#LD BG Fallen AU

[louisdulacblog]

There is a chord

Book One Aesthetic

꧁ 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐍 ꧂

Author's Note: So excited for this fic though I hated writing this chapter because a lot of the lines I took directly from the book, which made me feel lazy. I was excited to flesh out our love interest but realised that this is his last chapter in the book where we'll get his POV lmao.

Sɴɪᴘᴘᴇᴛs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅɪᴅɴᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪɴᴀʟ ᴇᴅɪᴛ:

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧, 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 1830

Lestat carved the final stroke in the wood and stood back to appraise his work. It wasn't his usual medium and took much more time than sketching or painting. Though now that he looked at it, it wasn't good. Foolish in his belief that he'd get it in the first try he threw the tool across the room and sighed, gripping into his hair.

He was restless. It had not been this bad since 1471 but then again Lestat had tried to wait it out the previous years before this. His Saint had lived half a century and though half of that Lestat had been in a daze. It had felt like a fever those years. A haze he could not make sense of.

He felt like that now. Going in and out of reality. Reliving memories stacked on memories. The door to the studio opened and in came Mathias. He was an old man, wise but had some humour on his bone. "All is well?" He asked, walking over to appraise Lestat's work.

Lestat hummed a negative as he turned to the carving. "A wood engraving? I did not know you worked in this medium." He said, walking closer, his hands fluttering over the work. Lestat wanted to rip his hands off. He wanted to scream. Instead he answered:

"My first time. I thought it would make a good challenge."

"Not much of a challenge is it, if you're this good at it." Mathias laughed.

"Not good enough. The subject figure...it didn't come out right. Doesn't capture the likeliness of my muse." Lestat was surprised by his honesty but then he wasn't in his right mind, now was he? Trembling in grief and fatigue.

Mathias took back his hand at last and turned to Lestat. "You worked from memory?" A hint of surprise in his tone.

"Forced to," Lestat answered approaching nearer to his work, trailing one single finger in the arch of his Saint's hips. "He was taken away from me."

There was silence that told a lot. Mathias had known Lestat was interested in one of his slaves but was too busy fucking his Saint to notice which one. And how it had tormented Lestat. This era was the most difficult of eras for him.

His hesitation in following the laws and his eagerness to have his Saint again had led to a tumbling of occurrence that had in the end, served to kill his Saint, taken from Lestat too soon. Lestat had treated his Saint roughly. Because of his restlessness and eagerness and desperation for this curse to end.

He was not proud of what role he had into his death but he could not feel wholly guilty because he was still sure that death was kinder than what life his Saint endured.

Mathias asked, under his breath as if ashamed of the question he had already had the answer to. "And the title of your work?"

"The Voyage of the Sable Venus from Angola to the West Indies." Lestat spit out, harsh. He turned to face Mathias who stood tall in his short height, who flinched.

He frowned, looked away to the art piece. "Ah, Venus." He said softly. "A beautiful thing. He was a demon, you know? No man or woman did not desire him in some form or other."

Lestat could not speak with the rage that built up in him. His back burned from the urge to let his wings out. Mathias stood none the wiser. Too busy trying to put himself in good lighting to a judge to his actions that didn't exist. "The sin I committed with Venus wasn't my fault to bear. Man may not lay with man. But he was a demon. An angel. Even you, holy in your standing and above all, could not resist. It does not make me a lesser man."

Lestat turned and strutted out the room before he would lay his hands on that wretched man.

W. Grainger after T. Stothard, The Voyage of the Sable Venus from Angola to the West Indies, 1801, wood engraving.

In 1827 England, slavery was abolish and black slaves became "apprentices" under white men. In the final draft Louis is named Venus after his what his mother had believed was his grandfather who was a slave and looked exactly like him. I wanted to stick to history as much as possible.

This led me to The Voyage of the Sable Venus from Angola to the West Indies. Slaves were often used for more than just labour but also sexual gratification from their owners. Many slaves were raped, especially women.

This artwork was part of a series of works and poems. Here is the link. It explains in summary how slaves were named after strong figures to further make the master feel powerful in dominating them and a show of how well taught the master is. Most slave women were named after goddesses because of this.

Because of reasons I will not disclose, Louis is more sexualised because of his unique image in this era of time. It was interesting to write and it was such a good lore to take but I realised it would make the chapter longer and not make much sense since we do not get to meet Louis here.