“It's a real family affair then,” the demon replied awkwardly.
“Did you know he was able to wield majick?” she asked, fiddling with a slightly frayed edge of the blanket.
“No. We had our suspicions, but none of our sources had ever been able to confirm it.”
“Do you think King Zelrus would allow me to stay with you when we get to Banesteppe if... If I agree to tell him everything I know?”
There was another long silence.
“I couldn't say,” the demon answered tactfully.
“I'll do it. I want to help you. I'll swear my allegiance to Zelrus if it means I can stay with you.” Lori felt oddly calm about her traitorous decision.
“That's... Wow,” Lephas replied. He sounded surprised.
“In any case, if Zelrus is half the demon you are he'd be a worthy man to follow.” She sighed, leant back and closed her eyes.
“You flatter me, Princess. My king is three times the man I am.”
“Not to me, he isn't.” Lori smiled, turning onto her hip to snuggle herself against Lephas's warm chest. She felt his arms and legs close in around her protectively and within moments, she was fast asleep.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Night had long since fallen and a bitter wind had picked up. Lephas rubbed his gloved palms together and tucked his face further beneath his scarf.
He and Lori lay entwined on the travel mattress, sheltering in a shallow bed of old, dry pine needles. They had tucked into the cliff face in an attempt to shade themselves from the icy breeze. Lephas hadn't lit a fire for fear of setting the whole area alight.
The princess cuddled in tight to him, shivering. Lephas gently pulled her heavy hood around her face and squeezed her small frame tighter.
Thankfully they'd had the foresight to get dressed before the warmth of the sun had finally sunk from view.
It had been a struggle, but by some miracle he had managed to squeeze Lori's gorgeous body back into her clothes without getting too riled upandwithout waking her. A true testament to her exhaustion, and more importantly, his self-control.
He sighed heavily, watching his breath spiralling into the sky before him.
It was a crystal-clear night and the vast expanse of the universe twinkled above him serenely. Uninhibited by the clear sky, Hestaesia's dual moons shone brightly. They cast a comforting and familiar glow onto the snow, lighting up the dark frozen forest.
It was a sky he was more than familiar with gazing into. Ever since he was a young boy he had be coming out to these woods, hunting and camping with his father and – in more recent years – Oriel and Haros.
It was the first time, however, that he had gazed up at that sky with a woman’s soft body wrapped in his arms. A woman, he silently admitted to himself, that he had begun to fall desperately in love with. The only other woman he had ever been as close to was his mother.
Lephas's thoughts turned to both of his parents andhis chest ached with loss even after all this time. He glanced down at Lori, still sleeping soundly against him, wishing he could talk with them about his new relationship.
He didn't doubt his mother would have liked her. She had always been the sort to reserve passing judgement on a person until she had gotten to know them.
His father, well... Though he would have been sceptical at first, he knew Lori's bravery and fierce loyalty would have won the old demon over quickly.
He sighed, saddened that Lori would never get to meet either of them. Lephas gazed into the night sky and silently prayed for guidance. He had never felt like this about any woman he had been with before.
Lephas hadn't been completely truthful with her back in the hot spring. He remembered more of the bear attack than he had let on.
The moment the animal had charged them should have been the moment he realised he was in love with Lori. He had gladly stepped into the path of certain death for her. Lephas hadn't felt any regret for his life ending, only sorrow that he would never get to spend the rest of it with her.
The demon recalled her begging him not to die, not to leave her and though he had fought to hold on forher, he had felt the cold claws of death at his back. Unfortunately, there had only been so much fighting he could do with two thirds of his blood already spilt into the snow.
He had slipped away, valiantly swearing to come back for her and find her in his next life. Which, of course, was when he had been ripped with blistering force from the veil of the afterlife by Lori’s spell.
It had been more than healing majick. She had somehow managed to pluck him from the grip of death. Lephas swallowed, even with his limited knowledge of majick he knew that was supposed to be impossible.
