Sympathy for the Demons (Promised to the Demons #1) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,49

return to my own castle. The loss was immeasurable. That castle had been my home all my life. It was the legacy my father left to me, and it was filled with memories and heirlooms of my ancestors. Then there were my beloved horses, and the lovely views of the misty gray fens from the towers, and the contentment of the fireplace in my private chambers when freezing rain was coming down outside, flecks of ice piling up around the diamond window panes. Maybe a foul, primitive beast like Jameson, whose people lived like birds in the trees with no civilization to speak of, would not understand how much a man could cherish his home, from the promenade outside where my father put the heads of his enemies on spikes, to the delicate spiral staircase that led to the Lady’s Chambers.

“Here. I put it in the big cup.” Jenny held a goblet shaped almost like a beer stein out to me. “Are you all right?”

“I was just thinking of my horses. Hoping the stable workers are tending to them and getting them some exercise…”

“How many horses do you have?”

“Twelve.”

“A dozen horses! And they’re all very fast, I bet. But are they mean?”

“No, no, they’re not mean at all. I might be mean, but a man does not disrespect his horse. They are indeed from good stock, and they have a lot of personality, occasionally willful but never mean.”

“When I was younger I used to imagine I had a horse named Whisper who went on adventures with me, and of course in my mind she was the smartest horse in the world and I rode her bareback for hours,” Jenny said, laughing a little as she arched against a tree trunk in a guileless way that highlighted her body. “St. Augustine used to have a lot of horses, when it was fully a part of the human world, but now it just has a few to move things around, because it’s so small. There’s nowhere to ride, because you would just hit the Fixed Plane.”

“Parallel worlds are like little pockets, is that it?” I asked.

“Mmhm. They only exist in spots where humans believe the supernatural still exists. And everyone there is worried that even that could disappear any time.”

“I would get you a horse,” I said, the words just erupting from my mouth before I could think better of it.

“You would!?”

She loved that idea. I saw it all in her eyes right then; the joy of having something of her own to care for, the trust and companionship of an animal, and even, I feared, some interest in me teaching her to ride. Maybe I imagined that. She was nice to me, but she was also nice to everyone. She already treated Jameson like he was a beloved pet, cutting up all his food for him, and she also let Gillian help with dinner even though Gillian always messed something up, and she certainly looked at Bevan as affectionately as any woman had ever looked at any man.

I imagined riding with her through the fen. I could start her off on the same horse, her small body held against my chest, my thighs pressing on hers. She would be able to think of nothing else, I imagined. I would have to hold her very carefully, lest my claws tear her dress. Unless, of course, I decided that I wanted to tear her dress…

Then I considered that I would have to protect her from all the beasts of Sinistral, and what a target a humble little toad familiar would be. The crows would dream of pecking her eyes out and the nymphs would want to drown her from jealousy and the direwolves would stalk her if she so much as stepped out the door alone…

Even though her warlock was Sinistral, she was as pure as snow, I thought, and I could feel her corrupting me, making me wish to be good. Well, at least a little more good than I was before.

She made kindness seem almost like a strength rather than a weakness.

“I would, if I had any hope that you could manage a horse, but I don’t. You are meek and small, little toad, and it would be a waste to give you a horse. Nor would I abide by such a name as ‘Whisper’. Horses should have a warrior’s name.”

She quickly straightened up, her brows and the scrunch of her nose drawing together into an anger that was too cute