Chapter Twenty-Four

The meeting hall was packed when Jade arrived with Toran and, not surprisingly, Davian. She’d known all along he wouldn’t permit her to speak to the villagers without him when it came to her new position as ambassador. He’d want to offer his own perspective of the job rather than let her pontificate on something that had grown so exponentially in her mind overnight, it led her to believe she was on par with reestablishing a peace sanction akin to the United Nations.

She was brimming with excitement as they entered the hall and walked in unison to the front of the room. Toran placed an additional chair at the main table and he sat to the right of Davian, while she sat to the left.

It wasn’t an everyday occurrence to be appointed an ambassador by a king, so she believed the butterflies in her stomach were justified. The fact that she still needed to reconcile her newly discovered demi-demon status aside, a heady sensation of purpose and direction consumed her.

Apprehension over the king’s presence, however, had everyone whispering and chattering in agitated voices—as it had the last time Davian had unexpectedly visited the hall.

The din didn’t die. Jade jumped to her feet, as she was prone to do when she’d had enough of the speculative conversation.

“Everyone, please,” she said in a steady voice. “Let us begin.” The talking dimmed. “Thank you. Now, allow Toran and I to recognize King Davian’s presence at our meeting.”

Davian stood and the congregation knelt in front of their chairs, accordingly.

“Thank you, Jade.” He slid a sideways glance her way. He clearly found it amusing her patience with the villagers’ anxiety always snapped when there were important matters to discuss. He gestured for the group to return to their chairs. Then he said, “I appreciate Toran and Jade giving me the floor for a few moments to—”

A movement in the anteroom snagged Davian’s attention.

Seconds later, Morgan swept into the hall, his cloak swirling at his feet. He wore a tense expression that made Jade instantly ill at ease. The villagers turned their gazes from the king to his general and more bewildered whispers ensued.

“Excuse me,” Davian announced before joining Morgan in the far corner.

Jade exchanged looks with Toran, then he stepped closer to her and ventured, “This must have something to do with the outlaw army.”

Her stomach took a dive south. “Let’s hope there aren’t more casualties.”

Since she wasn’t one to be left hanging, she moved away from Toran and insinuated herself into Davian and Morgan’s conversation.

Davian stopped mid-sentence, his brow jerking upward.

She said, “I’m supposed to be an ambassador now. That entitles me to hear news that clearly impacts Ryleigh, given Morgan came directly to our meeting place with his report.”

The general appeared confused by her statement. He asked, “Ambassador?”

“I’ll explain later,” Davian said. “Continue with your update.”

Morgan did as requested. “The renegades have split up and I calculate they’ll be outside village borders within a day. Two at the most. The tracks they’re leaving are scattered and intermittent, indicating they’re still vanishing when deemed necessary, to throw us off their trail. But they will finally, fully materialize.” His tone turned gruff as he added, “When they do, I anticipate they’ll have surrounded this entire human settlement.”

Jade’s pulse hitched. “Toran and I can’t defend the village against a hundred and fifty demons.”

Davian nodded at her. “Thank you for acknowledging that.” As though he’d feared she’d be foolish enough to try to battle a rogue army.

Then again… If it was her only choice…

She asked, “What do you want us to do?”

“Stay out of it.” Morgan was the one to respond. “You’re minus a slayer, and even if you wanted to be a stand-in, which I know Davian would never permit, you—”

“I’m more than a stand-in,” she bristled. Tugging on the sleeve of her sweater, she showed him her bracelet. “The king signed the papers last night.”

Morgan’s shocked gaze flashed to Davian.

The king raised a hand. “Again… I’ll explain later. The fact she’s a registered slayer has no bearing on the current state of affairs. This isn’t a fight to include the villagers’ or the slayers’ involvement. It’s between my militia and the fire wraith’s.”

Regardless, her panic ratcheted.

Davian continued, saying to Morgan, “Recall your patrols and have them come upon the perimeter of the village slowly, so as to thwart a retreat by the invaders.”

“Certainly.”

“I’ll assemble another reserve to barricade the border and advance on the renegades, pushing them outward to your army—toward the castle if necessary, but effectively away from Ryleigh. The slayers will stay within town limits. This isn’t their fight,” he repeated as his gaze slid to Jade.

“Hold on,” she interjected in a conspiratorial tone, so her new constituency didn’t hear her, particularly the trepidation in her voice—or the erratic beating of her heart over this most recent imminent peril. “I can’t just agree to you surrounding the village with your forces. You’re talking about two demon armies right outside our borders, encompassing us. No human is going to be accepting of that, including me.”

Davian’s jaw set. “You question my intentions?”

“Of course not.” Though dread mixed with her panic. “But put yourself in our position.”

The word our made his broad shoulders bunch. He clearly heard the humans’ position instead.

She rushed on. “What I’m saying is, you’re caging us within the township.” A sense of claustrophobia seized her, but helplessness turned out to be a greater fear. “Come on, Davian. I can’t tell these people they’ll be the centerpiece in a demon-demon war. I don’t care that your militia is bigger and more powerful. Even I feel threatened by being closed in.”

“You?” he demanded in a voice that held disbelief—and an edge of betrayal. “You would doubt me?”

“It’s not a reasonable scenario. I—”

He turned sharply and stalked off. Jade’s distress increased tenfold. Yet a thought sprang to her mind, and without second-guessing the obscure notion, she said, “Wait. I know how to ensure the villagers’ safety—and bolster their confidence—so you can deploy your forces.”

She returned to the melee in the meeting room. “We’re facing a very precarious situation,” she declared, speaking loud enough to her friends and neighbors that a hush fell over the crowd. “But be assured, the impending danger does not come from the castle above us.”

Curious and confused gazes stared back at her.

Jade said, “The fire wraith that attacked me twice leads a band of demons that are coming this way. The king and his general will do everything possible to keep the renegades from breaching our forest. But they have to create a barrier around our village with their demons in order to do it—in order to protect us.”

Malcolm Carter, the blacksmith, shouted, “It’s a trick!”

This caused an outbreak of unrest from the men and terror-filled shrieks from the women and children.

Jade leapt onto the seat of her chair and whistled loudly before proclaiming, “I promise you, this is no trick.”

When the room quieted enough for her to address everyone at a more normal decibel, she said, “I’ve seen the fire wraith. I’ve been injured by him. Badly. More so than any of you know, with the exception of the king and his staff.”

Her gaze slid to Michael, who merely gritted his teeth and averted his gaze. While her heart hurt because of the strain on their friendship, she didn’t waver from her duty. “I understand how difficult this is to reconcile in your minds. I’m struggling as well. As did my father, Liam, years ago when faced with conflicts involving this community and renegades. But the fact remains, we’re in jeopardy from demons outside the king’s alliance that do not heed his command. And if King Davian offers his assistance to us, I cannot, in good faith toward all of you, refuse it.”

Jade allowed the villagers to squawk and fret. The men were outraged and she didn’t blame them. Toran folded his arms over his chest and gave her a cynical look, as though to indicate she’d stuck her foot in her mouth and had worsened matters and heightened their troubles.

She disagreed.

“If you’re done,” she said in an authoritative tone that garnered attention. She hopped down from the chair as the villagers returned to their seats. “I truly believe—and have my own stakes invested—that the king and his general will keep their word and drive back the invading force. Without harming any of us.”

“How, Jade?” This statement, laced with skepticism, came from Donovan Kelly, a tavern regular.

She pulled in a breath, then surged forward. “First, I’ve been appointed by the king himself as an ambassador of peace between the demons and humans.”

Having expected the eruption of dialogue, she waited for it to peak before interrupting. “In addition to being a slayer,” she said, “I’m committing myself to improving relations between us and those under the king’s allegiance. What we don’t have control over, but which I assure you the king eventually will, are the defiant demons that make their random assaults.”

Donovan was bold enough to ask, “How can you trust them, Jade?”

“Because I know King Davian and his second-in-command,” she replied without hesitation. “I’ve seen the lengths in which they’ll go for someone who resides outside their castle walls. They saved my life twice—a human. I know their protection can stretch much farther. Plus, we’ve already been the recipient of their goodwill within our bakery and shops. And,” she contended with conviction, “I will give you my personal guarantee that we are not in jeopardy from the king or his men in any capacity.”

The challenging looks were impossible to miss, but no one else seemed courageous enough to demand supplementary explanation from her. Not while they were in the king’s presence, that was.

She answered for them. “I trust his Majesty’s judgment.” Jade took another deep breath, then jumped off a cliff. “If that’s not assurance enough… You can be confident in that he’d never intentionally let anything endanger this village when it means so much to his—” She swallowed hard and said, “Wife.”

The uproar made her sigh. She let it go on and on. Sliding a glance toward Davian, she found him shaking his head, looking astonished by her audacity. Michael appeared duly stricken.

She’d deal with both men later.

When Lisette finally stepped forward with her arms lifted in incredulity and an expression of utter shock on her face, Jade quieted the group once more.

“I realize this is stunning news,” Jade conceded. “And for the record, we haven’t exchanged vows yet. However—”

“You’re a demon slayer, Jade.” Lisette stated the obvious.

Jade fought the prickly sensation at her nape. “I’m aware of that. And my fiancé is a demon, yes. But he’s no longer the enemy,” she asserted.

Davian approached her. She could see he fumed, though he tried to hide it from everyone but her. In his commanding voice, he said to the villagers, “I understand this comes as a surprise. But the bottom line is that Jade is correct. I will do everything in my power to protect Ryleigh. And other villages. You have my word on that.” His gaze slid to her. “And you and I will talk more in private.”

He stormed off. She focused on the distraught group.

Finally, Toran exerted himself. “Meeting adjourned!” He turned to Jade, as irritated as the king. “You could have warned me.”

“I hadn’t accepted his proposal. Until now.” She shrugged, though guilt rippled through her. “What choice did I have but to make the announcement this morning? I had to prove to these people that Davian would never willingly let anything happen to them when they’re so important to me. The woman—the human—he loves.”

“Jade,” Toran all but growled. “You’re talking about marrying the Demon King, not having a picket fence built around our village.”

“Actually, there will be a fence around our village. Demon, not picket.” She smiled at him, staving off the anxiety over having aggravated her fiancé once again. “I’ll admit the thought freaked me out at first, but face it, Toran. There isn’t a chance in hell Davian will allow that renegade army to penetrate his forces to get to us.”

The other slayer ruminated over this, his ice-blue eyes clouding. Eventually, he grimly admitted, “Agreed.” He took a step closer to her and his voice dropped an octave as he reminded her, “But you just committed yourself to marrying him, Jade. How do you plan to reconcile that with the human population?”

* * *

“She certainly knows how to twist the knife, doesn’t she?” Morgan commented as they mounted their horses outside the meeting hall.

Davian said, “I do vacillate frequently between wanting to kiss her and wanting to shake some sense into her.” It was unfortunate that he found Jade’s cunning intriguing and that he respected her determination and nerve, because those things also infuriated the hell out of him.

“Can we count on her to follow your direction and stay in the village?”

“She knows the extent of my patience and tolerance.” He hadn’t missed the flicker of dread in her eyes while his temper had simmered over her unexpected declaration of their now-impending nuptials. She’d known she’d vexed him. Yet again. “I’m positive we have nothing to worry about with her or Toran. Jade will obey my command this time.”

“I still can’t believe you permitted her to take the slayer’s oath,” the general said as they rode through the woods.

“Who says I permitted her? She had Toran swear her in while I was gone.”

Morgan shot him a perplexed look. “You didn’t have to approve the registry.”

With a jerk of his head and a sardonic tone, Davian said, “As if that would stop her.”

His general was silent as they passed over the narrow bridge in single file formation before doubling up once more. “Forgive me for asking, but how will you justify marrying a demon slayer?”

Davian sighed. “That does complicate matters.” By a lot. “She wasn’t a slayer when I proposed.”

A snort from Morgan was followed by, “As if that would stop you.”

“No, I didn’t intend to rescind the proposal. But I could have used some additional time to work out the semantics. Now I’m relying on the fact that she’s part-demon to help smooth the waters with my coalition.”

He was resigned to an inevitability he hadn’t previously considered. “Her being a slayer certainly gives her more weight than when she was merely human. The demi-demon aspect will work in her favor as well, since she’s proven that she can build relations with the demons within my castle walls, and it’s the rogue demons she’s bound to slay, not those who’ve sworn their loyalty to me. Our union will prove we’re both serious about maintaining peace.”

That was a very reasonable stance to take, he decided. One that would validate the choice he’d made when he’d selected his queen.

They climbed the hill, then dispersed, each having strategic tasks to implement.

Unfortunately, Davian’s optimism about marrying Jade waned as he gave the predicament more thought. He could not dismiss Morgan’s statements and found himself wondering if he truly could pull off the impossible.