Page 3 of The Slave in A Princess Disguise

And the force of it...

It was the most excruciating pain she had ever felt. A raw, visceral torment that tore at her soul.

A terrifying realization dawned on her: if this was just a fraction of his pain, how could King Daemonikai possibly bear the full weight of it?

Hours ago, Emeriel had been awake when news of King Daemonikai's awakening had spread like wildfire.

The sheer happiness that had coursed through her was unimaginable. Emeriel had smiled like a happy drunk as Aekeira hugged her, and she had carried that same joy back to bed.

But now...

Another sorrowful roar ripped through the air, sending a fresh wave of misery through Emeriel.

"Oh, heavens," she sobbed, clutching her chest.

Would it always be like this?

Would she always feel King Daemonikai's sorrow?

The door creaked open, and Grand Lord Vladya entered the chamber. Daemonikai did not turn, his back still to the room, but Vladya didn't need him to.

He crossed the space with silent steps, taking his place beside his oldest friend at the window.

Waves of sorrow and despair radiated from Daemonikai, grief hanging in the air.

How does one comfort a male who has awakened to the loss of everything he held dear?

Vladya had no answers, so he simply stood in silence.

"You shouldn't have brought me back," Daemonikai's voice was a low rasp. "Why did you?"

"You had no right to leave," Vladya stated casually, his gaze fixed on the moonlit field below.

Daemonikai whipped around. "What thehell, Vladya?"

"You hadno rightto leave like that!" Vladya's voice rose, the words torn from him in a torrent of pent-up emotion. "No right to run away. To hide. What happened to 'we are in this together?' You always told me so. What happened to 'I will always be here?'"

Rage ignited in Daemonikai's eyes. He shoved Vladya, hard, sending him sprawling across the room in a tangle of limbs.

"I lost myentire family, you heartless bastard! Evie, Myka, Alvin... they're all gone."

Vladya rose with a fluid grace. "Then deal with it! That's what you do. You don't run and hide. You face the goddamn pain." His own voice shook with barely restrained fury. "I know it's not easy. I know what it feels like. And the worst part? It does not end." He stated bluntly.

"Every morning, you wake up and look for them... for a split second, before reality slams into you that they're gone forever. You will want to drown yourself in the nearest river. You will hate everyone, everything. And when you smile for your people, it'll feel like a mask. A hollow mockery. Because inside, you're torn apart. Broken. Shattered into pieces."

He closed the distance between them, their noses almost touching, Daemonikai only a few inches taller. "It. Does. Not. Get. Better. There is no magical solution. Living will feel like hell. But guess what? Living is the only option we have. Especially you, Daemonikai. Our people needed you.Ineeded you. You had five hundred years to wallow in blankness and blissful emptiness. Now, it's time to come back and face the wreckage. We all need you."

Silence descended, only Vladya's ragged breathing echoed across the room.

"You brat," Daemonikai's features softened. "You are still the same insolent, selfish, mouthy little bastard I met nearly four thousand years ago."

"Not a brat," Vladya protested weakly. The familiar insult warmed him more than he cared to admit.

It had been ages since Daemonikai had used that term for him, and hearing it now sent a fresh wave of emotion surging through him.Daemonikai is back. Emotion clogged his throat, and he swallowed tightly.

"The people need me," his best friend said softly. "But what about whatIneed?"

"If what you need is to die, then what you need does not matter." Vladya crossed his arms stubbornly, his gaze returning to the fields below awash with moonlight.

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