Chapter 7 #2
“Yes?” she called, feeling a little self-conscious now that she had to confront the truth of what she had done in the light of morning.
Caspian opened the door. “Good. You’re awake. May I join you?”
“Ah—Yes.” Heat rose up her neck as she fumbled for words. “Sorry for making you sit at the front of the carriage all night. Did you sleep?”
He sat next to her. She edged a bit further away from him, suddenly self-conscious in the light of the morning.
“No, but I am not bothered.”
“Ah.” She smoothed the blanket awkwardly over her lap.
“We will arrive at an inn soon. You may freshen up there before we continue our journey.”
“Oh, good. Thank you.” Caspian had thought of everything, it seemed.
They sat in silence for a moment, soon interrupted by her stomach grumbling loudly.
Her gaze dropped to her lap, and she smiled abashedly. “Oh. Er. Sorry.”
Caspian cleared his throat loudly and rapped on the door.
A strange man’s head appeared in her window. The man wore a dark hood that covered the top half of his face. She glanced warily at Caspian, the irony not lost on her that she was looking to a demon to save her.
The cloaked man wordlessly shoved a basket of food at her and a waterskin that sloshed as he handed it over. It was impossible to tell if the visitor was human, or if he had the same unsettling silver eyes as Caspian.
"Excuse me?" she asked delicately, waiting for the man to introduce himself.
He glanced at her, and she caught a glimpse of his eyes. Pure darkness filled them from edge to edge—with no whites, as if his pupils had devoured his eyes entirely.
These were demon eyes. Fathomless pools of black that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, like twin portals to the Seven Hells.
“Hey, honey, how you doing?” His voice was charismatic and easygoing, entirely at odds with his frightening appearance, but it did little to allay her fear.
Words escaped her, and her eyes widened in horror. Even Caspian’s eyes were not so monstrous.
“Asmodeus, nice to meet ’cha.” The man extended a hand.
His eyes. She couldn’t get over his eyes. The hood of his cloak slipped, revealing thumb-sized dark horns sticking out of his forehead.
Demon.
Every fiber of her being screamed, telling her to run.
She refused his hand, not caring that she was being rude.
The demon’s features sagged, crestfallen. The demon turned to leave, and she noticed that his back looked strangely hunched and misshapen. The demon’s footsteps receded, presumably to return to the front of the carriage.
Was he a hunchback? How unfortunate. He wasn’t unattractive from what she had seen of his face. Except for his horns and his eyes. Those she could have definitely done without.
“My second-in-command, Asmodeus.”
She held a hand over her chest, trying to overcome her fright. “A friend of yours?”
“Unfortunately,” he said. “Eat, it’s not poisoned.”
She opened the basket and found some cheese and dates inside. “Do you want any?” she asked with a smile, thinking the two of them might share.
“I cannot eat mortal food.”
“Really?” She tilted her head to the side. “What happens when you do?”
Caspian paused, and when he spoke, his words were dark, “Demons are not beings of this earth. We must drink blood to survive in this realm, or else we will start to fade. Mortal food tastes like nothing and turns to ash in our mouths.”
***
Over the course of their journey back to Briarton, Caspian proved to be both generous and occasionally considerate, which did a little to soothe the uncomfortable feeling in her gut that she had made a terrible mistake.
Caspian was not kind or pleasant to be around.
He often appeared surly, spending most of his time in brooding silence.
However, he made sure they stopped several times a day for her to eat and relieve herself at roadside inns, and ensured that she was given the option of sleeping in a bed at an inn, or stopping to bathe if she wanted.
She often didn’t, choosing to sleep in the carriage in an effort to reach Briarton before her parents did.
Before she knew it, the Ashcroft manor came into view, with its white marble pillars and gardens of pink and white flowers. She watched a small green hummingbird zip happily past her window, the sight wrenching her heart.
She would miss this place.
Caspian turned to her. “We have travelled quickly to arrive before your parents. You wanted to get some of your things, yes?”
“Yes,” she said, eyeing her parents' manor sheepishly.
Caspian helped her out of the carriage, and she strode to the front doors, trying to appear confident in what she was doing.
A guard emerged out of the manor, presumably having seen the strange carriage in the drive.
The guard started after seeing her without her mother and father, and in the company of strange men.
“Lady Elizabeth.” The guard glared daggers at Caspian and Asmodeus, who both stood just behind her. “Where are Lord and Lady Ashcroft?”
She hesitated, and Caspian held out a hand. “I will handle this,” he said smoothly, striding in front of her.
He stared at the guard, his gaze intense and unblinking.
“You’re feeling tired,” he said, his words soft.
The guard furrowed his brow for a moment.
His eyes began to look dull. “Lady Elizabeth will be well cared for; her parents have been alerted to her leaving with me, and they are fine with it.” The guard’s brow smoothed a little.
“You needn’t even remember you saw us. Your post will not be in danger. ”
Just as soon as the guard’s gaze relaxed and became heavy lidded, he jerked awake, and his brow furrowed again. “Wait, who are you?”
Caspian cursed and muttered a strange word under his breath.
The guard’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he slumped like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
The other demon caught the guard and safely lowered him to the ground.
“What in the Seven Hells did you do to him?” she whispered.
Caspian grimaced. “I had no choice. He was irritatingly strong-willed. Demons have powers of suggestion, among other things, but they are not limitless.”
“What?” she asked weakly, her mind struggling to make sense of his casual admission. Powers of suggestion? Her gaze darted between Caspian and the retreating guard as the implications slowly began to take shape. “You ... you did something to his mind?”
“Magic. I rendered him unconscious using magic.” Caspian nodded towards the doors, bidding her to go first.
She pushed open the door, feeling like a traitor to her name with her hands on the heavy oak, and slipped inside. She turned and saw that Caspian and Asmodeus were still outside.
“Come in already,” she hissed. “I don’t want anyone to see.”
The demons glanced at one another, then followed her inside.
Elizabeth ran up the staircase to her chamber and began shoving things in trunks and tossing things into a large pile on her bed.
“Are you sure you need all of this?” Caspian asked, raising an eyebrow at the size of the growing pile.
“Yes!” she huffed. “I won’t come with you if I can’t bring some of my own things.” She hurriedly took clothes from her closet and tossed them into the trunks.
She took jewellery and gowns, taking care to pack the expensive ones that might be easy to sell if everything went wrong. She was no fool and knew that once she left here, she would be renounced from her family name, and there would be no coming back.
Caspian crossed his arms as she carefully folded a gown into a trunk. “This is taking too long.” His voice was laced with impatience. “Put everything you want to bring on the bed and set the trunks open on the ground.”
Thinking that it was an odd request, she obliged. Rummaging in her closet for a few extra things, she placed it all in an enormous pile on the bed.
After some hesitation, she placed some of her favourite books into a large pile.
They were heavy, and completely impractical to bring, but she couldn’t stomach the idea of leaving them all behind.
Pursing her lips, she surveyed the ones she had laid out, adding a few books to the pile, removing a couple and then surveying her shelves once more.
Eventually, she had a pile of about twenty books she wanted to take with her. Favourites that were too precious to her to be discarded.
With a last fond look at her bookshelves, and her reading chair by the fireplace, she wrenched her gaze away. A few favourites were all she could afford to bring, and even those would likely be heavy and cumbersome, taking up far too much room as it was.
“Finished?” Caspian prompted.
She placed the last book she intended to bring on the pile, and chewed her lip. Scanning the pile, she nodded once.
Caspian peered at her chosen items, his gaze narrowing. “The blue and silver dress that I first saw you in. I don’t see it here.”
She looked at him in confusion. “Oh. It’s a ballgown and not exactly practical. I hadn’t planned on bringing it.”
“I would like you to,” he said simply.
“Oh. Sure.” She rummaged through her closet once more. Gently placing the silvery blue ball gown on the enormous pile, she smiled and glanced at him. “Done.”
The demon surveyed the pile of clothes on the bed, his expression unreadable.
“Váless.”
The word was in no language she had ever heard of. She watched in awe as the dresses and jewels rose off the bed, seemingly of their own volition, and flew into trunks, neatly folding themselves in.
Elizabeth gave a sharp intake of breath. Magic.
“Lós.”
The trunks slammed shut.
He snapped his fingers and murmured another word she didn’t catch. The trunks gently rose in the air. Her eyes widened.
She swallowed, hoping none of the servants would run into her and the levitating trunks.
“Shall we?” Caspian gestured for her to lead the way once more.
She led them out of the manor, haste nipping at her heels, and by some stroke of luck, they didn’t run into anyone.