To Claim a Daemon Lord: A King and Coven Novella by Madeleine Eliot

Author:Madeleine Eliot [Eliot, Madeleine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-31T18:30:00+00:00

✽✽✽

Herne avoided me all the next day.

Training was canceled in favor of preparation for Beltane, and Carnon took up all my attention as he tried to help with every task which inevitably had to be completely redone by me.

We hung flower garlands and assisted in the kitchens and helped set the banquet tables for the celebration, but Herne was conspicuously absent the whole time.

Carnon asked me repeatedly why I was in such a bad mood on Beltane of all days, but I just shook my head irritably.

“Grown up stuff, tiny king,” I said, looking down at him. Artemis had taken to perching between his small horns, and he looked utterly ridiculous and adorable with the huge creature perched atop him. “Why don’t you take Artemis hunting until the celebrations start?”

“Okay!” he chirped, running off without even a wave goodbye. I rolled my eyes, knowing Artemis would keep him safe. Despite the target her presence at Carnon’s birth had put on all of our backs, it was a comfort to know he was forever guarded. Artemis might not look like much, but her claws were wickedly sharp. Her beak too, if the crunching of the bones of the small creatures she liked to eat was any indication.

The sun had begun to set and people were already making their way down to the celebration when I headed back up to my room to change, determined not to think about Herne, or the disaster at Yule, or my realization from last night.

Unmated demon females and unmarried human women usually wore white to Beltane celebrations, and I had no idea if any of my usual flowy dresses for such occasions would work around the damned wings. They had been less of a nuisance today, I noted, my muscles finally strong enough to hold them up and out of the way when I needed to. I gave them an apologetic pat for swearing at them in my head and turned back to my closet to see if I could make anything work.

There was a new gown I didn’t recognize hung at one end of the rack, and I pulled it out with a little gasp. It was made of gauzy white material that looked like it would float over my arms and hips, and the back was once again styled with ties around my neck and lower back.

There was no note, but I assumed that this had also been Herne’s doing. Carnon wouldn’t have thought of this, being that he was ten and preferred wearing mud to anything else, and Herne was the only other person I knew with access to our rooms.

I put the dress on, a little thrill going through me as I twirled slowly in the mirror, lest I topple over with the wings. It was perfect and beautiful, with tiny flowers and leaves and stag horns embroidered around the cuffs and hem in gold and green, and a plunging neckline that went very, very low. I grinned. I doubted Herne would be able to ignore me in this.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.