Page 77 of Caught in the Devil’s Hand

“You will learn, Empress,” Rosuke assuaged, face full of joy. “We’ll teach you.”

“We’ll help you take back your empire,” Vallen said.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” she sobbed. “You sound more like a soldier than the man I love.”

“As a magic-user standing before his empress, I am one of your soldiers first and foremost. We both are,” he said, gesturing to Rosuke with the tilt of his head.

“I, I thought I was solving all our problems,” she bemoaned, turning away. “And now this?”

“You won’t have to do this alone. I’m rather surprised no other crows had found you before we left your village. Your pull is powerful, and any magic-user would be hard-pressed to ignore it. More are sure to find us soon, and you have me and Rosuke until then.”

She whirled around. “Listen to yourself! You’re talking about overthrowing our rulers, about taking on the armies of the Damned One.”

“You are the ruler,” Rosuke affirmed. “You have the power of the Divine One inside you and an immense potential of which you’ve only had a mere taste. As empress, you could lay low a field of demons with but one word from your lips.”

“It’s…too much,” she whispered, legs trembling. “I… I can’t—” The edges of her vision went gray, and the room tilted…

“Vallen,” Rosuke warned.

Vallen was off the altar in a flash. There was no way he’d let Shumei—his empress—hit the floor. Smearing the chalk lines of the used-up circle, he skidded to her side and caught her as she fainted. Though her magical stamina was still low, he surmised that learning she was the first empress in 300 years was the real reason she’d lost consciousness.

“She needs to rest,” he said, brushing her hair off her cheek.

Rosuke went to the door and opened it. “You take care of bathing her. I’ll ready her bed and clothes.”

Vallen gave him a curt nod and Rosuke walked off in the direction of her bedroom, although he assumed Rosuke would stop by his own room first to clean up and get dressed. He then gazed at the sleeping face of his lover. She had been the new empress all along. A jumble of emotions too numerous to feel all at once swirled in his chest.

He was proud she was already shaping up to be an excellent wielder of magic. She had already proven her talent with her show of power to Oka and with her completion of the ritual to make him human again. Her stamina was her biggest weakness, but it would improve quickly.

He was also afraid. Majo had to be the Damned One’s champion. The King of Oblivion excelled at corrupting human magic-users, especially talented ones, so selecting Majo could not have been arbitrary. And even though Majo and Shumei had both been newly awakened, Majo had seriously injured Shumei. Defeating her would be a difficult, dangerous task.

Newly awakened… By the dueling gods, he’d felt such guilt over the last few days for the way in which he’d introduced Shumei to sex, not to mention his callous attitude toward her at the river the next morning. Worse, he kept thinking of how he’d have treated her differently had he known she would be empress, a sign he had not grown at all since his time at the Dark Court. She deserved sincere passion no matter if she were empress or not.

But she was empress. That was undeniable. Even now, he felt her pull, and he wondered how he should act toward her. He was her lover but also her subordinate. He had vowed to advise her but could not make demands of her. If she decided to risk herself, he could not stop her, only argue his case.

Oh, but what relief he felt. Relief an empress had finally returned, that the ritual had worked, that his and Rosuke’s magic had been restored, and that everyone was safe behind the estate’s powerful enchantments—at least for now. He only hoped they had time to train Shumei and build up her stamina before she had to face Majo. Already, time could be running out…

Chapter Seventeen

A night’s rest and a smiling, black-haired Vallen to kiss her awake did much to restore Shumei’s good mood. They spent most of the morning eating breakfast, rejoicing in a successful spell, and planning their next move. Oka seemed thrilled to be a part of it all, though he had been rather dubious of Rosuke and Vallen’s claims that his older sister was preordained to rule an empire. They spent half an hour convincing him they weren’t joking.

Rosuke and Vallen determined Majo had been behind the demon attacks on human cities. She had figured out the flaw in the barrier charms and knew human-born demons could exploit it. No one could guess how long they had until Majo found them, but they assumed they had less time than desired. In the meantime, all they could do was wait for more crows to follow Shumei’s pull, and train for their next confrontation. Vallen altered the spells on the path, bridge, and walls to allow safe passage for those seeking the empress.

After they’d eaten the midday meal, Rosuke began training Oka in a few effective sword stances, leaving Vallen to teach Shumei defensive spells. They were already proving difficult for her.

“One more time,” he said, watching her carefully. He raised his hand and aimed it at Shumei, who stood ready to deflect his spell. His magic filtered up his arm, and he gathered a small amount of yellow energy in the curve of his hand—only enough to nudge her.

“Kaihou,” he said, loud enough for her to hear and be prepared. The mass of energy blasted from his hand, shooting at her like a rock flung with a slingshot.

“Tate!” She willed her magic to form a shell around her body but got only a small sputter of energy in return. The yellow mass hit her, and she stumbled back. Releasing a disappointed sigh of frustration, she dropped her arms to her sides. Her magic bristled as if distressed, and she wondered why it didn’t know what do. She’d said the correct word, right? Something like tah-tay?

Vallen walked toward her. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, grateful she hadn’t fallen down yet. Not only would it hurt, but she was also wearing what was most certainly the finest dress on the estate. Red as blood, made of the purest silk, and covered with gold, falling leaves. Vallen wouldn’t let her wear anything else, saying that as empress, she should wear only the best. She’d been too hungry to tell him off and had put it on to hasten the start of breakfast.

She smacked her thigh with her fist, cursing softly. “I don’t understand,” she bemoaned. “Why won’t my magic do what I say? I can feel that it simply doesn’t know what to do, but I said the word, didn’t I?”

“What are you thinking when you try to create the shell?” he asked, stopping a couple steps away.