Page 69 of Tricky Princess
“Sounds pretty similar to me,” he said.
It wasn’t the same; they both knew it. Even the king knew it. The dead should not be separated from their family and friends because of their species. They should choose, or someone should be there to help make better decisions on where the dead rested. Ellea felt as though the kings were being lazy, hanging around and letting the dead be plopped in their respective territories. What if a half-breed had spent their life with mortals? What if a mortal had spent their life with supernaturals? It wasn’t right, and it needed to be stopped.
They crested one of the last hills, stopping to take in the castle and surrounding lands. Ellea could see the gardens and noticed two familiar figures walking toward them, Billy and Devon. She couldn’t wait to tell Devon all she had learned about Loki, her magic—Hel, even a bit about their world.
“You never said how beautiful it was,” Ellea said.
“I forgot.” His furrowed brow was replaced with a calm smile as he breathed in fresh scents around them, turning his beautiful face up toward Hel’s sun.
Mhairi’s head snapped up, looking to her left with her ears pinned straight forward. The mare vibrated with worry, and Ellea stroked her tense neck, shushing her, trying to calm her.
Ros followed her line of sight toward the southern territory, a place Ellea hadn’t traveled yet. A bright column appeared from the sky, red and vicious-looking. Ellea had seen the same thing throughout her time here, but it was always one here or there. They were so faint she only saw them after she knew what to look for. “A soul coming home,” Azzy had explained as they watched it one night.
But this was a lot more than one soul.
“How is that possible?” Ellea asked.
“Why were you spying on Belias last night?”
“To see what he’s been up to,” she answered. “After him being with my parents, I didn’t trust him, and Florence has been on his tail longer than that. He’s been having private meetings throughout the castle; last night was the first time he said something that wasn’t coded or worded weird…”
“‘Are you prepared for the influx,’ he said,” Ros growled. “He knew about this. I bet he planned it.”
“But how can so many evil people die at once?” Ellea asked, trying to steady her erratic horse.
She’d learned that, aside from the Gods throwing tantrums, the biggest influxes were during the Elimination wars when mortals rose against supernaturals. But even those that died during the wars weren’t all evil. They were caught in an awful place, fighting for what they thought they believed in. Ellea had visited with some of those souls, some of the oldest ones here, and they regretted their actions. It made her wonder if those souls could live amongst the supernatural some day.
“Let’s go find out.” Ros urged his horse on, and Ellea followed.
26
Ellea
Ros stormed into the meeting room, Ellea keeping pace at his side. All four kings were seated in their high-back chairs, taking up their own sides of the large square table. Everyone but Azzy turned toward them; he alone faced the doors.
“Son, you called this meeting,” he said.
Ros pointed his finger at Beelzebub. “Where is your son?”
The demon king gave him a bored look before glancing down at his nails, dismissing him.
“I don’t need to keep track of my heirs, unlike your father,” he sneered, looking at Azzy.
“So he isn’t topside, killing over a thousand people and sending the influx of souls to your territory?”
“No, I only woke twenty minutes ago when my servant told me about a meeting,” Belias said behind them, slithering in through the doors Ros had left open.
“What did you do?” Ros demanded.
“Why would you think it was me?” Bel answered with a surprised look in his dark eyes. He walked to his father, placing his hands on the back of his chair. “I’ve been here all night.”
Ros scoffed and turned toward his father.
“How many souls have been added to your territory, Beelzebub?” Sonneillon asked. Her bright red hair was loose and wild and so different from the crisp look the twins usually wore.
“How is it any of your concern?” he sneered. “We don’t call meetings any time someone enters our territory.”
“It is warranted if it was done deceptively by the territory’s king or their heir,” Leviathan said gruffly. Duhne’s father leaned back in his chair, surveying Beelzebub and his son. “Tell us the number.”
