Raven's Soul. Volume 1
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– You… – hissed the demon queen, but, catching the displeased look of her spouse, did not speak further.
– I what? – The question sounded easy and relaxed, as if Derek no longer clung to Varma's words. – Perhaps the queen herself would like to brighten my evenings? – He laughed openly at Rossi. – Though, Varma, you're an old woman now, and I bet not even the last soldier in my army would want you.
– Cocksucker! – blazing with anger, Sylvia was indignant. – How dare you talk about my mother like that, even in the presence of her family? I agreed to your terms, what more do you want? You have humiliated us enough today! – The previously docile demoness seemed to have been replaced.
– Well, I like it! – laughed the King of Men. – I thought you were going to be boring! Well, I can see you're anxious to get married, so be it! Your father won't stand in the way of his daughter's happiness, will he? – His gaze fell on the cornered but indignant demon king, who could not utter a word and only expressed his agreement with his enemy with a nod of his head. – We leave tomorrow. Tonight I want to see my bride at the feast in honor of our engagement, and I hope that the princess has something more decent than brothel dresses. – And you, Princess, learn to keep your mouth shut, for I am not your father and I will not encourage your promiscuity. Know your place, woman. Take them away!
As Rossi was led out the door, Derek sat on the edge of the bed and realized that he was not in the servants' quarters, but in the princess's chambers, but his fatigue was so great that he had no energy to look for new quarters. And what did it matter where to sleep? Sylvia's room was not much different from the servants' quarters, which surprised the king, because he expected to see furs, expensive carpets, a lot of jewelry and gold. Only some of the furniture was gold, and the jewelry was kept in a small desk drawer, and surprisingly there was little of it. There were various outfits hanging in the huge closet, but most of them were floor length corseted dresses in bright colors, small heeled shoes and a few pairs of colorful silk gloves. Derek had expected to see short, revealing dresses, and this discovery made him chuckle good-naturedly. The furniture in the room was red oak, the marble countertops, narrow window sills, and dressing table were the only things that distinguished it from the neighboring servants' quarters. Light, light curtains fell in soft waves from the eaves. Even from the other end of the room one could see what was going on outside the window. Sylvia's chambers were so bright and clean that they seemed to Derek like a separate universe. It was as if they were part of another palace.
Looking around a bit, Derek opened the double closet again and pulled out a scarlet dress, more like a long tunic, matching the tone of the princess's lipstick. Derek looked at the dress with a scrutinizing eye and concluded that Kaldwind girls never wore dresses of this style, but Derek was curious to see his future consort in it. He was quite aware that his warriors would most likely mentally lick the red-eyed wench from head to toe, but he didn't care about her or her comfort. "Who cares how that minx feels? I'm sure she enjoys catching hungry male gazes. Oh, and she's probably spread her snow-white legs in front of other demons more than once. But, devil, I'm no worse than these monsters… I want to see the princess's bare ankles too! Decent women hide them under the hemline, but this one flaunts them!" – King Kaldwind thought to himself.
– Bergil! – Derek called out to his friend.
– I'm here. Has something happened? Or have you finally decided to have some fun with the fiery priestesses of love? – His companion's lustful smile was not long in coming. He sipped from a large golden goblet and smacked his lips at the sight of the dress.
– No, and that is the last time I hear that question. Take this outfit and take it to my bride and let her change. Then take her to the throne room to show off my new acquisition to the warriors. – Handing the dress to Bergil and taking the goblet from him, the king spoke.
– All right, all right. I'll be quiet. – Bergil headed for the door, but suddenly stopped abruptly and turned to his king with a laugh.
– Your fiancee? No, I heard what you said to that Rossi, but, Derek, are you really going to make that girl your wife and bring her to Caldwynd? – he exclaimed in amazement.
– Exactly," he said shortly.
– Are you out of your mind? What will your people think? The king is marrying a demoness, the spawn of Satan!
– It's my decision, and I'm not going to discuss it, not even with you, Bergil. Go.
Bergil cursed quietly under his breath, but still left, figuring that Derek knew what he was doing and would probably explain to him later this monstrous decision of his, which he, Bergil, thought was fundamentally wrong.
"Bergil is right: I will be anathematized, and my family and my heirs will be considered demons… So be it. Let my people think I'm crazy, anything is better than a war with Flammehav. Besides, the Church already hates me, though it tries to hide this hatred behind prayers for my health and my victory. I'm sure the holy fathers would be glad to see me dead so they could put Hedda on the throne. Fortunately, Hedda herself will never disobey her late father's will and defy me," the king thought to himself as he stepped back to the window.
Derek sank down again on the edge of the wide bed covered with a red blanket, took a sip from the golden goblet of wine and, twirling it a little in his hands, set the vessel back on the bedside table. Next to it he found a small stamped envelope that had not even been printed. It was signed "Court Healer's Report". It interested Derek, as he had previously thought that demons did not get sick and did not need such services, so he decided to take the letter with him and read it later. After taking off his armor and taking a nap after a hard fight, the king of men went out of his chambers in search of the throne room, which he managed with difficulty, because everywhere wandered his warriors who were cheerful from the wine, but the demons in the palace as if they did not exist. Carefully examining his surroundings, the king still managed to find the throne room, which unpleasantly struck him with the abundance of vulgar luxury, gold and scarlet color.
It was a vast space with high vaults that supported red stone sculptures of half-naked and even nude sculptures curved in voluptuous poses, some of them so shameless that they represented two demons as if frozen in the midst of passionate coitus. It was an abomination that made Derek cringe and once again feel a boundless contempt for demons, and especially for the royal dynasty of Rossi. And one of these voluptuous women would be his consort before God? Not only that, she would become queen of Kaldwind! Derek was determined to mold Sylvia Rossi into an obedient, quiet and compliant wife. After all, that's what a keeper of the hearth should be, and she must obey the will of her husband, her ruler. He would train the young demoness and make her forget her royal descent and the games she had learned in the debauchery of her parents' palace.
Passing through the hall, Derek settled himself on Lamar's throne and ordered a goblet of the best wine to be brought to him, which he immediately received. But time passed, and his unwanted bride did not appear. He had had enough to drink and was about to send for the stroppy girl when the heavy doors opened and Sylvia Rossi appeared, accompanied by brave warriors. Bergil quickly took a seat behind his king.
The girl stopped in the doorway. The blood-red hem of her dress swayed slightly from side to side, and her scarlet eyes were cold and stared straight into King Kaldwind's eyes. This indifference and arrogance irritated Derek: he wanted Rossi to suffer as he did, having lost his beloved. Katarina was his one and only, his main treasure, his support and backbone, the mother of his beloved daughters. He would no doubt have married her, but the laws of his kingdom did not allow a king to take a merchant's daughter as his wife. How could he dare to demand that his subjects obey the laws if he didn't give a damn about them? That's why he had to count the seconds from meeting to meeting, catching moments in the company of his favorite girls and giving them money so that they would not need anything, but one terrible day everything changed: Katarina left the girls with her father and went to the forest to get herbs for the potion, where among the forest flowers, on the lawn, Derek later found her torn body.