Chapter Forty-Three
Asher
“ D o you like…bread?” Adbeel asked, coughing to hide his discomfort. I could not stop myself from snorting at the question. He had been asking me small things like this all morning, trying to get to know me but too terrified to venture into uncomfortable territory.
“You can ask me the questions you want, you know. I promise not to run or bite,” I spoke from across the table. Adbeel, who was broad and fierce, looked somehow demure as he nodded and stuffed his entire omelet into his mouth.
For his part, Bellamy just sat, ate, and snarked.
“She lies, her fight or flight instincts are heinous,” the prince teased.
“Almost as terrible as his stalking habits,” I retorted, sticking my tongue out. Then, just for good measure, I took off my ring, put it on my middle finger, and flashed it to him.
Adbeel burst into laughter, clapping his hands together and tilting his head back. In that moment, there was nothing that could stop the smile that spread across my face. Bellamy also seemed incapable of hiding his dashing grin.
“Okay, okay. Tell me, what do you enjoy doing when wars are not raging?” Adbeel finally asked after wiping at his eyes and taking deep breaths. Wistfully, I looked out the windows, remembering when I had eaten at this very table with Bellamy. It felt like ages ago. Back then, Winona and Luca still lived. Haven and its innocent inhabitants still stood. What had I enjoyed when death and destruction did not consume my every thought?
“I like to read and play the pianoforte,” I finally admitted. Heat crawled up my neck and spread across my cheeks at the pride that suddenly polluted the air. Both Bellamy and Adbeel flooded the room with their delight.
“I would love to hear you play sometime. I must confess, I have very few hobbies other than relishing in that which makes my family happy.” Adbeel paused, his gaze flicking to Bellamy as the left corner of his mouth kicked up. “As I am sure you have noticed, I quite enjoy Bellamy’s paintings.”
“Yes, I have seen one or two I believe.”
Groaning, Bellamy pushed back his chair and stood up. “Adbeel, how about we spare me the embarrassment and take Asher down to the village? She did not get to see much of it… last time.”
“That sounds lovely. Asher, what do you say?” Adbeel asked softly.
Nodding, I shoved the last piece of toast into my mouth and jumped up. “Yes, definitely.”
Just as I went to push in my chair, I once more heard the call of my name. The deep voice was almost whimsical in its faintness, and when I looked up at both of the males before me, I was met with no sign that it had been either of them that said my name.
Shaking my head, I pushed back the thoughts, focusing on what was in front of me.
Adbeel stood, his sky-blue silk tunic shining in the morning light, the fabric clinging to his chestnut skin. He had trimmed his mahogany curls since the last time I saw him, cropping them short. Bellamy was off to his side, wearing a flowing silk blouse that was a matching shade, unbuttoned to expose his pale chest riddled with black veins. His black trousers were identical to Adbeel’s, just as his knee-high boots were. He had rings on every finger but the one that would one day hold his wedding band, and today he also wore a stack of thin black and red chains around his neck.
A quick look down at my dress left me smiling secretly. I wore a silk blue dress the color of Bellamy’s eyes. It dragged the slightest bit on the floor due to my heelless black slippers and was cut modestly just below my collarbones. The straps were thin pieces of twisted fabric and the back sunk halfway down my spine. I had on my necklace and a flick of kohl upon the corners of my eyes, a contrast to Bellamy, who wore a thin line above his lower lashes twin to Adbeel’s.
We looked like a family.
Bellamy reached out his hand, and together the three of us walked through the palace. Adbeel would occasionally stop, pointing at one of Bellamy’s paintings and telling me about how proud he was of it. When we left the castle doors and passed through the stunning courtyard, Adbeel explained the story of the trees—weeping willows, he called them. That they were planted by Queen Asta after the death of King Zohar. As we made our way down the large hill, waves splashing up the cliffside and making the late summer air damp, Adbeel continued to tell me of their rich history. He named off his— our —ancestors, adding in their contributions to the great demon empire.
I smiled and laughed in the correct places, though at times I felt as if I were floating outside of my body, watching myself find a place and a family and hope. Never had I felt quite this complete.
All of those emotions were only intensified as residents of The Royal City began flocking towards their king and prince. Males, females, and younglings crowded us, eagerly hoping to speak to the royalty among them. I did my best to stand back from them, wanting to let them bond with their subjects, though Bellamy’s tight grasp on my hand did not let me stray far.
That was, until an oddly familiar looking face appeared in my line of sight. The female had a loud mind, her eyes wide as she approached not Adbeel or Bellamy, but me.
“I saw you the last time you were here months ago. For a moment I thought I had seen a ghost. You look just like her,” the female said with wide eyes and splayed hands. I knew then who she had been. This was the woman who had stared at me and thought me dead back when Bellamy and I had first come to The Royal City. Only, she had not realized who I really was. Had she thought me Zaib Ayad? My… mother? “Can it be? Are you related to her?”
“I—well—I guess—”
“Yes,” Adbeel cut in, he and Bellamy placing me between them as Adbeel addressed the crowd. “Asher is the daughter of the late princess, Zaib.”
With that, the shouts grew loud, frantic. They all seemed to speak at once, as if it were a battle to be heard above all else.
“Where did she come from?”
“How did you find her?”
“Will she be heir after the prince?”
“Are the rumors true? Will she marry her uncle, Prince Bellamy?”
That last one made my stomach turn. They thought I was in love with my uncle. Gods, how would we explain that? Bellamy’s hold tightened on me, his jaw clenching as he glared at the male who had shouted the question.
“Silence, please!” Adbeel shouted, raising his hands. When the crowd finally calmed down and quieted, the king spoke again. “For the last two centuries, I have allowed you all to believe that Bellamy is my son. In fact, I have encouraged those beliefs. Regretfully, I must admit to you all that I have lied.”
More shouts. The crowd began to pulse, moving towards us and into each other, the energy frantic with the news. My heart sunk into my stomach at Adbeel’s words, but before I could allow my mind to wander into the horrible possibility that Adbeel was casting off Bellamy, the king looked down at us with a warm smile.
“Bellamy has been my ward, and I wished to give him a safe and happy life after his true parents harmed him in the most heinous ways. I have loved and cherished him like a son, but he has no blood relation to me,” Adbeel’s voice dropped a tenor, a mesmerizing hum seeming to escape him as he spoke. There, at the very center of my mental gate, I felt magic prodding. The more Adbeel talked, the stronger the force of magic pushing against my mind’s barriers. The magic of a Honey Tongue. “And he has shown his own love and loyalty to me—to our entire realm, really—by finding my long-lost granddaughter. Not only that, but he has fallen in love with her and asked for her hand in marriage!”
The crowd’s gasps and questions were quickly silenced by cheers, demons all around us shouting their congratulations, their well wishes, and their gratitude. I gaped at them all, so surprised by such open love. Just like that, they accepted me. There was no anger to be felt for the deception, only great joy. Or maybe it was simply Adbeel’s magic that willed them to submit. Either way, there was something so wonderful about being welcomed without terror and suspicion.
Bellamy looked down at me in awe, not sparing anyone else so much as a fleeting glance. “They love you, but I fear I cannot share.”
I laughed, which he quickly silenced by leaning down and kissing me. Delight and happiness flooded the pathway where we stood, the residents of the city clapping and cheering. Adbeel touched many of the nearby demons with a single finger, his Sun magic setting it aglow. Some of them cried and thanked him, others shyly smiling. It was so inconceivable and disorienting, but I knew then that Betovere would one day have this. Even if it was the last thing I did, I would free and unite the fae. Whoever we found to rule over them would be this cherished. And they would all be safe to love and live.
“Time to go,” Adbeel whispered before engulfing us in his blinding light. We were tugged and shredded before being stitched back together and placed in one of the many halls of Adbeel’s castle. My mind swam with so many thoughts, but my heart seemed full of only love at that moment. “I must go spread this news from my own lips before the gossip wins out. I will make multiple stops in each territory, but I will be sure to come to Pike soon.”
Bellamy nodded, his eyes glassy. His mind of sunshine and warmth was radiant as Adbeel pulled him in for a quick hug. “Thank you.”
“You may not be my son, but you are my family. No matter what, I will stand up for you. I promise that. When is the next war council meeting?”
“Tomorrow,” I answered. Bellamy huffed, but silently agreed. While I enjoyed having this time of peace, we still had a war on our hands. The fae had yet to attack, but that would soon change. Mia never licked her wounds for long.
“Okay, that will work.” Seconds passed without either of us moving, Adbeel looking at me as if there was a war being raged in his mind rather than on his shores. Of all the minds in Alemthian, Adbeel’s was surely the hardest to break through, but I found I did not need to try as Adbeel cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “Would it be okay if I hugged you, Asher?”
What an oddly considerate king. To be someone who could have anything he wanted yet still asked for something as simple as a hug was such a contrast. Lips slightly parted in surprise, I bobbed my head and opened my arms. Adbeel quickly closed the space, wrapping his large arms around me and tucking me into his broad chest. His well-trimmed beard scratched against my exposed ear as he nuzzled into me, breathing in my presence like he had existed without fresh air for too long.
Abruptly, he pulled away and blew out a gust of warm breath. “Sorry, I just…I am so very glad you are here.”
And then he disappeared within a burst of white light.
“He has a hard time expressing his feelings,” Bellamy teased, coming up behind me and pulling my back into his chest. “Like someone else I know.”
With a snort, I reached up and smacked his arm that had snaked around me. But even I knew he was not lying, and an idea sparked to life in my mind that would quickly rectify my poor habits. Twirling in his hold, I secured my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his.
“Take us to the piano room,” I breathed against his mouth as he returned the kiss. Tongue against mine, he gripped my thighs and pulled me up as he portaled us. The moment our surroundings changed, Bellamy began walking. My backside hit the pianoforte, where he placed me softly without breaking the kiss. I let him ravage me, consuming my love like a sweet dessert. He licked and bit and ate until I thought he might suffocate on the taste of me. Or perhaps I him.
We did not part until we were both gasping, his fingers entwined in my loose curls and mine against his bare chest. His forehead pressed into mine, a raspy moan breaking the silence.
“Play for me, beautiful creature.” And then he picked me up and gently placed me on the bench. Like I was a precious gem.
Sighing at the perfection that suddenly—and momentarily—was our life, I cracked my fingers and levitated my feet above the pedals. Then I looked at my soulmate and prepared to bare my heart to him.
“This is the ballad of our love.” My fingers touched the keys, and a story began to unfold. “It begins with the deep and dark plague that sat upon my chest as I stood on that balcony.” C minor. F minor. B-flat major. A-flat major. My hands danced along with the melody, my soul singing as I continued to play. “We slowly fade into the rapid sound of my heart as it beat when you looked at me with those icy blue eyes.” Mezzo-piano as the tempo sped, not too loud, but not as soft as before, pairing with the accelerando. The terms were whispered in my mind, Mia’s soft voice as she taught me so long ago fading and being replaced by mine. Finally, I was my own in truth. “You were perfection incarnate—the most handsome male I had ever seen. Your presence was like sunshine.”
Bellamy watched with wide eyes and pinched brows, his lips pursed so hard that his dimples dug into his cheeks. I focused on the sounds around me, trying to hear what I played as Bellamy might. As an artist who saw the world in colors and shapes.
“The rasp of your voice as you said my name, the brush of our lips as we first kissed, the tears that splashed against the ground as I sobbed when I discovered you lied.” I played and played, sharing my feelings in the only way I knew how. “Knives slicing through chests. Feet pounding against floors. Swords clashing.”
Bellamy’s breathing was almost as loud as the music, and when he came to sit beside me, the sounds of his soft cries could be heard as well. My fingers cramped from disuse, but I played on, the very song I had composed since I first laid eyes on him without truly realizing it.
“Moans. Bodies colliding. Nails against skin. Confessed love. Whispers of forever.” My heart sped, worse coming as the melody darkened but sped—prestissimo.
“Screams, pleas, skin ripping, and bones snapping. Minds lost in forests of pain.” Bellamy’s tears began splashing onto the keys, but I pressed on, remaining silent as the music told him of my torture. Of my mind slipping away.
“Freedom,” I spoke, letting the chord hold. Fermata. “Love. Family.”
“Ash…” Bellamy murmured, thinking I was done. But no, there was more. So much more.
“You slipping in and out of me. Crowns placed on heads. Vows given and received.” The music built towards an epic crescendo, the ending in sight. “And one day, far from now when magic is undone and choice is returned, the cry of a newborn youngling with gray eyes and deep dimples. A life lived side by side until death do us part. Dirt placed over piles of ashes. Soulmates returning to Eternity. Love conquering evil.”
My hands slammed down, the final note wistful and high. C8.
Heaving breaths and slightly sweaty, I turned to face Bellamy head on, not wanting to wait a single moment.
“I have loved you for every day of my true life and I will love you every day after. You said once that you would crawl from your grave for me, but I would crawl to my grave for you, Bell. You are my gift from Eternity, my blessing. Above all else, I am yours and you are mine.”
He barely let me finish before he kissed me, his large hands on my jaw. I felt him portal us, and then we landed on his plush quilt. When he finally willed himself to pull away, it was to force my head back. I caught sight of the painting on the opposite wall and nearly burst into tears.
My naked body upon this very bed was immortalized on the canvas, every slope and curve caught and portrayed. Somehow, it was far lovelier than I could have hoped.
“I love you with every piece of my blackened soul and heart. I was made for you, Asher. Eternity and gods are nothing compared to you. I will worship at your altar—at your feet—until I am dead. You are my salvation. My life.”
As Bellamy made love to me, I thought of how beautiful the rest of our song would be.