"Lucile" [gothic horror (parody?), dale style]

Part One of Two.

“Lay your armour down,” she smouldered, seductively fierce. Her eyes wicked. “You’re only delaying the inevitable.” She beckoned for him to approach with an impossibly long and powerful finger that came to a deadly point at the nail.
Lightning flashed, dazzling, momentarily illuminating the cavernous room. She was gone. “Inevitable.” Her sultry voice now came from the stairs. He turned with the deafening clap of thunder. She cackled soundlessly, terrifyingly, her bare finger outstretched, nay, thrust towards his quivering soul.

* * *

“Bethany, I simply cannot accept this; it is just too nice. Were I to wear it… No, I am not worthy. I could not do it justice.”
“Nonsense Lucile, from the moment I first espied you I have thought of nothing else besides how stunning it should look upon your finger. And how stunning you should look wearing this promise of mine.”
“Oh Bethany…”

* * *

“I am not the one whom you should blame, Lucile. You are so often out these days that you’ve made it terribly hard for me t-to, well, keep my… eyes from wandering.”
“Ian! What are you saying?”
“Where do you go, Luce? Where?”
“I’ve told you, with mother so sick I’ve got to carry out far more errands than before.”
“Do you know how long it’s been since…”
“Plus I’ve got to be up to date with all the journals for my studies.”
“We haven’t lain together as husband and wife for almost two months…”
“And my studies are ever so important to me.”
They stood silently for some time, a great distance between them.
“Luce?”
“What?” Not meeting his eyes.
“Where’s your wedding band?”

* * *

“Warm yourself by the fire son, the morning will come soon. I’ll tell you stories of a better time, before we packed our bags and left all this…” he motioned down toward a valley and the glow of a small village, “…behind us in the dust. We had a place that we could call home and a life no one could touch.” He took a stick from the fire and delicately drew a name in the dirt.

* * *

“I will not let you do this.” He got to his feet and once more took a step towards her.
“You’re stubborn and archaic. You don’t see the scope of all this.”
Blood seeped from long, thin cuts all over his face and arms.
“Your vile blood is leaking from you. Don’t you see this is futile? Now, lay your armour down.” His fingers hovered over the clasp that held a crude iron plate of body armour, which protected only his torso, in place. Her eyes widened; her mouth twisted into a menacing smile.
He then tightened it, and stared straight through her.
Fury. “Lay your armour down!”
He took another step in her direction, brandishing his sword.

* * *

“I don’t mean to intrude, Bethany, but why do you wear so many rings?” Lucile was holding Bethany’s right hand in both of her own, examining it closely. She wore at least two rings on each of her fingers except for the elongated index.
“My rings are like beautiful mementos, my dearest Lucile. They to me represent something of extraordinary significance – the quashing of the distasteful and inferior.” Bethany sidled across the expansive four-poster bed further so she and Lucile sat hip to hip. “And therewith, the birth of the clean, the effervescent.”
Lucile continued to stare at Bethany’s hand, seemingly not phased by her proximity. “They’re darkly beautiful… Some of them almost look like wedding rings.”
“May I see yours?”
Lucile blushed and smoothed over the lap of her floral dress, “I don’t have one.”
Bethany tenderly placed her hand on Lucile’s shoulder and smiled knowingly, “Then what is it that hangs from the end of the chain around your neck you think I know not of?”
“Bethany, I…”
“It’s of no consequence Lucile, don’t trouble yourself. Now, may I see it?”
She nodded and Bethany slowly reached under her sleeve. She then took hold of a long silver chain and raised it up from where it had been dangling down the front of Lucile’s chest. A gold wedding ring was revealed. Lucile was excited by Bethany’s soft touch.
Bethany brought the ring closer to her own chest, causing Lucile to turn and face her. She held it between two of her fingers and made startlingly fierce eye contact with Lucile. Sultry. Her sensuality was undeniable. Lucile seemed entranced as Bethany reached up and stroked the side of her face with her one bare finger...