If you wonder who any of the characters are, go back and reread Chapters 1 and 2. Thanks for feedback!
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A shroud of purple settled on the horizon. The moon shone down upon the monastary grounds as Matilda returned, covered in dirt and dust, to her chamber. Quick hands made her human husk clean, aided by cold water from a basin. Her legs ached from being spread so far, but that ache was far less than the expected pain from her intercourse with the Demon Lord. The burn she'd felt in the catacombs was absent, instead was a delicious throbbing ache. Maybe this was her curse, that she would never be satisfied in life.
Reclining on her palette, she yawned with exhaustion. Her heavy eyes drooped and just as she might have drifted into a deep slumber, Ambrosio entered her thoughts. Her meditations were colored differently than before. She could not avoid a bitter taste in her mouth while wondering, 'if the god of the underworld wants me as he does, why then could Ambrosio not also?
The new color of her regard for Ambrosio was both a relief for her and a bane. She recognized the absence of her deep love for him and knew a newborn desire to instead own him. Then satisfaction drew a smile on her face. His soul was hers, so long as she did the Dark Master's bidding. Gazing at the folds of her discarded cloak, she could make out the shape of the latest trinket Lucifer had bestowed upon her. Her heart jumped with flame. 'Soon my Ambrosio!' she said. 'Soon you will be chained to my whim and follow my every order!'
Sleep soon claimed her, but a new cold darkness filled her sleep. The depth of her evil deed with the Prince of Hell had swallowed up the last of her innocence, depriving her of the ability to dream.
The smell of sulfur woke her. Silver smoke was dissipating when she opened her eyes, half-lidded black orbs looked down on her with a look resembling that of an affectionate admirer.
"Asmodeus. Why do you disturb my rest?" Addressing the arch-demon, shehe didn't sit up, only turned on her side. The little demons chained to the arch-demon's leg clamored at her robe and slid away the folds to reveal a gilded mirror. They were jerked away almost instantly and whimpered at his feet.
"Profuse apologies, mistress." She could see now his gaze had changed and he looked upon her with more fear than he had in past times. "As you instructed, I followed the young monk, Ambrosio and discovered his destination."
"Relay to me what you have seen. Spare no detail," she bit her lip and listened.
"The monk answered a call for a visit to a sick woman, Elvira. She is the mother of that girl, Antonia, the object of Ambrosio's desire. He departed the monastery with his wits about him but did not return in the same manner." Matilda could detect his glee in relating the information.
"Indeed?" she answered haughtily, endeavoring to appear unphased.
"He has been in his chamber for a full hour, kneeling in prayer. He is praying for forgiveness."
"This does not inspire surprise, Asmodeus. He is piety incarnate. It is for his piety that I first felt stirrings of love," she felt a sigh rise in her bosom but did not release it.
"You may not love him so well if you see this," he withdrew from his cloak a framed portrait. The painted canvas was ripped in twain. It was a portrayal of the Madonna, but the features were Matilda's own. She had commissioned the piece herself and had paid to have it delivered to Ambrosio. In turn, unaware of the subject's true identity, he had spent many hours meditating on the beauty of the woman, only to find out later that it was modeled from Matilda. Now rent from its sacred place, ripped and abused, it was obvious to Matilda that Ambrosio not only disliked her, he hated her.
"I love only our Master," she said resolutely. "I have no love for the monk any longer. I have only to gain his soul and I shall own him for eternity. I am to be a vessel for the Dark Master himself. I will have authority over the arch-demons, paid to me upon my death."
"I could sense that you had been changed. You are no longer entirely human," Asmodeus said. "You have tasted the delights of Lucifer's flesh." Asmodeus' eyes glowed with what could have been envy. "I am surprised that the experience did not condemn you to death." He looked away and she could sense a heat building inside of him.
"It was indeed delicious. No man or arch-demon could ever know such pleasure," she said, narrowing her eyes, smiling wide. Asmodeus was quiet, a scowl on his face... then the scowl twisted into a smile.
"Your monk... he advanced on the young Antonia. She refused his seductions and he was turned from the house. Our Master has made a deal with God. God insists that his perfect creation would never harm an innocent. God has insisted that the Dark One tempt Ambrosio."
"There is no denying he would rob Antonia of her innocence if presented with the opportunity."
"Yes, but his ultimate sin cannot be committed unless he enters that house once more and he is barred from Elvira's house. And if he cannot enter, you shall never have him." He chuckled. She could sense his disdain bundled with joy at what might cause her suffering. "And now I depart, for I can no longer be of any more service to you." With a deep bow, silver smoke consumed him and she was alone again.
She quaked with anger, the words echoing in her mind, 'he advanced on the young Antonia.'...'-,you shall never have him.'