Claimed by the Demon prince

Chapter Seven: Blood on Stone

Azazel POV

“Your Highness, please!” The demon fell to his knees, his voice breaking as he looked up at me. “We never touched the wolf. We only wanted to see her. That was all.”

The others quickly followed, each trying to speak over the next. “The servants wouldn't stop talking about her.”

“We were only curious.”

“We meant no disrespect.”

I let them finish before I spoke. “Did I order every one of you to stay away from her?” There was silence everywhere nobody spoke after that question one by one, their heads lowered.

“Answer me.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” one of them whispered.

“Then you understood my command.”

The oldest among them looked up again, panic filling his face. “We thought looking from outside the door wouldn't matter.”

“You thought wrong.” I glanced at the executioner standing beside them. “The law is not difficult to understand neither are my orders.”

One of the younger demons crawled forward until a guard stopped him with the tip of a spear. “Please, Your Highness. We have served this palace for years, fought in your wars and have never disobeyed you before.”

I looked at him without anger. “And yet you chose today to begin.”

His breathing became heavy as he searched for another excuse. “We never planned to hurt her.”

“Your intentions no longer matter.” My voice remained calm. “The moment you ignored my command, you decided your own punishment.”

None of them spoke after that they already knew there was nothing left to say. If I allowed this to pass without consequence, another group would ignore the next order.

Before long, every command I gave would become a suggestion instead of law. A kingdom could not survive that way, I turned my eyes toward the executioner.

“Finish it.”

The first blade came down without hesitation then another. The begging stopped almost as quickly as it had begun. The soldiers standing around the courtyard remained perfectly still, watching the punishment in silence.

When it was over, servants stepped forward to carry the bodies away before dawn. Blood stained the stone where the prisoners had knelt only moments earlier. I turned toward the palace entrance without looking back. The captain of my guard caught up with me halfway across the courtyard.

“Your Highness.”

I stopped walking. “Speak.”

He hesitated before choosing his words carefully. “Some of the men believe death was too severe for breaking a single order.”

I held his gaze. “Do you believe that?”

He looked at the ground for a moment. “I don't know.”

“They disobeyed me today because they believed nothing would happen.” I pushed open the palace doors and stepped inside. “Tomorrow they would have ignored another order. After that, someone would have decided to test how close they could get to the wolf. I refuse to wait until blood is spilled before acting.”

The captain bowed. “I understand.”

He left me alone in the corridor, but my thoughts stayed behind in the courtyard. Lucielle had watched the execution from her window, I noticed her the moment I looked up. She hadn't hidden from the sight she had stood there until the end. I wondered what she saw when she looked at me. The man who healed her wounds, or the prince who had six demons killed before the sun came up.

I changed direction before reaching my study and walked toward the palace infirmary instead. The smell of herbs met me before I stepped through the doorway. Marek was finishing the bandage around a soldier's arm when he noticed me.

The young guard immediately stood and bowed before leaving us alone. Marek wiped his hands on a clean cloth and came closer.

"Your Highness."

I nodded once. "How is the wolf?"

He studied my face for a moment before answering. "She'll recover from the bruises and cuts. The worst of her injuries were caused by exhaustion, blood loss, and stress. Her body has been through more than it should have endured."

He walked to a shelf, picked up a small glass bottle, and turned it in his hand. "There is something else you should know." I waited. "She's carrying a child."

I had suspected it from the way she instinctively protected her stomach while she lay unconscious, but hearing the words spoken aloud made it real.

"How far along?" I asked.

"Only a few weeks," Marek replied. "The pregnancy is still fragile. Another beating, another long journey, or another serious shock could end it."

I looked down at the floor without saying anything. Marek had served this palace long before I was born. He knew when silence carried more meaning than words.

"Did you already know?" he asked carefully.

"I suspected it." My answer came quietly. "She kept reaching for her stomach even while she was unconscious."

Marek nodded. "She seems deeply attached to the child."

"As any mother would be."

He placed the bottle back on the shelf. "I'll prepare herbs to help her regain her strength, but she needs rest more than medicine."

I met his eyes. "No one knows about the pregnancy."

His expression became serious. "Not even the palace staff?"

"No one."

He understood immediately who I meant without hearing the name. Rumors spread through this palace faster than fire. If word reached my mother, Lucielle would become more than a curiosity. She would become a target.

Marek placed a hand over his chest. "The secret stays with me, Your Highness."

"You've always been protective of those under your care."

The familiar voice came through the open doorway before I could respond. Marek lowered his head at once, I turned toward the entrance and found my mother standing there with two attendants behind her. She dismissed them with a small wave before walking inside as though the infirmary belonged to her.

She smiled at me, calm and beautiful, the same smile she wore whenever she was about to make someone regret breathing.

"Imagine my surprise," she said softly. "My son visits the healer twice in one day because of a little wolf." Her red eyes moved from me to Marek, then back again. "Tell me, Azazel." She stopped only a few steps away. "When are you planning to introduce me to your guest?”