My Demon, My Love... - A Slave's Redemption

Early the next morning, everyone rose to see Azlyn and Reve off on their journey. There were several tears shed; Azlyn felt remorse for leaving her friends behind, knowing that she may never see them again. Reve and Kane did not want to admit it, but they were struggling with the separation. They had always relied on each other; whenever they could not trust anyone else they had turned to the other. They hugged each other for a moment and then pulled away, trying to maintain their composure; however, they quickly embraced again giving each other a much longer hug.

“It’ll be alright. We are both going to be okay.” Kane assured him.

After the good-byes, Reve threw two large, overstuffed backpacks into the trunk of the SUV that Kane had driven to the estate. Reve held the passenger door open for Azlyn and closed it once she was settled inside. Azlyn lowered the window, so that she could continue looking at those that she cared about. Reve climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the sleek, black SUV on. He reversed it from the house and began to pull away from the driveway. Azlyn stuck her head out the window and looked back as they drove away from this life, and everything they had always known, forever. Azlyn squeezed Reve’s hand, tightly, knowing that this decision was the best decision for them. She knew that she would do whatever it took to be with him.

“Now, remember that everyone will need to assume that you are just my slave. I apologize if I have to behave as such.” Reve reminded.

“I understand. Whatever it takes to get us safely away from here.”

“The portal is several days from here. My parents won’t realize that I do not intend to return, immediately. Kane plans to spend the next couple of days at the Viveks estate to throw off any suspicion. So, for the first few nights we should be able to stay at the house of local nobles.”

“Are you sure that is safe? The nobles will be loyal to your parents. There will be a trail for them to follow.”

“We will pick and choose our nobles, carefully. There isn’t one that I trust within a day’s drive, so we will likely camp tonight. Tomorrow night we will stay with a friend of mine. His estate will likely be in disrepair as he has lost most of his parent’s money after their passing, though, he will give us shelter and he is not well-connected with the other nobles any longer.”

They drove in silence for a time. Both were thinking about those that they had left behind and did not want to voice it to the other; neither wanted the other to feel guilty for their having to flee and leave everyone that they love behind.

“With all of the excitement of the wedding, I did not thank you for saving Nissa.” Azlyn observed.

“I knew that you would be worried about her. I wanted to ease your mind.”

“I really appreciate it. She will have a much better life at the Vivek estate; she will be safer there.”

“I tried to send Blaz to the estate as well, but he has been working at the stables in the castle his entire life; he did not want to leave his horses. I cannot say that I blame him, it is hard to leave the only thing that you’ve ever known…” Reve’s words trailed off into his thoughts.

This is what had worried Azlyn the most. As hard as leaving was for her; the only thing that she was really giving up was her friends that she had come to care for since arriving at the castle. Reve was giving up everything; his home, his family, his friends, his titles, his very demonhood. She wondered if he would be able to give it up as easily as he seemed to believe that he could. She knew that she should not let these thoughts overcome her, but they kept nagging at the back of her mind.

“What if you can take the demon out of the realm, but you cannot take the realm out of the demon?”

Azlyn knew that other demons had successfully relocated to the human realm for one reason or another, such as, Dalair. On the other hand, Azlyn was also aware that theirs was a special case; no royal demon had ever attempted to defect before. Royal demons were, by nature, more attuned with and beholden to the drives that make a demon, well, a demon. That instinct would always be there, and Reve would have to fight against it constantly. As strong as Reve was, would he be strong enough?

After a few more hours of driving, Reve pulled down a small dirt path that led into the trees. Once he was certain that they could not be seen from the road, he shut off the SUV and they began making camp. They folded down the back seat of the vehicle and laid out the sleeping bags; they did not see a point in sleeping outside, exposed, when their vehicle had plenty of room. Azlyn collected some sticks and Reve built them a fire. They sat on the tailgate with the roaring blaze keeping them warm; Reve’s arms wrapped around Azlyn as they enjoyed the nature.

“So…who is this friend that we will be staying with tomorrow? Have I met him?” Azlyn asked, breaking the silence.

“Uh, no, I don’t believe so. He doesn’t come to court very often anymore. It has been, at least, two years since I have seen him.”

“If it has been so long since you have seen him. How can you been certain that he will be welcoming towards us?”

“That’s just the way that Sheber is. He is always willing to do me a favor; he likes being needed by the royal family.” Reve chuckled.

The name struck Azlyn like a knife to the heart; her pulse began to race and breathing quickened. She was suddenly overcome with fear. Reve could not possibly mean the same Sheber, could he? Azlyn had never even considered the possibility that her kind and caring Reve could possibly consider that monster a friend.

“Did…did you say…Sh-Sheber?” Azlyn asked, hesitantly, unable to control the shakiness in her voice.

“Yeah. Lord Sheber Raskoph. Why?”

Azlyn, immediately, found herself fighting the urge to vomit. She had hoped, desperately, to never see that particular demon ever again. The day that he had sold her had been one of the greatest days of her life; and that was even if you did not include that fact that it was also the day that she met Reve. Lord Sheber Raskoph had tortured her for years on end; he was well-known, amongst the slaves, for being one of the cruelest masters that a slave could have the misfortune of landing. Reve was right that Lord Sheber had wasted away all of his family’s money, but it was the slaves who paid for it; based on Lord Sheber’s spending habits, for himself, you would never know.

“Az, is everything alright? You have been staring, intensely, into the fire for several minutes now. Is there something that I should know?”

Azlyn was not sure what to do or how to respond. How much of Lord Sheber’s behavior was Reve aware of? Would it only cause unnecessary problems if she revealed the past abuse that she had suffered at Lord Sheber’s hand? She was uncertain of how to handle this information and out of instinct, she reverted to her old habits, she clammed up.

“I…uh…I need to…go to bed. It is late…and…um…I should…sleep.” Azlyn stammered.

Before Reve could question her behavior, Azlyn jumped up and climbed inside her sleeping bag. She pulled the covers up under her chin and held them tight; bringing them as close to her as she possibly could. Reve threw some dirt on top of the fire to extinguish it then he jumped into the back of the car and locked it up. He slid into his sleeping bag, next to Azlyn and carefully scooted closer towards her.

“Is everything alright, Az?” Reve asked.

“I am fine. I just want to go to sleep.” Azlyn answered with a monotone voice.

“Az, did I say something wrong? We were having such a nice time and then…”

“I am fine. I promise. Don’t worry so much. You need your rest, master.”

Azlyn realized what she had said only as the word came out of her mouth. She knew that she was really shaken up and her mind was being flooded by memories of her past. Nevertheless, she could not believe that being reminded of Lord Sheber would cause her to forget her place. She knew that Reve had to have been hurt by this, he had worked so hard to get Azlyn to treat him like an equal and not her superior. However, it was hard to let go of all the pain that she had endured before him and, although, she did not like to admit it, she had a hard time fully trusting any demon. She loved Reve with all her heart and trusted him more than she had ever trusted any other being. Yet, no matter how she tried to ignore it, there was always something nagging at her, reminding her, that he was in fact a demon.

“What did you just call me?” Reve questioned, clenching his jaw.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean it. It just slipped.” Azlyn tried to recover, trembling a bit inside of her sleeping bag.

Suddenly, Reve’s hand grasped Azlyn’s shoulder and turned her onto her back. Within seconds he was on top of her looking down into her face, a fierce look on his face.

“Am I your master? Or am I your husband?” Reve demanded.

“Wh…what?” Azlyn stammered, surprised by the question.

“Am I your master? Or am I your husband? You cannot have it both ways, Azlyn.” Reve pushed, angrily.

“I am not sure what you want me to say.” Azlyn responded, confused and startled.

Reve let out an exasperated sigh and pushed himself off of Azlyn. He sat up next to her and punched the door of the SUV in frustration.

“Reve…” Azlyn started, carefully.

“You will never trust me because I am a demon.” Reve responded, solemnly.

“That’s not true, Reve.”

Azlyn felt immediate remorse for hurting him, she never wanted to do that; he meant more to her than anyone in all the realm. Azlyn quickly sat up and reached out for him. Reve grabbed her hands and held them in his own, turning towards her.

“Az, I want to be your husband, now and forever. I do not want you associating me with any other demons out there. I am not like them and I will never purposely cause you pain. It hurts me when you forget this. It hurts me that you see me as just another demon when I have proven to you, time and time again, that I am so much more than that. I do not know what else I have to do.”

Tears began to well up in Azlyn’s eyes; she knew that Reve was right. She could not keep doubting him just because he was a demon. Being a demon was only a small part of who Reve was overall; he was a lover, he was a friend, he was intelligent, thoughtful, handsome, and talented. Not to mention, despite the fact that he is a demon, he was still one of the kindest and most caring beings that Azlyn had ever known. She had no reason to doubt him other than the prejudice that she still held against all of demonkind. For the sake of their marriage, she needed to let that go; Reve did not deserve to be treated that way.

“You are right. I know that I am biased against demonkind because of my experiences. I cannot hold my past against you, it is not fair. I swear to you, that from this moment forward, you are no longer a demon… you are, simply, my husband. Once we are in the human realm, let’s completely forget that we were once master and slave.” Azlyn paused, placing her hands on either side of Reve’s face, looking deep into his eyes. “I am your wife, now and forever. I trust you, implicitly.”

“Thank you, Az. That means a lot to me. I don’t want our pasts to hold us back any longer, that is why we are leaving this realm. We need to let go of any misconceptions that we may still hold on to. You need to trust me, and I need to trust you; that is the only way that we will survive this.”

“I know. I completely agree.”

“Good.” Reve hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Now, will you tell me what is bothering you?”

Azlyn took a deep breath.

“Yes, I will.” Azlyn answered. “But if it is alright with you, could we discuss it in the morning? I am exhausted, and I know that if I start talking about it, I will just be more upset then I will never get any sleep.”

“I understand. However, you need to promise me that we will discuss this tomorrow morning.”

“I promise.” Azlyn replied with a reassuring grin.

Reve slid down in his sleeping bag and raised his arm, beckoning Azlyn to cuddle in close to him. Azlyn accepted his invitation and scooted in towards him, laying down. Reve wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, burying his face in her hair.

“I love you, Reve.” Azlyn whispered.

“I love you too, Az.” Reve breathed.

The next morning, they cleaned up their campsite and got back on the road, early. It did not take Reve long before he jumped right back into the conversation from the night before.

“So, we have a fairly long drive before we get to Sheber’s estate. Why don’t you tell me what you were upset about last night?”

Azlyn’s palms began to sweat. She was dreading this conversation; she had no idea how Reve would react to what she had to say. This was not a topic that she had ever wanted to discuss.

“Alright. You have to promise not to get angry.”

“I cannot make any promises like that, I am still a demon, Az. Though, I will swear to do my best to keep my emotions under control.”

Azlyn took in a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out slowly.

“Lord Sheber…is my…former master.” Azlyn admitted.

“Former master, as in…” Reve began his question before Azlyn interjected.

“The master that I had right before you.”

Reve’s mind flashed back to the night he first met Azlyn. She was filthy, covered in mud and matted blood; her body riddled with scars, as well as, fresh wounds. The clothing that she wore was in tatters and barely covered her most intimate regions. She coward whenever a demon came near her and was terrified of Reve’s disregard for the traditional master-slave relationship. Azlyn noticed Reve’s knuckles beginning to turn white as he gripped the steering wheel.

“What did he do to you, Azlyn?” Reve demanded, gritting his teeth.

“Nothing worse than any other demon has done to every other slave.” Azlyn attempted to diffuse the situation, she did not see any reason for this conversation to continue further.

“What does that mean, Azlyn?”

“Nothing, really. There is no reason for you to worry about it.” Azlyn dismissed.

“Azlyn, you said that you would start talking to me about things.” Reve reminded her, sounding much calmer than he felt, surprising, even himself.

Azlyn knew that Reve was right and even though she did not see any reason for him to know the horrors of her past, she had decided to respect the fact that he wanted to know. It was a sign that he cared and wanted to understand her on a deeper level.

“I do not know what you want me to say here, Reve. I have no desire to relive every gory detail with you; my past is a horrible one and I would like it to stay buried behind me. You saw me that first night, I had come directly to you from him. What more evidence do you need for the type of master that he is?”

Azlyn wanted to be open and honest with Reve, however, these topics were still quite sensitive for her. She was not eager to discuss every horror that was inflicted on her; she buried those memories deep inside herself and was not willing to unbury them.

“I am sorry if I am being short with you. This just is not an easy thing to talk about. The life of a slave is violent and unforgiving.” Azlyn apologized for snapping at him.

“I understand, Az, and I am sorry for being pushy about such a sensitive topic. However, currently, we are driving to that particular demon’s house and I need to know how angry I should be. To be honest, I am already quite furious. I need to know if I am just kicking his ass or if I am slaughtering him where he stands.” Reve explained, his muscles tensing and his nostrils flaring.

“Maybe if you asked specific questions, I could bring myself to give you basic answers.” Azlyn offered, it would be hard enough for her to have to relive some of these events at all; this would be much easier for her if she just had to give yes or no answers.

“Alright. I can do that. I don’t need to know too much information anyway to decide whether or not I am going to kill him.” Reve snarled.

Azlyn noticed that Reve’s horns had begun to elongate. His voice was becoming deeper and his claws had extended themselves.

“First things first, did he beat you often?” Reve asked, angrily.

“That depends on what you mean by often.” Azlyn ventured, hesitant to answer because of Reve’s ever-rising anger.

“Azlyn!” Reve growled.

“Lord Sheber beat me every day; a minimum of ten lashes whether I deserved it or not.” Azlyn answered honestly, no longer trying to avoid the topic.

“Why would he beat you if you did not deserve it?”

“He said that it served to remind us that he always had the upper hand and little care for our well-being; if he could whip us for no reason then he could kill us with little cause.” Azlyn explained.

Reve took in deep breath, trying to steady himself. Even though he did not bid the image, nevertheless, it appeared in his mind; Sheber swinging a whip at Azlyn’s bare back, knowing full-well that she did not deserve the punishment being inflicted upon her.

“Were the shreds of clothing, that I received you in, the only clothes that he provided you with?”

“Yes. He gave me a nice outfit when he first bought me; white button-up shirt and white slacks. He never provided me with another piece of clothing. I wore that outfit for several years and had pieced it back together many times.”

“Did he at least provide you with necessities like food and water? What about a bed?”

“I was given enough food and water to keep me alive. The water was often discolored, and the food was usually scraps.”

“A bed?”

“Not really, but sort of.” Azlyn was hesitant to answer this question; she knew that it would inevitably lead to a more sensitive one that she was not sure she was ready to answer. “Most nights, I slept with other slaves on a pile of straw that was strewn in a corner on the floor.”

“What about the other nights?”

“Umm…well…the other nights, I was given access to a bed because…uh…Lord Sheber…um…would…uh…rent me out.” Azlyn stammered, looking down at her feet.

“Rent you out?! What do you mean that?!”

“I think that you know exactly what I mean.” Azlyn said just barely loud enough for Reve to hear; she was completely mortified admitting this to him. Azlyn tried not to picture the countless demons groping at her body against her will; the things that they did to her and forced her to do, no being should have to endure. She could feel the vomit attempting to rise from her stomach again.

Suddenly, Reve’s foot slammed down on the gas, pressing the pedal to the floor. Azlyn watched as the speed of the SUV began to climb, steadily. The trees outside the window began to flash by with greater and greater speed. Azlyn’s heart began to race and she became concerned about Reve’s abrupt recklessness.

“Umm…Reve…don’t you think that you are going a little fast?” Azlyn ventured, carefully.

“I cannot believe that disgusting, twisted, vile excuse for a demon…” Reve grunted.

“Reve, I know this is hard for you to accept because of your love for me, but that happens to a lot of slaves. Especially, the ones who have masters that are in need of money. It is very common.”

Azlyn did not know if telling Reve this would help or not, but it was the only thing that she could think to do. Prostitution and rape were sad facts in the life of many slaves in the realm. Many times, lower-level demons would save their money and purchase a slave for the sole-purpose of selling their bodies by the hour. It was not a practice that nobles engaged in very often, though, Lord Sheber was not a typical noble.

“Reve, I really think that you should slow down. There is no use in getting to Lord Sheber at this speed. What’s done is done. Getting there faster will not change anything.” Azlyn attempted to reason with him.

“I will only make you answer one more question.”

“Alright…” Azlyn was hesitant to answer any further questions.

“Did Sheber ever…” Reve had a hard time bringing himself to ask the question. “…did he ever force himself on you?”

Azlyn did not want to answer this because she knew that it would not make Reve feel better to know. Not to mention, she was growing concerned about the danger that Reve was currently placing them in. She knew that it would only get worse. Nevertheless, she had promised him, so…

“Yes.”

Reve began to huff as his breathing grew heavier. He clenched his jaw tightly and bit down on the side of his cheek to keep himself from yelling. He did not wish to scare Azlyn anymore than he knew that he already was; however, he intended to kill Sheber before they leave his estate. This injustice would not do; no one should suffer the abuse that Sheber was apparently putting his slaves through…much less Reve’s wife. He had been unable to fully punish his brothers for their defilement of Azlyn because of their station in the royal house; Sheber would not be so lucky, he would pay for Azlyn’s pain.

“Reve…baby…” Azlyn tried to get through to him, but Reve could not hear her; he was too focused on his plan.

Reve did not say a word for the rest of the drive; his eyes had narrowed to slits as he stared at the road. Visions of different torture scenarios danced through his head; if he was going to kill Sheber, he wanted to do it slowly and painfully. Azlyn watched as Reve’s horns continued to extend; they had grown so long that they had curled back up on themselves along the sides of his head. He did not need to say anything, Azlyn knew exactly what Reve was thinking.

A little while later, Azlyn could begin to see the outline of the Raskoph estate coming into view. Reve was pushing the SUV as fast as it could go; the engine groaned, in protest, under the strain. Reve merely growled in response, unwilling to yield his demands on the vehicle. As they turned up the long, winding drive that led to, what remained, of the manor house Azlyn decided to broach the matter directly…

“Reve…” Azlyn took a deep breath before continuing. “…I know what you are planning, and you cannot do it.”

It was not in Azlyn’s nature to give orders, nonetheless, in this particular situation, it proved necessary.

“What?! What do you mean?” Reve was startled by Azlyn’s demand.

“You cannot kill Lord Sheber.” Azlyn specified.

“Why would you even say that?!” Reve feigned innocence.

“I can see it in your reaction. You are turning primal and you must control yourself.”

“How can you defend that demon?” Reve asked, disgusted.

“I am not defending him. I just do not see the benefit in drawing more attention to ourselves. The point is to keep a low-profile and escape this realm as quickly as possible. Killing a noble demon is not exactly low-profile.” Azlyn justified her position.

As much as Reve did not like it, everything that Azlyn was saying made sense. He should not risk bringing more wrath down on their heads by murdering a high-profile demon. It would be better for them if he just maintained his cool and made it through the night without incident. They would be far away from this place soon enough and they could leave the past along with it.

“Alright. You are right. I promise to behave myself.” Reve swore.

“Thank you, Reve. I appreciate that you are being so rational about this.”

Azlyn gave his arm a quick squeeze and smiled up at him. Reve returned her smile and pulled up next to the house.

“I’ll behave myself alright. I’ll behave myself as long as Sheber behaves himself.” Reve thought as he chuckled under his breath, knowing full well that Sheber’s very personality would make this an easy task for him.

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