Then, together, as though they’d rehearsed it, “So long as our wills are our own.”
A flight of unease ignited in Saer’s guts under Runeak’s scrutiny.Tongue licking across her teeth, she addressed them all, though she didn’t avert her eyes from him.“What of true name commands?”
Saer nodded to the expected question.“Consider them a failsafe of the hierarchy.A last resort.”
The response seemed enough to satisfy Wrath.
“On my word of honor, the deal is made,” Runeak said.“So long as my will is my own.”Then, for the first time since Saer began speaking, she shifted her attention from him to Errshek.
Errshek spoke in haste.“Yes.I promise it, so long as my will is my own.”
Kalia’s brow furrowed, staring at the tabletop.Everyone gravitated their attention to her as the last.An uncomfortable silence enveloped the space.
“Kaliaspher,” Saer whispered.
“I have nothing to give.”Heavy defeat weighed her words down.
A melancholy smile tugging at his lips, Saer tilted his head.“Kaliaspher, look at me.”
Sloth frowned but did as he asked.
“You hold us accountable, Littlest Sister.You accept our promises, as you are the onlyDaemoenicwho can do so for everyone present.”
A combination of pain, relief, and disbelief flashed across her face.Kalia’s throat lifted and lowered as she swallowed.Peering around the table, she whispered, “Okay...I accept.”She ended her perusal at Saer, on the verge of tears.“Thank you.”Her voice only trembled the faintest bit.
Kalia was arguably the most prone to complaining of theDaemoenica, certainly the laziest, and had an innate ability to grate on Saer’s nerves by speaking any sentence in a particular way.
After all was said and done, he wouldn’t miss the chance to protect her.
Saer responded only with a faint incline of his head.
“I believe your proposal is next,” Arek said—not domineering but all business.
Saer made a noise of acknowledgement and leaned back.“It is.”Pointer fingers steepling while his hands propped on the table’s edge, he paused.
This was the last of it.
Saer coerced his clenched jaw to relax, craning his neck one way, then the other in a purposeful stretch.“I told you already I don’t intend to resume my duties.”
Out with it.
His words caught.The flutter of butterflies in his guts took flight.
Let It go.
The promises he made to the fallen angel upon his making were like acid burning through his skull.
SAY IT.
A sharp inhale taken in through his nose, Pride forced the words out.“I’m going to find a way out, permanently.I’m ending my servitude.I welcome any of you to join me.Anytime.”
The atmosphere itself held its breath in the immediate stillness after his declaration.
Saer lifted his gaze to his kin.
Silence.
Then, as one, the otherDaemoenicaraised their voices in protest.
