A Kingdom of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales 3)

When the demons were satisfied, they dragged me to a cell at the end of the room. Jedrek was thrown in with me a moment later. Someone said something that was likely a taunt. I couldn’t say. I ignored it. As one, they receded whence they had come, clicking out the light before trekking up the stairs.

Darkness blanketed my dank, dirty new home.

“This is a nightmare,” Jedrek said with a tremor in his voice.

I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up. I choked on it, on blood maybe, and let more come anyway.

Into the silence I said, “Cheers! Now get me a drink.”

FOUR

HADRIEL

I flexed my fingers and then wiggled them around, adjusting the positioning of my dick in my annoyingly tight black trousers. Fucking Cecil and his shitty work whenever I needed something. He was the worst seamster in the known world. When it came to my stuff, anyway. And he was the only one who worked on my stuff because of some bullshit deal he made with the sweeter, easier-to-work-with seamstress.

“Do you know what I would love?” I whispered to Leala, who was waiting beside me at the closed door to what had been Finley’s tower. I really hoped the master couldn’t hear me. My volume control was honestly the shits at this point in my tenure in the sex-demon-filled castle. “I would love a pair of jeans again. I used to love wearing jeans. I think the master is the only one with some left.”

“I’d rather electricity or proper coffee. But sure, jeans would be great.” She paused for a moment, waiting for me but not pushing. Neither of us wanted to do this. “I never wore jeans.”

“That’s because you’re proper. I wore jeans. Horseshit didn’t stick to jeans like other pants.”

“What about leather?”

“I didn’t get leather, are you kidding? I got jeans, and I got ignored.” I puffed out a breath and thought about turning the door handle. “Fuck, why am I here? I’m a stable handle. I shouldn’t be trying to talk to the fucking prince!”

“Stable handle? Are you still drunk?”

“Still drunk? I didn’t drink earlier tonight. I stayed in the library and fretted. That’s what I do now. I fret. That’s all I’ve been doing for the last three days. But yes, I’m a little drunk. I took a couple swigs to bolster my courage, and then I got carried away.” I pulled my hand away from the doorknob. “Why? Do you think it’s noticeable?”

She rolled her eyes, which wasn’t a particularly helpful response. Would the dragon pull my head off? He’d been unhinged since the demon king took Finley away. More so than usual. He wasn’t safe to be around.

“You’re the butler,” she whispered.

I stared at her for a solid beat because fuck her, that wasn’t helpful either.

“But will the dragon pull my head off!”

“Shh!” she said.

Right, yes, that was too loud. He probably heard that.

I stepped away from the door and took a deep breath. Finley always said oxygen helped the brain. She’d take deep breaths when facing danger.

I took another deep breath.

It wasn’t fucking helping.

“Right, okay, let’s go over this again.” I rolled my neck. “I’m going to go in there and tell him that he needs to get his head out of his ass.”

“But respectfully.”

“Sure, yeah. And then I’m going to tell him that Finley left him with a job to do, and he needs to do that job or what was the point of her leaving…”

“Except don’t mention her leaving.”

“Because he might explode into a rage and kill me, right. And I’m going to…” I stalled because that was about as far as I’d gotten in previous practice sessions before I ran out of courage. “Why the fuck does this fall to me? Have I asked that yet?”

“You’re doing this because Finley made you promise to keep the master on track,” Leala said. “He’s lost his way. You need to live up to your end of the bargain so that he can live up to his.”

“Right, yeah. The thing is, I always felt a helluva lot more courageous when she was around. The woman gives literally no fucks about what people think. Zero fucks. It’s inspiring. Without her, I remember that I am a sad-sack, mediocre butler who used to get picked on by dragons.”

“That was only because of your smart mouth.”

“No, it wasn’t only because of my smart mouth! It was because they have a tendency for random acts of rage.”

“When someone mouths off, yeah.”

I took a deep breath, hoping this one might be the one that helped.

It wasn’t.

“Fuck it. If I’m going to die, I’m going to die.” I stepped forward, grabbed the handle, nearly lost my nerve, but then found myself walking into the tower room.

The familiarity of it was like a gut punch. Finley hadn’t been at the castle all that long. Months compared to the years that I’d been cooped up here. But in that short time, she’d left a mark. I missed Finley. I missed our banter. I missed her passion for plants and her company. Everyone who knew her felt her absence. This room had utterly been claimed by her. Her favorite weapon—a dagger—lay on the bedside table. Slinky but plain dresses peeked out of the half-open wardrobe. Her spicy smell permeated the air.