Lyan
"Irash, where do you think you're going?" The King turned me around until I was staring right at his chest, holding my arm with his big, calloused hand.
I just wanted to get out of the room and have a mental breakdown in my own room, was that too much to ask? I just wanted to know who I was, but the king's hold was too steady and I couldn't run away. As minutes passed my will to run away diminished, until I just didn't want to be in a room filled with demons, not run to have a mental breakdown.
In the few minutes that the king had been holding me I had come to a conclusion. I was me, no matter what anyone else said or what I was. I was just me. Feeling more confident and better than a few minutes ago I tilted my head and looked down at my shoes, because it was safer than looking the strongest demon alive in the eyes and gathered all my courage to speak.
" My name isn't Irash, it's Lyan!" I said in a soft voice, still looking down at my feet.
" Your name is Irash. It's the name I chose after months of thinking" The king's face was suddenly in front of me, his knees on the ground to be at my eye level " Do you know what it means?" His voice got softer the more he talked.
I slightly moved my head, looking at the king's eyes, which sparkled with something that seemed too much like love to my taste.
" It means bright miracle" His whisper was so low that I wouldn't have heard it if I wasn't just in front of him.
I blushed and looked away. The King, my father, had just called me a miracle. No one had ever said such kind words since my family was killed, well my guys had, but they weren't parental figures. I was so moved I wanted to cry and scream. Someone cared about me. I could see it in the king's eyes, which were filled with love looking at me, as if I was the most precious thing in the whole world. Tears started forming in my eyes, but I stopped them and pushed them back. I couldn't cry, not right now, and much less in front of a bunch of demons.
' Pull yourself together. He must be lying. There's no way a man I barely know loves me' I chastised myself while the King was still on the floor, waiting for some kind of answer from me.
Instead of answering I backed away slowly, putting more distance between the King and myself.
" Ashmoder, let her rest" The demon called Ruan placed his hand on the king's shoulder and lightly pushed him away from me. Maybe I liked that Ruan.
I gave him a light smile, pushing back my fear of being so close to a demon, and nodded his way. Next thing I knew Ruan was on the floor, and the King, Ashmoder, was right on top of him looking at Ruan as if he could snap his body like a twig.
" Chest leia, na dog shu?" Ruan's words were incomprehensible to me and I stared at them, waiting for them to move, too curious to see how that all would play out to do the smart thing and run away, just like over half the demons had done already, while they were too distracted to pay me any attention.
Ashmoder huffed and slammed his hands on the floor beside Ruan's head, breaking the floor and forming cracks all over the beautiful black marble ground. Ruan started laughing while looking at Ashmoder, but instead of responding with violence like I thought he would Ashmoder just got up and walked right to me.
" Do you want me to show you to your room?" Ashmoder's voice was sweet and soft, as if it was a light breeze, which couldn't be any further from the truth.
" I'm fine" I ignored his extended hand and took a step back.
Ashmoder's face contorted with anger for a second and I flinched, backing away even more. He may have told me he loved me, but I knew it was all a lie. Since my parents had died no adult had ever taken care of me, and I knew what happened when you displeased them, but instead of getting angry and shouting or hitting me Ashmoder just walked away and sat on the floor with his knees closed and his hands turned into fists to his sides, not moving a single muscle and staying as still as a statue.
The other demons looked at the King, confused about what to do. Some began to murmur and whisper while others backed away slowly towards the door, not making a sound and avoiding eye contact with both Ashmoder, who was still on the floor, and Ruan, who had gotten up and was just behind the King, arms crossed and an amused expression on his face.
I took a peek at Ruan from behind Ashmoder and he smiled at me, showing me all his teeth, including his razor sharp fangs. I formed what I hoped was a smile to smile back at Ruan. It wouldn't be so bad to have someone on my side and looked back at Ashmoder, who was fuming and looking at Ruan as if murdering him was a real possibility, but instead of doing that he muttered something I didn't understand under his breath and all the other remaining demons in the room fell to the floor, dead.
As soon as I heard the first demon fall I turned around and saw that all of them had fallen dead to the floor, apparently for no reason whatsoever, but the grin on Ashmoder's face told another story. Just how powerful was he to be able to kill over a dozen demons with just his thoughts?
I backed away slowly, moving towards the door.
" Why are you running away, my bunny?" Ashmoder's voice was filled with sadness, as if he was really sad to see me go, which couldn't be true. Maybe he had planned to murder me there in front of an audience and then put my head on his door as a threat, but that didn't make any sense. If that had been his plan he wouldn't have murdered all the other demons, what was his goal then?
" You're planning to kill me, aren't you?" I was sure my voice was shaking, but I remained still, calling on my shadows as support, ready to try and run away as soon as he moved wrong.
" Of course not. I love you, my bunny. You're my little girl" Ashmoder's face showed real fear and confusion, as if losing me hadn't even crossed his mind, much less harming me.
" He would never hurt you. He even spent years preparing your room for when you'd return" Ruan butted in. What did he mean that he had spent years preparing my room? There was nothing personal in the room I had woken up in. It was just a normal, blank guest room.
The confusion must've shown on my face because Ruan laughed and both Ashmoder and him looked at me as if I was a little bit slow.
" The room you woke up in was the infirmary. We found you in the middle of the desert and took you here to take care of you" Ruan spoke to me as if he was speaking to a clueless little girl, which just pissed me off. I was perfectly capable of understanding everything, but I needed information in order to figure things out, unlike what almost every teacher in the world thought information didn't just spawn in my head whenever I needed it!
" Ah" I said instead of the rant going on in my head.
" Do you want to go see it?" Ashmoder offered me his hand while still sitting on the floor.
His face didn't give away any emotions, much less any regret for the massacre he had just caused.
" Okay" I said, accepting his hand. For once my common sense had won. Pissing off a being that could kill with his thoughts wasn't a good idea, no matter how much he told me he loved me and that he'd never hurt me.
The moment I touched his big hands Ashmoder's face lit up as if he had just gotten the best gift ever, which was confusing. He hadn't received any gift. It was just me.
The way his eyes lit up and he looked at me with adoration reminded me of my guys. Who could've told me I'd miss them already. Not even a day had passed and I already missed their laughter and the way they followed me around. I also missed the way they looked at me when they thought I wasn't looking. I missed the way their hands would accidently touch my sides during class or the way they'd smile at me. Fuck, I'd fallen hard.
Without putting any weight on me Ashmoder got up and still holding my hand left the massive throne room with the corpses behind as he began walking through the corridors, followed by Ruan.
' Just great' I thought. Now I would have to walk until my feet bled to find the room. I sighed. I really didn't like physical activities.
" Are you okay?" Before I could process what was happening Ashmoder was in front of me, looking at me like a worried mama duck would look at her ducklings. It would've been so sweet if I hadn't just seen him murder everyone in the throne room just a few minutes ago.
Ruan was right behind me and he looked at me with worry in his eyes.
" I'm fine" I said. I really didn't get why they thought I wouldn't be okay. I was perfectly healthy, physical at least, my mental health was another problem, but there was no way they'd know about that.
" But you sighed so loudly" Ashmoder complained from where he was still holding my hand on my right side.
" It's just a sigh" I whispered.
Ashmoder didn't look satisfied, but he let it go as he dragged me through the castle.
We hadn't even been walking for that long when Ruan bowed in front of Ashmoder and took my hand, placing a kiss on the back. ' How knightly!" I thought. It was kind of funny if I thought about it. A demon behaving like a human. I snorted while a smile formed on my lips.
" Goodbye my princess" Ruan's words made my whole skin crawl, but not in the good way. His words and actions didn't sent shivers down my spine. In my eyes he was just like an old man, even though his outer appearance was that of a twenty year old, the way he behaved himself and walked, even his gait gave the fact that he was an old man away. At least to my eyes it seemed that way.
Before I could say goodbye to Ruan Ashmoder jumped from my side and grabbed Ruan by the collar, pushing him against the nearest wall.
I couldn't understand their conversation, but it was pretty obvious to anyone watching that Ashmoder was pissed. His veins were bulging on his forehead and his face was all red, as if he was going to start throwing smoke out of his horns at any given second.
After shouting at Ruan for a while Ashmoder finally calmed down and throwing Ruan to the floor with an angry huff he turned to face me and his expression instantly changed, going from anger to love in a second.
Ruan, who was still sprawled all over the floor, just laughed as Ashmoder turned to look at him with a murderous gaze one last time. Instead of being scared Ruan just laughed even harder and got up in a second.
" Let's ignore that thing" Ashmoder took back my hand and started guiding me away from Ruan. As I looked back one last time I could've sworn Ruan was saying jealous bitch without sound, just by moving his lips, but without sound there was no way to be sure.
As I looked at him with a confused expression, not understanding why he would say that, I wasn't jealous!, his lips turned upwards to form a smirk and he took his finger to his lips. The gesture was so familiar to me that it just made me wish my guys were here even more. Oscar loved to make that gesture. He loved secrets. I missed them. I had to find a way to get out of the castle.
As we took a turn I saw Ruan one last time and as he disappeared from sight he smiled deviously at me and bowed before vanishing into thin air, literally vanishing before my eyes. What the fuck? Since when were demons capable of doing that?
I tugged on Ashmoder's long sleeve to get his attention, although I could've just grabbed any of his clothing. The dark burungdy long robe he was wearing complemented perfectly his light burgundy trousers, all of which were loosely hanging from Ashmoder's frame, making it impossible to tell if he was actually fit or not and whether he had muscles, even though my guess was that he had. He was the demon King after all, and I highly doubted they gave the position to just anyone.
As soon as I tugged on his sleeve Ashmoder turned to look at me, expecting me to start speaking.
" What was that?" My voice was so low that if Ashmoder hadn't been right by my side, and a demon with excellent senses, he wouldn't have heard.
As soon as I pointed to where Ruan had vanished his expression soured, making a face I couldn't help but describe as the will to murder itself.
" It's nothing" Ashmoder shrugged my question off, which didn't help calm me down. If he thought dissipating into thin air was nothing, then what did he think was something worth his attention?
My shivers must've too obvious because every few steps Ashmoder turned back to look at me and grabbed my hand tighter and tighter, until I thought it was going to snap and couldn't take it anymore. I pulled my hand away from his and he immediately looked at me with sad puppy eyes. His green eyes looked at me as if he had never broken a plate in his whole life and I was the bad one. Despite knowing full well that he was trying to manipulate me I couldn't help but feel guilty when I looked into his eyes, filled with deep sorrow.
I was perfectly aware that it was very likely all an act to get what he wanted, but the look of betrayal in his eyes when I took my hand away made me hesitate.
" Don't squeeze so hard" I said as I placed my hand back into his.
The smile he gave me was so bright that not from the first time since I had met him I wondered if Ashmoder was really a demon.
" I won't"
He held my hand with his own but this time he treated me as if I was glass, barely putting any pressure in my hands, just holding it with the utmost care.
As we walked through the corridors we didn't encounter any other demons, we didn't ever hear them as we walked through the castle. Where all those demons that had been in the throne room had gone to was still a mystery, one that I didn't specially want to unravel, so instead of asking any questions we walked in a calm silence to my room.
The way Ashmoder would sometimes turn to look at me and begin opening his mouth before closing it back up made me think that he wanted to tell me something, but he never did. Except for the times where he'd look at me and gape like a fish out of water he didn't try to talk to me or even acknowledge my existence.
I was looking through a big window in one of the corridors, admiring the shiny blue moon outside when Ashmoder stopped all of the sudden and pointed to a black wall no different from the others. If I had to say the only difference was that this one didn't have any torches on it.
" We're here"
I looked all around the wall but there was nothing there that pointed to a hidden mechanism, much less to a door.
" Where's the door?"
Instead of answering my question Ashmoder waved his hand and the wall parted open to reveal a room as big as the giant's had been.
I entered slowly, letting Ashmoder go in first. The moment my eyes fell to the bed I could tell the King knew some stuff about me. The bed was King sized and with a blue sheet all over it, as a matter of fact blue was everywhere. The walls were blue, the curtains were blue, even the bathtub, the biggest one I had ever seen, so big that I could even swim in it, was made out of blue marble. The toys spread all over the room were also blue with blue jewels in them. The toys went from plushies to big toy horses. It was a child's paradise, no doubt.
" How'd you know?" My question was barely a whisper.
I watched Ashmoder smile from the corner of my eye as I took the rest of the room in. The closet was filled with dresses, skirts, pants, shirts, gowns... It was filled with all the clothes I would ever need. Most of them were different shades of blue along with a few green, pink and purple ones. There wasn't even a single red thing in sight. He knew I hated red and liked blue, things that only someone who knew me well would know. Maybe he did like me.
Instead of answering my question Ashmoder walked so close to me that I could see the little freckles on his skin and lowered his head to my ear level.
" A father knows" He whispered while one of his hands wandered to my head, petting me.
Despite how good it felt I couldn't let myself be ensnared by the demon. I pulled my head away and walked far away from where Ashmoder was still standing, looking at me with sad eyes.
It broke my heart to see the unshed tears in his eyes, but I stood strong. For all I knew he could just be a very good actor and everything he had done and said could've been all a plot to get what he wanted, whatever that was. Though I highly doubted it I kept my distance from Ashmoder, who gave me a weak, sad smile.
" You need time. I get it" His words were gentle as he walked to the door, never once breaking eye contact." I'll tell them to fetch you some food, and don't worry, no one can enter this room without your permission, not even me"
I doubted his words were true. There was no way he would leave a half demon with a human alliance roam free in his castle and with a room he couldn't touch, but in the rare case that he was telling the truth.... Then maybe I would be able to survive living in the demon castle, and maybe I could even find a way to scape.
I nodded to Ashmoder, who was still backing away. When he reached the wall he waved his hands again and the wall parted. Seeing him opening the door so effortlessly, as if it was natural sparked a doubt in me.
" How do I open the door?" The fact the no one could enter was no advantage if I couldn't even open the door to roam and snoop around.
" You need demonic power to do that"
Well I was fucked. I had demonic power, my shadows were just that, but there was no way I could control it well, much less with the degree of precision that parting a wall without breaking everything inside and on the sides required.
" I'm not that good at demonic power" I admitted, felling powerless.
On earth I was an awful mage, and here in Jinasia I was an equally sucky demon. I wasn't good no matter what I tried. I had to swallow a dry laugh. I was useless, as usual. If I weren't I wouldn't have died so easily back on earth.
" I'll teach you" Ashmoder smiled at me and all my worries went away. I wouldn't just train, I'd become the best demon ever, that or I would run away, whatever happened first.
" Your food will be here shortly" Ashmoder said, his voice turning deeper and darker with every word he uttered" and we have to talk. Tomorrow morning we'll talk about how you got here, for now eat something and go to bed"
Ashmoder's words sent shivers down my spine, but not the good kind that my guys made me feel, they were that kind that made me wonder if I would live to see another day, but unlike his tone Ashmoder's words were kind. He just wanted to know how I got here, which taking into account the fact that he was the demon King and my supposed father he probably already knew. He knew that I was killed. His murderous gaze suddenly made a lot of sense. He wasn't mad at me, but rather at the people who had killed me, but just in case I was wrong I wasn't planning to stick around until morning.
As a response to Ashmoder's words I nodded with my head and he smiled at me. I didn't want to be kind to a demon, I really didn't like him or anything. It was just that in case I couldn't scape and somehow had to stay I had to maintain a cordial relationship with Ashmoder. He would be the one that would turn me into the best demon ever after all.
" Goodnight Irash. If you need anything my room is just in front of yours" Ashmoder pointed to the opposite wall, the one visible from the door's gap and walked out of my room, the wall closing behind him, leaving me all alone with my thoughts in a giant room with no way to distract me whatsoever.
" This'll be fun"