Chapter Ten (Sin)

Returning to the throne room I was in a foul mood, why the hell was he with her, he had no reason to be. Merula, sensing my mood, walked toward me cautiously.
I looked at him and ordered, “Find Rook. I need to speak to him now.”

“Sire… there have been developments.” He mumbled, barely audible, as he fiddled with an object in his hands.

“What developments?” I asked as I stalked up to him.

“It seems your brother Lazarus has found his fated mate.” he reported as he held out a piece of paper towards me. Without looking at it, I ignited it and it burnt to nothing.

“Oh really? And where is this mate?” I asked, looking around.

“No one has met her yet; it seems he is in the process of figuring out how she will live here because she is human.”

If he thinks that my little flame is his mate, he is sorely mistaken.

“As protocol dictates, the only way the throne would go to him is when she accepts him as hers, if she doesn’t, it changes nothing. He won’t get his wings, nor will he be able to take on his demon form. Watch the situation closely and let me know when anything changes.” I ordered him.

“Yes sir, I will go find General Rook.” He bowed his head and quickly left the throne room.

Not three minutes after he had left, Lazarus waltzed into the room with a grin on his face.

“Evening brother.”

“Go fuck yourself.” I snapped, “You stay away from her or else!” I added as I sat on my throne.

"And who would that be?" he asked coyly

"Amaya, you dirtbag."

Lazarus' eyes flashed a blinding blue. “You can’t keep me from what’s mine.”

“And how exactly do you know she is yours?” I queried. "You’ve only met her once."

“I have an oracle on my side, and she told me of this.”

I rolled my eyes, remembering the oracle Rook had mentioned that had given Lazarus and Hellebore the wrong information, and smiled to myself.

“I guess the truth will be made apparent. Won't it?” I mused as he frowned, as if picking up on the anger I was feeling draining away.

“Why are you so sure she is wrong?” he observed as he walked towards me, paying close attention to my movements.

“Call it a feeling, dear brother, plus doesn’t your mother kill any woman who gets close to you? Why would she help you find her if she has disapproved of every other woman, you have been around?” I smirked, then frowned, realizing my own words: if Hellebore thought Amaya was Lazarus' fated mate, would she kill her?
Realization seemed to cross his mind as well, he frowned and without a word; he turned and left.

Agitated, I stood and paced the room as I waited for Mohan to return with Rook. I would have to send up men to protect her from Hellebore, I pondered, or maybe it was the threat she needed to summon me, which would then bind her to me. My plan had been running smoothly so far would this throw a wrench into things or help them along. I needed her to help fix a wrong that was done to an innocent victim. The victim in question helped save a lost demon boy from certain death at a grave cost to her. Guilt ate at me, and this was the only way I could fix it.

As I weighed the pros and cons of my decision, Rook entered with Merula close behind. They both bowed, Merula turned to leave, and Rook walked closer to me.
“You wanted to speak to me, brother?” he questioned, “Why do you seem so troubled?”

“It seems Lazarus thinks Amaya is his fated mate and has informed the court of such.” I replied, eyes locked on him, looking for any hint of betrayal. Instead, he smiled.
“That’s great then, because that means she is yours; the oracle is already on our side and gave false information to Lazarus so he would lead you to her."

“One problem. She is human, and it shouldn’t even be possible, and he has already found her. I need to speak with this oracle.”

Rook paused for a minute before replying. “It should be possible for me to get you a meeting with her. She stays in the village during the week but goes to her hidden cabin on the weekends to decompress I could set up a meeting. I am sure she would make an exception for the King."

“Make it so.” I paused, “Is there anything else I should know about?”

“No, unfortunately my mother no longer trusts me, so they keep their agenda to themselves, after they told me about the fated mate and the oracle, I attempted to sway them from their treachery, but instead they shut me out.” He frowned.

“I am sorry that we have put you in the middle, this mess shouldn’t have happened to begin with.”

“I will always follow you. Without you, I wouldn’t even be here. In my mind, you and father have been more of a family to me than them.”

I nodded, “I agree, little brother. Shall we head to dinner?” I offered, looking outside, and noticing the time. He nodded, and we left the throne room heading down a long hallway into a dining hall, the court members gathered to eat here every evening for supper. Breakfast and lunch were usually delivered to our personal quarters. Rook and I joined Hellebore and Lazarus at the head table. Lower-class demons served the food.

Unlike what the earth plane consumed; demons consumed sins. The higher demons like myself sometimes ate the souls of the most contaminated and damned humans, as it was a delicacy to us.

The seven gates or levels of hell where the damned souls were kept and tortured were also used to harvest the sins from the soul by purifying it before the soul was reborn. Some were more fruitful than others, and we did not harvest those beyond redemption. Instead, their entire soul was consumed by the highest members of the court. Each of the sins, when harvested, would be converted into different types of food that resembled human food but different. Lust was sweet and juicy like the fruits of the human plane, gluttony was fatty, envy was sour, pride was juicy with a hint of blood like a properly cooked steak, wrath was spicy and always gave me heartburn, sloth was bland, and greed always tasted overdone and dry like burnt toast.

A variety of foods were served and placed in front of us. I motioned for my poison tester to test the foods before I ate my meal.

Each demon was drawn to their own preferred sin, mine was lust. It was like a drug to me, the promise of something sweeter and more delicious, like the promise of sex. I craved it more than any other sin.

My father was drawn to wrath. He swore the spicy flavours exploded on his palette; he would choose it over any other. A demon's taste in sin explained a lot about their personality. My father was a force to be reckoned with. He was someone you did not betray, and he was known for the brutal punishment of anyone that had betrayed him.

I, on the other hand, was a womanizer, I loved women, and they loved me as my father put it, I was ruled by desire and temptation on the other side of that though my anger was just as passionate if I was betrayed.

Our table was always the quietest during dinner divided by the backstabbing intents of Hellebore and her eldest spawn, usually I would eat alone in my quarters preferring the quiet but with the political stance right now I feared they would use it to turn my subjects against me.

“So dear, when will you bring her to us?” Hellebore sneered at me as she spoke to Lazarus.

“I have to figure some things out. She is human, after all, mother. Not exactly compatible with our plane.” He spoke matter of fact, yet I could tell from his demeanour that he did not fully trust her with his supposed fated mate.

“That’s a pity. I would love to meet her.” She exaggerated with a smile, her eyes flickering to a threatening purple fire before returning to their normal pink colour.
“I bet you would, mother.” Rook muttered as he ate another bite of his meal.

“Pardon traitor?” she quipped angrily.

“You usually kill any woman who gets near him. What’s stopping you from killing his fated mate?” he accused, as his eyes flickered with green fire before settling to their pale green swirls.

“Like I’d murder my beloved eldest son's fated mate.” She laughed darkly as Rook stood and exited the hall, clenching his fists in anger.

Finished with my meal as well, I rose and left the hall without a word to the others at my table; I headed back into the throne room and looked at the gates that encircled it. Each one had a unique design marking what sin they harvested from behind it. There were seven in total and each one, when opened, would lead to a different torture area of hell.

Torture was used to harvest the sins from a soul until no more sin could be exhumed, then the soul was deemed purified and sent back to earth to be reborn.

I walked past my throne and headed to a hallway between two of the gates that lead to the stairs to my quarters. I was exhausted, and I still hadn’t decided if I should let them endanger her to benefit her or to protect her and hope my original plans would work out. At least if they were behind it, there was no way she could be angry at me, but if she found out my plan, would she be able to forgive me?