Beats and Breaths-Lifelines

Chapter 8

The garnished man glared down at his young servant, cowering at his diamond-studded shoes. His hair was bunched in a rust-brown, scraggly heap at the nape of his neck, and his eyes were a muddled gray-blue.

Purple bruise marks mottled his bare neck, and his nose was crooked.

"Servant 32-" He started. He was interrupted with "Collin" and the man rolled his eyes.

"Collin, Sir."

"My last name is actually Kay-"

"SIR!" He bellowed, slamming the tip of his jeweled staff against the marble floor. A lock of his perfectly curled red hair slipped from his equally hideous-though admittedly neater-bun.

His gold crown slipped sideways, and he steadied it, before beckoning forward a young maid.

Unlike Collin, she was dressed nicely and her pitch black hair was brushed back into a clean ponytail tied with golden thread. In her delicate hands she firmly grasped an old, etched wooden box. Collin gave her an odd look, but she held her head high and paid him no mind as she knelt reverently at the man's feet.

Greedily, he grabbed the chest with his pudgy fingers and pried at the lock. His perfectly manicured nail chipped, and he cussed lightly before thrusting it harshly at the girl.

"Open this for me, Floral."

She nodded sharply, before easily opening the tiny lock.

Inside 2 softly glowing bottles nestled in blue velvet.

The man smiled cruelly before plucking them out to examine.

The light pink vial buried into the sharp folds of his hand. He tipped it, and the ethereal liquid drifted downward.

"From two Darlins in..." Floral trailed off, glancing hopefully over at Collin with a wrinkled nose.

"Where was it?"

He shrugged apologetically, and she dramatically rolled her pearly eyes.

Scowling, he turned to go, but tripped mysteriously. Blushing furiously at his blood droplets on the pristine floor, he scrambled away as fast as he could.

The man smirked, before turning over the glowing vial to squint at the scraggly note.

After much thought, he decided that it said Fredric.

"Is the Snuffer back yet?" The man said quietly, tipping the contents back and forth. Several times the liquid defied gravity and sloshed practically the other way. Floral nodded.

"He retreated back to his quarters. He has another mission for you today."

The man scowled. "That doesn't account for the three missions he missed this week!"

"No, sir." She bowed her head and started to retreat respectively.

Hurriedly he stopped her, and smiling cruelly, he handed the vial back to his young servant.

"Bring that to the Snuffer, Floral."

As she turned to leave, he tugged on her long sleeve.

"And, between you and me, do something about that boy."

She tilted her head before scrambling off.

The box hung at her side, firmly clasped in her clammy hands.

The bedecked man sat still and stared at his bejeweled ceiling, deep in thought.

In his mind, he could still see himself fingering the ethereal substance; back and forth, back and forth.

He didn't even stir when a muted yell echoed from the servant's chamber, along with a sly giggle and a loud "COLLIN!"

He hadn't seen one like that in a long while, oh no.

That one was different somehow, though he wasn't quite sure how.