A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 2)

I pushed my hands through the sleeves of the robe and allowed her to lead me into the bedroom. Once there, she pulled out a seat near the window and sat me down so she could work a brush through my hair. It felt like being pampered. Like being looked after. I couldn’t say I didn’t like it.

“Now, all better?” Hadriel sat on my bed with an ankle over his knee, giving me an unwanted view of his crotch.

Leala hissed at him, pulled out another chair, and gave him a dirty look.

“Goddess spread her thighs and squirt, this is ridiculous.” Hadriel grumpily lowered into the chair. “Now, as I was saying, we need more of that potion. It is magnificent.” He leveled a finger at Leala. “Don’t tell anyone we are getting more. Make up an excuse why we can’t—Finley cracked her head and can’t remember it or something. We have some loose lips in this castle, and we need to start picking and choosing who gets the potion or the demons will surely be all over our asses for more information. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had just about enough demon ass-play to last me for a lifetime.”

“You aren’t supposed to speak to me while in front of the miss,” Leala said stuffily.

“Really?” Hadriel shot back. “We’re going to try to go back to the old customs? Because I’ll be honest, I don’t know them. I was not trained for this job.”

Leala sighed softly.

“I can make more of it,” I said. “Did you say it only partially worked, though? I made it stronger than normal, but it still wasn’t strong enough?”

“It mostly works—that’s what matters, milady,” Leala said. “It leaves the head much clearer when the incubi and succubi are around.”

“I mean…I can just make it stronger. It’s no big deal.” I closed my eyes as Leala ran the brush through my hair. “I can make enough for everyone—”

“No, no,” Hadriel said. “If we all suddenly didn’t respond to the demons, they’d know something was up. No… Wait, is that…”

I opened my eyes to find him staring at my neck. I covered the bite mark with my palm, my cheeks warming.

“It’s nothing,” Leala insisted, draping my hair over the mark. “She slipped and fell.”

“On the master’s teeth?” Hadriel quirked a brow. “Who are you trying to fool, Leala? I’m not one of them. I know to keep my mouth shut. The master said he’d pull off my arms if I didn’t”—his eyes widened—“and I believe him.”

“You’re drunk. You are a horrible gossip when you drink and don’t have a dick in your mouth,” she mumbled.

“Not about the master’s affairs, I’m not. So, doll, tell me everything. I know he got hurt saving you, and you nursed him back to life.” He braced his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist. “Then what? He’s a closed book, that one. I’m dying to know how you ended up back at the castle. I honestly thought he was going to let you go, what with the way he was moping around, snapping at everyone, scaring the staff half to bits. The demons thought it was because you got away. So that’s good, at least. And you did, except now you’re back. Tell me, did you miss him, is that why?”

“Hadriel,” Leala said with a note of warning in her voice.

“I’ll tell you everything after I get a few hours’ sleep,” I said.

Hadriel made a disgruntled sound. “I hate when the party has to end.”

“I don’t know why, with the amount you party,” Leala said, putting the brush aside and moving to turn down my bed.

“What else do I have to do?” Hadriel stood and staggered as he put the chair back.

“Help me with the garden, for one,” I said. “Playtime is over. There’s an entire kingdom that needs our support, and you’re going to help me cater to them. Nyfain can’t be expected to hold this place up on his shoulders alone. It’s time we pitch in and do our part.”

“I suddenly think I need another drink,” Hadriel muttered as he wandered out.

Later that afternoon, I did as I’d said and put Hadriel to work. Nyfain had already started him on the garden, with help from some of the other staff, so I let them continue that. I visited the small herb garden on the east side of the castle, something the cook apparently took care of for the food and what little supplies Nyfain needed to add to his subpar healing remedies.

“This is it?” I asked, standing at the edge and looking it over.

Jessab, a round-bellied man with a white mustache and thin lips, puffed out his chest. “That is all I need to make the food. You want I take care of plants I don’t need so that I don’t make the food?”