CRIMSON LILY [To Be Published Under PAPERINK]

CHAPTER 25

"SOLACE, I KNOW YOU'RE around here somewhere," I called onto him. And fortunately, he was indeed hiding in my room.

He still looked like he was sulking when he showed himself to me. "What do you need?"

I motioned for him to sit on the foot of the bed, while I remained laying down. I asked Ebony and Pandora to run some errand for me, so I was left in the room with him.

"I need to ask you about the creature that the prince was with. You mentioned that the goddess came from hell, right?"

Solace sighed at me then he slumped on the foot of the bed. "This is something that mother forbade me to speak of, but I guess this would be helpful for you."

What he said piqued my interest. I wonder what it is.

"You know how the Eveningstars received their power to protect the empire, right?" He asked.

"Yes, by drinking the Dark Lord's blood."

He sighed once more. "Yes, but not exactly the Dark Lord's blood." My forehead formed a crease at his words. "There's a summoning room underneath the Eveningstar's estate and that's where they perform the ritual with the next duke."

I was starting to get confused with his words. "You have to explain further, Solace, so I can understand what you meant."

Solace glared at me before he continued. "Before the new duke ascends to his title, he is required to summon a demon where he will drink the blood and gain the power to protect the empire. Lucifero Eveningstar summoned the queen, our mother, that night. And not only did he drink her blood, but he also made love to her."

I couldn't be more surprised with what I just heard. Did my father just take my mother's blood, and? And what? I could swear, question marks had filled my face by now.

"The duke fell at first sight with her devilish beauty. That's also how you were conceived. But anyway, that's another story to tell," Solace grinned as if to brush off the extra information he just poured.

"Go straight to the point already!" I shouted as I threw a pillow at him, which he sadly caught in the air.

"Fine, fine," he was grumbling when he threw the pillow back at me. "When the queen was summoned was also the day when the corrupted goddess we imprisoned disappeared. Everyone in devildom was in a sort of panic with the queen's appearance on the human realm that we have forgotten a very special prisoner we have been keeping for so long."

"And this corrupted goddess, is she extremely powerful?" I inquired while squeezing the pillow.

Solace shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't sure either. But there were recordings of her life as a goddess and how powerful she was before."

That sucks. "How do we deal with her then?"

"You must seal her back to hell. Since you're an Eveningstar, that's one of your duties. And as a halfling, you can seal corrupted spirits and bring them back to hell." Solace smiled at me. "Just let your power flow within you and use it."