Page 124 of The Demon Prince

“The monster you have fallen under the spell of, you mean?” Alexander’s voice cut through her crowd, her old boss meandering through them all with a challenge in his voice. “We have all seen what he can do to young women in his thrall. We know the cost of what he asks for.”

“There is no more cost,” Katherine called out. “I have pledged myself to him, and he to me. Gluttony will no longer seek out your wives or daughters. He will only feed from me, and this is something he has vowed.”

“How can we believe that?” Alexander scoffed. “He lies and cheats, just as those strangers he killed have said. And now he chases off the truth seekers because he wants to weave his web of darkness around us once more.”

She wanted to slap that stupid expression off his face. She wanted to hit him so hard that he saw stars and then maybe remembered that Katherine had never once lied to him. That she’d worked hard, for years, proving her worth and value in the almshouse while he had ignored all the options that might have eased her pain.

But Gluttony spoke, and every single one of them fell silent to hear his words.

“I have not been a good king,” he said, his voice a low rumble. He wiped the blood off his cheeks to reveal the still red marks beneath. “I can admit that. I have always known that I was failing you, but I believed in staying away, that I was doing you better service. Your women came to me seeking money or safe travel, and I provided whatever they asked for in return for their blood. You called me a monster. I gave you space. You blamed me for this kingdom’s ruin, and I took that blame without question.”

Faint murmurs rose in the crowd, mostly from women who had taken his payments.

“I do not wish to prove anything to you,” Gluttony continued. “That will take years of improving this kingdom and listening to what you have to say. Reparations will be made for all that I have done to you and your kin. Trust me when I say I do not wish to brush our history aside. I know what I have done, and I will make amends for that. But I am still king. I am still the demon at your doorstep, and I have but one question for you. What use you will find for me? Shall I be the demon king who protects you, or would you prefer that I stay in my castle and you in your homes as we have done for many years now?”

And then he stayed silent. Katherine stood beside him, her arm linked with his, and she waited for her people to decide if they even wanted him anymore.

They shouldn’t, she knew that. He had tormented their nightmares for a very long time, and even if he hadn’t, Gluttony had done little for them. Food was scarce. Money even harder to come by. They were a hard people who worked until they dropped.

But they were also good people, and she knew that to her core. She had seen all the good they could do and how supportive they were to their neighbors and friends. She could only hope that they would extend that courtesy to a person they had always thought was a monster.

Finally, when no one spoke, she did for them.

“We have all been afraid of him for such a long time. I know you have good reason to be scared. But I am here to tell you that there is nothing to fear. He has been a good man, a supportive friend, and then someone so much more after I had stayed with him for even longer. I trust him with my life. And I believe without question that he wishes to make this kingdom better. I believe we can do this with him.” Katherine glanced up at Gluttony and smiled, even though his expression was one of sincere worry. “I believe in him. So very much.”

He smiled down at her as well, the soft expression making his entire face light up and change. He was so handsome when he did that. So little like the monster with red eyes that every legend made him out to be.

But no one stepped forward. No one said a word until Grace cleared her throat.

Even though there were a hundred eyes on her, Grace didn’t wilt in front of their angry gazes. “If he’s good enough for Katherine, then he’s good enough for me,” she said. “I’d rather have a demon on our side than against us.”

A few other murmurs played throughout the crowd before another woman begrudgingly admitted, “He was rather gentle when he gave me all that coin. He could have killed me, but he really just took a few sips and then sent me on my way.”

“He did the same for me,” another woman said, even though her husband hissed at her to stay quiet. “When our boy was sick, I asked for money and offered my blood. It didn’t even hurt, I just... I didn’t tell anyone.”

More and more women spoke up, quietly agreeing that they hadn’t been harmed at all when they’d entertained Gluttony, but they hadn’t wanted anyone to know that they had sought help. Sometimes it was because their husbands hadn’t been doing well at work, others because they were on their own and hadn’t made rent.

And Gluttony quietly listened to all of them. He stood there, listening to every story and appearing to really listen. He even nodded his head at a few women, who flicked their gazes at him before looking back to the ground.

Countless women, all who had sacrificed themselves so that they could make ends meet. And their king, who stood before them beaten and bloodied, but who had helped them. Even when no one else could.

Katherine sighed, knowing that this was the moment when she needed to make sure everyone was very clear about what was going to happen next. “Our king has been helping us even when he did not know how. Surely some of you can understand that.”

And there were plenty of people who could. Mostly women who had been helped, but some men who were also able to see reason.

Alexander stood firm in his hatred, however. “What of all the bodies in my clinic? All the people who had their throats ripped out and their lives stolen from them?”

Perhaps Gluttony had a calm, reasonable answer for this. But Katherine refused to stand for this slander any longer.

The angry words burst out of her. “Are you still so blind? You’re a doctor, by the seven kingdoms! We have seen the wounds from Gluttony’s feeding countless times in our lives. You can see the wounds on my own neck now, fresh from a feeding. You know that none of those wounds in your clinic were caused by him. But there were countless strangers in our mix, encouraging us to violence and rebellion. Don’t you think it’s more likely they were the ones hurting us just to make sure we actually did what they wanted?”

Again the murmurs. Again, the shifting. And then she saw a few people drifting away from the crowd. Back toward their homes.

Finally, Grace spoke again. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we’d rather have our own demon than none at all. Stay Gluttony. Continue to be our king, and perhaps we can work together to make this kingdom better.”

He nodded at her before lifting his voice to a booming tone. “One last thing.”

They all froze in tandem.

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