Or more specifically: noticed him beside me.
The whispers started almost instantly.
“That’s the human.”
“She’s smaller than I expected.”
“He marked a mortal willingly?”
“I heard she summoned him accidentally.”
“That feels more humiliating.”
I turned to my demon. “Okay wow. Your people gossip aggressively.”
“They are terrified and unconditionally invested,” he answered calmly.
“That sounds unhealthy.”
“It is.”
Behind us, Nina had already started arguing with the younger brother about palace architecture again.
“I’m just saying,” she informed him while gesturing dramatically toward the giant black walls around us, “this place looks like depression won an award.”
“It’s meant to inspire fear.”
“It inspires seasonal sadness.”
One older council member walking behind us spoke up thoughtfully. “Perhaps the palace could use more color.”
The younger brother looked horrified. “You cannot redesign the royal palace because a human insulted it.”
“I absolutely can,” the ruler replied calmly.
Anderson actually stopped walking for a second just to stare at them.
“This is becoming a problem.”
Meanwhile I remained painfully aware of my demon walking beside me and of the careful distance he kept maintaining now, not cold exactly but restrained in a way that made it obvious he was trying very hard not to take anything from me again without permission, and that realization settled heavily in my chest as we continued through the palace until we finally reached a quieter section where enormous double doors stood open beneath silver lantern light.
The younger brother pushed one door wider dramatically. “Your rooms.”
Nina walked inside first. Then stopped completely.
“…Oh this is suspicious.”
The room was less like guest chambers and more like somebody converted an entire royal wing into a luxury apartment. Dark velvet couches curved around enormous windows overlooking glowing rivers far below the palace while silver fire crackled softly inside black stone fireplaces.
And near the center of the room, sat a bowl of strawberries.
I froze instantly, and my demon noticed the reaction so fast it was becoming irritating at this point, because for one awful second neither of us said anything while the silence between us tightened painfully.
Then Nina’s eyes darted between us before she whispered excitedly, “Oh my God. Even Hell knows.”
“I hate everyone here,” I muttered.
The younger brother seemed deeply amused while dropping dramatically onto one of the velvet couches near the fireplace.“To be fair, the strawberries are subtle compared to traditional courtship gifts.”
