Lord of the Night

Chapter 24: The Slave Bond

With the news of two more humans slain and the promise of Guardians filling the barn the next day, I shouldn't have slept at all. However, the release of emotions had left me drained, and my mind welcomed the respite of deep, dreamless slumber.

In the morning, I awoke to a clinking sound. I rolled up to sitting and blinked at the door, fighting the remains of sleep. The clinking continued for a full thirty seconds, as though someone was struggling with a key.

When the door finally opened, a tiny human woman bustled through. A long blue skirt swished around her ankles, and the buttons of her blouse strained to accommodate her bust. A smattering of freckles dusted her light brown skin.

She tucked a whole ring of keys into her satchel, muttering to herself, before turning to flash me a smile. Propping a hand on one hip, she batted her eyelashes. "Sweet dominion...the High Prince warned me you were handsome. He's certainly right!"

I stared at her, my sleep-laiden brain refusing to summon a logical explanation for the human woman standing before me and...flirting?

Her smile twisted into a scowl. "He also warned me you are only interested in men."

I rubbed my eyes. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

She flounced forward and threw out a hand. "I'm Zuzette! I normally work in the gardens, but the High Prince asked me to visit you a few times a day."

I eyed her hand a bit warily, a little afraid of crushing something so small and fragile. When I attempted a quick, gentle shake, she grasped my hand with surprising strength and continued to pump it up and down.

"I've heard a lot about Guardians, you know," she said, speaking so quickly my head spun trying to keep up. "Never actually met one before, though. You see, they never showed up when my village was burned to the ground. Well, not burned to the ground entirely. The Morgabeast had its feast, the lightning incinerated a few houses, and then they left the rest of us to starve."

She sucked in a breath and plowed ahead. "Of course, I didn't starve. Instead, I went to work for the Demons! Their palace is quite beautiful, and the garden is far nicer than the garden I used to tend back in the village! Quite the job, I've got!"

When she finally stopped, she was breathing hard enough that I feared the imminent ejection of that top button on her blouse. "So you don't mind working for the Demons," I said, "Even after what they did to your village?"

She yanked her hand out of mine, lips puckering with distaste. "You're judging me."

I shook my head. "I'm just trying to understand."

"Understand what? The 'slave bond?'" Her voice deepened with the last two words in an unfavorable impression of Guardians. "What are you going to do? Torture me until I say 'praise the First Guardian, oh my heroes, I just love how you sit and do nothing while the humans all—'"

She seemed to realize just then that I sat very near to her and was completely unrestrained. Her mouth clamped shut, and she backed away.

Her words disconcerted me, and her change in disposition even more so. She appeared more afraid of me than of the Demon High Prince. I still couldn't fathom why she would choose to work for the Demons instead of seeking food and support from Guardians, but I feared asking her more would only set her more firmly against me.

"I would never hurt you, Zuzette," I promised, remaining carefully still. "I'm sorry we failed to protect your village. If serving the Demons is the best way for you to live, I don't blame you."

She studied me with narrowed eyes, hands on her hips. With a sound halfway between appeasement and discontent, she dug into the satchel and pulled out a plastic container. As she tossed it my way, she sank onto the bed beside me.