Corruption of the Rose

by S. J. Sanders

  A pair of arms hauled him to his feet, and Gnaval’s face came into view as he leaned forward around Saris. The male glanced at him in concern.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Saris pulled Rose tighter against him, his fingers feeling out the strong flutter of her pulse. A relieved smile tugged at his lips and he nodded.

  “Yes. I believe so. We both are.”

  Chapter 18

  Rose stretched carefully, aware of a heavy presence pressed against her back. The bed she lay on felt unfamiliar, and the warm scent of male filled her nose. Not just any male… Saris.

  His soft fur brushed her skin as she moved against him, wiggling back into his embrace. His arms tightened around her and his muzzle burrowed deeper against her neck with a grunt. Rose turned around in his arms until she was facing him, her head angled up as he tucked his muzzle down, his yellow eyes glowing softly at her in the low light of the strange bedroom. A short distance away she could make out the shadowy form of her plant on a nearby table. Clearly Saris was not expecting her to return to the workroom.

  “Something feels different,” she murmured. “Something inside me has changed.”

  He didn’t say anything. He just regarded her silently as she examined herself. She didn’t look any different. She just felt different. As if something clicked into place.

  Shouldn’t she feel at peace and enlightened? The Masters certainly appeared that way.

  She didn’t feel any internal conflict, but she didn’t feel particularly peaceful or serene. There was just a calm that she knew could dissolve easily into a storm and an alertness that accompanied her unnatural hungers and yearnings… But for once, it didn’t cause any concern for her. Everything that had seemed so different from what had been considered acceptable within her training, and had agitated her with that awareness, had settled completely. All that remained was calm acceptance.

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “This wasn’t how I expected it to be.”

  A sharp grin stretched across his face, but she shook her head in confusion.

  “I was certain that this was something that took a lifetime to complete. Or at least a number of years.”

  He shrugged without concern or interest in the expected time frame. “Everyone progresses through the various steps at different rates. Calcination and dissolution can be harder on some mages because they cling strongly to what they think they know. Being on the mountain here forces you out of it far more, as you are forced to confront the darkness of this place and your own darkness within you. That conflict always breaks us down to our truest selves… and the greater the conflict, the stronger the impact is.”

  “But dangerous,” she muttered, acknowledging the one thing that he had told her from the start, her thoughts returning to the skulls. “Is that why you never remove the remains of the failed mages from the workroom—so that they would serve as a reminder?”

  Saris’s brow dipped as he considered her words. “Yes and no. The reminder of their presence was a reminder of my failings as well as a reminder to other mages. It felt disrespectful to move them from their place of slumber until Darthar’s heir took control of the castle. Although I lead the lupi, send out my elemental spirits to work on my behalf, and safeguard the castle—and even take control of you in certain ways,” he rumbled with a dark smile, “the castle itself is not mine or within my authority.”

  “It’s a bit morbid,” she observed.

  “It is only what remains after death,” he countered. “If I had painted them and hung them as decoration to adorn their walls, that may have exceeded good taste and what is respectful.” He cocked his head, in thought. “Although it is possible that the mages might have enjoyed the idea of staring down for all eternity upon the mage who takes residence.”

  Rose turned her face into his pectoral, muffling her laughter. “Please do not put them on the walls. I do not want them to be staring down at me.”

  “Are you certain? They have been watching you while you sleep the entire time you’ve been housed in the workroom,” he replied, his smile widening wickedly. “If you are going to be in my bed, perhaps it will make you more at home…”

  She snorted and rolled away from him, flinging the blanket off of her and into his face. “I think not. Besides, who says I will be staying in your bed?” she challenged.

  He drew the blanket down, his eyes burning brighter at her as his muscles tensed like an animal preparing to pounce. “And just where would you be?” he asked, his voice stirring the air in a soft caress.

  She didn’t trust that tone of voice. It made her go still, some sort of prey instinct kicking in as she stared back at him. A scowl slowly pulled at her face. No… she wasn’t prey. She was wary, but she wouldn’t identify it as prey. She relaxed her muscles slowly but continued to regard him with suspicion. She could control her own reactions and let the wariness be present without attempting to block it out, but she didn’t trust him further than she could toss him at that moment.

  “If I’m no longer to be chained in the workroom, a bedroom of my own would be nice,” she answered carefully.

  Saris reached forward, his hand sliding over her neck. A startled breath drew into her lungs at the contact. She hadn’t even noticed the absent weight of the collar. He had removed it. She trembled slightly, irrationally feeling abandoned that she no longer wore any sign of his dominance.

  “You removed it,” she murmured.

  His ears perked toward her, head tilting as he regarded her.

  “You are unhappy about this?”

  She shook her head. “Not unhappy, exactly. It just feels like something is missing… Why did you remove it?”

  “Because you no longer require it. You are no longer ruled by anyone but yourself.”

  The answer was that simple. It was not because he had tired of her, nor that he was in any way angry with her, or any other reason. It was merely because she no longer required its presence reminding her of her lack of control and submission to his will as he forced her to confront her own nature.

  Rose licked her lips, studying his quiet expression.

  “What if I liked it? Not to wear all the time,” she hastily added. Being led around the castle at all times on a leash was not her idea of a good time if it could be avoided, but she wouldn’t ignore her desire to cede all control to him in their intimate moments. “But when we are alone together, seeking pleasure, I like it.”

  A knowing look lit his face, and he nodded, the corner of his mouth curling. He reached forward, his fingers curling around her neck as his thumb pressed firmly against her throat.

  “This next step is no easier,” he murmured. “You need to rise to your true self. This has even more importance in the work that you will do here, because this is the foundation for whether or not you will succeed. For this reason, you must begin to wrest control of the mountain. The lupi will not just follow you because I say so.”

  “How many have come this far among the mages whose remains linger here?” she asked quietly.

  “Two-thirds,” he answered.

  “And how many have progressed beyond this stage?”

  “None.”

  Her lips parted, an unspoken fear settling into her bones. She did not speak it to feel it acutely, to be aware of its presence as it twisted within her. Saris pushed himself up to a fully seated position and scooted nearer, his hand threading through her hair.

  “Much is demanded of a mage who seeks to follow Darthar. This is not just about aligning your own energies within you as would be part of your regular discipline, but aligning your energies to that of this place. Letting it in and binding it to you. This place is dangerous, and you will no longer be sheltered from it. You cannot be, in order to take Mastery of it. You will need to command the beings of the mountain itself, as well as the lupi. And you will need to lead them by the force of your nature and will.”

  “That is terrifying,” she admitted in a whisper. “It is a lot that I will have to ta
ke onto myself and be responsible for.”

  “It is,” he agreed, his claws lightly digging into her skin as he continued to stroke his hand through her hair and over the skin of her back. “But you will have me, and in private, I will help you shoulder your burden. There you will wear my collar and submit to my command. Which brings us back to the matter of your room… You will remain here at my side every night, chained to me if you must.”

  She snorted mirthfully. “That will hardly be a hardship. I can’t see much, but your room is warmer and far more comfortable than what you had set up in the workroom.” Her smile fell as an important fact occurred to her. “All this that you speak of… It means that I will have to go into the forest, doesn’t it?”

  His eyes closed and he grimaced. “Unfortunately, yes. Make no mistake, I want to keep you locked inside the mountain where I know that the creatures here cannot get ahold of you. But your magic will not align and strengthen if I do that. Nor can I interfere outside of following your commands as your guard.”

  Rose fell silent, a disquiet falling over her as Saris climbed over her, his muscular frame stretching before he continued to the hearth and stoked up the fire. As the flames gradually increased, they cast their light over the room, revealing polished wooden furnishings and decor in the deepest greens and earthy hues of rusts and browns melding together with the occasional gold trim or brocade. It was far lusher than she would have expected of him. It looked like a room that only Masters at the conservatory might have had.

  “Do all the lupi have such rooms?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

  His left brow cocked at her, letting her know just how impertinent her question was, but it didn’t stop him from answering.

  “Yes. The rooms are all very similar. Darthar didn’t spare any expense in assuring our comfort after he brought us here,” he said as he left the hearth to rummage around in a wardrobe before turning to her side. Drawing her to her feet, he fitted a long, soft tunic over her head that fell just above her ankles. The velvety material was luxurious to the touch and far finer than anything she had ever owned, superseding anything she had been offered while she had been confined in the workroom.

  “Some of it was initially manmade, but over time, it was replaced by the masterful handicrafts of goblins and trolls who are happy to barter with us. Everything you see in the castle is woven, dyed, adorned, and carved by their hands.”

  “Amazing,” she murmured, her fingers caressing the supple fabric as she followed him out of the room.

  It seemed a waste to leave when the room was finally beginning to warm, but she didn’t argue, mostly because she was too distracted looking around at the walls of the corridor leading away from Saris’s room. Although made of stone, there was more than one niche with some sort of gargoyle leering out of it and more tapestries than she could count, many of them representing earthy-hued dragons, goblins, trolls, and all manner of creatures in various states of activity, often in cooperation with a tall, oddly muscular mage with a head of long dark hair and a short beard. A curved staff was held in one hand as he seemed to occasionally use it to direct his authority in some fashion that she was unable to discern from the images alone.

  Saris had little interest in the tapestries or carvings they passed. He did not slow to show her any of the more elaborate images or explain the scenes. In fact, his complete disregard for them had Rose scurrying more than once to catch up with him when she lagged behind after being caught admiring one. The last tapestry, however, had her stumbling to a halt, her mouth gaping open at the terror that was captured therein.

  Woven into the threads were dark hues of a shadowy forest alive with terrible beings. There were humans caught among them being ripped asunder as the lupi attacked. Their bodies were little more than shadows against the darkly woven background. The humans had their mouths open, screaming in terror not at the monsters lurking among the leaves, reaching toward them with long vines and shadowy hands, but at the lupi who fell upon them. The lupi were killing the humans…

  “Rose,” Saris’s voice fell over her, making her jump. She lifted her head and met his unreadable expression. He slowly turned his head so that he too looked at the tapestry, his lip curling back from his fangs. “I never liked this one. I forgot that it was hung here on this floor.”

  “Is this true? Do you kill humans?” she asked, wanting to know and hating to know the truth all at the same time. But she had to know.

  He inclined his head. “Rarely. Sometimes it is more a mercy, as you see with that woman there in the right-hand corner nearest to the lupi. Do you see the vines that have infested her, bursting from her skin? The harvester plant is eating her from inside out. There is nothing that can be done to save her, only to end her suffering and terminate the harvester’s puppet.”

  “And the others?”

  “It depends on the risk they pose to the mountain,” he replied firmly. “We cannot risk them carrying anything from the mountain that may infect the human world, nor can we allow them to break the barrier. Anyone who attempts either must be dealt with quickly and mercilessly.”

  “It’s horrible,” she murmured.

  “Yes, but it is something that you will do as we all do. Now come, the others are waiting on our arrival.”

  His last words were spoken softly as he gently pulled her away from the brutal truth of their existence. He had told her the truth… She was certain of it, but it made her think of Alexi. He said that he gave no order for his attack nor had known of him.

  He had no reason to lie about that, although it was still probable that it could have happened, given what he said. Alexi had been attempting to remove something from the mountain on her instruction. Even still, she was certain he hadn’t lied to her. All the same, knowing that possibility could be something that she had a hand in sat uncomfortably with her. But that was what she was there for… was it not?

  She couldn’t hide and pretend that she didn’t know. Her thirst to know, to bathe in the wells of knowledge, had only increased, and with it a certain ruthlessness that she hadn’t let herself see before. The observation she made days ago about perhaps being a monster herself was now haunting her as she followed him down the stairwells into the common dining room. She was still feeling a little numb as she sat in the chair that he indicated at the head of the table, the warmth of his physical presence at her right the only comfort she had to latch onto.

  All of the lupi watched them with their bright eyes. There was no shock nor anger, just that quiet, weighing watchfulness.

  “Have you discovered anything at all on how a fire wyrm got into our castle?” Saris asked, his deep voice breaking the silence.

  Gnaval twitched slightly but shook his head. “No more than your goblins were able to tell you. Less, in fact. I went up closer to the fire portal higher on the mountain early this morning but wasn’t even able to pick up a trail of a fire wyrm making its way down from those heights.”

  “Then it could only have been planted,” Saris observed, his brow dipping.

  “How?” Gnaval asked in bewilderment. “We don’t allow strangers into our keep. Unless the goblins have those among them who are serving others… There is no way to know…”

  “Have there been any more signs of the human?” Saris interrupted. “If we are looking for another source, it is possible that it is him and that he is powerful enough to disguise the scent of his magic.”

  Gnaval looked unconvinced but Rose expelled a loud sigh.

  “Roninbar is not a mage of any kind,” she interrupted. “You might as well stop that line of thinking. It is more likely that something ate him if he managed to cross through the barrier.”

  “And how do you know this male?” Saris snarled in a tight voice. His hot breath fanned her face as he leaned forward to address her with his barely restrained fury—and jealousy if she wasn’t mistaken.

  “He is the reason I ended up here. He wanted me to collect the Forial Rose to make a spe
cial fragrance for his queen. If I failed to do that, he was prepared to kill me and in fact had attempted to when I escaped. I hadn’t been successful in finding the rose outside of the barrier. My assistant, Alexi, who I had sent here initially to acquire the rose, found it—I discovered the evidence in his bag left at the falls—but he died without returning with the bloom or any knowledge of its growing place.”

  “You kept this from us,” Saris observed coolly.

  She faced him, her chin inclining slightly. “I did when it seemed to be a matter of my safety to keep that information to myself. I was uncertain if you would use it against me in some form of punishment or negotiation.”

  Saris bristled, his long fangs glinting in the light, but she didn’t so much as bend at all in the face of his wrath. Finally, after what felt like an excruciating amount of time, he leaned back casually in his chair, his head dipping to her.

  “It is possible I may have done so.” His eyes slid over to Jalis, releasing her from the merciless glare. “Did you discover how he entered?”

  “Yes. He didn’t break through but had climbed over a particularly nasty section of the barrier. It would have torn open his hands and sliced into his body so he had to have been determined. The barrier was shorter there, however, so he didn’t have to endure it long before he was able to slide through onto the mountain.

  “Safe to say he is probably dead and eaten by the vulpi,” Aigra snorted.

  Rose certainly hoped he was right, but she was not so certain, and given the growl that rumbled low and menacingly from Saris, neither was he.

  Chapter 19

  Tucking the book she carried beneath her arm, Rose quietly chased after the retreating shadow of Saris. His low voice was just barely audible, though she couldn’t make out the words as he spoke to his servant. The hallway here was gloomier, with fewer wall sconces lighting up the interior. The darkness crept in, and she lost sight of his shadow. Hurrying her steps, she rounded the corner, her eyes searching him for him and her ear straining for the sound of his voice.