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The vampire appeared stricken. “But we’re demons!”
Darien sat forward, clasping his hands and resting them on top of his desk. “Isn’t this an interesting twist of fate?” he mused.
She imitated his pose. “From what I know of Jade, she’s spent most of her life living in fear of us because of the wars and because of what happened to her parents. But she let us help her. She let us into her life.”
“And you’re afraid she’s going to consider you the enemy now that she’s a slayer?”
Sheena’s gaze dropped.
Darien continued. “You haven’t been to see her since you received the paperwork for the registry, have you?”
“No,” she said in a quiet voice he’d never heard from her. “I thought we were friends. But how can we be, really?”
Jade’s parting shot from last night echoed in his head.
This is why we could never be married!
He mulled over the comment for a few minutes, but another thought came into play as he did.
“Perhaps she was meant to be more than a slayer. She wants to protect her neighbors, but she’s also challenged me on occasion to help broaden their horizons. Make life for the humans more comfortable and less ‘dark ages’. She advocates for justice and she understands politics on both sides of the border. In fact, she’s more…ambassador…than slayer. Although I wouldn’t discount her fighting skills against anyone other than a fire wraith. Even I had difficulty with that species.”
Sheena seemed to like the direction in which his speculation had run. “If you were to make her a diplomat, my Lord, a conduit between us and them, the demons under your command would be less threatened by her. More accepting of her.”
“Yes. And she might be less inclined to jump into dangerous situations.”
His ulterior motives cropped up without surprise. He loved her, after all. He’d do anything to help keep her out of harm’s way. Appointing her ambassador would mean she could come and go from the castle under the protection of his governing laws.
And within the village, she could serve as a leader but would have much to do, thereby leaving Tanner to the majority of patrols. Darien would supplement the deficiency of a second full-time slayer by assigning two of his men to guard the outer woods on the demon side of the border.
“If Jade wants to be a representative for her villagers,” he said, “I’ll support that. I want to strengthen relations between humans and demons. We all live on the same continent. And while we’ll never experience true unity, at least we can try to get along.”
He thought of the story she’d told him from the North and South novel. Some differences couldn’t be overcome naturally. But some could…
Standing, he continued. “I need a shower, then I’m going back to the cottage. Maybe in a couple of days, you’ll visit Jade?”
“Yes, my Lord.” She left his study.
* * * * *
Jade arrived at her house around seven a.m. She’d taken Tanner’s patrol because she’d been too charged from her confrontation with Darien to sleep. Now she was exhausted. She crawled into bed and was out within minutes.
She awoke after noon and shuffled into the living room to put some wood on the fire, but there was already a nice blaze burning. Darien sat at her table, sifting through correspondence and other items while consulting a map. She’d had too many things on her mind to remember to latch the door. Or perhaps, she’d subconsciously left it unsecured, hoping he’d return.
“How long have you been here?” she asked as she took the chair next to him.
“A couple hours. Catching up on business.” He slid a sheet of paper her way. “This is your copy.”
She stared at the approved document that officially made her a demon slayer. Her gaze lifted and locked with his. “You signed this.”
“I realized you’d continue down this path regardless. And I don’t want you creating more trouble for yourself.” He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips. “There’s something I want to ask of you though.”
“I promise to be careful,” she quickly assured him.
He nodded. “That’s one thing that deeply concerns me. The other is that you’ve proven to be an effective liaison between myself and the village. I’d like that connection to be more solid. You could help me.”
Her head inclined to one side as she regarded him thoughtfully. “How?”
“Will you consider a diplomatic post? Such as…an ambassador of peace?”
