.

The Bedroom in the Hall


He led Elaine through empty rooms, across gleaming floors and echoing hallways. The sound of his heavy staff against the floor and the clicking of her sensible heels were the only disturbances in the tranquility of the vast, lonely house.

"I don't require a slave, Miss Corbenic," Severus murmured. "I desire a companion."

He opened a door at the top of the stairs to a spacious, lovely room decorated in corals and gold.

"Yours." He turned to face her with a serious expression. "Give me a month of your time and I will compensation you for three."

"A trial period?"


Coral, #16