My Demon, My Love...

The next morning, Reve woke before Azlyn and watched her as she slept. He could not believe how beautiful she was. He felt like the luckiest demon in all of the realm. She was such a peaceful and beautiful creature; even after what had just happened, she still seemed so innocent and pure. She was the light in his darkness; the dream that he had been chasing all his life, even though he did not know it.

Azlyn awoke with a start, immediately, knowing that she had slept in later than was acceptable. She was about to jump out of the bed, but she felt Reve place his hand on her.

“Do not worry about breakfast this morning. I am not hungry. Although, if you are hungry then I will have someone fetch us something.” Reve instructed.

Azlyn wanted to protest but decided against it. She had not spoken to Reve since before his brothers assaulted her. She was mortified by what Reve had seen in Hadeon’s bedroom. She blamed herself for everything that had happened. Poor Reve had just gotten caught up in the whirlwind of terror that had always been her life; cleaning up after her mistakes time and time again.

Azlyn pushed herself out of bed and slipped out of the bathrobe. She avoided looking down at the cuts over her body. She walked out of the bedroom and went across the hallway to her room. This made Reve anxious, so he jumped out of his bed and stood in the door of his room, staring at Azlyn’s closed door.

After a few minutes, Azlyn emerged freshly dressed. She saw Reve standing in the door and was confused by this action. He motioned for her to go back inside his room and she did as he wanted. Reve walked over to his bed and sat on the edge. He watched as Azlyn began to pick up the clothing off of the floor and move it into the laundry basket. She walked over to the blanket from Hadeon’s room and bent down to retrieve it from the floor.

“Do NOT touch that!!” Reve commanded as he jumped up towards her.

Azlyn was startled by Reve’s sudden outburst and she backed away from the blanket.

“I do not want you touching anything that belongs to Gedeon or Hadeon! I do not want you to smell like them ever again!”

Reve swiftly grabbed the blanket off of the floor, he drug it over to the door and poked his head into the hallway. He called someone over and spoke to them for a moment. He then handed them the blanket, closed the door, and locked it behind him. He turned to face Azlyn, who stood in the door of the bathroom, a confused look on her face.

“Azlyn, can you please come here? I have some important things that I would like to discuss with you.” Reve asked as he sat back down on the bed.

Azlyn obliged his request and walked over to the bed, standing before him. She would not look him in the eye, she was still too ashamed.

“From this moment forward, you will not ever take a command from either of my older brothers. They have no dominance over you. If they speak to you then tell them that you are not permitted to interact with them by my order.” Reve instructed. “Secondly, I do not want you staying in your room anymore. I want you to move in here with me, so that I can keep a closer eye on you.”

Azlyn nodded her head in agreement. It was not unusual for a personal slave to sleep in their master’s bedroom. Though she knew it would only add fuel to the rumor fire, but Reve seemed unconcerned with such things.

“Yes, master, as you wish. I shall have a slave’s bed brought in, immediately.” Azlyn answered.

“That is fine, Azlyn. It will help to keep up appearances. Also, it is good to finally hear you speaking again.” Reve smiled.

“What would you like to do regarding my punishment?” Azlyn continued, nonchalantly.

“Punishment? What punishment?!” Reve responded with surprise.

“I must be punished regarding last night’s situation.” Azlyn explained.

“What could you possibly need to be punished for?”

“I fought back.” Azlyn answered, barely above a whisper.

“What?”

Azlyn spoke so quietly that Reve was not sure that he had heard her correctly. Azlyn took in a deep breath and sighed.

“I fought back against them. I did not submit like I should have, especially given their authority.” Azlyn stated again, this time with more conviction.

Without waiting for a response, Azlyn walked back to her room. She returned a few moments later with a small, black whip in her hands. Reve knew this weapon well, it was a shorter whip, so it could be used indoors with minimal risk to furnishings. It was often “playfully” referred to as “the house slave’s best friend,” as every house slave was expected to keep one with them in their quarters for whenever punishment was warranted.

“Azlyn, I will not punish you for fighting against being raped.” Reve was absolutely horrified at the suggestion.

“You have to, master.”

“No, I do not, and I will not.”

“But you must!”

Azlyn’s eyes began to fill with tears. She walked over to Reve and forced the whip into his hands. She then walked over to the edge of the room, where her blood would only get onto the marble, away from the rug. She removed her shirt and kneeled on the cold floor.

“I do not want to do this, Azlyn.”

“I am sorry that I put you in this position, your majesty. I do not know what came over me. An image flashed in my mind and before I knew what I was doing, I had assaulted the heir apparent, Prince Gedeon.”

Honestly, Reve wanted to laugh at the thought of tiny Azlyn assaulting Gedeon. However, something else that she had said filled him with curiosity. He stood and walked over to her, whip in hand.

“What was the image that flashed in your head?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“What image did you see that caused you to lash out against Gedeon?”

Azlyn’s cheeks began to burn red. She really did not want to answer this question. She had hoped that he would focus more on the assault rather than what had caused it. Why did she have to mention a vision spurring the assault? Why could she not have kept that part to herself?

“I apologize, sire. But I do not believe that is relevant to the situation at hand.” Azlyn answered after some thought.

“First of all, I’ve told you to call me Reve. You’ve let that slip several times today. Secondly, I asked you a question and I expect you to answer it. What was the vision?” Reve’s voice grew more demanding.

“I saw…” Azlyn paused.

“Yes?” Reve pressured.

“I saw…you.”

Azlyn’s eyes dropped down to floor and she let her hair fall in front of her face, hoping it would cover her embarrassment.

Reve was pleasantly surprised by Azlyn’s answer. He had hoped that she would say it was him that had spurred her into fighting. However, knowing that this was, indeed, the reality, made him feel a thousand feet tall; like he could take on the entire realm if he had to.

“So, let me see if I have my facts straight. My brothers were attempting to rape you. Your thoughts immediately flashed to me. Then you felt the desire to fight back against them. Causing you to assault Gedeon.” Reve recounted.

“Yes, sire…I mean…Reve. Sorry, it takes some getting used to.” Azlyn answered.

A smile spread across Reve’s face.

“Do you have feelings for me, Azlyn?”

“What?!”

“You heard me.” Reve smirked.

Azlyn could not believe that he had just asked her that. How was she supposed to respond? If she said no, then she would be lying. If she said yes, then she would be leaving herself even more exposed and vulnerable than she already was.

“I think…that…umm…we should just…uh…focus on the punishment.” Azlyn stammered.

“I will take that as a yes for now, but eventually I will expect to hear you say the words.” Reve chuckled.

Azlyn began to feel her face growing hot once more as her cheeks turned red.

“There is no reason to be embarrassed, Az. I assure you that it is mutual.” Reve leaned in and whispered in her ear.

Azlyn was shocked by this revelation. She knew that Reve was attracted to her, but to think that it went beyond that was unthinkable to Azlyn. Although, her mind immediately wandered to something that she had overheard during the scuffle yesterday. Reve had very clearly yelled out that she was his; now this could have simply meant that she was his slave, yet, on the other hand, there was also mention of her being his mate.

Was it possible that the primal side of Reve had truly claimed Azlyn as his mate? What would that even mean for them, being that she is a slave and he is a royal? Not to mention, there was a taboo against demon and human relationships. No matter what their feelings may be, they could never pursue any sort of real romance.

“I would recommend a minimum of thirty lashes for my offense. I am aware that the normal minimum would only be twenty lashes, however, my offense is much greater as I attacked a demon of royal blood, the heir to the throne, no less.” Azlyn attempted to change the subject.

“I am not going to do that, Azlyn.” Reve responded very seriously.

“Would you like to punish me for the damage that you inflicted on your brothers as well? This would raise my total considerably, but I would understand your choice.”

“No! I don’t want to do this at all!” Reve bellowed, becoming aggravated by this conversation.

“You have to.”

“I don’t have to do anything that I do not want to do!”

“In this case, you are wrong.”

“Explain to me then, Azlyn. Explain exactly why I have to whip you when I do not believe that you are deserving of such a punishment?!”

“Because this incident will not disappear as quickly and as quietly as the other one did. You did not just defend me from some attacking demons. You broke your brother’s wrist; you broke the wrist of the heir to the throne, Reve. You knocked your other brother unconscious and for what? To defend the honor of an already sullied slave? This was not acceptable and in the eyes of the law, the fault lies with me. I must be punished, or the situation will escalate. If you do not do it, then someone else will.” Azlyn explained, growing desperate.

Azlyn knew that Reve may be opposed to having to punish her, but she also knew that if he was the one to do it then he would be much gentler than Cuinn or a guard. Not to mention, if someone else were to give the punishment, they might raise her total above fifty and decide that she was not worth the effort. If that were to happen, then she could be killed without question or a second thought. Everything Reve had done to protect her up until now would be for nothing.

Reve realized that Azlyn was right. As much as he did not want to, he needed to be the one to punish her. He could ensure that the punishment was much less harsh than someone else would. The thought of whipping her sickened him, as he looked down at the whip in his hand and then back up at Azlyn’s bare back.

“Fine. I will do it. Only because I do not want someone else to make the punishment worse for you.” Reve finally agreed.

“Thank you, Reve.”

“But I will only give you one lash. Just enough so that you can show that you were whipped if someone was to ask.”

“No, Reve. It has to be more than one. They will expect to be able to see several marks. This is a serious offense.”

“Fine, then two.”

“No, Reve. There needs to more than that. I will need to be able to reveal several marks on each of my shoulders.”

Reve thought about this for a moment. As much as he hated to admit it, Azlyn was right. She would need to reveal several marks if she were asked. Anyone seeking justice would want to ensure that the punishment fit the crime.

“This isn’t fair. I am the one who caused the most damage. You should be the one who is whipping me.” Reve sulked, defeated.

“Now, that would not be acceptable, Reve. That would just mean more lashes for me.” Azlyn chuckled, trying to make light of the situation, she wanted to make this easier on Reve.

“That is not funny, Azlyn.” Reve crossed his arms, clearly unamused. “I will give you six lashes, that is three for each shoulder. That should be enough to convince anyone that were punished. They will just assume that the rest is where you cannot see it.”

“I don’t know if that is enough, Reve.” Azlyn began to protest.

“It will have to be enough!” Reve interrupted. “I refuse to do any more than that.”

“Alright. We will make it work.” Azlyn assured him, sensing his tension.

“Thank you.” Reve sighed.

Reve walked behind Azlyn and lined himself up for the first three lashes. He looked over her bare back; he had never really noticed before, but he could see scars from where she had been whipped in the past. He walked up to her and traced his finger along some the deeper scars that crossed her shoulders. Azlyn shivered slightly, excited by his touch.

“Please do not hate me after this.” Reve whimpered, softly.

“I could never hate you.” Azlyn reassured him.

Reve took a couple of steps back and allowed the whip to uncoil. He made certain that he was properly lined up, swung his arm backwards and let the whip fly.

CRACK!

The whip snapped into Azlyn’s back, causing her body to lurch forward as she cried out in pain. Reve immediately regretted this decision but knew that he had to follow through.

CRACK!

CRACK!

Reve allowed the whip to fly two more times, attempting to get this whole ordeal over with as swiftly as possible. He looked at Azlyn’s back and could already see the blood coming from her wounds. He was disgusted with himself. How could he be doing this to her? How could he be the one to cause her this pain?

Reve realigned himself to lay out the three marks on Azlyn’s other shoulder. He decided not to pause this time unless he absolutely had to. He would swing three times in a row, hopefully, that would minimize both, his and Azlyn’s anguish.

Reve let the whip fly, as fast as lightning. Azlyn screamed as it contacted her skin. As soon as it was over, he dropped the whip on the floor where he stood. He ran around to face Azlyn; tears were streaming down her face as she did her best to hold in her pain. Reve was sick to his stomach; he felt as though he was no better than his brothers. They had made her bleed, and now…so had he.

“I am so sorry, Az! I am so sorry!”

Reve reached out to wipe away the tears coming down Azlyn’s cheek. She winced when his hand made contact. At first, Reve feared that she was wincing because she did not want him to touch her and he felt his heart breaking at the thought. Although, it did not take long for him to notice the real reason for her withdraw from his touch. A bruise had begun to form where one of Reve’s brothers had hit Azlyn, it was turning a deep purple and was swelling. Seeing this reminded Reve of everything that his brothers had done all over again.

Reve began to let his anger build up inside of him. He felt his muscles beginning to tense and his horns were elongating at will; his rage was consuming him. When, suddenly, he felt Azlyn’s arms wrapping around his neck. She had thrown herself into him and was hanging on for dear life as she let her tears fall onto his chest.

Reve, immediately, felt himself begin to calm. Anger and revenge could wait; Azlyn needed him right now, she was the most important thing. He wrapped his arms around her, careful not to touch where she had been whipped. He sat down in a more comfortable position on the floor, pulled her into his lap, and held her for hours while she wept.