Page 15 of Queens Will Play

Carter turned to Delilah. “It’s been a while. How fares motherhood?”

“Motherhood’s difficult,” she said. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I’ve got myself a half-Elf and a demi-Elemental. But…I love it.” Her smile was telling the truth.

“Good to hear. I can hardly wait to see how Chamiya grows up. We don’t have many notes in our research on Elemental-mortal blends,” he said.

“Put on the brakes, Carter. You are not going to study my daughter like a lab rat,” Delilah said. “But I can send you some updates on what we discover.”

Carter laughed. “Very well. I accept your answer. But it may be important in the future—as I said, I don’t think the Demonica Vacana Society has ever studied a half-Elemental. Do you know…is she immortal?”

Delilah stared at the floor. “I don’t know, and the Autumn Lord…we’ve discussed her future but the only thing he’ll say is she needed to be born, for events in the future.

There was so much we didn’t know about Chamiya yet, but it seemed Delilah knew little more about her daughter than the rest of us. I decided to derail the conversation for Kitten’s sake. Carter’s requests for information were hard to refuse.

“So, what did you find for us?” I asked. “That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”

“Right,” Carter said. “Point taken. Seriously, I meant what I said. This is dangerous news.” He pulled out a couple file folders and handed one to me, and one to Delilah. Smoky and Trillian peeked over my shoulders, while Morio and Vanzir stood behind Delilah.

When I opened the file, the first thing I saw was a drawing. And it was the man the Moon Mother had shown to me.

He was tall, or he looked it, with flowing dark hair caught up by the wind. His eyes were blood red with cats-eye white pupils, slits gleaming out of the field of blood. As in my vision, he was fit, dressed in designer wear with a leather Musketeer’s hat, with a black metal band around the crown, and a trio of long plumed black feathers trailing off the back.

My blood ran cold. “That’s him. That’s who I saw.”

Delilah gasped. “What…even the drawing scares me.”

Carter nodded. “I thought so, when you gave me his description, Camille. I hoped I was wrong, but given all the chaos going on, it doesn’t surprise me.”

Trillian tilted his head. “I think I’ve heard of him. In Svartalfheim, we tales about him. This man, he walks through the different worlds, under many names, am I right?”

Carter nodded. “Yes, only he fell into a deep slumber shortly around the Great Divide. And now, it would seem he’s woken up again, to wreak havoc on whatever world he can touch.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “He’s known by many names, but several are the King of Chaos, the Charming Man, and the Lord of Pain. His true name is Desanguas, the Deceiver.”

I pressed my hand to my chest, holding my breath. Maybe it was all we’d already been through, but a knot began to form in my chest. I’d never heard of him, but now, the name alone sparked off an almost primal sense of fear.

“Is he a demon?” I asked.

“He’s not just a demon. He’s one of the primal Demon Lords. Shadow Wing was bad, but Shadow Wing wasn’t anywhere near the level of this creature. Desanguas was born out of a pairing of the Greater Demon Lord Azutha and his captured queen—the Svartan goddess of lust and charm, Yrvina. He captured her and forced her to be his concubine until she managed to escape. But before she could get away, she bore him a son—that son is Desanguas. He has his father’s looks, and his mother’s charm. He was brought up by Azutha, and any good that his mother tried to instill in him was ripped out of his heart during a ritual to bring him to full demonhood.”

“Is he immortal?” I asked, swallowing hard. It was hard to pull my eyes away from the picture, and if that was any indication of the demon’s charm, he was going to be a dangerous adversary.

“No, all demons can die, but he’s a Greater Demon Lord. He gave up immortality to take on the demonic side fully,” Carter said. “He can die, but no one has ever succeeded in killing him. And now he’s awake, and wandering through the worlds, and he’s headed this way.”

Silence descended around us as we stared at the picture. He felt present in the room with us, even through the drawing.

Trillian sighed. “I thought that might be the case,” he said. “I remember stories about Yriva, and the dark days when she was under control of the Demon Lord. Do you know what woke him?”

Carter shook his head. “No, actually, I don’t. I reached out to colleagues, but no one seems to know the answer. I can tell you that you’re not the only ones to have visions of him. Several of our oracles who keep watch on the future felt him waken. There’s no doubt that he’s on the move. And something is drawing him to our area. The Society’s researchers are frantically trying to figure out what it might be.”

A thought struck me. “Could it be the Keraastar Diamond?” I asked, reaching up to finger the stone around my neck.

Carter frowned, worrying his lip in a way that I seldom saw. “We’re investigating that. It might be, but I think that the reason might be something other than that. I hope it’s something else—or he’ll be directly on his way to you.”

“Where is he? Now, I mean?” I asked, my voice low. “The Moon Mother said he comes from the Sub-Realms, but you said he’s in Otherworld? And why was he sleeping?”

“We don’t know the full story, but there was a great battle long ago—between Svartalfheim and Desanguas. This was shortly after the Great Divide, when Svartalfheim was still in the Sub-Realms.”

Svartalfheim had only recently packed up and moved lock, stock, and barrel to Otherworld.

“The war spilled into Y’Eírialiastar, and Aladril, the City of Seers, took Svartalfheim’s side. Their magic turned the tide, and both freed Yriva, and drove Desanguas’s armies back into the Sub-Realms. With their magic, they drove the Demon Lord into a deep slumber, locked away where he stayed until recently. But something broke the seal of his prison, and he woke, and now he’s free.” Carter grimly shook his head. “And he’s headed here, from what our seers can ascertain.”