The shadows were still around him as he sat at his table in his lair. He shuffled the cards in his hands as he lounged with his feet on top of the table. Esmeralda slept in the other room. Their activities combined with the energy of the day falling her into a state of drugged unconsciousness. He had watched her silently, her beauty pulling at him gently as she breathed softly, her hair splayed around her. Her charms didn't work on him, after all he had given them to her. She was merely an object of desire, a tool for him to use and manipulate to his will. He knew she had feelings for him and he had encouraged them, bloomed into love, she believed he loved her too. But his heart was twisted with sin.
He thought of the Prince Naveen; he had royal blood in his veins and royal blood was very, very valuable. And he wanted it. If he got that blood, and if he mixed his Voodoo with it, he could assume the young Prince's identity, and if he managed that, his land would be his.
A movement in the shadows around him jerked him out of his dark thoughts and he turned his head to the shadows.
Esmeralda crept silently into the light cast by the candle on the table before him. Her eyes were wide but her skin glowed in the aftermath of her drugged sleep. She paused just inside the light of the candle, the soft light bathing her naked skin in a warm glow. Her hair was messy and tumbled around her shoulders, her arms hugged herself and her cheeks were slightly flushed. Even he could not deny she was beautiful.
"Come here, child" he said, beckoning her to him.
She smiled softly and moved over to him, she knelt on the floor beside his chair, looking up at him with her green eyes.
His hand moved to the back of her head, stroking her silky, soft hair gently as if she were an obedient pet. Her hand moved to his thigh and she looked up to him in concern.
"Have I displeased you, Master?" she asked, her eyes sparkling in fear.
"No, child. You have pleased me greatly." She smiled brightly.
"Your fun with the Prince yesterday may work to our advantage." Confusion washed over her features.
"What do you mean?"
"His blood – Royal blood, is very valuable."
Something seemed to light behind her eyes, "but you told me not to, you said that i may only have victims of no status, so they are not missed."
"Indeed. But this time i may bend the rules. Royal blood strengthens me more than the blood of commoners" he lied, "Royal blood will sustain my life more so than anyone else's. I want you to seduce him, Esmeralda."
She looked up at him in surprise at these words, not entirely believing what he was commanding her to do.
"Seduce him, go to whatever lengths you must to do so, his visit ends in three days so you have until then. I want you to take his blood, use this" he reached into the shadows and pulled out a necklace with the totem he had carved earlier from the red wood. It looked like a face, with deep cuts into the wood. He handed it to her and she held it carefully in her hands, "if you cut his skin with the mouth of it, it will take some of his blood. Fill it and bring it directly to me."
She felt dizzy in fear of what he was saying, she couldn't do this, she couldn't kill him. It was too risky, far too risky. "I can't" she said, trying to give it back to him but he just closed his hands around her's holding it. She kept her head bent, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"Don't you love me?"
Her eyes shot to his, "of course i do."
"The blood of a Royal makes me stronger, extends my life and power. Don't you want that? Don't you want us to remain together forever?"
"Yes."
"Then do not fail me" he said, taking his hands away. She hesitated, feeling sick as she held the totem in her shaking hands.
"Yes, Master" she murmured.
His hand moved beneath her chin, lifting her head so her eyes could find his. He gently wiped away her tears then kissed her once, then was gone, stalking into the shadows.
She remained kneeling on the floor in the soft candle light. Her eyes moved to the necklace and she breathed softly. The shadows around her touched her gently as if they were the comforting hands of friends. And she let her tears fall silently.
She had to do this. For him.
She stood on shaky legs.
"For my love" she whispered.
Hidden in the black shadows, the Devil smirked. He glanced down to his cards in his hands; the Ace of hearts, the Queen of hearts, and the Joker.