Chapter 29 #2
Syrus’ face was splotchy, his eyes bulging out from their sockets, lips purpling under the grip Daemon’s shadows held on his throat.
“I’m—sorry,” he managed through a choked breath.
Daemon’s laugh was sinister as he leaned infinitesimally closer.
“I don’t want your sorry excuse of an apology, you worthless piece of shit.
” He leaned in further until his lips were a breath away from Syrus’ ear, his voice low as he ground out, “I want to hear you choke as I rob your body of air. I want to watch the life leave your eyes. Only then will you be worthy of saying her name, and that’s only because you won’t be able to. ”
Voices came from around him, but their sound was muffled by the rage roaring in his ears. He had just begun to tighten the grip around Syrus’ neck when the melodic tone of his mother filtered through the fog of fury, shining an incandescent light into the darkness.
“Be still, my son. Release him. He’s not worth it.”
In all his life, he’d only experienced his mother’s ability a handful of times—and it was usually when he wasn’t paying attention to his tutors.
But as an adult, she’d never infiltrated his mind.
Never slipped into his thoughts. She viewed it as an invasion of privacy, and that respect for Daemon’s personal boundaries always brought her the truth she sought without having to pull it from his mind.
“Mother—” Daemon internally growled, his eyes staying locked on the man before him.
“I know. But he’s not worth the trouble this will undoubtedly bring you. Let him go.”
Daemon huffed a disgruntled breath and yanked his shadows back into himself, sending Syrus crumbling to the floor.
“What is wrong with you?!” Lord Cassius bellowed as he rushed to his son’s side.
“Lord Cassius, Lord Syrus, you are hereby dismissed from your positions on this council.” Daemon’s voice was calm and detached, his hands sliding into his pockets as he stared down at the two men.
“You can’t do that!” Syrus screeched from the floor, eyes wide with panic as he rubbed the column of his throat.
“He can.” The deep timbre of his father’s voice filled the chamber, reverberating off the walls and silencing the protests that had begun to arise from the other members of the council.
“Your Majesty, surely you can’t mean—” Lord Cassius stammered.
“You heard your prince. Now get that whimpering mess you call a man off my floor, and remove yourselves immediately. You are both dismissed, Cassius.” The finality in King Evander’s tone seemed to shake Lord Cassius to the core—his eyes narrowed into slits, his face turning cherry red as he yanked his son from the floor and practically dragged him out of the room.
Tension settled over the space, heavy like black clouds before a storm. “Does anyone else have anything that they would like to say?” King Evander asked, a singular brow rising in question.
What remained of the council shook their heads slowly before they all dropped to a knee with their heads bowed. It was Lord Slater who broke the silence. “No, Your Majesty. We are here to serve you.”
“You want to serve me? Listen to what my son has to say. His is the only voice that matters when I am not present.” The king turned toward Daemon.
There was a heaviness of guilt in his gaze and a softness to his voice as he said, “And sometimes, even when I am, his is the voice of reason.” Turning back to address the council more directly, he asked, “Is that understood?”
A chorus of “Yes, Your Majesty” filled the room, their gazes still downcast toward the floor.
“Let today be a lesson to you all. This war is coming, and we will be on the right side of it. You’re dismissed.”
The sound of feet scuffling across the floor filled the space as the men of the council rose and slipped out the door, but Daemon’s gaze was trained on his father.
He hadn’t spoken to—or seen—him since their argument a few days ago, and the last thing he’d expected was for him to barge in and have his back.
After everyone aside from his mother and father left, and as the door closed behind Lord Slater, Daemon’s brows pulled together as a tangled web of emotions ran rampant through him.
He was grateful that his father had stepped in, but it didn't make sense after the conversation they’d had. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.
Daemon scrubbed a hand down his face and blew out a short breath. “What was that about?” he asked, unable to keep the sharpness from his tone.
“Daemon—” His mother’s tone was full of reproach, but his father held out a hand and gave her a gentle nod.
“It’s okay, Avyanna. He has every right to be upset with me.”
“Upset? You attempted to upheave my entire life with no regard to how it would affect me, this kingdom, or the realm!”
“You’re right.”
Shock slammed into him like a tidal wave, and Daemon couldn’t help the recoil from the words. “What?”
“I said, you’re right, son, about everything.
I shouldn’t have let her manipulate me. Shouldn’t have agreed to that asinine marriage.
I struck when I should have stayed my hand.
If I had known—” King Evander blew out a breath and sank into one of the chairs surrounding the table.
“If I had known it would have escalated to…to that. If I had known she was planning to kill Queen Adelina sooner, I would have done something to stop it. Turns out I didn’t know much at all, and for that, I am immensely sorry. ”
“As much as I appreciate your words, Father. It’s not me who needs to hear them.” Daemon took a hesitant step forward and rested his hands on the back of a chair.
“I can’t change what I’ve done, Daemon. But please allow me to help remedy it. Tell me what you need me to do, what you need our kingdom to do, and I will ensure it is done.”
“How do I know you won’t run back to Davina and tell her everything that we have planned?”
As if speaking her name had summoned it, King Evander launched into a coughing fit.
Queen Avyanna knelt at his side, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to him as she rubbed soothing circles along his back.
When the coughs finally subsided, his father pulled the fabric away, the white linen once again painted in crimson.
“You may not trust my motives, son. But trust me on one thing. That bitch deserves to have the wrath of the Goddess rained down on her, and if I can put even the smallest hitch in her plan, well?” A cocky smile pulled across his blood-stained lips. “Then I can die with a shred of my soul intact.”
“Father—”
“I thought I wasn’t your father anymore?
” His smirk grew a fraction before another cough wracked his body.
“Listen, Daemon. You’re going to be king one day, and that day may come sooner than we ever thought.
And though I wish you wouldn’t, if you choose to stay mad at me and keep me at arm’s length, I would understand. But give a dying man his last wish?”
“Evander,” Queen Avyanna whimpered, her eyes turning glassy as she stared at her husband.
Daemon held his father’s gaze; the green of his eyes—once so similar to his own—were losing their vibrancy.
Losing the fire that had always swirled in their depths.
But there was also a glimpse of the man he once knew.
The one Daemon thought he’d lost after his father bartered his only son to save his own skin.
Losing a shuddered breath, Daemon nodded. “Together, then?”
“Until the very end.”
The sun’s rays beat down against the harbor, sinking through the sweat-soaked linen of Daemon’s tunic and bathing him in a burning heat.
Yet still, he worked. The rope slid through his hands in rhythmic motions as he completed the intricate loops and twists of the knot he was working on.
He’d just pulled it taut when the sound of light steps and the swish of fabric reached his ears.
“Hey, little brother,” Yvaine trilled as she got closer, the chime of her bracelets ringing through the air as she waved in his direction.
Daemon stood and brought a hand to his brow to block out the blinding reflection of the sunlight bouncing off the water’s surface. “Back already?” he asked, a small smile pulling on his lips.
“It’s been four days, D.” He shrugged nonchalantly, and Yvaine’s mouth popped open. “Don’t be an ass!”
A light chuckle rumbled in his chest as he closed the distance and embraced his sister.
“Ew, D. You’re gross.” She squirmed in his arms before giving up and wrapping her own around his waist. “I knew you missed me,” she said smugly.
“Always, Vaine.” He released his hold and eyed her curiously. “So, how’d it go?”
“Can’t even give me a second to breathe first?” When Daemon gave her a bland look in response, she rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath. “Fine. Everything went well. Both Malaena and Lunaria are warded as instructed, and the Priestess’ added additional ones around the temple as well.”
“They added more? What? The nine-thousand steps that strip away your magic wasn’t enough?”
“Evidently not.” She shrugged, then poked her head around Daemon’s frame. “You about done out here?”
“Just finished up, why?”
“Come on, I want to know what I missed while I was gone.” Yvaine looped her arm through Daemon’s and pulled him toward the end of the pier. “From the hushed whispers around court, you lost your cool in a council meeting. I thought we talked about that?”
“No, we talked about me not ‘losing my cool’ on Father. Which I didn’t do…kind of.”
Yvaine let out an exasperated breath, her head falling back. “Come on. We can talk about all the messy details once we’re back in your suite…but after food. I haven’t eaten since I got home and am famished.”
An amused chuckle slipped between his lips. Then, pulling the shadows around them, he walked them back into his chambers.
Once the food had been consumed, Yvaine flopped onto his couch, her feet dangling over one of the arms. “So, tell me what happened.”