The Princess and the Bard (Royals of the Realms #1)

Chapter Fifteen: The Goddesses' Power in Peril

Thank the goddesses.

One of the guards brushed the stringy locks of hair off the unconscious woman's face, and Myka sucked in a breath. "It's Hira, the mendmage."

"So it is." 

Thelix emerged through the cottage's front door. He was wearing the same blood-spattered riding jacket he'd had on earlier, when Taelan punched him in the nose. Alori set her teeth as his grinning ice blue gaze landed on her. "Good afternoon, my lady."

His voice was more his own than demon, now.

What did it mean, that he sounded less demonic? Had injuring the mendmage affected the demon hiding inside Thelix, weakening it somehow?

"Don't let her regain consciousness yet," she told Kors, following an instinct she didn't quite understand.

Thelix hissed at her, showing off his gold-capped tooth.

"You think you know what I'm capable of, little princess?" The voice was both his own and otherworldly. "I sealed off your magic, and you didn't even know it. You're not fit to rule the Overealms, let alone wield such awesome power, power that belongs to demonkind. These were once our lands and we will have them back now."

"Why him– why Thelix?"

Alori fully intended to destroy the unholy demon, but she needed more time to conceptualize a plan. Time and more information, like whether Thelix was an innocent victim or willing participant in his own possession.

Thelix laughed maniacally.

On second thought, she was pretty sure that was all demon.

"Thelix is a fool. He thought he could win your heart and a title, and someday follow in your father's footsteps to become king. When that did not work, because for some reason you prefer this–" he gestured flippantly at Taelan "–small, pitiful boy, Thelix came to Hira with a proposal." A devious grin twisted Thelix's mouth into something terrifyingly inhuman. "You see, Hira is strong, if she were the Shieldmaker she would exceed you by a thousand. She agreed to help Thelix defeat you. Together they summoned me, and with Hira's help, we ripped through your defense."

Alori scoffed. The demon was too confident. No mage on Eala exceeded her by any scale, and her saying so wasn't conceit, it was a plain fact.

"Oh, did you assume no human has ever been more powerful than you?" Thelix cackled, tossing his head back and sending locks of greasy blond hair bouncing off his broad shoulders. The demon's layered voice was full of gross satisfaction. "Your power is only as strong as it is because of your title, because of a pact created centuries ago by your foremothers and the goddesses. Whichever family wears the crown, gets the powers. You weren't born special, little sweetflame. In fact, I'm fairly certain your so-called magic is quite middling without your birthright's enhancement. It's sad, really, that the royal line is so terribly mediocre."

"You think that bothers me?" Alori growled, taking several steps forward, covering the length of the porch until she stood before Thelix, ignoring the nervous protests at her back, even Taelan's. 

Thelix loomed over her like a hungry bear, but she wasn't frightened of him, or the demon within him, anymore. There was only one reason this hellspawn would have revealed so much, attempting to intimidate her. It felt threatened.

She mulled over the demon's cruel claim. It wasn't exactly a revelation. Alori had been raised to know her magic was a gift from the goddesses, following the royal bloodline. For the past five hundred years, the eldest daughter of the queen had inherited the Shieldmaker's power, either upon her predecessor's death or on her coronation day. The few times things had been different– when the queen bore no daughters, or she perished before her time– the crown had been passed to the deceased's next eldest sister.