The Demon’s Bride

Esther was spending her night in silence when she heard a knock on her windows. As she knew her life was prone in danger every second she spent in the castle where there were three Demons, she cannot sleep without holding to her to her guard or lowering them. Though she heard the sound of the knock, it was not until morning that she dared to open the window to see what may have hit the glass to see the folded paper next to her window frame.

"This handwriting is similar to Thomas's..." whispered Esther to herself. But was it really Thomas's? She recalled during her feet entering the White Mansion of how thick the barrier was to prevent unwanted things to enter. She first noticed it when she passed by one of the corridor where she noticed a magic circle was carved on the ceiling. The Demon was crazy enough to put such a strong barrier that if a normal Demon was to enter they would be rip to pieces, then how was Thomas able to sent the letter?

As much as Esther like to believe this was a trap, the fact that this handwriting belong to Thomas and not to forget of the Dark Sorcerer Lord who possibly aided Thomas to sent her a letter which was a mix of threats and confirmation, the possibility that this letter came from the dark sorcerers were strong.

"However," Esther whispered to herself without completing the rest of her word. She left the side of the window where she had been standing at and left toward the fireplace, tearing the paper before letting it burn inside the cackling flame. 

At time a knock came on her room, Esther left to open the door, finding the head maid, Mila standing, "Miss, the Lady is waiting for your presence in the gallery."

"The gallery?" That was an odd place to be calling guest to, thought Esther. "Where is it?"

"It is on the third floor," answered Mila, obliging by a bow, "I will show you the way there, miss." And having no excuse to refuse as she didn't know where the room was, Esther followed the maid. 

Elise stood in front of the paintings. Now that she had heard of Ian's past, she saw of how many painting about him in the most subtle way. There was the painting of a white and black feathery wings, a painting of a large cliff with a widespread of greenery trees below the cliff and a waterfall to accompany it, but what stood out the most was the lonely blazing fire that took three quarters of the canvas with a black background. Though fire often symbolizes strength, power, and often time anger, she could only see loneliness and sadness in the fire.

There was no need to ask why he had painted the fire, thought Elise, it symbolizes his pain which he had to go through— the fire which led to is mother's death.

Elise raised her hand, touching the surface of the paint that have dried and looked at the painting's year finding it to be over six hundred years old. She could feel hatred, a very deep hatred in the painting after touching the dried brushstroke and she could close her eyes, seeing Ian taking up his brush with all his anger poured in it but as if not to forget he had painted the most tragic memory of his past.

"How lonely," whispered Elise to herself when a knock resounded. "Come in," she said and saw Esther enter the room with a smile. The room was still curtained thinly by a thin material of fabric, just enough to let the sun in but not entirely to expose the oil painting to the sun so the color won't change in contact with the sunlight.

"Elise!" Esther was quick to switch her gear into a wide smile and likewise, Elise who had learned how to act from the best person in the land offered the woman a smile despite feeling very cautious to her now. "What a beautiful room! Can I look around?"

"Please, I have come to call you here to have you see around the gallery," Elise answered, and Esther nodded, she watched how the person who claimed to be her sibling took her time perusing each painting. "It must be boring in the castle, there is not many entertainment here."

"That can't be, in the village there is not too much entertainment either. Mostly are gossips whispered by the women of the village, but then it is not my cup of tea to hear words about others," responded Esther.

Was it because Esther found gossiping to be a boring thing for her or maybe the woman just had no interest in gossips as she had other goal in mind by staying in the village, thought Elise and she leaned to the second possibility. "People tend to talk about things sometimes harmless and sometimes not for their enjoyment. It is a tacit agreement to take informations from the gossips only with grain of salt."

She then saw Esther striding closer toward her, takin her hands, "I don't know how much I should speak about this but Elise, I heard hat you met a terrible accident yesterday. Are you alright? It must be something that happened during the second test, isn't it?"

Asked with the question, Elise wondered if Esther doesn't have any involvement with the accident in the village.

If her guess was correct, Esther must be working with the dark sorcerers which mean at some point she must have heard of the plan.

"It was an illness that I have, a little of panic attack. Something that is not to great happen in the village," Elise handled the question well, showing only information she want Esther to know and kept the rest of her secret to herself, at the same time, she tried to fish answer from the woman as that was what she would try to confront today. "Dark sorcerers came and the village was under attack if not for Ian coming in the right time, I don't know what would happen to me."

"How terrible, thank Heaven that the Lord came in time," said Esther with genuine concern that was hard for Elise to see through it but she doesn't trust the woman's concern. "Angel must be in your side, thankfully. They do say angels stay with beings who are pure and always stay beside them in time of danger."

"Yes," answered Elise. In the past she trusted the saying that Angels always stood beside humans, protecting the in time of danger which now she learned was but the truth. Though if she should thank someone it won't be Hell of Heaven but Ian who is a Demon, he had been the one to protect her, "Ian always come in the right time to protect me." But then Elise saw Esther's expression sinking, her smile failing to appear, "What is wrong, Esther?"

"If you don't mind to hear my word, Elise. I know I am still a stranger to you. Trust me, I wish to be a sister to you like how we are by blood, and I wish to protect you but here we are separated and the year makes us astray. I am glad the things that I heard was not correct," said Esther, pulling her somewhere to the conversation.

Elise played by the woman's words in curiosity, "What things did you heard?"

"Not good thing, most of the things I heard is about the Lord..." the woman drawled, "of how evil he is and something like he is a Demon and whatnots," and Esther's bright blue eyes went to study Elise's expression, and Elise's brighter blue eyes settled on the woman after her words.