Page 78 of The Demon Crown

“Is that so?”

“We’re all brave, Greed.”

He followed the man, curious about what this thief had planned. “Then you are all fools if you think I will accept so many people telling me what they think they know.”

“Ah, we have nothing to lose.” Altan winked, nearly disappearing into the crowd now. “And everything to give. You are welcome amongst us, Greed, demon king of our homeland. We are not your enemies, just as you are not ours.”

Curious. Greed hadn’t thought it would be like this. He handed his mug of ale to someone else and stalked the other man with a single question burning in his chest. “Why? This is a kingdom of thieves. I have built this land to grow on lies and manipulation. You think your group of people is different?”

“I do.” Altan pointed at the drummers and they sped up their pace. People whirled around them, skirts and jackets flying as they all raced to keep up with the music. “We have nothing to give and nothing to take. Our people live with food and drink and happiness in times like this. Dance with us, Greed. Learn what it is to be part of your people. Not above them.”

Greed narrowed his eyes. “What are you getting out of this? No one seeks an audience with me without a desire in their heart.”

Altan held up his hands for peace. “Ah, you have caught me! I now have Greed’s ear if you dance with us. If you celebrate with my people, then surely you have cast your favor upon our town. We have no advisor to lend you advice. Perhaps if you are kind enough, then you will allow us to have that.”

Ah, there it was. And the man likely wanted to vote himself as that advisor.

Yet, it didn’t seem like a terrible idea. This man understood his people and their needs. And more than that, he seemed to have a better heart than the others.

Tiny hands slid into his. He stared down at Varya’s red cheeks and bright smile. “You came to dance! I can’t say I believed that would ever happen.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he replied. His feet didn’t know the complicated patterns the others seemed to know. He feared he would bump into a couple and knock them into the sands. He was too large to be in a crowd of people like this. And yet...

He wanted to be. He wanted to be here when she held both his hands in hers and stared down at their feet. “Do this,” she said, showing him the movements that weren’t all that complicated after all. He leapt from side to side, feeling like an idiot trying to move his bulk as the others were doing.

But she was smiling at him. Grinning so big it must hurt and... there it was. That expression he’d seen Selene wear when she looked at Lust. The expression that whispered of deeper feelings and a heart that ached while looking at another person.

He felt the echo in his own chest. He felt the pulse of something powerful and echoing. He must be the only person in this crowd who looked at her and felt like this. In looking at her, he knew she shared this feeling. She shared the heart thumping desire that burned through him. And not just to fuck her, but to hold, cherish, and keep her.

Strings joined the drums, and he tossed his head up to see the fiddles that three people now played alongside the others. The entire crowd shouted with happiness as the music swelled around them.

He felt himself caught up in all of it. Was this what Altan had meant? That if he danced with these people for an ephemeral moment, he would become part of them?

The crowd surged and Varya tugged on his hand. “Jump!” she shouted, and then leapt into the air. Everyone around him jumped, so their heads were almost at the same height. And he watched them all. Their flashing smiles. Dark skin, light skin, red hair, blonde, dark, all of it. All these people who were joyous in their celebration.

He saw all the colors of their clothing. The freckles that dotted some noses and others who had scars on their eyebrows. Young and old. People from every part of this town that were hungry or thirsty or needy, none of them were turned away. They were all right here, celebrating together, and that joy swelled around them and sank into his skin in a way it never had before.

For all the centuries that he had been their king, he had never seen them like this. And was this greed? No and yes at the same time.

There was no need to steal or take or devour, but these people were greedy, as they gobbled up every ounce of joy they felt this night because it would not come again for another year. They took from each other and they gave. An equal give and take that shared so much emotion it filled him near to brimming.

They leapt again, the swell of people moving around him like a wave, and he stood still in the middle of it all. Watching them and feeling them. For the very first time, he could feel the hearts of his kingdom thudding. He felt their love for each other and he had never wanted to be part of that love until now.

Varya’s hands tugged at the waist of his pants, and he looked down at her as a newer version of himself. As the spirit who had spent so many centuries seeking and consuming greed, but who now realized there was so much more that he had never seen.

“Jump!” she shouted again, her words carrying over the drums and the fiddles.

And he did.

He moved less vigorously than the rest of the crowd. Some of them were so small that he could leap over their heads if he wanted and he didn’t intend to hurt anyone. But he jumped with them and felt the scream of laughter from all who surrounded him. He felt it in his heart.

More than anything else, though, he felt her smile. Her joy that he was trying. And he wasn’t doing it well. He danced like the children who were still at the edges of the crowd. He was too big and too awkward for any of this to look like he had any talent whatsoever.

But she looked at him like he’d done something magical and he felt like he had.

For her. He would do the impossible.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

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