Page 3 of Their World (Her Royal Harem: Lily #2)

Chapter

Three

Zoman led the way back down through the castle to the large meeting room. When we stepped inside, instead of being empty like it had been when we visited, it was full of humanoid demons All had horns, dark eyes, and a few had tails that moved back and forth in agitation.

Every single one in the room felt like a hybrid to me. Was it just a similarity? Or were they originally from our world?

Many gave me curious stares, while a few were openly glaring.

Jol stood beside an older looking demon with horns that curved up from the sides of his head. He wore a hooded top with the hood up and the horns coming out through holes in the hood. His grey beard was a few inches long and his eyes were slightly red. He sat in the chair on Jol’s right and tapped his finger impatiently.

“I apologize for the delay, Your Majesty, but we were on the roof when you notified me,” Zoman explained with a bow.

Jol stood and said, “Princess Liliana, please meet our Grand Advisor.”

So, he didn’t have a name? Just ‘Grand Advisor’? He was like our elders, it seemed.

The Grand Advisor held out his hand, palm down. I stared at it for a second, unsure what I was supposed to do. So, I shook it like I would anyone else’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said with a warm smile. Through our joined hands, I felt a tingling sensation, a feeling that he was a hybrid like me, and something else … something dark, like a feeling of bloodlust.

He frowned at our joined hands, but raised his eyes and smiled. “We’ve been waiting a long time for you, Princess.”

“Yes, about that. I’d love to hear how it was decided that I was the one you wanted to speak to instead of one of the kings or queens and discuss possible solutions to all of this.”

“Sit,” Jol said and indicated the empty chair on his left, across from the Grand Advisor.

“We were debriefed on the fight that happened right before you were teleported,” Grand Advisor said. “Were those all of your strongest fighters? Or are there more who were not present?”

Really? He thought I was just going to give up all our secrets? Did he think I was a moron? I wasn’t a child, for goodness’ sake.

“We have a lot more,” I answered nonchalantly. “We didn’t call them as we didn’t deem it necessary.”

He scowled deeply, as did Jol.

“You could have been killed,” Jol said softly. “Had I wanted to, I could have crushed your head and they would not have been able to stop it.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s what you think , but you have no idea what they’re capable of, especially if it’s to protect their family.”

“What are they capable of?” Grand Advisor asked.

“Why haven’t you tried to open communication with us if you learned our language?” I asked instead of answering.

“It seems each time we tried, the people were not the ones we actually needed to communicate with,” Jol said. “They fled in terror or attacked as soon as we stepped out of the portal.”

“Did you go, or did one of the others in this room?” I asked and looked around the room.

They all shook their heads.

“You might have had better luck sending someone who looked more like us. I know that sounds incredibly racist, but the hellhounds and bull-men are frightening to the majority of my people. If you had stepped out of the portal, hands raised, and asked to speak to a king, they would have listened.”

“You don’t know that for certain,” one of them said.

“One of the hunters is incredibly vicious and likes to decapitate our people,” one of the others said.

Ah, he was definitely talking about Mason.

“Even he would have stopped if you’d come out with hands raised and spoken. All this time, we thought you couldn’t speak our language. We thought your people couldn’t communicate or didn’t want to, and your only goal was killing us.”

“You may think highly of your people, but we have lost hundreds of our own by sending them,” Grand Advisor said.

“Was it you I spoke to before I was teleported?” I asked him instead of reacting to the taunt.

His eyes widened a moment and then he nodded and his lip twitched, but he refrained from smiling.

“What is a goddess to you? What did you mean by that?” Now that I knew our language was not their first, I hoped to get an explanation to help me better understand what he meant.

“Goddess?” Jol asked, looking between us. “What are you talking about?”

“That is something we can discuss in private,” Grand Advisor said and smiled softly.

Red flags sprang up in my mind. This man was dangerous and definitely up to something. He was keeping things from Jol, which was the largest red flag of all.

“I wouldn’t think you would keep something so important from your king,” I said with a sweet smile. If I could sow seeds of uncertainty amongst them, perhaps I could delay the battle and have more time to find a solution. I wasn’t the best when it came to politics, but I had tried to pay attention to all the discussions and arguments that were had.

Grand Advisor waved his hand dismissively. “It’s not something our king needs to worry over. He is busy enough preparing for the upcoming war.”

“You speak of the war as though it is definite, but what if there is another way?”

“I have seen it,” Grand Advisor said and looked at his fingernails as though bored. “It will happen.”

“Ah, so you have premonitions as well,” I said with a nod of understanding.

His head jerked up. “‘As well?’”

“It is one of my powers,” I said and copied him, looked at my fingernails and rubbed them on my shirt before raising my head again.

He looked furious.

“You have the power of sight?” Jol asked, eyes wide.

Looking around, I realized every demon there was shocked.

“Among others,” I said nonchalantly, with a shrug.

“And you are not an advisor to your people?” Jol asked.

“I advise them if I need to,” I explained.

“And you have not seen our war?” Grand Advisor asked, a brow arched. “Perhaps that means your premonition powers are not as strong.”

“It could also mean that it is not a certainty. The decisions of many will affect the future.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You are very young. It seems you do not have the sight as I have it.”

Shrugging, I said, “I don’t know what your powers are like to compare them to mine. Just as you don’t know what my powers are like. Though, I find it curious that you advised me to accept the shadow powers so willingly. Did you know what they were? Did it come from this necklace?” I reached up, pulled the necklace from beneath my shirt, and stroked a finger down the gem.

Grand Advisor scowled and looked, uncertain. Had it not been him who communicated with me after all?

“Shadow powers?” Jol asked, looking back and forth between the Grand Advisor and me.

Holding my arm out, I summoned the power and the shadow snake with ruby eyes swirled out from my chest and coiled around my arm, resting its head in the palm of my hand.

Jol stood from his seat, nearly knocking the chair over in his haste. “What is this?” he growled. “Did you know she has this power?”

Grand Advisor looked just as surprised as Jol.

“Once upon a time, there lived a little girl,” I began and stood, walking around the room with the shadow snake slithering from one arm, up around my neck, to the other arm, and back. “Her mother was gone when she was just a baby, so her father was her only parent. Her father got into a fight and died. A beautiful woman and her mate, King and Queen of the Hybrids, took the little girl and adopted her, making her a princess. While visiting an island thought to be vacant, they encountered friends and enemies. The enemies tried to use a spell that would have had catastrophic results, possibly taking the adoptive mother away from her. So, the little girl jumped into the way, getting hit by the spell instead. The spell was a personality altering spell. It caused the little girl to be angry and a darkness blossomed within her.” Thinking angry thoughts, I made my hair glow, and all of their eyes widened. I skipped the part about sharing the darkness with the guys, since that was a bit too personal and painful for me still. “Friends gifted the princess with a pretty necklace.” I touched the necklace on my chest. “The necklace seemed to draw demon portals to her and draw the attention of demons as well.” The Grand Advisor shifted in his seat nervously as Jol looked at him. “Then, the darkness within her, the power became too great and one day after her twenty-fifth birthday, the power exploded out of her.” I mimed exploding with my hands. “A voice told her to accept it and become a goddess. She accepted it and the power now lives in this form.” I held up the snake, and it rose taller, hissing at everyone. “And that is how the beautiful princess got these powers. The end.” Looking at the Grand Advisor, I arched a brow and asked, “Or is it? Would you care to fill in the blanks? Why does King Jolmach think this necklace has something to do with fate?”

“The one fated to come here received that necklace,” Grand Advisor answered and smoothed his shirt down.

I wasn’t certain I was correct, but I continued with my thought process, trusting my instincts. “Fated? You gave it to a demon, knowing my childhood friends are the ones who fight the demons, and your premonition showed you that they would give it to me. What else did your premonition show you?”

“Your friends gave it to you?” Jol asked.

I nodded. “As a courting gift,” I said to really throw a wrench in the Grand Advisor’s claims.

Jol scowled. “A courting gift?”

Grand Advisor’s eyes narrowed.

“We had made a pact to become mates at twenty-five, but my parents required us to court first, so they gave me the necklace as a gift. To show me that they thought of me even when out battling demons.”

“So, you weren’t the one who found it then, which means you aren’t the one meant to be here,” one of the other demons said and looked at the Grand Advisor.

“No, she is the one meant to be here,” he said with certainty. “She is the one we need here.”

“And I am here,” I said. “Tell me what your premonition of the war looked like.”

“It was of us winning,” he said vaguely. “And I had another premonition shortly after of us walking through your world while your people cowered in fear.”

“Did your premonition of you winning have King Jolmach standing over me in his armor with his spiked mace in his hand while my family watched?”

His eyes widened. “Perhaps.”

I turned to Jol and said, “Isn’t that exactly what happened before the necklace teleported me here?”

Jol nodded with a deep frown. “It is.”

Turning back to the Grand Advisor I asked, “Is this necklace really a communication device and one you can use to teleport me?”

He stood with a snarl. “This is outrageous. You dare to question me, the Grand Advisor? I am the reason we’ve survived as long as we have. I am the reason we’re able to utilize the portals.”

My hair had started glowing and I tried to stop it, but the more his lies fell into line with my thought process, the brighter it glowed. “Utilize the portals you create, you mean?” I asked. “My adoptive mom can create portals, up to five at a time.”

“Explain,” Jol demanded and snarled at the Grand Advisor.

“Are you really going to listen to the words of an outsider? A child who knows nothing of our world? I’ve been doing everything I can to help us. I was put here by the gods.”

His body shimmered a moment before starting to glow. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and gasped when I saw him without horns, looking like a human. Slowly, I was starting to realize what was going on.

He was at least part siren and had been using spells to alter what he looked like to other people. He must have also been part mage to use the portals. That was why he felt like a hybrid, because he was one.

“Enough, I’m tired. I shall retire for the day. Perhaps, after you’ve had some sleep, you shall remember to show respect to your elders,” he said and glared down at me. “Then, I will explain the powers you have and what I meant about being a goddess.”

My elder, alright. He was likely a hybrid that had been part of the group that tried to take over Jinla and had fought against Nana Jolie and Great Aunt Leona. I really wished they were here right now. Or at least Dad, since he was part siren and resistant to their powers.

He left the room and I turned to Jol, my hair no longer glowing. “I apologize for any disrespect I may have shown to you. It was not my intention. Sometimes, this darkness …” I raised the snake before making it disappear, curled back up inside of me, “… it causes me to be quick to talk instead of think.”

“I appreciate your apology, but it is not necessary, as you did not disrespect me. Come, let me escort you to your room.” He looked at the others in the room and said, “Hold off on enacting the plans we discussed today. I need to investigate a few things first.”

They stood, bowed, and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Jol waved for me to follow him and I did with Dhun on my heels.

“Would you be able to take me outside?” I asked him. “Or somewhere that has soil?”

He stopped, spun, and frowned down at me. “Why?”

“I wanted to test a theory I had. You said I couldn’t leave the castle with Dhun and Zoman, but couldn’t you take me? I wouldn’t need much time, just a few minutes.”

Jol thought about it, his eyes narrowed as if I was trying to trick him. After a long moment, he sighed and nodded. “Fine, but you must stay close to me.”

Walking so we were almost touching, I asked, “Is this close enough?”

His lips twitched up into a smile. “Yes, that will do.”

He took me out a back door that opened to a little courtyard.

“This isn’t part of the castle?” I asked.

“It used to be a garden,” he said. “It used to be full of flowers and plant life,” he answered.

So, why couldn’t Dhun have taken me here then?

Almost immediately to answer my question, one of the bat-like demons flew overhead. When it spotted Jol, it flew in the opposite direction.

Walking out into the blackened dirt, I felt a deep sadness at all of the death. It hurt my soul to see so much nature devastated by whatever plague or curse had caused it.

There was a draw to a spot that felt like it used to be a flower bush, similar to a rose bush back home. Getting down onto my knees, I pressed my hands into the soil, cringing at the acrid scent that filled my nostrils as I stirred it up. Closing my eyes, I tapped into my elven powers, my connection to nature, and reached down deep beneath the top layer, searching for signs of life. For any sign that it could be nurtured or grow.

The faintest pulse at least six feet down responded.

It was weak, but it was there!

“Can you pour some of my water that is in Dhun’s pack onto the backs of my hands?” I requested, keeping my eyes closed to keep my connection.

“What are you hoping to do?” Zoman asked.

“Shush, don’t interrupt her,” Jol ordered. I felt him kneel beside me and the next moment the water dripped onto my hands.

Moving the water, I forced it down to the pulse I had felt. I surrounded that little bud of life with the water and sent some of my magic to it, nurturing it, coaxing, and begging it to grow.

It responded, but barely.

Darkness, it was surrounded by darkness. Light, it needed light!

“I need a shovel,” I said urgently.

“What?” Jol asked.

“I need you to dig six feet below my hands,” I ordered. “I can’t move or I might lose it.”

Dhun barked and started digging with his claws, flinging dirt so hard I heard it hitting the walls of the courtyard and the castle.

Jol squatted on my other side and dug with his hands as well. I was glad my eyes were closed, because watching the king dig with his bare hands would have caused me to cry.

“Your Majesty,” Zoman gasped.

Jol didn’t respond, just kept digging.

Another set of hands started digging in front of me, which meant Zoman was helping as well.

The pulse of life shifted as the dirt was dug and then it was in the light.

“Stop!” I ordered and all three males froze.

“I see it,” Jol whispered, astonished. “A sprout.”

Zoman whispered, “But the Grand Advisor said?—"

“He said a lot of things, I’m sure,” I whispered. “Come on, little sprout. You’ve got your light and your water. Show your king what you can do.”

I swirled the water around it in a circle, letting it touch the roots without blocking the light or letting the water soak into the soil too much to lose it.

The sprout responded, doubling in size.

Zoman gasped.

My powers weakened, my abilities almost maxed out. I had to let it go. I had to let it try to thrive on its own.

“Little sprout, I have to let you go. You have to do this on your own for a bit. I’ll soak the soil around you so you have water to grow. Don’t die on us. Fight. You can do this.”

“She’s talking to a plant like it’s a person,” Zoman whispered, clearly thinking I was insane.

Pushing the water directly into the soil around the plant, I released my hold and opened my eyes. The little, dark green pair of leaves glowed in the early evening light.

“Go get water and one of the protective nets,” Jol ordered Zoman.

Smiling, I turned to Jol, who stared at the plant as though it were the first time he’d seen one. “There is life, Jol. It needs help, but it is there.”

He turned to me, eyes wide, and said, “You really are a goddess.”

Shaking my head, I said, “I’m pretty weak when it comes to my nature magic. There are much stronger elves in my world.”

Jol surprised me by leaning over and pressing his lips to mine. “You are a blessing, whether a goddess or princess or queen. And while the Grand Advisor may have misinterpreted some things from his visions or lied, you are the one I needed to come here.”