Page 54 of Dream in Darkness
Proditorum.
We’re at the Queen Mother’s place of residence. I’ve been here once before to accompany Raph, but it was not my favorite trip. We had to stay for three nights because a sickness rendered Raph incapable of teleportation. It felt like the walls were speaking to me, whispering for me to never return.
Coming here again, I fear I should’ve listened.
The castle stands high on a cliff, built of a dark stone that looks almost black against the roaring sea. It’s fitted with tall towers topped by pointed, narrow spires.
The front doors slowly creep open, revealing a short demon dressed in a tuxedo, and a dimly lit interior.
“Welcome, travelers,” he says as we pass through the woodendoors. King Luc is in the very back, and he stops before the demon, who kneels. “My Infernal King.”
Stone pillars reach upward towards a vaulted ceiling. Stained glass windows line the exterior walls, bringing in fragments of red and pink light, glimmering onto the cold marble floors.
Continuing down a large hallway, we come to a decent-sized room. It’s larger than our normal meeting place, with extra chairs equipped to handle the additional guests.
Luc enters the room first, and all of his siblings stand to kneel. “Our Infernal King,” they say in tandem.
We take our seats, one after another, until I’m face-to-face with Gabe. Anything is better than Cavan, but I was secretly hoping I’d get to catch up with Zada.
There’s a short beat of silence before Luc finally speaks up. “Our meeting was not supposed to be for another month, so why have you called us here?”
“I am the one with pressing issues,” Gabe confesses.
“But I am the one who requested all hands on deck,” Zada says, flipping her long, flowy hair. “Hope you don’t mind, brother dear.”
“Not at all,” Luc says and smiles.
It’s always clear from these meetings who is closest to whom. Luc favors Raph and Zada. Josina and Cavan are attached at the hip. All the other siblings are frayed, living in their own little bubbles. Uri is beloved and respected by all, Micha is disliked by all, and Gabe is… well, Gabe is here. He’s weird as shit, but everyone seems to feel neutral towards him, not noticing his peculiarities, or at least not minding them.
“I am going to list each continent, and you are to update us on the statuses of your economic, social, and infrastructural systems,” Uri begins, running his fingers through his almost-shoulder length black hair. “Limbus.”
Luc gives a small smile. “The magicite coves remain protected by Horace. There are no citizens on Limbus, other than him.”
Uri nods. “Luxuria.”
Zada takes a breath. “Economically, we’re in a slower season, but business is still consistent. Infrastructure-wise, we’ve built some new things. My informant has been working with a member of The Devil’s Masquerade to design a new kind of club on Luxuria. Construction has just started and it’s going stellar.”
“Club?” Gabe asks, his eyebrows shooting up.
“A dance club,” Phaelyn clarifies. She’s breathtakingly beautiful. Her face is so similar to Draven’s, and yet different. All her own.
“We have dance clubs on Hel.” Gabe’s brows furrow, and the felion on his side kisses his hand.
“These are clubs with professional dancers, not clubs patrons dance in,” Gemma clarifies.
I knew she was working on a project with Draven’s sister. It’s cool to hear more about it. I would love to work on mending the relationships felion have with other communities planet-wide, not just on Haeresis. MaybeIshould meet with Zada.
“I want to perform there opening night,” Reina mutters under her breath from beside me.
“Wait, are you guys talking about strippers?” Micha cuts in, ruining the ambiance of the conversation.
“Yes. Though we plan on calling them dancers, as that’s the majority of what they do,” Zada says with a saccharine smile.
“I get we’re demons and all, but are we seriously letting thehumaninspire the things we make?” Micha’s tone is cocky, and I want to kick him from under the table for insulting Gemma and her species.
“Maybe if you listened to outside perspectives, your casino wouldn’t be so fucking boring,” Zada snaps.
Micha is taking a sip of water. He swallows, still holding the cup toward his lips. “Maybe if you weren’t such a b?—”
