“I KNOW MANY GAMES,” SHE ANSWERED, “but that does not mean I should pick.” Ariadne stuck her lip out, a playful pout meant to ease him and convince him that she was not dangerous – that he could fool her. She was not sure how she should play (not the game, for as she had said, she did know many games); should she pretend complete and utter ignorance of his nature, which gleamed in the low light like a jewel catching fire? should she reveal her insight, and express her frustration at not knowing where she was or how she got here? or should she present her problem, whole & entire, and throw herself upon him who was, at the very least, a glimmer of familiar in this strange place?
She did not trust him. That much was certain. And the appellation ‘goddess’ did not mean that he recognized her for what she truly was. She suspected that it was instead a term meant to ingratiate, to flatter, to cloud her judgment.
Leaning forward, she rested her chin in the cradle of her hand and stared at him with wide eyes, dripping honey.
“How about this? The game is simply to guess which one I favor. I do have a favorite, as most people do, I would assume. This is a game that I am particularly good at, one which I never lose. If you guess correctly, I promise that I will not make you play. My rules are as follows: one, you have five questions you can ask me which I promise to answer truthfully, and two, if you do not guess, then I will pose my own questions to you and you must answer truthfully.”
WAITING , WAITING , CALCULATING : her attempts to put him at ease are wasted . he shares sphere with lords of deceit and princes of lies and gods of darkness . bands within bands within bands , interwoven , their fates strung together like roots of trees . they have all hungered to swallow him whole , but his meat is gamey & tough & unfit for sustenance . he isn’t a meal for predators to feast . he leans back . insolence , incarnate . in the right flicker of candlelight , those baby blues take natural form : the red - gold glow of angelic hellfire .
divine violence gleams in him , a ruby sharpened to a gleam .
‘ a bet , then ? ‘ can you see in him , that unending void ? not a god , but god - adjacent . not halo , but banded in a pillar of light . a maliciousness in him that catches the light the same way the silver rings in his ears do . lit from within , vein by wretched vein , the way only the divine could be . ‘ what do you seek from me ? ‘
he’s testing the waters , toeing the waves to see what ripples out from the epicenter . his arms cross , low , over his belly ; a strand of dark hair just out of place to decorate brow bone . the smile he gives is fanged . ‘ to the art of games , then . what rules are there ? ‘ he lifts a hand , one smooth movement , and where it poises grandiose in the air , a wine glass forms . dark , ruby - filled , like a pitcher of blood . he brings it to his mouth .
