Page 84 of Of Realms and Chaos

“What do you say?” The question took me by surprise, because when had anyone ever thought to ask me such a thing? How did I answer that? The truth was likely too dark, too damning. But to lie, to hide the fact that I am more dangerous than even the dalistori, would not do me any favors either.

Eventually, I settled on something in between. “I say that I can be whatever you need me to be in order to gain your support.”

The king did not smile, did not so much as blink. He stared and stared at me, his gaze unsettling in its intensity. Though he was afraid, Trint was also smart. The king was weighing his options, assessing the pros and cons. He was deciding.

“I did not know.”

The words once more caught me off-guard. The monarch had not answered a single question I asked, and yet I knew my only choice was to follow his lead. To placate him.

“Did not know what?”

“That you could control minds. We had heard rumors that you were dangerous, that you had some unheard of power, but we have only ever gotten pieces of stories. Primarily, we were told that you were deadly but leashed, that you presented no danger because your parents made sure you never harmed anyone. I was far more intrigued than scared, though I know now that I was wrong.”

Before I could answer, a pencil appeared above the table, falling right in the center with a loud clatter. Trint jumped but did not scream, his eyes wide as he watched me grab the object. I undid the string, unrolling the paper from around the pencil and reading it.

A shoe, huh? Would it be insensitive of me to say that I am hard just imagining it?

A loud laugh slipped from my lips before I could purse them closed, the two males looking at me as if I were a raving lunatic. And, in the spirit of honesty, I was.

So, King Trint, when will I be making my grand debut as a goddess in the flesh to your people? I must know so I can plan what I will wear. You only get to make a first impression once, after all. I would not want them to think me a tasteless god.

The king flinched at the sound of my voice in his mind, still unsettled by my ability. Which was fair, seeing as it had been mere minutes since he discovered I could do such a thing. Now that I was there in his mind, I could hear the thoughts he was too ashamed to admit, the ones that burrowed and festered like a parasite.

King Trint was considering my offer.

I smiled, finishing off my custard as he watched warily. Farai remained silent at my side, a wall of building animosity. I squeezed his hand, reassuring both of us.

Trint’s mind had been made long before the words left his mouth, but I still found myself giddy as he spoke.

“Fine, Princess Asher, you have a deal. Prove to me that you can sway my people, and Gandry will fight on your side of this war.” Every ounce of my will was not enough to stop me from letting out a soft cheer, my smile lifting my cheeks so high they hurt. “But if you harm another one of my people, then the deal is off. And I need to know more about this deal with Maliha. Their army is nearly double the size of ours.”

I nodded, standing up and reaching my hand out. King Trint looked at me as if I were insane, his mouth lifted on one side in a disgusted sneer. Nothing I had not experienced from the fae.

“So, where and when will I make my debut? Like I said, I would not want to look heinous.” Farai stood beside me, our hands still interlocked. Wrath pranced to my side, looking far too smug. I had a feeling I would soon be dealing with a disaster.

“Have you ever seen a temple at sunset?”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Bellamy

“She is depressing,” Malak, one of my soldiers, whined. I groaned, leaning back in my chair and begging Stella for patience. Not that she would provide any, even if she could. The sergeant was quick to capitalize on my growing annoyance, just as everyone was lately. “And I think she tried to kill a soldier that morning. She told him that he would never find happiness and that to cease breathing would be a blessing.”

Lara had proven to be more of a problem than a help, her constant need to darken every situation bringing down morale en masse. Just yesterday, she had made a young demon sob by discussing with him in detail about the way his short life would be better if he simply allowed the deep abyss of sadness to swallow him, sucking him down into a quick end. Depressing did not begin to describe her.

With a final exasperated sigh, I stood from my desk and nodded at Malak before exiting my office. Lara had been placed in a room not far from my own, the upper level hosting my Trusted the only place I deemed safe enough to let her be alone.

We had already found her tying a noose to the rafters once, which she so calmly let us know was not for herself.

The hallways still held a chill, the stone and wood structure built between and within the mountain pass not exactly a sun-filled place. I still remembered when I expanded the base, laughing as the faces of my soldiers went slack at the sight of me cracking and hollowing the mountains with my mind. The four-day nap following had been worth it, if only to impress them. In the winters, they seemed to truly thank me, as the inside of the mountain was far warmer than the outside, where snow and wind barreled into the buildings unforgivingly.

Each soldier I passed offered me a nod, mumbling my title or my rank, whichever they felt more inclined to use. Few addressed me by my first name, something I think Ash would likely hate. She enjoyed a more intimate rule, one that encouraged love over fear. But that was the difference between the hatred the demons felt for me and the kind the fae felt for her. We were both ostracized and secluded, looked at as a weapon and an enemy instead of a future ruler. Where the fear of her could be quenched with kindness and reassurance, the disgust of me could only be fought with a firm hand.

As if the dark turn to my thoughts had summoned her, I found Lara sitting with her feet dangling from an open window, the stone arch seeming to swallow her body—which she had dressed in a yellow blouse and brown trousers, looking like a sunflower saying hello to the spring air. It was far too bright for such a gloomy being.

“Lara, how are you this morning?” I asked as I approached, careful to walk slowly and nonthreateningly. She did not turn, her long black hair that swayed in the wind moving more than her entire body was. She somehow had surpassed even Wrath in her ability to unsettle those around her.

“I feel as if the days are too long, and I wish I did not need to wake up to so much light.” Gods, she was something. Her tone was low, ominous. We had offered her training, quarters, clothing, food, and really anything she could think to ask for. Anything to cheer her up. However, she asked for nothing, enjoying only the act of walking around and bringing down the moods of those around her. I desperately wished I could help her, not just for our own comfort but for hers.

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