Author's Note:
Hey lovely readers!
I missed you all.. so damn much!
If you're one of those who are following me, you'd know I had some issues going on that made me unable to write anything. I'm so sorry that you guys had to wait for more than a month for the next update. I'm sorry, I really am.
I wouldn't give up on 'Stone Cold.' It means so much to me and so do all of you.
I read all of your comments and messages and trust me, you guys proved to be such a great support for me.
I love you all.
Enjoy!
An involuntary urge tugged her hand towards the glowing pendant, motioning her to clutch it in between her thumb and index finger. Before she knew what she was doing, her digits already had the platinum object in her feebile grasp. Her fingers traced every part of the delicately carved piece, following the trail left after the thorny rose.
'It's beautiful,' The metal resembled its owner in every aspect, cold yet extremely breathtaking, 'How did Ruth get a hold of this?'
She was still immersed in examining the mysterious pendant when out of the blue, two hands gripped her shoulder, rotating her to trap her between a wall and a big figure. A heavy coat was draped over her shoulders in the process, hiding her exposed torso behind the rich leather. It all happened so fast that she had little time to comprehend her situation.
"Wha-" A loud clattering sound echoed around the empty hallway, silencing her immediately.
'There's someone here.' Her hands clutched Ares' loose shirt, wrinkling it in the process.
"M-my L-lord.." The voice sounded all too familiar.
Peeking from behind Ares' tall built, she found a wide eyed Henry staring back at them with his jaw hanging low to the floor. White rice were scattered on the ground, near his feet, along with a mud bowl broken into several pieces.
"Why are you here, Henricus?" Ares' serious tone made her realise that he only addressed Henry as 'Henricus' when he was annoyed due to some reason.
Unaware of Ares' question, Henry looked dazzed, as if his soul had already left his body at that point.
"Henricus!"
Ares' booming voice caused Henry to snap out of his dead land fantasy. His eyes blinked once, twice and then repeatedly to clear his head of any thoughts before finally coming back to life.
He casted a quick glance at Faith before quickly shifting his gaze back to Ares. His ears had turned into a dark shade of crimson, openly displaying his discomfort. He didn't look anything close to the man she had met before. He wasn't as composed as his future self at all. What she was seeing at the moment was the epitome of innocence, 'What is going through that boy's head?'
"F-f-food." She wanted to burst out laughing at his cute demeanour.
"Get someone to clean this up and get a room prepared for the lady."
Faith saw as Henry's brows wrinkled at his lord's unusual behaviour. His frown was a clear indication of his confusion laced with unwillingness but he did a great job at refraining himself from voicing his thoughts out loud.
'He's much more timid as compared to his future version.'
A loud cough broke her trance, causing her to shift her attention back to the man standing in front of her.
Ares had turned to face her, but he still stood in a way that blocked Henry's view of her undressed state. Their eyes met for a mere second before his eyes travelled down her body. He had covered her with his coat when he had sensed Henry coming down from the stairs yet she felt undeniably naked under his scorching gaze.
She felt her breathing hitch as his freezing hand touched a small part of her bare stomach, where his long coat formed a small slit. His freezing fingers traced a burning line on her warm blooded flesh making her lips quiver with the exotic feeling blooming in the pit of her belly,
'What is he doing?'
Before she could ask him about his actions, he placed his hand on her bare skin, just beneath her breasts. She barely suppressed a squeal from escaping her lips at his cold touch setting her insides on fire.
"You are warm."
"Uh?"
The haze around her head seemed to clear at his weird remark. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked closely at the dark expression hovering over his face. To her surprise, his eyes didn't have any hint of lust in them. Contrarily, they held a deep longing as they pierced her soul with their sheer intensity.
The look on his face, it was the same as when his fingers were grazing the wall she had been leaning against for some time. Desperation. Yearning.
A loud gulping sound arising from behind, forced them to tear their gazes away from each other. Her hands pulled the coat tightly to herself as she moved to the side to face the source of their disturbance.
A dumbfounded Henry stood there mumbling incoherent words with his eyes glued to the rice scattered on the floor.
"... doi, tre, patru,"
She had to strain her ears to listen clearly to his low whispers, "Is he counting the.. grains?"
"He does that when he gets nervous." She found Ares looking at Henry with an amused look across his face. His eyes shone brightly while a loop sided smile graced the edges of his soft lips. She was awestruck by the sight.
He appeared younger when he did that. He seemed alive.
"You look beautiful when you smile." She couldn't stop herself from saying it out loud.
His smile disappeared at her statement as he turned his head to look at her once again,
"Everyone looks beautiful when they smile, Faith."
"Then you should smile often."
"In future, do I not smile oftenly?"
"... You don't."
For some moments, he kept staring at her with a blank look.
"Despite your presence?"
She opened her mouth to utter a suitable reply to satiate his query, but the words remained trapped at the tip of her tongue. His question had left her speechless, 'How do I answer a question I don't know myself.'
Her knuckles turned white as her grip on the leather coat tightened. The blue green veins travelling haphazardly beneath her skin seemed to have become more visible with the action. Her eyes were roaming side to side in a failed attempt to divert his focus away from herself.
"...nouazecisiunu, nouazecisidoi, nouazecisitrei,.."
Henry was still busy counting the strewn rice grains in the background. His voice echoing louder than before.
"Let me take you to the castle." Ares seemed to have sensed her discomfort.
He started walking towards the stairs, motioning her to follow after his footsteps. Standing in one place for a long time had numbed her legs. The cold didn't help her situation either. She had to make extra effort to keep up with his much longer strides, in order to not fall face first onto the stone floors.
As she dragged her legs, walking past by Henry, she saw him visibly flinch as his voice turned squeaky,
".. n-nouazecisiopt, NOUAZECISINOUA!"
'He's just like a cute little boy.' She casted a quick glance at the rigid frame of the said man before hurriedly walking up the stairs, following Ares silently.
"Have you met Henry before?"
Ares' voice soon accompanied the sounds of their padding footsteps making contact with the stone stairs.
"Uh.. yes."
He didn't say anything for a whole minute, making her wonder whether she had said something she shouldn't have.
She sighed as the night sky came in her view, becoming clearer and clearer with every step she took out of the dungeons. Halting briefly on the last step, her gaze went up for a moment to admire the twinkling stars accompanying the full moon on its lone voyage. The inky curtain of night appeared darker without pollution tainting its blackness, allowing the celestial bodies to glow brightly in contrast.
Her admiration came to an end when she detected a change in the air. Someone was standing right behind her.
"Faith."
"Ah!"
She almost fell down the stairs before a strong arm gripped her around the waist, slamming her to a hard chest.
Her wide eyes met Ares' amused emeralds, making her huff with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.
"You always do this." Her tone was laced with accusation.
"Have I done this before, milady?" His raised eyebrows made him appear genuinely curious.
"You.. have."
"What else have I done?"
"Uh.."
For the umpteenth time in the same night, she didn't know how to answer his question. Those emeralds held too much curiosity for their own good.
Unable to hold his gaze any longer, she lowered her eyes, staring at the dangling threads of his renaissance shirt. Its interlacing pattern gave a subtle peek of his well defined chest through the small gaps it produced. She hadn't paid much attention to his attire before, but now looking at him cladded in those ancient clothes, he seemed unfamiliarly familiar.
Her eyes shifted from his strong chest to his broad shoulders. The ruffled sleeve were giving them an even broader apperance. The shirt wasn't tight-fitting yet it highlighted the outlines of his well built appearance perfectly. Around his waist, he wore black breeches, tight around the thighs but loose around the ankles.
"Where are you looking, regina mea?" His voice made her come back to reality, stopping her exploration midway.
She looked up to find a corner of his mouth lifted up into a smirk, 'What is he- OH MY GOD! he thinks I was staring at his junk!'
"No, No, I wasn't looking there! I was staring at your... breeches."
"Much of a muchness." The smirk on his face had turned into a full blown smile by now, captivating her once again by his bewitching visage.
To her dismay, his smile faltered as soon as he noticed her eyes fixated on his rich lips. Her stillness had managed to gain his attention. His eyes, on their own accord, narrowed onto her plump lips before shifting back to the beautiful storms caught in her startled gaze.
"Faith." His voice sounded breathless, causing her to feel nervous all of a sudden.
"Yes?" Surprisingly, her voice came out stable.
"Have I kissed you before?"
Her eyebrows furrowed at his unexpected question, "... Yes."
She could swear she saw his gaze turn pained at her affirmation of them having been intimate before, but it passed before she could confirm it for sure. A blank look had replaced it by now, making her feel guilty for unknown reasons.
"Oh." He gave her a brief smile that didn't reach his eyes.
All traces of mischief were gone from his demeanour as he turned around, wasting no time in moving forwards.
'Did I do something wrong?' Wrinkles appeared on her forehead as she watched him trotting away without saying any other word.
He was cold himself yet his presence provided her with a warmth she could never describe with words.
Cold night breeze hit her exposed cheeks, making her clench her teeth together. The moonlight laid a silver carpet in their dingy path as they both trudged wordlessly in a row, relishing each other's presence. The heavenly bodies were busy scattering their unearthly charms on the inky canvas of nighy yet her eyes stayed glued to the Fomalhaut walking solitarily in front of her.
~*~
She had seen that castle many a time, in diverse kinds of conditions. Burnt, ruined, abandoned and modernly renovated, yet nothing could compare it to the thing she was seeing at the moment.
The mideval castle looked as though something out of a story book had come to life. Most parts of the castle resembled to what she had seen in the future world, but the small details establishing a blurred boundary between its origin and current position made a huge difference.
The sconces had torches inserted into them instead of modern day appliances. Candle lights adorned the crystal chandeliers instead of electrical bulbs, bathing the castle in a dim yellowish glow. Heavy drapes still covered the large windows, giving the castle an even eerie look than before.
As she reached the top of the stairs, she lifted her head up, whirling around in a three sixty degree angle, taking in every detail till her eyes stopped their course on the manor's lord. He trudged with an unearhtly grace, standing out amongst the shadows crawling in every corner of the manor. His silence only added more allure to his mysterious aura.
The castle was definitely made by keeping every least bit of its mysterious lord in mind. Both appeared beguiling, blending together, sharing each other's solitude.
She realised he had stopped walking, standing still in the middle of the hallway.
"Are you coming, Faith?" He stood with his back to her as he asked the question.
'He's waiting for me.' She realised she had stopped walking herself, too lost in observing the manor and its owner.
"Uh.. sorry."
Her low mumble was accompanied by the light tapping of her feet making contact with the floorboards. Her eyes remained trained on his broad back as she watched him continue to stroll leisurely through the quite hallways, allowing her to match her hurried footsteps with his lazy ones.
She expected him to increase his speed once she reached near him but he maintained his slow pace, as if he wanted to sync his steps with her, as if he wanted to remain by her side. The thought made her heart pump even faster than before, 'Why is this Ares so willing to be with me but the one I met before was too averse to the idea..?'
"Come."
Immersed in her deep thoughts, she had failed to pay attention to her surroundings, but his voice brought her back to reality once again, prompting her to move her head in the direction he pointed.
Her eyes widened a small fraction as she found herself facing the giant mahogany doors that she knew all too well.
Crystal chandeliers hanging down the ceiling casted a dull orange glow throughout the room. A crimson velvet carpet touched the sole of her shoes as she stepped inside the room to take a better look at the interior. It was bare for the most part except for a colossal throne resting in the middle of a raised platform. Much different from the current throne he possessed.
Curiosity took the better of her as she slowly approached the giant windows located behind his throne. Curtains were drawn away from the glass windows, allowing her to see the town beneath the hill, appearing etheral in the form of numerous twinkling lanterns. She gingerly raised a hand to place it on the cool glass surface, 'This is the lost lord's manor.'
From her peripheral vision, she saw another hand appear in her field. The much larger hand rested next to hers on the tranparent glass before she felt his coldness seeping through her skin from behind. Her eyes raised involuntarily to meet his gaze through the glass window before she averted them hastily.
"I was exiled.. from Rome."
The revelation caught her off guard. Abruptly, She spun her head to the side, looking at the visible veins under the pale skin of his neck.
He continued to face forwards as he uttered his next words, "Along with Henricus, I travelled around the world in search of a niche till I got entangled with Europe. I was granted this land against my wishes. A fertile land full of hooligans. King's people thought I, as a foreigner, will not be able to gain their trust or handle this land's affairs," He paused to look down into her eyes,
"But I was a prince once. A weakling, but nonetheless a prince. My father used to say that I was born to lead people out of their miseries."
She could detect raw pain burning in his eyes at that moment, 'Why was he exiled...?'
He probably sensed her question before it left her mouth as he swiftly changed the topic,
"Look, Faith." His finger pointed towards the town nestled between the hills.
"They were afraid to light lanterns at night due to the fear of being discovered and looted, or worse... murdered," She held her breath watching him talk about the town proudly, "But this is not the case anymore. There's a lantern in every house, now."
Anyone who heard him talk could see how much he adored his manor and its people. A vampire taking care of a bunch of humans. An anomaly in itself.
'These people.. they're going to betray him. Burn him alive in here.'
The thought reminded her of the night she visited this castle for the first time. The night she saw his miserable state.
Breaking out of his half embrace, she went to the wall behind the throne. Her teeth bit into the soft flesh of her bottom lip as her eyes started roaming over the large portrait hanging from the wall,
"How did I miss this..."
"Have you seen this before, Faith?"
"I.. have."
It was his portrait, the one that seemed to have called out to her when she first visited this abandoned castle. She casted a quick glance at the man standing beside her before shifting it back to the portrait. It was mesmerising but It hardly did justice to his real features.
Her eyes froze at the initials written at the right bottom side of the portrait, "A.K."
"Did you paint this?" Her voice came out as a soft whisper as her eyes refused to move away from his skillfully painted self.
"I did."
Her fingers reached out to carefully touch his delicately stroked initials, "I didn't know you painted."
A shadow hovered over her crouched figure, urging her to move her gaze to the man leaning beside the portrait, painting a more etheral version of her previous choice of interest.
"Books and colours have been my oldest companions..." He seemed to be in some thought, "Do I not paint in the future anymore?"
"I..."
In an attempt to avoid his gaze, her eyes once again moved back to his painted figure. That's when it finally caught her attention.
Behind his emotionless frame gracing the magnificent throne, there was no door in the background. The door that had initially guided her to the underlying secret hiding beneath that very portrait. It had led her to his stone cold statue.
She immediately shifted her gaze to the dark lord leaning against the wall,
"T-there is a d-door behind this portrait."
She watched as his eyes turned to slits at her nervous tone, yet his voice gave no emotion away, "There is. Have you been to the tunnels, too?"
She couldn't tell him about how she found him chained, buried beneath the dust of centuries,
"Your portrait had a door in its background."
"What is the point if I expose it myself, on the very canvas whose actual purpose was to hide it in the first place?" He stared at her with a raised eyebrow making her question her own senses. She didn't know how to satiate his query. Her lips remained sealed as his hardened eyes turned soft gradually.
"I envy myself, the one that has a bond with you. What will I not give to know what is going through your head at the moment."
Their roles seemed to have been reversed. This time he was the one feeling helpless, probing for answers she couldn't bring herself to provide.
'How do I tell you that you were betrayed by your own town? You forgave them for killing your... beloved, but they still punished you for being their saviour.'
Her numbing legs protested to bear her weight as she finally stood up from her crouched position, "What secret do you hide behind that door?"
His expressions told her clearly that he understood her intentions behind evading the topic, clearly.
She felt a sudden whoosh of air passing by her and before she could register anything else, two arms had already snaked around her waist from behind. Her hands clutched his dangling coat tightly to her feebile figure as he trailed his nose along her exposed neck. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears and she was sure he could clearly feel her pulse throbbing just an inch away from his mouth, too.
'What is he doing?' The position appeared all too familiar to her.
"Do you really want to know what I hide behind that wall?" His cold breath tingled her earlobe as he teased her with every word he spoke.
She could hardly utter a 'yes' through the haze he created around her with his sensual presence.
A gasp escaped through her surprised lips just as he touched the lower surface of her chin with his index finger, turning her head to the side, such that she was faced with his hooded gaze staring down at her. His eyes shifted between shades of emerald and scarlet, holding her captive to his beguiling gaze.
She was too fixated on his eyes that she missed his lips move as they uttered his next words,
".... That place, is where I feed on blood."
Just as his words registered inside her mind, the mahogany doors opened with a loud creak, causing her to snap her neck in its direction.
For the second time in the same night, her eyes once again fell upon a flabbergasted Henry, struggling to utter some coherent words. She hurriedly put some distance between her and the dark lord just as she heard Henry finally speak something understandable to her ears.
"M-m-milord."
"Yes, Henricus Christensen?" If looks could kill, Henricus Christensen would have evaporated into steam at the spot.
"M-milady's room is ready."
A feeling of deja vu hit her in waves, reminding her of the incident where Henry interrupted them, back when she came to this castle impulsively. He seemed so stoic at that time, totally opposite to what was greeting her at that moment. Her eyes narrowed instinctively as she noticed a great detail she had missed down in the dungeons.
Henricus did not have a deathly pale complexion nor did his eyes contain any red tinge in them. He appeared normal, too normal to be considered something unnatural. Realisation dawned on her as only one thing kept circulating inside her head,
'He is still a human.'