probably hurting himself.
-I do not understand. I got control so easily and I don't understand how can I be afraid of losing it. My mark has never failed; but somehow I'm scared that it is not powerful enough, compared to the energy that has protected the school for centuries. And I refuse to think that an old and insignificant witch like her has the power to oppose my control and equal that of the ancient creators of the school itself. The same ones that made me the most powerful wizard in the world.-
He paused and sighed. -Maybe I'm just deluding myself. Nobody believes in that story anymore. Maybe neither do I. -
The man continued to keep his eyes down, until the girl, who had been listening to him from the first to the last painful word, came closer to him, more than she was usually allowed to do.
Not even then he could help but take his cause to heart. She noticed his tense face and perceived his concern; a gift that emerged from her innate empathy that made her the perfect confidant to him, the one who knew how to understand him as no one else did.
-Now stop worrying, big boss.- she purred. -You need to distract yourself. Why don't you come and play with me a little? -
Those words with a not so innocent taste forced Valtor to wake up from his thoughts and uncover his face to rest his gaze on Darcy.
When she pushed aside the purple silk that covered her shoulders, he could not help but move his gaze just below her amused face, passing through the harmonious lines of her body, for those accentuated – but never too much – curves, and to be enchanted by her perfume. Her lips, lit by an intense purple color, smiled at him, enigmatic as it came out of a painting. Valtor, now fascinated and seduced, found himself, not knowing how, to return that complicit gaze. Suddenly, all the tension was gone.
-My mind plays tricks on me or did you manage to dissolve my anxieties? If so, tell me your secrets.- Valtor said, abandoning himself again against the back of the chair and letting Darcy come closer to him.
-Do you want my secrets?- she whispered, and caressed his face with a finger. -Then come and get them.-
The silk sleeve lifted, uncovering the glittering hematite bracelet she still wore from the previous day. A glow of warm color, on her amber skin, eternally wrapped in dark colors. An indelible, regal mark.
Valtor noticed it and smiled, while an unusual thought flashed in his mind.
It was not his intention to imprint that mark; but that gift was enough, and the effect had been the same. Darcy was now hanging on his every word, yet she was bold enough to seduce him and lower his guard, to make him abandon him to her, and to the affection she showed him every day.
He smiled at her again, to then tighten her and rest his lips on that exposed skin, inspiring its perfume, determined to take those secrets.
The faint lights of dawn made their way through the windows of the tower.
Valtor was still lying in his bed, wrapped in crimson blankets. Lying next to him, Darcy watched him taste a red grape from the bunch that she herself had bitten a little earlier.
Until then immersed in his thoughts, he was captured by the glow of the jewel that was still elegantly wrapped around the girl's thin arm, resting on his chest.
-Why do you keep on wearing it? - he asked, seriously. -Why does it mean so much to you? -
Darcy looked at him, unsure of what he was actually thinking beyond that grim expression. She looked for his gaze, without finding it.
-Don't you know? - Valtor didn't answer immediately. -I thought it was just as important to you.-
He sighed.
-That's not how I wanted to show you my gratitude. But I don't know any other way to do it.-
Valtor looked away from the ceiling and turned away.
-You have to get rid of it.-
Darcy got dark in turn.
-Don't ask me to do this. What is this gift, if not a pledge of love?-
-I don't know love. It is a weakness, like all the good things in the world. And my heart is full of poison. It will never be able to give you anything else.-
Darcy felt the anguish making its way back into his mind. He now refused to meet her gaze, full of that affection that now barely survived in his heart, suffocated by a coat of negative energy, desire for control and revenge.
Love was too noble for such a soul. He had always avoided it, for his fear of remaining trapped there.
And even if he'd found the words and the way to express it to her, that love would not have lasted long. The corruptible being he was, and he was certain of this, was destined to disappear once again, overcome by the light, as had already happened.
Darcy's right hand gently brought Valtor's face back in her direction. He looked back into her eyes, which now stared at him with sadness.
He eyed again the golden jewel she was so fond of.
-It won't protect you forever.-
-But that's all I have left of you.-
He looked at her silently, then sighed.
-As you wish. If so, keep it. Like the most precious thing you've ever had.-
He looked away again. -Because soon, all that will be left of me, will be ash.-