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Finally, Elincia lowers her eyes. Her lower lip trembles. She extends her utensil towards the table with a trembling hand.
“We humbly thank you–”
“Fine,” I snap. I am surrounded by ingrates. Furious magic crackles, and pastries and fruits join the meat. “Here.”
The girls chatter, excited, and Elincia grins at me as she fills her plate.
“You must take meat as well or I’ll evaporate all of it.”
“Yes, Kha’zeth,” the girls recite in unison, taking the smallest possible portion.
Elincia tries to take three pastries, but her older sister zaps the third from her hand before she can shove it in her mouth.
“Hey!” she whines.
If they fight now, I think I might evaporate the table. My tenuous temper hangs by a string. Their voices rise, and then their sister joins in, just to be a part of the clamor. I shut my eyes and recite spellwork in my head, spells I haven’t thought about since I was a boy, just to keep from destroying my entire manor.
I’ve no energy for any of this. The zonak should serve breakfast, but they’ve just begun to clean the main living hall. I don’t have the patience to once again explain to them what their jobs entail. When directed, they’re efficient enough, but they truly must be directed at all times.
And it’s not so much work to summon a plate from the cabinet and fill it with meat.
Naturally, by the time I serve myself, I sense a presence in the archway. I turn so that I can instruct the zonak to begin cleaning the table once we’ve finished eating, and not during. If I don’t make myself clear, they’re likely to make off with my plate before I finish.
But it isn’t a zonak at all.
Natalie stands, hands clasped in front of her. She’s washed her face clean of tears, but the whites of her eyes are still red. It takes her a while to look up from her feet. Has she come for a purpose, or is she trying to blend in with the wall?
The girls share a curious look, and my shoulders stiffen.
Has she come to tell them I’m a monster? To repeat the slander from before in front of my girls?
I didn’t like hearing it the first time, and I don’t want my nieces to hear it at all. Even though it would be within my rights to take her as I wish, something inside me doesn’t want the girls to suspect me of such a thing.
I press my palms against the table and rise to my feet. Every step I take towards her, I expect her to flee.
Even the zonak from the next room have paused their work. All eyes are on Natalie, not that she sees them. She stares at the floor with unblinking eyes.
“Well?” My voice is rough. I don’t try to be gentle. Sanding my rough edges around her hasn’t worked so far, and I’ve given up trying. I’m a demon, and I speak like one. “Are you going to join us or not?”
77
NATALIE
My legs shake as I stand in the hallway leading to the dining hall. Kha’zeth’s nieces chatter cheerfully, but he remains gruff. Several times they ask him for more food, and he gives in, but always with a sharp word. His temper seems even worse than usual.
Is it because of me?
Maybe I should go back to my room, but the zonak watch me with lazy interest from the corner. They’ll tell him that I was here, and then I’ll have even more to explain. It’s better to get things over with quickly, instead of letting my anxiety build.
Resolved, I decide to apologize immediately, but once I take a step into the actual arch, I freeze. I can walk no further. My heart hammers in my throat, and my feet refuse to move. The demon girls stop talking immediately.
How much do they know about my accusations? I was so loud. Did they hear me?
I shut my eyes and force a shaky breath. Gods, what had I been thinking to accuse him of such a thing, even if he had done it? On Protheka, most dark elves would have cut out my tongue for such words. Or worse.
And this place, this strange, perpetually stormy world that resembles all of my grandmother’s whispered stories about a place she called hell, doesn’t seem like the sort of place humans are forgiven. The trovlar demon who terrorized me during my initial captivity made that very clear. Protheka was bad enough; this place is worse.
I’m not sure I want to know what they do to humans like me here.
