“Very sick. The right treatment could save him, or greatly extend his life, but we cannot afford it.”
I hummed. “You’re red. And a strong red at that.”
He really might have won Tiers in my absence.
The red sighed. “Powerful, but my mate is a yellow, and my family disowned me. They will not help my mate nor my son when I am gone. In fact, they will continue doing what they can to make their lives miserable and difficult. My son’s illness is of a unique nature. No one has ever seen its like. I believe that only the king might be powerful enough to fix him.”
I smirked at a snore from the bed, then asked, “What’s the matter with your son?”
The father’s gaze gained a hollowness that I felt in my soul—the look of a parent in despair. He said, “We would have expected our son to possess green or blue smoke, but he has yellow scales, and crimson smoke.”
My eyes widened. “His smoke is killing him.”
The red squeezed his eyes shut. “Yes. He must release smoke constantly to stay alive, but this greatly weakens him, and he still cannot release enough to stop the pain. You may have children one day, Mate-Intended, and if you do, then you will learn that there is no greater pain in this realm than watching your child suffer.”
Oh, I knew. Adeuto was a healthy, energetic boy, but I already felt so much pain about the potential suffering in his future. That was why I had entered Tiers too.
He spoke again, “I plan to make one last plea to my parents to support my widow. And I will spend this week severing our mating, so that she might go on as well as possible. I will hold my son close until I can no longer do so.”
My throat squeezed, and I waited until the urge to cry passed over me. “We can do more than that, demon.”
The red’s gaze was so weary when he looked at me. “What more is possible?”
I stretched out my legs. “Being who I am must come with some perks. Who are your parents? Perhaps I’ll pay them a visit.”
Unlike the yellow, this red didn’t hesitate to give me a name.
“Snedsawis our family name. They are?—”
“Wardens of the outer realm. By the desert,” I finished.
This was feeling like a lot more than coincidence right now. That was where Carmine’s mother was staying.
“I will pay them a visit soon enough. Send your plea anyway. I cannot say how quickly other factors will allow me to visit.”
The red asked, “Do you know them?”
“Ofthem.”
“They are well respected,” he said tightly. “They could not stand their son’s mating to a yellow. They wanted me to kill her.”
“Did you hear that Princess Gratia has found her mate? A purple.”
The red shook his head. “That is no condolence, Mate-Intended. I pity her greatly. What hope fills us at the beginning of such unions, but then we start to feel the unrelenting force of prejudice encroaching. That sours all we allow it to touch. The princess must be careful to honor the gift of her mating. I nearly didn’t before it was too late, but I count myself fortunate that I untangled from the snare of others’ expectations in time. Since then, my life has been spent resisting the cruel efforts of my parents. I have struggled as a red in a world of weaker demons, who favor dealing with each other over someone that they view as ‘playing poor and weak.’But I have been happy, too, Mate-Intended. So happy that I nearly burst with my memories.”
How would I kill these demons?
“I cannot save your life, demon,” I said. “But I am very powerful in my own right, and I possess a unique magic that sees beyond what a pure-blooded demon is limited to.”
The red lifted his head.
I arched a brow. “Perhaps a demon with unique magic can help another demon with unique magic.”
“You would help my son?” he whispered, then started to shake.
“I cannot say if I can figure it out,” I quickly said. “But I will try. When you die, knowing your son is okay may bring you peace.”
“Peace,” the red echoed. The word’s definition was lost on him, though perhaps he felt its meaning in the tone I’d used.
