Absentmindedly, I picked out some outfits to the women to pack away into my backs while I listened to my sisters’ babble on excitedly.
“I told you had a good feeling!” Tinley smiled.
“Oh, it’ll be the wedding of the century no doubt! And we’ll get to be a part of it!” Skye shrieked.
Ferrah nudged me and whispered, “I knew that demon blood of yours would come in handy someday.”
That was enough to suck all the excitement out of the room and turn everything awkward. While it wasn’t a secret between us, we all knew better than to openly say anything about it.
“Ferrah,” Tinley hissed. “You know we aren’t supposed to speak about that.”
“I figured that since it’s just us that it wouldn’t be a problem. Plus, she’s about to marry the King of Xavaria.”
“I’d prefer that we didn’t speak about it,” I said.
The awkwardness hung in the air between us, but Skye did her best to vanquish it.
“What do you think Xavaria is like? Because I’ve heard nothing but horror stories.”
“I’ve heard the air is so dark that it corrupts you and turns you into one of them,” Ferrah said.
“Oh, none of that is true. It’s like any other Kingdom and you know that.” Tinley said.
“I’ve never been so I don’t know. But there has to be a reason that no one ever wants to go there.” Skye responded.
“Because people aren’t as opened minded as they should be,” Tinley stated.
The two continued to go back and forth about it, so I tuned them out and focused on packing. I took care of my personal items like my toothbrush, shampoo and conditioner, and undergarments. Within an hour, everything that I needed was packed and my bags were carried downstairs to be loaded onto the carriage. While that happened, I took the time to say my goodbyes to everyone while secretly hoping I’d be back home sooner than a week. I promised to send them letters to keep them updated on things and with that, I was ushered into the carriage.
Deimos and his father were already waiting for me. As soon as I was seated, Cainen instructed the driver to start moving.
“I have a feeling that you’re going to love it in Xavaria, Nesryn. At least you will once your demon blood has been activated.” King Cainen said.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Xavaria is an extension of Hell; Hell on earth to be exact. Your demon side will sense that and immediately feel at home.” Deimos explained.
Activated? What did it mean for your demon blood to be activated? Would it hurt? Would it change me as a person? If it did, would it be for better or for worse? What does it mean to be a demon? Would I have to learn new magic?
Deimos gave me a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry Nesryn. All your questions will be answered this week.”
Something deep inside of me told me that I should be terrified of how much mystery surrounded Xavaria and it’s Prince. It made the need to demand answers and explanations grow inside of me, but I chose to stay quiet. Something about King Cainen made me feel uneasy so I would rather wait until Deimos and I were alone. He seemed to be more kindhearted and a bit less intimidating.
❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦
The ride to Xavaria seemed to last a century, but we made it. As we got closer I was amazed. Large pillars radiating blue light surrounded the entire Kingdom. In the sky that all met in the middle creating one large beam that landed on what I could only assume was the palace. We passed through the gates allowing the buildings to come into view. It was a lot of hellstone which was black with flames peeking out from the cracks. The only thing that made each building different was the color of the flames. Some had red, others had blue, there was the occasional white.
The deeper we got into Xavaria, the odder I felt. Something about the air here felt different. It was more...charged. Every nerve in my body was buzzing with excitement begging to get out and start exploring.
“You feel it, don’t you?” Deimos asked.
“The energy?” I asked in return.
He nodded.
“Then yes.”
“That’s your demon blood reacting to being what it feels like is home.”
“It appears you two truly do have a conversation when we get to the palace.” King Cainen stated.
“It appears we do.”
Neither of them said anything else which forced me to wait impatiently for what would happen next. When we arrived at the palace, we walked in and a few butlers walked out to grab my things. I admired the black and red marble that took over the entrance while Cainen and Deimos quietly spoke to one another. It wasn’t long after that when Cainen dismissed himself while Deimos gently took my hand and led me to the nearest sitting room. We both sat down and he got a serious look on his face.
“So, what do you know about demons?” He asked.
“Um,” I said. “Not a whole lot. It wasn’t until I started my royals training that I heard anyone speak about your Kingdom, but it wasn’t in-depth. No one ever saw a point in teaching us about you but I was under the impression that they themselves didn’t know a lot anyway.”
He nodded, “That sounds about right. We’re interesting, complex creatures and we don’t quite share that information with the outside world. Our traditions are sacred and we don’t like outsiders knowing about them.”
“That’s understandable.”
“So, go ahead and ask whatever questions that you have.”
“We might be here for a while.” I awkwardly laughed.
He grinned, “That’s fine.”
I took a moment to mull over every question that was floating around in my head. I didn’t want to waste his time with tiny questions about Xavaria, they needed to be important.
“What is all of this about activating my blood and awakening my demon?” I asked.
“Getting straight to the point I see.” He laughed. “When we’re born our demon side is dormant since we aren’t strong enough to handle the power that comes along with them, they stay sleeping deep inside of us. It’s truly up to us when we feel ready enough to go through the potentially dangerous process of awakening them, but most parents opt to do it when their child is about ten to sixteen. I had mine awoken when I was twelve. Father wanted it to be sooner, but Mother was a little nervous so they upped my fight training and waited a couple of years longer. Tuned out to be a good choice on their part.”
“Potentially dangerous? Is it going to hurt or kill me or something?”
“The best way that we’ve discovered to awaken them is to put you in harm's way. Their power is there to protect you and make you stronger so when you’re put into danger, their instant reaction is to protect you from anything and everything. They’ll lend you their power thus awakening them.”
“So, it’s like having another person inside of you,” I stated.
“It’s more so like having two sides to you. You have your human side and your demon side. The only true difference is your appearance, but others argue that you get more power as your true self, your demon self. There’s no real proof of that, but there’s also no reason to disprove it. If that’s what they wish to believe then who are we to ruin their fun?”
“There’s your true form and your human form which essentially acts as a mask.”
“Exactly! You being able to take in all of this quickly is promising.”
Things got quiet for a few minutes as I thought about anything I needed to know right this second.
“Would you mind if I asked you something?” Deimos asked breaking me out of my thoughts.
“I think it’s only fair that you get to ask me something in return.”
“How is it that someone with demon blood knows nothing about demons?” He asked. “I would’ve assumed that your mother or someone from her side of the family would’ve explained things to you.”
“My mother tried teaching me, so did my aunt, but my Father never liked talking about it or hearing about it. He always thought we were better off keeping it tucked away and forgetting about it completely. Mother and Auntie tried to tell me stories and educate me but the second Father caught wind of it he made them stop. After mother passed my Aunt stopped coming around because she’s never respected my father so I’ve been left in the dark.”
“Your Aunt is a demon, correct?”
“She is indeed.”
“Does she live here in Xavaria? Because I’d love to be able to reconnect you two.”
I shook my head, “She and her husband always preferred to live in secluded areas so I have no idea where they’d be.”
“Do you have any other questions or would you like to go get settled in?”
“I do have one more question about this blood test you were all speaking about.”
“Oh. Right. It’s nothing serious, it’s just a confirmation for us that you have Demon DNA.”
“Okay. Sounds good and harmless.”
“I will arrange for that then.” He smiled. “For the remainder of the day, I’ll let you unpack and get settled in. For the week you’ll have your own handmaiden to help you with anything that you need, her name is Marigold.”
A few seconds later, a girl appeared in the doorway and motioned me to follow her. I took the time to say a quick goodbye to Deimos before following the girl out. Marigold didn’t try to strike up a conversation leaving the walk to my room filled with only our footsteps. She showed me to my room and once I had a moment to look around, she curtsied and scurried off.
I did my best to not think about it too hard and instead focused on the room I’d be calling home for at least the next week. There wasn’t anything special about it. It was simple, neutral colors and only held necessary furniture such as a four-poster bed, a closet, and a dresser.
My bags were left on the floor by the bed while the dress bags were already hung in the closet. I got to work unpacking. It wasn’t long before I lost myself in thought about today’s events.
It was a lot to take in at once. Deimos was certainly right about one thing, demons were complex and interesting creatures. I’d only just barely gotten a glimpse of this world and it was already a lot to take in. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it all. That being said, I would like to learn more. Maybe then I could understand why my Father was so against me being apart of this world. Or maybe I would understand why my aunt loved it so much. Either way, I now had a mission for this week.
It no longer would simply be able to try to survive and tolerate Deimos until I got to go home. Now it was going to be all about learning as much as I could about this side of me that had been hidden away. Suddenly, Deimos served a purpose and something told me that he would be able to fulfill his duty quite well.
Comments (2)
See all