Page 55 of Dancing With Demons

“Stop,” he pants as he draws himself up. Eth’tak, Ulsrath, and I, along with the rest of the crowd look on in horror as Tolmond turns to face the King.

“Piper can’t be joined with Lamian.”

26

Tolmond

Robes rustle and whisper as everyone in the courtyard turns to me in shock. No one dares speak. Even the wind halts.

The Hooded One tilts his head. It’s so silent that I swear I can hear the vertebrae of his neck pop. The guards lower their heads and raise their weapons, preparing for orders to attack. Eth’tak prepares in turn, hand on the hilt of his dagger, deadly eyes drifting across everyone present.

The very air feels dangerous. Heavy and thick. Electric. A storm above us builds and builds. The storm building in the Hooded One’s countenance is even more frightful. His head tilts in the other direction, slow, as though he is studying prey.

I, of course, would be the prey.

There are few soz’garoth more experienced than me, but the Hooded One’s powers are world-bending. World-creating.

World-ending.

This is not a fight I can win, even with Eth’tak on my side.

And yet I keep my chin up in defiance. She cannot marry the Prince. I will not allow it, no matter what may come. Eth’tak, my old friend, stands next to me, shoulder-to-wing.

“You speak out of turn,” Lamian, an arrogant prince, sneers. He is either not aware of his father’s wrath, or fearless. He brushes his fine clothes as though my words have dirtied him, and then looks at Piper with speculation I don’t care for at all. “Father, banish this wretch for his impudence and be done with it. You promised me the human. I find her pleasing enough to share my bed. And we all have places to be.”

The thought of this fool so much as laying a finger on Piper is unbearable.

“You cannot marry her.”

“Why? Because your magic smoke visions told you she’s yours instead? Convenient.”

Eth’tak’s lips pull back in a savage snarl. I take hold of his arm—the King could end us at any moment over this. I can’t have him assaulting the Prince, or we’ll have no hope of survival.

“Because she’s pregnant.”

My first outburst was indeed impudence, as the Prince called it. Perhaps forgivable, if the Hooded One were in a gracious mood.

This? Impregnating a Prince’s prize?

It is unforgivable.

No one speaks. No one dares. Lightning arches across the sky, blinding in its violence. It sounds as though the sky is being ripped in two. Even the guards huddle together, eyeing the sky and the Hooded One warily. A matron looks at me with disgust, as though I’ve confessed to fucking an ur’gin.

Now there is no doubt that the storm is the King’s doing. Thunder rolls in the distance, menacing, and the clouds darken further. Beneath us, the ground shakes with his fury. In a world with so many ruthless, vicious demons, there is a reason he is King. He will show us, if he must. For a moment, I think I’ve ended us all.

He needs spawn. He won’t touch Piper, not as long as she’s capable of giving birth.

But me?

I’m valuable. Perhaps the most valuable soz’garoth at court.

I’m about to discover how valuable I truly am.

I expect the Hooded One to erupt in rage, but he keeps his anger confined to the elements above and below. His voice is calm and measured when he finally speaks. His voice crackles and booms across the silent courtyard.

“Explain.”

I bow my head, but not without sneaking a glance at Piper. Her lips are curled in a snarl nearly as ferocious as Eth’tak’s, and her eyes burn, molten with rage. She looks as though she’d like to cut me down where I stand.