A Demon's Wrath (12 page)

“What are you implying, sire?” she
asked.

He mistook her query and cocked his head to
one side. “Are you not here as a spy? I wonder. Or is it something
else you’re after?”

That made Cecelia angry. She refused to let
him go any further with his assumption and turned on her heel.
“Good day to you, sire,” she said coolly and headed toward the
woods, leaving Drake to stand there gazing after her with an amused
smile on his face.

Her heart was still pounding from the run
when Vera found her near the palace wall. The woman had a basket of
sustenance in her hands. With Cecelia’s curious gaze, she said,
“Our picnic.”

They had their luncheon picnic as planned
near the stream to the eastern sector, close to the vineyard.
Cecelia couldn’t believe just how beautiful this kingdom was. It
was their summer, after all, and wildflowers were everywhere, with
different shades of color unimaginable to her. The scent was
lovely, rich with honeysuckle, wild lilies, and lavender. Bees and
butterflies were everywhere. Cecelia closed her eyes, listening to
the water running and the birds chirping.

Though the scene was indeed very beautiful,
the air was lovely, and atmosphere was pleasant, Cecelia was tense.
Surrounding her was not only Vera and Lucifer, but Drake, who was
sitting slightly behind her to her left, Leon to her right, Gerick
beside her, and Julius yonder to the front. Adam was close beside
Vera, and Lucifer was sitting on his lap. She could sense the dark,
intense gaze of the demon king on her person. Oddly enough, she
felt her skin tingling with an unexplained excitement yet fear.

“How is your lunch, Brian?” Vera asked.

“It’s very nice, thank you,” Cecelia
replied. “This place is wonderful.”

“Which is simply why so many wanted it,”
Gerick said, moving closer to Cecelia. He rested his weight on his
elbow, his body facing her. He took a peek at Drake and saw the
demon king giving him a dark scowl, reminding him of his threat
from last night. Gerick took no notice and returned his undivided
attention to Cecelia.

Cecelia, in turn, looked at the handsome
demon beside her, her brows raised in question.

Gerick said, “For many centuries, our
kingdom had been at war with other kingdoms simply because our land
is so rich. Not only is our land so fertile, but our sea is filled
with great sea creatures. We have mines too, silver and gold.”

“Gold?”

“Aye, gold. And of course, since we have
returned from our many sea adventures, Drake started his own
vineyard.”

“Vineyard?” Cecelia fought the urge to turn
to look at Drake.

“Aye, there.” Gerick pointed across from
where they sat near the top of the hill.

Cecelia could make out rows and rows of
grapes. A vineyard indeed. Just like Rosevalley.

“If you want to, we could take you to have a
look,” Lucifer said, chewing his sandwiches. “You know what?” he
said to Cecelia.

“What?”

“When I grow up, I’m going to go on a sea
adventure just like Papa and Uncle Drake and Uncle Gerick and
Leon.”

“And your teacher Julius,” Julius gladly
corrected his student.

Lucifer rolled his eyes if as to say
sure
. He said, “I’m going to get myself a grand ship. You’re
welcome to join if you want to,” he thought to add.

Cecelia smiled and thought that was very
fine indeed. She glanced at Drake, who was resting his body against
a tree. His sharp eyes were on her. She quickly glanced away, her
mind once again examining the meaning of his question back at the
lake.

“Have you ever been on a sea adventure,
Brian?” Drake asked from behind her.

Cecelia shook her head. “Nay, sire. That is,
until recently.”

“How do you find it?”

“Not to my liking at all, sire.”

He laughed. The deep, timber caused Cecelia
to shiver deliciously. Her cheeks turned crimson and her heart
jumped crazily in her chest. Him laughing at her comment was very
disturbing indeed.

“A pity. You’ll meet many more cutthroats
like those men in the future.”

Lucifer jumped up from his father’s lap and
rushed around to where Drake was sitting. “I think it’ll be fun.
You’ll have to teach me how to sail, Uncle Drake.”

“Indeed I will, Lucifer, in time,” Drake
said, tousling his nephew’s hair.

“And you can teach Brian too,” Lucifer
added.

“No, that won’t be necessary,” Cecelia
interjected quickly.
I will have to return home soon
, she
added in her head.
Tomorrow if possible.

“Where is your home, Brian?” Julius asked as
if he’d just read her mind.

Cecelia hesitated for a moment. “Very far
from here. The vineyard, it reminded me of my home.”

“That vineyard reminded me of Rosevalley,”
Drake said mildly, his eyes gazing off into the distance.

Cecelia turned to look at him. She was still
afraid of him, but she couldn’t seem to take her eyes from his as
he watched her.

“Yes, reminds me of that place too,” Gerick
said. “Lord Van Zandt is such a stingy man. He wouldn’t give us any
of his beautiful wine when we left.”

“You and your wine.” Adam snorted. “All you
ever think about is drinking and wenching.”

“Hey, what better way to live than drinking
and wenching?” Gerick said, laughing.

“What’s wenching?” Lucifer asked.

Adam glared at Gerick. “Nothing important,
Lucifer. Take yourself off, Gerick, and prepare our horses for the
hunt.”

“I want to come help,” Lucifer said, jumping
up.

“Right, I’ll be off, then,” Gerick said and
stood. “Come along, Lucifer. Let’s get the horses.” And then they
were off, Lucifer skipping beside Gerick.

“How long ago were you in Rosevalley?”
Cecelia asked Drake.

He closed his eyes. Cecelia couldn’t help
admiring his physical appearance. He wasn’t that handsome. Not like
Gerick, who she was sure even human females would fall head over
heels in love with on first sight. Nay, the demon king had harsh
features and a dark scowl that most would find petrifying upon
first meeting him. Even then, she found him ruggedly handsome and
simply too attractive for her peace of mind.

He opened his eyes and studied her
intensely. Her throat became very dry at his stare.

“Many years ago, when I was but a young
demon,” Drake said. “Have you been to Rosevalley yourself?”

Cecelia lowered her eyes. “I have heard of
it. They say it is a very beautiful place. But it was destroyed by
a raid three years ago.”

“Such a pity,” Drake said.

Cecelia gritted her teeth. What was he
saying? Such a pity? Was that all he could think as a reply? He was
the one who had destroyed her home. And here he was sitting there
with not a care in the world. Oh, he was such a demon all right. He
had no feelings whatsoever. He deserved no admiration from her, nor
respect. He only deserved hatred from her.

“Come on,” he said abruptly and got up. “We
go hunting.”

Cecelia looked up to see his hand before
her.

“I’m sure you will enjoy the hunt,” he said,
his gray eyes boring into hers.

Cecelia licked her lips and said politely,
“Nay, thank you.”

“Come now, Brian, you will enjoy it,” Leon
said, smiling at her.

She stubbornly shook her head in the
negative.

Drake took matters into his own hands and
caught her small arm. Cecelia jumped at the contact. His eyes were
twinkling despite the dark scowl on his face.
Amazing,
she
thought. Such mysterious, beautiful eyes. She was lost in the sea
of gray clouds.

He jerked her up and dragged her after him
toward the stables.

Vera shouted, “Have fun.”

Not long afterward, Cecelia found herself
riding on a beige stallion. Leading the pack was Drake himself,
riding on his sinfully black, dangerous steed Wildfire. Both master
and beast looked foreboding to ones who didn’t know them. Even to
her, Cecelia shivered at the prospect of meeting this demon alone
in such a forbidden forest.

Lucifer was smiling with glee as he rode
with his father. Suddenly, Cecelia had a longing. She longed to see
Brian smile like that once again. She longed for him to enjoy such
activity instead of dreading it and coming back hurt both
physically and mentally. Those boys back at the palace, they were
so cruel to have bullied Brian.

“Brian, I see it. I see it!” Lucifer shouted
excitedly as he pointed his finger toward a bush.

Cecelia looked at where he was pointing. She
saw rustling in the bush.

“Shh,” Drake signaled to Lucifer. When he
winked, Lucifer nodded, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

All was silent as they watched. Then a boar
rushed out. Cecelia gasped as the big animal ran toward the other
side of the woods. In all of her life, she’d never seen a wild pig
so big. A prize indeed, if caught. And Cecelia wondered why none of
them were moving. They were just sitting there on their stallions,
still as rocks, watching the creature running away. Cecelia
couldn’t seem to breathe. She, too, stayed still, watching,
wondering what they were doing.

Silence. And then
whoosh!

Cecelia blinked.

At lightning speed, Drake and his stallion
were off after the boar. Lucifer shouted, and he and his father
were off too. Gerick and then Leon followed. Cecelia watched as
they all raced after the animal. She couldn’t very well stay
behind, so she kicked her stallion and went off after them.

They were going fast, zigzagging about the
tall, thick trees. Her heart was pumping like mad as she
concentrated on trying not to smash the stallion and herself into
shrubs. She was scared, but she was also very excited.

“Whoa!” Gerick shouted into the hushed
woods. The woods itself echoed back at him.
Whoa!

Adam and Leon laughed. Their deep voices
were like a lovely song in Cecelia’s ears. For the first time in
weeks, she smiled. She felt light and happy. There was no heavy
burden hanging on her small shoulders. She felt quite amazing. But
that feeling was short lived when she felt something behind
her.

She turned, and to her horror, another boar
was chasing her. This one was even bigger than the other. She
panicked when she saw the angry, determined look in the boar’s
black eyes. It was huffing at her.

She kicked at her stallion to gallop faster.
She turned back to look at where she was going. There her eyes
widened in horror. She watched as Drake’s stallion jumped over a
big log that lay across their path. Demon and beast were one,
flying over that huge log with air and grace and strength. She
caught her breath at the back of her throat and wanted to cry at
the sheer awe and madness of it. She’d never done this before.

Then she watched, as her stallion took her
nearer to the log, both Adam and Lucifer glided over and then
Gerick and Leon after them.

She didn’t know what to do and so, as her
time came near, she kicked her stallion once more and hugged her
body flat on its back. She closed her eyes as the steed started
jumping. She felt like she was flying, the hot wind on her face.
Then suddenly, she felt she was pulled down, and in the next
instance, she fell off the horse and landed with a thud on the hard
earth.

She closed her eyes at the sheer pain in her
body. She watched above her, the trees spinning around her. She
squeezed her eyes shut and groaned in pain. When she opened them
again, she saw Drake looking down at her. He was still saddled atop
his steed. He glanced at something across from her. Then with his
powerful hand, he swiftly grabbed her arm and pulled her up.
Cecelia had to blink several times to clear away her confusion.
That was when she saw her stallion running toward the other side of
the forest. And there was the boar, charging toward her. Drake
wrapped his arm round her waist and hauled her up onto the saddle
in front of him.

Cecelia nearly fainted. She’d never fainted
before, but with this demon’s hands touching her body and him so
close to her, she really did feel like fainting.

Drake nudged his stallion. They raced toward
the other side of the forest where the others were waiting. There
they stopped. Cecelia wondered why they didn’t continue their
escape. The boar was charging at them for God’s sake. Surely they
must run. But she couldn’t tell them that because she was too busy
trying to breathe properly and was too fascinated at the angry
charging boar that was coming toward them.

Slowly, Drake drew out his bow and arrow.
Cecelia became aware of this when she saw the lethal weapon in
front of her. She was also aware of his heat behind her, not to
mention his wonderful smell—the smell of the outdoors, pinewood and
earth. Her whole body shivered deliciously in response. Then she
nearly stopped breathing when he moved his face near hers, his lips
near her left ear so she could feel his hot breath on her sensitive
skin.

“Take the bow and arrow,” he whispered.

A nice, hot liquid thrill slowly glided its
way through her being, and Cecelia held her breath.

“Take the weapon,” he repeated. When she
didn’t respond, he caught her hand and guided it to the bow. She
couldn’t resist his gentle command.

“Just aim,” he said.

Cecelia shuddered. She just realized what he
wanted her to do. He wanted
her
to kill the boar.

She shook her head and said, “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” he replied. “Aim.”

Cecelia was pretty good with bow and arrow,
but not with him so near. She couldn’t concentrate. She was too
aware of him to focus on anything else.

“I’ll guide you,” he whispered as he stared
at the boar charging at them. “Pull!” he commanded.

With his hands over hers, guiding her, she
pulled the bow. And then they both released it. The arrow flew
across the distance and
smack.
It hit the charging boar
right on the forehead.