Page 96 of The Demon Prince

But this time, it was Wrath himself who interrupted their “king”. The dark brother lifted a hand and all of them fell silent, even Pride.

Wrath’s wings snapped open and shut before he spoke. “If this is an herb that is symbolic of the dead, could other herbs with the same symbolism have the same effect?”

No one knew how to respond. All the brothers looked back and forth between each other, but they had never considered it. Sure, they had reactions to certain foods or drinks or objects, but they had never fully researched why. They’d just avoided them.

Katherine cleared her throat again. “I believe it’s likely. Considering the lot of you are unnatural in the waking realm, perhaps it is your greatest weakness? Items that are symbols of the dead also are what humans use in magic to walk the line between the living and beyond.”

Selene leaned forward slightly, her eyes doing that strange thing that she did when she was casting spells. “It would make sense. The sorceresses have access to almost all of those items or plants. We could trial them to see what happens when they are touched or ingested.”

Gluttony watched them all begin to murmur at the same time. Those with partners whispered amongst each other, while Envy and Sloth conversed quietly. Pride and Wrath remained silent, their eyes on Katherine as if they couldn’t quite understand what she was.

And that unnerved him.

He gave them all a few moments to speak before raising his voice. “I have done as you asked. I discovered what weapon the humans were using against us, and I have gifted you not only that, but an entirely new situation to research. From now on, I consider my debt to you all repaid.”

Pride glowered. “What repayment is that? There is no debt when you have besmirched our names. We are kings and gods. Now you have proven we are also the demons they call us. There is more repayment than simply discovering a weed that has been used to attack us.”

Gluttony was ready to fight over that, but Envy spoke. “I will create a cure, brothers. Now that I know what it is, a cure should be rather simple.”

“Good,” Gluttony replied before reaching for the crystal on his desk. “Then have a nice evening, brothers. I know I will.”

And with that, he turned the crystal’s top in the other direction and made the lot of them disappear. He had no interest in speaking with them any longer.

“What did you just do?” Katherine said with a laugh. “Did you really just end the conversation like that? They’re going to summon you right back.”

“And I won’t be in my office to be summoned.” Swinging her up into his arms, he laughed with her as they made their way back down the hall. “I’ve missed you. Forget my brothers. Why don’t we discover all the other changes I’ve made to the castle in your absence?”

It felt like the most natural thing in the world as she tossed her arm around his neck and kicked her good leg. “Can I suggest other changes?”

“Who is supposed to be the gluttonous one?”

She grinned at him and his entire world burst into bright light, like she was the sun itself. “I suppose it’s all right if I’m a little gluttonous too.”

ChapterThirty-Five

She planned to surprise him. Katherine knew that very little could surprise Gluttony after a thousand years of life, but she was determined that he would like what she had to bring him.

Besides, it was long pastime for her to empty her room at the boarding house. She’d only kept it because she’d been so afraid that he would send her back here and she wouldn’t have anywhere to stay. But now, it was very clear that Gluttony intended to keep her, and she was... well, she didn’t really mind that fate in the slightest.

When he’d fallen into one of his rare, deep sleeps, she’d snuck out of the castle with a tiny bundle of gray light following her. Spite hadn’t been around very much lately, nor did it speak any longer, but it clung to her like a child did its mother’s skirts. Even now, as she approached the boarding house, she probably looked like a madwoman.

Katherine held her arms around the tiny spirit that no one else could see. It whimpered, the pitiful noise grating on her nerves as it traced a tendril gently down her cheek.

“Everything is fine,” she said quietly, opening the front door and making her way to her old room. “You and I are going to be just fine.”

And she believed that. This time, her journey through the town had been relatively quiet. Though there were a few whispers and pointed stares, no one tried to talk with her. In fact, everyone ignored her. Like she didn’t exist at all.

Such a reception was fine with her. If they wanted to fire her from her job, cast her off like she was dirty laundry, then that was fine with her. She wanted nothing to do with them, either. They were blinded by their own hatred, and Katherine had no business being around people like that.

It took a bit of maneuvering for her to get the key out of her pocket while still holding onto Spite. But she managed well enough and opened the room. It didn’t appear that anyone had been inside, a small blessing considering she’d been gone for a while. Usually, if someone left their room for long enough, others would go through and see what they could keep for themselves.

Of course, she didn’t have much either. Maybe that was why no one had bothered her things.

She set the pale little spirit down on her bed that had a fine layer of dust on it and started packing. She could fit all her things in a single trunk at the end of her bed, and Katherine should have been a little embarrassed at how quickly she managed to fold, roll, and stuff everything in its place.

But she left out a single book, which she waved at Spite. “This is a book on herbs for speaking with the dead. It was my mothers, and is the only thing I own that was hers. She’d lent it to a friend long before she died, before our house burned down. A few years ago, the old woman remembered it and gave it to me.”

Flipping through the pages, she sat on the edge of the bed with a huff of disappointment. “I remember thinking this was so foolish. I didn’t want to end up like my mother. Muttering about spirits and how no one else could see them. She seemed insane at the time.”

---