Kris's Story

by Trudie Collins

  All too soon we were too close to Death for me to be able to delay any longer and I was forced to give them the bad news. Well I considered it bad news anyway.

  “We should reach Death’s place sometime this evening.”

  “About time too,” Rob said. “Does that mean this will be our last day in Hell?”

  I know he said that word just to annoy me, but I was too busy caressing Rachel’s hand to react. “Maybe, maybe not. I have no idea what is going to happen when we get there. Death may have Tammara there and just hand her over or he may want you to pass another test.”

  “I have passed enough bloody tests,” he snapped, then apologised. He knew that it was not my fault and didn’t mean to take it out on me.

  “What happens to me?” Rachel asked.

  I didn’t know what Death had planned for her, but I definitely wanted a say in her future. “That is up to you. You can go home with Rob and Tammara if you wish or you can stay here with me. Think carefully before deciding because if you choose to leave I will be coming with you.” I put a lot of emphasise on the ‘will’.

  “Is that a threat or a promise?”

  “Both,” I said then I kissed her. I will never tire of doing that.

  “Will you two cut it out,” Rob said. “You carry on like a pair of lovesick teenagers.”

  “No,” Rachel said and proceeded to kiss me some more. Life really could not get much better than it was right then.

  Eventually Rob persuaded us that it was time to go and we began the last leg of our journey. As usual I led the way, with Rachel walking beside me, holding my hand.

  The sun was beginning to set when Death’s castle came into sight.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Rob said when he noticed it.

  “My uncle tends to be a little bit...what’s the word? Eccentric?”

  “Isn’t that what they call rich people when they go insane?” Rachel asked.

  I grinned. “A good word to use then.”

  As we walked closer I could see Rachel staring at the castle’s features; the grey stone walls, the battlements, the parapet walk, the curtain wall, the barbican.

  “It’s magnificent,” she exclaimed.

  “Death is proud of it.”

  “How do we get in?” Rob asked, noticing that the drawbridge wasn’t lowered.

  “Swim the moat of course.” I winked at Rachel.

  Rob gave me a sour look. I decided to tell him the truth. “Death knows we are here. The drawbridge will lower as we approach.”

  As I had stated, as we moved closer the drawbridge began to descend, falling into place just as we reached the edge of the moat.

  I graciously held out my arm to indicate Rob should walk onto the wooden planks. “After you.”

  “It won’t move while we’re on it will it?” Rachel asked nervously.

  “Of course not.” Did she really think I would allow any harm to come to her? I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her forward. “Come on.”

  The portcullis lifted as we drew near. Rachel looked up as we walked under it and shivered. I guess she didn’t like the sharp spikes dangling above us.

  “Death really did go into a lot of detail didn’t he,” she said.

  “He has had rather a lot of time on his hands. He mainly did all of this for Ankou’s mother. She used to love visiting here.”

  I led them through the castle, heading toward the centre. As always it was nice and warm and Rachel could not resist commenting. “How does he keep such a large building heated?”

  I gave her a withering look. “He’s a demi-god, remember.” She had the good grace to look embarrassed.

  We kept walking until we reached a set of large wooden doors which opened automatically as we drew close to them. “The throne room.” I didn’t really need to announce what the room was as it was pretty obvious (the throne on the top of the raised dais kind of gives it away), but I felt like being dramatic.

  “A little bit over the top don’t you think,” Rob said, keeping his voice low so that the throne’s occupant would not hear him. He was wasting his time; Death has even better hearing than I do.

  “Is that a panther?” Rachel asked in surprise when she noticed the large black cat sitting to one side of the throne. I had told her that she would like Death’s pet. I guess the cat was not quite what she was expecting.

  “Of course not,” Rob replied. “There’s no such thing as a panther.”

  “Yes there is,” she said, though she did not sound like she was very sure of herself. She looked to me for confirmation. “Isn’t there?”

  Despite wanting to tell her she was right, I couldn’t lie to her; I had done that enough already. “Technically, no. Black panthers are just black forms of other cats. They could be cougars, jaguars or leopards. There are also black tigers, but they are very rare now. This one is called Melanin and he is a jaguar. Death has had him as a pet for a long time and he is very friendly, so there is no need to worry about him eating you.”

  “So how come there is a pink panther then?” she asked a little sulkily.

  “That’s called Hollywood, Rachel,” Rob said. “They can make up anything they like.”

  We walked into the room and Rachel took in my uncle. As usual he was dressed in a suit. This one was black and single-breasted. She seemed surprised by his appearance. Ankou was standing next to him, but Rachel seemed so transfixed with Death that I don’t think she noticed him.

  “Is that Death?” she whispered. She must have assumed that only I could hear her, but both Death and Ankou could as well.

  I nodded. “Not quite what you expected is he?”

  “What’s with the white hair?”

  I failed to keep the sadness out of my voice as I replied. “It’s natural. He went completely white the day Ankou’s mother died and has never tried to change it.”

  Rachel fell silent as we approached the throne. I felt her heart rate increase suddenly and knew she had spotted Ankou. Her reaction should have bothered me, but for some strange reason it didn’t. Instead I found it amusing and I chuckled. “I guess that is something I am going to have to get used to.”

  She blushed bright red, making me laugh once more. “That colour suits you.” I could not resist teasing her. “You can sleep with him any time you like you know.”

  She stared at me in surprise. “Are you really that sure of yourself?”

  “No. I’m that sure of you.” I kissed her, knowing that what I had just said was true.

  “We could always have a threesome,” she said. It was not a serious suggestion and we both knew it.

  “Don’t push your luck.” I could not resist kissing her again.

  I released her and regarded my uncle. He appeared ill-at-ease and gave Ankou a worried glance.

  “Uncle, this is Rob and Rachel. I think you have been expecting them.”

  “Welcome to my castle,” Death said. Despite his smile he did not seem pleased to see us. I was about to ask what was wrong when Rob opened his mouth.

  “Where is she?” he demanded rudely.

  Death sighed. “So impatient. She is in her room. She has been well looked after and I would even go as far as to say she is happy here.”

  Rob grunted. He probably didn’t believe a word my uncle was saying.

  Death continued. “I brought her here as a bride for my son and I’m not so sure the idea isn’t growing on her. Given the choice, are you certain she will choose you instead of Ankou?”

  “Yes, I am,” Rob replied without hesitation.

  “Very well. You have brought what you promised I see.”

  Rob nodded his head. “I have.” He turned to look at Rachel and his lips trembled slightly as he spoke. “I’m sorry Rachel,” he said in a broken voice. “I have no choice.” He turned his attention back to Death. “Rachel will be staying here in exchange for Tammara. She will be Ankou’s wife.”

  I heard Rachel shout out in disbelief, but her words were drowned out b
y my anguished cry. “NO!” This could not be happening. She was mine. I had finally managed to win over the girl I loved and now she was going to be handed over to Ankou? This was wrong. This was very wrong.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Rachel snapped at Rob. I had never heard her sound so angry.

  There were tears in his eyes as he faced her. “Before coming here I made a deal with Death. I didn’t tell you the truth about Tammara’s bargain with him. She offered him her life, not her soul. Everything I told you about my research and finding a way to find Death was a lie. I knew Death intended Tammara to be Ankou’s bride, so I made an arrangement with him the night he took her. It was he who told me how to reach the underworld. All I had to do was bring him a suitable substitute and he would release Tammara back to me. You’re the most suitable woman I could think of.”

  Rachel was stunned. “We’ve been best friends for years. How could you sacrifice me like this?”

  “I love you like a sister. You mean more to me than anyone else in the world. Except Tammara. It was you or her. You were never going to win.”

  Her legs gave way and I watched as she crumpled onto the floor, but I was unable to move. I glared at Ankou. How could he do this to me? Not surprisingly he would not meet my eye.

  I barely heard Rachel speak, her voice was so quiet. “So when you said you needed me and couldn’t lose me, you meant you needed me for the exchange.”

  I saw Rob nod his head, but still I could not do anything. I felt like I was in a trance. Rachel continued. “When you came to rescue me from the ogre, you only wanted to save me so that you could go ahead with your deal with Death. You didn’t care about my safety at all. You even warned me I was going to get hurt. Like an idiot I thought you meant by Kris, but you were talking about yourself.”

  “That is not true,” Rob spat back at her.

  His anger toward Rachel broke whatever had hold of me and I reacted instinctively, swinging a punch at him which sent him sprawling to the ground. All thought and reason left me and all I could see was a man who was causing Rachel pain. I could not stop myself screaming at him. “You bastard. I will kill you for this.”

  I hit him, hard, again and again. I cannot describe how good it felt. Rob made no attempt to fight back. He just curled up into a ball and tried to protect his head with his arms. I have no idea how long I was attacking him before Ankou dragged me away.

  “Don’t do this,” he kept whispering into my ear. His words made me see red. That whoring bastard was on Rob’s side?

  I struggled out of the tight hold he had on me and violently shoved him away. “You’re no better. You could have any woman in the world. Why take mine?” I could not keep my rage out of my voice, but it masked the pain I was feeling. How could Ankou do this to me?

  “Kris, calm down,” he said as he slowly backed away from me. If it came to a fight I could beat him and he knew it. “This is not what you think. I don’t want Rachel.” I glared at him. He wanted everything in a skirt. Why was he lying to me? “Not that she isn’t very desirable,” he hastily added, obviously misinterpreting the look on my face.

  “I could have had her when we were at aunt Fam’s place,” he went on. “I even got her into bed.” A strong desire to kill him surged through me. It was bad enough that he was trying to take her away from me, why did he have to brag about the fact that he had already slept with her? I suspected that something had happened between them, but did he really think I would care? She wasn’t mine then and her past could never bother me. But that didn’t mean I wanted to hear any of the details.

  He kept talking and I had to keep clenching and unclenching my fists as it was the only thing that was stopping me attacking him. If I started I would not be able to stop until he was dead. “I knew about the bargain between Rob and my father. I knew she was destined to be my wife so why did it matter if we had a little fun first. I had her so desperate for me she couldn’t control herself and called out my name.”

  I could feel eyes on me, but did not look away to see who it was. I wanted to see how Rachel was reacting, but it would probably break my fragile self-control, so I continued to glare at Ankou.

  “Only it wasn’t my name she called out, it was yours.” Had I just heard him right? He had Rachel in bed, but it was me she had called for? I froze, my hands half clenched as my brain tried to register what I was being told. I could not breathe as I tried to bury my anger enough to think rationally.

  Seeing that his words were having the desired effect, Ankou continued. “Why do you think I left so suddenly? I saw the way you looked at her. You didn’t lust after her, you were falling in love. As soon as I knew that she felt the same way I came straight here to talk to my father, to talk him out of the deal. Tammara is a lovely woman. I’m sure she would make me very happy.”

  “Over my dead body,” I heard Robert say.

  I felt numb inside. “So why are we here?” I’m not sure who I was asking.

  “Because I made a deal and I do not go back on them.” Death’s voice filled the room. He raised himself from his throne and walked up to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “I am truly sorry Kris, but there is nothing I can do. Once a bargain has been made it cannot be broken.”

  “But father, I don’t want a wife,” Ankou said. He sounded as distraught as I was feeling. Maybe I had misjudged him. Maybe he was as much against this as he was claiming. I should have given him the benefit of the doubt, should have heard him out before reacting.

  “But you need one,” Death said. “You have been playing around for too long. It is high time you settled down and became more responsible.”

  “You cannot make me do this,” Rachel said, rising to her feet.

  Death turned to look at her. “Oh but I can.” He sounded cold and unfeeling. This was Death talking, not my uncle.

  “So what happens now?” Ankou asked.

  “You take me to Tammara,” Rob demanded.

  Death whirled on him, his face contorted with rage. “You are in no position to order me around. I may have made a deal with you, but don’t think that will stop me killing you if you annoy me.” I silently prayed that he would annoy him just a little bit more. Watching Death destroy him would certainly improve my mood.

  “Let him go to her uncle,” I said in a resigned voice. “The sooner he is out of my sight the better.”

  Death nodded to Ankou, who escorted Rob out of the room. Feeling like a zombie I walked up to Rachel, took her in my arms and held her tight.

  “You must be hungry,” Death said. “Let me get you something to eat.”

  We both shook our heads. Neither of us would be able to face food.

  “Then take her to your usual room,” he said. “Giving you one more night alone together is the least I can do.”

  I released her and glared at my uncle. I love my uncle; he is a good and kind man, but right then I hated him. “No uncle, the least you can do is cancel this stupid deal you have made and let me have Rachel, but it looks like you are not prepared to do that. I used to think that family meant something to you, that I meant something to you. I guess I was wrong.”

  I could see how much my words hurt him, but felt no regret. “You do mean something to me,” he said. “You mean a great deal to us all, but you are asking the impossible. One day you will understand that.”

  “No, I won’t.” Then I took Rachel’s hand and led her from the room.

  We walked down an empty corridor then up a winding staircase made from stone. When we reached the top of the stairs I opened the wooden door and ushered her inside. “This is my tower. I have stayed here ever since I was a kid.” The room is plain and simple, containing a bed, a chest of drawers and nothing else. I have never brought anyone else there so I have never needed anything else. “Bathroom is through there.” I waved my hand toward the only other door in the room.

  We sat on the edge of the bed, holding hands. Neither of us knew what to say. I ran my other hand through my hair, a h
abit I have when I am frustrated. “I need a drink.” I stood up and looked down at Rachel. She seemed so sad it almost made me cry. “Wine?”

  She nodded her head and I left the room. I could have created the wine, but stealing my uncle’s would give me some sense of satisfaction.

  I made my way down the tower stairs once more and headed toward the drawing room. As I approached the door I could hear raised voices. I debated whether to enter or not, not wishing to become involved, but from the few words I could make out I knew that Death and Ankou were arguing about me. I opened the door and strode into the room.

  They were too busy yelling at each other to notice me, so I made my way over to the cabinet where Death keeps his alcohol, grabbed a bottle and left before my presence in the room became known. I headed back up the stairs of my tower and created two glasses just before I entered my bedroom.

  Rachel was lying in the bed, her shoulders bare above the covers. I walked over to her and sat down beside her. “Death and Ankou are having a blazing row. I don’t think they even noticed me raiding the liqueur cabinet.”

  I poured the wine and handed her a glass. “I hope red is alright. It seemed more appropriate somehow.”

  Rachel lifted the covers, revealing her naked body. “Join me?” she asked. I don’t think I have ever undressed so quickly in my life.

  “Uncle Len warned me there would be trouble,” I said as I pulled her closer. “That is what we argued about before we left. He knew I was falling for you and warned me to stay away from you. He never mentioned Death and Rob’s plans for you, but he knew. Of that I am sure. He should have told me.”

  “And what would you have done?” she asked, rolling over to face me.

  “I don’t know, told you I guess.”

  “Then I’m glad you weren’t told.”

  “Why? Surely it would have been better for you to have known.”

  She gently stroked my cheek. “If I had known, the journey would have been a real nightmare. I would have been dragged here against my will, kicking and screaming. More importantly, I wouldn’t have got to know you so well.”