Section 4 of Crimson Snow

Section 4 –Crossing Paths

         Winter Roses

‘It’s lovely, thank you.’

         Candlelight flickered softly, the room lit with a golden glow, the air heady with the perfume of scattered petals. A boy sat in front of a large mirror, gazing at his reflection and at the man’s standing behind him. White silk gloves swept the boy’s fawn-coloured hair to one side silently, exposing his slender neck before he clasped a necklace around it gently, gathering up his locks so they did not hide it so soon. Once done he rested one hand on the other’s bare shoulder as he met his gaze in the glass, two sets of eyes looking back out at them both, seemingly enchanted by the picture the pair presented.

         The first pair of eyes were amber, flecked with an array of different shades of brown, the gold highlights brought out by the glow of the room, which also softened usually sharp aristocratic cheekbones. The second pair was far darker by contrast, amethyst in colour. No, not amethyst, darker still. Dark purple they were, near black, their depths unfathomable.

         Amber-eyes shivered as gloved fingers caressed his skin, a fine chain of gold snaking across the surface now. A gift, a last memory. From it an exquisitely crafted rose was suspended, made to rest in the hollow of Amber-eyes’ neck like a cool kiss of metal thorns.

          ‘You will be going soon, will you not? When will I see you again?’
          ‘You know I cannot tell you that, my little prince.’ The man replied to Amber-eyes’ reflection.
          ‘You always say that.’
          ‘If you keeping asking the same question why can I not give the same answer?’

         Amber-eyes sighed with a faint pout, betraying his youth, as he turned to face the other, his back to the mirror now. Gazing up at his lover he exhaled softly, the other released the hair he held so it spilled through his fingers and over the boy’s shoulders in a tawny curtain. ‘You say you love me yet you do not trust me.’
         He gave no answer for a while, kneeling on the ground before his young love, lacing their fingers together, pale fingers against gloves of white silk. ‘Do you trust me?’
          ‘With all my heart and with my life if need be.’ The reply was unintentionally ironic.
         His dark-eyed companion stood then, pulling his hands away to go and stand at the window, drawing aside the curtain. ‘Then trust me in this. Do not question me on the matter again, Dmitri.’
          ‘Are you going now?’ he asked, changing the topic without committing himself to any promises.
          ‘No, not yet, I will stay a while longer, I enjoy your company.’
          ‘Why can you not stay the night? Or at least a few more hours. I need you.’ Dmitri insisted, his eyes never leaving the other for a moment as if he was afraid his lover, whom he knew as Rose, would vanish into the night. It was not too much of a foolish notion, Rose had done it many a time before these last weeks.

          ‘You need me because you want me and you want me mainly because you cannot have me. I know you are used to getting your own way and everything you want.’ Was the candid answer, spoken to the stars.
          ‘No! No, I love you, truly love you.’
          ‘What does a spoiled fifteen-year-old know of love?’
          ‘Everything I need to and more.’ Dmitri replied, standing up with lordly grace that was present in him despite his youth, the thick carpet tickling his bare feet. He crossed over to Rose, standing at his side and gazing out the window too, moonlight falling across his slender chest, dancing along the hem of his trousers. His lover smiled as he looked down at Dmitri, his own body clad in silk that glowed eerily in the ghostly light. Reaching out, he placed his finger under the other’s chin, raising his head to meet his gaze.
          ‘And what is that?’ he asked the teen, holding his gaze with frank amusement.
          ‘Does it matter? Will you keep your promise at least?’
          ‘How many times must I tell you? Trust me, Dmitri. Till death do us part, as promised.’

         Dmitri still was not happy though, it was not enough.
          ‘I want you at my side always, I want you with me.’
          ‘And what, pray tell, would your mother think of that? Do not demand what is not yours to possess, my golden dove.’
          ‘My mother does as I command. And if I were to command you?’
         Eros chuckled softly as he leant closer, still holding Dmitri’s gaze firmly, like a snake seducing its prey. ‘What power do you have over me, my little prince, hmm? I am not in your pay to do anything you ask of me. Certainly, you could keep me here for a short while with your toys and your servants, but how long till I escape? And would I ever return to you?’ he asked the other, not waiting for a reply, although Dmitri knew better than to reply until Rose was done. ‘This is the real world now, where pain is real, where you can feel like dying everyday, over and over until you enter into the embrace of oblivion. You cannot command the people here, in the real world everyone plays by their own rules or none at all. Be careful who you trust. This is not your manor, in the real world your money will only go so far.’
          ‘If I paid you?’
          ‘Careful, little prince. Be careful what you ask for and what you offer for it. You may lose more than you bargained for.’

         A lot more.