Chapter 16: Of Restraint, Ruin, and Ridiculous Fathers
Zorathys's arm was iron around my waist. Warm, immovable, annoyingly solid. I kicked, twisted, clawed—basically reenacted every tragic ballad where the heroine throws herself into chaos—but the demon king didn't even flinch.
"Let me go!" I shouted, swinging my arms like a drunk cat with vengeance issues.
My father just sat there with wide eyes like he couldn't believe what was happening right now. Like he couldn't digest it at all.
"I swear, I'll kill you!" I snarled, still writhing in Zorathys's hold. "You absolute—money-obsessed—traitor of a father!"
"Elyndravyssorathielindria!"
He called out and I froze mid-swing, my body still caught in Zorathys's vice-like hold.
Oh, he did not just...
I turned my head slowly, dangerously, my glare sharp enough to decapitate him from across the table. "You did not just call me by my full name," I said, each word dripping with venom.
"Why would you even do something like this?" he asked, as though he were the victim here.
I laughed. Actually laughed. It came out as a bitter, slightly unhinged sound. "Why? Why? You're asking me that when you just tried to sell me off to a demon like I'm some kind of royal livestock?"
He flinched, eyes darting toward Zorathys as if expecting the demon king to correct me. Spoiler alert: he didn't.
Instead, Zorathys just looked amused, his chin resting lightly on my shoulder. "Hmm..."
My father sighed, completely missing the point as usual. "Elyndravyssorathielindria, calm yourself. You are in love with Zorathys, and besides, this is another way for you to fulfill your duty as a princess."
My mind blanked for a moment, then rebooted with rage.
"I'm sorry, WHAT?" I roared, struggling harder. "You're calling that fulfilling my duty?! What next? Should I sacrifice myself to a volcano because it would make the crops grow better?!"
Zorathys's chest shook behind me—he was laughing. He had the audacity to laugh.
"Let. Me. Go!" I snarled, trying to elbow him in the ribs.
"Calm down, Firefly," he murmured close to my ear, the word wrapping around me like silk and smoke. "If you attack your father, you'll be stooping down to his height. And trust me, that's a miserable height to stoop to."
I didn't pay attention to his words. Normally, I'd laugh at what he said but right now, I didn't have the energy to do so.
"I am not calming down! How do you expect me to calm down when my father is auctioning me off like a shiny trinket?!"
My father blinked at me, completely oblivious to the murderous intent radiating from his only child. "You are in love with him, Elyndravyssorathielindria. You said so yourself. I did nothing wrong except let you go with him like you want..."
"Shut up!" Zorathys and I said at the exact same time.
It echoed through the hall. My father's mouth opened, then closed. Then, slowly, he mimed zipping his lips shut and tossing away the key.
If I weren't so angry, I might have applauded the performance.
Zorathys finally loosened his grip on me, letting me step away. I rubbed at my arms, glaring between both of them like a cornered cat deciding which mouse to maul first.
"I would've let her kill you, you know," Zorathys said casually to my father, stretching like a cat waking from a nap. "But then the world would be denied the genius of a man who uses his height to think instead of his brain."
My father's nostrils flared, and for a moment I thought he might actually attempt a retort. But no, he just narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, looking every bit the offended pastry he was.
"How about we come to a compromise?" Zorathys asked me.
I turned to him suspiciously. "A compromise?"
He nodded, his expression almost serious now—well, serious by his definition. "I won't marry you immediately so you'll have time to get used to the idea."
"I don't see how that helps. I don't want to get married at all," I told him.
He chuckled. "Um... sorry about that, you've sealed your fate already."
I squinted at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He smiled. "Once words are spoken with intent, they cannot be undone. You declared that you were in love with me. You claimed me as your lover. The tongue is powerful, Firefly. Those words bound you. It's… what humans would call a fated bond."
I stared at him, waiting for the punchline. "You're joking."
He didn't blink.
"You have to be joking," I told him.
The same expression was on his face.
"I don't believe that," I said firmly. "That's ridiculous."
My father cleared his throat softly. "Actually… he's right."
I turned to him so sharply my neck cracked. "Oh, for the love of—are you serious right now?" I asked my father.
He nodded. "Yes, he is speaking the truth."
Zorathys hummed in agreement.
I gave my father a glare. "Then why... just why didn't you stop me from saying it then?!"
He shrugged helplessly. "You were adamant on saying you guys were in love..."
"You could have said something to halt me from signing my fate if I spoke like that..."
"I wasn't given a chance to tell you and I told you not to speak his name anymore..."
"After I practically told you we were in love with each other. And you knew he was in the kingdom."
"I did..."
I didn't let my father finish. I turned to Zorathys. "How long have you been here?" I asked him.
"A while."
"And my father was aware?" I asked him.
"Yes."
I turned to my father. "Don't you dare lie to me, Father."
He shrugged then, and I swear I saw red.
I lunged toward him again, ready to commit royal homicide, but a hand clamped around my arm.
"Firefly," Zorathys murmured, his voice close and low. "You're going to hurt yourself trying to get to him."
"I don't fucking care," I told him. "Is there no way to take this back?" I asked him.
Zorathys shook his head, expression all mock sympathy. "None, I'm afraid. Once the bond is spoken, it's sealed. However," he drawled, stretching the word like caramel, "we can delay the… formalities. We'll be engaged first. Give you time to… acclimate."
I blinked. "Engaged?"
"Yes," he said smoothly. "Consider it… an extended trial period."
I leaned back, my mind spinning. If we were just engaged then that meant he wouldn't be staying in Aelthryn with me, right? I could do what I wanted while he'd go back to the demon realm or whatever and while he's away I can think of ways to get out of this engagement, right?
Yes. That sounded perfect. That sounded peaceful. That sounded like—
"And as my fiancée, you'll be coming with me to the Demon Realm," Zorathys said, making the wheels in my brain screech to a halt.
"I'm sorry," I said with a frown. "What?"