Page 7 of Their World (Her Royal Harem: Lily #2)

Chapter

Seven

After a bit of begging, we finally got permission from Jol to visit one of the nearby women’s communities.

It took us an hour to get to the closest one, and the journey was pretty silent, but it was still pleasant. Part of me felt bad for enjoying my time here, but with no portals showing up, I had little hope of returning to my world anyway.

My best option was to record everything about this world that I could to hopefully get it to my family back home.

My notes had yet to mention my suspected demon ancestry. I just couldn’t bring myself to write it down. Perhaps, if I delivered that blow to my family in person, it would be easier to absorb and they might take it better.

Though, the trio, I had no idea what to expect of our famed “Demon Hunters” when they discovered that I was part demon.

“You’re scowling a lot. Do you need to rest?” Zoman asked, clearly concerned.

“No, I’m fine. I’m just trying to absorb everything I’ve learned so far and determine what I might want to learn still. It’s hard to know what questions to ask when you don’t know about the culture or the people.”

He nodded. “That’s understandable. Per our King’s orders, I will provide you as much knowledge as I have. Though, the women will be better at providing you that information. They have many books and verbal stories that they pass down through their generations.”

The village came into sight and several large female demons came out to greet us.

Most were not humanoid in shape, many had long horns and thick, leathery skin. A few had scales and wings as well as tails.

Several small children and females carrying babies had come out as well.

“What brings the King’s guard here?” one of them asked.

“Princess Liliana Rubyserpent has been sent here to learn more about demons, per the order of King Jolmach,” Zoman announced loud enough that all could hear.

Many whispered in surprise.

“You’re a demon princess?” one of the demons with wings asked and scoffed. “You don’t even have horns.”

“I am part demon,” I explained. “And sadly, I do not have horns.”

“You’ve not been raised here?” an older female who shuffled forward with her back slightly stooped asked.

I shook my head. “It appears my parents snuck me away to the other world without the others knowing. I was raised there, and they did not tell me of my demon heritage.”

“You don’t remember your parents?” one of the children asked as he clung to the pants of the female beside him.

“I do not,” I replied. “My mother died when I was very young and my father was killed when I was only four-years-old. I was adopted by the King and Queen of the Hybrids and raised by them under the assumption that I was a hybrid.”

One of the females with a hunch at the top of her back, hobbled forward and clutched one of my hands in both of hers. “You poor thing! That must have been awful. Please, come sit at my fire and let us tell you about your people. Your true people.”

A few of the females continued to glare at me, one even held a sword in her hand, but some looked at me with pitying expressions. The children were incredibly curious and followed us to a large firepit.

“Do you have another form?” the female with the hunched back asked me.

I nodded. “It’s … sometimes it scares people, especially children.”

“Please, show us,” she said. “It will help me in providing you some answers and advice.”

Stepping back, I closed my eyes and shifted into my full snake form, curled up slightly so I didn’t stretch across the area. As soon as I shifted, I felt … different. Normally when I shifted into my snake form, it felt good, but as I shifted here, it felt so much better, like I was stronger here. Like my form was meant to be here.

“A ruby-eyed serpent not just in name?” the older female gasped and lifted shaking hands up to her mouth. I hadn’t noticed until she did that, that she had sharp, pointed teeth.

Several of the other females, and all of the children, came closer, a few dropped to their knees as they faced me.

“It can’t be,” Zoman whispered as he stepped forward.

Four females stepped between us, hissing and growling at Zoman. Protecting me!

He raised his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t going to harm the princess. I’m assigned to protect her, remember?”

“Stay away from her,” the female who had asked me to shift snapped. Turning to me, she said, “You may shift back now, dear.”

Reluctantly, I shifted back. It was easiest to speak in human form, but it had felt so good to be in my snake form.

“You truly are our missing princess,” one of the females with silver fur and long, canine ears that flopped down to her shoulders whispered.

“How are you so certain?” I asked.

The hunched back female sat beside me and waved her hand at one of the others.

That female she’d waved at ran into a nearby house and returned shortly with a thick book with pages worn from use and discolored from age. She handed it to the hunched back female seated beside me, bowed, and hurried back several steps.

“Please give us space,” she said to Zoman.

He scowled. “I am to protect the princess.”

“None here will harm her and you are not of our community. You are lucky we allow you here even now. Go,” she snapped.

To my surprise, Zoman bowed and walked to the fence that marked the edge of the city.

“This is our history book,” she explained as she opened it once Zoman was gone.

“Skip forward, Nana Druth,” one of the children said. “Don’t tell her the boring stuff.”

The hunched back female, Druth, hissed at the child, but flipped past several pages. She paused on one page, a painting of a beautiful female demon with thick, curved horns, and a long, thick tail that reminded me of a snake.

“This was the Third to Reign,” she whispered and stroked a finger down the page. “She was exceptional in all ways. And she was the one who delivered the prophecies.”

“Do you have many prophecies?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Only four; and three of those have already come to pass. Third to Reign had amazing premonition abilities.” Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Even better than the Grand Advisor’s.”

“What was the fourth prophecy?” I asked.

She repeated the same prophecy that the storekeeper had told me, the same one I had recorded in my book, except for one additional line at the end. “Yet she will not reign and will pass the throne to a warrior of renown.”

Opening my book, I wrote the phrase down.

The females gasped.

“You record in a book?” one whisper-hissed.

“It’s a very common practice among my people,” I said. “Do you not all do the same?”

“Here, it is mainly the females who record history on paper. The males, they only care for the battle histories,” the silver-furred female said and rolled her eyes.

“Grand Advisor does not like the recorded histories. He has tried many times to ban them, but so far King Jolmach has convinced him not to continue with that path,” Druth said. “Plus, we are very good at hiding our books just in case he tries to come and take them.”

Why would he want the histories destroyed?

“May I see your book? I can add some additional notes into it,” one of the women asked.

“Sure,” I said and held it out to her. This seemed the best place to get information on this world.

“Do you truly believe your prophecies?” I asked.

Druth held the history book to her chest and said, “We do not doubt the Third to Reign. She has proven true three out of four times and seeing you now, I believe her final prophecy is about to come true.”

My throat tightened, and it became very hard to swallow.

“Tell me more,” I requested.

Immediately, all the females gathered around, giving me information about their world, insights into their living situations, and a glimpse into a past that both surprised and saddened me.

They had moved to separate towns to raise their kids to reduce the number of attacks on the children. As their food sources continued to decrease over the years, the number of desperate demons willing to eat anything, including their own kind, increased.

I needed to find a way to help them. To fix this world with its own heartache and people. A world of beauty even in a sea of death.

As they continued to provide information, one word caught my ears, “goddess.” I turned to the demon female who had said it, the silver-furred, floppy-eared female who was writing in my book, and immediately put it together.

“You,” I whispered.

She smiled sheepishly. “Yes, it was me who guided you that day. I have a rare ability to feel when a fellow demon female is in danger.”

So, the Grand Advisor had lied! He hadn’t been the one to talk to me and that was why he refused to speak to me about the goddess matter altogether!

“What does a goddess mean to you?”

“A powerful magic user, like the Third to Reign,” she answered. “And, after our talks, I am certain you are her descendent. And that you are the prophesized one.”

All who were gathered gasped and murmured to each other.

“A descendent of the Third to Reign?” one of the females asked. “Are you sure?”

She nodded and her ears flopped about. “Without a doubt. She uses the shadow powers that are passed down through the Third to Reign’s lineage only.”

“Then you would have been the heir to the throne, had your family not snuck you away,” Druth whispered. Her eyes widened. “You cannot let Grand Advisor find out you are her descendent.”

“What? Why not?” I asked.

They all looked at each other nervously, but seemed unwilling to say more.

“Can we teach you a dance?” the silver-furred demon asked me as she slipped the book back into my bag. She had written on several different pages.

“A dance?” I asked as she gently gripped my fingers with fur covered hands and helped me to my feet.

She nodded, and her canine-like ears flopped around. “It’s one that all females are taught once they reach puberty. We perform it for the ones we wish to mate with.”

My eyes widened, and I nodded quickly. “Yes, please!”

She smiled and led me over to the fire that they started as the sun had begun to set. “It’s not too hard, so I bet you will pick it up in no time.”

After watching the dance a few times, they showed me step by step, slowly, until finally, after an hour, I had the steps down.

“There you go!” the silver-furred female praised. “Keep practicing and you’ll learn to do it faster and faster until you’re ready to show the ones you want as mates.”

“It’s late, Lily. We should head back,” Zoman said. “We were supposed to be back by nightfall, but you were having too much fun and I didn’t want to interrupt you learning your dance.”

“You’re welcome back here, anytime,” Druth said. She handed me my bag and whispered, “There is more written now in your book. More about the power you possess.”

“Thank you,” I whispered back and clutched the bag to my chest.

The silver-furred female took my hands gently in her paws and said, “My name is Talrinir. I hope you visit us again.”

“I will try,” I promised. “Thank you, Talrinir.”

As she pulled her hand back, I realized that she had left a small folded note in my hand. Quickly, I closed my hand into a fist and stuck it into my pocket to hide. I wasn’t sure what the note said or why she felt the need to hide it from Zoman and Dhun, but I assumed it was important.

I said goodbye to everyone and hurried to catch up to Dhun and Zoman, who were at the edge of the town already.

“Thank you for bringing me here today,” I said and smiled at both of them.

Dhun wagged his tail and Zoman returned my smile.

The trip back to the castle was pretty uneventful, there were a few times that demons started to get close to us, but immediately turned away when they realized it was Zoman with me.

Back in my room, I pulled out the piece of paper and gaped at the words written.

You must leave this world before Grand Advisor realizes who you are and kills you.

Come see me in three days.

~T

Heart pounding, I sat on the chaise lounge and reread the two sentences a dozen more times.

Two knocks at the door made me yelp. I shoved the paper into my mouth and quickly swallowed it. I almost choked and had to chug some water before I asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s Zoman. King Jolmach has asked me to come escort you to his room. He would like to eat dinner with you.”

“Okay, I’ll be right out,” I called back as I tried to calm my racing heart.