Page 41 of Of Spindles and Nightfall
“Except.” Xaphoron’s gaze flashed in challenge. “You did not kill your half-siblings. It was your father.”
Zarathos spread his wings and stepped up to Xaphoron. He couldn’t back down. “You don’t think I can lift my hand against anyone I choose? Even someone close to me? You don’t think I haven’t done it before?” A part inside him trembled at his ownwords. At the truth of them, but he buried it, only letting the anger and fire manifest. “I, Zarathos, proved myself worthy of the crown out of all my siblings, and I’ll do so again.”
“We’ll see,” Xaphoron growled.
Without another word, they departed off to the side. He refused to show how much the things he had spoken drained him as he moved back and settled on his throne while the pairs of champions signed their own contracts. Despite Zarathos’s display of power, he knew Kingdom Aeria would be as hard as hell to defeat in the trials. Damn. He wished he had gotten at least one of them in a bargain.
“As a reminder to all champions: the oath you’re signing binds you to the agreement that no powers may be used during the opening ceremony or in any trial, except the final one,” the announcer said. “That means, Your Majesty, you must decide whether to summon your wings before each individual trial begins and, if you do, to keep them present throughout.”
“I am aware,” Zarathos said as languidly as possible.
The announcer bobbed his head in acknowledgement. “Any who breaks this rule will trigger the contract’s retribution—a swift and brutal death.”
Zarathos was fortunate that potion use didn’t count as a natural ability. It was a loophole. A detail he wasn’t sure the council had overlooked, or simply chose not to address.
He gazed over the champions, signing their binding agreements. Four out of ten wasn’t ideal, but it was better than none. But with most of the trial council also against him… he didn’t like those odds.
But in the end, if he claimed the scepter, none of it would matter. Zarathos would be unstoppable. Regardless of how exposed the vampress made him feel, it would all be worth it… if she could secure the one thing that would guarantee his victory in the Demon Trials.
Chapter 16
Aryana
Zarathos was the worst kind of demon. The sort who exploited love for his personal gain. But what had Aryana expected? He was the arch king. She was sure in his time as ruler he had done much worse, but that wasn’t what surprised her about seeing his memory. Despite the betrayal she had witnessed, a strange sensation washed over her. The relationship with his father… the need for approval… for survival. The feeling creeping through her unsettled her still more.
Sympathy.
Could demons even understand love? Everyone who claimed to care for them only ever endedup using them.
And what had been that bit about his name? What did it mean? What kind of father stole someone’s name?
Two imps, a male and a female, about the size of a child, stared at Aryana in the dark tower room. They were small horned creatures with leathery skin and sharp teeth.
The female one had left the chamber, disappearing in the blink of an eye and returning after a brief time with a bucket and cloth for cleaning.
“Hello, my name is Ernon, and this is Mils,” the male said. “Are you a new special friend of King Zarathos?”
“Special friend?”
Mils’s nose wrinkled. “She’s not. Can’t you tell? Look at the tidiness of his room and… her. He’s not even bedding her.”
She stepped back, surprised at their boldness. “Zarathos and I arenotsleeping together.”
Ernon’s shoulders slumped. “Well, that should make you happy, Mils. Less mess for us to clean up.”
“We’re supposed to clean upthismess, not chatting with whoever this is.” She shoved the bucket and a cloth at him. “Now clean.”
“My name is Aryana.”
“And does he have you under a bargain?” Ernon asked.
Her teeth sank into her lip. How should she reply to that?
“I’m going to assume, because you are staying hidden here in his rooms and he’s not bedding you, the answer to that is yes.”
She didn’t know whether to blush or laugh. “Yes, Zarathos and I have a bargain.”
Ernon smiled at her. “We tend to His Majesty’s quarters while he is away and keep his secrets.”
