INRI: Ignis Natura Renovatur Integra (Through Fire, is Nature Perfectly/Entirely Renewed)

Raiel's Point:

"Bring him down for dinner, please."

The maid looked at me with shock, but didn't say anything. Instead, she scurried away back into the hall leaving me in the dining room with my thoughts. I think it might be because I've been saying 'please'. They mustn't think I'm getting soft, Heaven forbid.

It had been a while since I actually ate down here. The maids have been keeping up with the dusting, the paintings are still as grotesque as they were before. Maybe a layer of dust would do them some justice, or at least cover their eyes. My father always said that having eyes on painting would put someone in a state where they felt that they couldn't lie. Something like having some giant pair of eyes on you, a secular divinity. Why do they make me feel anxious then? I had opted for landscapes but the old man wanted at least one painting of a person in each of the main rooms where I'd have people.

I wonder why people rarely went to their home, must be because the old man was obsessed with portraits. It was hard to stifle a chuckle at the thought, but it was at least something to cast the gloom of those eyes to the side. Maybe I should look for a landscape sometime, there is a nice auction that happens every spring. I wonder if Edam likes flowers. Why is he in my mind? Nothing prompted it.

Edam's Point:

Aunty had come in with simple attire and had swatted away a maid who came with sandalwood paste.

"It's too much, we must put his comfort first. If we don't, who will?" She chided. The maid nodded, going back to the vanity where she took up a small bottle of perfume. Aunty helped me to sit up, looking down at my hands.

"Still red, I don't want to put gloves on them yet. You think you can use a knife and fork with these?"

"Only one way to find out," I responded teasingly, she smiled and patted my hands.

"At least you're in a joking mood."

She put down the shirt and pants before moving to take the bottle of perfume from the maid. In a few brief minutes, I was dressed in the loose clothing and perfumed. I was given that silver necklace from my grandmother to wear, and something told me that Aunty knew all too well what it was. The gentle way she handled it was quite different to her usual demeanor. Afterwards, it was just a matter of the jacket which she just wrapped around my shoulders, smoothing out the wrinkles with aged hands.

"Did you ever have children?"

She looked up at me quietly, cupping my face in her hands. Her thumb stroked my cheekbones and I saw the young woman in her eyes.

"That boy and his sister were my children, and now you are mine. I would not have it any other way," she said softly, "Now let's go see the goat, don't want to keep him waiting."

Entering the dining room, I saw Raiel was standing and looking at the painting. He didn't notice me, but seemed deep in thought. I've seen him pensive, but it wasn't like this. Normally, his thoughts left him with a scowl but, this time, there was a tiredness that softened his features. Aunty coughed behind me and Raiel was broken from his reverie. He turned around and nodded at Aunty before looking at me.

I flinched under his stare but the gloom was broken with a faint smile on his lips. He walked to the dinner table, a chair right next to his, and pulled it back. I didn't know what to think, but I did know that this moment would be rare. I moved close to him and sat down in the chair which he pushed forward. No backing out now, I suppose. He sat down next to me, at the honorary head of the table, and knocked on the wood. The first course was brought out which was a soup.

It seems he had the same thoughts as Aunty, focusing more on nutrients and edibility rather than richness. It was strange, to be honest. It was like looking into a mirror and you see yourself. You know you're real but the reflection feels equally real, but different. I kept my head down, struggling with the spoon with the pain that buzzed in my hands.

I heard a frustrated sigh from him. He snatched the spoon from my hand and took a spoonful of the soup from my bowl.

"Open," he commanded. You could smell him, the rut was close and I worry because my own heat was closing in. Still, I opened my mouth and he put the spoon in, letting the soup drip onto my tongue. He pulled the spoon out, letting my lips clean it before repeating the motion.

"Good," he said as he gave me another spoon. This action repeated until he stopped, scowling again. He reached his hand to my face. I flinched as to be expected. His eyes softened at the realization. He opened his palm, an attempt to show that he wouldn't hurt me. Slowly, he moved and held my chin in his hands. His thumb brushed away some of the soup which must've caught on my lips in the frantic motions of his feeding.

Pulling his hand back, he licked his thumb clean. The Raiel from the after dinner appeared again, and he stood up swiftly. He grabbed me and slammed me down on the table, knocking down his glass of wine and shaking the soup bowls. His hand gripped my hips and his other held the back of my neck.

He placed himself between my legs staring at me with an angry hunger. I heard a growl roughly vibrating in his chest as he buried his face in my neck, kissing at the flesh. In spite of myself, I moaned as he bit down on that sensitive spot under my jaw. It was so close to marking me, but why did he change?

A shaky sigh against my neck and he pulled back. He turned, looking at me over my shoulder before saying:

"There's a party to come later, at my parents. You will be ready and you will not do anything stupid. Am I understood?"

His hands still burned on my body but now he was back into himself. He wiped his hands on a cloth before throwing it down onto the table.

"Have your dinner, then do whatever you want."

With that, he left, and the space was horribly quiet. Turning around, I saw the painting and her eyes seemed to stare mockingly, profoundly as though she knew all the secrets between these four walls.

A/N:

INRI - you may also know it as the acronym on the cross of Christ at the crucifixion. The Crucifixion always had my favourite symbology and I do want to capture my own vision of it at some point, might as well piss off some people in my theology course. It has the alchemical meaning of "Through Fire, Nature is perfectly renewed". Fire has been a staple in alchemical works, most notably as an agent for transformation and the breaking down of the materials into their basic forms. So, you may notice that the past few chapters have been Raiel being broken down through a Jekyll-Hyde type of life, having multiple aspects of himself which work in tandem but against each other.

Anyway, please feel free to vote on this. Thank you to all my readers thusfar, I'm glad to see that River Flower is doing well and I do plan on releasing another original work at some point, maybe during Semester Break.

This chapter is probably also going to undergo editing.