Forgotten Fates

by S J Doran

  Er-Agate hurried forward her arms loaded with clothing and trinkets only to come to a sudden stand still at the sight of the demon prince on the floor, picking a fight with a water bra.

  Mara looked beyond the clearly flustered female and in the direction she had arrived from, her chambers appearing as if they had been caught in the path of a furious, or rather say curious, cyclone.

  What, by all the Hells was the demon prince thinking by intruding upon her most private of spaces? He’d absolutely destroyed her closet, and was sitting there looking amused. The absolute gall.

  Bel-Agate’s expression was a sour mixture between exasperation, shock and disapproval.

  “My apologies Sarratum Sa, I left him unattended for no more than five minutes. I am not sure how he was able to cause so much destruction in such little time.”

  “You should see the amount of damage he was capable of wreaking in a century.”

  Agate had dropped to her knee before her, which was quite the impressive feat without dropping the arm load.

  “Do not fret Agate, I do not place the blame for this at your feet. After all, Prince Levistus has a natural talent for destruction.”

  From the pile on the floor Levistus grinned up at her, as if eager to prove her point his claws sliced through the cup of the bra. “This isn’t water… what is this sorcery?”

  He looked repulsed and somewhat disappointed as he glanced down at his gel coated fingers. Using the pile of undergarments surrounding him to wipe his hands clean.

  The sight of it elicited a cry of outrage from bel-Agate. “Sarratum Sa, I should call for the guards...”

  Pouring herself a tumbler of fire whiskey, Mara turned to lean her hips against the solid wood, her eyes absorbing the sight of the frazzled demon royal. Just what in the nine hells was going on with the demon prince, what was he doing here? And what had he been searching for within her private chambers?

  “No, I will question him myself. He appears harmless enough for the moment.”

  Her finger trailed along a vial of neon green liquid, hesitating only a moment before adding its contents to her drink, then draining it in one swallow. She shivered with pleasure as the burn of the bourbon flowed down her throat, spreading through her chest. The potion would keep sleep at bay, just a while longer.

  The sight of Jareth breaching Cassius’s mind had torn open a laceration within her own psyche, back to that fateful night so long ago. The night her world had ended— Asmodeus ripping apart Cass’s mind and shredding his soul replayed every time she closed her eyes, a vicious loop she couldn’t break free from. The nightmares had been torturous since.

  “We both know I am far from harmless, priestess.”

  His amused tone broke through her dark musings, bringing her back to the moment. Where again she had to blink to confirm that indeed she had demon royalty squatting in her closet, surrounded by piles of her clothing and underwear.

  “Indeed. Agate leave us. We will have this mess straightened and the clothing items incinerated in the morning.”

  Levistus plucked a lacy thong from the pile, gave the garment a befuddled once over and nodded. “There now that is an excellent idea, burn the whole lot. I find I have no taste for the female fashion of the modern century.”

  “Indeed, because the restrictive corsets and rib breaking boning worn in past decades were so much more enjoyable.”

  Was she seriously entering a discussion regarding her choice of undergarments with the deceitful prince of Hell? She looked back the bar, had she used the correct vial? Was she drunk?

  “As you command, with your permission I will see extra guards placed by your doors.” She knew better than to encourage willfulness in her subjects, but the menacing glare her lady used to pin down the mighty Prince of Secrets too impressive to discipline.

  “Know one thing well Iddimu, one sound or gesture out of place, and know that this chamber will be filled with my sister’s finest warriors to protect our Sarratum.”

  “I vow you mistress Agate; your Queen will not be harmed by me.”

  The statement had Mara’s brows raise until they had nearly disappeared into her hairline. Incredulity marking every feature of her expression. He had come here for a reason, if it was not to cause harm, then what possible reason could the demon hope to possess?

  “Not tonight,” the demon amended, thereby ensuring that the binding his words would form would not prevent him from doing so in the future.

  “Very well, Levistus, you will explain yourself and leave Asurim. Bel-Agate you do your sister credit, her vigilance and warrior ways run through you. Take any measures you see fit and I shall see you in the morning.”

  She watched as her first attendant bowed, shooting the demon prince the warlock equivalent of a stink eye as she moved out of the room, arms still filled and expression thunderous.

  “If you wake up with boils tomorrow you will have none to thank but yourself for that hex.”

  “Amara...?”

  “No!”

  “That hardly seems fair. You don’t even know what I was about to ask!”

  She whirled on him, hands in on her hips to stop herself from wringing them around his neck. “You come here uninvited, go through my personal belongings and show me disrespect before my own people.” This behaviour was too bizarre for the legendarily calculated and composed demon royal.

  Suspicion had her move for him, then clasp her gloved palms to his cheeks as she tilted his head up to hers. “Are you addled?”

  “Are you going to kiss me priestess?”

  “Only if I wanted you dead, old man. You haven’t got the tolerance required to survive my affections.”

  He pinned her with a scorn filled glare. “Is that why you keep sending Cassius rations of your poisons?”

  Her fingers curled against his cheek, baring her claws to slice up his too handsome face growing more tempting by the second. “No Levistus, I send Cassius poisons to help him escape the anguish your schemes have inflicted upon him.”

  His gaze flicked to the empty glass now abandoned upon the bar, “is that why poison yourself Amara? To escape what my actions did to you?”

  She moved her lips to his, keeping the demon only mere a breath away. “For creatures like you and I, there is no escape. You are a monster, Prince Levistus, and turned me into one. But you won’t get him…”

  When she inhaled his breath, her eyes grew wide in surprise, right before she exploded into a fit of laughter. “You reek of Psilocybin spores. Oh, but this is priceless, how is Lord Barbatos these days? Did he send you on a spirit quest, is that why you are here? If so, know that I am not about summoning back your dead lover. You will not get your closure, there shall be no clemency from me. It is not a monster’s way.”

  The demon’s fingers moved to brush through the length of her silver hair, his black eyes locked on her, “aren’t you supposed to be better than that, Amara.”

  The smile that curled her lips was cruel and cold, the only true smile she was left capable of after the events of that long-ago night, the night her world had ended, and her heart had died. The night Levistus had engineered from inside his icy grave.

  “No, I can’t. For we are the same, old man. You made sure of that.”

  He went silent as a flash of silver illuminated that captivatingly dark gaze. Whatever emotion had overcome the demon in that instant was gone just as swiftly, “I did not come here for you to summon my Benzosia from the grave, priestess.”

  “Then why did you come?”

  His fingers moved from the length of her hair to the nape of her neck. She tried to swat his touch away, but her movements were sluggish. The potion was taking too long to work, exhaustion from countless days of sleep deprivation beginning to claim its toll, she would need to double the intake.

  “You have something of hers.”

  She blinked in confusion, trying to clear her mind to think. “You are mistaken, I possess nothing belonging to Benzosia.”

 
“Oh, but you most certainly do priestess,” his voice had taken on a gentle tone, beguiling. His gaze grew distant, as if locked on a time beyond the one they were standing in.

  “Are you aware that Benzosia was gifted in the art of alchemy and potions as well? I could spend hours watching her work, my mind easing with the sight of her meticulously mixing and preparing ingredients for her elaborate concoctions.”

  Mara’s brows furrowed. Benzosia had been a potion master? This information was new, and albeit unusual, it was not an entirely uncommon practice for a demoness. Perhaps she was in possession of one of Benzosia’s journals? Was that what he had been searching for? She struggled to straighten onto her feet, breaking his touch.

  A glance at her emptied bookshelves made the theory a valid one. Her lips thinned in a grimace at the sight of her precious volumes littered carelessly upon the floor. Those books had been valued gifts, they had kept her company during her darkest days. Mara counted them amongst her most prized possessions.

  Levistus did not appear to be hiding a book upon his person at this time however. Her eyes narrowed, no, in fact the damned demon was still clutching her thong within his free hand.

  “Old man, if you do not unhand of my underwear. I will make it so that boils and blisters are the least of your grievances come morning.”

  He smirked and looked down at the flimsy scrap of fabric in his grasp, then slowly opened his jacked before depositing the garment within his inner pocket. “My hands are off...”

  “Put... it... back.”

  He stared at her from amidst the pile of garments, appearing to give her command serious thought before giving her a smouldering smile. “No, I think I am better off holding onto it for bribery.”

  “You are delusional if you believe you can blackmail me using my own underwear!”

  His grin grew impossibly wider. “Then it is a good thing I did not intend it for you.”

  His head tilted just in time as her empty whiskey glass went whizzing past and smashed into brilliant pieces against the wall directly behind him. “You missed…”

  He moved to stand, “as I was about to say before so rudely interrupted. Not unlike you, Benzosia would occasionally make use of neurotoxins to cause sleep deprivation to her victims. I saw you add the venom to your whiskey, Amara, and I could scent its sweet smell on your breath just as you could scent the Psilocybin on mine. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

  At the direct question, her mind jostled. “You have no right to question me Prince Levistus. The only right you have here is to answer the ones I ask. What were you looking for amongst my belongings, old man?”

  She stepped back to steady herself against the bar when she suddenly swayed on her feet. Had her words slurred? Her eyes were growing heavy, her thoughts slow and sluggish. Again, she looked at the vial upon the bar, a horrific notion filtering through the thick fog of her head.

  “What did you do to my drink?”

  “You need to sleep.”

  “WHAT DID YOU DO?” She was resistant to most poisons, she should not be able to die from anything he could have used to contaminate her potion. “You vowed not to harm me, we had an agreement...”

  He stood before her then, his length towering over her. She wanted to push him away, but her limbs felt too heavy too heavy to lift. What in the hells had he done to her?

  “I diffused the venom, rendering it useless. What you are sensing is the side effect of the sleeping potion I discovered amongst your concoctions. It was very negligent of you to leave such potent stuff laying around, priestess.”

  The potion Agate had obtained from En-Rasputin she realized, the mad monk had brewed it with her tolerance in mind. She would not be able to fight off it’s effects for long. “Why…?”

  The world spun around her, her death grip on the bar all that held her upright. Strong fingers closed around her throat, his thumb brushing lazily along the outline of the jugular vein.

  “After I managed to lessen the effects of the spores on my mind, I was about to call it a night myself. Then I overheard a briefing by our spies, observing how it had to be at least thirteen days since their last account of their Queen having retired to sleep. Eleven is enough for a mortal to perish. You may not be mortal Amara, but you are young still and this is not considered healthy behaviour for a young lady. So... why aren’t you sleeping?”

  “Fuck off…” The pressure against her vein increased, her vision darkening around the edges.

  “Near the end, Benzosia used the venom on herself as well. Turns out that my love had grown fearful of her own dreams. She never told me, the stubborn creature, and I was too self involved recognize the signs. She lasted twenty-eight days before her mind broke…”

  “Let... go...” She could feel her head loll to the side, her eyes falling closed. That beckoning darkness was pulling her under, her magick subdued by the gaping abyss that welcomed her into its embrace.

  “You asked me what you possess that belonged to my sweet Benzosia…”

  Her breathing evened, and her body lost strength. She expected to feel the impact of cold stone beneath her, but instead she was floating weightlessly.

  “You have your grandmother’s eyes Amara. When I stare into your beautiful and damning gaze, I can see my Benzosia glare at me from beyond her grave.”

  With the utmost care Levistus placed Amara’s sleeping form on her bed, his energy enveloping the protection barriers she kept in place around her mind. As gently as he could he persuaded her subconscious suppress the memories which haunted her, memories his actions had placed there. He engulfed her mind, not invading it, merely offering her exhausted psyche a brief moment of reprieve. This way he could hold guard over her dreams, keeping the nightmares at bay, if only for one night.

  “Forgive me, granddaughter.”

  END PART ONE

  Back Matter

  This was a journey that started out as an adventure. It was all in good fun, we thought.

  If you consider heart-wrenching slow torture fun.

  We met some friends along the way, made some new family in our fans and readers, and tormented ourselves until we couldn’t stand it anymore—it was time to spread that around.

  Torment for everyone!

  Thanks to the entire Forbidden Realms Facebook group, our Beta readers, and to our families for not disowning us during this arduous process. (The editing part. Writing is fun.)

  This is our first publication, join us on Facebook to read more stories set in our world

  https://www.facebook.com/Forbidden-Realms-Council-1059143027556926/

  Part two available now