Page 41 of Dancing With Demons
Piper looks as if she wants to press me further on the subject, but seems to think better of it, turning toward the doors of the tower as they swing open to reveal Eth’tak. Piper squeals in delight, rushing toward him. Eth’tak anticipates her with a grin, scooping her into his arms and spinning her around as he gives her a tight hug.
“How was practice?” He asks as he sets her down.
“Good! So good, in fact, that we’re going to see the King later,” Piper says nonchalantly as she breezes past us both. Eth’tak visibly pales, shooting a horrified glance at me. I give him a solemn nod, confirming what Piper has said.
“I’m going to go bathe, meet you for dinner in an hour!” Piper calls over her shoulder as she heads upstairs, completely unaware of our exchange. Neither of us bother responding as we watch her go. The second Piper rounds the bend and is out of sight, Eth’tak whirls on me.
“We’re going to see theKinglater?” he hisses in equal parts fear and anger. I clap a hand on his shoulder, pulling him toward my office.
“It wasn’t my idea,” I grumble at him. “A zonak appeared just as we were finishing up Piper’s training. We’ve been summoned- all three of us. We’re to arrive at the palace at sundown.”
Eth’tak looses a heavy breath, running his hands over his grizzled face before meeting my eyes again.
“So what do we do?” he asks. As if I’d have any kind of answer.
“What the Hooded One orders us to.”
* * *
Sundown comes too quickly.
Piper is clad in a black dress that’s tight enough to be a second skin, the fabric semi-sheer and clinging to her as she strides between Eth’tak and I down the hall and toward the Hooded One’s throne room.
I can’t help but compare the woman beside me now to who she was when we first stood before the Hooded One. Then, she was all bones and sharp angles, mere days away from withering from hunger, frightened and meek. Now, proper nutrition has restored the sensuous curves of her hips and thighs, her breasts pert beneath the black dress and her spine straight. Piper walks with a confidence I never truly thought she’d gain after we rescued her from that village, her chin lifted as our destination looms closer, no scent of fear on her skin.
Panic grips my heart in a tight squeeze, and my steps falter, Eth’tak and Piper coming up short beside me and looking at me in confusion.
“Do you remember how this is going to go?” I ask Piper directly, fear still gnawing at my stomach. She gives me a nod, concern in her face, but before she can say anything, I begin rapid-firing practice questions at her.
“Is your magic under your control?”
“As much as chaos magic can ever be controlled,” Piper responds, exactly as we’ve rehearsed.
“What kind of magic skills do you claim?”
“Any I desire, as is the nature of chaos magic.”
“What will you do once we’re in the throne room?”
“Kneel, don’t make eye contact. If I get too frightened, I can press my thumb into the center of my palm, it will keep the redness from my face and keep me from crying.”
“Good. What do you refer to him as?”
“My King, King Asmodeus, The Hooded One.”
“And what will you do if you’re asked to demonstrate your new skills?”
“Blow them out of the fucking water,” Piper says with a vicious grin.
Pride once again swells in my chest, made bitter by an undercurrent of guilt. If only she knew the real reason the Hooded One is so interested in her progress.
If onlyIknew the real reason he’s so interested- perhaps then it wouldn’t feel so much like I’m throwing Piper to a pack of howler beasts.
We round the final corner in our journey, the doors to the throne room swinging open noiselessly before us, two zonak just inside the threshold bowing as we step into the throne room.
As if we were one entity, we cross to the center of the room, kneeling before the dais. The Hooded One lets us linger a moment longer than usual before bidding us to rise. Although his eyes are veiled, I get the sense that he’s looking Piper over, noting her more formidable body and the confidence in her posture.
“Step forward, girl,” The Hooded One commands, his voice shaking the massive pillars framing the space. Piper does so, keeping her eyes focused on the steps of the dias, no hint of fear in her face- although I catch a glimpse of her thumb disappearing between her curled fingers, no doubt pressing into her palm.