Page 45 of Her Demon Daddy
“As the human so aptly pointed out, I am no God,” Vag’thimon declares to the court. If I weren’t so fixated and blown away by Siara’s courage, I would be surprised his pride was leveling. “And I have no power to stand in the face of one. Asmodeus, you will not be executed.”
I shake my head and frown as I whip my head toward Vag’thimon, my eyes giant and a perplexed look on my face.What? Did I just imagine that? Did he say ‘not’ executed?I continue questioning myself as my cousin glances at me with something I haven’t seen in his eyes in ages-sympathy.
“You are hereby exiled to Galmoleth for the rest of your days.” He looks at me with empathy, and I remain shocked. I did hear him correctly. I’m not crazy. “You will be permitted to rule as you wish on the continent Oltyx provided to you. I will grant this under the condition that you never set foot on your homeland of Ikoth again.”
He looks out at the crowd, and his statement still jars me. I almost refuse to believe it, wondering if this is a sick trick he’s playing on me. I don’t dare get my hopes up from fear of my own foolishness.
“All the demons here have a choice: They can either return or stay home in Ikoth or take residence on Galmoleth under your rule. However, the choice may only be made once. Those who set foot on the planet will never be able to return under any circumstances.”
Vag’thimon’s body stays turned toward the crowd, but his eyes flash to me. I begin to accept the reality of his statement, and I feel my gaze soften toward Vag’thimon. I catch a minuscule nod from him in my direction, a last motion of grace. My gaze shifts to the floor as my emotions swirl in my chest.
I get to go back to Galmoleth. I get to live. I can do something different now. I’ve been given a second chance. I’m not imagining this, right? Yes, he did say I could return. The sword hasn’t hit my neck, and I’m still breathing.My thoughts run wild in circles as I process the shocking decision.
The crowd roars behind me, some demons shouting that Vag’thimon has made a mistake, some saying he’s only doing this because I’m a royal family member, claiming unfair favorable treatment toward me. Others are overjoyed. I hear words like honor and King of Galmoleth echo through the throne room.
The guards grab my arms tightly, and Siara whips around to face me. All I can do is look at her and try to collect my thoughts before the guards escort me out of the throne room, demons from Ikoth spitting at me and shouting despicable things in my ears, and those from Galmoleth smiling and cheering my name. I pass by Drar'ran in the crowd, and he smiles and gives me a nod.
We leave the site of my ruling, and I’m still catching my breath. My heart is beating so hard that I wonder if I’m about to pass out. We walk down the tiled hallways of Vag’thimon’s castle back toward the dungeons. I look around at the castle, so dissociated from reality that it all feels like a dream. As I come down from the high of being saved by my cousin, I realize it’s not a dream. it’s a level of grace I don’t deserve.
“Unchain him,” my cousin's voice commands from behind me.
The guards remove the chains on my hands, the cold metal rubbing against my wrists as I feel the key click and the cuffs fall off. I turn around, thinking about what I will say to my cousin, when Siara almost knocks me over.
I stumble backward, shocked at first and slightly disoriented, before embracing her back. I grab onto her and feel her clothes beneath my fingers, trying to remind myself that she’s real, that I’m free. I look over her shoulder as she sobs into my chest and notice I’m locking eyes with Vag’thimon. He nods slightly and grins, a smile of appreciation. I nod back to him, my face still surprised, I’m sure, before I bury my head in the nook of Siara’s neck as we grasp each other.
I pull back from the embrace and look deeply into her eyes, placing my hands on either side of her face as we chuckle. Tears stream down our faces, and I hug her again, kissing the top of her head and holding her close as I feel her loving warmth against me.
“You’re very lucky to have her, Asmodeus,” Vag’thimon comments lowly. “You should do well to remember that.”
“I will,” I say between heavy breaths. “I will,” I repeat as I pull back from our embrace again and look at her with admiration and love.
Before I can say anything to her, Theliel appears from beside Vag’thimon and looks at me with disappointment. I don’t give a fuck what he thinks. I have Siara, and I’ve been given the grace to live. He can think whatever he wants. they all can. no one can follow us to Galmoleth, and I won’t care.
Theliel pushes a button on his beacon, and the famed blue portal opens again, its white lines swirling toward the center. I grab Siara’s hand and walk her up to it before stopping and looking into her eyes.
“Keep walking when you step through the portal.” I smile. “It’ll help with the motion sickness.”
“Okay,” she exclaims with a chuckle as she wipes the tears from her face.
I grip her hand tightly and look at the portal before leading her through. We step out quickly on Galmoleth, the cooler air hitting my face and electrical storms raging above. I’ve never been so happy to enter a cold, dark storm. I turn around to see the front steps of my palace behind us, the gold on them shimmering with each electrical strike that hits the ground.
Then, I glance at Siara. She doesn’t look as bad as the last time we went through the portal, but she’s shaking, and her face is paler than usual. I take her hand and gently pull her into me, sighing in relief as she embraces me. Despite everything that’s happened in the last few days, I have never felt lighter, happier, and freer than I do at this moment. I’m standing with the woman I love holding me in front of our palace, in our own world where there are no limitations, secrets, or hindrances.
The line of demons waiting to go through the portal back to Ikoth is lengthy. Holding Siara in my arms, I watch as faces I’ve known for decades leave Galmoleth and me behind. I can’t blame them for wanting to return home, for being disgruntled by their King being a liar, but it does hurt.
I must remember that it wasn’t their choice to come here, and they were led here while under the trance of Oltyx. I keep telling myself they’re leaving because they’ve figured out the truth and just miss Ikoth, but I can’t help but wonder if I was such an evil King that they would leave forever.
As if she can read my mind, Siara squeezes my hand. I look down at her, and she nods encouragingly, silently telling me it will be alright, that I shouldn’t blame myself, and that the nightmare is behind us. I know her gaze is correct, but my heart still sinks to my gut as I continually watch them disappear back to Ikoth.
The last demon walks through the portal, and I glance at the crowd surrounding us. Only about a hundred choose to stay, which breaks my heart even more. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel ashamed and disheartened at how much the Galmoleth population has lessened. As I nod and close my eyes, accepting that they have made their choice, I embrace Siara tightly, knowing she is all I need and will overcome this feeling of defeat.
As I hold her, a line of demons enters the portal into Galmoleth. Each of them approaches me and shakes my hand before heading into the palace or along the road to explore the other parts of the world. I shake their hands with confused stares, wondering why they followed us.
I think each will be the last to walk through, but the line doesn’t end. Even Siara looks at me in shock between greeting them, amazed at how many followed us through. I lose count at ninety, and the line continues for another hour. My hand is dry and cramping from all the handshakes, and my legs are tired from standing. As I check the crowd behind us, I see the population has grown more than three times its size once the others decided to return to Ikoth.
The last two to cross are Drar'ran and Ti’lek. I look at them in amazement as they step through and see the portal close behind them. They each come to me and shake my hand before Drar'ran bows his head to me.
“Welcome home, King Asmodeus.”