Chapter 25

After the coronation, Julian was allowed to go to his chamber. He buried his head in his palm, thinking of what to do. Life as a traitor in the territory of demons cannot be easy. And now it's even worse, he is their crowned king. How the hell can he manage to fight his own people and destroy his own territory all alone. He will die. He's sworn an oath by eating the kings food. He has sworn allegiance, he's caged now and nothing can work through him anymore. What the hell was he thinking? Why did he allow that to happen? Well it isn't his fault anyway, It happened so quickly and he had no choice. He scanned around the room, looking disconcerted.

'If only Katrienair was here' he thought. At least, he's back in this evil territory because of her.

Then something occurred to him. Emiliar, he found her. He rushed into his other room, found her laying weak on the ground.

"Emily "he said. She raised her heavy eyebrow. She was weak no doubt and she was in tears. For heaven's sake, she had the chance to save Katrienair but her carelessness rather caused more harm.

"Joel, I'm scared "she gasped.

"Everyone is. Do you know where Katrienair is? How did you get to my... " He trailed off. He thought it wouldn't be a good thing to let her know about his true personality now. That's if she hasn't found out herself. "How did you get there? "

"I found Katrienair " Emiliar said. " But I was caught trying to save her. "

Joel's heart jumped, happy that things were working out. "Where did you find her?!"

"ehm... " The place has no name. She doesn't even know where she is right now. " a place, a dark place. She was chained. And Luna was there. "

"Where is the place? "

"I... I don't know "

"How will you not know?! "he yelled at her. Emiliar was irritated, not surprised though, Joel has always been too bossy.

" Do not yell at me okay? I am a stranger here and I expected you to be also but you don't look like one. " She paused. "I found her somewhere and when I was brought here I was practically blindfolded. "

"So, you were dumb enough not to observe the area. I thought you had gifts. "

Emiliar was provoked. She sat up. "you will not insult me! "she yelled back. Her conscience screamed aloud Sylvia's warning 'You should not fight, Emiliar try to be tolerating.'

"Well, I can do whatever I wish with you. " Joel smirked. He sounded different, he sounded like the devil himself. Emiliar became curious. Who is he?

"No you can't! "she spat. He was getting really annoying.

Julian grinned. "I can, because I am not the stranger here, you are. You are here to seek refuge in my chamber. I can give you up if I want to. "

Emiliar felt crushed. He, Joel, has a chamber here, how? She was quiet, lost in thoughts.

Julian hated the way he sounded but that was the only way he could demand respect from her. He sat down on the bed in the room, thinking of how life is going to become after this day.

"who are you? "Emiliar asked softly.

"you don't need to know who I am "

"I demand to know Joel, please. " she sounded humble for the first time in her life and that touched Julian.

"I'm a demon. The demon prince. The man who took you is my father. " he said.

Emiliar was a bit touched. She never expected to hear this. Demon? He doesn't look like one. She has heart so many disheartening stories about demons and he doesn't have one of their proposed qualities. He's domineering though, every human can be.

"that's a lie! "she said.

"I don't care if you believe me or not. "

"wait. Where is this place? Demonic territory?"

Julian glared at her. "are you scared? "

"Definitely not. " She snapped.

The fact was that she didn't look like someone she should be afraid of.

"you see, there's no time to waste. Tell me where Katrienair is. "

" I can't describe the place. She was chained in a very dark place. "

"Fine, I'll find her myself. "

***

Roger was fuming with rage. He swore continuously that whoever had freed his captive will not go unpunished. He summoned his maidservants and asked about her whereabouts but none of them had anything to say. They all claimed that no one entered the chamber. He was very angry but he felt there was no need to cause a state of emergency in his territory because of a mere plaything. On a second thought, he saw it as an omen, a bad one. She might have been sent as a spy. Their rivalries might be planning a war against them. He thought of calling on his son, since he's the heir, so they could discuss this but he hesitated. 'Julian needs rest'

*****

Julian walked through the dark corridors ignoring greetings from his coven mates. He knew the territory was a big one and there was no way he could find Katrienair in one night but he just kept moving, having unseen hopes. Suddenly he heard a voice.

"your highness "

He swung around, infuriated that someone has been following him. He saw two men, dressed in black coats and had weapons tied around their waist.

"who are you? " he asked.

"your bodyguards. " one of them answered.

Julian tried to calm down. He was just too upset. Why did his father underestimate him this much? Why body guards? Does he look like he needs one?

"I'm Ikram "one of them said.

"I'm Ishan. "the other said. "we'll serve you well your highness. "

They bowed.

' Well ' Julian repeated in his mind. He turned around and continued to move. Ikram stopped him.

"your highness, it's late and you need some rest. There are a lot of things you'll have to do tomorrow and you might not have enough time to rest then. "

"I don't need rest. You can go back of you like. "

"your highness, where are you heading to? " Ishan asked.

The question sounded strange to come from a servant but Julian did not take it to heart.

"I don't know. Just wanna get to know all corners of my territory. "

"Master, we can do that some other time. "Ishan said. "I promise you that. I'll show you all the hidden places in this territory, even the basements and the dungeons. "

'dungeons' sounds nice. Julian thought. Julian took a closer look at both men. Ikram looked evil somehow and also vulnerable but Ishan has this kind of light aura, quite open minded and strong willed, looked like someone he could trust.

He finally decided to follow them back.