Fall of the Cardinal

Part 4 : Betrayal

The Cardinal didn't love Milady.

But there was no doubt that he wouldn't have cared for her - even for a little.

Maybe that was the reason for him to feel so terrible as he suddenly woke up, facing the stone wall of the cold dining chamber. He had his only only one woman in his life - and he had treated this woman like a common whore. Taken what he had wanted - from her. And that thought made him close his eyes again, and oh, how he was filled with the pressure of regret. Feeling like his insides would've turned upside down with every word of his inner dialogue.

He felt the heavy weight of guilt on his cut shoulders, that were were filled with the finest of scars. And not because of is lady, who had offered herself to him, but because of himself. He had betrayed himself, broken his promise.

But the worst of all - he had betrayed his God.

So he sat on the pillow bed, covered only by the thick cloth of velvet. And as he turned his sight, he faced his lady, Milady, who was sitting on the table, fully dressed, smoldering smirk on her elegant face that had grown far from beauty in her Cardinal's eyes. And it made a sad contrast. His lady, dressed in the finest of fabrics, sitting on the table - and him; lying on the cold floor, naked. Suspicion raised in, spreading it's wings of uncomfortable feelings. But still the Cardinal didn't grow tense or angry. He was speechless, surprised, ashamed - and there was no expression to describe such a feeling.

"Good morning, my dear Cardinal," Milady said with a cold, distant voice - like she would've been above him in some way - and she most likely was.

"What's the meaning of this?" her Cardinal snapped sharply, letting his expression grow tense, angry as he felt himself threatened - helpless in more ways than just one.

He grabbed his robe that was lying on the dark, smooth velvets, watched by his lady, who had suddenly grown so cold, arrogant in his eyes. This wasn't his lady anymore, he said to himself. She had become someone else. He could hear it in her voice as she said calmly, slowly:

"Nothing. You got what you wanted, didn't you?"

There was a certain teasing tone in her voice, so the Cardinal could hear that there was nothing left of something that had once been. There was nothing left of the formal friendliness. It was like she would've mocked him even with the tone of her voice.

Within, she was laughing at him.

And in the next moment she leaned down, moved herself towards her Cardinal, sitting down on the silky bed of pillows and smooth cloths of velvet. She took her time, as her Cardinal's heartbeat grew faster from every echoing step, every elegant, smooth movement. And she let her fragile hand caress her Cardinal's bony cheek in a way that lacked softness, lacked feeling. It was just a touch of a cold hand and there was nothing to be desired from it. All that the Cardinal could feel at that ever lasting moment was rising anger, suspicion - fear. Yet he didn't do anything - letting Milady's cold, fragile fingers lie their touch on him.

"Why are you doing this to me? Why do you have to disgrace me like this?" he whispered with a tense, cold voice, covering his cut chest with the cloth of velvet in his grip.

His lady smirked and answered him:

"It takes two to tango."

And then there was an awkward silence. Milady swept her touch away from her Cardinal and looked at him with cold, mysterious look in her eyes. She stripped the man from his remaining pride with her presence and raised her cold voice to say:

"Though - you were such an easy catch that I wouldn't use that phrase to mock you," she purred, getting her Cardinal's expression to grow surprised all the sudden.

Catch?

"Because you know..," she started, reaching her Cardinal's lips with her own - kissing him with a kiss that lacked love; it was a cold, loveless touch of lust, that was no longer desired - the magic was gone for good.

"I was payed to do this. This was all part of my job," she whispered to his pointy ear.

She could feel him cringe under her touch.

At that very second the Cardinal's world fell apart, like someone would've stabbed him suddenly with the sharpest and coldestof all knifes. His breath stopped - he gasped like all the air would've escaped from him- his eyes were wide open all the sudden. And there was no words to be said, as he felt his lady's body growing distant from him. She stood up slowly, enjoining the light, the pride escaping from her Cardinal's eyes.

And in few minutes, there was no trace of something that had once ran out from him like water, like Cardinal fell apart in front of his lady - in front of the person that he had cared the most of all the ladies that had been in his life so far. He had been betrayed.

His lady backed away from him for few steps, touching the table with her cold fingers, and there was no expression, no irony, no sarcasm - nothing. In the fair darkness of the early hours of morning she just gazed at her fallen, crashed Cardinal, who justgasped like he couldn't breath: like an animalabout to be put out from it's she grabbed a cool glass of wine into her grip. With a little, gentle movement of her hand, she raised it for a bit and said with the coldest of all voices ever heard before:

"For your disgrace."

And then she walked out from the room.

Walked out from his life. Leaving all that remained from the untouchable Cardinal with no doubts, no regrets, shadow covering her eyes that showed no expression - there was nothing in her - and there was nothing in him. Only emptiness remained.

And the Cardinal closed his eyes, turning his face away from the closing door, as his heart beat like a dramatic, silent sound of piano. He dropped his head against his arms - and within, a part of him died a slow, painful death. He realized:

His obsession had been cured - and the cure had cost him everything he had ever valued.

FIN