“Your servant must wait at the back of the room,” were Queen Sephina’s first words to me, echoing what her daughter had said. She had a cool, commanding, and intimidating voice.
“I want him to stay here with me,” I said weakly, then forced myself to sound more confident. “In fact, I insist.”
Her lips thinned. “I see.”
Would that be enough to get me thrown in the dungeon for being rude? I really hoped not.
There was silence for a long, uncomfortable moment. All of the council members’ attention was fully on me. It was like back in grade six, when I had a part in the school musical and it was time for my solo. Only then did I realize I had horrible stage fright, making my singing voice sound a whole lot like I’d inhaled a balloon full of helium.
The cockroach’s antennae twitched as he stared at me through big, creepy black eyes. I made a mental note to bring along a large can of Raid if I ever had the misfortune of coming here again.
I waited for my inevitable punishment.
Nothing happened.
“Princess Nikki.” Kieran spoke up, glancing at the other council members. “We are pleased you agreed to meet with us today.”
“It’s … it’s my pleasure,” I lied. May as well be as nice as I could after putting my foot down about Michael staying next to me. This was about first impressions — or maybe second impressions — after all.
“We’ve been discussing you a great deal since news of your existence first reached us,” he said. “It was a shock to learn King Desmond had a half-human daughter all these years. From what I gather from Elizabeth, it was a shock to him as well.”
“It was. He had no idea I existed.”
“Has he been in contact with your human mother?” Florencia asked unpleasantly.
Such a simple question for such a touchy topic. One that could tilt this meeting to a very dark place if I handled it wrong. But there was no reason to lie about this.
“No,” I replied. “In fact, he insists I don’t tell her anything about him … or about the fact I’m half demon.”
“A wise decision.” Queen Sephina nodded. “So your mother was unaware that Desmond was a demon prince when they met?”
“She had no idea at all. And she never will.”
It hurt to say it out loud. Was I giving up hope that I could find a way for my mother and father to get back together? No. But right now I had to appear that I believed that to be a hundred percent true.
Florencia shook her head. “Such shameful behavior for all involved in this disgusting situation. It sickens me that Desmond would display such poor judgment. A human female? It’s no wonder the barrier exists. Otherwise, perhaps all demon males would run off to have romantic flings in the human world. I don’t care if Desmond was young at the time, it’s simply not acceptable.”
I felt Michael eyeing me. Had I projected that thought telepathically, or were my thoughts written all over my face? The latter, I figured. Sending telepathic messages to him actually took more effort than just thinking. I tried to keep my face as pleasantly expressionless as I could.
“Florencia,” Queen Sephina said with a warning edge. “Please, mind yourself. Princess Nikki is our guest here and will be treated with respect. That respect extends to her father as well. King Desmond will be dealt with another day.”
“Of course.” Florencia lowered her head in a small bow. “My apologies to the queen and to the princess.”
“What do you mean, he’ll be dealt with?” I asked cautiously.
The queen gave me a slight smile. “It is we who are asking the questions today, not you.”
“But …” It would be better if I said nothing, but one of the main reasons I was here today was to make sure my father was safe. “It happened a long time ago, and there’s no reason it should be held against him anymore. It was no big deal.”
“No big deal?” Florencia sputtered. “He broke the rules forbidding a demon to be with a human — and the result was a Darkling child prophesied to destroy us all. He’s lucky we haven’t thrown him in the dungeon retroactively for his crimes.”
“Rules,” Groden piped up, scratching his cheek with the sharp black talon on his index finger. “I believe there should be a rule for anyone who dares to wear blue on a Wednesday. It’s simply not right.” Without waiting for a reply, he scribbled something down on a piece of parchment in front of him with a feathered quill. “Or purple on a Thursday.
The gigantic cockroach appeared to have no opinion so far but continued to study me through large glassy black eyes. I wondered if he could actually talk, or if staring creepily was his chosen mode of communication.
“King Desmond made a very poor decision,” Kieran said coolly. “While in the human world, he was lucky he wasn’t discovered to be a demon. He could have come face-to-face with a slayer. Then what would have happened when the former king died? Elizabeth would have been forced to take the throne at the same age you are now, Princess.”
I glared at him. Wouldn’t he have loved that? Then he would have gotten what he wanted seventeen years ago instead of having to wait to find a break in the barrier. It was almost funny.
However, the talk of “slayers” did keep me from laughing out loud.
“Slayer?” I said, trying to play dumb. “What’s that?”
Kieran rolled his eyes. “Exactly what it sounds like, of course. There is a secret society of humans who lull themselves into a false sense of security by training to kill any demon who might dare to enter their precious light world. In certain families, the firstborn children are believed to have special abilities from birth to help them become slayers of our kind. The tradition and supposed power is a mystery, but we believe it originated in the Middle Ages, when humans went on their quests and crusades. But with the Shadowlands barrier intact, I would imagine they’ve been very bored for a very long time. All that training and no opportunity to slay anything.” His lips twisted. “It is a dream of mine to come face-to-face with one of these slayers. I think it would be a great deal of fun.”
It was a lot of information to take in all at once. So Melinda was the firstborn child of a family that had a long demon-slaying history?
“Kieran, please. That’s quite enough.” Queen Sephina folded her hands on the tabletop.
He jutted his bottom lip out in a pout at being reprimanded. “But Mother—”
“Kieran,” she snapped. “Enough talk of the human world. Your whining grows more tiresome with every year that passes.”
He slouched and looked away.
I wanted to save it as a Kodak moment. If only I’d brought my camera.
Queen Sephina sighed. “Princess Nikki, we are a very understanding council. We see the shades of gray when others might only see black and white. What your father did was wrong, especially since he was aware of the rules. At the time he was a stubborn and impulsive young man. I know he’s changed greatly over the years and has taken his duty as king of the Shadowlands very seriously. However, I do believe, had he been given the choice, he would have chosen to remain in the human world with your mother—”
Florencia let out an annoyed
“—and this decision would have not only put humans at risk but also exposed the existence of certain gateways of the demon worlds to this slaying society Kieran speaks of.”
“So these slayers,” I said, trying to get it clear in my head. “They know demons definitely exist?”
“Yes. Those who are aware keep the existence of the dark worlds, as well as the faery realm, a secret from others of their kind. It’s the best way. Should they happen to discover or create a gateway here, it would be extremely unpleasant for all involved. It is my duty to protect the Underworld from any unpleasantness like this. Desmond understands this now — that one’s royal duty must precede all else.”
Anger ignited inside me at her dismissive attitude toward my father’s pain.
“I think Desmond should be executed for breaking such an important rule,” Florencia stated bluntly. “A
