A/N: Second chapter with the first, as promised. Here the actual plot starts! By the way, I have read SM2 whole, so... possible spoilers?
My Kingdom
2 – The End of the Hunt
Ezaeur had finally done it.
Two human years had it taken her, to finally find the sons of the Demon Lord, as her energy reached new lows and she finally had to learn about the world her possible betrotheds were so keen about. It was harsh, and unnerved her to the core, but she told herself it would be worth it. She would save her kingdom, and her sister would grow in peace...
Of the brothers, the bastard was, of course, the first to notice her.
They seemed to be celebrating something, as she noticed by the cake on the dinner table, and the quickly banishing smiles on the brother's faces once they, too, realized she was standing on their dining room.
For a long while, no one said anything, the brothers merely staring at her as if their glares alone would make her vanish. Nonetheless, Ezaeur wouldn't be swayed. She hadn't lost Lilith knows how much time just to give up at the last moment. Her kingdom still counted on her.
"It has been much longer than I expected, but I guess it's finally time for us all to go back to the Abyssal Plains."
Her voice didn't waver, and even exhausted as she was, Ezaeur refused to let them see anything but her strongest mask. She was supposed to make them forget about the human girl, too. And yet, her exhaustion made the task unsure...
Before she could finish her thoughts, however, Izroul's sudden rise dragged her attention. He had left his chair so suddenly that it had fallen to the floor, and yet his thunderous expression kept her attention on his face. She had never considered the bastard brother much of a threat, and yet a shiver of fear ran through her when his blue gaze seemed to pierce her.
"What. Did. You. Do. To Her?"
It had a question's inquiry right at the end, and yet the demand of his voice eerily reminded her that he, too, was the Demon Lord's son in a rather disturbing fashion. His brothers seemed confused, noting Izroul's rather extreme reaction, but they stayed on their places at one sharp gesture from Raestrao, the eldest.
Ezaeur quickly composed herself. She would not be intimidated, sons of the Demon Lord or not.
"You left the human with her memories intact. I made a deal with her for them, and she accepted it. There's really nothing more to say about it, but if you most know, she's most probably okay."
All the brothers tensed, their glances becoming sharper once they caught on who she was talking about. Izroul stood ramrod straight, coming uncomfortably close to her, barely concealed hostility in his every move.
"You threatened her." he said, his voice acquiring his natural demonic tone, even as his glamor spell wavered, as if barely holding up "You took her memories and sent her to the Abyssal Plains..."
The words had barely left his lips when he was no longer the only brother on his feet. Ezaeur didn't have time to dodge the blur that was Aomaris before he was holding her by her neck against one of the walls, the impact reverberating through her skull and keeping her from forming any coherent thoughts as the wall behind her dented. Uzaeris wasn't far behind, to his brother's right, his eyes golden and piercing her too, although she couldn't exactly pay any attention to him as Aomaris kept suffocating her.
A part of her kept insisting that maybe she should have waited to recover before going to confront the boys. But then, that could have meant to lose even one of them, which would have made the whole point moot.
Dark spots were dancing on her vision when Raestrao's sharp "ENOUGH!" cut through his brothers, Aomaris releasing her with obvious reluctance.
"If you hurt her..."
His jade eyes were firm on her, and she truly wondered how that girl could have had such an impact on them.
"She helped us. Housed us. Fed us. Her grandfather took us away from our father's vile realm, and you wonder why we would care?"
Izroul's voice, again, reacted to her thoughts. And yet, he wasn't her focus at that moment.
Still recovering her breath from Aomaris' brutish actions, Ezaeur's eyes looked at the figure of the one she would have most likely married, had they not run away from the Demon World, renouncing to their birth rights, their fates. His golden stare was colder than any glacier, and she knew her fear had become visible to them all, if only for a second.
"What. Did. You. Do. To Katheryn, Diana?"
Uzaeris' expression alone left no doubts of what he intended to do if the answer displeased him, and by the looks of it, Aomaris and Zecaeru would gladly join him, if Izroul didn't get her first. Knowing that if she said it aloud she would probably get interrupted, she merely stared at the bastard son and directed her thoughts to him.
He paled then, all the anger draining from his body, a sorrowful look on his eyes. For him, who so longed to be human, her gift to the human probably looked more like a curse.
"You transformed her. Into a demon. Like us."
"She wanted power. She didn't specify which kind. I gave her what most suited her character."
Izroul's expression darkened again.
"You were holding her over certain death. And you wonder why she chose power? Kathy has never liked to feel powerless. And you... you took advantage of her vulnerability to trick her into being turned into a demon. Or will you try to tell me that sending her to your realm, as powerful as she was, was completely altruistic? Without any memories?"
By the end his voice was shaking, and his brothers had exchanged looks that clearly conveyed their intentions.
"Well," started Uzaeris "it seems like the Princess needs our help..."
Ezaeur felt almost giddy. They were going back! They were-
"We'll get the Miss and we'll leave the Abyssal Plains. Don't think for a second that you've managed to trap us, Diana. We'll get Katheryn Anderson and come back. To our home. The human world."
She could only stare at Raestrao, equally victorious and defeated. They were going back to the Abyssal Plains. That's all she let herself think about.
A/N: Leaving it here now... See you!