Chapter 25 #2
To making him wild with jealousy so he’d throw himself at her feet? “Guess he plans to seek company elsewhere too.”
“I didn’t actually do it,” she said, a tinge of begging in her tone.
Raes and Cyz laughed, and around half of the demons present cast Gratia a look. The publicity of Raes’s rebellion would add an extra layer of humiliation. “Well, he’s going to. Unless you tell the truth.”
Gratia tilted her chin. “If he’s going to react this way, then I’m not going to stand in the way.”
I withheld a groan. Perhaps jealousy would wear down her resolve.
I moved through the ballroom, forcing myself to interact with those present.
They simpered and smirked. Or they asserted false confidence, believing that their status and importance to the king assured their safety.
In this room were demons of the most powerful smoke in the realm, and the most money and property too.
But they weren’t the strongest. They weren’t the smartest. They weren’t the most resilient.
They were resilient to this fortress. They were smart and strong playing in the game within these walls.
And it was a game of survival, a political version of Tiers—living here wasn’t a small feat—as both Raes and I had discovered.
But equally, most of these demons would struggle to live in the realm too.
I glanced at Cyz again.
She knew what she was doing. She would know that Raes couldn’t climax from anything they shared in the bedroom.
But the red-scaled demon understood that companionship for a lonely and misplaced demon would be very valuable.
She was placing herself close to the mate of the king’s sister, whether as an eventual friend, or a mistress.
Mated demon couples did invite others into the bedroom on occasion.
This could go badly.
A cake was wheeled in, and the puzzlement and dislike of those in the room at the humanism only briefly distracted me from the mounting truth.
I’d taken this too far.
Not the party, as such, but introducing Raes to other women. Gratia had provided the catalyst with her backfired test of his devotion, but I could see from the connection between Cyz and Raes that things would have always moved in this direction.
Whispers broke out as Raes left the ballroom with Cyz.
Shit.
Gratia was refusing to notice anything, and she scanned the room in challenge of anyone who might dare to gossip or smirk.
They didn’t dare.
I couldn’t believe Raes had dared.
I walked to join Gratia again. “I wonder if his face is between her legs right now.”
Gratia tensed but didn’t respond.
She was fucking stubborn. “You’re really going to let him do that?”
“I have no time for a man like that.”
“Except he’s operating on the knowledge that you’ve already done the same.” Not that Raes should fire back in the same way. That he was honestly surprised me.
But then again, I’d been dumber in my own mating in the early days.
Jealousy wouldn’t work. I pursed my lips. “Has Raes ever told you that he plans to sever the mating if it doesn’t improve?”
Gratia turned to look at me so quickly that I expected her head to spin off. “What?”
I lowered my voice. “Why would he stay with a mate who’s ashamed of him, who lies to him about seeking out other sexual partners, and from what I’ve heard withholds sex from him as punishment for their estrangement.”
Her cheeks colored. Her face worked, but she didn’t deny it. “I thought lust might drive him back.”
“Just away,” I answered in a bored tone.
“For all your words, you really were an easy target. I introduce him to a small group of single females, and all your fight disappears. And I had a whole list of others lined up. Still, Raes may like to keep things varied. Will he stay here after severing the mating? I’d say so, now that Carmine has discovered his skill with weapons.
You’ll be able to watch Raes fuck other women for immortality. ”
Gratia burst up from her seat, then charged from the ballroom.
Finally. I’d nearly run out of material.
Five minutes passed before Cyz slipped back into the ballroom. Gratia hadn’t physically attacked her at least.
I let another thirty minutes pass before summoning Cyz to join me.
“Mate-intended,” she murmured, curtseying.
“Sit, Cyz. I have a task for you.”
She sat and folded her hands in her lap. I liked this demon. She wasn’t afraid to take a risk. She also understood the fortress and the wider realm.
I said, “You’ve just pissed off the wrong demon.”
Cyz fidgeted, and I was glad when she didn’t play dumb. “The benefits were hard to ignore.”
I snorted. “I imagine. She will be after you now.”
Which wasn’t necessarily true. Gratia usually would bury Cyz. Mating Gratia was a vulnerable and insecure mess. But Cyz didn’t need to know that.
“You’ve earned a powerful enemy,” I added.
Cyz replied, “Perhaps not. I just left them together. They seemed to share a common goal.”
That was good news. Maybe make-up sex would solve half of their issues.
“You need to disappear for a time,” I told her.
She swallowed. “Mate-intended, I worked very hard to make it here. I realize that you protect your family above me, but if it comes down to choice, then I choose to remain here and in danger than slide down the ladder I have managed to climb.”
“I will protect my family,” I said in a cold voice. “But I prefer you to most demons here, and so I offer you a temporary side-step instead of a return to the wider realm. You will take up the desert warden post, effective tomorrow.”
Cyz’s eyes widened. “A post?”
She shouldn’t be powerful enough to earn a post. But the desert post wasn’t exactly sought after. “That’s right. A reward for being smarter than most in this fortress. And a protection from those you have angered tonight, including myself.”
The demon’s red eyes darted as she absorbed the news.
I continued, “I believe you will find that the post can pay unexpected dividends if handled right.”
Cyz’s gaze sharpened. She would have already heard of the last wardens. Riches really did await her, if she was willing to remain away from the fortress.
And I wasn’t joking. She had no choice in the matter for the time being.
“Gratia has a long memory, so I believe five years will suffice. If you would like to renegotiate your post after that, then I will extend that option to you. I burned down the mansion there, but the resources to build what you wish in its place are yours. In the meantime, select adequate housing close by.”
“Thank you, mate-intended,” she said after. “I am honored.”
Her tone implied the opposite.
“Take care not to handle things too well, demon.” I lowered my voice ever further. “Then I won’t need to execute you as I did the last ones.”
She paled. “Yes, my queen. I won’t let you down.”
I smiled. “I know. If you require resources, then send word. I will see you receive any justified help.”
Cyz rose and curtsied deeply before leaving.
One mating possibly solved, and one warden post filled.
This queen business wasn’t so hard.