#mattheus

Martenique was about in her forest when the vines told her she had a visitor, and it was not Casperius.  Cautious, she moved silently through the underbrush to see who the newcomer could be.  It was another male demon, which perplexed her.  He was about the same height as Casperius, same intense blue eyes, his hair was a darker shade of brown, but there was something about him that reminded her of the demon that had found his way into her heart.  She was curious why this male was now in her domain.  Has Casperius sent him?  Was he a friend of his?  Would Casperius have sent him without telling her first?  Curious, but cautious, she continued to study him.

“I know you’re here, little sprite.” Mattheus called out.  He could sense her near.  His spy in Casperius’ house was paying off in spades.  “You can come out, I won’t hurt you.” A smirk formed on his lips as he looked around and turned in a circle, trying to get a bearing on where she was.  He was not lying, at least not at the moment.  What his true intentions were, he hadn’t completely decided.

Martenique continued to study him.  Something inside her felt like she should be wary of him, to the point of keeping the fact that she could control the foliage of the forest from being known to him.  Why she felt this way made no sense to her.  When Casperius had first come, she had been curious and a little wary of him, but not like this male.  He was different, but how he was different was not something she could put her finger on.

“You know a friend of mine.  Casperius.  He told me about you.  I wanted to come meet you since he seems to be hiding you from us all.”  Mattheus lied as he spoke.  He wanted to get the female to trust him and come out of her hiding.  The one under his employ had said that Casperius was enchanted by her beauty and he wanted to see for himself what had so captured his brother’s interest.  It had been centuries since his elder brother had taken interest in just one female, so this one must be special.

At the mention of Casperius, Martenique’s head cantered to the side and she studied the male more closely.  Maybe he could be trusted.  Her Peri wouldn’t have told someone about her if they meant her harm. He’d made it clear he would protect her in several of his recent visits.  Slowly she edged around where he was standing, drawing ever closer. Still trying to decide if she should reveal herself, she was definitely going to keep out of arm’s reach.  Even if he was a friend of Casperius’, that didn’t mean she wanted him touching her.

“Who are you?  And why have you come?”  Martenique’s voice seemed to come from all around him.  She was using the plants in a way that only a nature sprite would know how.  Until she was ready, the nature of her forest would conceal her location and keep her safe.  

“You can call me, Matty.  All of my friends do.”  A smug smirk began to form on his face.  So he had found her, his information had been correct.  His spy would be handsomely rewarded when next they met.  “I know Casperius very well.” Not a lie, not a lie at all. “He and I go way back. When I heard that he had found a female that he was so interested in, I wanted to meet her.  Of course, he is wanting to keep you all to himself, so I came to you.”

“And what did you hope to gain by coming here, Matty?” Still cloaked behind foliage and her voice being passed amongst the leaves, Martenique inquired.  Her eyes were trained on the male that so resembled a younger Casperius that she did not believe that he was a friend.  Inexperienced in the ways of demons she might be, but that did not mean that she was completely naive.

“Only to get to know you, little sprite.  To learn about the female that has captivated Casperius and caused him to deviate from his normal routine.” Mattheus was being very careful to dance around the truth without outright lying.  Omitting facts was not lying. If she kept asking questions, this game of escape and evade would become much more dicey.  He was hoping to pull her out into the open before then.

Keeping close to the edge of the small clearing he was in, Martenique stepped into view.  “Now you have seen me, but you come no closer.  Peri has not mentioned you, nor has he mentioned any friends coming to visit.”  

Once more Mattheus was pleased to see that apparently his brother had been telling the truth to whomever he had divulged her beauty to.  She was exquisite.  He liked her. The ones before had all been pretentious and destroying them had been delectably enjoyable.  This one, oh she was something completely different and he would savor discovering more about her.  Maybe this one he would keep, seduce, and steal from his brother like his brothers had stolen everything from him.

“Of course he hasn’t mentioned me, or any of his friends.  Casperius can be rather greedy, you see. He wants to keep you all to himself, afraid one of us would be so charming you couldn’t resist.  His charms are all surface level, it makes him good at making contracts that only benefit him. The rest of us, well we’re just simple demons with no ulterior motives.” Mattheus tipped his head slightly as he gave her a sly smile.  She was studying him and he was definitely going to give her something to look at.

Slowly he moved towards her, hands out to his sides. “You can see I’m no threat to you. I’m just here to talk, see what Cas is hiding from the rest of us.  He definitely undersold your beauty.”  He watched her brow furrow and had to keep from getting too cocky.  “I’m sure you’re far smarter than he said too.” Slowly he was drawing closer to her and either she was no longer leary of him, or she was distracted by the shade he was throwing at his brother.  Either way, it was to his benefit that she was not backing up.  A few more steps and he’d be able to grasp her.  “Downplay your beauty and brains, and I’m sure oversold your sexual prowess. So like him.”

Martenique didn’t respond, but she now knew that whoever this male was, he was not a friend of Casperius’.  They had never done more than kiss still and he had never even tried.  Even if she were to believe that he would make her sound like he did not find her as attractive and smart as he told her he did, she did not believe he would lie about that.  It was possible she was wrong, but he had asked to court her, and after talking with some of the fae and pixies in town, this was apparently a major thing to those in other realms.  It was almost akin to a mating contract betwixt sprites.  

“Well, he is a demon, and demons….”she trailed off for a minute and brushed her ankle against the foliage behind her discreetly to wake it up, “they lie.” Now her face was a mask of irritation and she gave a whistle that had a vine coming down to wrap around her wrist and whisk her up above his head to a branch.  “I don’t know who you are or why you are here, but you are not welcome.”  Another vine came down and took her higher. If this Matty could do that disappearing thing that Casperius did, she was in trouble and had to get where he couldn’t find her and fast.  A few more whistles and a hum and her forest went into motion to protect her.

“FUUUUUUUCK!” Mattheus screamed up into the trees when she disappeared for a moment.  He traced up to the limb she’d been on, barely keeping his balance and listening for a rustling above him.  He knew the damn sprite was somewhere overhead, but not where.  “Now, little sprite, I’m not going to hurt you.  I’m trying to help.  You don’t know Cas like I do.”  He heard a rustling to his left and traced to a tree in that direction.

“Did he tell you that three of his former lovers ended their own life because of him?” He left out that the reason was because of the torture that he’d put them through after kidnapping them.  This little gem of a sprite though, she was smart and he wanted her for other reasons.  If he could capture her and turn her against his brother, it would be beautiful and his final revenge.

“Of course he hasn’t mentioned me, or any of his friends.  Casperius can be rather greedy, you see. He wants to keep you all to himself, afraid one of us would be so charming you couldn’t resist.  His charms are all surface level, it makes him good at making contracts that only benefit him. The rest of us, well we’re just simple demons with no ulterior motives.” Mattheus tipped his head slightly as he gave her a sly smile.  She was studying him and he was definitely going to give her something to look at.