❛ Why can’t you just let me go? ❜ Enver muttered, frustrated that the rock gnome was like a ball and chain shackled to his ankle. He didn't necessarily want to leave, but he wanted more freedom around the House. Without Nubaldin breathing down his neck at every moment, even when he was asleep the little red bastard never left him alone. He was in his early twenties now - an adult, surely I should be afford some breathing space.
Raphael turned his gaze toward Enver; eyes cold as the ice of Cania. He had perfected that look centuries ago. Practice makes eternal.
“Freedom, now?” A chuckle left his chest as he rose from his desk, towering height making a point without the need for words. “You speak as if you were a bird in a cage, rather than a guest in a palace.” Bird would be overly generous. Much more akin to a circus monkey. “It’s remarkably ungrateful.”
The devil scoffed. Ah. Defiance.
“Nubaldin is not a shackle. He is a steward. The guardian of my investment.” Investment. The word was weighted. Raphael reached out, a hand coming to rest with deceptive lightness on Enver’s shoulder. “A man grown. . .But mine, nevertheless. You were bought and paid for when you were nothing but a shivering scrap of flesh.” Still alive because of me. Still breathing because I allowed it. He should actually express his gratitude more frequently.
Raphael does not let things go. He collects them, refines them, and breaks them when bored.
Now. . . Do you desire a longer leash, my little pup?
“But very well. I am a creature of boundless generosity, after all. Let it never be said that Raphael is a restrictive host.”
He withdrew his hand. “Nubaldin shall remain in the shadows today. You may wander the House, taste the wine, breathe without a gnome at your heels. A taste of the ‘freedom’ you crave. You will dine at my table. With me. Would that satisfy you?”
He gestured toward the hall.
