Page 42 of Demonchild

“That’s a good idea,” Beliath said. “In addition to healing our baby, I have also placed a little spell of protection, to keep him safe from poison. However, I want you to return soon, sometime in the next few nights, so I can check and make sure everything is alright.”

“I will,” Malissa said. “I promise. But I need you to promise me something too.”

“Anything, my angel.”

“I want you to promise me that once you are free from this darkstone ring, you will help me find whoever tried to kill our baby, and you will make them suffer.”

The demon smiled darkly.

“You have my word.”

CHAPTER 22

The baby was a carnivore. Of that, Malissa was certain. Like all pregnant women she had cravings, but hers were simple and consistent.

She craved meat, rare and bloody.

Following the incident, she insisted upon taking all of her meals at a small wooden table in the center of Drachenval’s kitchen, where she could watch all of her food being prepared. The servants no doubt thought it strange. Perhaps they even thought her a bit mad, but Malissa didn’t care.

She found she rather enjoyed dining in the kitchen. The room was like a cave. It was windowless, to keep out flies, and the only light came from the cookfires and a few torches snapping and sputtering in their sconces along the walls. The air was thick and hot, and the cooks—hefty men in aprons—were always sweating, but Malissa liked the temperature. She liked it a lot.

It reminded her of Beliath.

Malissa also liked watching the food being prepared, and not just because it reassured her that no poison had been added. What she really liked was the meat. She especially liked to watch as the butcher carved it up in the scullery adjoining the kitchen. The sight of the pink, uncooked flesh made her mouth water.

She would have eaten all her meals raw, but she reckoned that would be a step too far. Then the servants would really think she was mad, and they would lock her away in her bedchamber, where she could no longer watch her food being prepared—and no longer sneak out to visit the father of her child at night.

So, Malissa allowed her food to be cooked, though she would have much preferred to eat it raw.

Her baby would have preferred it too.

The child seemed to be doing well. Precisely two days had passed since Beliath had performed his healing, and Malissa had suffered no more bouts of pain since then. Not even the slightest discomfort. She had wanted to return to the darkstone ring that very night, or the night after, but heavy rain and thunder had kept her inside the castle.

Today, however, the storm had finally broken. Tonight, she would go to see Beliath.

There was a time not so long ago, when the thought of visiting the darkstone ring had made her heart race in terror. Now it made her heart race for entirely different reasons.

She needed to eat well. She needed her energy for the long trek through the forest. And after that…

“You called for me, Your Highness?”

Malissa turned away from her plate and looked toward the voice. Droanna was standing in the doorway of the kitchen with her hands folded in front of her, and her eyes watching expectantly.

“Ah, yes. I wanted to speak with you about something. Just a moment.”

Malissa stabbed the last red morsel of meat with her knife and tucked it into her mouth. She chewed it slowly, closing her eyes while she enjoyed the savory juices. Then she swallowed, dabbed her lips with a cloth, and got up.

“Come with me,” she said.

She didn’t say anything to Droanna right away. The lower levels of the castle were bustling with servants and guards. Too many ears. The spiral staircase leading up into the keep was no good either. You could never be sure whether someone was just around the corner.

Malissa waited until they were in the empty corridor leading to her bedchamber, and even then, she kept her voice low.

“Droanna, you know this castle better than I do. Is there anyone here who would wish to harm me… or my baby?”

The maid let out a startled gasp.

“Your Highness! Has something happened? Did someone threaten you?”

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