Astrith served milktea in porcelain cups and we sat in a great dining room at long black table decorated in a white lace.
The tea was the color of milk, with a creamy taste and a floral undertone of roses and herbs. It was better than I expected it to be.
I was initially a bit nervous around Astrith, but I soon warmed up to her well. She wasn’t nearly as menacing as I imagined. She was impossibly nice, and she treated me practically like a daughter.
She asked a lot of my life growing up, and I told her everything she wanted to know. She asked of my parents and of my position on the throne. The only thing I didn’t mention was Corey.
“You should stay for dinner,” Astrith said, smiling warmly with her full lips.
I shot a glance at Salem, who was seated next to me. It wasn’t that I was not enjoying myself, but I did have responsibilities back in the human realm.
He must’ve gotten what I was trying to convey because he looked but at his mother and said, “I think Alina has to get back, mother. I’ve already kept her here for too long.”
Her smile faded into a sad one, looking from her son to me she replied, “You will come back, won’t you, Alina? You’ll come back and see me?”
“Yes.” I answered offhand. “I mean, I’d like that.”
She smiled again. “Good. Well, I suppose I’ll let you two go then.”
We got up from the table and Salem put an arm around my waist, which I noticed but didn’t think much of at the moment.
“I can’t wait for the wedding.” She commented brightly as she embraced me.
It took me a moment to respond after I remembered about that. “Uh-yeah, it’ll be lovely. Will you come?”
“If you’ll have me. I’d love to.” She pulled back, reaching over to give Salem a hug.
“It’s only fitting that you be there, too.” I claimed, not seeing the harm in it.
“Wonderful.” She beamed, looking even more beautiful. “Now, you two be sure to come back soon. A woman gets lonely cooped up her with nothing but her spells and potions.”
Salem smiled at his mother. “We’ll visit again as soon as we have the chance.”
“Very well, off with you then, my lovelies. I have potions cooking that need tending to.”
“Goodbye, mother.”
“Bye, bye.” She waved, flitting past us out of the room as we shifted out of one reality and into another.
February 17th noon
(in the human realm)
“What do you mean he’s still not back?” I asked Drake, setting down the cup of coffee he made for me.
“I guess it’s taking longer than expected. You know how he is with those books, you can’t pry him away.”
I looked at Drake’s calm manner as he sipped his coffee, having just woken up. He didn’t even notice that I was gone, as he’d been sleeping for the past five hours anyway. I explained the newly red hair as a salon job when he asked. He was thrilled with it.
“Yeah,” I uttered, convincing myself that he was right. It wasn’t unlike Corey and Ivy to have an all night book study session. When it came to translating and reading those old books they found, it could take all night just to translate it, let alone go back and read the book itself.
“Did you need him for something?” Drake inquired, yawning afterwards.
“Um,” I glanced over at Salem, who was drinking a cup of tea, back in his British disguise. “I just wanted to talk to him, but it can wait.”
I left my coffee and stepped away from the counter. “I’m going to go get a shower.”
“I’m gonna feed the kiddies breakfast.” Drake smiled sleepily, going over to the fridge.
“What?” I paused, watching him get out a bottle of unopened blood from the fridge. I got what he was talking about then and couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. “Are you serving them breakfast in bed? How kind of you.”
Drake got out three mugs, setting them on the counter. “I’m being hospitable.”
“It’s nice. Thank you.” I smiled softly.
“I’m making up for my first impression.” Drake laughed.
“Yeah…good luck with that.” I smiled as I walked out of the room.
Upstairs in my room, I started a bath and stripped out of my clothes. I scented it with oils and bath salts and then slipped into the hot water to soak.
A sigh escaped me as I leaned my head back against the edge and closed my eyes.
“I don’t particularly think that’s a good idea.”
My eyes snapped open and I sat up in the tub, finding Salem sitting on the counter, dressed in his velvet tux.
I covered myself with my arms, bringing my knees up to my chest. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Relax. We’re going to be married soon; the least of your concerns should be modesty.”
I hugged my knees, watching him warily. “What did you say before?”
“I said, I don’t particularly think that’s a good idea.”
“What?” I uttered, my eyes flicking over him as a pack of cigarettes appeared in his hand.
I wonder if I could do stuff like that.
“Telling your vampire boy that you’re a demon. If you do, he may not be so romantically inclined towards you anymore.” Salem placed a slim black cigarette in his lips. It lit without him having to do anything, and smoke curled in the air of the dim room.
“How did you know I was going to tell him?” I questioned.
“Because he’s the first person you would tell.”
He was right about that. “Could you…switch back? I prefer the way you actually look.”
A small smile came over his lips, and suddenly I was looking at a completely different person, one with strawberry hair and crystal blue eyes.
“Better?” He asked; the English accent was gone and his voice was less gruff, more like velvet now: dark and smooth.
“Better.” I looked down at the water. “Corey said one time that in the underworld humans are slaves. Is that true?”
“I wouldn’t call them slaves.” Salem responded, his knees crossed now and the cigarette moving in his full lips with each word. “More like…assistants. Generally we have them to help assist us with spells and the like. Demons are overachievers, we often have a dozen different magical endeavors going at once, and don’t have the time to watch over them all. So…we have assistants.”
“So, they work for you? With free will?”
“Not exactly free will…” He took the cigarette into his hand.
“So they are slaves?”
“Most of them are treated fairly well.” He mused.
“I’m sure,” I muttered.
“It’s not like here,” He said. “-we don’t keep them in chains and sell them off in auctions. We keep them as guests. Yes, they are sold, and yes it’s against their will most of the time, but they are fed and taken care of. Hardly ever are they beat or tortured, or starved. I had one once. Her name was Sara. Lovely girl, she had the prettiest golden hair. She was my friend. We grew quite fond of each other.”
“So, what happened then?” I inquired, genuinely curious.
“She died. A curse gone awry… it was an accident, and a tragic one at that. Since then I haven’t had anymore humans around, I manage my magic by myself.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Oh, about…forty years ago?”
“How old are you?” I eyed him. He looked no older than 25, but that didn’t mean anything. His mother looked to be in her twenties, too, and I knew she was ancient.
He smiled. “You don’t want to know.”
“Probably not,” I agreed, glancing down at my hands.
Chewing on my lip, I looked back over at him. “Can I do magic? I mean…like the stuff you do?”
“Of course you can. It just takes practice.”
“Could you teach me?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
A slight smile tugged at my lips. I felt more powerful knowing I was capable of those sorts of things.
“I suppose I should leave you to finish your bath. I shall wait outside.” He slid off the counter, putting out his cigarette in the sink.
“Thank you,” I replied.
“Don’t take too long,” He remarked, walking over to the door. “We have much to go over.”