Chapter • 06

♱ ⋅ 1750 B.C. ⋅ ♱

He was still there when I woke up, and he was still there the next night and the next.

He was always there when my eyes opened, his fingers touching my skin with an almost theatrical care. It was different from history, it was almost the complete opposite, and I could remember Asra's words perfectly.

He did not come to see me that night, and the next night he did not come either. After Azrael came to my room and took Callisto with him, I did not see the king for many, many days. At least until I walked through the garden and came across him and a beautiful girl one night with a crimson moon, talking in front of the blood fountain.

He was smiling.

That was the moment Asra knew that she had lost Callisto. That nothing could bring him back into her arms, because Elaine could give him something she could not: a love beyond physical touch. A love like that of his first wife.

Pure, friendly, and that pushed him to be someone better.

But Asra could never achieve something like this, after all she was the mistress of the king, of the emperor of the whole underworld. Nothing more than that, nothing more than someone he looked for during the nights when he felt lonely.

Callisto had told him: he would never love her, because the only one he was capable of loving was the mother of his son, and he intended it to be that way for his entire existence.

Well, it must have been really painful when she saw him giving the love he had so denied to Elaine. Still, I couldn't hate Callisto, because I understood that the love he felt for his wife, was also what caused his death and cursed his son. Callisto didn't want to love, but he still couldn't help but love Elaine. He loved her so much that he died for her.

I grunted, feeling my body aching, a weak and particularly good pain.

Callisto hadn't gone to Asra after that day because he was with Elaine, because he had stayed by her side while deciding whether or not to torture her for information, but in the midst of that, Elaine had met his son and the child who was adorable and weak thanks to the ancient curse, had taken Elaine's heart, opening the castle doors for the saint, the daughter of the God who wished for Callisto's death, to enter and take for herself the only being Asra had ever cared about. But this time it was not so, this time he was there. He came to me and his husky voice murmured in my ears every day how worried he had been.

I couldn't help but wonder how much Asra would have enjoyed hearing those words.

"I care about you."

I felt Callisto's lips sliding down my back and the freezing air from hell made me long for the fluffy blankets that were spread across my bed, but I knew that if it was up to the demon who was now gently kissing my neck - it wouldn't happen.

"Good morning..." I murmured, sinking my face into the pillow, which was soaked with his scent.

It was not a dream.

None of it was a dream, and I was not Asra.

"Good morning" he replied kissing behind my ear and then my jaw "I'm going to need to leave... today..." he said slowly between kisses "Azrael won't leave me alone, that fallen bastard..."

It was something I remembered. Callisto was always trying to escape from his responsibilities, and Azrael - my poor little fallen one - was always dragging him to fulfill his duties as absolute lord of the underworld.

"It's his job..." I muttered and felt Callisto's fingers tighten against my hip.

Even without turning around, I could feel his eyes, fixed on me.

"Why are you on his side now?" He asked, and if I didn't know that the one in my bed was the king of all hell, I wondered if I had drunk enough to sleep with a little high school boy.

"He's right..." I spoke practically on automatic, and as soon as the words came out I knew it hadn't been the right thing to answer, because Calisto had now gotten out of bed.

His face was not even trying to contain the expression that seemed to me to be a mixture of irritation and jealousy.

"What are you doing?" I asked even though I knew the answer, and saw Callisto turn toward me with an expression of pure indignation.

"I'm leaving!"

I bit the inside of my mouth to hold back my laughter. I couldn't make him any angrier, but this was literally the cutest thing I had ever witnessed. For a reader like me, it was like winning the lottery, because now I knew where the spoiled and cuddly little prince had come from.

"Why are you leaving? It's still early?" I said, holding out my hand in his direction, and I saw a slight doubt gleam in his eyes.

"Because I'm trying so hard to come here and you..." he turned his face away, "You talk as if it doesn't make any difference! Like I have to work, even if it takes away all the time I get to spend with you..." he grumbled as he finished buttoning his shirt.

This was more attractive than I remembered thinking, was it all his fault that he was so hot? This should definitely be a crime.

"Darling..." I called out to him, my voice sounded as sweet as that of a lover begging for more attention, "don't be like that..."

He snorted.

"You said Azrael is right!"

I bit my lip.

What was going on with that man? Asra always said that Callisto didn't give him enough attention, that he spent hours locked in his office, and that he always broke his promises. So why? Why was I now having to convince Callisto, the great black king, to go back to work instead of wrapping himself in my arms and warming my bed? This seemed anything but right.

"Azrael is right" I said shrugging, "in the end, you are a ruler and should shoulder your responsibilities."

He looked at me, obviously incredulous.

"But... before..." he lowered his gaze, "you always said I didn't have time and didn't..."

Oh...

He was trying to... compensate? Was this because of what happened with Elaine? That was my main change... so it certainly should be.

My chest heaved.

Maybe... Callisto was still in love with Elaine, maybe he was still involved in the romance he was supposed to get into when he was at Elaine's side. Because probably everything that had happened between us was only thanks to the fact that I had intervened.

I clenched my hands into fists.

Callisto won't fall in love with Elaine. I won't let him.

Even if I have to change the whole damn story line to do it. Even if I - Asra - have to die as the cruel villain to do it.

I smiled.

"I said to work" I spoke as I got up from the bed, my slender and delicate body being bathed in the shadows coming off the black sun, enveloped as if the shadows and I were one, "but I never said to go alone".

I stopped in front of him, and when Callisto's eyes locked on me, I slid my hands down his chest and laced his hips.

"I will go with you."