My Demon, My Love... - A Slave's Redemption
There Are Only So Many Times That a Heart Can Break

Azlyn wandered, aimlessly, around the castle. She was too upset with Reve to return to their room and maybe too upset with herself to go back and face him; she had not meant to accuse him of those things. She was just feeling so unsure of herself and it did not help to be threatened by her childhood tormentor. The demoness whom had been responsible for convincing the Dunkels to sell a ten-year-old child; forever separating her from her parents.

Azlyn wondered if Reve had known that Deirdre was here for him. She had seen Deirdre at the welcome party but had been too distracted with avoiding her to notice which prince she was eyeing. Reve was aware of Azlyn’s past with Deirdre and Azlyn could not believe that he did not give her better warning. On the other hand, was it really fair of Azlyn to expect Reve to remember every little detail of her life when he had so much responsibility on his own shoulders.

After much consideration, Azlyn decided that they were both at fault. Azlyn needed to be more patient and understanding; she was not the only one at risk in this situation. Reve not only had himself to think about, but he also had to consider any effect on his family or their kingdom.

“I will seek him out first thing tomorrow morning and apologize for my behavior.” Azlyn thought, consoling herself.

Azlyn knew that she would still need a safe place to sleep for the night. She thought about going to Umay but did not want to answer a million questions. She also did not want Umay to jump to any conclusions about Reve’s treatment of her, whether they be negative or positive. She knew exactly where she could go to replace rest and not be questioned about the fight.

Several minutes later, Azlyn arrived at a tattered wooden door. She knocked softly before slowly pushing it open.

“Nissa? Nissa are you in here?” Azlyn whispered, aware that Nissa’s room was shared with a few other slaves.

“Azlyn? Is that you?” Nissa called to her before switching on the lamp beside her bed.

“Yes, it’s me. I am sorry to bother you. I know that you are exhausted. I just need someplace to sleep for the night.” Azlyn explained as she made her way to Nissa’s bed.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes and no. I don’t really want to talk about it right now. Could I stay in here with you?”

“Of course. I don’t have much, but you are welcome to share it.”

“Thank you, Nissa. I will replace some way to repay you one day.”

“Think nothing of it.”

Nissa scooted over in her little bed, offering Azlyn as much room as possible. Azlyn climbed in and turned out the light for them. She fell into a fitful sleep. She could not relax knowing that she had caused this fight with Reve. He had protected her, and she had repaid him by hurting him.

Early the next morning, Nissa and the other kitchen slaves that she shared her room with her were early to rise. Azlyn decided to tag along to the kitchen and help them all prepare breakfast as a thank you for their hospitality. She figured that she would apologize to Reve over his breakfast.

When Azlyn arrived at Reve’s room with his breakfast, he was nowhere to be found. She was surprised to see that he had risen so early. She decided to wait around for a bit to see if he returned.

After nearly an hour of waiting, Azlyn began to grow restless. She could hardly believe that Reve had missed his breakfast. She picked up the uneaten tray of food and carried it back to the kitchen. After which she wandered back to the room hoping that Reve would be there.

Upon her arrival, Azlyn found that Reve had still not returned, so she busied herself with chores around his room. She made his bed and dusted; she gathered all of the broken pieces of his bookshelf, organizing it into a pile. She picked up each book that was knocked to the floor and stacked them in front of the bookshelf, wiping as much of the black blood off of them as possible.

Azlyn then proceeded to clean the bathroom and organize Reve’s closet. While in the closet, she discovered that Reve’s riding clothes were missing.

“Now that makes sense. He must have gone riding. I should have known, he loves to ride, especially, when he is upset.”

Azlyn felt guilt that Reve was so upset over their fight. Maybe she should have returned last night rather than hiding away out of embarrassment. She wanted to run to him. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry; she wanted to assure him that she knows that he thinks of her as more than just a slave. She wanted him to know that she did not need him to marry her, just having his love was enough.

Azlyn could not wait for Reve to make his way back to the room. She decided that she would go to the stables and wait for him. She would wait all day if she had to; that way the moment that he returned, she could jump into his arms and apologize.

Azlyn headed off for the stables, determined to fix things with Reve as quickly as she could. Yet when Azlyn arrived at the stables she found Blaz tending to Reve’s horse. She was too late, Reve had already returned and could have been anywhere on the vast castle grounds.

“Is that Prince Reve’s horse?” Azlyn cautiously asked Blaz as it had been some time since they had spoken.

“Oh, so you are talking to me now.” Blaz responded with feigned surprise. “Yes, this is his royal highness’ horse. I’m tending to him after your boyfriend decided to ride him all night and all morning. Poor thing has barely had a moment to rest.”

“So, Prince Reve was out all-night riding?” Azlyn questioned.

“Yes. He returned just a little while ago.” Blaz responded, annoyed.

“I am sorry to bother you with this, Blaz. I know that you do not approve of our relationship. By chance did you see where the prince went? It is urgent that I speak with him.” Azlyn explained.

“Yeah, I know where he is. Although, I do not think that you are going to like it.” Blaz offered.

“What do you mean?” Azlyn inquired.

“Well, when the prince returned to the stables, he was not alone. He had one of the noble demonesses with him.” Blaz informed her.

“Where did they go?” Azlyn asked.

“They went towards the gardens. I do not know if they are still out there now”

Azlyn did not say another word to Blaz. She just walked out of the stables and headed towards the gardens. Blaz debated for a moment about whether or not he should head after Azlyn to ensure that she was alright, but he eventually decided to give them their space. As much as he disliked Reve, he truly did not believe that Reve would hurt Azlyn and he knew that he would not allow the demoness to hurt her either. So, Blaz decided it was best to respect their privacy.

Azlyn wandered the gardens for a few minutes with no direction. When suddenly she began to hear the faint sound of voices. She followed them hoping that they would lead her to Reve.

“I know that those nasty rumors just couldn’t be true.”

Azlyn could hear a demoness speaking clearly now. She was also able to immediately recognize the voice as belonging to…

“Lorelei.”

The thought of Reve alone out here with Lorelei made her stomach turn. Had they been together all morning? Worse still, had they been together all night?

Azlyn crept in closer, hoping to get a look at them. She carefully made her way around the hedges until they came into view. She ducked down next to a bush, hoping that she would not be noticed. Reve sat on a marble bench alongside Lorelei. Her hands were all over him as she made every excuse possible for a touch.

“Well, Lorelei to be honest…” Reve began.

“After all…” Lorelei quickly interrupted. “…who could possibly want a slave, when they could have a demoness. There is no way that a slave could give you what I can.”

Without missing a beat, Lorelei reached forward and grabbed either side of Reve’s face; then pulled him in for a kiss. Azlyn could scarcely believe her eyes; how could Reve betray her after one little fight? Maybe she had been right all along; maybe she did not mean anything to him after all. She watched for a moment as Reve’s horns began to elongate; she had not smelled his pheromones yet, but she was not going to stick around long enough to do so. She watched as Reve raised up his hands to place them on each of Lorelei’s shoulders.

“Enough is enough. I do not have to watch this.”

Azlyn quickly jumped up and ran from the garden as swiftly as she could. Tears began to stream down her face and her heart felt as though it would beat out of her chest. How could he do this to her? He said that he loved her! He marked her as his mate! Azlyn’s head swum with a million thoughts that she had never wanted to believe.

Blaz noticed Azlyn running in the direction of the stables on her way out of the garden. He knew that something must be wrong. He immediately ran towards her and stopped her in her tracks, grabbing onto her shoulders, trying to look into her face.

“Let me go! Let me go! I have to get away from here!” Azlyn bellowed as she pounded her fists into Blaz’s chest.

“Azlyn, what is going on? Talk to me! Did they hurt you?” Blaz attempted to snap Azlyn out of her hysteria.

“Please, Blaz, I need to get out of here. I cannot do this anymore! Please!” Azlyn begged.

“Azlyn, tell me what happened right now.” Blaz demanded growing extremely concerned.

“I saw them…together.” Azlyn sobbed.

“You saw them? Then what happened?” Blaz questioned still trying to calm Azlyn.

“They were kissing! Does that make you happy to know?! They were all over each other and they are likely having sex in the garden right this minute! Is that what you wanted to hear?!” Azlyn screamed.

Azlyn knew that she should not be taking her anger out on Blaz. She understood that he was genuinely trying to be helpful in the situation. However, she was hurt in a way that she had never been hurt before and she knew that Blaz had been against her relationship with Reve from the beginning. He was not the person that she needed comfort from. To be honest, she was not sure what she needed, but she knew for certain, that it was not Blaz.

“Oh, Azlyn! I am so sorry!” Blaz said, sincerely.

“No, you are not! You’ve been against us from the start! You never cared about what I wanted or how I felt! Now get away from me!!!” Azlyn shouted as she threw Blaz’s hands off of her.

Azlyn turned away from him and ran in the direction of the castle. She did not know where she was going, but she knew that she could not be near this garden any longer. She had to put distance between herself and Reve for as long as she possibly could.

Blaz stood there, dumbfounded. Azlyn was correct, he had always been against her relationship with Reve. At first, it was because he thought that he had feelings for Azlyn and did not want Reve getting in the way. But over time, it was more about Azlyn’s safety than anything else. He knew that it was dangerous for a human to attempt any relationship with a demon that went beyond slave-master. Even his own friendship with Zareb had threatened to put him in jeopardy on occasion.

Much of Blaz’s behavior had been out of a desire to protect Azlyn from pain. Any type of pain that the prince or his royal lackeys might have inflicted upon her. It angered him that Azlyn was crying over this worthless being. If Reve could not see how lucky he was to have Azlyn, then he did not deserve her tears! All Blaz wanted to do in that moment was replace a way to take away Azlyn’s pain.

Moments later, Reve emerged from the garden, spitting and wiping his mouth in disgust. Blaz noticed that Reve had begun to turn to his primal-self and he looked angry. Nevertheless, Blaz did not care. He was irate with the prince for hurting Azlyn and he wanted him to know it.

“Hey, Prince Reve!” Blaz stated, sternly, as he approached Reve.

“Now is not the time, Blaz. I know that I pushed my horse too hard last night. I do not want to hear it anymore.” Reve huffed.

“That is not what this is about!” Blaz asserted.

Reve stopped in his tracks and turned to face Blaz. He was surprised by this sudden show of aggression. Blaz had always been a bit bolder than the other slaves, but he had never been demanding. He knew his place and he usually stuck to it.

“Well, if it is not about my horse, then what exactly do we have to talk about?” Reve asked, condescendingly.

“How could you do that her?!” Blaz demanded.

“Do…what?” Reve sneered, growing impatient.

“How could you kiss that demoness?!”

“You saw that?!” Reve was taken aback.

“Not exactly. Azlyn came looking for you and went into the gardens to replace you. She saw you kissing the demoness and she told me through her tears as she ran back towards the castle.” Blaz explained.

“Oh, my darkness! Azlyn saw that?!” Reve paused a moment to process this information. “So, I’m guessing, since she was crying, that she did not see me push Lorelei away and tell her that I love another then.”

“No, umm, she did not mention that.” Blaz began to feel a little less bold as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

“Well that is what I did! If you haven’t noticed, I’ve turned primal because I was so angry at Lorelei’s boldness!” Reve pointed out, gesturing to himself.

“Don’t you also do some of that when you are…well…you know?”

Reve rolled his eyes at the comment. He could not believe that Blaz was serious right now. He did not have time for this foolishness.

“Get out of my way! I need to replace Azlyn!” Reve roared as pushed Blaz aside.

Reve took off towards the castle. He knew that he had felt that Azlyn was upset, but he did not realize what her emotions had been caused by. He had assumed that she was still upset about their fight last night. He had not even considered the possibility that it might be something new that had caused her pain. He had never felt more foolish in his entire life; the whole point of marking her was to protect her.

Azlyn’s eyes were so filled up with tears that she could hardly see where she was going. She could barely breathe through her sobs. Her chest ached, it felt as though her heart was trying to rip its way free from her body. She could not blame it for doing so. She had betrayed it by falling in love with someone who could never love her back. She should have known better; Reve is a demon, he could never be satisfied with a mere human.

Azlyn continued to stumble through the halls; weeping as she went. She bumped into things and even knocked a few paintings off the walls. She did not care; there was no punishment in all the realm that could hurt worse than this.

Without realizing it, Azlyn stumbled upon a group of three noble demonesses. Due to the blurriness of her vision through her tears, she did not see them before she bumped directly into one the demonesses causing her to tumble into another.

“What do you think that you are doing slave?!” One demoness shrieked in a shrill voice.

Azlyn, defeated, and unable to maintain any sort of composure simply fell to her knees.

“Are you blind or just stupid?!” Another demoness screeched in Azlyn’s face.

“I’m…I’m s-sorry…I did not… did not m-mean to.” Azlyn stammered through her tears.

“Your filth has touched my clothes! I should have you killed for this!” The demoness that Azlyn had bumped into wailed.

“P-Please…please…f-forgive me…miss.” Azlyn begged.

“Absolutely not! You will pay for your insolence! May it teach you to be more careful in the future!” The demoness asserted.

“Fine. N-Nothing you could d-do could hurt m-me any w-worse than I h-have already b-been hurt.”

Azlyn decided to give up and not fight it any longer. She was bound to be beaten to death sooner or later anyway. She knew that Reve would come to her aid no longer; he had found someone better suited to his needs. How long did she really want to live anyway? In this life, she had known nothing but heartache and pain. Life was a cruel mistress that left her beaten and bruised; death would be a welcome release from all that she had known.

Azlyn lifted her arms up from her sides and presented herself to the demonesses. She knew that her offering of sacrifice would cause their bloodlust to kick in quickly, if it had not already been triggered by anger.

The demonesses descended upon her. Their horns extending and their nails elongating. They kicked Azlyn’s sides and pulled at her hair. They punched her in the face and tore at her clothes. As more of her flesh became exposed they began to tear at that as well. Azlyn cried out from the pain, unable to stop herself from doing so.