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Chapter 43
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The Demon Chapter 44
Andre took along such a swarm of toadies, that I couldn’t understand why he would need me as well.During the first three days of our journey, we had seen each other only twice, and it never really changed. Nobody was going to try and kill me.A few times, strangers attempted to join me and Tom, but I quickly brushed them off. The baroness, by the way, accompanied us in the prince’s retinue, and loitered around me so much that even my horse started to bite—which was quite understandable, really.I’d bite her myself if I wasn’t squeamish. The lady was constantly dousing herself with some saccharine perfume and staring at me, confused. She probably thought that I should have long since dragged her into bed, but I had not an ounce of desire to do that; I would rather have raised a zombie, really. We were riding across the greatest country in the world. With each day, it became more and more clear to me that Radenor was worth everything—and more. It was worth blood, dirt, and pain, mine
The Demon Chapter 45
I didn’t have to torture myself for too long. This, that, and the other... I still had that nagging feeling inside of me, like a pulsating splinter, but at least it didn’t fester, right?When it starts to, I’ll get rid of it. Were spirit wounds different from physical ones? Not really. And that meant that I would survive it eventually. The neighboring land disappointed me as well. Or maybe it was the closeness to the border? The same wretched villages, destitute peasants, haunted looks...I wondered if there were any kings who understood that power wasn’t given to them to have fun and live in style; that they ruled for their people, and not for themselves. Or was I just a deranged lunatic? But my grandfather had thought the same, even if it was his reign which had given start to the whole mess. I didn’t have any strength left to judge him, though.A family was a team. While the husband provided for the wife, the wife was to raise th
The Demon Chapter 46
Tommy didn’t believe me, of course. Who would? I had to beg him. My friend shrugged and promised to wait in our chambers until I dealt with the problem. The issue was resolved the same night.I simply summoned the hunter. As hellhounds weren’t simple dogs, hunters weren’t simple demons. He appeared almost immediately, looking at me with his blood-red eyes. He was tall, gangly, and reminded me of a cellar spider.In the cloud smoke which hid his features he seemed clumsy and awkward—if you didn’t know how fast and deadly he could be.Hellhounds chased prey.The hunter dealt the final blow.“Did you call for me?”He didn’t add “Master” naturally. I had to channel some more power into the pentagram. It’s not like I cared about titles, but status was something that demons placed great value on. If I let his arrogance go unpunished, I would get a rebellion later.The demon w
The Demon Chapter 47
My Lord, I kindly ask you to meet me in a gazebo an hour after the fireworks. We need to discuss an important issue regarding our relationship.L. Tom brought me that note, which had been handed to him by some servant.I quickly scanned the short text and snorted derisively.“Does she think me an idiot?”Tom shrugged.“I guess so. And then, the girl tried so hard...”I carefully folded the note to return it to its original state—fortunately, the seal wasn’t damaged—and gave it a sniff.True, she had poured her sweet perfume over the note...good. I wasn’t going to meet with her, of course, but it was a good thing that the author of the note could be so easily determined.“I’ll also...try hard. Wait for me.”And I slipped out of the window. The most useful thing about our room were a ledge and ivy on the wall, the latter of which was covering the whole castle from the foundation up to the towers.You could easily walk to the desired spot via the ledge and climb down to the room you want
The Demon Chapter 48
I was reading those thoughts on his face as clearly as if the duke was shouting them at the top of his lungs. When he turned toward me, I helped him.“Your Grace, I must keep vigil at my cousin’s side, but you will conduct an investigation, won’t you?”In a minute he would have rushed to embrace me, I swear.“Of course, Your Highness. I swear on my honor!”If you swore on something that you actually had, I might believe you. But a man whose wife had borne a vampire’s child, a man who, most likely, had forced her to do that himself?Sir, the honor of your family has long since gone running, like a deer in the woods.Why deer?Well, maybe a moose. Wearing the horns of a cuckold.I spent around four hours at Andre’s side, Tommy was nearby, also pretending to be appropriately distressed. But...“Alex, but that was her doing.”“So what?”“Won’t we get revenge?”My ass.Avenge Lavinia’s help? I was in her debt. Maybe I won’t even kill her right away.“Tommy, could we survive the war with Te
The Demon Chapter 49
The duke finally left, and Tommy brought me a tray of food that we shared.Great, no poison, no sedative.“What will we do?”I took a deep breath.“Pray, Tommy. We will pray.”I knew prayers by heart. Know your enemy and kill him with your own weapon, and I did. I knew them to the last word, to the last comma—and could even visit the church. And so I prayed until almost midnight.Then I ordered Tommy to bring me a warm cloak. Well, more precisely, I ordered a servant, who then summoned Tommy. He came sleepily, also in a warm cloak—it was pretty chilly there.I dismissed the servant, and in five minutes, Tommy came out, just the way he had entered, cloaked, dark-haired, in a hat.Dark hair? A wig!What can be more simple? And another man in the prince’s cloak continued praying before the altar. I hoped I had managed to cheat the onlookers.The duke probably didn’t expect any seserious dirty tricks from me, anyway. He was too relaxed, having bought into my idiocy...Which was exactly ho
The Demon Chapter 50
I lowered the assassin down without any issues. Nobody had seen or heard us, so I warned him about Tommy and returned to the shrine, as I needed to provide my lord a warm shirt, too. You know, just in case. The guards, drilled by the duke, let me pass without any objections, and no wonder. The best and the brightest weren’t there, but guarding Lavinia, the duke, his children, and would later go into the dungeon.Those here were the worst of the bunch. It made sense, too—leaving smart people in the same house as a vampire wasn’t a good idea. Soon enough, you’d get tired of hiding the bodies. So, I was praying hard, Tom went to the assassin, and outside, chaos erupted.The assassin was gone!Naturally, the duke dropped by the church, and I immediately threw a tantrum. The prisoner has escaped?He’ll kill me, for sure!Assign me a guard duty!To the church, my chambers, even my horse! What if he kills the horse, too? I wouldn’t be surprised if the duke wanted to kill me, too, but he man
The Demon Chapter 51
I had a talk with Lavinia as well. She came at night, and I barely managed to stop my unruly arm from hitting her with a dagger. Oh no, you didn’t.My slap threw the half-vampire across the room. I don’t know if I could hit a woman, but Lavinia was no woman. She was a monster, and with her, everything was permitted. If I had to, I would beat her with a silver chain across her spine.“Back away, you tramp.”That was bound to make her shut up. Lavinia hissed, but bit her tongue until it was bloody.I nodded at a chair.“Sit down.”She obeyed.“So why did the Dark Tempter send you here?”“Why did you agree to the marriage?”I smirked.“Maybe I wanted someone exotic.”“That’s not a satisfying answer.”“Then why did you tell your father that you wanted to be satisfied with me? Or at least with my answer?”I mocked her. She hissed again.Maybe I should dig out a snakepit?“He wants the throne...”“What a coincidence. So do I.”“Then refuse to marry me.”“You wish... Who’d refuse such an off
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