SOPHIA'S POV:
"Come with me", he said
I don't know if he believed me when I told him that I have accepted to be his woman or not. I followed him till we reached a big ancient mansion. He led me up the steps of the great mansion by pushing lightly against my elbow.
I could feel the sparks I felt earlier again, whenever he touches me, I don't know I feel strange "What is happening to me?" I questioned myself making a mental note on finding out what all this is. The pleasure of his hands on mine made me too aware that I was being led by the king of our kingdom himself into a strange new place, and my heart raced.
He opened the door and we entered and then he shut the door, he looked at me for some time and smirked: "what is your name?" he asked
"Sophia Anthony"
"Sophia," the way my name sounded in his mouth was so sexy as if people have not been calling me by my name before, this time around it was perfect!
"You can call me Xavier," he said
"Wait here in the foyer," he said before walking away and leaving me all by myself.
I watched king Xavier walk away, and I had the urge to follow him despite being very intimidated by him. This mansion, however, seemed even more daunting. I'd rather have been in someone's company, even his than stand in this ginormous old place by myself. Even still, I swallowed my fear and stood there in the large foyer alone.
The sound of the wind blowing through trees made me shiver. Or maybe it was the terrifying pictures that hung down the walls that were the cause of the quiver running down my spine.
On both sides of the foyer hung several pictures of demons, vampires and monsters. I bit my nails while I studied the pictures even though they unsettled me.
I guessed at least half of the pictures were from the 1500s
The first portrait that caught my attention featured a very tall, grey skeleton-like man who was holding several sharp objects in his hands. The skeleton man had worms and maggots in his belly and body, and his dead skin was hanging off his bones like worn-out rags.
He has a few strands of hair stuck on the back of his skull. He stood with his bony foot pressed into a dead man's throat. In the background, three young ladies lay on the ground. They were wearing ordinary dresses and the three girls had deep cuts on their foreheads while their hearts were being pulled out.
Blood rolled down and their eyes remained open, but one could see that they were dead as well. In front of the skeleton-looking creature was a beautiful woman in a white dress holding a necklace looking at the skeleton-looking creature with a smile on her face.
Her lips were painted red and her cheeks were either flushed or she made them red with blood.
In another painting on the wall, two demonic creatures appeared to be dancing around a man in a mask. The creatures were all different but seemed to have been born from the same kind of evil creature.
One of the creatures had a hawk-like foot, bat-like wings and a face mixed between a werewolf and a pig. One was covered in long fur and had three heads in one neck, one of the heads was gummed together with another one.
The third creature was creeping over the man on the mask's shoulder. It looks like a combination of a monkey and a cat, and it too had bat wings.
On closer examination of the art pieces, I noticed that the demons were not dancing, but praying to the person with the golden necklace. Each of the creatures held a sharp weapon in their hands. The picture was in black and white, you could see that it was an old picture.
The other person in the middle had a stroke of gold light radiating from him. He had his head bowed and his hands grasped in prayer.
A bearded man wearing a golden crown floated in the upper right side of the frame. He too had different shades of light emitting from him. I guessed him to be God.
The last picture that I came to study was so beautiful because of the artist's amazing attention to detail. It looks more like a photograph than a painting.
But the scene itself was haunting and dark. It featured two naked men, one of them appeared to be jerking the other backward and pinning him there, biting at the corner of his neck.
The man that is being bitten looks scared and his face was twisted in an ugly expression of pain. The man doing the biting looked evil and hungry. On the other side next to the naked man were two women discussing.
One wore a white robe with a touch of red in it while the other one was dressed in a black overall. They were looking with a hint of concern at the heap of dead naked bodies around them.
Flying above them was a human-sized, bat-faced man. It wore a wicked smile on its face and its eyes glowed White like two flashlights far off from the distance.
I was amazed by these complex art pieces. They appeared to be real and valuable. I just wondered why there were so many terrifying pieces in the same place.
Aside from the old and horrible painting, the foyer was decorated with other ancient valuables and furniture. It matches the outer view of the place quite well; everything was both looking old and scary.
"Where is this place?"
I kept looking at the other paintings, though my mind kept drifting back to the one with a heap of naked dead men, so I wasn't able to process anything in particular about the other paintings aside from the fact that they also have demons, monsters and a great battle in it.
I looked up at the ceiling after a while and saw a giant crystal chandelier hanging on the ceiling. It didn't sparkle as the crystal should because there was not enough light in the room to make it happen.
I caught some sudden movement in the corner of my eye and glanced down the hall, and up at the second level. I saw king Xavier standing at the railing, right next to the stairs.
I looked at him, expecting him to come down and tell me what to do or explain to me why he asked me to wait for him here in the foyer.
Even from far away, I could tell that he was handsome. With his silver eyes and his long white hair, he still radiates like moonlight. He stood at the top of the stairs on the other side of the hall, I couldn't quite read his facial expression. Though sometimes I will catch him looking at me when I look away and when I look at him he will probably look stern and unemotional.
I wondered if he had any feelings or if he was just like this because he is the king and doesn't want anyone to bring him down.
I and Xavier stood staring at each other. I thought he might come down and say something, but instead, I was distracted by the sound of shoes coming down the hall. By the time I looked away briefly and looked up again back to the stairs, Xavier was gone.
He sure moved quickly and silently.
I waited for the person to whom the footsteps belonged to come out of the room down the hall, and soon a lady dressed in a maid outfit came out.
I was surprised to see the same woman I saw in the morning before coming out to meet with the king. This was the woman that was nice to me immediately after we met, she didn't judge me as the other one did.
"My lady!! Permit me to walk you to your chamber" she told smiling at me
"Chamber??" I was happy that at least I am getting my room.
I followed her to the room. The place was well-arranged and colourful, unlike the king's chamber which was dark and out of life. Everything in the room was made of gold.
"You must be the king's favourite person that brought back with him last night," I was surprised
" No need to be surprised, " George told me," in my mind, I was trying to know if I knew anyone with the name George but I couldn't.
"Who is George?" I asked in a well respectful- manner she smiled and said "he is the king's, right-hand man
"And what is your name?"
"I… I'm Sophia. Sophia Anthony"
"Well, it's a pleasure to officially meet you, Sophia," the maid said. She bent slightly at the waist to give a pleasant now.
I was glad that she didn't reach out to shake hands with me because I knew my palms would be sweaty from nerves.
"Well," the maid said, my name is Eda. I'll be helping you get settled in and also your servant," she smiled widely again. I felt closer to her now and I also thank God for at least giving me someone to talk to anytime am feeling bored.
"Come with me, let's get you prepared," Eda suddenly says.
I guessed today will be a long day!!!