Lament of the Traitor King (Complete)

Chapter 10 - No Apologies (Minor Edits Made)

After paying for the room, Netta set about trundling her luggage up the stairs. It had taken a good deal of effort to not scream at the Monster who followed behind her.

Having finally had enough as she pulled her rolling luggage that refused to roll on the iced metal of the stairs, she snapped.  "Do you shut up - I mean, even for a moment, is it possible that you leave me to my own thoughts, you wretched beast?" To her dismay, even her words lacked any true bite, lost in the dulling effect of her exhaustion.

Ash followed her, hands in Its pockets as It hiked slowly after her.  "Haven't heard that sort of sentimentality from you in a long while. And, not to step on your toes, Master-to-Be, but aren't you touchy about being seen, talking in public to yourself? Are you so gung-ho about getting the first paddy-wagon to Bedlam?"

Netta, who had managed to get to her room's door, snorted. "This place is a dump in a bigger dump. I think that rats would be more comfortable in an actual dump than this place."

The dump in question was a motel that had hardly been updated from its heyday in the sixties. It was a rusted art-deco, two-tiered building with a rather unfortunate design choice of being open air with a small roof snaking over the walk way on the top floor.

It was the sound of a door slamming closed close to them made Netta jump.  Turning her head out of the doorway, Netta watched as the haggard-looking man passed by their door without taking a moment to look at them as he left. 

As the man trumped down the metal stairs, Netta rested against the doorway with a sigh.

"Nobody would want to live here, eh?"

Netta sighed and rubbed her tired, tired face. "Shut up, Ash."

Turning around, Netta got an eyeful of the room that she had paid twenty-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents for.  Even without the lights on, Netta got the distinct impression that she had overpaid by twenty-nine dollars for the right to sleep in the place for the night.

Netta clutched her coat closer to her and flicked the light on. The artificial lights turned on to reveal the cramped quarters in all of their glory.

Hesitating for only a moment, picked up a bag and tanked it onto the grotesque-looking bedspread.  Rummaging through the bag, she poked through her clothes. She sighed, relieved when her hands fell on her familiar hardback Composition notebook.

Pulling it out, she pretended to not notice the very audible groan from Ash.  Beginning to leaf through the book, she heard Ash asked, "What're you doing with that?"

Netta, still concentrating on what to choose from, gave an impatient look at the Monster. "If you don't mind, I would like to use some of it to make this whole situation a little more - habitable."

Netta had not realized that Ash was right behind her until she felt It pressed against her. Even as her mouth moved to tell Ash to leave her alone, her voice mutinied.  Netta shivered and shut her arms around her chest, huddling in as she tried to guess Its next move. She recalled, too easily, the feeling of Its tongue against the inside of her ear, the sound of Its voice in an intimate murmur.

Almost as soon as It had enveloped her, she felt Ash's presence leave her and she could breathe again.  Turning around, Netta found Ash standing to the left of the bed. The Monster had opened her notebook and had begun to flip through it. 

Ash closed Its eyes and took in a series of deep breaths. Its eyes fluttered with the pale gold of Its almost unmasculine, lace-like eyelashes before Its eyes snapped open.

"This is a travesty." Ash tossed the thing onto the bed as though it were a piece of trash. Crossing Its arms over Its chest in an authoritarian pose, Ash said, "I would hope that any Witch who had to learn the laws of nature would know how unnatural it is to use someone else's magics. It's like watching someone sodomize your wife to know that you're still using someone else's magic like this.  You should know that once you accept me, fully, that I will give you any power you want to use.  I can make any wish come true, without you having to think twice about it"