For the first time, he’d givenmepower overhim.Power I couldn’t fully grasp. If I wanted him gone, all I had to do was ask, and his own men would do away with him. There was a time when I would have jumped at the opportunity. Now, the idea filled me with dread. Such an attempt would end in disaster for me, too. That was his only insurance; the hope that my isolation bound me to him, just as surely as his obliged him to me.
So as Sitri started down the hall for my room, I made for the front door. After all, there was much work to be done, and Apollo would need my help.
“That will be sufficient, Lillia,” Mara said with a scowl.
She laid down the plate she’d finished washing, once covered in leftover food, now scrubbed perfectly clean. My own wasn’t as pristine, even though I put my back into it.
I’d never wondered how the demons did their dishes without water. Today, I’d found out. The process involved clear oils and lots of manual labor. At first, I’d barely kept the slimy plates from sliding out of my grasp. In time, I’d come to understand the technique. I was competent, though not skilled.
It was just one of the many things I’d learned. I’d done everything in my power to distract the household demons. I sharpened wooden stakes for Apollo, helped Mara prepare dinner, and here I was,helping with dishes, too. Despite my efforts, Mara seemed as cold towards me as ever. I wondered what it would take to please her. A miracle, probably. Maybe something more.
I set my plate on Mara’s, and the demoness hoisted the entire stack into the air. There must have been at least fifteen, all made of ceramic. Mara moved them as if they weighed nothing.
“It’s getting late, isn’t it, human?” She sneered at me as she passed, then stashed the plates in a nearby cupboard.“Run along, now. You will need your rest.”
“Of course, thank you. I’ll be going now.”
I welcomed the dismissal despite Mara’s sharp tongue. Hours on my feet exhausted me, making my body ache, a consequence of the menial, physical labor I’d been tasked with. I dropped my rag in the waste bin, ducked into the hallway, and marched towards freedom.
My room was my only safe, reliably quiet space in the entire manor. When I got there, I found a shadow lurking in my bed—one with broad shoulders and rippling muscles, and whose absence I had thought little about in the last few hours.
Sitri.
I locked the door behind me, taking in the scene. He’d disarmed, abandoning his weapons on the desk as I’d asked. The Prince had also lit a lantern I knew he didn’t need, and I was grateful for its light. My entry didn’t disturb his sleep, or at least his snores. Bits of his white shirt poked out from beneath the blankets, which wrapped around him in a cocoon. He had left his clothes on. Another small mercy.
Asleep like that, his face looked peaceful. It lacked the devilish mischief he wore, the fear and suspicion that so often hung over him.
Seeing Sitri that way, I almost pitied the Prince. I was a stranger to this world, but he’d struggled to survive in it for centuries. He had been here so long he’d forgotten what it was like to be human. There was nothing left for him but strife, plots against his life, enemies on all sides, and the grief of endless war.
I couldn’t maintain the energy to pity him much longer, though. My body cried out for rest. I had worked hard. Now, the only place for me to sleep was in bed with a demon.
A demon who trusted me, who showed me the same vulnerability I’d once shown him.
For the time being, we needed each other. It would only be for one night. It was only to protect myself, and Sitri was only a tool to accomplish that.
At least, that’s what I told myself as I stepped up to the side of the bed.
I lay down fully clothed, careful to keep as far from the Prince as I could. I didn’t even bother trying to take my blankets back. Although I’d thought Sitri’s presence would unnerve me, I found he had the opposite effect. Being so close to such a dangerous demon made me feel safer somehow. I turned my back to him and settled in with one of my luxurious pillows. Then, I closed my eyes and let my world go dark.
