From Hell with Love (31 page)

“Why do you think that is?” Cadmus asked, causing the inebriated king to turn around and stumble in place.  Zagan considered the question for a moment, looking at the wine in his bottle as he swirled it around, but eventually he looked back at the reaper.

“Some of us, not all of us by a long shot, you hear… Some of us didn’t necessarily agree with Lucifer’s little rebellion.  They’d fight because of their love for the Morningstar, or maybe just because they thought he’d win.  Or maybe they originally agreed with him but then the millions of years in the dark got to them.”

“Us kings, we were chosen for another reason, but we’ve kept our stations because of our strength and our ability to keep our provinces under control.  Some of us do it right, like how I keep most of us drunk and relatively happy, but others like Beleth,” he said before looking to the double doors, imagining his brother on the other side of the metal.  “He’s one of those types who rules by fear.  He was powerful up in Heaven, that’s for sure, but he didn’t really get to
rule
anything.  I think the power has just gone to his head.”

“Was he always that much of an arrogant bastard?” Niccolo asked, shocking the king out of his memories.  Zagan laughed again before putting his hand in Niccolo’s hair and throwing it into disarray.

“That tongue of yours is gonna get you into trouble, Nico!  Only, like,
half
of us are going to let that slide!” he said before bringing back his hand and letting Niccolo pat his hair back into place, covering his ruined eye.  Zagan sighed as he watched the leper and turned toward the main path into the palace.  “But to answer you…no.  Stuffy, yes, and he would not let anybody forget that he could destroy a mountain if he felt like it, but that tone of his came with living down here.”

“Tell you what, kids,” Zagan said before puffing up his chest and stumbling over to the iron doors.  “If this council doesn’t end in a bloodbath, which, hell, who knows?  If it doesn’t, I’ll give you guys a treat.  I’ll tell you about how things used to be in Heaven,” he said with a wink before climbing the steps to the entrance.  The doors swung open again, allowing him to walk inside unimpeded.  “Honey!  I’m home!” he roared, the echoes of his yell only stopping once the double doors swung close.  The Horsemen looked at each other, still confused by what had just taken place.

“I like him.  Why can’t they all be like him?” Niccolo asked, both of them breaking into nervous laughter, but eventually their thoughts returned to the crisis at hand.  Niccolo turned back to the entrance and was soon joined by Cadmus, both of them considering the very same theory.

If they were going to suspect anyone, Beleth would have to be at the top of their list.

“You know, it could be too obvious,” Niccolo added, drawing a sigh from Cadmus.  He patted Niccolo’s shoulder, which was still sore from Zagan’s antics, and then walked up the steps to the palace.

“Yeah, well, we’ll keep him in mind.  We’d certainly need help if that was the case,” he said, reaching the iron doors just ahead of his fellow Horseman.

“I think Zagan could take him.  Did you see his muscles?” Niccolo asked in a light tone, but Cadmus just shook his head and swung open the right door with effort.  Apparently the kings had a presence they did not, since the Horsemen actually had to pull them open.

“You and I both know that’s not even close to being relevant.  You’ve seen what kind of magic Beleth has at his disposal,” the reaper said before allowing Niccolo to pass through the entrance.  When they made their way through the doorway and were finally able to see the Reception Hall, they were shocked.

In just a day, the massive room had been completely altered.  No longer was it plain and empty, its size intimidating to any newcomer.  Now the entire hall was adorned with streaming banners and flags, every spare inch covered by some insignia or representation for the eleven provinces of Hell.  And instead of its usual vacancy, it seemed like half of Dis had come to join them in the audience, and that was not even counting the demons each king had brought with them as their personal guards.  Almost the entire court was present, even this early in the morning, and Niccolo had a hard time trying to recognize every demon in sight.

There were quite a few humanoid souls, but even the larger, more decorated demons had made their presence known.  Niccolo could see creatures partially made of trees, twisted chimeras and living elementals, but what was most shocking was their attention to decorum and dress.  Some of the most twisted forms had “luxurious” coats and hats and other items that had been crafted in the underworld in order to replicate their past lives.  If nothing else, it made it easier for Niccolo to realize which souls were former humans and which were fallen angels.  The Fallen would have no patience for such garb.

He had not even noticed that he had been walking forward with Cadmus by his side, who was likewise distracted.  Neither of them had seen anything so chaotic in years.

“Was the last Council this crazy?” Niccolo whispered to his friend, not bothering to keep his eyes of the crowds ahead of them.

“Not even close.  They always decorated it, but there are so many people here,” Cadmus muttered, scanning the crowd for guests and, more importantly, other newly-arrived kings.  Zagan and Beleth were easy to see, as they towered over the other guests, but Cadmus knew the other kings were more modest about their appearance.

“You naughty boys,” a seductive voice floated toward them, causing both of them to snap their gaze to the source.  A woman with black hair wrapped up with streams of gold and silver, interrupted by the occasional ruby, approached them, her pearl-colored dress leaving almost nothing to the imagination.  At first, Niccolo thought it was Paimon trying on another shape, but then he saw the black hair and the familiar cheekbones and instantly knew they had found their co-conspirator.

“Sitri,” Cadmus greeted her, choking on words as he forced himself not to look at the demon’s hips.  “So you decided to be a woman today?”

“Hmm,” she purred as he put a long, delicate finger underneath Cadmus’ chin and then dragged the tip of her nail from his Adam’s apple to the stubble on his chin.  Then she pouted and drew her lips to his ears.  “Not quite. 
Felt like being adventurous
.”

“Then we’ll be sure not to look down and ruin the surprise,” Niccolo joked, which brought a coy smile from the demon, who placed her curled fingers behind his ear and gently massaged the soft flesh.

“Oh, and I thought we liked surprises,” she teased before grabbing his ear with force, doing the same with Cadmus’ chin, and then dragged them into one of the dark alcoves to their left.  After they were out of sight from court and she had let go of them, Sitri put her index finger up to her lips and glared at them before turning and heading down the hallway.  The Horsemen followed after her, shaken by the Sitri’s antics, and each tried to avoid looking at the demon’s swaying backside.

It seemed like they were walking for ten minutes, going up and down stairwells, through hallways and terraces before they finally walked into one of the storerooms, Sitri shutting the door behind them.  Niccolo noticed they even doubled back on their route a few times, but he kept quiet at the demon’s insistence.

“Were you followed?” she asked, her voice lower than it had been before.  Sitri had always liked playing with her gender, so the more masculine voice was not much of a surprise.

“No, we would have noticed,” Cadmus said, but Sitri breathed out deeply, disdain creating wrinkles on her narrow face.

“You probably wouldn’t, you idiots, but at least I know they aren’t doing anything too obvious,” she said before putting her palm against her left cheek, clearly in the middle of thought.  After pacing the room a moment, she looked back up at the Horsemen.  “So did you hear?”

“Hear what?” Niccolo asked, which answered the question for the pansexual demon.  She brought her hand away from her face and then placed them on the shoulders of the Horsemen.  Sitri breathed out deeply before looking them each in the eye, which allowed them to see the tears she refused to cry.

“Andras is gone.  They got him last night after he left me.  Went feral and terrorized the Famine Quarter,” she said before withdrawing her hands and wiping away the tears that threatened her composure.  “Crocell ended up killing him, though Andras fought him hard.  The slayer’s going to need a couple days to recover.”

“He went feral?” Niccolo asked in shock, causing Sitri to look at the floor and nod.  She was clearly holding back further tears and only just succeeded.  His world dissolving around him, Niccolo fell back against a nearby crate and tried to consider this new situation.  Again, he felt the anger and rage of Valefor breaking into his mind, but he tried to ignore it.

“That means they’re on to us,” Cadmus muttered, holding onto his scythe for support.  This time, Sitri was able to gather herself and looked him in the eye.

“Yeah, specifically me.  Your little investigation is causing some waves, guys,” she said before crossing her arms, her sorrow abandoned as the Horsemen reeled from the information.

“Then why are you here?  They’ll probably try to get you, too,” Niccolo added, but Sitri shook her head and then sat on a nearby barrel, crossing her legs for comfort.

“In the
middle
of the
Council
?  No, I’m too high profile; people would notice if I went missing.  If I go feral or die, it’s going to be with everyone else,” she said before interlacing her fingers and holding them in front of her.

“So what are we going to do?” Cadmus asked, which made the hermaphrodite shrug before nodding at the door.

“Exactly what we were
going
to do.  You still need to know which kings are which, you still need to know about any possible threats or theories as to who could be the Shroud.  We’re just going to have to move on, try to deal without Andras.  Otherwise his death would be in vain.”

“Wait, but then we’ll be even bigger targets!” Niccolo shouted, pushing himself off the crate and walking up to the seated demon.  “If they’re already onto us…”

“Oh, it must be so difficult to be so thick,” Sitri said with a slight pout before scratching underneath his chin with her left hand.  “Relax, kiddo, same reasons apply to you.  That, and I’m fairly sure the two of you are going to present a challenge to them.  Me, well, all I have is under this pretty dress of mine,” she said before lifting her leg slightly and letting out a short laugh.  After she brought her leg back down, she looked at the Horsemen with a serious expression.  “We carry on with the plan.  We do what we need to do.”  Niccolo backed away from the demon’s antics and crossed his arms; he did not particularly like the affectionate nature of the hermaphrodite.  However, Niccolo looked to his left at the reaper and sighed, knowing they had very little choice at this point.

“Then let’s go meet the Kings of Hell.”

***

“Purson, sweetie, how
are
you?” Sitri exclaimed as she put her arms around the king from the Southern Province.  Niccolo had heard quite a few things about the Serpent King and his desert province, but the demon was even more intimidating in person.  The fallen angel had done away with his legs and instead had the powerful lower half of a great serpent; his yellow green scales reflected the torchlight in the reception hall and almost hid the king in plain sight.  He still retained arms so that he could interact with the world around him, but the rest of his body had the scale pattern and reptilian features of a large snake.  It made it all the more strange to see the demon smiling when Sitri embraced him.

“Ssso much better now that you’re here,” Purson hissed out, his dark tongue flickering in delight and the skin around his teeth pulled back into a dangerous smile.  “I wasss beginning to die of boredom.”

“After all these years?” Sitri asked as she pulled back, the pearl-white dress clinging slightly to the edges of Purson’s chest scales.  “Is a mere day in Dis enough to end the mighty Purson’s will to live?” she mockingly asked, and from the slight seizing in the king’s body, Niccolo realized he was laughing.

“Talk to Bael for a minute and you feel like you’ve wasssted a millennium, my dear.  Now, you mussst tell me who these ssstrapping, young gentlemen are,” he said before turning his dark eyes to Cadmus and Niccolo.  The hermaphrodite laughed softly before stepping to the king’s side, taking care not to trip on his coiled lower body.

“I believe you met Cadmus during the last Council,” Sitri said as she waved toward the reaper.  The king nodded briefly before flicking out his tongue.

“Ah, my missstake, Pale Rider.  There are so many different smellsss in this room, it’s playing havoc with my ssensses.”

“Quite alright, King Purson,” Cadmus responded, nodding in respect.  Sitri then motioned her hand toward Niccolo and smiled.

“And this is Niccolo da Firenze, now the Horseman of Pestilence,” she offered, but before finishing her statement the reptilian king slinked forward, undulating his body and moving around the leper, who did his best to watch the snake without reacting poorly.

“Oh, I’ve heard about
him!
” Purson exclaimed as he inspected the newest Horseman, his large face stopping just a foot above Niccolo’s head.  “Lucifer is quite taken with you!”

“He said that?” Niccolo asked, but Purson started shaking again, his version of laughter.

“Oh, he would never come out and sssay sssomething like that.  Not with Mammon still around.  But we kings, we’re not known for resssting on our laurels.  If there’s drama, we have our ways of knowing,” Purson said before moving past the leper, who only felt relieved once he was not surrounded by the demon’s long body.  “I’ve heard you’re quite ssstubborn and headssstrong, Niccolo.”

“That would be an understatement,” Cadmus added, drawing a glare from his friend.  Purson just flickered out his tongue once more before looking at Niccolo from his periphery.

“Yessss, I’m sure that played a part.  You wouldn’t realize it, now, but Lucifer was rather stubborn.”