10. Chapter Ten
With a jolt, I’m brought back to the collective, and the pain subsides.
“Do you want to remain where we just put you?” many voices yell the words into my mind.
“No! I want to go back to the world you sent me. The world I have known more than here.”
“We will not send you back unless you will return and learn what you need to in order to return to us. You must be ruthless toward all the creatures who live in the realm. You must treat them all like the spider you killed, for they are nothing more than that. If you do not learn that, you will not survive ruling anything greater. Conquer that realm and return to us.”
The voices break apart to become more singular rather than a group spewing words.
A being that looks like dust trying to form a shape tumbles from the stars overhead. “We have done poorly in preparing him for what he must do in the future.”
Another being, this one appearing as purple light folding in on itself, drifts toward the dark platform I stand on. “What is out there will destroy everything unless you can control it. The one who has done this before you is fading after eons of service.”
“All will fall if you cannot be crueler than what lurks beyond all the realms. It is what you must learn. It is what you must practice because there will be no room for even the smallest error when we set you loose on your final fate. Learning to inflict violence will save many.”
The collective places more knowledge into me, and it is how to hate and kill.
An entity that appears made of stars peels itself from the group and hovers in front of me. “This is what you must do to hold all in balance. Conquer the realm and return to us.” The voice is soft, but there is ice in its tone.
They return me to my rock, and I glance at Evelia’s castle.
The great evil growing inside me is as sharp as the winter snow against bare skin, but the one place I reserve warmth is where all the memories of Evelia live.
I will conquer the humans, but I will do so by also returning Evelia’s happiness to her.
The prince cannot have her. He cannot take her from me.
With the new information from the collective, I can shift faster between my dark form and human one.
Tendrils burst from my back, and I become smoke in the wind as I fly toward the northern castle.
The king and the prince sit on their thrones in a grand, golden room, and I pierce them both through the heart.
I stand over them and realize they were as easy to kill as the spider and those who burned me in the village because they too brought harm to my Evelia.
They caused her tears and should not be allowed to keep living.
The guards attack me, and I learn to become precise with impaling.
As I slaughter any who attack me, I realize the collective is right.
Conquering is my purpose, but I want something more than that alone.
I want the woman who showed me a kiss is the sweetest thing to taste.
The council for King Thalion, the king I killed, is at first resistant to my ascension to the throne, but I quickly persuade them by slaughtering half of them.
They agree with my reign after that. I do the same to any guards left, and many decide I am right and they should serve me.
Any humans who fight back or try to leave the kingdom are killed, and that puts a stop to stupidity pretty quickly.
Human loyalties shift fast when they fear for their insignificant lives.
They think they matter and fight to live but do dumb things to die frequently that contradicts survival.
If they don't care about their pathetic lives, why should I?
There is one councilman who is eager to help me learn.
His name is Basim, and for his loyalty, I promote him to the top quickly.
Once I learn how to establish and function as the king of a kingdom, I set my focus on the goal of gaining Evelia. Since I am king, she should be mine with no issues, so I send her father an invitation for an alliance and strongly suggest he brings his daughter.
King Sarek arrives with ten soldiers, but Evelia isn’t with him. The disappointment has me envisioning him being thrown off the arches that will crush his bones on jagged rocks. I grip the arms of my stone throne to control my violent urges, so as not to break a promise to Evelia.
I rise from my throne and hold my golden scepter with an emerald sitting at the top that is large enough to buy a castle. “You have not brought your daughter as I requested.”
He bows his head for a moment before meeting my eyes. “That was intentional. I have not met you yet and haven’t decided if I want my daughter near you.”
“Then we can’t have an alliance because I wish the same compensation as you were giving the last king.”
“My daughter is mine to give to whom I please.”
My tentacles ripple under my back as it takes immense power not to use them to cover his body in holes. “You wish to be free of Queen Zantara. That’s what I’ve been told, and I will help you with that.”
“Then I propose we form an alliance, and if you prove yourself as useful as King Thalion had, I will consider letting you marry my daughter.”
We discuss terms of the alliance, and I agree.
The queen is tricky because there is no obvious way into her lands, as though her borders don’t exist. We strike when she attacks, but it’s always from different areas, and the queen can project herself, keeping her safe from whatever she’s hiding from.
I have little respect for cowards. She needs to come out so I can kill her, but since she won’t, I work with Sarek to reach both my goals to conquer and possess Evelia as mine.
I work to build up my kingdom and strengthen it by eliminating any weak links.
Blood magic is the strongest form of magic, and any I kill are put to good use to fuel our weapons and other improvements.
A wall is built around the entirety of my kingdom, and I help engineer weapons that will strike at a distance, so we can take out any threats the moment we see an enemy approaching.
Sarek shows up every other week, so we can discuss war strategies.
Sometimes, the collective stirs in the back of my mind and approves of my progress.
Evelia is twenty when he finally brings her, and everything stops the moment she steps into the room in a blue gown that swoops off her shoulders.
She is a stunning creature as she moves closer to my throne, and her eyes light up when she sees me.
We keep our composure until the meeting is over, and Sarek insists they retreat to rest before the long journey back to his kingdom.
I turn myself into smoke and fly toward her room, turning solid to knock.
She opens the door and leaps into my arms. “I’ve missed you.”
I close my eyes as she rests against me, and it's as though stones have rolled from shoulders. “It has not been a pleasant world with you absent from my presence.”
I cup her face, and when she leans in, I meet her lips.
Her bare shoulders are silk against my palms, and I undo her corset to feel more of her skin.
She pushes it off the rest of the way, and I stare at her breasts as she removes everything and stands back for me to look at her.
Each curve of her body is the greatest artwork of the gods who created her realm.
I take swift strides back to her and cup her cheek. "I don’t want to frighten you, but there are ways I can make you feel good. Things I have learned. Would you want this?”
“Yes, you could never frighten me, my dark fairy. I trust you. I’ve dreamt about the day I’d have you back. Fantasized about it.” She touches my face and kisses me, pressing her breasts against my chest. “You don’t have to be human when you’re with me.”
My tentacles break free from my back, and my skin becomes like charred ground with cracks of lava. I almost change back when her eyes widen, and she steps back. The deep ache of her rejecting me pinches just below my rib cage.
She turns her head to get a better look. “You’re magnificent, Lazzus.”
I wrap a tentacle around her and place her on the bed, crawling onto the mattress until I’m on my knees in front of her. It is a moment I have craved more than existence. “At any point you wish this to end, it will end. Do you understand? You are the one in control here.”
“The great Lazzus relinquishes control to a silly princess?”
“Not a silly princess. The only reason this world isn’t in ruin. To destroy what you love would be my end.” I pull her onto my lap and kiss her. “Do you want this?”
“It’s all I’ve been waiting for. Each time your birds brought a note, I longed for it more.”
“Have you... Have you done this before?” Rage at the thought of someone else touching her so intimately rises, but I push it down so she will not mistake it for judgment.
“No, I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve been wanting you. Dreaming of only you.”
I light the bedding on fire, and she tosses me a pillow to put it out.
After I beat the blanket to cinders, I return to her, and I touch her body in twenty different places at once, moving my limbs over her in a way to bring all her skin alive, so she will feel more when I move lower.
I slowly wrap one around her neck and wait for a reaction.
When she doesn’t fight or stiffen, I continue and hold her hands above her head.
I squeeze and massage her breasts, focusing on twisting her nipples and not neglecting an inch of her skin.
Her head falls from side to side as she arches off the bed.
Long have I studied what it means for humans to fuse and the vulnerability of it.
With great fear and desire, I want to experience it with her.
Her body goes rigid and relaxes when I circle her clit.
It startles me, and I almost leap across the room until she pleads for more.