Page 13 of Courting Envy
My shoulders slumped as I realized just how strange this all was. I knew nothing of these people, or demons, knew nothing about Hell or the seven deadly sins, and yet now I was amongst them all. One of them. Part of the realm, and if what they had told me was true, an important part.
“Why me?” I asked. Reon flinched, as if he had not expected me to speak, or perhaps it was more that he didn’t expect that question.
His throat seemed to vibrate, emitting a low hum, but he didn’t respond immediately.
“I cannot speak as to why my lord has chosen you, Queen.” He paused, as if weighing his words, and then he turned slightly towards me, his arms clasped behind his back. “I will say that you are not the first he has tried to bring to this place, though you’re the only one who has survived the transition.”
I swallowed hard, not sure how to take those words. Did it mean that there had always been something of the demonic within me? Or was it just that somehow, he’d managed to get it right. I wanted there to be something special about me. Always had. When we were young it was always Marie who shone the brightest: she excelled at the academic, and her career path had pleased my parents immensely. All I’d had was my voice, and I’d made it work for me, pushed myself to the highest accolades I could to get the same level of love and acceptance that she had.
I’d always wanted to be special and now here was my chance. Could it really just be dumb luck that meant I’d lived where the others hadn’t?
And what had happened to them… It would have been so easy for me to be just another victim of Lucien.
I pressed my nails into my palms, felt the seep of blood but refused to look. What if I no longer bled red? What if only inky darkness seeped from my body now?
I swallowed a wail, choked back a sob. Those emotions would not help me here. “Thank you, Reon. I appreciate that information.” I tucked my hands behind my back, my posture mimicking his own, aside from the coils of his body that unfolded behind him. It was hard not to stare, hard not to want to reach out and touch his scales.
“Can you change completely?” I asked, not stopping to overthink the question. “Or are you always part serpent?”
“Does my form bother you?” he asked, turning his head towards me, the faint hint of a smile tugging at his lips.
“No. No, that’s not what I meant. Only… You know I’m not from here,” I said. If I was open and honest with him, would it garner me any sympathy? Would he return the favor? Or could I only expect demons to behave in evil ways?
So far, he had treated me kindly enough, not harming me, in fact, making sure that I was hidden from those who might hurt me – whoever they might be. I had nothing to lose, nothing that hadn’t already been stolen from me by Lucien. “I don’t know how this all works.” I gestured to his body, and then my horns. Held my hands out between us to show the lengthening claws, the ink black of the tips. “What will I become?”
“Ah,” he said, relief cresting on his face. “While it takes less energy for us to stay in our true forms, there are many possibilities. You are the queen, the key to our power, so when you ascend the throne, your desires will inform our roles, our abilities.”
“So, if I want to turn everyone into flower people, I could do that?” I raised an eyebrow.
He laughed again; this time freer, richer. I wanted to hear him laugh like that again. “No, my queen, but if you wish to inflict more human visages upon us, then that is what will happen.”
Inflict. That was a telling word choice.
Reon seemed to think that I would wield a lot of power here, but I couldn’t quite imagine how or why. Surely, Lucien would hold most of it as the prince. Yet somehow, I was the key to unlocking all of it.
“I want to go down there,” I said, pointing to the streets and the swamp beyond.
“We shouldn’t stray from the castle grounds, my queen.”
“Can you just call me Rava?” I asked, turning to face him. “I don’t like this lady, queen business. It’s… uncomfortable.”
“But it’s the truth. If I do not call you by the titles you deserve, my lord will punish me.”
“Oh, will he?” I smiled at him. “I won’t let that happen. You’re my bodyguard now, and if I want you to call me Rava, then you will.” I placed my hand on his arm, almost wanted to recoil at the initial feel of his scales beneath my skin, but I pushed that thought away. I had to find a way to be okay with all of this, and truthfully, his scales were softer than I’d thought they would be.
He flinched beneath my touch, as though he wasn’t used to this kind of contact.
“Rava,” he said, as if testing out the name. He nodded at me once, and I took that as his acceptance of my decree.
It would take some getting used to, this whole being the boss thing. Even if I was a diva singer in my former life, I’d still had to obey the rules, schmooze with the patrons, maintain a good appearance and not get myself into too much trouble. My manager disliked drama – it did nothing for my career.
“So, lead on, Reon. There is much to see.”
He glanced over his shoulder, as if expecting Lucien to be there telling him no, but then he led me across the balcony and down another flight of stairs, this time on the exterior, then down into the city below.
Chapter seven
Reon
