She scrambled to her feet, racing over to the window and peering out over the territory below. The fires in the distance weredemons. And not just any demons. Legions—armies. And they were approaching Murmur’s lair.
“Fuck,” she breathed. This was not her problem. She needed to get out of here. But …
She spun around and stared at Murmur. She wasn’t leaving him. Surely he wasn’t actually dead, and she couldn’t leave him here in the middle of an approaching battle. She’d go back to being angry once this was over.
“Master, are you here? I know we aren’t to disturb you in your tower, but I will come in to make sure you’re okay if you don’t respond!”
Mind made up in a flash, she ran across the room to the door, and then cracked it open, giving thanks that she’d somehow managed to hold on to her altered form this whole time. With her creepy eyes and claws, the visitor wouldn’t realize she was half human.
Outside, a short, red-skinned demon with stubby horns and leathery wings wrung his hands nervously. He stared up at her in obvious surprise. That made sense. She wasn’t supposed to be here. No one was supposed to be here.
“Where is the master?” the demon asked, leaning as if trying to peer around her shoulder.
“He’s … busy,” she said, still racking her brain for a way out of this.
“I must speak with him,” the demon said. “It’s urgent. The territory is under attack.”
She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out how much to give away and how loyal Murmur’s subjects were to him. Did they hate him for his obvious neglect? Were they bored and wished he sent them out warring?
Then she figured she’d just ask him outright. “How loyal are you to Murmur?”
The demon’s eyes bugged. Immediately, he looked nervous. “Very loyal. Extremely loyal. The most loyal.”
Okay, he was probably mostly afraid of being impaled if he answered wrong, and she didn’t blame him.
“Do you prefer him as a master to Paimon?” Murmur had told her that Paimon’s subjects had automatically become his as soon as he took over her territory.
The demon nodded empathically. “Oh yes, our master is the greatest master.”
“You don’t wish you were out … fighting? You know, conquering new territories and shit?”
“No, no.” The demon waved his hands, and this time she had the sense that his response was genuine. “We’re tired of fighting. All we ever do is fight, fight, fight, for centuries. But we’re tired. We want to rest. Master doesn’t make us fight. Master lets us stay here. As long as we obey his rules and leave him alone in his tower, he doesn’t hurt us, he doesn’t make us battle, and he doesn’t feed us to the goraths for sport. We areveryloyal to Master.”
Weren’t demons supposed to love fighting, for the sole fact that they were demons? Wasn’t violence and bloodshed supposed to be the entire purpose of their existence? And yet, these demons were tired and wanted to rest. They weregratefulMurmur neglected them.
She would never have believed it before she’d spent time here herself, but now … the idea of demons who just wanted to be left alone didn’t seem so outlandish.
She took a breath and decided to trust this little red fucker.
“Listen closely,” she said, and immediately the demon leaned in. “Murmur has performed a very difficult spell to … increase his power. So he’ll be twice as strong as he was before.”
The demon’s eyes widened. That was a crock of shit, but she wasn’t about to let word get out about what had reallyhappened. And Murmur could thank her later for boosting morale with his subjects.Because he’s not dead. It’s not possible.
“But because of this spell,” she went on, lying through her teeth, “he’s indisposed while he recovers. He left me in charge in his absence.”
The demon nodded. “You are his consort, the only one to ever receive gifts from the Master and be allowed within his treasured library. This is wise. The Master always has a plan.”
Hiswhat now?
“What should we do?” the demon asked. “The boundary wards are down, and enemy legions are running freely across the plains.”
“Just …” She wasn’t a demonic battle general. This was way outside her pay grade. Still, the demon said he didn’t want to fight anymore, so she’d go with that. “Stay inside the lair where it’s safe. Organize your defenses and protect the castle, but don’t bother charging out to meet them. You’ll be exposed out on the plains.”
“Yes, mistress. Thank you, mistress.” He bowed.
“Whatever happens, don’t let anyone come up here. No one can disturb Murmur’s tower, okay?”
“Yes, Mistress.” The demon hurried away to fulfill her orders, and she slammed the door, leaning against it to catch her breath.
