CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Reyna's leg was better—still tender, still aching when she stood too long, but no longer unbearable. She welcomed the distraction of movement.
The kitchen was already alive with noise when she left it behind. Pots clanged, knives struck wood, and whispers slithered between servants like smoke. Vaelith's name lingered in those whispers, followed closely by the names of the three others.
Reyna felt suffocated there. Eyes followed her now. Curious. Afraid. Measuring.
Inez had sent her to the east wing to fetch a fresh batch of herbs and ingredients from the store room, and Reyna had accepted quickly. Any excuse to breathe.
As she hurried down the stone corridor, her steps careful but quicker than before, a demon soldier rounded the corner from the outer court.
They collided.
She gasped, her foot slipping on the worn stone—and suddenly a firm hand caught her wrist, steadying her before she could fall.
"I'm sorry," they said at the same time.
Reyna blinked, startled. She bowed instinctively, murmuring her apology, but when she looked up, the guard was smiling. Not mocking. Not cruel.
Gentle.
He nodded once, releasing her hand immediately, as though afraid of overstepping.
It struck her then—this was the first time she had spoken to anyone outside of Prince Damiel and Inez. The first time someone else had smiled at her other than Inez since she arrived.
She returned it, small and uncertain.
As she turned to leave, the guard spoke again, softly.
"Be careful. It's a bit slippery."
She nodded and continued on her way, heart oddly lighter, unaware of the deadly eyes watching her every move.
Prince Damiel stood at the training grounds, watching his men move like a living weapon across the field.
Roan and Kael stood close at each side, reporting on a new recruit—a young trainee, Zaiel, whose speed and discipline stood out.
"He's fast," Kael said. "Sharp instincts."
Damiel nodded watching the demons.
Then he saw her.
Reyna crossed the courtyard toward the east wing, sunlight brushing her hair, her footsteps uneven but better. His gaze softened without his permission. His focus slipped.
Roan and Kael continued speaking, as Damiel tried his best to focus on the discussion.
When Kael gestured toward the trainee again, Damiel forced himself to look away from Reyna. The boy was good. Strong will. Promising.
Still—his attention drifted back.
And then he saw it.
A guard reached out and caught Reyna's wrist.
Pulled her close.
Damiel's aura changed instantly.
The air around him dropped into something cold and suffocating. Roan and Kael felt it before they understood it.
Her lips moved, then she bowed, she saw the guard smiling at her, and
Reyna smiling back,
She had never smiled like that around him.
How dare he touch what's ours, She's ours, Azaelth snarled, fury boiling through Damiel's veins. Ours.
Kael and Roan frowned, glancing toward Damiel, then followed his line of sight—only to see a guard smiling politely before walking away, Reyna had gone through the corner the guard had suddenly come out from.
Confusion flickered across both commanders' faces.
Damiel turned sharply.
"Continue training," he said coldly. "I want to take care of something alone." He said, as they tried following him.
They obeyed, as he walked off, they turned towards the training soldiers, issuing commands.
Reyna stepped out of the store room with her basket filled with the herbs and ingredients when a shadow fell over her.
Before she could react, Damiel seized her wrist and pulled her back inside.
The door shut with a hard thud.
Her back met the wall, gently but firmly, as he stood over her, close enough that she could feel the heat of him, and his scent. His presence swallowed the space.
He didn't know what enraged him more—the touch, the smile, or the fact that she had spoken to someone else.
"What part of you belong to me do you not understand?" he demanded, voice ice-sharp.
"I—I—" Reyna froze, heart hammering. Everything had happened too fast, she was confused.
She lowered her head instinctively, his eyes turned colder, it irritated him when she bow in front of him.
"Are my orders so meaningless," he continued coldly, "that you choose to defile them?"
"Raise your head" Damiel said, his voice filled with irritation.
She lifted her head to meet his eyes, she looked, a bit frightened, and it made him even more angry.
"Why did you smile at the guard?" His voice hardened further.
"I—it was just a gesture," she said confused.
"On whose order?" he snapped.
"Have you forgotten what happened to the servants—he said referring to valieth and the other three demon. They touched what was mine. And he—he didn't just touch you. He smiled at you". He said with obvious dislike. "And you smiled back." He finished eyes cold.
Fear crept into her chest.
"It won't happen again, Your Highness," she said quickly.
A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips.
"Oh, it won't happen again," he murmured, stepping closer.
"You are mine. Every part of you. I alone."
The possessiveness in his eyes terrified her.
She nodded silently.
For a long moment, neither of them move. Then his hand lifted, fingers brushing her cheek—careful, reverent.
Their eyes locked.
Then Damiel straightened abruptly and walked away.
She watched his back until he disappeared.
Only then did she bend to gather the herbs that had fallen.
When Reyna returned to the kitchen, she handed the supplies to Inez without a word.
Inez noticed her blank expression but said nothing.
Only Damiel could leave her like that. She thought afterall no one would date approach her after what Damiel had done.
At her station, Selis glanced at her briefly before returning to her work, face unreadable, while vaelith stared with obvious hatred and anger.
Damiel returned to the training grounds and took a sword from the stand.
Azaelth roared within him.
He spotted the guard instantly.
For a heartbeat, he considered restraint. He had wanted to cut the guard wrist completely, but Reyna would fear him more if he went too far.
Instead blue flames erupted along the blade, he was standing in front of the guard now, as the others around him took two steps back in fear, the guard was obviously afraid, as he bowed his head, not daring to look up.
"Stretch out your right hand," Damiel ordered, as the memory of him holding Reyna with that hand resurfaced in his memory.
The guard obeyed, trembling.
Damiel drove the sword straight through his palm.
The scream echoed., as the demon guard bent on his knees in pure agony and pain, he didn't just affect his body, it affected his demon, which hurts more than anything.
Damiel bent slightly to his level, as he leaned close and whispered,
"Never touch what is mine."
He wiped the blood on the guard's shirt, tossed it toward Kael, who caught it mid air effortlessly, he was confused as to what the guard did, but he also knew damiel won't hurt anyone without a good reason.
Damiel calmly turned back to the field,
"Continue."
The soldiers scrambled into formation.
The promising new trainee, Zaiel smiled as he took his stance and continue training.
Midnight – Queen Alvira's Chamber
Vaelith knelt on cold marble, cloaked in black, face hidden.
Queen Alvira sat upon her throne, her sons flanking her—Vaelor rigid with impatience, Arkes calm and observant.
Alvira studied Vaelith slowly.
"Lift your head."
Vaelith obeyed.
The burn was revealed.
Alvira's smile bloomed.
"So," the Queen murmured. "he hurt his own kind all for a human, and a slave at that."
Vaelith's hands curled into fists.
"He humiliated you," Alvira continued softly.
Hatred burned hotter than fear.
"You want revenge," Arkes said quietly.
Vaelith swallowed.
"Yes."
Queen Alvira rose.
"Then rise, my dear," she said warmly. "You are no longer alone."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Who exactly do you want revenge on, Prince Damiel or the human slave" Queen Alvira asked, Vaelith knew she couldn't touch prince Damiel, and Reyna was afterall the cause of all this, but the Queen won't be interested if it only involved the human.
"Both", Vaelith said boldly, afterall they were all accomplices.
"Good, am glad we are all on the same page" Queen Alvira said with a gentle smile.
"Then your first assignment, monitor the human, her every move, everything about her, and report everything to me", Vaelith frowned she wanted revenge not a spy mission.
"Why the human, and not Prince Damiel directly". Prince Vaelor asked, as if bored of all the wait.
"Careful now, you can't enter a cave without first inspecting what's inside the cave and what it's made of".
"For us to beat Prince Damiel we would have to observe his weakness, he wouldn't go about burning people without a reason, let's be prepared so there wouldn't be any room for surprises". Queen Alvira said, as Vaelith nodded with a smile, she indeed chose the right side to be on.
Prince Arkes and Prince Vealor looked at each other, but nodded nonetheless.