Free Tenebrae Manor by P. Clinen

torrential ocean crashing shoreward in booming waves.
    "One must do something to pass time here."
    ****
    Libra sat upon the edge of the chaise lounge with a slow elegance met with the groan of chair beneath weight. Madlyn obediently filled the gorgon's coffee cup and timidly placed a pair of sugar cubes towards the beverage with little tongs.
    "Give that here, Madlyn. I'll do it. Deadsol and I will speak alone."
    Madlyn stared blankly.
    "That means you leave."
    Upon realisation, the girl started for the door, her kneecaps clashing against one another below her greasy smock.
    "Ah, miss! Wait! Allow me the honour," said Deadsol, showing a gentlemanly care in escorting Madlyn to the door. With a gentle push on her slight back, the girl was gone and replaced with the noisy ingress of Comets. The imp made no hesitation in advancing to Libra’s vanity and rummaging through the various trinkets there.
    "That accursed little rodent," Libra hissed. "Why have you brought him?"
    Deadsol feigned abashed shock.
    "Comets, you capricious lout, you forget yourself!"
    The imp rolled his eyes and bowed with unsettling grace, were he capable of lowering himself further, it seemed doubtless he would do so; only his legs were far too short, his feet far too long, to allow a comfortable bend of knee.
    "Ditch the facade, little man. Deadsol! He must leave as well."
    Comets needed no invitation to leave, scuttling out the way he'd come with the bells of his cap rattling. The door was slammed.
    "I do not know why you tolerate that boy," said Libra, still filling her coffee with sugar cubes.
    "Ah, if only you knew, miss. A couple of peas we are; Miss Libra. Peas of a pod, birds of a feather, a chip off the old..."
    "That is quite enough, Deadsol."
    The demon corrected his posture but was instantly on the move again, pacing about the lavish room. His eyes searched, his moustache twitched. In short, the man was rummaging and making little attempt at discretion. His exaggeration of motions was unbearably overt.
    "Deadsol."
    "Miss?"
    "Why are you here?"
    Deadsol was taken aback. "Why, she asks? One can not inquire on his ladyship's health and well being?"
    "One can but that isn't why you're here. The Deadsol that I know does not simply 'inquire upon his ladyship's health.' Explain yourself."
    Her coffee had morphed into a sugary pulp, thick as syrup, not that Libra had cause to object. She downed the potion swiftly before the cup was refilled with a wave of her smooth white hands.
    Deadsol stood before a vanity where an assortment of perfumes and jewelry lay dormant in an aroma of scented powders. He began to dexterously assort the trinkets as though searching for something of utmost importance.
    "Come now, Deadsol. Don't do that! Don't make me get up."
    "This!" shouted Deadsol, facing Libra and holding a brooch in the shape of a black rose aloft.
    Libra's confusion was matched only by her frustration.
    Deadsol remained still as a statue, the brooch held high, eyes fixed upon her.
    "Yes. That. What of it?"
    "It must be this very wonderful thing that controls the eternal night!"
    Here, Libra snorted a laugh of gaiety not often seen in the presence of Deadsol. She covered her mouth daintily but that did nothing to cease the spray of coffee that shot from her lips.
    "Ha! I knew you had ulterior motives, is that what this is about? You think you can waltz in here, disturb my peace and march out with the secrets entrusted to me? I thought more of you, Deadsol."
    The demon appeared embarrassed, his arm slowly lowering the brooch back to its place on the vanity.
    "Unfortunately for you, the spell is one of knowledge, not of tangible substance," said Libra. "Perhaps you should commit more time to thanking me than interrogating me."
    Deadsol remained silent.
    "Truth be known, it was I who was entrusted with this archaic knowledge, a successor for Malistorm was needed and who better than I, one who had studied the happenings of Tenebrae for centuries. Power comes