The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Seven pt 2

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In the palace, slow steps echoed down many flights of stairs along with a rhythmic clunk. After a heavy squeak and clash of a metal door, the room in which the steps graced had walls of an iridescent hue. In front were metal bars covered in the same color as the walls, aligned parallel of close distance to one another.

Across the bars was a tall demon, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Bruises decorated his skin with a streak of dried blood on his cheek. The sound of chains clamored around the room as the demon lowered his arms in front of the guest. "Vrona..." His voice of a whisper boomed louder within the small room.

Vrona couldn't help a glare the moment her eyes saw his, the moment she heard the tone of his voice. She was still thoroughly bandaged, struggling to stand with only a wooden cane to hold her balance.

How had they come to this?

Years and years ago, when the two had made an agreement on marriage, they had just been strangers with a duty. Yet, with a simple round of tea and Vrona's forced friendliness, an affable bond developed between the two. Despite the queen's wish for solitude, Vrona truthfully enjoyed the company of another. She had found him amusing at times, the emotionless king suddenly irritated, suddenly smiling from the queen's influence. To get a rise out of him excited the day.

All the while, the king had been quickly charmed by the queen, who had no care of social order. Without the influence of the king's magic and domination, Vrona had become the first to be able to face the king on an equal level. Teasing him, swearing at him, laughing openly around him, her presence became the first he subconsciously took notice of. Took care of. Yearned for.

Obsessed over.

The two had come to a point of trust and mutual companionship where Vrona had thoughtlessly shared about her brother and his mate, how hurt and confused she had become. It was the first time she had spoken of it since the incident. Without dismissing her, the king had uncharacteristically shown attention and listened in silence. A demon who she had shared such a moment with, yet—

"Just... tell me why. Why did you do this to me? I thought you were decent. I thought we were companions at least back then." Vrona tried her best to keep her voice from quivering as all the bubbles of loss, betrayal, anger, confusion strung at her nerves. "How could you—," Vrona grated through her teeth, "—go as far as taking my wings from me?"

"You continued to leave for the elves, but the elves had hurt you, Vrona. I was protecting you from them. I was protecting you from becoming hurt."

"Protecting me?" Vrona scoffed in disbelief of what she had just heard. "You snip a bird's wings and tell it to fly." Legs trembling, a sweat broke free from her temples. Her body still needed to recover, yet she had strained her way down to the cells as soon as she gained consciousness, ruminations that needed answers filling her mind. She breathed deep to compose her balance and hissed, "Did you ever think of how I would feel?!"

"Even if you hate me, I did what was best for you. Understand that I loved you, Vrona."

Hearing words of love come from the king's mouth disgusted the demoness. "Love?" she laughed loud without humor, a sharp glint seething in her eyes as a new fire rose within her. Pain resurfaced of when she woke up one day, unable to move her wings. Unable to see her wings. Trapped in a cell with no windows, no mercy.

"Your love is worthless."

Gripping her wooden cane harder, she gritted her teeth before calming into a truthless smile. "This will be the last time we see each other."

"Vrona, don't do this," the king's gravelly voice reverberated in Vrona's ears as he looked up at her with a stern gaze.

Before stepping out the door, she glowered down at the king one last time, making sure her spine stood tall. "I would clip your wings, too, but it would be more torturous for someone like you to have wings but not be able to use them."

In a blink, the queen was gone, while the king was left to his solitude within the anti-magic prison cell, staring at the door with tight fists and a clash.

At the top of the stairs, past the last door, Vrona's eyes met with K'ra's, their brows turned up in concern. "We did it." One step and another, Vrona's forehead soon cradled against K'ra's shoulder, years of anguish, hope, doubt catching up to the moment. The fire lit lanterns around stood erect in the stillness, dusting the dull concrete walls with yellow.

And for hours within the long, empty hallway, only the sound of wails echoed past.