The Lord of Shadows

by E E Ewer

  The Lord of Shadows left the room. As Margery followed out the door, he was nowhere to be seen. She knew very well that she could have brought Nire to his attention when she’d first arrived, however she had her own reasons for keeping her hidden while she tried to solve a few mysteries of her own.

  Nire sat at the table, leaning over the strange book Miko had picked out for her from the Library. It was full of strange little facts about the Shadow Realm and its inhabitants, and seemed very much to be a sort of anthropological study, steeped in both factual history and nearly inconceivable myth.

  Nire suddenly got the odd feeling that she was being watched, but her attention never fell on the shadow behind her that would occasionally shudder with the energy of its inhabitant. She glanced around the room, wondering what could be causing the sensation, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The door handle rattled as Miko walked into the hut from the castle, prompting Nire to turn her head towards the shadow that lay next to the door.

  The Fox girl had brought a small meal for the two to share, and Nire fumbled through the book while she asked Miko for clarification on some of the odd things she was reading.

  “So the Lord of Shadows has really been the ruler for… ever?” she asked as they ate.

  “As far as we know, yeah,” Miko said.

  “And there is all this speculation as to how he came into existence, as well as the other three… but there’s something I don’t really get,” said Nire.

  “What’s that?” the orange haired girl asked as she took a piece of fruit from her plate and placed it to her lips.

  “If he has been around since the beginning, why doesn’t anyone know what really happened? I mean, why doesn’t someone just ask?”

  The fox girl smiled at the question. “Do you want to be the one who asks him?” Miko asked with a raised eyebrow. “Um, excuse me, Sir Lord of Shadows, but would you mind telling me your whole life story?” Miko said in a mocking tone.

  “Well, you’d think for the sake of the history books…” Nire said.

  “Honestly Nire, I think if they wanted it recorded they would have had it done already. There is probably a reason they keep it to themselves,” Miko said between bites of bread.

  “Doesn’t that bother you?” Nire asked. “I mean, that your ruler intentionally hides the past?”

  “I guess it would if he was a bad ruler, but all things considered I’m sure he has his reasons, and it might be that the truth about the past could actually jeopardize the present.” she reasoned.

  Nire hadn’t really thought about that. If he had a disreputable past, it might affect how his current subjects viewed him, and alter his effectiveness as a ruler, or even lose their respect.

  “Besides,” Miko started again, “it’s not like he actively dictates what can and can’t be written down. It’s just that anything before recorded history has remained that way; not recorded. Obviously someone talked about it at some point, otherwise we wouldn’t have the stories about it that we have. I guess if you live that long, telling the same story over and over again gets tedious, and you just stop talking about it all together. I mean, keep in mind we started recording history thousands of years ago.”

  Nire nodded. She got irritated somewhere around the tenth time she had to repeat the story about how she broke her arm in fourth grade. If someone had been asking her to tell that story for 1,000 years she’d probably just pretend it never happened.

  As the girls sat quietly a loud knock on the door made them both jump. Miko was about to get up when Margery came through the door in the stone wall.

  “Well girls, we’ve been found out,” she stated as she entered the room. Miko’s eyes widened and Nire became tense, and looked as though she was about to get up and run. “Hold on there, I talked with him about it,” Margery said quickly to ease the tension. Miko’s expression went from concerned to curious at the statement, but Nire stayed just as rigid as before. “He’s agreed to let you stay, and he won’t be bothering you… yet,” Margery said, hesitating to add the final word to that sentence.

  “What do you mean, yet?” Miko asked.

  “I’m not entirely sure myself. He said we still had more to discuss. I am sure, however, that he won’t just pop out of a shadow and surprise you though,” Margery stated as she directed her gaze towards the dark corner. Nire glanced between the two women with a strange look on her face. That had sounded like a simple expression of words, but the way Marge said it made Nire think otherwise.

  “Pop out of a shadow?” she asked hesitantly, thinking back to Miko’s warning about literally keeping out of them.

  “An unfortunate habit he has,” Marge stated fairly loudly, still looking directly at the dark corner. “There is a reason he is called the Lord of Shadows, Nire,” she added. “In fact, I do believe there is a chapter in that old book with a short biography on each of the Cardinal Lords, it could probably describe it better than I.”

  Nire flipped to the table of contents, searching for something along the lines of what Margery was talking about. There was a chapter entitled “The Ancients and their Affinities” – maybe that was it.

  “Margery…” Nire started as she looked at the book. “Since he knows about me now … do you think there is any way he can help me get home?” she asked, with an air of hope in her voice.

  “That, I am not sure of yet. First I need to learn whether or not he even has that ability, and then even if he does, if it can be done and how,” she explained. Nire sighed and lowered her eyes. This new knowledge that a demon could jump out of a shadow at any moment didn’t do much to quell her fears, and she missed her family.

  The Lord of Shadows is the oldest Demon in existence. His age is unknown, as are his origins. He is believed to be one with darkness, the physical embodiment of the absence of light. Some believe that he simply commands the shadows, other believe that he is shadow itself. He can manipulate shadows, and even travel through them. All of darkness is his to command, and wrong doers are careful to plot in well lit rooms, should it be true that the shadows can hear their secrets. It remains unknown if he has mastery over darkness, or if he is darkness incarnate.

  Nire put down the book and stopped reading. She sat in her bed of furs and looked at the fireplace. It had not been a good idea to read this before bed. The shadows danced around the room in the flickering fire, and Nire couldn’t get the thought out of her head that she was being watched.

  Much higher up on the seventh floor of the East Wing, Margery knocked on a huge set of double doors, bearing brass handles that were shaped like rams horns.

  “Enter,” came a brooding voice from within. The interruption had not come as a surprise, he had been aware of her approach from the moment she entered the wing. He was seated in his study that lay at the end of a short hallway on the far end of his quarters. Margery walked through the doorway and leaned against a wall in silence.

  The Lord of Shadows had his elbow resting on his desk, and his head was in his hand as he stared out a window to his right. For a moment, neither one of them spoke, until finally the dark haired demon broke the silence.

  “Margery,” he began, “doesn’t she… remind you of someone?” he asked, curious of her response.

  “Yes, she does,” Margery responded. “And no.”

  “Pardon?” he said as he turned to face her.

  “The answer to your next question, it’s no,” she clarified.

  “And what pray tell was I about to ask?” he inquired.

  ”Do you think it’s her?”

  “And you don’t?”

  “My Lord, granted she is a brown haired girl with green eyes. But in all honesty, doesn’t it seem highly unlikely that she would still go by the same name?”

  “Very,” he agreed.

  “And yet you are actually considering that this is the same girl?” the old woman asked with a slight sense of disbelief.

  “Unlikely as it may be. There is more to a person than the
ir looks and their name, and those are not her only attributes that ring a familiar bell,” he said.

  “With all due respect my Lord, are you quite sure you are not just seeing what you want to see?” Margery asked.

  “No, I am not,” he admitted. The silence that followed stretched between them. He returned his gaze towards the window, quietly pondering the issue. “I take it that was the reason you hadn’t told me.”

  “It was,” Margery said knowingly. “I admit, there are many things about her that would remind one of a certain brown haired girl. But I am afraid I can’t get over the fact that the odds of her being so much the same … and even having the same name …” she thought out loud. “It’s just unfathomable.”

  “When you get to be as old as I am, unlikely doesn’t carry much meaning. It is possible, and in that scope what is likely or unlikely is no longer relevant,” he stated.

  “My Lord, have you ever encountered the same person in two different lives?” Margery inquired.

  “Only twice,” he responded plainly. Even that took Margery by surprise. She had almost intended the comment to be rhetorical.

  “Then what is it you intend to do? Even if you decide she is the same girl, you can’t very easily just approach her on the matter.”

  “Yes, I know. I’m not entirely sure. I suppose … I would start over.”

  “You do recall that she is terribly afraid of the dark, and seems to have a naturally untrusting disposition towards demons?” she reminded him. “That, and she is attempting to get home.”

  “I remember.” It was unlike him to be this calm. He normally hated being reminded of information he’d already been given. “For now, I am going to keep my distance as promised. When I am certain of what course of action to take I will make myself known,” the Lord said.

  Margery wanted to press the point further but had no basis to argue. She bowed her head as she turned to leave, but was stopped by the voice behind her.

  “Margery … how old were you the last time you saw her?” he inquired, still looking out the window. His voice was lighter than usual. Margery turned back to face him.

  “I hardly remember,” she replied. “I must have been no older than my 50’s,” she said after a moment of thought.

  “And how old are you now?” he asked.

  “It’s not polite to ask an old woman her age,” Margery said with a smirk.

  “Well, if you could tell me how old I am, I wouldn’t have to,” he replied with an even lighter tone than before. The old woman let out a bit of a laugh.

  “I don’t know, I stopped counting somewhere after 250,” she sighed. “Wasn’t it the 452nd year of Fire when you pushed those demons back into the South?” she asked.

  He thought for a moment. “Yes, I think you’re right. So it will have been 278 years,” he thought out loud. “And Azael is still sitting proudly on his throne.”

  His light hearted tone lowered into a growl with each word. The unpleasant memories brought back with them feelings of hatred for the Lord of the South. Who without, the Lord of Shadows would have neither met, nor lost, his beloved human. The irony was irritating.

  Margery quietly took her leave and left the Ancient to his thoughts. She had known him for many years, and was probably one of the few privileged enough to know him on a personal level. The 14 years that human girl had spent in Eastcastle were probably the most peaceful she’d ever known. The Lord of Shadows was a very severe person, and that tiny human girl eased him, somehow.

  After another rather sleepless night, Nire stirred at the sound of Miko tinkering with something near the fireplace. She rolled over, and through tired eyes saw that the fox girl was putting a kettle on the fire, for coffee no doubt. She wondered how long she had been here. She hadn’t been counting the days, and the nights all ran together.

  “Hey Miko…” Nire said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

  “Yeah?”

  “How long have I been here?” she asked.

  “Um,” Miko started as she brought up her hand subconsciously counting on her fingers. “One, two, three ...” Her orange hair bobbed as she rocked her head from side to side in rhythm with her counting. “Eight days?” she questioned.

  Nire sighed, and Miko quickly noticed her distress. A look of concern crossed her face. She didn’t know what to say to the girl that hadn’t already been said. Reaching for her bag, Nire pulled out her sketchbook for the first time since she had come to this place. She opened it to the first two pages, and looked at the images of her friends. Tears began to well in her green eyes as the traced the pencil lines with her fingers.

  Miko walked over and looked at the book from behind.

  “Who are they?” she asked gently.

  “My friends,” Nire responded wiping her eyes. “They bought me this book when I ruined my old one.” Turning the pages back to the inside cover, she showed Miko the inscription Jen had made.

  “Mouse?” she asked with a curious tone.

  “Yeah. It’s a nickname Jen gave me when we first met,” Nire explained. “I was freaking out because an owl had flown over my head in the middle of the day, and she had come over to try and comfort me. She said I must have been a mouse in a past life to be so afraid of owls.”

  “I thought she was making fun of me,” Nire added, “but when the other kids came over and started to tease me she chased them off, and ended up getting suspended from school for beating up one of the boys.” A small smile crossed her face at the thought of her friend. “No one else is allowed to call me that.”

  “She sounds like a good friend,” Miko smiled at the sad girl. Just then Nire looked up at the girl who stood behind her. She had also been a good friend to her.

  “Thanks, Miko,” Nire said with a smile.

  “Want to come out to the gardens with me?” the fox girl asked as she picked up a few of her things. “Why don’t you bring your drawing book and you can make studies of the plants while I tend to them,” she suggested with enthusiasm.

  “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Nire agreed with a soft smile. Nire hadn’t so much as picked up a pencil since the day she got lost, and it did seem like a good way to try and lift her spirits.

  “Miko, when do you think… um… the Lord of Shadows will want to meet me?” Nire asked hesitantly. It had been a couple days since Margery had told them he was aware of her presence.

  “Dunno,” Miko said with a shrug. “Marge said he’d “make himself known” when he felt the time was right.” She helped Nire with the laces on the gray dress as they talked.

  “That’s so vague and comforting,” Nire said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Miko laughed.

  “You worried about meeting him still?” Miko asked as she tied the last of the laces. Nire picked up her bag.

  “I don’t know. I’m just not really sure what to expect,” she admitted.

  “Expect a tall gray demon with horns and yellow eyes,” Miko joked. The brunette smiled.

  “You know what I mean,” Nire said.

  “Yeah… I guess you won’t really know ‘till you meet him. Just keep in mind he’s particular about formalities,” Miko warned.

  “Like I know what that means,” Nire said as they headed out the back door into the open courtyard. “What do I even call him? Mr. Lord of Shadows?”

  Miko laughed at her and shut the door.

  “Just say “My Lord” any time you would expect to say a name,” she instructed. “As long as you’re polite and respectful there’s nothing to worry about.”

  The two girls headed down through the small courtyard towards a tall gate.

  “I thought you said you needed to tend to your garden?” Nire inquired as they passed the area where Miko did her usual work.

  “Yeah, we can do that later. Let’s go to the Northern Courtyard,” Miko suggested.

  “Why, what’s over there?” Nire asked.

  “Pretty flowers for you to draw, of course! We can come back and do some gardenin
g later,” Miko said.

  “Oh…” The brunette thought for a moment and smiled. “All right.”

  She followed shortly after the orange haired girl as they headed across the grounds. Nire had only been to the Western Courtyards so far, and Miko had told her that the Northern Courtyard had some of the best gardens. The Majority of the Common areas in the castle were located in the North Wing, making its courtyard also the most populated.

  Now that Nire’s presence was no longer a secret, Miko thought it might be nice to get out of all the dusty corners and introduce Nire to the more grand elements of Eastcastle. She looked back at Nire, who was still wearing that silly gray housemaids dress.

  “Maybe we should find something for you to wear that doesn’t make you look like you work here,” Miko thought out loud as they walked.

  The walls that separated the courtyards grew larger in their vision as they neared the gates. Great towering stone walls that appeared to be at least 12 feet thick separated the west courtyard from the north, as well as the castle itself from the wilderness beyond. The gates, posted with guards, appeared to always be open, even after daylight hours had passed.

  The girls approached the large, open gate at the far north eastern corner of the Western Courtyard. Nire followed Miko under the archway, looking straight up at the huge wrought iron gates, which twisted and turned with decorative designs. Ivy and other climbing vines crawled up its grand structure and colorful flowers hung from its trellises. As they passed underneath, Nire watched the two guards posted high on each end of the walls.

  “Miko, you told me that he is a good ruler, and the book said the same four Lords have been in place since… well, since the beginning, right?” Nire asked as she stared up at the fully armored demons. She couldn’t tell for sure, but one of them under his helmet appeared to have fur.

  “Yup,” Miko responded shortly.