Devils Laugh

The dark dream tore through his mind as if he was there again, standing on the battlements, watching his men lose their humanity. The ripping and tearing under the light of great fires, casting long shadows over the wet cobbled streets. The heat and ash began to cling to sweaty exposed skin, arms and face, the torn up shirt hanging onto his broad shoulders, but all he could hear was the devil laughing loud and deep, piercing the mind of every man and women in that accursed city.

The man remembered this every morning as he swam back out of the dark ichor that filled his skull every night, to open his eyes and take in the dull morning light that poured in through the tall windows placed into the high walls of his room. Rolling out of sweat soaked sheets and feeling the cold wooden floors on the pads of his feet only to further remind him of the cold touch of stone from that night. A stumble took him to one of the windows, the same one every morning, his rough hands grasping onto the sill hard, grounded long enough for the shaking to subside and the early morning chill to set in.

High in the tower Leon made his way over to a great heap of logs stacked into the corner of his room, feet slapping lightly across the floor, as he brushed a few dark matted locks of hair away from his eyes. Today was the day the monster down its pit would win, that slug curled up and cozy, resting on the ashes of an empire he had assisted in burning down to the earth. A fine glass of wine from the east and cut of fine meat from the cattle raised a stones throw away, while he told great heroic tales and laughed late into that deep night, knowing what was waiting for him.

A light knock sounded on the heavy oak door to his left as he gazed down at the pile of dry lumber he still held in his arms. Leon threw the logs into the heavy stone fireplace before letting out a deep rumble to invite ,who he assumed was a maid, in. Knees cracked, producing a wince as he lowered himself closer to the ground and began striking flint into a handful of tinder that had been found in a small barrel nearby. Jasmin snickered as she looked down at him, covering her red lips with a small hand before brushing away hair the color of the woodwork that covered the room.

“Do you need assistance sir? She questioned with a small smirk.

“No” Leon responded.

“Can I draw you a bath this morning?” The young girl questioned again, the smirk fading.

“No” He grumbled out.

“Sir, we have to do something with you before the party, Ladies orders” She responded, shrugging before walking a small circle around the dim room.

He glanced up at her as the tinder began to catch and smolder, Leon did not dislike the girl, he did not dislike many things for that matter. It had been years since he had slept in a proper bed that was dry and clean, and to take a hand from another, to be pampered, that was lost to him decades ago. Leon blew down into the fireplace several times, feeling the first bits of heat radiate out to soothe the room. Smoke came in small waves next as it puffed and floated around before streaming up into the chimney like some damned river.

“I suppose a haircut is due” Leon stated.

“Fantastic! I’ll have a barber come by while you bathe” Jasmin said with a contained excitement.

“Very good” he responded in a lighter tone now, glancing once again to the girl waiting patiently on him, “Why don’t you go down and have the cooks put something together”.

A small nod carried her away as she hurried out of the room, he had never asked for food or drink before, he had never asked for anything from these people. It had been nearly half a decade since he had laid in a tub of hot water, using rags and rivers for all those years away from his homeland. Leon chuckled as he realized these maids and clerks, the cooks, those were his soldiers now