The Demon’s Bride

"You didn't." she confirmed the words he needed to see. Elise saw the Lord smiling happily as if he was delighted at how she confirmed his words.

Ian could tell that he was fascinated by hearing he was the painter, he had noticed that Elise had come to take a liking when it was paintings and he know knows the reason was because in her childhood she had been watching her uncle painting a portrait. The man had a sense, praised Ian in his mind.

Elise then saw him walked and finally took a step forward and when she saw him walk away to the red chair placed at the corner of the room, she ran away from the wooden easel that had become the source of her problem earlier. Not wanting to get closer and knocked it again. The wooden easel may not be at the fault but Elise found the object weary.

Her eyes casted away to the paintings inside the gallery and pulled her eyes at Ian, "Do you paint all of them, Master Ian?"

"I did. When I have free time I would come here. Most amusements wore down by times so I decided to frame them by my hands." She could somewhat understand Ian's words. There would be many times when she wish she could take the scene forever in her mind but forever would be impossible.

She found it amazing for Ian to be able to paint down to the smallest detail to make the portrait to live and she could feel herself immersed in the paintings and the vivid color he chose. "They are very beautiful." she praised and Elise was not sweetening her words. She found there were village, town, and sea.

Master Ian said he painted the scapes he wish to frame, would it mean he had come to all this places? There was a lot, too much places he had ventured that her fingers lost count when she tried to put a number to how many places Ian had went through the paintings.

"A high praise, aren't that?" He smiled, leaning back to his chair, he looked at the broom stick not to far from where Elise was.

"Uncle Russel would paint every day to practice his skills. He said that details are the hardest and the smallest to do but it makes the painting to be complete. This is amazing." she said, her eyes were sparkling. "Have you travelled all the way to every places in the painting?" she asked hum, her face turn to see how he was holding his chin while leaning on the chair in the position that reminded her of the many portraits of Master Ian that was placed on the corner.

"I did." He then stood up from his place and walked near her. Lifting his face to the largest wall where most paintings were placed, he asked her, "Which of the painting you like the most?"

Elise moved forward and took the paintings a good two minutes before choosing one, saying, "This. The village reminds me of home."

Ian took a look of the painting she chose. It was a painting of a green spread where there was villages near the place and shepherd playing with the lambs beneath a tree. A relaxing picture which had the effect to cool down Elise's pit-a-pat heart. "That's a good choice. This is a painting taken from the village in Marshforth. It's an old village that is no more in this world."

"No more?" Elise asked, repeating his words while turning her head at Ian.

"It was destroyed years ago, a fight with dark sorcerers broke here. It started because they failed at a black spell, leading a large mishap to happen in this very village." Elise frowned subtly. She didn't know Marshforth had a beautiful place like the one painted by Ian. It looked similar to the place where she was born but to know that the village had been destroyed, a feel of sadness cake to her regardless of the bright light and color palate that was chosen. "It happened roughly fifty years ago, a new village had been created in the place. The last time I travelled there, it had become better than this painting."

"That sounds better." Elise said, agreeing to his words.

Ian nod, his red eyes looking flat as he stared at the painting, she heard him spoke, "It take times for everything to move forward. For most people to move on from pain and take a step forward to change themselves." His words were spoken in a different tone and Elise could tell there was solicitude that make him felt distance even when he was only a step beside her.

He turned to her and smiled, "It makes you question what would happen to beings that couldn't be affected by time, isn't it?"

Elise saw how his voice suddenly turned sullen. Perhaps she was thinking of it too much because he was still smiling but she couldn't shake the feeling. "Are there beings not affected by time? Vampires and elves are also known for their long lifetime but they could die and they are affected by time." she said.

From what she know the longest mythical being who are unaffected by the shift of times were vampires and elves. But they could get old, meaning in the end they were also affected by it.

"Werewolves have a long lifetime too, falling little more than vampires if you compare them." Ian filled her in, he moved from the place where he stood and walk to the desk where there was a wilted rose placed in the vase of one of the tables inside the room. Elise saw him pulling the rose to his fingers, he played with the stem whilst walking back to her.

She then heard him say, "There are. Immortal beings that could live forever without being able to die, they were unable to." He grinned, "In the end the immortal being became alone, living in solitude and slowly loose what makes their soul, leaving them as a soulless being." He stopped his steps, and brushed his hair that was covering his red eyes. "They may do have what seems to be there but when it comes to emotions, they have nothing. That immortal being slowly lost his memories, leaving him with only emotions."

Was there a being that are immortal? Hearing Ian's words she found herself siding with the immortal being he was talking about. Solitude, not a good word for Elise who have always been alone, left by the families she love. "Emotions stays longer." Elise spoke to him and he lifted his chin to her with a smile.

"For a time it does, unexpectedly emotions could also disappear by time." he replied to her, to then ask, "Out of all emotions what do you think stays longer?" He gave her a piece of question for her to answer.

"Is it hatred?" she asked him, she had heard and remembered that most people were said to bring grudges to their deaths.

"That's one of it but actually, they are the weakest one. Hatred is easily forgotten when time passes." Ian walked to the side where she was standing, where the light which came form the curtain she had pulled. The light colored his face, her eyes that stared at him found how his smile had turned smelled but genuine. "Sadness and happiness, they too last short. They are the second and third to be forgotten."

The air turned dainty and fragile, Elise found herself thinking his question, then she finally came to ask, "What about love?" she looked up at him who looked down on the wilted flower. It looked brown and crisp. From the form, it was fragile that if a wind blow over the rose, it would turn to small dusts. The rose's petals were missing some and there was a trace that it had been reduced to dust by the time. She wondered how long have the rose been in this room to be in the state?

"No one knows." he replied to her question.

She looked up and questioned, "No one knows?" she asked him. Finding his answer weird because she thought Master Ian would know the answer.

Elise's eyes fell on him before it landed on the wilted rose. For time it looked no different than the other wilted flowers. Until she saw how the brown color suddenly was filled with colors, the dusty green stem had revived the color it had lost too, bringing it to stand up and straight. The petals of the rose turn, the brown color turning to the beautiful red rose right in front of her eyes.

Elise's surprised eyes shifted back to Ian, to hear him says, "Because the immortal being never feel love."