“Shh, here...” he soothed, gently untying the gag and allowing it to drop from her mouth. The commander turned his attention to Faye as the princess scrambled towards him.
“Lephas...” Lori sighed.
He gently pulled the sister's gag free.
“I've never been so glad to see a pair of demons.” Faye laughed shakily.
Lori shuffled closer on her knees and tucked her body tight to him. Lephas rubbed a hand down her back soothingly and turned his face to Oriel with his eyes downcast.
“May I untie them?” he asked, his voice low and rough.
“I guess. If you're vouching for them.” The princecrossed his arms. His face was marred with a confused frown.
“I am.” Lephas admitted, turning his attention back to Lori. He hastily tugged his gloves off and began picking at the bindings around her wrists.
“The girls mean no harm, Oriel,” Raxx said. “I too can vouch for that. They are returning with us willingly to Banesteppe to meet with your brother.”
“I'm so glad to see you,” Lori whispered and her bottom lip trembled.
Lephas stroked the back of his fingers over her cheek. “Likewise. Just... Give me a moment to explain everything, okay?”
The faerie sniffed and nodded sadly. Her bindings came loose and she sagged, bringing her arms to the front of her body to rub her sore wrists.
Lephas quickly untied Faye. The girl didn't speak but looked up at him with wide, doe eyes. She too looked to be on the verge of tears.
It pained him like a knife in the gut to leave Lori's side but Lephas stood. He carefully helped them both to their feet before turning to face Oriel once more. The prince didn't look happy.
“Raxx – take the princesses into the farm house. Tell Magna I will be there in a minute,” Oriel barked, his eyesstill fixed on Lephas.
The commander raised his brows. “Magna? This is her farm? I had no idea we had travelled so far east.”
Lori obediently followed the shadow demon from the barn and shot a sad expression at Lephas as she was led back out into the blizzard.
Lephas and his prince stood in silence for long moments, waiting for the crunching footsteps to fade.
“Care to explain what the fuck is going on, Lephas?” Oriel snapped.
“There's no real easy way to–”
“So expand on what makes it so difficult, because right now I have no idea what's happening.” The prince sighed irritably.
“In a nutshell? We found the princess and captured her but were ambushed by the King’s Guard before we could get her back. Haros got himself captured.” Lephas rubbed his neck.
“That much I'm up to speed on - one of the men made it back to inform us. That's why I sent Raxx out after you. We'll make a plan to get Haros back as a matter of urgency.” Oriel nodded.
“During the ambush, Lori and I–”
Oriel raised his brows quizzically, but remained silent.
“Lori and I escaped, but we were both injured and ended up in the back and beyond of nowhere.” Lephas continued, nerves fizzing in his chest.
“That goes some way to explaining why it took Raxx so fucking long to track you down. Continue.” The prince waved him on.
“During our travels, the uh, the princess and I have gotten to know one another better. I've already learned a lot of information about her and her family. She agreed to return with me. She plans to swear her allegiance to Zelrus and tell him anything she can about her father.” The demon nodded, conveniently skipping over some important information regarding how he and Lori had gotten to know one another so well.
“That's... Surprising. Why would she—”
“Those men were sent to killherOriel, not us.” Lephas interrupted. “It was an ambush meant for her that we got in the middle of.”
