My Demon, My Love...

“You think Reve intends to leave you as his slave?” Umay was surprised and curious by this.

“I do not see why he would not. His duty and responsibility to the realm far outweigh any duty he may feel towards me.” Azlyn shrugged.

“So, you believe that if he was forced to choose between you and his title that he would choose his title?”

“Well, it would not be just for his title. It would be for his family and all the realm. Although, I would never ask him to make such a choice.”

“Even now, when he is being asked to choose another to wed?”

Umay’s words pierced Azlyn’s heart. She avoided thinking about Reve’s marriage as much as possible. Reve insisted that he would find some way to spare them both from this impending arrangement. But Azlyn was feeling less than hopeful. She knew that, eventually, she would have to accept the fact that Reve was required to marry another. She also knew that his wife would never want her around and she would be sold or killed. Though she tried not to let such things plague her thoughts too often. She was happy now and that’s what mattered; best not to dwell on things that she cannot change.

“I will admit to not liking the idea of seeing him marry another. However, I am no fool. He must take a proper wife and I must do as I am told.” Azlyn asserted, almost reminding herself more than speaking to Umay.

“Well, if you convince Prince Reve to join our cause then maybe you could be his proper wife. Humans would be seen as equals, so it wouldn’t be inappropriate for anyone, even a royal, to take a human for a bride.” Umay urged.

Azlyn thought about this for a moment. It would be wonderful to have the opportunity to be Reve’s rightful and legal wife. Not to mention, she would be helping to free so many who live in fear and oppression under the demon’s rule of slavery. But she quickly dismissed the thought from her mind. It was much too dangerous an idea and would lead to the deaths of so many innocents. She could never ask such a sacrifice of Reve.

“I do not think we should be talking about this. Someone might hear us, and this is not an appropriate conversation.” Azlyn said, hesitantly.

“I understand your trepidation. I am sure that you have learned through your time in this realm that it is rarely wise to trust any of our kind. I would encourage you to ask Reve about my family and I. Maybe after speaking with him, you will feel more encouraged to trust me.” Umay suggested with a smile.

Then without another word, Umay rose from the bench. Smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress and wandered off down the hall. Azlyn sat for a moment, still in shock over the conversation. When it occurred to her that she was resting openly in the hallway with no noble to account for her actions. She immediately jumped off the bench and went running down the hall to Reve’s room. She knew there was a large chance that he would not be there, but she had to try. She needed to speak with him immediately.

As she expected, when Azlyn arrived in the room, she found that Reve was not there. He had left a note behind informing her that he had left the castle on business with his father. He wanted her to pick out his uniform for the party and to put on her nicest outfit as he had arranged for her to serve at the party. She was not certain why he would think that she would want to be there tonight. But she obliged his instructions anyway.

Reve arrived several hours later looking stressed out and exhausted. He wandered into the room, grabbed onto Azlyn and held her close for a moment. Then he released her, muttered something about his father being impossible to deal with, and wandered into the bathroom. He took a quick shower and began dressing for the party.

“Is everything alright?” Azlyn asked.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Reve sighed. “It’s just I was trying to talk to my father about several issues that are plaguing our realm over the last few weeks and he’s completely ignored all my ideas. If that were not frustrating enough, today I tried to tell him that I am not ready to wed. Hoping that he would grant me reprieve from this ordeal. Unfortunately, he saw right through me and knew that I was pleading so that I may remain with you.”

“Well…what did he say?” Azlyn almost did not want to ask.

“He told me to pick a wife like my mother; someone who craves the status so badly that she is willing to over-look the fact that I am clearly in love with you. When I told him that I refused to do that to you or to a demoness, he told me that I needed a dose of reality and that I would do as commanded. Then refused to speak about the subject any longer.”

Reve ran his hands through his hair and then down his face before dropping them onto the edge of the bed. Azlyn’s heart felt heavy. She knew that the stress was really getting to Reve. This was a demon whose eyes reflected the wasteful horrors of war; he had been to the depths of hell and lived to tell the tale. Now it was love that was ripping him to pieces. Love was the thing that was destroying his very being.

“I hate to see what this is doing to you.” Azlyn said as she placed a hand on Reve’s shoulder and gave a tight squeeze.

Reve placed his hand on Azlyn’s and lifted it, placing it against his cheek. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“This right here. This is all I need to calm me down. This is all I need to keep me sane.”

Reve reached over and placed a hand on either side of Azlyn’s hips. He carefully pulled her towards him and placed her in front of him. He placed his forehead against her abdomen and rested it there; taking in another deep breath.

Knock, Knock, Knock

The sound of someone at the door pulled them from their moment. Azlyn attempted to free herself from Reve’s grasp, worried that someone might come in. Stubbornly, Reve held her there and refused to allow her to move away from him.

“What is it?” Reve snapped at whomever was on the other side of the door.

“I apologize for the intrusion, your majesty. I was just on my way to the party and I thought that perhaps you would escort me.” A sultry voice rang out from beyond the door.

“May I inquire as to whom I am speaking?”

“It is Lorelei. As if you did not know.” The voice giggled.

“Ah, Lorelei. Of course. Give me just one moment and I will be there. I am still getting dressed.”

“Oh! Do you need any help?” Lorelei cooed.

Azlyn rolled her eyes, wrinkled her nose, and stuck out her tongue in disgust.

“I am fine, thank you. I have a personal slave for that.” Reve asserted.

“Well, you never complained before.”

Azlyn crossed her arms, irritated. She did not want to have to listen to this. She wished that she could have been anywhere else in the world at that moment. She was distracted from her thoughts when Reve placed a hand on either side of her face. He looked deep into her eyes and promised…

“I love you, Azlyn. You and only you.”

Azlyn took a deep breath. Reve always knew how to relax her when she was getting too much into her head.

“I love you, too.” Azlyn responded with a smile.

Reve kissed Azlyn on the forehead before straightening his shirt and heading for the entry way. He let out a deep sigh and then stood as straight as he could before swinging open the door.

On the other side of the door, stood a gorgeous demoness. The demoness had dark, flowing hair and large, deep eyes. Her smile would steal the affections of any demon who came across it and when she flashed it at Reve, it sent an unpleasant shiver down Azlyn’s spine. She allowed her horns to elongate some, enabling them to flow along her head and into her hair, like a crown. She wore a gorgeous, flashy, red designer dress which hugged her curves. Azlyn had never felt so grotesque in all her life than she did when she gazed upon this being.

In contrast, Azlyn wore a maid’s outfit; a long black skirt and long black sleeves, complete with a white apron and it did not fit her well, at all.

“Reve, darling! It has been far too long! What has been keeping you so busy that you don’t have time for me?” Lorelei whined, pouting her lips.

“Lorelei! How have you been?” Reve replied, reaching out for a hug.

Lorelei quickly swung her arms up over Reve’s and placed one hand on the back his head while the other sat between his shoulder blades. She used her leverage to pull him into her and embraced him in a kiss. Azlyn quickly dropped her gaze to the ground, heartbroken by what she was seeing. Reve did not allow the kiss to last for long, as he swatted her arms off of him and pushed her back.

“Now, Reve. You are going to hurt my feelings.” Lorelei pouted.

“I am not trying to hurt your feelings, Lore. It is simply that I am trying to give everyone a fair chance during this courting trial. I am trying not to allow past familiarities to interfere with my decisions.” Reve quickly explained, making it up as he went.

“Alright. I understand. I guess that fair is fair.” Lorelei said, with a slight stamp of her foot.

It was then that Lorelei realized that she and Reve were not alone. She stepped into the room just past him and began looking Azlyn up and down; from head to toe.

“I suppose this is your new personal slave then.” Lorelei mentioned with a sneer.

“Yes. Her name is Azlyn.” Reve answered.

“Disgusting little thing, isn’t she?” Lorelei ridiculed.

“Now, that is not nice.” Reve scolded, trying to keep his cool.

Lorelei stepped closer to Azlyn and began scrutinizing her further.

“Since when are we nice to humans?” Lorelei smirked.

“Now that is enough, Lorelei.” Reve snapped. “Stop scaring my slave. We are going to be late for the party because of this foolishness.”

Lorelei took one last long look at Azlyn before turning back towards Reve. She joined Reve in the doorway and slid her arm into his. She leaned her head on his shoulder and gave his arm a squeeze while giving him an innocent smile. They turned to leave the room, but Lorelei looked back at Azlyn one last time giving her a mocking wink, before they walked out of sight.

Azlyn took a deep breath and fought back the urge to cry. She smoothed out her uniform and quickly ran her fingers through her hair. She wiped her eyes as they had begun to water. Then headed out of the room towards the party. If this was her life, then it was something that she needed to get used to and the sooner the better.

The party proved to be fairly uneventful; the demonesses shamelessly paraded themselves around in front of the princes. Princes Gedeon and Hadeon thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they encouraged their demonesses to drape themselves over them and cater to their every whim. Lorelei had glued herself to Reve’s side and occasionally shot a look in Azlyn’s direction. She certainly intended to make it hard for other demonesses to get near him. Reve tried his best to get rid of her, but it never lasted for long.

Afterwards, Reve and Azlyn retreated to their bedroom. They were both exhausted and immediately collapsed onto the bed. Reve grabbed Azlyn and pulled her in close to him. He buried his face in her hair and took in a deep breath.

“I am sorry about Lorelei tonight.” Reve sighed. “I tried to get away from her, but she was relentless.”

“It is alright. If it had not been her, then it would have likely been another.” Azlyn sighed.

“This whole thing is just sick! You should not have to put up with this! You deserve better!” Reve tensed.

“Reve,” Azlyn began. “You must relax. You need to rest.”

Azlyn was attempting to diffuse the situation. She knew that Reve felt guilty and he wanted to talk about it. In contrast, she felt better when she tried to pretend that it was not happening. The more that she ignored it, the more she could feign that, since hearing Reve was to be married, every single breath she took did not cause her excruciating pain. For now, she needed to remain in denial to survive.

Reve took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He knew that Azlyn was right. There was little use in wasting all this energy being upset about the situation. He needed to focus on how to fix it. He would not marry unless he was marrying Azlyn. It was as simple as that.

“Reve…” Azlyn started.

“Yes, babe?”

“Do you know a demoness named Umay?”

“Of course. I’ve known her all of her life. We are good friends. Why do you ask?”

“Well, uh, she seems to know about us. She said that I can trust her, but I was not so sure. She told me to talk to you about her and her family and then make my decision.” Azlyn explained.

“Ah, I see.” Reve paused. “Well, I can assure you that you can trust Umay. You can probably trust Umay and her family more than anyone else in the entire realm.” Reve explained.

“Why is that?”

Reve yawned as his eyes drooped.

“Would it be alright if we discussed this in the morning? I am exhausted, and this is a long story.”

“Of course. Get some sleep.”

“Good night. I love you.”

“Good night. I love you too.”

Azlyn lay her head onto Reve’s chest and he fell fast asleep. Azlyn, on the other hand, could not relax. Her mind was racing with a million thoughts. She had so many questions and so many fears, yet she could voice very few of them.

The next morning, while they sat down to share Reve’s breakfast, Azlyn reminded him of his promise to tell her about Umay and her family.

“Of course. Make sure you’re comfortable, this is a long story.” Reve started.

Azlyn grabbed a bowl of fruit and settled back into Reve’s pillows.

“If you ever hear the other nobles speaking of Umay’s family, you will find that they refer to her as an only child. However, this is not the case. Umay has an older brother, Dalair, but no one has seen him for four years.”

“What happened to him?” Azlyn interrupted.

“Well…let’s start with the day that Dalair met the love of his life, Penelope…”

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