My Demon, My Love...

The noble demonesses had begun arriving at the palace and their presence was overwhelming. Each demoness had brought their own personal servants, so for the first time since Azlyn had arrived, the castle felt crowded. Azlyn was doing her best to avoid every demoness and her servants as much as possible.

The queen had instructed that Azlyn draw as little attention to herself as she feasibly could. She was required to present herself as an average personal slave to Reve in any sort of social setting. She had to perform every duty that would be expected of a personal slave in a timely manner. The queen was desperate for everything to appear normal on the surface.

Even the slaves of the demonesses were not to be trusted. Though they may be human, they were not above deceitful and immoral behavior. There were many slaves who, desperate for praise or good favor from their masters, would report any information that they had which could prove beneficial to their situation. Any slave was just as likely to put Azlyn and Reve in danger as any demon or demoness.

Unfortunately, Reve had not been able to fly under the radar of the demonesses as Azlyn had. The ten that were there attempting to win his heart had begun harassing him every chance they had since the moment they arrived. Reve found himself spending more time with his father during the past few weeks than he had in his entire life. If he was with the king, then he was to be considered as “attending to affairs of state” therefore he was not to be disturbed. If he was not following around the king, then he often locked himself in their room or left the castle all together.

However, Reve knew that he could not keep up this charade for long. Eventually, the demonesses would become too pushy and would not allow him to escape. He also knew that it was only a matter of time before his mother discovered what he was doing. He was uncertain as to how she would react if it appeared that Reve was not looking for a wife to keep up appearances.

Reve did not like the idea of picking a wife for public image in the least. It was something that his father had done, and it had not brought either party any true happiness. Reve could not understand why his mother would willingly subject another demoness to the same life that she had come to lead. He knew that his mother was terribly unhappy and if he picked a demoness to wed in the current situation; then she would end up the same way.

Reve knew he would never love any demoness-wife as he would always truly love Azlyn. Surely, whichever demoness he chose would eventually come to realize this and that could put Azlyn in great danger. Reve just could not take that risk.

Not to mention, Reve could not force Azlyn to watch him wed and have marital relations with another. It would be too much for Azlyn to take. He could not imagine Azlyn having to endure him having a child with another. He was even more bothered by the idea of Azlyn being forced to raise those children for his wife, as many noble demonesses often did. Reve would not do this; he could not do this. He would not subject Azlyn to that pain; nor would he force a demoness to live the life his mother had tolerated.

Though, on this particular day, neither Azlyn nor Reve would be able to successfully avoid all the demonesses. Queen Mara had decided to have a small get-together to welcome the forty noble demonesses to the castle. This meant that Reve was forced to attend and spend time with the ten chosen for him. It also meant that the servants and slaves of the castle were extremely busy. Azlyn had, somehow, found herself roped into chores that were not in keeping with her normal duties as a personal slave.

Azlyn had just finished delivering a large bouquet of flowers to the ballroom in preparation for the celebration. Before she allowed Cuinn to assign her with another task, she ducked into the kitchen. She wanted to check in with Nissa and ensure that she did not need assistance before Cuinn had her help someone else.

The kitchen was always a busy place, but today was unlike anything that Azlyn had seen since she arrived. The kitchen was so full of servants and slaves that Azlyn could not see a definite path towards Nissa’s work station on the other side of the kitchen. Everyone was packed together like sardines, pushing past each other as they attempted to finish their own individual tasks.

Azlyn began attempting to make her way through the crowd. She stepped carefully and slowly through the horde. She did not want to bump anyone or get into anybody else’s way. In contrast, others were not being so considerate in their rush and she was being bumped and jostled by those around her.

Azlyn had made her way halfway through the kitchen when a slave that she had not ever seen before went rushing past with a large platter of breads. He pushed her so hard that she slammed straight into someone else. The tray the other being was carrying was suddenly smashed into their chest.

“I am so sorry!!! I cannot believe that I did that!! Let me clean this up for you!” Azlyn apologized without hesitation.

Azlyn dropped down to her knees and began cleaning up the platter. The being that she ran into dropped to their knees and started to assist her with the clean-up. Azlyn glanced up at the person in order to apologize to them again. She paused in horror upon realizing that the being before her was not a servant nor a slave, but a noble demoness and Azlyn had just knocked her personal meal out of her hands!

“Oh, my darkness! I cannot believe that I did that! I am so sorry! I have never seen a noble in here before. I am so sorry! I am the clumsiest person ever! I will take you directly to my superior for appropriate punishment.” Azlyn began to babble.

The demoness looked up at Azlyn and smiled.

“It’s alright. Calm down. I am not harmed nor am I angry. I can get more food without issue.” The demoness reassured her.

They finished cleaning up the mess and afterwards Azlyn followed the demoness out of the kitchen in order to ensure that she was not upset. The demoness kept walking as Azlyn followed her apologizing. Finally, they came to an area of the hallway with a small marble bench placed off to the side in an alcove. The demoness walked over to the bench and sat down on one end. She reached out and patted the empty side of the bench, beckoning Azlyn to sit with her. Azlyn hesitated for a moment but decided to oblige as she was growing more curious as to the demoness’s intentions.

“My name is Umay. What is yours?” The demoness asked, smiling.

“Umm…I am Azlyn, my lady.” Azlyn answered, hesitantly.

“No need for formalities. It is not necessary with me. My family is well known throughout the realm for our kindness to humans.” Umay informed her.

“I am sorry. I am not used to a casual conversation with a noble of demonkind.” Azlyn responded.

“Well, I know that is not true.”

Azlyn was stunned by this. What exactly did she mean?

“Umm…I am n-not sure what you…uh…mean.”

“Aren’t you the personal slave to Prince Reve?” Umay questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, madam, I am.”

“I know for a fact that Prince Reve is kind to his servants. He is one of the few good demons out there.”

“That is true.” Azlyn confirmed.

Azlyn was surprised at how easy it was to talk to Umay. It felt as though they had been friends for years. Azlyn was not certain why, but she felt as though she could trust Umay from the moment they had sat down on this bench. Azlyn could see them becoming fast friends, especially since she already thought so highly of Reve. Then, suddenly, a terrifying thought occurred to her. Her stomach twisted as she contemplated the possibility.

“Uh…a-are you one of the…umm…demonesses that is…uh…here to c-court P-Prince Reve?” Azlyn tried her best to make her voice sound as normal as possible, but she could not keep it from cracking.

“Oh, my darkness, no! I love Reve, but more in a best friend or even older brother sort of way. I am here for Prince Kane.” Umay replied with a chuckle.

“Oh, good.” Azlyn said with a sigh not realizing that she had just given herself away.

Unexpectedly, a large grin spread across Umay’s face.

“I knew it!” Umay squealed.

“Knew what?!” Azlyn asked, suddenly realizing her error.

“I knew that the rumors were true! You and Prince Reve are in love!” Umay spoke in hushed excitement.

“I do not know what would make you say something like that, mistress. The prince is far too elite to mix with the likes of me. He could have anyone in the kingdom. What would he want with a lowly slave?”

“Umm…I don’t know…true love, maybe?” Umay responded, sarcastically.

Azlyn could feel herself beginning to blush.

“That is a nice thought, but I believe such things only exist in fairytales. I am not deserving of a human prince, much less, a demon one. I do not know where you heard these rumors from, but I assure you they are false. Prince Reve is looking forward to getting to know the demonesses that are here to court him.” Azlyn assured her, sadly.

“So…you are saying…if I was to look at your shoulder. I would not find a mark?”

“What…no…of course not. Why would I have a mark?” Azlyn was surprised by the boldness of Umay’s statement.

“Alright. Well, if that is true then show me your shoulder.” Umay requested.

“What?! Why would I need to do that?”

“If you don’t have a mark then show me your shoulder.” Umay insisted.

“What you are talking about is blasphemy. Demons are not allowed to mark slaves.”

“Technically, there is no law saying that they can’t. It is just taboo. Now let me see your shoulder.”

Umay reached forward and grabbed the back of Azlyn’s shirt. She pulled Azlyn’s left shoulder towards her and stretched out the neck of her shirt, exposing the mark that Reve had given her.

“Ah! I knew it! This is so fantastic!” Umay shrieked with delight.

Azlyn quickly released herself from Umay’s grasp and turned to face her.

“Shh! This has to be kept a secret! No one can know about this!” Azlyn said in a panic.

“Don’t worry. I know. I won’t tell anyone! You can trust me to keep this secret! I am completely in support of demon-human relations! It’s so exciting that it has finally happened to a member of our royal family!”

“It’s not like it matters. Prince Reve will be picking a wife soon and then who knows what will become of me.” Azlyn trembled.

“Prince Reve would not do that to you. I know him, and he would not mark just anyone. He has been with a lot of demonesses and he has never, even once, considered marking any of them. If he chose to mark you, then he is certain that you are the ONE for him. I guarantee it.”

Umay’s words made Azlyn feel a lot better. Reve was constantly assuring her of his love for her. However, it was sometimes hard for her to be certain how serious he really was because she knew little about who he was before she arrived. Umay, on the other hand, had grown up around Reve, so if she was positive that Reve meant what he said then Azlyn could feel even more confident about his intentions.

“Could I ask you how you knew about my mark?”

“Of course. My personal servant, Truda, has spent a lot of time amongst the demon and human servants of the castle. She has many friends here and they were quick to fill her in on all of the gossip once we arrived. After which, she shared it with me over breakfast.”

“So…you have a close relationship with your slave?” Azlyn asked, confused.

“Yes. She is one of my best friends. But I do not refer to her as a slave. On my family’s estate, demons and humans, alike, are referred to as servants. We find ‘slave’ to be a derogatory term. Humans deserve dignity and rights just as much as any demon.” Umay explained.

Azlyn could not believe what she was hearing. She had met some of the most interesting demons since she had begun working at the castle.

“There are no such things as human rights.” Azlyn responded, dismissively.

“Oh, yes, there are. Despite what you may have been told, humans do have rights. My family refuses to believe that humanity is a lower species. There is nothing that proves demons are truly superior creatures.”

Azlyn had never known that there were demons in this realm that could be so kind. She had always been subjected to the worst of demonkind and had come to expect that this was the norm. But since she had come to the castle, she was finding that everything she had believed was a misconception; there was good in some demons.

“I did not know that there was a family like that in this realm, much less, a noble one.” Azlyn finally stated after a moment of contemplation.

“There are a lot of things going on in this realm that demonkind keeps from the humans. My family is not the only demon family that believes in human rights. That being said, there are too many against us for it to be well known. Although, thanks to you, we may finally have a royal on our side and that is a big win.” Umay quietly uttered with excitement.

“I do not know about all of that. I, honestly, do not believe that Prince Reve intends to make any changes to the way things are.” Azlyn informed her.