Lord of the Night

Chapter 46: Life Story

I waited...and waited longer. After a minute, I wondered if he was also waiting, checking whether I still wanted to know or looking for a sign that I was ready. Or maybe I was holding him too tightly for him to be able to speak properly.

I started to withdraw my hand that cradled his head. "Are you—"

His hand locked over mine. "Can we just stay like this for a little longer? Please."

His voice sounded small and confused—almost childish. I never imagined the High Demon Prince could sound like that, or that he could clasp my hand as if I was the last thing stopping him from drowning. The protectiveness in my chest burned even brighter.

"Yeah, of course." I tried to make my voice sound strong and confident, for his sake, but I choked a little. "For as long as you want."

He swallowed, then drew a breath. "Where should I start? Do you want to hear about—I don't know—should I start at the beginning? Do you want to hear my whole life story?"

He said the last line as if it were a joke, but I could tell it wasn't. I realized that this was far, far out of his comfort zone. He wasn't accustomed to telling people about himself.

"I want to hear whatever you're willing to tell me, Isalio," I said.

"Alright." Another shaky intake of air. "Well, you probably heard that my mother was the High Princess. She was pretty young when the Guardian rule started, and the rule was...oppressive, for Demons. So my mother learned early on that Guardians were the enemy, and that her main purpose was to defeat them."

"I don't mean..." He stopped; restarted. "I'm not trying to say the Demons were justified. The Guardians obviously had a good reason to keep Demons locked up."

I stroked my fingers back and forth over the back of his head, a gentle reassurance. "Just tell the story. Don't think about what I'm thinking. I want to hear the story the way you've heard it—the way you've thought about it."

He nodded, his head shifting against my collarbone where he still rested. "My mother Snapped when she was quite young, which can be a sign of power, so some Demons thought she might be the one who could overthrow Guardian rule. But the beast she summoned...the Sidabeast is a nasty critter, capable of more than most realize, but it's not strong enough to give Demons the power they desired."

"The sound it makes can clearly cripple Guardians. Does it do more than that?"

"What sound does it make?"
I blinked. "What do you mean? That screech...you can't hear it?"

"Obviously it does something that damages only Guardians, but I didn't realize it was a sound. For Demons, the Sidabeast is silent."

"Huh." I had known Guardian hearing was superior to that of humans or Demons or humans, but this was the first time I had fully considered the implications of that. Our hearing could be a detriment, as proven by the Sidabeast, but could it also be a greater asset than we had ever considered?

"What are you thinking?" Isalio asked.

I shook my head, storing the thought away for later. Right now, I didn't want to interrupt Isalio's story. "Continue with what you were saying," I said. "The Sidabeast wasn't enough, and so?"

"So my mother married my father, who was the second most powerful Demon. My father was the son of the General at the time. Generals are always chosen for power."

So Danif had a lot of power; that was another thought I would store away for later. "Does your father have a beast?" I asked.

"No, but he's a strong carrier."