The demon again comes to Aksinya that evening. This time he comes with a gift. Isn't this demon clever?
In the middle of the night, a knock at Aksinya’s door woke her. She sat up and answered without thinking, “Come.”
The dark heavy shape of the demon entered her room. He was more massive in the darkness than she ever remembered, “Countess, as I promised, I brought your mother’s jewelry box. She had more than one. You were not specific so I brought the largest.”
Aksinya’s voice trembled, “That will be sufficient for now. What about my sister’s jewelry?”
“I have not been able to find it.”
Aksinya wanted to cry out, “You liar.” Instead she took a deep breath, “Bring it when you can find it.”
“Yes, Countess.” The demon still held the ornate box, “Where should I put it?”
Aksinya scooted toward the head of the bed, “Here on the bed.”
“It’s heavy.”
“Do I need to repeat myself? Place it on the bed.”
The demon’s fangs were evident in the light from the streetlamps. He might have been smiling. He placed the box near the middle of Aksinya’s bed. Then he stepped back, “You should not leave this in your room.”
“Why not, demon.”
He snarled, “Frau Drescher will find it.”
“Will she steal it?”
“I wish she would. That would be a definite sin. In any case, I do not wish any other undue attention toward you at this point. In this place, they worship your aristocracy. This is a pleasant little lust for all of them here. A little more mystery might enhance that mystique at some point, but not now.”
After Aksinya works on German with Natalya, she is sleeping. The Demon waits, this time, for her summons. Do you see how he is playing her. At one moment demanding, the next responding as her servant. All the demon's actions are intended to make Aksinya follow his purpose. The play here, is we think the demon doesn't fully understand Aksinya's actions. That is a reasonable thought. I will go further and reveal, the demon can't read her mind. I think I mentioned this before. There are secrets Aksinya can hide from the demon, therefore, the demon's actions will be to try to force the secrets from her. We will see some of these tricks later. Right now, the demon is accommodating Aksinya because he believes this will aid in his purpose. The demon doesn't realize that Aksinya intends to use the jewelry boxes to discover more of his bounds (weaknesses).
Aksinya trembles--it isn't in fear. It is in excitement. She will now know the answer to her question--can the demon touch or move evident crosses? This is an incredibly important question to her. The answer means that Aksinya might have another specific means to oppose the demon. That's why the question about her sister's jewelry. At that moment, Aksinya knows the truth. The demon can't move an evident cross--therefore her reaction.
Now there is a set up for a problem for Aksinya. You don't get to see it for a little. The demon asks, where he can put the box. Aksinya is so excited, she doesn't stop to think. The demon's smile should have warned Aksinya. Then Asmodeus tells her not to leave the jewelry box in her room. We'll see more about this tomorrow, but you might wonder about the demons statement. Aksinya does, she asks the obvious, but not the best question, and the demon's answer is Frau Drescher.
Then the wake up statement from Asmodeus that we will address from Aksinya tomorrow. He wishes Frau Drescher would steal the jewelry, but that would cause undue attention toward Aksinya. His point: they worship her aristocracy. This is very evident, but the rest is interesting. “This is a pleasant little lust for all of them here. A little more mystery might enhance that mystique at some point, but not now.” This is interesting enough that Aksinya ponders it tomorrow.
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