Catherine clambered shakily into the bedsheets only moments after he departed. It was still early, the sun only just sinking below the horizon, but with the light gone from her day she found sleep came very easily. She awoke several hours later surrounded by the smell of him still clinging to her skin. It was dark out now, in her haste she had forgotten to close the curtains, but all that came through the window was the inky blue black of the night's starless sky. Her eyes found the clock and it flickered 22:00 in sickly green lights that stung her eyes. Her heart sank at the thought of the hours of darkness that stretched ahead.
She recalled his cryptic last message and spoke it aloud to herself.
"A single tiny light creates a space where darkness cannot exist."
Catherine wondered with a shiver what kind of darkness Lucian battled with every evening. Instinct told her it must be monstrous.
The way he spoke was very unusual also, like something out of a Shakespearian tragedy. She smiled to herself.
"My lost prince."
He was very ethereal in many ways, like he had been swept out of another time or place. There had been times that day when she had thought she had seen something dangerous and untamed in his eyes, something terrifying that he kept under tight control underneath the surface of his skin. She wondered whether she should ask him to share some of this burden with her, but soon considered that he would probably be unwilling to say anything. Deep inside she recognised that the less she knew the safer she may be, but there are times when we all choose to forget to listen to that inner instinct that whispers "beware".
In many, very powerful ways she wanted to know everything. She wanted to know the story behind every scar that had littered his body. She wanted to know the origin of every worry line that collected around his eyes. And despite knowing how dangerous it could be, she wanted to know the deepness of that dark abyss that she saw reflected in his eyes.
Instead she knew nothing at all about him besides his name. She sighed deeply, and ran her hands through her hair. Was he thinking of her now she wondered? Where was he now? Why had he not stayed the night? What would prevent him from staying with her? She wanted to know! That endearingly human curiosity rose in her like a bubble of air from the bottom of this ocean of wondering. It burst in a sudden rush of annoyance as she realised her powerlessness to remedy this ignorance.
Of course he knew nothing of her either, she pondered. But perhaps that was part of the excitement.
"Perhaps it is safer this way." A warning voice whispered in her brain.
For a second a horrible feeling burned through her stomach as she wondered if she was perhaps being naïve in the assumption that he would keep to his word and return to her again in the morning. Unused as she was to these sorts of dalliances with men she had completely trusted in the idea that she would see him again and have a chance to know him better. The feeling was gone soon enough however as she realised that she knew that he would return. It was as certain to her as the sun would rise again. It was a deeper knowing, a truth that was unshakeable- just as the knowledge of Lucian's other-worldliness was. Neither could be denied.
She rolled over and glanced at the clock once again- this time is read 01:40… she had been transfixed on these musings for over 3 hours!
With another heavy sign she rolled back away from the clock and closed her eyes. She dreamt of a wolf prowling in the darkness.