Kiss of a Demon King

14

'He'd been just about to say the vow, Lanthe!' Sabine had barely been able to redress she'd been so affected by Rydstrom. 'So help me, this had better be the coming of the apocalypse-'

'Yep, fairly much. We're kind of under attack.'

'Acutely or chronically?'

Lanthe answered, 'Nothing at this exact moment. Of course, something could have come up since I came to the dungeon. In any case, Omort summoned you-I figured you wouldn't want him coming to search for you.

Sabine turned to one of her Inferi. 'You. Come here.' She'd promised the demon that he could be free to move about the cell and clothed. And she was feel­ing just guilty enough to allow him a pair of pants and some limited freedom.

As the attendant ran off with her instructions, Sabine and Lanthe hastened to court.

'Your eyes are still glowing, Abie. You might want to camouflage that before you see Omort.'

Sabine wove a new illusion over her face. 'It was ... nice with Rydstrom. Unexpected.' A demon lover with eyes tike night-who looked at her as if nothing else existed for him.

'Are you falling for him?'

'Could there be a more doomed relationship? It is ridiculous even to contemplate.' His husky voice . . . the way his smooth skin tasted. 'He's just so... so good'

'I think that intrigues you,' Lanthe said. 'He's a male as strong as you, and one you can't defeat.'

'Can we talk about this later? Perhaps after you tell me what's happening here?'

'Pravus patrols are returning with reports of small uprisings, increasing in number and intensity. Some of the rage demons even attacked the patrols.'

'They've never dared before.'

'They know we have their king. And evidently they also know Cadeon has undertaken the quest for the sword. Just like you'd said, it's become a rallying point.'

'Can there be anything else?'

'Absolutely! I also heard that Omort has dispatched four fire demons to acquire not just a soothsayer, but the most powerful one in existence.'

Sabine said, 'Nïx.'

The notorious Valkyrie oracle called Nïx the Ever-Knowing, or Nucking Futs Nïx, was rumored to be three thousand years old and exceedingly insane.

But her foretellings, when she deigned to give them, were always accurate.

'It seems she keeps eluding the fire demons,' Lanthe said. 'Oh! Almost forgot-we've heard word that vam­ pires are converging in the forest outside the castle to

take Tornin.'

'Lothaire's?' Was that why he'd been studying every­one, because he planned some kind of treachery? 'We don't think so. His covenant is still intact.' When they reached the grand double doors of the court, a snickering group passed the sisters on their way inside. 'What in the hell is going on?'

'They know you haven't been able to seduce him.' Her face fell. 'The covenant.' Actual evidence that she was still a virgin was available for all the world to

see.

Now everybody would be waiting for the tablet to break. The Sorceri males she'd been sexual with-the ones who could never talk her out of her virginity- would think it great fun that she couldn't even give her virtue away to the one she'd supposedly saved it for.

'There are betting pools,' Lanthe muttered.

'Betting pools. And what are the odds?'

'You don't want to know. But we could make a mint if you can put a lock on this.'

Everyone in the castle knew she was failing in her bid for power. And she was about to enter court-a ruthless jungle of backbiting and betrayals. Not only would this be damaging for her ego, but if she lost face badly enough in the power-worshipping Pravus, her very life could be in jeopardy.

Sabine heard more snickers. Hettiah and her coterie of worthless Sorceri friends strolled past the sisters on their way into court. Their mocking glances made it easy for Sabine to see she would have to strike out.

Lose face, lose life. This was her world. She hadn't gone through the effort of surviving in it this long just to be killed when she was on the cusp of something more. 'I'm going to have to fight in there if challenged.'

Though she and Lanthe had no battle sorcery, they both were scrappy and had become fair swordswomen. In battle, Sabine used her illusions to make them invis­ible, allowing them to run around the field, decapitat­ing merrily.

It wasn't very valorous, but then, only stupid people held valor over life.

'I know you'll have to,' Lanthe said quietly. 'And I can't be there with you.'

'Hey, don't worry.' Sabine held up her gauntlets. 'I just had my claws sharpened.' She rapped the metal together, and the smooth ringing tone was pleasing to the ear-

Without warning, Lothaire traced in front of them, peering down at them from his towering height.

Sabine raised her hands up to him, ready to draw his nightmares. 'I've heard friends of yours plan to visit?'

'I'll trace away before you madden me, sorceress,' he said, his words laced with a thick accent. Some said he hailed from Dacia, and had been a true Transylvanian.

Sabine's lips thinned, but she lowered her hands. He hadn't threatened her, and she wasn't supposed to attack Lothaire. Technically, he was part of the New Pravus.

One of the inner circle. His blood was in that tablet that hung on the east wall.

He said, 'Just to be clear, I have no friends. And my soldiers are in the bailey downstairs.'

'Then who lurks in our forest?' she asked.

'One of the splinter factions breaking away from the Horde since the old vampire king died. My spies indi­cate they'll attack tomorrow night.'

Tornin had protections in place-basically a mystickal moat-so the vampires wouldn't be able to trace directly inside. At least, not for long. 'What do they want?'

'The well.'

The Well of Souls. Armies always sought to control it, because each faction of the Lore had its own legends surrounding it.

The Lykae believed it cured the madness that accom­panied the transformation to werewolf. The vampires believed it allowed them to be daywalkers and to turn human females into vampires for their potential Brides. The House of Witches believed it gave them the abili­ties of all five of their castes.

In truth, Sabine didn't know what the hell it did. Even Omort vowed he didn't. All they knew was that the well's power would be unimaginable-and unlocked only by Sabine's son.

'Who leads the vampires?' Lanthe asked.

'They have no true ruler, because they won't accept a commoner like myself.'

The Horde was notorious for following only those born in the royal line. 'Yet you lead the ones who've joined the Pravus.'

'I might have mentioned to them that the well will resurrect the old Horde king to rule them once more. As soon as the Pravus wins.'

Devious vampire. He rose another notch in Sabine's opinion. 'What about Kristoff?' He was the old king's nephew and should be the true ruler, being of royal lineage, though not a drinker of living blood.

Lothaire shook his head. 'They know he will make them abide by his laws. They have been lawless for so long, they won't be brought to heel that easily. Plus, they like the taste of human flesh.' Had he licked his fang for a