I close my eyes instinctively, bracing.
Charles is struggling. I can hear him breathing hard. I open my eyes a fraction, and his body is dangling in mid-air, shielding the man’s features from me.
“Lord, save me!” Charles rasps.
The man laughs again. “I am the God you are calling for… I. Am. The. Devil.”
Charles drops lifelessly to the floor, and I stare back at the man in front of me.
“Don’t be scared, Ayna’vael.”
Click.
THE END
Epilogue
Charles remembered the night his father finally told them the truth.
They had been summoned after supper, he and his brother, into the smaller hall where the fire burned low, and the servants had already withdrawn. Their father sat alone at the long table, a single candle between them, the light catching the deep lines in his face. He looked close to death.
For a moment he said nothing, then he looked from one son to the other and spoke quietly.
“There is something that belongs to this crown,” he said. “Something older than our kingdom and older than the church that blesses it.”
Charles felt his brother move beside him.
“What thing?” his brother asked.
Their father folded his hands together. “A bargain. Our ancestor sought to secure the throne for our blood,” he continued. “He promised the Devil a queen’s soul in return for dominion that would endure beyond one lifetime.”
Charles felt his jaw tighten. “And the Devil accepted?”
“Yes. He had no other choice.”
The candle flickered.
“But the Devil is…particular,” their father went on. “He does not take just any soul. The Queen must prove herself worthy.”
“Worthy of hell?” Charles huffed.
His father ignored the remark. “The Devil reveals a token to the chosen heir. A ring, a necklace, a jewel. The King gives it to his bride, and through it the Devil measures her soul.”
“And if she is not worthy?” Charles’s brother asked.
“Then she withers, she falls ill. Or the bond simply fails.”
Silence followed that.
Charles stared at the candle’s flame. “And which of us must carry this burden?” he asked at last.
His father’s gaze settled on his elder son. “Only the devil can decide.”
Charles did not move.
“The kingdom will be divided between you after my death,” their father continued. “But the covenant will remain with whoever the devil chooses. It is his duty to find the soul the devil seeks.”
Charles made a decision that night.
