Page 83 of Demon's Bane

Alone with the king, another weighted, uncomfortable silence falls in the room.

“I do not need to be entertained,” I say gruffly. “I’m sure you have more important matters to attend to. Just let me know where I can be best out of the way.”

Eren chuckles. “Like it or not, I’ve got a feeling the two of us are going to be in-laws of sorts. Since Allie and Joan seem closer to sisters than friends, I suppose we should get to know each other.”

With that, he stands and crosses the room. A sideboard holds a flagon of wine and a few goblets, and he pours two before returning to the table, setting one down in front of me, and retaking his seat.

“Drink,” he says, tipping his cup toward me in a half-salute before taking a long sip. “And tell me why it is you look so familiar to me.”

I take my own swallow before answering, the wine rich and smooth. “I’ve spent a little time in court. When I was apprenticing for Urik Monblair.”

“Ah,” he says, eyes going distant for a moment in memory. “The merchant? Out of Gales Harbor?”

I nod.

“A good male. And successful, too, if I remember. Building his own little empire out of the port city.”

“Aye,” I say with another sip of wine and a sharp sort of disappointment lodging itself in my gut.

“You’re no longer apprenticing for him?”

“I’m not. I’m back in my village for… well, for a familial duty.”

“Something I know well,” he says solemnly, and another silence falls between us.

My years of apprenticeship were some of the best of my life. Not necessarily because of the work itself, there’s only so much excitement to be had in haggling over shipments of metals and cloth and other goods, but in the opportunity it gave me to travel. In my time with Urik, I saw more of the realm than I ever dreamed I would. I worked and learned and set myself down a path that felt like something solid and stable after all my years of careless wandering.

Only to have it all fall apart in a wreck of guilt and grief and squandered time when my father died.

“And your mate?” Eren asks quietly, drawing me out of my spiral. “Will she be happy there as well?”

“As Joan said, we do not know what the future holds for us,” I say, more guilt climbing up my throat, along with something that feels very much like panic at the idea of being separated from her. “Joan has a full life back in the human realm. Friends. A business she runs.”

Eren makes a contemplative noise in the back of his throat. It seems he might say more, but thinks better of it as he drains his glass and sets it back on the table before standing and crossing to where I’m sitting.

“Come,” he says, clapping a good-natured hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure we can find something for you to wear this evening. Should be quite the celebration.”

“I doubt anyone will be looking at me.”

He rumbles a low laugh. “That may be true, but knowing my mate, she’s going to find something spectacular for yours. So we may as well at least try to find something worthy of the occasion.”

25

Joan

With hours to fill before the ball, Allie whisks me away from the council chamber and down a series of winding hallways I have no idea how she navigates so easily, to an airy, spacious chamber where the court seamstress works.

A flurry of fabrics and measuring follows, a colorful chaos that ends with a beautiful gown and the promise that it will be tailored and ready for me by tonight.

A short tour around the ground level of the court comes next, and then we meet back up with Rhett and Eren for a quick lunch in the king and queen’s private dining chamber.

The conversation is definitely less tense than this morning. Eren and Rhett seem to be getting along better as they trade stories about the demon realm. Allie and I jump in with our own stories about school and college and living in Beech Bay.

It’s… nice. Having this time. Being with Allie on what amounts to a very, very strange double date.

It in no way, shape, or form resembles anything like our life back in the human realm, but as we sit and talk and have the chance to get to know each other’s demons better, it’s enough.

There’s still a part of my heart that will always miss having her right down the street, just a text and a couple minutes awayfrom any crisis that might arise. But seeing her here, in her new home, with a husband she so very obviously loves, makes it easier to wrap my arms around the new shape of our friendship.

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