Royal Blood

XXVI: Into the Lion's Den

“So is there anything we need to we need to know about the members of the council before we enter the lion's den?” Mark asked. Everyone except for Dark and the members of the council stood outside the study's closed door, preparing themselves to enter a room full of deadly demons. The remaining guests had left and the servants were clearing the castle of the decorations.

“Well, here's the first thing you should know,” Anti established. “Triss. She's a real badass and doesn't take shit from anybody. If someone harms her friends or family she threatens their life or just kills them without mercy or remorse. She speaks her mind and is extremely sarcastic. She has her walls up constantly unless she trusts you, which, trust me, it isn't easy to gain her trust. She doesn't like royalty, even though she's a queen, but she tolerates some of them. She is constantly making new curses and traps, and should be feared, so be careful around her. She doesn't scare easily, if at all.”

“Then there's Jasmine. She's a real softy even though she has resting bitch face. She loves her damn pet owl more than anything and if someone mocks it or offends it in any way, she kills them on sight.”

“That's…” Seán trailed off.

“Unreasonable? Yeah. And she doesn't put up with people who take advantage of the common people and tries to help them. She hates tyrants—which is why she hates the hell out of Elijah—and wants to put an end to them, but no one will back her up long enough to do so.

“Already, she sounds like one of the nicer demons,” Caitlyn said.

“Did you not hear what he said about owl?” Mark asked.

“Did you not hear what he said about the owl?” Caitlyn mocked.

“What about Elijah?” Seán asked curiously.

“Okay, so that dude. He's a real asshole who doesn't care about anybody but himself. He's also sexist and thinks that women should never be in places of power or wealth. Not to mention he's a tyrant that wants everybody to worship the ground he walks on.”

Adelaide rested against the wall, suddenly feeling woozy, but she tried her best not to show it. “Lovely,” she spoke sarcastically.

“And Ashanti?” Nadia asked. “She didn't seem that bad.”

“Nor did Soneera,” Adelaide added.

“I'd say Soneera and Ashanti are a bit on the more demure side, but I'd be lying. Ashanti and Soneera are wolves in sheep's clothing. Soneera should be feared cause she'll fuck a bitch up. Like straight on kill them in front of their own families. She shows no remorse and kills in cold blood. She don't give a fuck about anyone or anything.”

“Did the 'kill them in front of their family’ thing really happened?” Asked Mark heedfully.

“Many, many, many times.” Anti confirmed.

“Great,” Seán said with nod. “Great…”

“Ashanti is mean as hell. Like if you make her even a little annoyed, she'd quite literally rip their head off, actually. Sometimes she's also real soft but that doesn't happen often. Ashanti is a demon that was born, not created. She's an only child and despises people with siblings.”

Why?” Nadia asked.

Anti shrugged. “Dunno. Also, Jasmine and Soneera are gay. Like, really gay, so you three—” he points to the women in the group. “It might be best if you guys just stay on the opposite side of them.” He looked around at the group. “Ready?” He asks.

“I suppose so,” Adelaide answered. “Let's just hope that they aren't—” Adelaide cuts herself off as she goes into a coughing fit, turning her head and covering her mouth with her hand. She pulls her hand away just enough for her to see drops of blood in her palm; she closes her hand into a fist.