Chapter 4
For a long, agonizing moment, Rys worried that he or Fara would need to intervene. Magic welled up around Mina as her tails shifted and panic erupted within her. Grigor stared down at her. He didn’t move, as he knew his role in this test.
Fara tensed, but remained still.
Then Mina stopped. Nobody moved. Not even her tails.
Then she turned and looked at Rys, eyes wide.
“What is this?” Mina asked, lip trembling.
“Grigor is my trusted second-in-command, and the general of the armies of the Kingdom of Kavolara,” Rys said. “He’s also a demon prince. I’ve known him since he was six.”
For some reason, Mina didn’t calm down. Fancy that.
“Fara?” the younger fox asked.
The way that Mina looked to her aunt made it clear whose opinion she valued the most here. With Fara’s backing, Mina would fall into line.
Honestly, the road to Hell wasn’t paved with good intentions so much as a lemming-like mentality.
“I’m here, Mina. You’re safe, and Rys isn’t lying. Even if he is being overly glib.” Fara shot him a glare. “I said before that this may turn out to be a mistake, but that I think this is the best decision I have made. That statement stands.”
Mina’s eyes widened. She turned around and stared up at the demon prince towering over her.
“Is there something you wish to ask?” Grigor rumbled.
“Are all demons this huge?”
“No.”
Mina nodded slowly. Then she turned back around and stared at the carpet for almost a minute. She nursed her cold coffee, taking loud slurps every so often.
“I’ll tell you the full story later,” Rys said. “But the short version is that I use infernals to maintain order as king. They obey me unquestionably, and if you trust Fara, then you know that they’re not running amok.”
“But they’re infernals,” Mina mumbled.
“They’re more complicated than you would have been taught about,” Fara said. “If you trust me, Mina, then you know I wouldn’t bring you here if you were in danger.”
“But… Doesn’t this mean you’re evil?” Mina asked, staring at Rys.
“People call me that, but not just because I’m using infernals,” he said with a wry smile. “I built this kingdom in a few months, Mina. You said that I destroyed Compagnon, and that’s true. Conquest and efficient rule don’t care much for morals or the idea of good or evil. From what I’ve seen, being ‘good’ doesn’t seem to matter much in your alliance, either.”
Mina winced. “Is… Is this what this is about? I make a deal with the devil, and I get granted my greatest wish?”
“No. It’s that you need to understand what you’re getting yourself into. You seem capable and willing, so I want to give you a chance. But you need to be loyal. I’m not branding you with my mark and granting you infinite power in exchange for your soul. I only need you to see me in the same way you saw the Imperial Court,” Rys explained.
She bit her lip and looked at the carpet. “Can I have a few minutes? Alone?”
Fara gave Rys a warning look, but he waved her off and stood up.
“So long as you don’t go anywhere. For reference, the ducts are trapped,” he said, causing Mina’s eyes to widen. Bingo. “You seem to have difficulty sensing my infernal sorcery, so I wanted to warn you. The magic in them is extremely lethal.”
“Oh.”
Rys ushered Fara and Grigor out of the room. The demon prince took his leave, as his job was done. In the meantime, Fara and Rys leaned against the door. The soundproofing of the room prevented them from hearing Mina.
“She’s not doing anything,” Fara said, her tails slowly drawing circles against the wooden door. “I forgot about the ducts. The imps are invisible to me already.”
“Given how sharp she is and her tendency to try to run, I had a hunch she might have spotted one.” He shrugged. “Even if she hadn’t, better safe than sorry.”
“Or missing a limb,” Fara remarked darkly.
They leaned against the door for some time.
“You didn’t seem bothered by how willing she was to torture and kill the prisoners,” Fara said.
“Really, Fara?” Rys chuckled. “If anything, it makes her more qualified for the job. I don’t need a spy or assassin with ethics.”
“Maybe. But you do care about perception,” she replied. “Mina hasn’t worked with humans much. Her tutelage has almost solely been under other mystic foxes, and her training in the Court itself was brief due to her age.”
He raised an eyebrow. “She does have hands-on experience?”
“There’s no way she could have finished her training without it. But it would have been under foxes, like in the Court. She mentioned a stint in the plains, so she likely worked with an enforcer unit to clear out monsters and learn what field operations are like. I imagine she also did duties at various cell HQs.” Fara shrugged.
“Sounds organized,” Rys mused, wondering about the structure of the fox alliance operations on Pharos. But he didn’t need to concern himself with that right now. “I’m surprised you pushed her like that.”
“I don’t want her to make the same mistake I did.” Fara closed her eyes and sighed. “I’ve spent my entire life refusing to face up to my clan’s poor treatment of me. I never imagined that anyone else in my family would receive it—and especially not Mina, given her vibrant white tails and amazing talent. If abusing my position as her trusted aunt saves her, I’ll do it.”
“I really am rubbing off on you, aren’t I?” He reached out and tickled one of her black ears.
She gasped, her tails instinctively curling around herself. Then she pouted at him and leaned into his touch. “Right there,” she moaned. “You’ve gotten so good at this.”
He pulled her against him, and his hands slipped into her fluffy bundles. Her gasp sent a chill down his spine and electrified a certain part of him.
“So, you don’t have any problems at all with this?” he murmured into her ear.
Gathering her strength, Fara gasped out, “No.” She pushed his hands back for a moment. “Give me a second to breathe, you handsy bastard.”
He settled his hands on her flared hips, ready to reclaim her fluffiness at any moment.
“Mina has four tails now,” Fara said. “She’s an adult, and old enough to make her own mistakes. I meant that part.”
“Really?” Rys was skeptical.
“If you knock her up, I’m delivering you to my sister. Other than that, it’s between you and her.” Fara tried to glare up at him, but failed.
“I can’t leave the castle, Fara.”
“Then I’ll bring Ariko here. My threat still stands. Not that I’m worried. Mina was pretty annoyed that you didn’t bed her yesterday, and you had a pretty good chance earlier. Given she needs to learn to respect your authority, turning her into your playmate sounds unwise,” the fox said.
“The two aren’t mutually exclusive if you know what you’re doing,” Rys replied. “And I definitely know what I’m doing. I was trained by succubi and they know how to maintain their grip on power even with their faces buried in the crotches of their subordinates.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
Annoyed at her tone and refusal to believe him, Rys buried his hands in her tails. She practically melted in his arms.
An hour later, he had Fara curled up in his lap. His hands ran through her tails and ruffled her hair.
The door opened behind him. He looked up.
“Wow. She’s like your cat,” Mina said with a smirk. “Do I get to be treated like that?”
“I take it you’ve made your decision?” he asked, holding Fara down as she fought to escape him.
“I have.” Mina’s face was grim, but a smile fought to appear on it. “I want this. Whatever the cost, whatever the price. You’re offering me something that my own people are refusing me. Please. Allow me to work for you, Your Majesty.”
Rys could almost feel the collar settling in place around her. Like so many people in his life, she was shackling herself to him for her own good.
“Call me Rys,” he said. “And I believe you have some prisoners to interrogate.”
Mina’s eyes lit up. She nodded rapidly, then bounced off down the hallway.
A minute later, she ran back. Fara and Rys had straightened up.
“Um, could one of you show me where they are?” Mina asked with a wince.
Fara showed her the way, while he busied himself with other matters.
He had a spymaster now. Not the one he had expected, but one that he looked forward to results from.
Seeing how she grew would be exciting. Rys headed to his office, but his mind was full of plans for how to train the newest addition to his palace.