Chapter 45

ChapterForty-Five

Her poor monster.

Gluttony had been used, abused, tossed aside, and beaten. The cuts on his cheeks... They had sliced a permanent smile into him and it made her stomach turn to even think about it again.

He should never have been exposed to that level of punishment. Every ounce of him was lovely and wonderful and kind. How could they not see it?

Because they hadn’t wanted to. Their kingdom was falling apart at the seams and it was so easy to blame an absent king when they had just as much part in it. She did as well. Her people had plodded through their lives, so certain that someone else was to blame. They never had to look any deeper if they believed that. They never had to think that their own people could have fixed many of the issues if they’d just cared enough. If they’d just tried a little harder.

But she’d seen that realization on their faces when she walked back into town. They had seen her limping into view, emerging out of the mist like some kind of mythical creature pulling herself out of the swamp, and they had looked away. No one could meet her eyes, no one but Grace, who had stumbled toward her.

Twin black eyes had turned her friend’s usually beautiful countenance into one that proved something horrible had happened to her. And Grace was the one who linked their arms together, and the two of them had walked through the crowd. Quietly. Calmly. Without inciting more violence or anger, as they seemed so likely to do.

No one had tried to stop her. A few of them had even pointed her in the direction of this root cellar, one that had clearly been built to withstand a kelpie or other monstrous creature’s attack.

“Go to him,” Grace had said, standing outside the door with the falcon. “See if he’s...”

Neither of them wanted to admit that there could be a chance their king was dead. Even though Katherine knew it wasn’t possible for him to die. There was still that fear that she might find him headless, or just a body.

Instead, she’d found a man with a carved out smile, covered in blood and bruises, but who looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

And now, Katherine held the back of his head as he drank from her neck. The sounds were rougher than usual, more audible as he gulped mouthful after mouthful of blood. She wasn’t light headed yet, though, so he could take all that he needed.

Her blood would heal him, she thought, and if it didn’t, at least he would go out to that crowd without the edge of hunger and rage. He would be comfortable, at ease, a man who could make them feel guilt for the monstrous things they had done.

He was alive.

Running her fingers up his cheeks, she felt for the giant wounds that were slowly closing. And though it was perhaps morbid, she kept her fingers against them until she felt them seal. The blood that stuck to her fingers, however, that would remain in her mind for many years to come.

Gently, she tugged at his jaw, smoothing her fingers down his neck as he growled at her.

“Gluttony,” she whispered. “You have to stop.”

He clutched her to him a little harder, holding her against his body a little too tightly as he started to coil around her. Like a snake who wanted to consume his prey whole.

“No, my darling.” Katherine didn’t feel an ounce of fear from his movements. She just patiently waited for him to come back to himself. “You cannot feed off me any longer. You will hurt me.”

His fingers spasmed against her back, and though he was still holding her too tight, he at least slowed in his drinking.

“That’s it,” she whispered. “Come back into yourself, Gluttony. You are the king of these people, and we have to prove to them why you are king. You cannot be wounded. You cannot be weak. You have to be the Gluttony I know, so that we can tell them what you will do now.”

And so, slowly, he drew back. She felt him lick her neck, but knew those wounds were too deep for any healing to be done. Even the spirit inside her seemed to realize that the marks he had left needed to remain.

She wanted everyone to see them. She wanted to show the signs of his feeding and wear them with pride. She would prove to them all those bodies in the almshouse had not ended up there because of Gluttony.

Katherine stood, using his shoulder to brace herself until the dizziness faded. And then he joined her, every inch a king, even though he was covered in blood and dirt. Without a word, he held out his arm for her to take and the two of them made their way up the stairs into the dim light of the sun.

A small crowd had formed, all standing at odds with Grace, who seemed ready to fight anyone. The black eyes made her look rather menacing.

But everyone froze when they saw who approached them from the cellar. Surely they had seen the man missing parts of his body leave this shadowy place. But perhaps they thought that Gluttony would also consume her.

Either way, they were looking at two united people. Not a victim and abuser.

Grace turned to her first, her voice low and quiet. “Katherine?”

“Yes?”

“You all right?”

She met her friend’s gaze first, then turned her attention to all the people in front of them. “I am more than well. I have come to collect the man I love, and now I am going to take him home.”

Low murmurs spread through the crowd. Love? How could she love a man like that? A creature who had tormented their kingdom for such a long time?

She glared at them all. Each and every one until they fell silent, their faces burning with embarrassment. But she could see their eyes on the wounds at her throat. She knew what they were thinking and where their fear came from.

Carefully lifting her fingers, she skated them over the wounds on her neck, drawing even more attention to the punctures. “These are the marks of the man who loves me. The man who I have committed myself to.”

“The monster you have fallen under the spell of, you mean?” Alexander’s voice cut through her crowd, her old boss meandering through them all with a challenge in his voice. “We have all seen what he can do to young women in his thrall. We know the cost of what he asks for.”

“There is no more cost,” Katherine called out. “I have pledged myself to him, and he to me. Gluttony will no longer seek out your wives or daughters. He will only feed from me, and this is something he has vowed.”

“How can we believe that?” Alexander scoffed. “He lies and cheats, just as those strangers he killed have said. And now he chases off the truth seekers because he wants to weave his web of darkness around us once more.”

She wanted to slap that stupid expression off his face. She wanted to hit him so hard that he saw stars and then maybe remembered that Katherine had never once lied to him. That she’d worked hard, for years, proving her worth and value in the almshouse while he had ignored all the options that might have eased her pain.

But Gluttony spoke, and every single one of them fell silent to hear his words.

“I have not been a good king,” he said, his voice a low rumble. He wiped the blood off his cheeks to reveal the still red marks beneath. “I can admit that. I have always known that I was failing you, but I believed in staying away, that I was doing you better service. Your women came to me seeking money or safe travel, and I provided whatever they asked for in return for their blood. You called me a monster. I gave you space. You blamed me for this kingdom’s ruin, and I took that blame without question.”

Faint murmurs rose in the crowd, mostly from women who had taken his payments.

“I do not wish to prove anything to you,” Gluttony continued. “That will take years of improving this kingdom and listening to what you have to say. Reparations will be made for all that I have done to you and your kin. Trust me when I say I do not wish to brush our history aside. I know what I have done, and I will make amends for that. But I am still king. I am still the demon at your doorstep, and I have but one question for you. What use you will find for me? Shall I be the demon king who protects you, or would you prefer that I stay in my castle and you in your homes as we have done for many years now?”

And then he stayed silent. Katherine stood beside him, her arm linked with his, and she waited for her people to decide if they even wanted him anymore.

They shouldn’t, she knew that. He had tormented their nightmares for a very long time, and even if he hadn’t, Gluttony had done little for them. Food was scarce. Money even harder to come by. They were a hard people who worked until they dropped.

But they were also good people, and she knew that to her core. She had seen all the good they could do and how supportive they were to their neighbors and friends. She could only hope that they would extend that courtesy to a person they had always thought was a monster.

Finally, when no one spoke, she did for them.

“We have all been afraid of him for such a long time. I know you have good reason to be scared. But I am here to tell you that there is nothing to fear. He has been a good man, a supportive friend, and then someone so much more after I had stayed with him for even longer. I trust him with my life. And I believe without question that he wishes to make this kingdom better. I believe we can do this with him.” Katherine glanced up at Gluttony and smiled, even though his expression was one of sincere worry. “I believe in him. So very much.”

He smiled down at her as well, the soft expression making his entire face light up and change. He was so handsome when he did that. So little like the monster with red eyes that every legend made him out to be.

But no one stepped forward. No one said a word until Grace cleared her throat.

Even though there were a hundred eyes on her, Grace didn’t wilt in front of their angry gazes. “If he’s good enough for Katherine, then he’s good enough for me,” she said. “I’d rather have a demon on our side than against us.”

A few other murmurs played throughout the crowd before another woman begrudgingly admitted, “He was rather gentle when he gave me all that coin. He could have killed me, but he really just took a few sips and then sent me on my way.”

“He did the same for me,” another woman said, even though her husband hissed at her to stay quiet. “When our boy was sick, I asked for money and offered my blood. It didn’t even hurt, I just... I didn’t tell anyone.”

More and more women spoke up, quietly agreeing that they hadn’t been harmed at all when they’d entertained Gluttony, but they hadn’t wanted anyone to know that they had sought help. Sometimes it was because their husbands hadn’t been doing well at work, others because they were on their own and hadn’t made rent.

And Gluttony quietly listened to all of them. He stood there, listening to every story and appearing to really listen. He even nodded his head at a few women, who flicked their gazes at him before looking back to the ground.

Countless women, all who had sacrificed themselves so that they could make ends meet. And their king, who stood before them beaten and bloodied, but who had helped them. Even when no one else could.

Katherine sighed, knowing that this was the moment when she needed to make sure everyone was very clear about what was going to happen next. “Our king has been helping us even when he did not know how. Surely some of you can understand that.”

And there were plenty of people who could. Mostly women who had been helped, but some men who were also able to see reason.

Alexander stood firm in his hatred, however. “What of all the bodies in my clinic? All the people who had their throats ripped out and their lives stolen from them?”

Perhaps Gluttony had a calm, reasonable answer for this. But Katherine refused to stand for this slander any longer.

The angry words burst out of her. “Are you still so blind? You’re a doctor, by the seven kingdoms! We have seen the wounds from Gluttony’s feeding countless times in our lives. You can see the wounds on my own neck now, fresh from a feeding. You know that none of those wounds in your clinic were caused by him. But there were countless strangers in our mix, encouraging us to violence and rebellion. Don’t you think it’s more likely they were the ones hurting us just to make sure we actually did what they wanted?”

Again the murmurs. Again, the shifting. And then she saw a few people drifting away from the crowd. Back toward their homes.

Finally, Grace spoke again. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we’d rather have our own demon than none at all. Stay Gluttony. Continue to be our king, and perhaps we can work together to make this kingdom better.”

He nodded at her before lifting his voice to a booming tone. “One last thing.”

They all froze in tandem.

“I will no longer feed from anyone other than my bride.” He wrapped an arm around Katherine and she felt her face turn bright red. “If you need my help, I am pleased to do so. I will happily assist my people who need me to step in, but I will not feed from any other. This woman saved you all, and she saved me as well. We all owe her a great debt.”

Katherine could not be more embarrassed and proud if she tried. Biting her lips, she grinned at him with all the love in her heart blasting out of her being. She’d never been more proud of him. Never been so certain that she had made the right decision in her life.

He looked down at her and then gently touched the tip of her nose. “You are the queen this kingdom has been looking for, my love. Now, let me put you on a throne.”