The Demon Queen (Otherworld Series #5)

Chapter 23- A world without Ghouls

Daramon paled when he heard the 'T' word.

The female gasped and Darivarr stepped back away from me, as if to say that he's not on my side.

Then there was a pregnant silence, the dripping of slime from Pisces' hands being the only sound.

Daramon sat on his chair, slowly. As if it hurt to sit.

"Your still holding on to the fact that I gave you away to the demons." He sighed.

I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise. "So, he remembers!"

"Lunia, the demons are our closest allies-"

"That's bullshit, you live on the land that belongs to Vampires, they are you closest allies. You know that."

His expression hardened. "I also know that if your father has a sudden change of heart, he's going to drive us out of here and then we will have to go live in Dinhae, possibly Ilm because Nikolai is going to want to keep an eye on us." He stands up and comes closer.

"I...betrayed you." He conceded. The female gasped again. "Edward?" She asked.

Daramon looked at her. Edward? Was that his middle name? Not Elvish at all. Daramon Edward Hawkheart. Of noble blood that, too.

"Keraen, leave this room, please."

So, the noble blood of the Elves were a bunch of misfits. A rebellious goth, a leader with a human name and a female with a male's name. The older, more traditional Elves must hate this. A bunch of hypocrites if they don't. I mean, they hate me.

The elf called Keraen left the room, sending me a dark glare and ignoring Darivarr and Pisces.

Daramon stared at me, silently after that. I raised my eyebrow. "If you are expecting me to forgive you then keep waiting. I hold mean grudges." I state, keeping up my straight, stern, regal pose.

Daramon shook his head, his expression sad. "All elves do. "

Wow, acknowledging me as an Elf and not 'The Misfit' or a Vampire. Daramon was sucking up to me, hoping I'd go tell my father to let him be in peace.

"You can drop the sucking up if you think I'm going to tell Hanes to spare you. I'm not going back. I have work. " And with that, not letting him say anything, I continued my official work.

"Daramon Hawkheart, I come in the name of the Vampires and the Demons. The Vampires asked your help and you refused to offer, Hanes has requested your presence in his court with a valid excuse. " I said and nodded my head to Pisces.

He came forwards and handed over to Daramon an envelop with the Vampire insignia on it. It was waterproof so the spit did not stick to it, rather it remained on top and hit Daramon's hand as he accepted it. He made a horrified face but didn't say anything.

"Now that that is out of the way, I come on behalf of the Demons. Tell me, whose side are you on?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Whose side?" He asked, placing the envelop on his desk and folding his arms.

I straightened my shoulders. "Are you siding with the Demons? Are you siding with the Ghouls? Or are you not fighting at all?"

He glowered. "How could you even suggest that we would side with the Ghouls?"

I shrugged. "They call you the Noble Elves, but I don't see anything noble in the way you behave. Giving up your own kind to others, refusing to side with your allies."

"We are allowed to refuse-"

"So, you want to refuse the allies whose land you have taken over? Without permission? Even after they have so gracefully let you stay? Tell me, Daramon, what did you do to the Vampires who had lived here before you? What of the creatures whose ancestors had given this land to?" I moved closer, my outrage fuelling me.

"They're homeless! Or they were forced to move their entire lives away, you know how that feels don't you? Everything you've built, worked hard for, taken away from you, by a bunch of ungrateful morons. This is Sohue, the land Hanes and his father before him had claimed to be a safe haven for Vampires, a place they can live in freedom and peace without being hunted and staked. Their own land. And you, Elves, the ones who created the Vampire Hunters, suddenly come seeking refuge and take over our peace and freedom." I seethed.

"What were we supposed to do?! Our land was taken by the Ghouls! They just suddenly appeared from somewhere one day and took everything we owned! We have only three major surviving clans now! We asked the Demons for refuge but Afonos Shizkov refused us. Hanes opened his gates to us, we have just taken a small part of his land, he has the whole of Sohue for himself!"

"You took it without permission!"

He looked away, guilt in his gaze. "We did it for our people. It didn't feel like home in such a small place. "

"Daramon." He looked at me. "This isn't your home."

His gaze hardened, he went behind his desk and sat on his chair. His expression a mirror of my own. Gods, why did I never see the resemblance in his face. The tilt of his eyes was the same as mine. I saw it now, his sadness was the same as mine.

"The last war took a big toll on our resources and our people. We....will offer a few of our resources but we will not be fighting the war. Our people will be wiped out. " He said, his voice low but sure.

"This is all I can offer you, Lunia...Shizkov. The world still needs us."

Okay. Acceptable. Not everyone is going to say yes. Not everyone is ready to stick their neck out for us. I nodded, reluctantly and turned to leave.

I couldn't resist the last jab, though. "Just remember, Daramon. The Elder Species have people less that you do, but they're still ready to fight for a world without ghouls."

And I left the room, sensing the shocked silence that my statement created. Pisces followed me and placed his hand on my shoulder as I walked away.

Spit and slime remained back, I looked at his face.

He raised his thumbs up. "Ewww."

It made me smile.