Love As The Darker Binding Ch. 09

Besides being rather rude," he said, "It's also very dangerous to ignore me while I'm speaking to you."

Bonny's eyes locked onto his the next instant and she apologized, "I'm sorry. I just, ... I dunno, .. I - "

"I don't think that you ought to be looking right now," Abi said, "I don't think you're ready to see just yet. Now, did you do as I asked?"

She nodded and handed him the pad, "The second page is better."

He looked for several moments before he nodded, "Better stay here tomorrow. I'll have what you need delivered. Tell me what sort of fabric you'd want for the first try. I was thinking of Rip-Stop."

"Better get me a bunch of whatever you want," Bonny said, "Sewing those things up will take me longer to get back into than sketching - and I'll need measurements."

"You'll have them by the day after next," Abi said, liking this now.

"Can I look again?" she asked, "I saw something."

Abi nodded, drawing a breath and letting it out heavily, "Look if you like. All I'm saying is that not all of it might be pleasant."

"I, ..." Bonny whispered, "I know him, I think."

"You're wrong, Bonny. You've never actually seen him in your life before."

Abi looked a little sad for a moment and then he spoke.

The man turned his head to look over and then tried to look away, but Abi forbade it with a word. The man held still then, only looking back in silence.

"A very long time ago," Abi began, "there was a boy. He was born from the poorest of the poor in a large town in Andalusia in Spain. To get by day by day, he and the others like him, some of them his relations, they had to take what providence handed them, stealing, robbing, selling information or knowledge - whatever it took so that by the end of the day, there was some food for them to eat. It didn't always happen, but more often than not, he and the others didn't go to sleep hungry.

But if you get a little too good at these things, sooner or later you'll rob the wrong one. That didn't happen to the boy, but the unfortunate one was a close enough relation. Right after the hanging, the authorities there put on a manhunt for the rest the likes of which had never been seen. Every single one was apprehended and put to death. All but one.

The boy I'm speaking of only survived by slipping over the town wall in the middle of the night. He'd never lived out there before, and he came near to starvation after a little while. He was found by a faun girl."

Dusty announced that dinner was ready and with a lot of coaxing and even some strong words, they all sat down to eat. There weren't enough chairs, so everyone sat where they could. Bonny sat on the floor near Abi's side and asked him to continue with what he'd been saying.

He nodded, "She fed him and nursed him back to health against the wishes of her parents. She made it even worse by teaching him how to hunt and fish for himself, when he wasn't foraging for whatever he could find with her."

He looked over with a lopsided little smile, "Do I have to tell you that they fell in love?"

She shook her head, though she was beginning to feel a little as though she'd heard this story before. When she looked over, the man was looking at her, but turned his head to study the food on his plate intently after a moment as Abi told more of it.

"One day, the faun's parents came to her and told her that something had to give. What they had in mind was to take the young pair to a mage that the fauns knew and were a little friendly with. The sad reality of it was that he was not a mere mage, but a rather strong sorcerer. He heard the tale and took the gold that the faun's family had saved, all of it. After that, he agreed to turn the boy into a faun, giving them all each and every one of the serious cautions that he could think of which might happen and he offered no guarantee, only that he would try and that he believed that it was possible for him to be able to do what had been asked.

But once he took the pair into his home, he decided that he had a better idea. The faun's family left then, since most fauns have no patience to wait around for something to happen which doesn't really concern them. If they had stayed, they might have heard the boy's cries for help from the cage where he'd been thrown.

Over the next half day, the sorcerer worked his craft. When it was done, he took what memories that he could find in the girl's mind of the boy. After that, they left the boy to his fate. She no longer knew him and she listened to what the sorcerer told her of a murdering young thief who hated fauns.

The boy escaped after three days, eventually having to use his teeth on the bindings which held the wooden boughs together to make up the cage. By then of course, it was too late and the pair were long gone, the sorcerer and the human girl who he'd turned from a faun.

The boy knew what had happened, of course, since he'd seen it all or most of it. He didn't hold the girl at fault for anything. He followed and lost their trail eventually.

Two years later, he was still broken-hearted and he had gone from a young human man who had been taught to fend for himself in the wilderness to become an outlaw and a highwayman. He journeyed to a large city and he began to ruthlessly take over all of the thieve guilds there. In only a year and a little, he'd built it up into a criminal empire.

But he was miserable.

That is how I met him one night at an inn, trying to drink the girl-faun's memory from his mind. We talked and when he learned who I was, he offered me everything that he had and controlled in exchange for my part of the bargain. The gold which was offered was very nice and I liked the network of rogues even more, for I ran a hell then and it was an in increase in the amount of souls which I could trade in. All that I had to do was to augment the rogues with my own hunters.

I accepted and unlike the sorcerer, I kept my word. I took that young man and from what he was, I made him a necromancer and a shadowlord. When he told me that he felt that he was ready, I told him where he must go to find the sorcerer."

Abi shrugged, "I've always been busy, and for most of my long life, my doings have kept me spread pretty thinly. I didn't know what might happen. I also didn't know that my young hate-filled necromancer would need the better part of a year to get where I told him to go, for he had troubles of his own on the way.

He found the one that he sought, but the girl was already six months dead. In those days, there were still such things as wolves in Andalusia. The mage had gotten himself cornered by a pack and the girl was too trusting, not having a lifetime as a human to learn the mistrust which humans use when dealing with most others of their own kind. He'd literally thrown her to the wolves, though they didn't harm her. The fall caused her water to break and she went into labor then, being well swollen with the old mage's child.

The girl was cared for by the wolves, but she perished from her weakness some time later. The child was overheard as it cried and was taken in by a passing monk who tried to raise the infant boychild.

My vengeful young caster found the mage then and the things which he did in his wrath were interesting enough for me to come to watch what was done for a time near the end."

He looked at Bonny. "The little boy ran away from the monk as soon as he could a few years later and was taken in by a caravan of gypsies.

The young rogue who I turned into someone far more powerful? He's right here. I never made his staying near me a part of our bargain. He has always chosen to stay, having little use for the lives of humans anymore."

"What happened to the young boy?" Bonny asked, "The one taken in by the monk?"

"He grew up as one of the band which took him in," Abi said, "He married and had a good life and fathered many children. It was said that he had many abilities beyond what is said to be normal among that people and those gifts he passed on to each of his children and they in turn passed it on to their own. As often happens among them, gift such as these tend to be passed along the line of the girls most often. Your own mother is in the strongest of that line and so then are you, Bonny. You are a descendant of that young faun girl who was made human."

He looked into her face, seeing the way that she looked at the man who did not look back. "Tell me what you see, Bonny."

She looked harder, trying to use the sight which she'd always had. "I see a very strong old man."

The man snorted quietly and continued to eat his meal.

"An illusion which he frequently uses, "Abi nodded, "It allows him to get very close quite often. Few people tend to fear old men no matter how strong they are. I've always taken it as a weakness among humans for old men and women and, ... well, never mind. What else do you see?"

The man looked to be getting a little annoyed at the game which Abi seemed to want to play here, but he said nothing.

"I see a ... a demon in there, I think."

Abi shook his head, "Not bad for one as young as you are," he said, "But not strictly correct.

As part of our bargain, he wanted to be able to have the use of his new talents for a long time. I sent him to the Abyss, from whence returned to me as what you see in that way. It changed him in some ways, but it was what he wished for then. He uses that shape sometimes as it suits him - and he is only partly a demon.

You believe that you saw three things in him, but you are wrong. There is a fourth." He nodded to the man, who looked really annoyed then, but he disappeared at that instant.

All that they saw was a vaguely shaped piece of inky blackness where the man had been sitting. He was still there, judging by the slight sounds of the cutlery as he ate.

"Like this, my friend can hide in broad daylight. If he spreads himself thinly, he hides nothing but himself, and if he wishes it, he has no more thickness than a shadow, if that is the way that he wishes to appear. As he learned in his own art, he was and is still very quick with a quiet blade in the darkness, but while those blades are as keen and as hard-edged as steel, they are far colder and they leave no mark on the outside of the ones which he pierces with them to shred them from within."

The final shape, ..."

Abi looked at the area of darkness and the old man returned to view as it faded. He looked over at Bonny and she saw sadness in that face as it began to shift. He grew younger as he looked down for a moment and when he looked up, Bonny felt her heart almost rip loose as she beheld a family memory which no one in all of the generations of her family had ever seen, other than in the dreams which haunted them all at some time in their lives.

Her plate crashed to the floor and shattered, the cutlery skittering off out of sight under the table.

She was looking at a man of about twenty-five. He was not large or powerfully made. In fact, the outline of his body hadn't changed at all. It only looked younger, though the strength was still there to be seen in him. His hair was no longer grayish white. It was a rich and dark brown. His handsome face looked back at her with the light beard of a young man who hadn't gotten old enough to really grow the thick beards which come men could easily. He had a goatee and a long soul patch from his lower lip. Bonny stared at his eyes, light blue and very charming - even though he had no wish to be anymore.

They were the sort of eyes which spoke of sensitivity and the quiet thoughts which went on behind them. As she found herself beginning to struggle against the draw that he wasn't using at all, ...

She thought that they were the sort of eyes which always looked as though he was looking up from the water which he'd just been washing his face in.

"His name," Abi said "is-"

"I know his name," Bonny whispered as she slowly got to her feet. "I've seen you in my dreams all of my life, since I was just a tiny little girl."

She stepped forward, "Sebastian."

He looked uncomfortable, very much so as he put down his plate and stepped away.

"You are like her," he said in a very Old-World Spanish accent to the floor as he turned away, "So much resemblance as I have never seen in anyone since I first knew my pain."

He looked back for a moment, "I have been trying not to see. It tears at me - gnawing through in a way that I had forgotten. Even your name, ... "

He shook his head "Please forgive me. It is such a hurtful shock to see my Bonita again."

He walked away toward the window with it's heavy drapes, "A thousand years and it is fresh and new once again. I -"

He froze then, turning to look toward the drapes. He stepped over and peered around the edge to look out. "There are men outside, and their thoughts, ... They hold you in their thoughts."

He looked back, "How many were there when they came for you earlier? There are four across the street."

Bonny stepped over and looked through the same thin gap, "It's them! They - they followed us. They must have."

She turned to look at Sebastian but he wasn't there. The shadow had already passed through the glass and down the outside of the wall.

Imogen got down on the floor with a dustpan and broom.

Two minutes later, Sebastian was back, forming again out of the darkness and walking toward Abi, "I have them. Are they of any value to you? You may have them if I can leave after you find another to guard these ones."

Abi shook his head, "No. I didn't know about who this girl is to you until I felt it once we were here. I need you here to watch and protect when the Ushandi cannot. I will take the souls though."

He held out his hand and four weak glimmers passed from Sebastian's open hand to Abi's.

"I have had to listen as a friend to you as you complained to me that your existence has no purpose any longer. For over a century in their years, I have listened. This night, I give you a purpose though you do not know that you need it. Keep them alive and unharmed. If it makes you feel better, then seek what this girl -"

Abi halted in mid-sentence as he looked at Bonny.

"You will be here to take delivery of what I have sent to you. Try as you can, Bonny, and I will give you a home with your friends, and maybe a bit more besides, though it's not all up to me. As far as Holly Hernandez is concerned, I'll be back next week for that little adventure.

In the meantime, I'll give you a little gift." He smiled broadly, I'm sure that you'll learn how to work it back and forth by morning."

He stepped over and leaned down to kiss Bonny's cheek, "And learn to trust Sebastian, no matter how much he grumbles."

He looked at the other young man, "You will come with me. Try to master your stupid fear of me. I will keep you near me until we come back. I will give another to you in a few days, and maybe then you will see that I have never meant you harm. Can you walk like you're a little better than a mouse or must I drag you by the hair?"

The boy nodded his head with huge eyes and stepped forward.

"That's better then," the demon said as they walked out.

Bonny felt odd and a little off-balance. She swayed for a moment and then she fell over backwards into Sebastian's arms as everyone gasped.

"Bonita," Sebastian whispered in surprise and amazement.

"What?" Bonny asked, looking at them all.

"Please let me stand up," she said, struggling a little in his grasp, "Please Sebastian, "I know you don't have much of any thoughts for me. I feel better now. I don't know what happened there, but I - I'm ok now." She moved to stand and she heard the soft clump on the floor as she tried to take a step.

Curious, she looked down then.

She stared as she saw it all and then she began to cry a little, though she tried not to.

Sebastian carried her to the bed and laid her down very gently. "When you think that you can, Bonita," he said quietly as he held her, "then try to get onto your knees and look there."

He was pointing at the mirror. "I am sorry for what I said. I was only thinking of myself. I know that you had no part in this."

He sighed as he looked down, "I will protect you," He looked up, "All of you."

Bonny decided to face this, whatever it was and she got to her knees with Sebastian ready to catch her if she even wobbled.

After a long, wondering look, Bonny felt a little better then, "I feel almost like I belong this way, as weird as that is. Why did he do this to me and why did he call it a gift?"

"I dunno,"Imogen said, "But it looks really good on you. I hope that it's not permanent or anything but, ... well, nice tail."

Bonny reached back and felt nothing as she looked at Imogen, who only said, "Higher. It's just a short thing, shorter than a goat's, I guess."

Bonny tried again and found it. She turned around and looked back over her shoulder and gasped. Just above her bottom she had a furry little tail, perhaps six inches or less in length. She took her hand away and found that she could move it to a degree and now she didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"He said that you would learn to control it," Dusty said, "By that, I think he means that you can make it go away if you want to."

Bonny stood up on the bed very carefully on her hooves, "I'm starting to like it," she said, "And the way that it makes me feel inside.

I can't really explain it. I kind of feel like the way that I was was something that I liked, but this feels like a whole lot more of that."

She got back down and sat looking at Sebastian, "I just had the thought that this must make everything worse for you. I heard what you said. I'm sorry if it does, Sebastian."

She looked at him for a second, "Did I say something funny? You're smiling a little. This is the first time that I've seen you look anything but upset or pissed off."

"You say my name differently than Bonita used to say it. I like it from you. It is not so bad now. Actually, it is not bad at all. I grow used to seeing you this way."

He sighed a little, "It was a time when I was happy. The only time in my life when I felt happiness day after day. Forgive me if I sound like a fool, but I have not been happy in a long time.

Try not to worry, Bonita - I mean, ... Bonny. I have known that demon for a long time as well. For what he is, he puts up with my moods which are so often dark. I have learned that he does as he says that he will do. He told you that you can master this, so I have no doubt that you will learn it."

He looked self-conscious for a moment, "And please, I do not mean to stare at you."

Bonny didn't really know where it came from in her, but she found her own smile, "I don't really mind, and you aren't really staring. I won't mind a bit if I can see some more of that smile you had on a minute ago."

When he managed to smile at her, feeling better, Bonny actually sighed right out loud.

"You should rest, all of you - or, whatever you would do now, I guess from what I can feel from you all. I will keep watch tonight. No one will harm you."

He looked at Dusty, "I know that you can do it easily Pilot, my friend. But here in this place, ... the humans make it harder, no?"

Dusty nodded, "Yes, I always have to think before I do anything. You can call me Dusty."

Sebastian got up and stepped over to the window again. "Rest then."

"You know him?" Imogen asked in a whisper.

Dusty nodded, "Not well at all. I've seen him sometimes when I flew them somewhere now and then."

Because of the presence of a relative stranger among them, it took a lot longer for them to fall asleep, but Imogen and even Dusty did eventually.

Bonny sat up slowly a few minutes later and looked at Sebastian as he peered out of the window behind the drapes. He heard her motions and the gentle sounds of her hooves as she stepped closer.