There was no telling what he knew.
But we didn’t need that. We already knew what he had done. The problem was getting him to admit it.
So years went by as we worked down our list, taking outeach and every one we could so that Father would be left with no one by his side and we could swoop in for the kill.
“Eros, Oros.Enough.”
Father’s voice was grating, but it did its job in silencing not just us, but the whole court. The silence was sharp, the fear exuding from them sweet on my taste buds but nowhere near as alluring as a human’s.
Demons of all ranks and statuses in the court stood in the throne room, their eyes on Zag. It was normal for things like this to be public, even if it was humiliating to prosecute Father’s right-hand man.
But he had no choice.
Not after Oros published that lengthyarticle about his misdeeds and distributed it across the realms. Father had already been made aware of his crimes and had planned an informalprivatemeeting with him, but that wouldn’t do.
He couldn’t just cover up this shit and expect us to be okay with it.
Oros went as far as making sure it was strewn all over the cities lining the edge of our kingdom, the headline in big, bold letters. There was no way he’d be able to sweep this under the rug when every demon in those cities knew just what the high-ranking official was doing withtheirtax money.
“You have been my confidant for many years. The people trusted you.Itrusted you,” Father said, standing from the throne and walking down the steps to stand in front of the demon, sounding heavy with betrayal and anger. He was good at faking it for the crowd. His back was to us, the cropped pink hair we shared the only thing I could see besides his glimmering crown and fur cape.
I longed to see his face. To see just how well he was holding up as he sentenced his own best friend to death.
The death sentence was common. The demon court didn’t play around with transgressors, and if he was given anythingelse, well… Demons could survive almost anything and torture wasn’t enough when some got off on it, so there was a need for a morepermanentoption.
The demon looked up at him, pain twisting his face. I savored the feeling of seeing one of the people who ruined our mother’s life finally feel the fear they deserved.
I wanted more. I wanted it to be drawn out. Wanted him to be paraded around the realms while demons shouted and threw things at him, destroying his body until all that was left was his barely working brain before Father put an end to it.
But that was unreasonable. I knew that. So I settled for a good old-fashioned head crush.
“I was misguided,” he said, his voice shaky. “I knew what I was doing but could not stop. I beg you to take mercy on me. As your friend. As someone who has given his life to the court.”
“You stole from me,” Father replied, his hands balling into fists at his side. “You stole from the court. The people. And for what? Not even your own power. Forpleasure.”
I shot a look at Oros, who was hiding her smile, though the light in her eyes gave it away. I didn’t try to hide mine, letting the whole court see how I felt about this.
Thatwas the big deal. Not just the stealing, but what the money had been used for. Humans were often used as playthings in the courts, but more often than not, a demon was supposed to eat their human. It was our main source of nutrients after all.
And very delectable.
That was considered normal and common. Fucking them? Okay, many demons partook. But paying for it? And only for sex and not to devour them after?
He became the laughingstock of the demon world. Especially when the court had their own gaggle of humans to choose from at any given moment.
Buying a human pet to keep at an auction was permissible,even if it was considered a bit crude for our stature, but he didn’t evenkeepthem. He fucked them and let them go on their merry way.
Well…To be more accurate, he paidthemto fuckhim.To each their own, I guess.
“Misguided, my king,” he said. “Please have mercy.”
Father looked down on him as silence echoed.
Sentenced to death.
The seriousness of what he was about to say hung heavy in the room. There was no other punishment. Father was known for his cruelty and strict attitude. It was what we were waiting for.
“Break his horns and send him to wander the Deadlands.”
