Dinner was quieter than

  normal, which was strange for my father’s court, generally the men

  were less than couth in regards to their dining manners. It was quite

  normal for people to be talking and yelling over each other, loudly

  gulping ale, and then there were the unmentionable bodily functions

  that they seemed to find endlessly hilarious. When it was just myself

  at the table they never held back, with Toria with me they definitely

  took pains to be noticeably better, but still boorish.

  It was embarrassing to have

  them still act so animalistic around her, but there was no sense in

  trying to talk to them and explain why they should act any better, it

  was simply a difference between human and demonic expectations and

  they certainly valued demonic norms over any human. However, the room

  had become deathly still when Ana had arrived for dinner. Her aura

  had filled the room and felt heavy and cloying. It was crystal clear

  that it would be best for everyone to be on their very best behavior.

  It was strange in itself for someone to walk around so unshielded,

  she must have been so full of turmoil that she was simply incapable

  of containing it all or so upset that she didn’t care to try. Toria

  had briefly filled me in on what had transpired, though it had not

  fully prepared me for how dark and ominous her aura was.

  “Did that pitiful girl ever

  wake up?” my father asked.

  His sudden speaking was so

  stark against the cautious silence that several of us at the table

  jumped slightly. It was lucky that most of us had finished eating or

  there probably would have been several spills. Toria’s gaze darted

  between Ana and my father, then settled on me, eyes slightly wide and

  head slightly tilted in an expression that I knew was meant to ask if

  my father thought he was insane. After collecting myself, I

  half-smirked and moved my shoulders barely perceptibly in a shrug,

  she should have known by now what my father was like. He never took

  well to the idea that he should be limited at all according to anyone

  else’s comfort and while Ana was a tremendous foe, if my father

  ever decided to utilized his magic to its fullest extent, she would

  have been well matched, likely much surpassed.

  While there were other,

  arguably more powerful demonic family lines, my own was still widely

  regarded amongst the strongest. It had been whispered that the fact

  my father was able to produce a hybrid such as myself was proof of

  the power behind our family’s demonic blood, able to manipulate my

  birth into being despite it having been decidedly impossible before.

  “The princess? She is still

  in and out of consciousness,” Toria answered, her voice

  respectfully softer than her normal imperious tone. “The servants

  you sent to linger outside and shield the room a bit from the ambient

  magic is helping. She is able to awaken and eat a bit, but any stiff

  breeze of power into the room and she collapses again.”

  My father let out a rumbling

  laugh, though to his credit a bit softer than he typically would. “So

  pathetic, even for a human. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered

  or even heard of someone or something so magically inept to be

  effectively allergic to the mere presence of magic. Are you sure she

  is from a royal line?”

  “Yes, I am certain,” Toria

  confirmed.

  “She would be better off

  returning to the human realm them and as soon as possible, perhaps

  with a warning to whomever gets care of her to keep her blood out of

  any further royal lines. I know a lot of human royals do not even

  acknowledge the power that flows through their veins, but it seems

  like a shame to let her loose to dilute the line anyway.”

  My father was not known for

  his tact.

  “Is there a way we can

  easily travel back to the human realm? I thought the conduit was

  destroyed,” Toria asked.

  “Of course there are more, I

  wouldn’t ever sit idly by with only one door in, there is an

  emergency portal, though the location is kept very secret for obvious

  reasons. Now that the main gate is gone, the alternative is more

  important than ever, which means there is no way I’m letting anyone

  near it, but there are other kingdoms and even natural conduits

  scattered across the realm. We can set something up to get her

  chucked through one of them.”

  “It seems rather kind of you

  to arrange that for a human with no real value to you,” I

  commented.

  “Kind?” my father said

  with a chuckle. “She’s a pain in the ass to have around, simple

  as that. I have to devote two of my servants night and day to try to

  keep her somewhat lucid and it’s just a hassle for someone who

  rightfully means nothing to me.”

  “You could just leave her

  incapacitated,” I suggested, “it wouldn’t hurt you to do that.”

  “It wouldn’t, but it still

  seems unfair to do to such a young child. I suppose it isn’t her

  fault that she’s so weak and helpless, obviously some sort of bad

  breeding or strange circumstances are to blame for it. I doubt she

  has any fault in the matter.” My father eyed me, wondering why I

  was making a point that he was doing something nice for a change, he

  didn’t like showing any sort of soft spot. “She’s a small girl

  and utterly defenseless here, she would be an extreme liability if

  something where to happen and we had to devote defenses specifically

  to her because she couldn’t do it herself. Banishment is a better

  choice for us all.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  I cracked a smile at how his

  story went from helping the girl leave since she physically could not

  handle being in the realm to that she was a security risk for us all

  and it was a banishment. He simply could not allow himself to appear

  even a bit concerned with anyone except himself, whether it was due

  to his own sense of what looking strong looked like or his own ego, I

  was unclear.

  “I agree that something

  should be done, but I insist on being able to keep control of the

  girl’s placement and care.” Toria raised her chin slightly and

  swirled the remaining wine in her glass, as she tended to do when she

  felt she needed to show a regal visage. “I have extended plans for

  the girl that require I ensure I have control of her destiny.”

  “Extended plans with such an

  insignificant speck?” My father raised an eyebrow and bore his gaze

  into her to ascertain if she was joking or not. “How could someone

  like her be at all valuable to you?”

  “As you’ve already said,

  human royalty takes little notice of magical ability and she is still

  a princess, a princess from a kingdom with valuable resources, if

  nothing else she would make a good political bargaining piece. It

  could be argued that anyone that ended up marrying her would have a

  rightful claim to her kingdom’s resources or at least a leg up in

  negotiations for access. It’s a smart political move to keep her

  under my thumb.”

  My father leaned back in his

  chair and rubbed his stomach in thought. “I don’t see the point

  in it, but I also don’t see the harm in letting you keep control as

  long as the girl is no longer my trouble. Perhaps I simply don’t

  understand how humans do business. She seems like the last person I

  would want to taint my bloodline with, even if she did have that

  small upside.”

  He probably hoped and thought

  I wouldn’t notice, but exactly when he said “taint my bloodline”

  his eyes shifted over to me and were off me again in an instant. I

  knew those were the exact words said to him when he discovered my

  impending birth and he regretted echoing them himself. It was of no

  import to me any longer, I had long done away with any shame I felt

  in being what the demons considered a lesser being. Most of them

  could not see that while I did lack some of the raw power of

  demonhood, I had gained a multitude of different perspectives and

  ways of thinking that they could not fathom. In essence, they could

  not comprehend how much more clever humans could be, especially when

  unnaturally enhanced with outside power.

  “Then it will be my mistake

  to make,” Toria said with a nod.

  “So be it then,” he

  confirmed.

  Toria’s coral lips curled up

  into a half-smirk as she glanced at me. She had managed to get

  exactly what she wanted out of my father, not typically a small feat.

  She was doing well with strengthening her connection with my father

  and getting him to relax into their relationship. Despite the

  horrendous setback losing the Castle Yser had been, my own ambitious

  plan was still slowly falling into place.

  “Just in time for

  negotiations I see.”

  Ana’s aura curdled and the

  air became so thick that it felt suffocating. It seemed that Feros

  had absolutely no tact and was showing his face again when a sane

  person would have kept away as far as they could have possible

  gotten. Ana’s face instantly darkened and screwed up into a look of

  rage, hands balled into fists on top of the table. I had never quite

  seen her so unable to contain herself. Ana was typically a fairly

  level headed person and quite clever, especially for a demon, it was

  unlike her to snap into rage quite so easily.

  My family had used her

  services over the decades for various training related matters. Her

  family was quite good at some more niche explorations of infernal

  magic and she was also well respected amongst royal circles without

  being directly royal herself. She was an excellent ally to have on

  your side and a terrifying one to have standing opposed to you. I had

  heard whispers of advice to never invite the services of both Feros

  and Ana too close together, but had never worked out before why there

  was such pains to keep them separated.

  “Far be it from me to miss a

  show, but even a blind, deaf, and dumb dog could work out that you

  want to be anywhere but here,” my father offered, his eyes glancing

  towards the fiend. “Besides, I just had these napkins purchased and

  they are still mostly pristine, I don’t want to ruin them with your

  blood splatter.”

  “I think we’ve worked out

  our differences,” Feros said, acting oblivious to the boiling rage

  in the air. “Anyway, after one of my body is destroyed I need food

  to keep strong in the new one. I don’t want to go begging in the

  kitchen like some kind of common servant. We’re both adult enough

  to share a table.”

  Without a moment of warning a

  pink fuchsia tendril of magic snaked up Feros’ leg and curled

  around, climbing up to his neck in less than a blink of an eye. It

  swiftly wound around his neck several times before sharply cinching

  tight, causing his head to separate from his body with a gross

  popping sound. Mari let out a groan like she was going to be sick as

  the body fell to it’s knees and then forward while the head landed

  next to the doorway and rocked back and forth for a moment before

  coming to a stop, the steely eyes wide and bulging. Immediately the

  air lessened and became even lighter than it had been before,

  apparently the murder had made Ana feel marginally better.

  “I did try to warn the

  bastard,” my father muttered, standing up to see the body. “At

  least he didn’t splash everywhere. No blood? That’s a new one.”

  “Something like him doesn’t

  have blood naturally,” Ana said quietly. “No blood, no soul, no

  sanity, you’ll find there’s quite a lot that he has lacking.

  So as to not invite any

  invitation for explanation, Ana rose to her feat, bowed respectfully

  to my father, then to Toria, and quietly took her leave. She paused

  at the doorway, eyes narrow on the severed head. Her left boot

  twitched as she likely considered smashing the heel into the skull,

  but thought better of it and quickly left, letting the heavy door

  slam behind her.

  My brothers, quite used to hot

  tempers and violence looked moderately impressed. Each leaned over to

  view the scene and muttered between themselves about how impressed

  they were with the surgical precision.

  “I think I’m quite done

  for the evening,” Mari said staunchly and rose from the table.

  On the way to the door, she

  took great pains to not look down at the gruesome scene, though she

  made sure to step widely over the head.