CHAPTER SIX: HELL'S SPELL
1251 Words
.
Belphagor stood beneath the chamber’s high ceiling like a thing that did not belong to the world of men.
His hair fell loose around his face, deep chocolate-brown, untamed, matching the heavy, half-lidded eyes that looked forever tired. Those eyes carried no warmth, yet they drew it from others all the same. His frame was thin, almost delicate, giving him a fragile look that did not match what he truly was. His skin was pale and smooth, the kind that tempted foolish hands to reach without thinking.
A red cloak rested on his shoulders and flowed down to the floor, pooling around his feet. It dragged softly across the stone, as though the ground itself bent to him, as though it knew better than to resist.
Belphagor, Auralia’s voice cut sharply into his mind. What have you done? You cannot speak to a king like that.
“Apologies,” Belphagor muttered aloud, annoyance plain in his voice. “But your king is being disgusting.”
The words barely settled before King Aldric spoke again.
“Would you have me change, then?” the king asked eagerly. “Shall I eat less? Drink less? I will do whatever pleases you.”
Belphagor blinked. “What?”
“If my form displeases you, I shall fix it,” Aldric said, stepping closer. “I would do anything for you, my beautiful man.”
Belphagor took a slow step back, confusion tightening his chest. He wondered briefly if it would be easier to end this now...to bend the king in half and be done with it.
“Your Majesty?” the assistant finally said, his voice strained. “You are speaking to a man.”
“He shall be my tenth wife,” King Aldric replied without hesitation. “I care nothing for such small matters.”
“You disgusting...” Belphagor began.
“My lord,” Selena’s voice cut in smoothly, stopping him cold.
She had moved closer to the throne without a sound. The king spared her a brief glance, just long enough for her presence to sink in.
“Do you truly desire our companion so deeply?” Selena asked softly, her tone calm, almost amused.
The chamber held its breath.
Yes… yes, I desire him greatly,” King Aldric replied without shame.
Selena gave a small nod.
“Then surely we cannot stand here without proper hospitality,” she said smoothly. “If you intend to marry my brother, should we not be welcomed as family?”
“Yes—yes, of course!” the king said quickly. “Forgive my manners, my soon-to-be in-law.”
He straightened proudly. “I shall give you gold. Land. Jewels. Anything you desire. I, King Aldric, am more than capable of providing.”
He looked at Belphagor, waiting for approval.
Belphagor stared back, unimpressed.
With a quiet sigh, Belphagor lifted the sleep spell from the castle. Outside the chamber, servants stirred awake, unaware they had ever fallen.
“Prepare rooms,” the king ordered loudly. “Treat my bride-to-be and his family with the highest honor!”
Servants rushed in, bowing deeply before guiding the devils out.
Later, when they were alone in their assigned chambers, Belphagor turned sharply to Selena.
“What is wrong with you?” he snapped. “By morning I’m to be married to a sweating drunk.”
Selena leaned casually against a pillar, unbothered.
“What?” she said. “He fell for you. That was the plan...
to seduce Aldric.”
“I am exhausted,” Belphagor groaned, dropping into a chair and closing his eyes. “That is your role. Not mine.”
“Well, things changed,” Selena replied calmly. “I adapted.”
Auralia folded her arms.
“You expect us to believe you couldn’t turn his desire toward you?” she asked. “What exactly is your plan?”
Selena smiled faintly.
“I’m simply enjoying myself.”
Belphagor opened one eye.
“You’re not Lucifer,” he muttered under his breath.
Selena ignored him completely.
Outside the chamber windows, the torches of Graveholt burned through the night.
And somewhere in the palace, King Aldric prepared for a wedding no one else had agreed to.
The wedding opened beneath vaulted ceilings heavy with gold and incense, musicians playing too loudly as if joy could be forced into existence. At the altar stood Belphagor, dressed in white
not soft ivory, not cream, but a striking, luminous white that seemed almost holy. The fabric flowed like liquid light over his thin frame, cinched delicately at the waist, the sleeves long and elegant, neither masculine nor feminine. Silver embroidery traced the collar like frost. He looked celestial. Untouchable. Miserable. His sleepy brown eyes were dull with irritation, his deep chocolate hair falling neatly against his pale skin. The garment made him look like a sacrifice instead of a groom.
Behind him, Selena and Auralia stood dressed in black. Not mourning black deliberate black. Sharp. Intentional. Their expressions betrayed nothing.
As vows began, Selena’s gaze shifted.
“Now,” she whispered.
The two slipped away unnoticed, vanishing through side corridors until music and laughter faded into stone silence. They descended into the undercroft of the palace, where ancient locks and layered sigils guarded a hidden vault. The air grew colder the deeper they went.
And there it was.
A heart suspended in a crystal chamber, burning with dim crimson fire.
It pulsed.
Slow. Immense. Ancient.
Auralia stepped closer, her breath catching. “That’s not the silver dragon heart…”
Selena’s eyes narrowed. “It’s Igniver’s.”
The heart of Igniver -- one of the longest-living dragons ever known. A creature older than kingdoms. Older than most wars.
“But why would King Aldric have this?” Auralia whispered. “A man like him shouldn’t even survive standing this close to it.”
She was right. A dragon heart that powerful would burn through an ordinary mortal. Aldric was indulgent, arrogant, greedy -- but he was no archmage.
“Unless,” Selena murmured slowly, “he doesn’t truly own it.”
The realization settled heavily between them.
“There’s no way Aldric could hold a heart like this without being dead,” Auralia said. “Something is wrong.”
The vault door creaked open.
Footsteps echoed.
King Aldric entered.
But something was different.
Beside him walked Belphagor.
Not the groom in white.
A translucent version. Pale. Flickering.
A ghost of himself.
movements unnatural.
“He’s under a spell,” Auralia breathed.
“But how?” she asked, confusion sharp in her voice.
“A lot has changed since we slept,” Selena said quietly, tension creeping into her tone. “We need to leave. If someone can control him like this, they can control us.”
Aldric approached the suspended heart, his expression no longer foolish or drunk with infatuation. It was calculating. Aware.
“Lust… Greed…” he murmured, fingers lifting to run slowly along Belphagor’s ghostly face. “And my beloved Sloth.”
Belphagor’s body did not react.
“Oh, you thought I wouldn’t know?” Aldric continued softly. “News of Hell’s awakening spreads like wildfire. Creatures who remember what hell dwellers look like are nearly extinct…”
He smiled faintly.
“…but not entirely.”
The shadows at the far end of the vault shifted.
“Hello, Auralia.”
A figure stepped forward from the darkness.
Selena instinctively moved back, her calm finally cracking.
Someone else knew.
Someone old enough to recognize them.
- Writer
