Darkness

Darkness Chapter 6                    Bread and Honey



“Filthy, effeminate bastard!” Shouted the angry little Prince after the Wizard left, shutting the door and locking it behind him so that the boy was held prisoner inside the fancy bedchamber. Instantly, he jumped off the bed and found the silk shirt that the Darkness had stripped from him and tossed on the floor. Quickly, the boy put the shirt back on buttoning it up all the way to his throat. In a panic that the wizard might return any second to torment him, he shoved a heavy wood chair under the door handle so the wizard couldn’t get back in. When he started to move around, the young man’s hunger returned with a vengeance. And his stomach began to growl loudly and insistently for food.



Still hoping, somehow, to find away to escape Darkness’ depravity, the half-elf youth again tried the other door that had been locked when he checked it before. It was still locked. He gave up his search momentarily as he decided he needed food right then more than anything.  So he went over to the table near the huge fireplace and found the tray of food that Darkness had brought him. The warmth given off by the fireplace was very welcome to Keylyn's slender, barely clothed body. His long silk shirt covered him but offered little warmth. The young man stared down at the tray of food to see what he could eat. The smell of freshly baked bread made him greedily grab the large loaf and rip off a large piece off it then shoved into his mouth. On the tray was more bread than he had seen in month and more food than he ever saw together at once in a very long time. Before him on the big tray, along side the bread, was a plate piled high with sliced meat, most likely lamb with boiled onions, a large hunk of a rich creamy cheese, fresh churned butter, amber honey, a red sweet wild strawberry jam for he stuck his finger and tasted it, several bright red fresh apples. And a large mug of hot, strong fermented spiced cider, which still managed somehow to be warm, despite Darkness' delay in promptly giving him the glorious repast in order to indulge in his degenerate games.

The very cold boy hurriedly drank half of the hot cider in order to warm himself up and before the cider grew any colder. Instantly, the strong hard cider made him slightly giddy and more than a little tipsy but that was all right as long as that damn lecherous creature didn’t return to take advantage of him.



The young man swayed over and sat down at the table beside the fireplace then began to consume as much of the food he could handle. All the while hoping the food would quickly help to him to return to more sober state. He used a long, sharp, silver knife and the companion silver fork to cut the tender lamb into smaller pieces along with some of onions before delicately stuffing his mouth to bursting then he followed that with a huge bite of the sharp, rich cheese.

The boy’s stomach wasn’t used to so much food at the same time, so it protested with a loud belch. But despite the belch, the boy continued to eat.  Next he cut a large slice of bread and layered it, thickly, with butter, honey, and strawberry jam and proceeded to consume it rapidly along with another hunk of cheese.  Then he drank the remainder of the now barely warm fermented cider. Too full to move, the half-elf boy slumped sleepily against the chair in front of the fireplace. Keylyn happily enjoyed being warm and actually full for a change. He even took a quick nap.

After resting, quietly, for a little while the young man roused himself to complete wakefulness. He needed to escape from the castle and Darkness’ lust as soon as possible or he would be sacrifice in some perverse fashion on the dark wizard’s altar, as well as in his bed. But, his first challenge was to get out of chamber.  And to do that he had to find a way to unlock the door with out being discovered. It sounded easy, in theory, but he would have to find some way to pick the door lock. Unless, of course, the wizard had used magic to seal the door shut. Then, fuck… every thing he was doing was a waste of time, and he was out of luck. What could he use to pick the door lock? He though of the small silver letter opener under his pillow on the bed but realized it was much too thick. The boy found himself staring at the still half full tray of food and his eyes came to rest on the fancy delicate silver knife and fork. Suddenly, he had idea that perhaps, he could use the utensils to pick the lock. He had been taught to pick locks by one of his young street friends so he might sneak back into his so-called father’s castle and steal items he might need to survive. But he had never made use of the skill for fear he might meet up with his so-called brother, the real prince, and his very nasty friends who made it their policy to threaten, humiliate, and sexually harass him at every opportunity.



The last time he had words with his cruel older brother, Blaine, the real prince had drunkenly threaten to rape him and then hand him over to his close companions, so they might take turns with him. After that, he was told he would be taken and sold to a brothel in another town for a large number of gold pieces. The prince and his friends ruthlessly boasted they would then use the gold, they got for him, to buy all the mead and whiskey they could drink, along with the services of several skilled, experienced whores.

Maybe, Keylyn was very little for his age. But he wasn't stupid. Also he was both wiry and fast. Having been warned the boy quickly fled with only the clothes on his back, thus escaping his brother's hideous plans for him and, thereafter, the boy never looking back at his so-called loving family, their castle or his previous life.



It was foolish to waste time and think about his unpleasant past. He needed to act right away or his ass would literally belong to the perverted wizard in a most unpleasant way.



Next, he grabbed the silver utensils from the food tray and headed to the locked door. It took only a matter of seconds for the boy to realize that the knife and fork, in their present configuration, wouldn’t fit into the lock at all. They need to be altered and filed down.  The hard rough stone of the fireplace was the only thing he could use to do the job. It would take time but he had nothing but time, unless, of course the creature he called Darkness returned suddenly. The boy shivered uncontrollably when remembered the way the evil salacious male beauty dared to touch him in so many awful, intimate ways and that he was unable to stop himself from crying out.



No, he had to flee this place as soon as possible. He began to file down the knife on the rough stone surface of the fireplace. As he thought it would, it took forever just to grind it down a little. He stopped grinding it to rest his hands and bent down one the fork’s prongs so it was out of the way then he pried the other two prongs closer together. Then he went and tried the altered utensils in the door. But they still weren’t narrow enough to do the job. So, he went back to the rough stone fireplace and began filing away again. It took the boy two more session of filing and grinding before he had the silver knife where he wanted it. If it didn’t work now the door was magically enhanced not to open and all was lost. Thrusting gently into the lock with the utensils the boy patiently fiddle with the lock persistently until he was rewarded with a loud click. He wanted to cry out in success but he restrained himself and decided instead to peek out side the door to see if a guard had been posted outside the door to keep him prisoner. A careful peek around the corner of the door reveals no guard just a single torch that lit a shadowy silent corridor.



He just might make it after all. But, first, he needed somehow to clothe himself so he could endure the cold and elements or he might freeze to death instead of escaping his captor. The boy carefully shut the door again; making sure it wouldn’t lock on him then returned to search the bedchamber carefully for things that he would need to survive.



Food was the easiest to acquire. He grabbed a fancy satin pillowcase from the bed and used the half a dozens or so of the cloth napkins, which covered the tray to wrap up the meat, cheese, and bread. The 4 apples could be loose inside the pillowcase. The butter container had a tight lid which he secured so he took that too and put it in the pillowcase. The crock that held the strawberry jam was three quarters empty but it also had a tight lid, so he the pored most of the honey inside with the remaining jam and then carefully tightened the lid and put it the pillowcase too along with the last un-used napkins. The young half-elf decided that if he was careful, he just might have enough food to last a full week or more. He tied the pillowcase in a secure knot and set it by the door.



Now, for clothing… His small size made it difficult but, somehow, he must improvise. He went to the dark closet with the very large clothes. They wouldn’t fit him unless he changed them and, somehow, made them fit him. From the closet, he pulled out a butter soft pair of leather riding pants that were much too long for him. Next, he used his grounded down very sharp knife to cut seven inch off the bottom of each leg, though he was pretty sure they weren’t actually even. But the last thing he needed to worry about was being fashionably perfect.



To keep the leather pants on he needed to use something to thread through the pant belt loops. Then he noticed the drapes that covered the windows were decorated with long gold braided cords used to pull the drapes aside on warm days. A brutal cold night wind swirled around the bed chamber when he pulled down one section of the heavy, dark water proof drapes. The boy quickly cut off a long piece of cord and put it through all his belt loops and drew the cord tightly around his slender waist 'till the pants wouldn’t fall off him. Next, he sought something with sleeves for warmth to wear over his silk shirt. Finally, he discovered in the closet a long sleeved jacket made of the same soft leather as the pants. The large jacket nearly came down to his ankles and the sleeves needed to be folded up so he could use his hands. But he wasn’t going to waste his time cutting the sleeve to size. The front of the jacket laced up across his chest so he needed only to tighten it to the limit to make it fit him sufficiently to do the job.



He needed something to cover his feet as well as a long waterproof cloak that could double as a blanket. In his search of the dark closet so far, he had failed to come up with such items  but he continued to search through the junk.  Maybe he missed something... Then suddenly, he saw something he could use. It leaned up against the dark closet wall, concealed behind a long frilly brocade robe. It was a large, old, shabby leather carry bag with a long worn leather shoulder strap with a heavy metal buckle on it. As the little prince grabbed the bag and pulled it from the closet he noticed that it seemed to be heavy and have something or several some things inside it. Just for a second, it reminded him of long ago when his mother use to surprise him with presents that he had to unwrap to discover what was inside.



The boy carefully lifted the worn leather flap on the front of the bag and peered inside, curious about what he would find. He saw what appeared to be more leather.  Reached inside, he found a soft leather hood like the knights usually wore under their helmets for warmth and protection.  Under that were two more leather objects, along with two other soft thick wool objects and a small drawstring pouch. The two leather objects turned out a pair of lightweight, calf-high leather boots and the wool objects were a pair of knee high stockings. Grinning in delight at his useful find, the boy quickly pulled on the wool stockings, which they came up over his knees then he put on the leather boots that actually fit him perfectly. He had a feeling that the little leather boots might have once belonged to a woman. At that point, he didn’t really care. He might even consider a dress if it got him out of Darkness’ castle with all his parts and virtue intact. The small drawstring pouch most conveniently held a Flint and striker to make fire.



He looked back in the large leather bag and was shocked to see something glowing bright Blue down at the bottom of bag. The glowing was certainly not normal, but he reached in anyway and nervously brought out the object. It was a long, ornate jeweled dagger made of silver and gold and adorned with many gems and jewels of various kinds and colors. A huge blue jewel at the heel of the handle was the one that was glowing with a strange unearthly bright blue-white light streaked with dark violet. Yet the jewel didn’t give off much heat or warmth. Well… Well, after the way old nasty Darkness had treated him he decided he deserve something for his trouble so he would keep the dagger. Okay, so he was going to steal the dagger. Such a magic item could be worth a king's ransom. The boy’s little fingers stroked the blue jewel. At his touch, the blue-white flashed brighter and then turned even darker violet again. As if it was something alive, the boy found himself whispering to the jewel, “Yes, absolutely! You're coming with me. ”



As if the blue jewel understood what he said to it, it grew suddenly warm against his fingers and then flashed once more before it went out, almost as if it agreed with the plan. The little prince carefully wrapped the dagger in the soft leather hood then he placed it back down at the bottom of the leather bag. He carried the bag and put the pillowcase with the food inside on top of the dagger, tied the bag closed then placed it back down on the floor beside the door. As he returned to the closet to give it once last look, he tripped over the section of drape he had pulled from the window. As he fell to his knees, he felt the heavy waterproof fabric under his hands; giving him an idea. He folded the drape into a perfect square, and then using his sharp knife, he cut a “T” shaped exactly at the center for his head, thus he had his waterproof cloak. Quickly, he put it on for he wanted to get out of there right away. Perhaps the blue jewel brought him luck, for now he was ready to escape for real and leave the damn castle forever. He scooped up the leather bag and thrust his carefully sharpened knife and fork inside it along with a few other supplies he collected then he was out the door, along with a little something extra special for his trouble.

How disappointed Old, horny Darkness would be when he found him gone! The boy grinned and laughed very quietly as he slowly made his way down the corridor. But, still, he remained completely alert for any sounds that a guard or guards might be lurking or waiting for him just around the corner. There was no damn way would he let anyone catch him now!