Page 20 of Crowned A Traitor
“Nobody has the power to injure Lucifer’s pride,” Klara said as she spotted the pillars holding up the second floor. The pillars were made up of the sculpted faces of tortured souls. She’d never noticed how creepy they were until one stared directly at her. From the gleam on the faces, they had been polished recently.
“Must be expecting some important guests?” Klara asked as the Manor shone.
“Don’t change the subject,” Frendall glared. “On your last visit, you wounded him deeply. Can’t have expected to be greeted warmly after causing such a scene.”
“So, I’m to blame.”
Frendall stopped at the last step and spun, so they were face to face as a few steps boosted her height. “You didn’t exactly act like you wanted to stay. You were out the portrait before the sword was raised.” Klara moved past him to the foyer.
Frendall’s words were cut off by the faint howls below them and Klara forgot how close they were to the dungeons. “The King asked me to return to watch him slaughter those who wished to claim his throne. Why would I want to see that?”
Klara kept up with him as Frendall strode towards the right-wing of the Manor, their path lit by the expansive ivy lined windows.
“To show you that the threat against you is real.”
“From those screams, my Father still favours the right wing for entertaining? That way everyone can hear the threat is real while they eat and drink and not because he derives pleasure from the Torturers getting carried away.”
“The King was showing you his support,” Frendall continued ignoring the distant screams.
“Ten? Twenty?”
Frendall raised his eyebrows.
“Sorry, simply counting the number of times you have defended my Father since I arrived.”
The branding must have brainwashed him as well as scarred him.
“There are real threats out there if you were here you would know that, the King was trying to warn you and those who dared harm you.”
“No, it was a show of brute strength to those who want to see me or anyone else on the throne.”
They stopped walking as two Guards passed by, their uniforms similar to the all-black suit Frendall was wearing. Klara moved closer to him, making sure her words were out of earshot of the walls that liked to listen.
“I have been a threat since I was created; he created the very thing he fears most. Someone to take his place. Do you want my throne? Take it because I sure as Hell don’t.”
Frendall pulled Klara back to his side before she reached the doors. Klara felt the extra eyes on them as their argument awoke the portraits.
“Remove your hand or you will lose it,” Klara threatened, and he released his tight grasp.
“Are you entertained?” Klara said, looking to the portraits’ prying eyes. Frendall followed her closely, his voice quiet as not to stir gossip.
“The King is flawed, but he does care for you, and he isn’t the only one.”
The Doomed waiting at the doors announced their arrival to the room. By the stark look on the guests’ faces, they were late.
???
Frendall and Klara were greeted by a long table full of guests in finery, and Klara felt woefully underdressed.
Frendall smirked beside her, “I told you to wear the dress,” and offered her his arm. To decline would stir gossip, so Klara slipped her arm through his. The mouths of a few Higher Demons gaped open as she stood holding Frendall’s arm. Klara could see the fear in their passing thoughts because together they were a force to be reckoned with.
“You’re late.” The King sat at the head of the never-ending table. Despite the two large fireplaces sat at either end of the hall, and the three chandeliers hung from the glass ceiling the room was still dimly lit. When Frendall had mentioned guests, she had thought maybe one or two of her Father’s most trusted, not a banquet. She was still regaining her strength, and it would take the force of an army to handle a room of Hell’s Finest.
They moved towards the silent table and bowed to the King, his chair taller than the rest, the top, marked with his signature three spikes.
“Join us, we have missed you dearly,” Lucifer said, ignoring their late arrival and there is a small round of applause as Klara scanned the table. There was enough food to feed an army. Frendall pulled out Klara’s seat to the right hand of her Father, “It’s a pleasure to see you return home,” a Higher Demon said, and Klara offered a polite smile. “The pleasure is all mine.”
The cascading maroon curtains had been strung back from the floor to ceiling window behind Frendall. From this height, Klara could barely make out the shifting passages of the Maze below.
