“It was—in a time before I was crowned as Prince. My, how things have changed.” Sitri raised his hand, offering me the mushroom he’d collected. “I thought you might like to see Hell’s flora for yourself. Care for a souvenir, darling?”
I eyed it with suspicion, half expecting some sort of trick or ploy. So far as I could tell, there was none. The version of Sitri that walked alongside me, giving me gifts and information, was wholly contrary to the demon I believed him to be. He’d assaulted me, cornered me, threatened me.
The Prince had also given me a place to stay, fed me, and clothed me.
My brow furrowed. With every day that passed, he only confused me more.
I took the mushroom.
To the touch, it was indistinguishable from any I’d have found on Earth, like a little piece of home.
“Thank you,” I said, forcing myself to offer up the words. “I’ve never seen a mushroom forest before. Places like this only exist in fairy tales and children’s books where I come from. Forests on Earth are made of plants. Not mushrooms.”
“You won’t find Earthly forests here, darling. Things are quite different in Hell.”
I gave a genuine laugh, the first Sitri had earned from me. “That may be for the best. If Hell were anything like Earth, this place would be crawling with demon beasts. I can only guess what kind of wildlife you have down here.”
Sitri’s eyebrows raised as he scanned my face. My smile faded. He almost looked surprised by the comment, allowing the silence to stretch as his eyes worked me over.
“There is no wildlife,” he answered at last.
“But the horses.” I glanced at Nightmare. “And the hounds in Lantyca. Aren’t they animals?”
“Hardly. Animals don’t wind up here. They aren’t capable of evil, unlike humans. Those are demons created by their masters to serve. Mine know better than to disobey me, and my presence alone will keep the beasts of others at bay.”
“And if you aren’t present…?”
Sitri didn’t answer. Around us, the towering, tree-like mushrooms thinned, yielded to darkness. The clatter of combat was louder here, and something about the way it traveled sounded wrong, like it was echoing through an open cavern. Fewer spores drifted in the air. It wasn’t until I looked to the ground that I realized where we stood. This was the edge of a cliff, whose crumbling rim sat just within my lantern’s light. Beyond it, somewhere on the horizon, came familiar flashes. The sight of them made my heartbeat quicken.
“What do you see, Lillia?”
I swallowed. It became a challenge to steady my breathing, and fear took root in my mind. That was a loaded question if ever there was one, and given my precarious situation, I’d have to answer it carefully.
Sitri had me alone, far from Lantyca, without any witnesses. Not that witnesses would have mattered to a Prince. We stood at the edge of an unknown precipice. Conflict raged out there in the dark. The pleasantries he’d busied himself with vanished as he turned to face me, and when I met his metallic eyes, their silver gleam was cold as ice.
“I see nothing,” I answered, “just darkness and flashes.”
His stare cut into me like steel, waiting for any follow-up I might offer. I shut my jaw tight. Whatever he was searching my face for, he must not have found it. Sitri heaved a sigh, and his gaze relented.
“I see a battlefield. Two armies locked in combat far off in the distance,” he said as he turned back towards the blackness. “One of them is mine. For almost as long as I have reigned here, it has defended these badlands in my name. The second army bows to a demon Duke named Vapula. He means to install a successor on my throne. With every passing day, I lose more ground. His forces advance. If this continues, I will be forced to challenge him directly.”
My muscles stiffened. My breath hitched in my throat. Icy dread crept into my chest and froze over my heart. Memories came flooding back to me—memories of the monster who haunted my nightmares. Hishand on my shoulder atop a barren plateau, standing in the shadow of a palace made from snow-white stone, his fangs bared in a smile.
‘Won’t it be delightful,’he’d whispered in my ear, his fingers crawling along my waist,‘when you finally come to share my home? When we are never again forced to part?’
“And this… Vapula,” I choked out. “Do you think you’ll be able to best him?”
Sitri hesitated. The only sounds that remained were those of Hell’s ever-present warfare.
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
With that, the Prince shook his head. He took Nightmare’s reins in his hands and returned to his seat behind me, the force of his ascent making me jolt. This time, he didn’t wrap his arm around my waist—he leaned forward, pressing his body over mine.
“I tell you this not to scare you, but in the interest of honesty. I hope you will return the favor. Now, let us go home.”
I breathed a few words of agreement, and we were off. Sitri’s presence at my back weighed on my body and mind. I wasn’t sure what to make of him, of all he told me, and all he kept hidden out of my sight. With his body shielding mine, he seemed less like a warden and more like a protective monarch, fighting against impossible odds for his people. I couldn’t be sure if this was his true face or yet another mask meant to coerce me into submission.
My fist tightened around the mushroom he’d given me for a moment, holding it close to my chest before I allowed my grip to loosen. It tumbled from my hand, rolled from my lap, and fell into the forest’s shadows. If Sitri noticed, he gave no indication.
We returned to Lantyca in silence. Once there, I sealed myself away in my room. I needed clarity, and Sitri’s grace only confused me further.
