Chapter 6 Gabe
Gabe
Icould hear Rufus’ obnoxious little voice in my head as I stalked back to my quarters.
“Just a few minutes of your time, Your Majesty. A few members of the nobility would like a word with you about some vitally important matters.”
After a morning dealing with matters on the upper levels, I’d had to sit through three more hours of these so-called “vital” meetings, and I had not a single thing of substance to show for it.
Just empty promises that I had their “full support”, flowery bullshit about how they wished my reign would be “long and prosperous”, and a boatload of other brown-nosing bullshit.
There wasn’t a single one amongst them who wouldn’t gut me in my own throne room if it’d improve their lot and they thought they could get away with it.
Even worse than that, they were all completely blind to the real threat.
While they curried favor with their new king, trying to gauge whether I’d raise or lower their taxes, a dark and terrible goddess was plotting her next move, growing stronger with each passing day.
And, when she got back to full strength, this whole game they were playing would be pointless.
Strange, they all knew what was happening topside. Many had even witnessed the changes in climate themselves during the battle between Malach and Diana’s wolves. But they somehow hadn’t put it together yet.
The world as we knew it was ending. Money, power, influence? Worth nothing to a dead demon.
I shot a glance at the grandfather clock and growled as I passed by.
Late afternoon, already. It’d take every ounce of willpower I had not to turn Rufus into a flesh pretzel the next time I saw that smug grin. But, as I shoved open my door, I came to a horrible realization that only made me angrier with him; he wasn’t entirely wrong.
The things discussed in the meetings had been useless, sure, but showing up to them was essential. The faction of staunchly anti-werewolf ‘Malach loyalists’ was growing, especially in the towns surrounding The Spire, and they’d see me dead, if it were up to them.
So I’d done the deal. Danced the dance. Shook the hands.
As thick and inflexible as the nobles were, I had to work with them.
I just needed as little friction as possible while I did what I came to do.
The fate of the world was at stake, and a head on a spike wasn’t going to be much use in the battle to come, even if that head had a crown on it.
Learn what drives a man, and he’s as good as yours.
I’d spent most of my life in the human realm and had never gotten on all that well with Malach in our few meetings since, despite us being family, but his words came to me now. These nobles, whatever their intentions, could still be mine, if I played my cards right.
And it wasn’t like they made much of a secret about what drove them. So I’d play their stupid game. But, if we were playing, I intended to win.
I made a mental note to ask Luc for more info about the current leaders of the noble houses I hadn’t glad handed yet.
Maybe there was something I could use. Dirty secrets, affairs, anything I could get my hands on.
Getting someone to act the way you wanted them to didn’t always mean you had to appease them.
You might catch more flies with honey, but demons weren’t flies.
Most were dung beetles, and sometimes that meant you had to dig up the shit.
If only I could get even five fucking minutes to dedicate to the task…
I tugged the chair from my aged mahogany desk, taking a seat. I needed to get some plans in motion, and I needed to do it today. We had a single chance to save the world, and finding the key here in my people’s territory was crucial.
And, if the near-earthquake we’d experienced the night before was anything to go off of, I might not have very long to do it.
It hadn’t been that bad in the grand scheme of things; just a few moments of tremors, but it was the talk of the town.
Things like that didn’t happen down here in normal times.
I couldn’t prove it, but I had a feeling Lilis had been the cause of them.
Raven had called her the goddess of fire, saying that she was not only able to control the weather, she also had the ability to control volcanos.
It was bad news, and I could only hope that we were able to stop her before she came back to full strength.
I raked a hand over my face with a grunt and caught sight of a black envelope on my desk, perched against the lamp there. Curious, I made quick work of opening it.
Your Majesty,
I realized I also neglected to mention something that might help you in your endeavors.
An ancient relic you might have heard of. The Daelora Prism. It sits in a locked, iron box in your drawer. Use it wisely.
A true king will already possess the key to opening it.
Rufus.
Frowning, I dropped the note and yanked open the large drawer to my right. There it was, just as Rufus had said. I stared at the box, mind racing. If the Daelora Prism really was inside, it was a game changer. Every demon knew of it, but only a scant few had ever used it.
It was a draining process if the stories were true…
No sense in worrying about that because I still had to open it.
A true king will already possess–
I reached out, tracing the circular groove carved into the box’s lid, and wincing as I remembered the previous day’s spectacle with the fusing of the crowns.
Would it still work?
A pit formed in my stomach as I tugged the crown from my head, working it onto the groove as best I could. It didn’t quite fit, and I was just about to try reshaping it with the same magic I’d used to fuse the crowns, when the latch opened with a click that rang through the room like a shot.
My breath came out in a whoosh as I pulled the box closer and set the crown back on my head.
A wonder of spellcraft and technology in one, the Daelora Prism was the demon king’s greatest treasure, allowing him to give commands to those sworn to him at any distance.
But it wasn’t some cell phone or radio. The Prism, as the Oathsworn called it, allowed the king to see what his Oathsworn saw, feel what they felt.
Even their minds themselves would be laid bare to me.
I pulled the box closer, throwing the lid open the rest of the way. Inside there was a flat marble disc engraved with rings of strange, ancient symbols. At its center, there was the slightest hint of a handprint.
Jolts of magical energy arced up to my fingertips as I laid my palm against it. But rather than just resting atop the stone, my hand seemed to sink into it, my vision going dark as a searing pain shot up my arm.
I ground my teeth together in agony as my vision went completely black.
Was the Prism rejecting me? Should I retreat?
All thought fled as my field of view exploded in a flash of red. I blinked, finding myself floating over a strange, faded map blanketed with smoke. Glowing orbs shone through the smog, positioned in seemingly random places, and I focused in on the nearest of them.
On instinct, I surged toward it, a new scene fuzzing into view as I passed into the light. Walprit, the youngest and newest of the kingsguard, stood by the palace’s front entrance, keeping watch as nobles and servants went about their business in the courtyard ahead of him.
The demon had been my right hand in the Human Realm, and I’d brought him back with me at his insistence.
He’d seen what had been happening to the world and wanted to help the cause.
I needed someone I could trust to be my eyes and ears and ensure the other guards would be true to me, so it had been a no-brainer.
And I could see now that it’d been a good choice.
His devotion to me, and to his duty seemed to radiate off of him in waves.
“Gabe…er…Your Highness?” came his voice, coming through as clearly as if he’d been standing right next to me.
“Sorry about that, my friend. It’s my first time using this thing.”
“No problem at all, sir.”
I pulled away from his mind, going back to the strange “map”. I glanced at the orbs one by one, recognizing who each one represented without actually entering their minds. Elite guards and officers, all loyal and sworn to the crown.
It was a difficult process, if the rumors could be trusted, and maintaining the connection required true dedication from the Oathsworn. Which meant every one of them could be trusted.
After exhausting the closest ones, I picked one that was only slightly further away, knowing immediately that I’d chosen correctly.
Algrin.
“My king.” A jolt of pain shot through my leg from a wound that wasn’t mine as he fell to one knee.
“No need for all that,” I said. “Are you all right? Seems you must’ve found those rebels.”
He rose, waving one of his men away as they started walking toward him. “The main force has been dealt with. Now we’re just making the rounds for interviews and to make sure we’ve rooted out as many of them as we can.”
“And who were these troublemakers? Any ideas who their leader might be?”
“Most of them were low caste, not loyal to any house, living outside of the city of Thirdhell. But all armed to the teeth. Plate, spears, all of it. They must be getting the weapons from somewhere, yet no one seems to know.”
“Understood. Finish up your investigation there and return to the palace so we can discuss our next steps.”
“Yes, my king.”
A wave of nausea rolled through me as I appeared back at the sea of fire, muscles quaking with exhaustion. I hadn’t realized just how much energy it would take to use.
I wondered if I could connect to those outside of the Fallen? Could I possibly connect with Raven, or Will? It would make communication with them a thousand times easier than sending notes via Myrr.