Sympathy for the Demons (Promised to the Demons #1) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,44

Jameson, who had come in behind her.

“No. I don’t think he’s very talented for all the hands he possessed,” Jameson said.

“How many hands did he have?” I asked, imaging a sort of octopus man trying to make multiple dishes at once.

“Two more than me,” Jameson muttered.

“The master must be thrilled to have a proper chef!” Gillian said. “I wonder if Sirio will get the boot when we come back to the castle!”

“I don’t want to give anyone the boot,” I said. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you still be waiting for Variel in Sinistral?”

Lord Variel’s servants, it was true, didn’t look like the most shining specimens. I got the feeling neither Uram nor Gillian was the sharpest knife in the drawer. Gillian was a disheveled redhead with her hair in a very messy braided bun, with stains on her apron and glasses that didn’t seem like a recent prescription, as she was always squinting at everything. But I didn’t care whether a person was beautiful or a genius, I thought she seemed friendly and that was what mattered. Jameson was a little more handsome, and looked very groomed to me, even if Lord Variel called him a dirty vulture. I had heard harpies were an endangered species because the women were ugly and always bothering travelers in Sinistral, and that male harpies were handsome but rare, only I wasn’t sure it mattered whether a harpy was handsome. He had the body of a huge bird of prey, but the pectorals, neck and head of a human. It was hard not to stare, but I also didn’t want to avoid looking at him and offend him that way, so my eyes weren’t sure what to do.

“It got so lonely without the master,” Gillian said.

“Boring, at least,” Jameson said. “There was nothing to talk about. And it was just getting good, what with him looking for a bride and all…”

“A bride? Really?”

“He wasn’t getting no bride,” Gillian said. “He met every pretty demoness in Sinistral and I don’t think an Ethereal would marry him!”

“Gillian, dear, do you have short-term memory loss?” Jameson said. “His bride is a toad. The witch said so.”

I almost dropped my mixing bowl. “What!?”

“Lady Knucklebones came to see him and show a vision of his true love.”

“Oh. A…a prophecy. Is she known for her accuracy?”

Jameson shrugged.

“That’s right!” Gillian said. “She did say a toad!” She laughed. “Can’t imagine that either.”

“Are you all right?” Jameson asked me. “Do you know a toad?”

“I do,” I squeaked out. It wasn’t like I could keep it a secret, but this information was horrifying. “I’m a toad.”

“Bwaha! That’s a good one!” Gillian said. “You had me!”

“I think she’s serious,” Jameson said.

“Nah…really?”

I nodded. “But I’m sure that prophecy isn’t true. Lord Variel and I are definitely not interested in each other.” I tried not to consider that there was something intriguing about him. I supposed now that I was out in the world, I would be intrigued by men all the time, but none of them so much as Bevan. “I am sure he doesn’t want to marry a toad shifter. He seems like he would have very high standards. And I’m also sure I wouldn’t want to marry him.”

“Maybe you don’t get much choice in the matter,” Jameson said.

“You—you don’t think he’d—force me!? He’s not even the right size! I think he would kill me!”

“He’s a high demon,” Gillian said solemnly. “Some of them eat the heads off their mates after they do the deed.”

“Only demonesses do that, Gillian. How the hell would they have the baby if the man bit the woman’s head off?” Jameson said. “Also, you’re terrifying Miss Toad. To be perfectly honest, Lord Variel does not even go cruising for nymph nearly as often as a demon should. That’s why it’s been so entertaining to watch him try to find a wife. But, you might be surprised how much demon you can handle…”

“But his mum died giving birth to him,” Uram said. “They say it’s because he was a fifteen pound baby.”

“Even if he was,” Jameson said, “birth was a little more dangerous in the twelfth century or whatever…”

I had no idea how to respond to any of this anymore.

“Jameson! Gillian! Where did you go, you bird brained servants!” Lord Variel bellowed from outside. “This cabin will not build itself!”

As they left, I sank against the counter.

It couldn’t be true.

After a moment, I summoned the courage to look out the window and watch Lord Variel directing his servants in