by Mayburn, Ann
As one, the assembled court bowed to him, and she followed suit, dipping into as much of a graceful curtsy as she could manage. No matter how many hours she spent training in court protocol she could never manage the smooth, almost liquid refinement the other ladies had while performing a curtsy. The best she could hope for was not falling on her face.
With her head still bowed to the floor, she felt her father’s presence before she saw him. His energy washed over her in a soothing wave and awoke her still-dozing demonic side. The reflective black marble shimmered like a star moved across it as the high prince stopped before her and raised her head with his hand beneath her chin.
His voice rang with pride as he said, “Greetings, my daughter, Natalia.”
She smiled at him, warmed from the inside out by his love for her. “Greetings, my father and liege.”
He held her hand with the communication ring on it, carefully curving his talons around her fingers to make sure he didn’t accidentally harm her. As soon as his skin made contact with the metal band of the ring, she could feel an echo of his immense and ancient power radiating through her bones. Sometimes it became easy to forget the high prince had been around since the beginning of time, but not right now. At this moment, he radiated an authority and assurance that put everyone there to shame.
Turning as one, they faced the crowd and she fought to keep her shoulders from hunching beneath the weight of their stares. As her father went through his long speech, greeting and welcoming, she carefully unfurled a tiny bit of her power, letting it ghost like a whisper over the mass of people. Her jaw tightened as she tasted fear, uncertainty, and traces of anger mixed in with the love and strength. There was no doubting this ball was about more than introducing her to potential suitors. She could see it in every stiff line of shoulder and tight jaw.
With a slight squeeze on her hand, Asmodeus recalled her attention to his words and she held her breath as a large circle was cleared before them in the center of the vast room. Anticipation sped her heartbeat even as she wondered what she would do if any of them did turn out to be potential blood mates. There wasn’t a doubt in her heart she wanted to be mated with Raum, but there was always the possibility she would have to take a second mate in order to strengthen her father’s position in Hell.
The tension of the crowd grew as well, and she didn’t think it was because she was being formally introduced to the men. Well, in part it was, but it wasn’t a secret most of the ruling demon class was here today to see if open war would be declared, if one side would find insult with the other and finally push Hell into battle. That might explain why there were fewer women here than usual and the many ornamental swords she saw looked, by the wear along the hilts, like they were more than decoration.
The doors leading to the main foyer opened and one by one, the marshal of the court announced the men as they entered the chamber. “Prince Sert, son of the High Prince Mammon, Keeper of the Deadly Sin Greed.”
A demon with hints of mint-green coloring to his pale skin and long, sky-blue hair strode through the doors, wearing a silver dragon skin tunic embellished with diamonds. He had a chiseled jaw and was a handsome man to look at, but the coldness in his eyes as he met her gaze made her stomach clench. He stopped before the throne and executed a precise bow, to which she curtsied in return. Her demonic side did not like him at all.
“Prince Bans, son of the High Prince Beelzebub, Keeper of the Deadly Sin Gluttony.”
With his long, brown hair held back in a gold clip that brought out the bronze hints in his skin, Bans openly sneered at Sert as he took his place next to him. When he turned to look at her, he gave her a small smile. Beelzebub was one of her father’s allies so she made sure to give him an extra deep curtsy.
“Prince Raum, son of the High Prince Lucifer, Keeper of the Deadly Sin Pride.”
She gaped at Raum as he strode out from the crowd, a small smile curving his lips. Of course she had known Raum was Lucifer’s son, but she had no idea he was also his heir. He’d told her his brother would be here to represent their father. He lifted an eyebrow as he bowed to her and she curtsied in return, only stumbling a little from the blast of lust that came from him. Sert gave him a dirty look but Bans merely rolled his eyes.
“Prince Yergont, son of the High Prince Pythius and Keeper of the Deadly Sin Envy.”
Dressed in gleaming vermilion-and-silver dragon skin, Yergont strode into the hall with his gaze locked on Asmodeus, giving Natalia barely more than a glance. His cardinal-red hair flowed over his shoulders, blending into the red of the tunic until it appeared as if he was cloaked in blood. The hint of amber shimmer to his skin highlighted his perfect features, and she could easily see how that perfection could inspire envy. For her, his beauty was too perfect. It made him seem fake as he stood next to Raum. Without sparing her a glance, he gave a stiff bow and she almost didn’t curtsy in return, but Asmodeus pressed on her hand, and she gave her suitor a grudging bent knee.
Her father’s mental voice resounded through her head. Do nothing to cause any reason for them to declare offense.
She bared her teeth in her best attempt at a charming smile. Obviously it didn’t work well because Sert recoiled and Raum coughed in his fist to hide a laugh. Yergont still ignored her but Bans gave her a considering look. Her grip on her father’s hand tightened as the next prince was announced.
“High Prince Belal, Keeper of the Deadly Sin Sloth.”
Gasps and even a few shouts rang out through the room as Belal strode in. To her surprise, he was quite handsome with his refined jaw and sharp cheekbones. His long, golden hair was pulled back into an elaborate braid, and his skin shimmered with hints of turquoise. Dressed in silver and teal blue dragon skin, he didn’t bother to hide his smirk as he strolled through the court. Power rolled off him in almost visible waves and a soft hiss escaped her before she managed to regain control of her demonic essence. That dark part of her soul wanted nothing more than to launch herself at him and tear him to pieces.
Belal stopped before the throne and gave her a brief bow, hardly more than a tilt of his head. Keeping her father’s words in mind, she forced herself to curtsy, her anger making her movements stiff and awkward. Gregor’s hatred and a touch of fear made it even harder for her to control the shadowy side of her soul, and she was a breath away from attacking Belal before her father’s power burned through her and gave her the strength to stay by his side. Belal pursed his lips and nodded to himself before turning with the rest of the crowd to see the final potential blood mate.
Since Asmodeus was still connected to her to help control her demon, she could feel his anticipation, his desperate hope, even though his face and body language betrayed none of his emotions.
That hope was destroyed and bitter despair filled its place as the herald intoned, “Prince Drayth, son of the High King Satan, Keeper of the Deadly Sin Wrath.”
She bit back a gasp of her own as a handsome, but very human-looking male strode into the room. He wore his black hair long in the manner of demons, and his skin was pale, but it held none of the otherworldly shimmer a true demon possessed. His steel-blue eyes were tilted like in the penny dreadfuls she’d read about the Orient, but like his skin, they had none of the multicolored sheen of a demon.
Asmodeus must have sensed her confusion because he sent her a mental whisper. Drayth is the eldest son of Satan. His human mother was one of Satan’s concubines. He never made the transition to full demon and is looked down upon because of that.
She blinked in shock at her father. He tightened his grip, and she turned back to the princes, trying to school her features back into that blank court face everyone else seemed to do so well. Something in her expression must have shown through because Drayth gave her a small, ironic smile before bowing. All around them whispered conversation hummed and hissed like a windstorm through the trees.
Using her father’s hand to hold her steady, she gave Drayth a curtsy in return and warmed at the tiny hint of
lust that came from him. Other than Raum, he was the first prince to let his desire for her show. Asmodeus remained impassive next to her but hurt and anger seethed through their connect. She made a small mewl of pain and he quickly closed off his side of the link, leaving her alone in her mind but for Gregor’s concern and worry.
Thankfully, the only one among the princes that smelled good to her was Raum. All the rest merely smelled like men. Still, she had to go through the motions of a formal exchange of scents, though the thought of touching Belal and his allies twisted her nerves into a hard knot. Gregor tried to send reassurance and love through their bond, and it helped a little. Asmodeus released her hand and took a seat upon his throne. At his nod, she descended the steps and began at the head of the line with Prince Sert.
She stopped before the demon, noting the stiff muscles of his face as he avoided looking into her eyes. Instead, his gaze roamed her figure and a tiny hint of desire came from him, energizing her. That jolt of power made her pause and examine him, noting the way his body responded to her even as he tried to remain impassive. She realized while she would never be his equal in terms of physical, and probably magical, strength she did have one thing at which he could not match her. The power of seduction.
Taking in a deep breath, she almost smiled as his gaze darted to her breasts then away, then back again as if he could not help but stare. Her demonic essence stirred, not seeking to destroy now, but to seduce. He wanted her and that gave her power over him.
Holding her wrist out, she stepped close enough so her skirts brushed his legs. Sert jerked back, but held his place and finally looked into her eyes. Streaks of gold and silver ran through the brown of his irises as he slowly grasped her wrist and brought it to his mouth. As he did that she leaned up, inhaling a deep breath over the smooth skin of his neck, enjoying the way he shivered when she exhaled. Her energy caressed his shields, and they wavered beneath her psychic touch, but she stepped away before she breached them.
He released her wrist as if he’d been burned, but it was too late to stop the wave of lust he gave off. The crowd around them murmured, but she paid them no attention as she moved down the line to the next male. Bans gave her a wide grin and she couldn’t help but return it. While only a small amount of desire raced through his bronze gaze, she didn’t push her power against him as she had Sert. He eagerly accepted her wrist and gave her a quick sniff, and she did the same against his neck.
Giving him one more smile, she moved down the line to Raum and her body clenched in anticipation. Goodness, he looked handsome dressed from head to toe in black dragon skin accented with silver, and in her eyes, he seemed to almost glow with health and power. She held her wrist to him, expectation curling through her veins and heating her blood. Holding her gaze, he slowly lowered his face to her wrist and gently scored her vein with the tip of his fangs. She wanted those fangs lower on her body, scraping against her inner thigh as he relentlessly teased her into an orgasm with his clever mouth.
He tilted his head to the side, offering her his neck, and she blushed as she realized she’d been staring at him. Leaning on her tiptoes, she breathed in his delicious cinnamon scent deep into her lungs, trying to pull it into her heart. Unable to resist, she pressed a gentle kiss on his pulse before stepping back and turning to her father. “Prince Raum is a potential blood mate, my Liege.”
An audible gasp came from the crowd, as if they were inhaling as one. She knew there were rumors about regarding her time spent with Raum, but few hinted at the truth that they were possible blood mates. The most popular rumor was that Raum and his concubine Kirin were simply instructing her on the arts of lust, and the most insulting rumor held that Raum was going to bind her as a concubine because she was entirely too human. As she glanced over the audience, she couldn’t help but wonder how many would stick to their idea that she was a human pretending to be half human so Asmodeus could use her to distract attention from his slowly decreasing powers.
Her father’s voice rolled over the whispers, blanketing them like a rainstorm over a campfire. “General Raum, please join the princess.”
As Raum strode toward the steps leading to the dais, he glared at the demons standing behind her, reminding her of the less-than-pleasant task ahead. While she went through the steps of the ritual greeting with Yergont, she had to steel herself against the man next to him, Belal. Even now his icy power pushed at her shields, trying to chip away at her defenses with little stinging bites. Here and there emeralds warmed against her skin as the protection spells sewn into her dress were invoked.
Yergont dropped her hand as if it were something foul and took a step back, deferring to Belal in a visible way. She ignored his arrogant sneer and focused her attention on Belal, hating him as she came face to face with the man who was responsible for the death of her mother and the mortal man she’d known as her father. While his hand hadn’t been the one to slay them, his order had caused their deaths.
She tried to reach out mentally to her father, but her mind slammed against some kind of psychic wall. Belal’s thin lips twitched in a smirk and she didn’t bother wasting any energy on trying to break through the shield. Instead, she loosened the stranglehold on her inner demon, relaxing a small bit when her shadowy essence didn’t immediately try to kill Belal. Warmth flowed through her blood, radiating from her skin in an almost palpable wave.
Every step toward him was like wading closer and closer to a burning cold that seemed to blast against her skin. She had to bite her tongue to make the final move to get close enough to him to offer him her wrist. The simple motion of raising her arm became a battle and it felt as if there were thousand-pound weights dragging her hand down.
Belal titled his head and gave her an amused look. “Don’t be shy, Princess. Offer me your wrist…or are you afraid what I might smell? Something foul?”
With her jaw clenched hard enough that her teeth ached, she forced her hand up one inch at a time. When it hung in the air between them he took it with a sour look, his golden hair gleaming as he bent and gave her wrist a sniff. As his face reached her wrist, she lunged forward and placed her mouth right against the pulse in his neck, causing him to step back and away from her.
To her surprise, a burst of lust came from him, and she almost laughed at the sudden insight into his soul. Belal saw her as a threat, someone who had power over him…as dominant. In fact, he was fighting a grim battle with his desire to kneel before her. Oh how he hated that, hated wanting to serve her will, to give himself to her. Their eyes met, and she could see the bitter hatred and a touch of fear in his gaze. He murmured with his lips barely moving and low enough so only she could hear, “It would have been better for you to have not done that.”
With a contemptuous look, she took a token smell of his neck and stepped away, the wall between her mind and the rest of the room dissolving. Asmodeus’s voice immediately filled her thoughts as she and Belal stared at each other with hatred.
Are you all right?
Yes, but what just happened?
Her father sounded almost amused as he answered. Belal tried to rip away an illusion that wasn’t there. I believe he truly thought you were human.
Giving Belal a final smirk, she moved down the line to the last prince, Drayth. His gaze darted between her and Belal, and he appeared worried before his expression smoothed out and he smiled at her. After the overwhelming power of Belal, it was nice to only feel a trickle of energy coming from Drayth. What her father had told her was true. This half-demon Prince had only a tiny bit more power than an ordinary human. Sudden compassion filled her as she wondered what it had been like to grow up as the high king’s son and yet have less power than the lowest of devils.
She raised her hand toward him but he met her halfway, carefully holding her wrist and bringing it to his face. The touch of his skin was pleasant, as was the warm wave of desire he radiated while he stroked his thumb over the delicate skin of her inner wrist before brushing his lips over her pulse.
When he looked at her through his lashes, his eyes conveyed enough heat to make her heart beat harder.
He swept his hair over his shoulder, offering her his neck. As she stepped closer, she realized how much taller he was than she. With a mischievous smile, he placed his hands around her waist, easily lifting her so her toes dangled above the floor. Bemused, she placed her hands on his shoulders and took a long breath against his skin, enjoying the way his body tightened against hers. For a moment she wished he had been a potential blood mate, because the lust he threw off was delicious.
He gently placed her back on her feet. “Will you save a dance for me, Princess?”
She smiled and nodded while Belal and Yergont made disgusted noises. “Of course.”
As she made her way back to her father’s side, she could feel their eyes on her, their attention riveted on her body as her hips swayed while climbing the steps. They wanted her, even that bastard Belal, and that gave her power over them. She turned to face the assembled princes, her shoulders back and head held high as the court watched them.
The different divisions in the crowd were easy for her to spot now as the room had almost become divided between the camp that favored Belal and the one that favored her father. Goose bumps rose along her skin as her father said, “High Prince Belal, may I inquire as to why you felt the need to try and break any spells surrounding the princess?”
It seemed as if everyone in the room held their breath, but Belal merely shrugged. “I merely wanted to make sure the princess was indeed as she appeared. You can’t blame me for wanting to see if a potential blood mate wasn’t shielded in some way to protect her scent.”
Raum slipped his hand into hers and tightened his grip until her ring touched his skin. Belal tried to remove an illusion spell from you, but when he found out there was no illusion to remove he used the opportunity to test your shields. You did well.