Maura giggled, “No silly, my mum did.” She grinned proudly and pointed at the fruit, “I picked the berries though. All on my own.”
“Well they look absolutely delicious!” Ivy exclaimed.
Zeke ruffled Maura’s hair and pulled her in for a quick hug. “Darling, I know you wanted to show Ivy around today, but I was hoping you could let me give her a tour around the village this morning. Afterwards she’ll be all yours. Is that okay with you?”
Maura scrunched her nose thoughtfully and then nodded, “Alright. Mum wants me to watch Rancor this morning anyways. But don’t you dare show her the flowers! That’s my job.”
He chuckled, “Of course, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Maura squished his face together with her tiny hands and kissed his nose, “Good boy,” she said before scampering off.
Ivy laughed as Zeke grinned goofily at her. “She is so cute.”
“And she knows it,” he replied.
They ate breakfast in silence, stealing glances at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. Ivy wondered where the rude, arrogant Zeke had gone. This kinder, more relatable Zeke was messing with her mind, and she didn’t like it. It was hard to hate him when he obviously cared about his village and showed affection for a little girl. She almost wanted the rude man back, because then she wouldn’t be feeling anything for him. All she could remember now was the way his lips felt on hers when they first met. She blushed and quickly took a sip of her tea. There was no time to think like that, she had to either convince Zeke to let her go back to her family, or find a way on her own. She looked up again to see Zeke watching her.
He grinned rakishly at her, enjoying the way she got flustered and blushed. “So…if you’re ready…”
“Hmm? Oh...um, yes. I – that would…”she cleared her throat and tried again, “What I mean to say, is yes, I am ready for the tour.”
Zeke stood up and offered her his hand. “Come on then, let’s get this started. I know you probably have a million questions. Frankly, I’m surprised you’ve been quiet this long.”
She glared at him and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. “Rude,” was all she said, dropping his hand and walking out of the tent like the royalty that she was. He shook his head and followed, knowing that if she stuck around she would definitely give him hell…and masochist that he was, he was looking forward to it.
They walked around the edge of the village for a few minutes before Ivy couldn’t take it any longer. “Alright, spill it. I can’t wait any longer,” she demanded. “What is going on with this village?”
Zeke sighed and motioned for her to walk into the woods a little bit. He wanted privacy from prying ears and eyes if he was going to tell her the demon’s history. Many didn’t like to be reminded about the capital.
“Like I told you earlier, there are only a few demons like the ones your father is fighting against. They have formed their own faction and call themselves the True Leaders of the demon race. Obviously, some of us disagreed with them, but they quickly squashed any attempts at rebellion by enslaving our young men. The ones that are strong enough to fight protect the True Leaders at the capital. Others are used as labor slaves, and finally others are used as examples and sacrificed.”
“Oh my gods, that’s terrible,” Ivy whispered.
“It gets worse,” Zeke said solemnly. “They raid villages every five years or so to gather more men who have turned off age, and they also steal a few women for the True Leaders to mate with. They use the women to reproduce the True Leaders line, and no one else’s. If daughters are born, they are raised like cattle until they are of age to reproduce. Their goal is to eradicate the lesser demons until all that is left is the True Leaders and their sons.”
“How do you…how do you know all of this?” Ivy asked carefully. “And why haven’t you been enslaved too?”
Zeke rubbed a hand down his face and stopped walking. He gave Ivy a sorrowful look, knowing that what he said next would most likely alienate her and ruin any grounds a relationship they had begun to establish. “My father, Ayumu, was one of the True Leaders, which makes me a True Leader’s son.”
Ivy gasped and took a step back, “I don’t understand. Why are you here then?”
“Originally my father agreed with the True Leader’s ways. He thought it was all about bettering the demon race, making us stronger. But once he realized what the true intentions of the True Leader’s were, he formed his own plan. He taught me how to fight and he explained what the True Leaders were doing wrong. He made me promise that I would do everything in my power to stop the True Leaders and educate other races about their genocide. He managed to sneak me out of the capital with instructions to find a village and stay hidden until the time was right. I stumbled across this village and told them that I had escaped from the capital. They took me in without any questions. A few days later Ayumu and other demons attacked your mother and father and he died. I’ve been here ever since, trying to formulate a plan to stop the True Leaders.”
Ivy frowned at him and crossed her arms. “Please explain how kidnapping me is part of your brilliant plan. Somehow I don’t think my father is ever going to forgive you for that, which will only give you more enemies in this fight.”
He smiled nervously, “Right…about that. Originally I was just going to approach you and convince you to talk to your father for me, but I got a bit carried away. Once you reacted to me being a demon, I knew that nothing I said or did would convince you that I wasn’t evil…except for showing you where I live. I know that your family is probably never going to listen to me, but I’m hoping that they’ll listen to you.”
Ivy laughed bitterly, “Well the jokes on you. No one listens to me, Zeke. I’m the outcast panther, a freak, and the evil twin. You probably should have kidnapped someone else. Sorry.”
Zeke grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him, “You are none of those things, Ivy. You forget that whilst I was in your mind I could see the way others treated you. Your father would destroy an entire world for you, your mother would die before she ever let someone hurt you, your best friend loves you as much as she loves your brother, and your brother –”
“Wishes I was dead.”
“That, sweetheart, is a lie and you know it,” Zeke whispered, brushing a tear from her face. “He loves you more than he loves himself, even if he would never admit it.” He smiled and leaned down to kiss her, touching his lips softly to hers.
She gasped and let out a little whimper when he deepened the kiss. He tasted like sunshine and smelled like the earth after a storm with a hint of…sulfur. “Sulfur?” she whispered against his lips.
“Hmm?” he murmured, kissing her softly again.
“Sulfur!” she said more strongly, pushing him away. “I smell sulfur and…blood. Zeke? What—” she glanced up and saw that his face had drained of all blood.
“They’re back, it’s too soon, but they’re back to collect more of our people. We have to warn the village. Now!”
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It took me FOREVER but I finally posted another chapter. Yay! Enjoy and comment :)
KHC Sequel [Chapter 9]
Start from the beginning
