Page 10 of King's Obsession

“Then did you get lost in the forest searching for Dakata?” she persisted. Her head quirked to the side and though she never let her gaze wander down his body, he caught the apprehension at his state of underdress. “Although the lateness of the hour would suggest that calling now may not be appropriate.”

With a thought, he covered himself in a long flowing robe and tied it at his waist, uncertain why he lingered.Liar.

“Where is Christa?” he asked like an idiot when he had no wish to speak to a demon of his… issues.

“She has some business to take care of in the demon realm, she will be along shortly. Did you wish to speak to her?”

The lie was there on the tip of his tongue, and it burned with all the others, he had told himself. “I… there… yes… see…” A demon king, known for being eloquent, here he was a stuttering fool.

“Is this about Dougal?”

The quiet question got his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “What do you know? What has he said?”

She giggled, and her curls shook around her shoulders. “You and he are a lot alike. Dougal has said nothing to me.” Her expression lost the playfulness and turned serious. “I am part of these trees, therefore part of the roots that reach into the ground. There is little in the forest that escapes the true forest dwellers, and I would say all that Dougal has been feeling of late, we feel, too.”

“Feel? What does he feel?” he asked before he could stop the question tumbling from his lips. From his heart when it hurt at what his rejection of Dougal had caused.

“Everything.”

He huffed angrily. “What kind of answer is that?”

“The only one.” She came closer, and her hand reached and touched his arm. “Fear, it can kill everything that is good with its shadow. It will smother a heart, the love within it, if one lets it.”

He stared down at the tiny hand daring to touch him. No one in his realm would ever be so brave. She had been the only person to touch him since the first time Dougal had. He wasn’t sure how that thought ripped away his shield, but it laid him bare. The truth of what life would be like to never know gentleness again. Care. Love.

A sob tore from his throat, then another, and he ended up sitting on the ground, Wanda sitting next to him, patting his hand. “That’s it. Let it out.” She entwined her fingers with his clawed hand like it was nothing, but it was everything. “It’s a heavy burden you carry. Put it down a while, then you might see your way more clearly.”

Sometime later, when he had finally pulled himself together, or more tied himself into massive knots, he returned to the demon realm. The moment he stepped through the portal, Asmodeus felt the burden that Wanda had spoken of more than ever. He used a spell to remove evidence of his moment of weakness before leaving and heading through the palace to his bedchamber.

He looked right through the demons who kept the palace safe, not noticing arched brows or odd looks.

Tiredness dragged at his limbs, and his ass was numb from sitting on the hard ground. Wanda’s words about sleeping first before acting on his decisions were wise. Yet when he bathed, dried himself, and finally lay down on his soft bed holding the other half of the crystal Dougal had crushed to dust, nothing felt right.

He lay there until the day broke, his eyes never closing as he stared at the crystal, willing it to work so he could check on Dougal. But with its counterpart crushed, nothing worked as he knew it wouldn’t. The action Dougal had taken had made him acknowledge that he had to trust himself to protect Dougal.

With the instilled belief he could fight the whole damn realm and their snobbish beliefs about mixed bloodlines, he rose, dressed, and walked through the palace. He found himself outside the scroll's room, more out of habit than thought.

With his hand on the door handle, he stared at the wood, Wanda’s words running through his mind.Fear, it can kill everything that is good with its shadow. It will smother a heart, the love within it, if one lets it.

His hand fell away, and he swung around, his boots the only sound against the marble as he walked to the council chamber. His secretary, Baal, sat behind his desk dealing with all the requests that came with the responsibility of managing the realm.

His head bobbed, and the only sign of shock was the slight widening of his eyes as Asmodeus never entered his office until after noon. “Your Highness, good morning. What can I do for you?”

“I wish to organize a demon ball.”

“A demon ball,” he squealed, eyes bulging.

“Yes, a ball. We can use the large courtyard at the back of the palace. That should fit all the elite bloodlines and their families. Also invite all those who run the different parts of the realm and their immediate family, too.”

“All of them? That would be potentially over a thousand demons, Your Highness?”

Having organized nothing like this since his coronation, he understood Baal’s shock, but the demon forgot his place when he questioned Asmodeus’s actions. He rose to his full height, his gaze steely as it held Baal’s. “Do as I say.”

“Y-yes, sorry, Your Highness.” His cheeks darkened, and he dropped his gaze, hands nervously twitching in front of him. “When do you wish for this event to occur?”

He considered what he might have to do to get hisblissful oneto agree.

You did it!

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