Thinking about Lucifer made my heart freeze over with regret, so I deliberately thought of Belial instead.
Looking for him in the Consortium was an absolutely last-ditch effort. I knew he wasn’t there. There’d been no sign of him for days now, but just walking with a purpose in mind instead of pacing my room made me feel calmer.
If they’d give me a chance, I would show them that I wasn’t always prideful. I’d chosen them; they deserved my trust, and once again I’d proven that I was worse at keeping an agreement than demons were.
Shame filled me, and I didn’t feel any better when the massive tower of the Consortium came into view.
I caught the eye of the black-suited butler, who was already preparing to greet me, apparently having been given my description by the look of familiarity in his eye. At that exact moment, something ran directly into the back of my head, almost sending me flying into the butler.
Tascius snarled and snatched something out of the air while holding me upright. Rubbing the back of my head, which felt a little like someone had thrown a rock at me, I turned and saw what was in his hand.
A tiny imp kicked and hissed, spitting at him. It waved a sealed envelope above its head, and for a moment my heart contracted. I was so used to receiving notes from Belial…
But the paper was old and dingy, and blackened with scorch marks.
I gasped in excitement and plucked the letter out of its puny hands. “Are you from the smith?”
The imp just screeched in an unintelligible language- probably insults about my brain and my mother- and Tascius narrowed his eyes at it.
The little creature fell silent at the look on his face and reached out to grudgingly pat the back of my head where it’d hit me, nodding furiously at my question.
“Good imp,” Tascius growled, and released it. It smoothed its little scales before taking off again in an insane tangle of limbs and wings.
I unfolded the note with shaking hands and read a simple message that had been scrawled in an untidy hand.
They’re ready.
Taking a deep breath, I folded the note and tucked it in a pocket. “We need to go to the smith now,” I said, my voice trembling in excitement and anxiety. If all went well, then maybe they could find it in them to forgive me. For the first time since they’d left, a tiny hope kindled inside me.
If it turned out terrible… then I’d have no one to blame but myself for taking the wrong leap of faith.
Before I dragged Tascius down the street, I whirled to face the butler. “Has Prince Belial been in here?” I demanded.
He shook his head, completely composed despite the little scene we’d managed to make with the imp. “No, Lady Wrath. He has not been seen here in approximately five years, three months, twenty-two days, sixteen hours-”
“Thank you,” I said hastily, and gripped Tascius’s arm. “Come, let’s go, we have to hurry.”
“I’m coming, friend. Whatever the smith made, it’s not going anywhere.” But he picked up his pace, matching my stride easily with his long legs.
“Maybe not, but I might die of happiness if it works. Besides, we need to stop for sugar.”
He raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because we need to catch a unicorn, my friend.”
29
Melisande
We left the snorting unicorn at the foot of the mountains with an extra handful of sugar, which Belial would probably disapprove of. It scraped at the stone with its iron hooves, and Tascius even petted its neck.
I patted its rump and sent it back out into the desert. It would find its own way home; we wouldn’t need him to cross back.
“Melisande, that was my ride,” Tascius said, giving me a bemused look.
I tried to smile at him, practically bouncing in place with excitement. “He’ll come back if he’s needed. Don’t worry about it.”
We started up the trail towards the forge, and I glanced back once to make sure the unicorn was heading back to the Fields of Asphodel.
“I think that animal is growing on me,” he said.
I looked back at him. “It’s a unicorn, it’d better be growing on you. Who doesn’t like unicorns?”
My happiness managed to push my regret aside for now. If the smith had accomplished what I thought he had… then I’d be able to give Tascius his unfulfilled dream.
I did hesitate at the mouth of the tunnel, but Tascius took my hand, squeezing my fingers reassuringly. “Just follow, and don’t let go of me.”
I hated this damn tunnel and the prying eyes, but those eyes could go fuck themselves today. I was jittering in my boots, desperate to see how my commission had turned out.
When the heat of Hekla Fell touched my face, I released a relieved sigh, and almost dragged Tascius to the hut.
Wayland blinked as I yanked aside the curtain, panting from the unmitigated heat of the magma. “That was fast.”
“I’m very excited, as you can see,” I said, wiping sweat off my face. “Did it… it worked, right?”
The smith smiled and rubbed several pairs of hands together as Tascius ducked under the doorway after me.
“Oh, yes, of course it worked. I can work miracles with my hands, woman!” He held up six hands towards the sky for a moment, his head thrown back like he expected a ray of heavenly light to shine down on him. “They are beautiful, if I do say so myself. And I do say, because I made them, therefore they are a masterpiece.”
I glanced around the hut. He’d cleared a lot of the piled-up armor, and there was a massive cauldron of molten gold over an open fire, adding to the heat. Several long, flawlessly-white pinions were scattered across his worktable.
“May we see them?” I asked, my mouth dry from more than thirst.
Wayland coiled around,
