***
The next day, she was lost in daydreams about Caspian. It horrified her how often he crossed her mind. How often she thought of the sound of her name upon his lips.
She wondered if demons were really so bad. Yes, they drank blood, but the servants in the castle had all been so kind to her. And Caspian, well, Caspian was a law unto himself, but he had nothurther. Not really. Though she was a little low energy today, it was nothing a short nap couldn’t fix.
Elizabeth bit her lip. Could she really forgive him for drinking blood just because he was a good kisser?
She had gotten distracted and missed the usual dinner hour, forgetting to eat until hunger gnawed at her belly. She headed down to the cellars in search of the kitchens.
It was dark; the flickering torches on the wall were the only light to see by. She held her candle in front of her, her soft-soled shoes quiet on the flagstones.
Elizabeth pushed open the door that led to the kitchens.
There was a coppery smell in the air, and the sharp smell of cleaning solution. The air was cold enough to bite her nose, and there was the sound of dripping.
Her mouth fell open in horror.
There were racks and racks of meat hanging from hooks in the ceiling. She must have gone through the wrong door.
Every surface was pristine, gleaming knives splayed out on a table. The air was cold, as if she were in a giant icebox. There were racks of animals, skinned into nothing but muscle and bone. Different-sized carcasses hung around the room: one might have been a deer or horse, and some smaller creatures, perhaps lambs. Beneath each hanging body was a bucket, and a slow drip of blood.
Elizabeth swallowed audibly.
Just a meat locker. A cold room to keep the meat cool.
She hurriedly exited, feeling a bit faint, and opened the door next to it, feeling sure this one would lead her to the kitchens.
Bile rose in her throat as she beheld what could only be a second meat locker. These carcasses were different. These were two tall bipedal creatures. What animal was this shape? Tall, and with a shape similar to … she raised her forearm to compare its size to hers.
The coppery scent in the room intensified, and she gagged, throwing up in her mouth.
Two butchered humans.
They had been beheaded and skinned—their flesh red and sinewy. The abdomen had been split open, and the internal organs had been scooped out. Gutted like a deer. She was grateful they had no heads so she didn’t have to stare into unseeing eyes.
Lumps of fatty tissue sat on the chest, yellow and gelatinous, marking them as undoubtedly female.
Elizabeth held a hand over her mouth and tried not to vomit.
Below the women who would never get a proper burial were two buckets, collecting their blood, their life force.
Food for demons.
The world seemed to shrink around her, the room suddenly too hot.
She whirled around, fleeing the room and putting her hand on the wall of the hallway to steady herself. Her breathing grew shallow and rapid, and she struggled to get in enough air.
She leaned against the wall, and the world slipped in and out as unconsciousness threatened to take her.
“Elizabeth? What are you doing down here?” Asmodeus strolled down the corridor, his wings flaring out behind him, a smile on his face.
“Come to visit me at last?” His grin widened, showing elongated canines. “Though, I must say, sweetheart, you look a bit peaked. Not exactly the flushed, satisfied glow I was expecting to see after the Master’s … attentions.” Asmodeus gave her a roguish wink.
Asmodeus took in her haunted expression and paled.
“Don't tell me you were poking around in there?” He jerked his thumb towards the room she had just been in.
He put his face in front of hers, which helped to dull the roaring in her ears.
