The King's Gambit
1226 Words
King Demitri’s POV
The fire in my fireplace burned brighter and I knew that in a few moments, the portal would open and the witch that my Father had left me would appear magically in front of me. I hated witches with a vengeance, especially knowing what my own grandmother had done to her sons and grandsons. We were her own blood, yet she treated all of us like nothing more than expendable weapons, pawns that could be sacrificed for gains. Hildr was no different from my grandmother, switching her loyalties as often as I changed my underwear. She had betrayed her own coven when she pledged her loyalty to my grandmother and shortly before the final battle at base camp, she had formed a secret alliance with my Father to preserve her own life.
“How’s our deal with the humans holding up?” I asked as the witch patted some embers off of her shoulders while she stepped out from the ball of fire in my fireplace.
“Hello to you too, Your Grace,” she said sarcastically. “Their appetite for gold has grown considerably but other than that, everything is going according to plan. There will be an attack on the famed Bloody Mary Bar in LA next week and the owner is a vampire with ties to the Tahoe Coven.” A smile lit up her face as she commented lightheartedly, “Would be interesting to see the High Priestess herself on prime time news.”
Despite my disdain for witches, I had to admit that Hildr was a very capable one. After all, she was one of the co-creators of daywalkers and so far she hadn’t messed up any of my plans. “I see why my Father had chosen you as his ally,” I admitted.
“What do you want from me?” Her smirk sent a wave of anger through my body. Even though she was bound to me in life and death as part of her deal with my father, it didn’t require her to show me any respect and that witch would go to extreme lengths to challenge my authority and belittle me, just like my grandmother had done.
“We are allies, Hildr,” I said through gritted teeth. “If I’m doing well, you will benefit too. If I’m dead, I’ll see you in hell.”
Her eyes narrowed as her lips tightened at my words, giving me an exhilarating sense of satisfaction. “You’ve made your point. So what is it that I can do for you?”
“I need a new sun ring and I want you to lift the curse that’s preventing me from achieving my full potential as the son of a Royal.”
“Are you out of your mind? What happened to the sun ring that I made for you? Do you know how much magic it took to make it without the sun stone? And lifting b***h Lae’s curse? You know as well as I do that I can’t do it! If I had been able to do it, I would have and your Father would have been able to take down that b***h before she tried to lead all of us to our deaths.” The exasperation in her voice and the incredulous look on her face was genuine enough to make me believe her, but I was determined to get what I wanted.
“You just need to know that I need another sun ring. Do it and you can have another 100 ounces of gold from the warehouse. As for the curse, you’re the witch, so figure it out and I’ll make it worth your while.”
“The sun ring will take some time. The curse is the problem. I don’t have enough power to break it, certainly not enough to break it and still cloak this entire fortress.” The sudden change in the witch’s attitude at the mention of gold was so predictable, and I knew it was the time to go in for the kill.
“What if I could offer you a little boost in your powers?”
A frown etched across her face as she looked at me suspiciously.”What do you mean by a little boost? Did you buy a witch?”
Her worried face made me chuckle and I shook my head in amusement before locking eyes with her again. “Someone is worried that she’s going to be replaced by another witch? Well, don’t worry, you are a parting gift from my father, making you practically irreplaceable. Witches are not the only ones who hold power, Hildr. Don’t forget that all supernatural beings have magic within them.”
“Are you suggesting to harvest the magic in some of your vampires?” The judgement in her voice was overpowering as she asked a rhetorical question. “You do realize that they would die after I have harvested the magic in them right?”
“What are a few vampires in the grand scheme of things?” I scoffed at her ignorance.
“Classic,” she smirked. “But I doubt you’d have enough vampires for the amount of magic that I would need to harvest, unless you still have some daywalkers ready to be sacrificed.”
“Ignorant, as usual,” I pointed out sharply. “Let me teach you one thing, Hildr, there is a wealth of magic hidden beneath the surface in some female vampires. The more human they look, the more magic is hidden within them. I thought you would have figured that out already after having created so many daywalkers but I guess I’ve overestimated you.”
Hues of red and pink painted Hildr’s face as she glared indignantly at me. “I was never given the chance to test out any of my theories on female vampires. Besides, I don’t have to prove anything to you. If you know something that can help your own cause and instead of sharing the information with me, you’re going to humiliate me, then you can forget about unlocking any of the power that you might have inherited from your father.”
“Fair point,” I conceded. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll provide the female vampires that you need and as soon as you have lifted the curse on me, I can promise you a wealth of information from centuries of research done on vampires and magic in general.”
“Research? And how exactly do you intend to provide that? The entire bio-research unit went up in flames right after Lady Lae and her minions marched off to death.”
“Let’s just say that I have a secret weapon,” I smirked in triumph. “And it’d remain my secret weapon until you have delivered your end of the deal.”
“Very well,” she agreed as she extended her hand to me. “We have a deal, Your Grace.”
- Writer
