Page 71 of Demon's Bride

I close my eyes, raise both my hands in front of me, and concentrate. The scent of dust and mothballs fills my nose, and I follow its path all the way down to the individual fibers of the blanket. A pull of power, one gentle tug, and I feel some of that dirt and grime lifting. Fragile, such fragile power this is, but it comes to me as easily as breathing.

When I crack my eyes open, a ghostly cloud of dust and grime is hanging over the bed. A shaky, surprised breath almost makes me drop it, but a heartbeat later I recover myself and slowly bring my palms to center. The dust-ghost follows, folding in on itself until it’s a neat, floating sphere I can drop safely out of the way in the corner of the room.

It’s not perfect magick, and nothing short of a good wash will ever get all the mustiness out of the bedding, but when I lean down and run my hand over the blankets, I find them feeling a lot cleaner than they were a minute ago. A prick of unexpected pride sparks in my chest.

I did this.

Every time the power comes, it surprises me. After so many years without, I truly don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it.

Satisfied enough with the state of the bed, I crawl in and tuck myself up under the covers.

I shut my eyes and think of Eren, hoping he’ll return soon, hoping no one was hurt, and that the keep wasn’t too damaged, hoping I don’t spend the night lost in nightmares of earthquakes and bitter magick.

Chapter 27

Eren

Hundreds of my courtiers spread across the grassy foothills outside the mountain keep as we do our best to sort through the aftermath of the earthquake.

Members of the court and council pass food and blankets around as afternoon bleeds into evening, though many courtiers have already chosen to portal elsewhere for the night until we can determine if the keep is safe to reenter. The main quake lasted nearly three minutes, rumbling up from the earth below and shaking the entire mountain with it. What Allie and I felt was merely a tremor, a warning shudder heralding the main event, and while I feel some lingering shame at having left for even a moment during the disaster, I have no regrets about seeing to her safety.

By the time I made it back, the evacuation had already started, and not ten minutes later, the main quake hit. It shook the ground from the bedrock upwards, and for a few stomach-lurching moments, I’d been certain the entire structure of the mountain keep would cave in on itself. Not everyone had been out by that point, and I’d never known such a black, soul-eating fear as I had thinking it would come down.

In the end, it hadn’t been nearly as bad as it could have.

An expansion on the western side of the mountain collapsed during the quake, undoing years of work in a moment. Fortunately, there had been enough time between the first tremors and the collapse for many to evacuate. Beyond that, many had already left the mountain to enjoy the fine spring day, whittling away at the number of potential victims.

Those who remained made it out, and while a few were struck by falling debris before they could portal or run out of the mountain, the injuries were relatively minor, considering what the outcome could have been.

No deaths.

Lucky, so damned, incredibly lucky.

A small voice in the back of my mind questions how long that luck will last.

That voice questions if the same corroded, destructive magick that’s causing crop failures and torrential rains is behind this as well. Is this the realm coming slowly apart at the seams? Crumbling beneath the failure of the bargain?

Shaking the thoughts aside, I offer assurance to the courtiers I pass, stop and assist with getting an older demon to his feet and on his way home. Some call greetings, some merely huddle together in solace or portal away to stay with friends or relations for the evening until we know whether it’s safe to return.

Builders have been hard at work these last few hours determining if there are any other areas of concern within the cavernous keep. So far, the news seems good, but I won’t risk anyone else’s safety. No one will go back in until first light at the earliest, and I work with my council to assure everyone has another place to go tonight.

Once that particular problem has been dealt with and I’ve checked in with my builders about the state of the western wing, I continue on down toward the area set aside for Vayla to tend to the injured.

It’s a small, makeshift medic’s tent with supplies portaled in from other areas in the kingdom. Vayla, hard at work patching up bumps and scrapes and setting a couple of broken bones, turns and greets me a few minutes later when she finishes with her current patient.

“Majesty,” she says with a small bow.

“Any serious injuries to report?”

“None. The worst was Meryl, who had a concussion, and we had someone portal her down to Glen Verlan to her mother’s house to rest.”

I nod. “Good. Any other supplies you need?”

“Not right now.”

We both stare for a moment at the mountain, as if waiting for another tremor to rock it, for a great cascade to reduce it to rubble.

“Your workshop is untouched,” I tell her, trying for a reassuring tone. “The library as well. Nothing but the western tunnels seems to have been impacted.”

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