The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)

Chapter Thirteen pt 4

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Where was the elf going to hide in the palace? If he kept him in his room, could he trust the servants to not spout the truths to outsiders?

Of course not. But they would have no choice other than to stay silent. If something happened, he would kill them, hang their body in display, and—

["No hurting."]

The elf's voice drifted into his thoughts, causing the demon to grate his teeth in frustration. How was he to rule without casualties? The naive elf knew nothing. In fact, he doesn't need to know. He could threaten the staff to not say a word to him. They wouldn't have a chance to be alone with the elf anyway.

He knew how the demons detested elves. His father would always remind him. "Elves are dog shit under your feet. They're only worthy to be scraped in pavement and burned."

Loud tales and mockery would often fill streets when the demon had gone on his stealthy viewings where no one knew him.

"Oh my!" The word was stretched to exaggerate and spoken in a ridiculing high tone. "I have a fly on my dress! Now, it has to be burned!"

Another demon laughed. "Imagine if the fly shit on 'em! They'd scrape their skin until it bled!"

"Demons, I can't stand their prissy little attitudes. Have you seen the way they look at us? Like rotting compost! Have they even taken a look at themselves?"

"You've met an elf before?"

"During a trade once. Fucking shits."

Conversations about elves always intertwined with sneers and disgust as if obvious like clouds with rain.

In no way was there a possibility that the elf could live there openly. But did he have to? Although he knew his elf was different, the other demons wouldn't. And truthfully, he didn't want the other demons to know.

The doors to his room will remain closed. He'll just shower the elf with gifts and delicacies. Citrus soaked baths and an array of fruits he may have never even heard of. His eyes would glow sweetly and he'd thank him with his chiming voice. At night, in front of the moonlight blue draped by wispy curtain, his tender lips would smile and—

What the fuck was he thinking?

The demon shook his head, almost reluctantly. He'll get to the specifics... when they need to be specified.

The mumbles of the two others near the cabin cleared his mind further as if shoved into iced water. Yet again, he was thrown into a reminder of his present circumstances.

Following the mocking of a display from the day before, the least he imagined was to feel this... uncomfortable. He felt shameful and aware every time he was alone with the demoness. With his feelings out to the woman's know, he felt a sharp edge, wondering when the dice would be used as a tool.

Yet, the demoness's behavior had been strange. The way she looked at him was strange. Was it pity? But her brows were not turnt up. She didn't emit the same stares as the palace nannies when he was younger or the guards when he had won a spar. There was a sort of weightlessness and lack of motive or contempt that confused him.

Just as he was pondering, his eyes met with the demoness as if a frog meeting a fleet of stampeding horses. Somehow he'd walked in a way that ended him near the voices he heard.

She was to his right, sitting on the ground with her back against the side of the cabin. A few feet away, Eial stood with his hands clasped behind. Unable to turn back without bringing attention to the fact he had not meant to be there, Drokn brought up one of his legs to pretend as if his intention was to walk the way he was moving.

"Off to train?" The woman's voice interrupted his step. Thankfully, she's given him an excuse before he needed to come up with one himself. Before he laid another step, she continued. "What's your goal in training, by the way? What are you trying to do?"

Breathing out in annoyance as if she really had interrupted him in his path, he turned and looked down with his nose turned up. "I'm going to overtake the crown." At the silence, Drokn's brows drew together and his eyes narrowed. "What? You don't think I can do it?"

"No. That actually... is perfect. I've been meaning to find a way to dethrone him. He can't have power. Or else, he—" She breathed in sharp and deep. "Let me help you."

Taken aback, Drokn faltered before blurting in his usual defense, "I don't need help."

"Right, right. Well, when you need me, I'll be here. Common enemies make us partners," she smiled, looking at Drokn with an unfamiliar warmth. Her face was filled with youthful determination, a broad and confident grin across her face. "We'll defeat the king together!"

Drokn had a lump in his throat and his heart beat as if in exploratory anticipation. His breathing roughened and rushing water filled his chest. Unbearable of a foreign feeling, he twirled around to face away, hiding himself, hiding the odd expression he wasn't sure if he was making.

What the demon forgot to hide were his ears, which, to the demoness's full view, glowed like a cherry in bright sunlight. Eyes widened and smile kept, her heart warmed and she opened her mouth wide to laugh. Pushing herself up, she came behind Drokn and swung her arm over his neck, pulling both their weights back down to the hard ground. Grabbing on with a playful choke hold, she chuckled, "How did I not realize you were so cute?"

Seeing the display, Eial joyfully hopped forward and joined the two, grabbing around the demon's head and resting his chin on his sturdy horn. "Yeah, he's very cute!"

Having enough, Drokn roared and shoved the two away in a humiliating rage. Ignoring their laughs and cheers from behind, he stumbled as he stood back up and aggressively made his way into the trees with his back to them. Forcefully, he pushed the branches that appeared before him and kicked all the rocks in sight. As a peculiar softness caressed him, the height of his nose itched and his eyes tinged red, muddled with a glossy sheen.

When had he become such a crybaby?!

A couple days had passed in tolerant harmony and light bickering. However, at one moment as the blinding sun stood just above a tree's length, a piece of neatly folded paper appeared before the demoness, landing in her outstretched palm. Lifting up and pushing back one end and then another, the contents written inside revealed itself. Upon reading, her fingers pressed into the parchment, causing wrinkles where there was contact.

And in the far distance, to the ignorance of the three near the cabin, a light rumble shook the ground. In the next moment, a lone tree crumbled within a crater, helplessly torn into pieces. Long silver hair washed in tandem with the wind and the sway of a being's stride. A teeth drawn smile carved the lips and slowly the figure faded away.