Ix flexed his fingers idly as he spoke, as if he was still getting used to them. “There are ways to separate a demon from its host, but the demon still remains here in our realm. Of course, the exorcist usually also kills the demon, but it’s not the exact reverse of summoning a demon through from the demon realms. That’s one of the disadvantages of most of our magical research coming from Father’s mages, it has a distinctly human flavor to it.”
A light had come into Ix’s eyes, and Eric was sorry he hadn’t asked earlier if only to see the way he lit up whenever he was talking about something he had such a deep interest in.
“And then you met Lymond,” prompted Eric. He was still very hazy on how Lymond played into this, his mind confused by what he knew now were magically suggested memories.
“Yes, he’s a demon who crossed over by himself. I suspected it was possible and there’s no literature on it at all, but he implied that there is no difference between coming and going, only that no demon wants to go back to the demon realm once they’re here. He told me how to do it.”
“He came through a mirror?”
“Not as such, I don’t think mirrors exist in the demon realm, but it’s in the transfer of magical energy. I used the mirror to help visualize the boundary. Similar to the necklace I gave you, but more powerful. Because I’m not as powerful as him, I suppose. Limitations of having human flesh.”
The more Eric listened, the more something felt… off about Ix. He hadn’t believed his stray thought from earlier about Ix being replaced, but this was just so much more mellow than he was used to Ix being. His explanations were usually brief, as if challenging Eric to keep up and come to the right conclusion. “So what went wrong?”
“I think…” Ix hesitated. Eric caught the change out of the corner of his eyes and turned in time to see a grimace spread across Ix’s face. “I think I exorcised myself.”
It took Eric a moment to understand. And then: “What?”
Ix scowled. “I hadn’t accounted for sending the part of me that isn’t made of pure magic across the border. I don’t think anyone could have, but it didn’t even occur to me.”
“So you’re…” Eric’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re no longer a demon?”
Ix shrugged noncommittally. It made sense, in a horrific way. That would explain why his features had changed.
“What about your magic?”
Ix raised a hand and pointed at the fireplace. Still nothing. Horror rose in Eric’s gut like bile – it must have been ten times worse for Ix himself.
They were silent for a long time. Eric felt as though he was swimming in fog, his mind not running as quickly as he normally expected it to. After he tried to follow several threads of thought and ended up even more muddled than before, Eric said, “Now what?”
At the same time, Ix said, “You said my father came to visit?”
“I, yes, he did. He consulted with the healers.”
“What about – Ceron?” Ix grimaced even at the name.
Eric shook his head. Knowing Prince Ceronzar, whom he didn’t, at least not well, and which was the way Eric preferred it, he would have come just to spectate like a vulture hovering over carrion. “I don’t know. Not while I was there, but your fathershooed me out of the room at some point. I think I kept getting in the way of the healers.”
“Did you,” said Ix, with a small smile. Eric shoved him half-heartedly, and Ix swayed back, bumping their shoulders together. He sighed eventually. “I need to talk to Lymond. And my father. If I find out more about exactly how Ceron and I were created, I could reverse it. Though given the way this has worked, I wonder if we are not exactly half-demon and half-human but demons who possessed the body of a baby.”
Eric recoiled at the thought. Occasionally over the years, he had considered it. Surely every noble had, behind closed doors, wondered whether the King had lain with the demon queens to beget the babies or if it was through some other magical, more alchemical means. No one at court had ever met the demon queens, all he’d heard was that the treaty had merely been magically bound and the babies appeared one day. “I can’t imagine anyone agreeing to that.”
“We shall see,” said Ix, lifting one shoulder in a shrug.
They sat for a while longer, mulling over the possibilities, until Ix’s words started slurring together. He blinked, irritated with himself, but stumbled over his words again, and then let out a jaw-crackingly wide yawn.
“A yawn!” said Ix, astonished. “Is that what it feels like? How peculiar.”
“You’re probably exhausted,” Eric realized. “Let’s get you back to bed.”
Ix protested, and Eric ended up cajoling him like a child into bed even as his shoulders drooped. It was as novel for Eric as it was for Ix, who usually required very little sleep at all and seemed to partake in it only because everyone else thought it was mandatory. Eric turned away to allow him privacy to change and he was asleep by the time Eric turned back around, a sprawled lump under the bundled covers.
From the looks of it, Ix hadn’t even bothered to put the nightshirt on, the long white shirt mingled in with his abandoned clothes at the side of his bed. Eric couldn’t allow himself to linger on the idea that Ix was naked under those clothes. He simply didn’t have the fortitude of mind to be reasonable about it right now. He left the clothes where they were and retreated hastily back towards his own rooms.
He nearly walked straight into a servant about to knock on the door, and swallowed the noise that half-escaped his mouth. “Oh gods! What is it?”
“My Lord! I do beg your forgiveness,” said the servant, looking terrified. “I merely meant to announce the arrival of His Royal Highness, Prince Jasper.”
“Your Highness!” said Eric, finally spotting the prince behind the servant and bowing. Oh gods, muscles all over his body were aching and he did not need the memory of why he hurt to distract him from conversing with the prince. “I’m so sorry, I was just startled. Have you come to see Ixthan? He’s just fallen asleep.”
