Page 21 of My Master
“And I never understood why the Master chose you as a favorite.” She smiled, the blood on her lips dripping down her chin. She made no move to wipe it off, even as it dripped onto the front of her clothes.
Isis wouldn’t exactly call them clothes, it looked more like a clear white mosquito net draped around her body and tied with fancy rope. Despite her horrid dress, the vampire was beautiful, as vampires were supposed to be. She was tall and had curves just as full as Isis’s were and when she spoke, a slight Russian accent slipped through.
Isis shrugged. “I’ve been asking myself the same question for years…”
“Hello, Isis.” The way she said this—it was like a secret caress and a threat all at the same time.
“Hello, Demetria.”
Demetria licked her lips, the blood staining her teeth a pale pink color, and smiled devilishly. “I would have been here sooner,” she said, “but I wanted to stop by for a snack on the way and my dinner was being difficult.” She crossed the room without further preamble to the closet and, throwing the double doors open, she began pulling out clothes at random, throwing them to the floor carelessly behind her.
“Still working for Caesareon, I see. What happened? Waitresses get better pay than this, you know.” Isis leaned her lower back against the edge of the table, gripping the ends to keep herself steady. The comment made Demetria go stiff. She turned around, one side of her lip pulled up to her gums in a snarl.
“TheMaster,” she emphasized, “needs someone trustworthy, and since you obviously do not care for the honor that has been done onto you, the Master has chosen me as his second in command.” She smiled at this last part, her eyes going wide with an eerie glow, as if the statement were supposed to impress Isis or—god forbid—make her jealous. She shrugged.
“If you’re his second in command, then why am I here?” Isis asked. She knew that she was only waving a piece of raw meat in front of a starving wild tiger, but she couldn’t help herself. Even after years, Demetria still pissed her off. Besides, she knew that Caesareon had lied to Demetria, only to keep her happy and focused by making her his second in command. That job had always belonged to Isis—though the world knew she didn’t want it—and he had tried filling her place while she was gone. Demetria, being his second favorite, seemed like the perfect choice, but now that Isis was back and under his control, he could have thrown her away like yesterday’s garbage.
“The Master says he needs you in order to set an example among the troops.” She turned back to the closet and threw more clothes out. “He says it’s to show them that they shouldn’t ever run away from him, because if they do, hewillfind them. What’s his is his. He plans to execute you in front of them, also to set an example.”
Isis raised a questioning brow, though Demetria couldn’t see it, and then snorted—loudly. “Is that the bullshit he’s feeding you? Telling you that I’m some sort of child thatmisbehavedand now I get a timeout? You’re an idiot—”
Demetria turned around and parted her lips, hissing at Isis in that predatory way that made her look everything like the vampire she was—a classical vampire—the kind that scared children at night. “The Mastertold me so!” she snarled. “Itmustbe true! And I won’t have you taint his words with your lies!”
“Oh, please, Demetria, youknowme, and you know I’ve never told anything but the truth. Caesareon is lying, he’susingyou, and once he’s done with you he’ll throw you to the wolves. He’s not going to have me executed in front of everyone; he needs me to rule his armies.Youwere never his second in command,I was.” Isis realized she was gripping the edge of the table with death-like force, almost enough to break it off, so she loosened her grip and watched Demetria’s reaction.
Demetria laughed long and loud and it made Isis stare at her questioningly. “Isis, but you are a fool,” she said. “You always thought that you knew just what the Master was thinking, always thought that he was telling you the truth.” Isis blinked at her. “But you will believe anything he says, won’t you? You’re the idiot—not me. I’m not the one he lied to—” She smiled. “It was you.” She threw something at Isis’s feet—she didn’t look down to see what it was, she was staring at Demetria in the face—then closed the closet doors behind her. “Make sure you wear that tonight,” she said. “The Master wants you to look pretty for your execution.” And she walked out of the room, locking the door behind her, only her laughter echoing against the dirt walls of the room.
Swallowing the fear in her throat, Isis bent down and picked up what Demetria had thrown at her. It was a dress. Egyptian wear; a nice white cloth that tied around the waist, embroidered in black and gold silk around the hemlines. There was a matching top, too, that looked more like a bra than anything else. Isis sighed in frustration. For some reason, Caesareon liked to remind her of her past life, as if she could ever forget. She assumed it was his way of telling her that he was in control here, and not her. That he could do anything to her, anything that he wanted and there was not a thing she could do about it.
Blinking back the tears that threatened, Isis began to dress, trying to ignore the memories nagging at the back of her brain…
* * *
“You are an excellent warrior.”Caesareon stroked her long hair, trailing his long fingernails against her bare skin. She stared blankly ahead, without responding. He smiled and planted a kiss against her back. His touch was like acid to her, eating away at her flesh, causing it to sizzle with unpleasantness.
“It is only because of your excellent training, Master.” The words burned, coming out of her throat, but she knew they were necessary. And it’s not like it was a lie. His training had turned her into an excellent warrior, an excellent killer.
“I knew you would excel, I knew from the first moment I saw you that you would not fail me.” His fingers reached the necklace around her throat and he fiddled with the stones. “Would you like to know where I got this?” he asked. Isis only nodded. “I made it.” There must have been disbelief in her eyes because Caesareon laughed and stroked her cheek with his finger. “Do you not believe me capable?”
“You do not seem to be the jewelry making type,” she muttered.
But she knew he was telling the truth. His fingers were long and skinny, almost fragile looking, that moved delicately when he spoke or held a knife, trying to teach her the ways of a vampire and a warrior.
“They’re made of bone,” he said. “The bones of a human and the bones of a vampire.” He said this so casually, like it was a normal conversation and he was merely commenting upon the weather. “It’s meant as a symbol,” he continued. “Made by me, with bones and onyx and gold; it is strong, like its master, and rich like him as well. The bones represent what I am capable of, that no one, no human nor vampire, is above me.”
“So why did you give this to me?” She reached for it, clutching it in her fists, her voice shaking. “If it is meant as a symbol for you, then shouldn’t you wear it?”
He chuckled. “No, dear Isis, no, this necklace is also a symbol of what you mean to me. You are my favored, it is only logical that my symbol of power lies upon the neck of his favorite warrior. So that everyone may know, that you are mine, forever mine…”
“What about me, my Master?” A squeaky voice sounded from the shadows. They both turned as a figure stepped out of the darkness. They knew she had been there, of course, their senses were at high alert. She was bare from head to toe, her hands clutched together in a praying fashion. Her eyes were wide and pleading and red—always red.
“What about you, Demetria?” Caesareon asked, raising one of his dark eyebrows, staring at her incredulously.
She walked closer then dropped to her knees in front of them, kissing Caesareon’s bare feet. “Am I not a favored one? Am I not important to you? Will I be yours forever like her?” She jerked her chin up, gesturing at Isis with venom.
“Stand, Demetria,” Caesareon commanded; his voice was no longer soft and excited, but held disgust at her behavior. She obeyed and stared at him silently, with tears in her eyes, falling down her face.
“You love no one but her, Master. We all try to pleasure you, to make you love us, and she defies your every wish, yet you love her so, why?” Sse begged.
