My Demon, My Love... - A Slave's Redemption
Control Your Emotions

Reve and Azlyn drove for twenty-four hours straight; they wanted to put as much distance between themselves and the Raskoph estate as possible. Reve may have been a prince, but even the royalty of the realm was subject to some laws. Reve had consistently attacked other demons over a slave, including two princes and the queen. This time he had killed a noble for her; this time he may have gone too far.

Reve did not have time to think about any of that. His first priority was to get Azlyn out of this realm safely and thanks to Sheber’s inability to control himself, they needed to get out of here more swiftly than they had originally planned. Reve knew that it would not be long before his family sent the guards after them and as soon as Sheber’s body was discovered, the Council would be sending their guards to collect them for questioning.

Reve knew that if his family caught them then the worst of it would be a reprimand for Reve and they would likely take Azlyn away from him. He knew that he could convince Umay to rescue her. On the other hand, if the Council were to catch them the outcome would be much worse. Reve would be punished for the unlawful killing of a noble, but that was unimportant; the actual punishment inflicted on him physically would be minor compared to what they would do to Azlyn. Being that Azlyn is considered the cause of Reve’s recent irrational behavior, the Council would have her killed to keep the issue from ever arising again. Getting Azlyn out of this realm was now more important than ever.

“I am sorry.” Reve spoke up, clearing his throat, after a long silence.

“For what?” Azlyn asked, sincerely.

“I am sorry that I killed Sheber in front of you.” Reve clarified.

“You do not need to apologize for that.” Azlyn assured him. “You had agreed not to kill him before we arrived, and I believe that you intended to keep that promise. It was Sheber who brought about his own fate. You told him that I was off-limits; I even reminded him, during our struggle, that I was the property of the prince. The only thing that seemed to give him pause was my mark. He seemed to become frightened upon replaceing it.”

“That’s because, at that moment, he knew that you were more than just a sex slave to me. You are my mate; which meant that his attempt to keep me occupied did not work. Not to mention, he knew that I could feel your emotions, so he was aware that I was already on my way back to you.” Reve explained.

“What attempt to keep you occupied?”

Azlyn was curious about the meaning of that. She recalled that Sheber had said something similar during his assault on her. He told her that Reve would not be returning to rescue her as he would be busy for quite some time.

“Sheber had commanded one of his slaves to try to have sex with me; I assume it was in trade for the actions that he was attempting to commit with you. Maybe he figured that I would be less angry with him for defying my orders, if I had been satisfied by one of his women.” Reve answered with a hint of disgust in his voice.

“You didn’t hurt her, did you?” Azlyn asked, hesitantly, not sure that she was going to like the answer.

“No, I did not hurt her.” Reve assured her. “I wanted to, and I thought about it. However, I realized that her impudence was not her own and that Sheber was the real culprit behind her behavior. So, I rejected her and then rushed past her to get back to you. She was left unharmed.”

Azlyn let out a sigh of relief, knowing that Reve had not acted out against the slave in his anger. She knew how hard it could be for him to control himself at times and she appreciated that he had shown restraint and compassion for the slave.

Azlyn grew quite as she thought about what had happened at the Raskoph estate. Then she began to let her mind wander through all-sorts of events that had occurred since she and Reve had begun their romance. She grew quite sullen as she thought about all the hard choices that Reve had to make. It could not have been easy to turn his back on everyone and everything that he had ever known.

“I am the one who should apologize to you.” Azlyn sighed.

“What do you have to be sorry for?”

“Everything. Everything that’s happened since the moment that you met me.” Azlyn exclaimed, exasperated. “Having to beat up your own guards. Having to fight your brothers. Your mother trying force you into marriage. The destruction of the relationship between your mother and yourself. All of the deals you had to make for my safety. Abandoning your entire life; your family, your friends, and your titles. Now we are on the run because you had to kill another demon to protect me. Then, once we get to where we are going, you have to give up your demon-side and pretend to be human for the rest of your life. I am just surprised that you don’t hate me.”

Azlyn felt such guilt for all that had happened to Reve since his family had purchased her for him. She was supposed to be a birthday present that was meant to make his life easier, but she had only served to rip his life apart. She wished that they had never met; then he would have lived the life that he had always planned without her around to destroy everything.

“Oh, Azlyn,” Reve responded, shaking his head and sighing. “I could never hate you. You may not realize this, but you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You’ve opened my eyes to what is truly important. My life may not be headed in the direction that I originally planned, but if the alternative is never getting to be with you, then I would give up a million royal titles. If I was given the opportunity to do this all again and make different choices, the only thing that I would do differently is to realize that I needed to get the two of us out of this realm sooner. I may have been able to save you some pain, if I had.”

Reve reached over and took hold of Azlyn’s hand; he squeezed it, reassuringly. Azlyn felt more at ease after hearing all of this from Reve. She was certain that he was growing tired of having to validate her all of the time, but she could not help it. This relationship was very different for both of them and she constantly worried that he would decide that she could not make him happy. She desperately hoped that these feelings of uncertainty would eventually fade.

“So, where are we going?” Azlyn asked, attempting to change the subject.

“We are going to a rural village a few hours’ drive from here. I have heard rumors about a group of Mystics in the area that may have a talisman that could help us on our journey.”

“Demon Mystics? I thought that demons didn’t believe in anything religious?”

“We don’t, really. We do believe in darkness, energy, and power. These Mystics aren’t religious, per se. They believe in the manipulation of energy and are best known for their work in alchemy. They are said to hold the secrets to powerful abilities.”

Azlyn considered this for some time. She had never thought of demons as having any sort of spirituality. She was also under the impression that most forms of magic were strictly forbidden.

“I thought magic was against the law.”

“Magic isn’t actually against the law it is just an unspoken rule that we do not use it in this realm. Demons are already too strong and powerful; if we were to use magic as well, we could become uncontrollable. There would be no way for us to have civilized society.”

“Do they use magic in other realms?”

“Yes. There are realms where magic is considered an ordinary thing. There is even some magic use in the human realm.”

“Why do we need to visit the Mystics? I thought that any demon could pass through the portal without magical assistance.”

“We can, but you can’t.”

“I know that, but shouldn’t I be able to pass safely as long as we are together?”

“Yes. As long as we are touching you will be safe passing through the portal. These alchemists are said to make a device that allows for anyone, even a human, to pass safely through the portal without assistance.”

“I have never heard about anything like that!”

“Of course, you haven’t. It is not something that demons want humans knowing. If the device exists, it is extremely forbidden.”

Azlyn considered this for a moment before a thought occurred to her.

“Why would I need this device if you are going to be with me? Isn’t this just a waste of time?”

“It’s a backup plan in the event that you need one. I am not saying that it’ll be necessary, but if for any reason we should be separated, you can still get out of here.”

“Why would be separated?”

A million scenarios began running through Azlyn’s mind; each more horrific than the last, ranging from getting lost in a crowd to Reve abandoning her at the last moment all the way to Reve’s demise. Azlyn shook her head, viciously, trying to clear the thoughts from her head.

“Don’t worry, Az. This is just a failsafe to ensure that we both make it through the portal in one piece. I just like having the insurance.” Reve attempted to assure her, though this did little to ease her mind.

They spent the next several hours discussing magic and the different realms trying to distract themselves. Azlyn had so many questions about what went on in all of the realms. She had no idea that there were so many; she had always assumed that there were only the demon and human realms.

When they arrived at the outskirts of the town, Reve pulled off into the first shopping center parking lot that he could replace. He parked the car and then began digging through his bag; pulling out clothing that was less conspicuous than the royal clothes he currently donned.

“We are going to leave the car here for now.” Reve explained. “I do not know where the Mystics are, we are going to have to ask around town in order to replace them.”

“Is that safe? Given our present situation.” Azlyn questioned.

“Not really, but we are low on options. We will pretend that I am a middle-class demon and you are the only slave that I can afford. I will go by my middle name, Ajax and I will use the surname Rapp, which is a fairly common name in this realm. What would you like to be called?”

Azlyn was surprised by the questioned.

“Do I really need a different name? No one will know who I am.”

“Well, that’s not true anymore. My family knows that we are together, so if they are looking for me then it is likely that they are looking for you as well.”

“Okay.” Azlyn thought for a moment. “Well, how about, Cinnia?”

“Perfect. Now, remember, you are my slave while we are in public, so while I will not want to do it, I will have to treat you and speak to you like you are a slave. I apologize for this ahead of time.”

“Do not worry, Reve. I know what we have to do.”

“Alright. Well, we will replace the Mystics and get out of here as quickly as possible.”

Reve leaned in and gave Azlyn a long, passionate kiss.

“Wow! What was that for?” Azlyn gasped, out of breath.

“It’s gonna be the last one for a bit, so I wanted to make it a good one.” Reve smirked.

Reve finished gathering up any necessities that they could carry on them, as well as, any money he had in the vehicle. He decided to carry his sword on him as he had a hard time separating himself from it, though he traded out the scabbard for something less flashy and which successfully sheathed the jeweled handle. Before they headed out on foot; not sure where they were going or how long it would take them.

They had walked for an hour, barely coming across a single being, before replaceing their way to the downtown sector. A market was open in the center of the main square where local demons were hocking their various wares; this had been what Reve was hoping for. One of these demons was bound to have some information about what they were looking for.

“I am going to go ask around for information. Make sure to stay close to me; not close enough to touch me, but close enough that I can grab you if we need to get out of here.” Reve instructed.

Azlyn, involuntarily, giggled at his directions.

“May I ask what is so funny?” Reve inquired, under his breath.

“I’m sorry. I did not mean to do that. It’s just funny, you act like I do not know what it means to behave like a slave.” Azlyn whispered.

Reve thought about this and chuckled.

“I guess you’re right, sorry. I will try not to micromanage anymore.”

They walked into the market and Reve began looking around. Trying to get a sense of the demons he was dealing with. He knew that he would need to broach the subject of the Mystics, carefully. It was a very sensitive topic among demonkind. There were only so many reasons why someone would be looking for Mystics and the majority of those were considered taboo, if not altogether illegal.

Reve approached the stand of one demon and casually mentioned that he had heard there were Mystics somewhere in the village. The demon quickly shooed him away from his tables with no information. They wandered a little further into the market before Reve decided to try again. He strolled up to a table of demonesses selling clothing and turned on his charm. Azlyn grew sick watching Reve flirt with the demonesses whom, of course, melted under his gaze.

“Uh, Cinnia, come here.” Reve bid her closer.

“Yes, master. How can I be of assistance?” Azlyn asked with a bow.

Reve cringed hearing Azlyn refer to him as master. Last time that she had done that they had been fighting. Not to mention, he did not much like his wife referring to him in such a subservient way. Nevertheless, he managed to keep a straight face and continued his charade.

“Cinnia, I need you to fetch some drinks for these lovely ladies.”

Reve pulled out some of their much-needed money and handed it to Azlyn.

“Yes, sir. Of course, master. I shall return with three beastberry juices, immediately.” Azlyn responded with a nod before turning away.

As Azlyn walked to the beastberry stand, she worked hard to keep her anger from being too obvious to those around her. However, inside, she was fuming; she knew that they needed information that the demonesses might have, but should they really be spending some of their much-needed money to buy them drinks. They probably did not know anything that would help them anyway and now these demonesses would enjoy what little they had.

There was a small, insecure part of Azlyn that wondered if Reve was merely dragging this out because he enjoyed the attention of the demonesses. She did not enjoy that her mind constantly wandered to that place, though she could not help but wonder how a Prince of Demons could possibly be satisfied with a plain, ordinary, damaged human. She worried that he had needs that she may not be fulfilling. She was certain that he was accustomed to something much more…well…more.