It pauses in front of her, tilting its head with a curious noise that rumbles deep in its chest. Daisy freezes, her hand twitching as if she’s unsure whether to reach out or run. My eyes flicker between the beast and my future queen as the creature snorts softly—an exhale of steam curling in the air—-and lowers its massive head until it’s level with her chest.
“I—What do I do?” She whispers.
“Don’t move,” I say lowly. Though, I’m not actually sure what she should do. I have never seen such an event occur.
Despite telling her not to move, she hesitantly raises a hand, her palm trembling as she presses it lightly against the flamebeast’s snout. It closes its eyes and presses its head further into her palm, almost like a pet nuzzling into her. After a few seconds, it pulls away, lowering its head to her as if in a bow. It gives one last chuff of breath, then turns and strides away back into the fields.
My mouth opens slightly, then closes again. “What the fuck?” I breathe.
Daisy turns to look at me, her brows drawn together in panic and disbelief. “What?”
“They never approach anyone,” I say slowly, my voice laced in shock. “In twenty thousand years, Daisy, I’ve never seen one act like this. They bow to no one. Not even me. The only time they approach their handlers is when they’re being fed or if they are injured.”
She gives a nervous little laugh, but her expression is pure wonder as she flips the hand over that the beast nuzzled. “So I really am the princess of Hell. Whispering to the freaking dragons.”
“It’s not funny,” I mutter.
Because it isn’t. I’m not sure what unnerves me more—what I just witnessed, or how calm she seems. This realm just continuesto welcome her, and there she is, glowing brighter with each passing moment, fitting into a world she was never meant for.
We arrive backat the castle, Daisy vanishing into her rooms as I head toward mine. Today was good, nice even. We had both been civil as I’d shown her around the village, and she saw a fragment of my life… of what was to be her life.
As if summoned by my sense of peace, the pull of another damn summons grips my spine. I roll my eyes, exhaling with pure irritation. “Here we fucking go.”
I rip through the realms, arriving in my least favourite place in the universe; the chamber of the Divine Six. As per usual, they’re already seated, but instead of slight irritation marring their faces, they all look absolutely furious. The tension in the air is so thick that it even has me faltering for a moment before I regain my composure and stride forward with arrogance radiating from me.
“You have defied us.” Seraphiel hisses, her crystal wings flaring behind her.
“Correction,” I growl. “You said I needed a bride, and now I have one.”
“You cannot marry a mortal!” Calrix bellows, the ground trembling with the force of it, making me stumble forward slightly.
“Funny, I don’t remember you specifying that little detail.” I sneer. “You said bride. You got a bride.”
“It does not matter,” Elaron says, his voice sickly sweet despite the venom dripping from his words. “If you marry a mortal, we will burn your kingdom to the ground, as we have promised.”
I stare at him, the fury in my eyes not going unnoticed as his gaze falters.
Amarithe tilts her head, golden eyes gleaming. “Do not defy us again, Korithax.”
Velentha watches me silently, her time runes flaring, her face unreadable beneath her hood. Mal’Thariel’s presence looms heavier than ever, the air around him feeling cold, icy even.
I bare my teeth in a snarl, smoke curling off of me with my rising anger. “Try it,” I say, voice deathly low. “See what happens.”
I turn on my heel and vanish without warning, the clash of our power still rattling the realms behind me.
I storm through the door of my chambers, slamming it behind me, the barrier I had placed not long ago preventing me from teleporting directly into my rooms to ensure absolute protection. I didn’t need any assholes appearing from thin air into my personal space. I look up, seeing Aran standing by my fireplace, arms neatly folded behind his back.
“Clearly, I need another barrier placed on my room to stop you entering whenever you fucking please,” I growl.
He ignores my remark. “So,” he says, arching a brow. “She agreed to the proposal.”
“Yes,” I grunt, dragging a hand through my hair. “Under the condition she gets to live in Hell.”
His deep emerald eyes widen, tension rippling through him. “But, sire… the Divine Six. They made it abundantly clear that she was not welcome here.”
“It was her condition,” I snap through gritted teeth. “I wasn’t about to say no and risk having to marry one of the other three fucking wretched souls. Besides, they’re more angry about the fact that I’m marrying a mortal. Apparently, they forgot to mention in their little fucking rule book that my bride had to be immortal.”
Aran stares at me before carefully asking, “What will you do?”
