As the carriage pulled through the final mountain pass, a fortress loomed through the swirling blizzard.
This was Xulthas castle, a grand, sprawling structure that looked like a shard of the moon fallen into a frozen wasteland.
As the snow flakes fell heavily fell, the twins stepped out onto the permafrost. They both shivered violently as the cold bit through their fine silks like a thousand tiny needles.
They had grown up in the Capital, a place of humid sulfur vents and eternal twilight heat. This crucial soul-sucking cold was a foreign enemy to them.
Xulthas stepped out of his carriage with the grace of a winter spirit. Immediately, a group of pale-faced maids swarmed him, wrapping a thick floor-length, fur cloak of midnight-blue fur around his shoulders. While the twins shivered due to the cold Xulthas didn't look bothered by the weather, if anything, the frost seemed to sharpen his facial features.
At the massive iron-studded doors, a long line of servants bowed in a wave of perfect unison. Standing at the center was Thalassa, Xulthas's deputy commander.
She was a woman of stone and steel, her eyes looked like melted sun, they were as cold as the glaciers surrounding the castle.
"Welcome home, Commander," she said, Her gaze shifted to the twins and then settled on the "mummy" cradled in Harun's arms. "I see you have brought guests. Or perhaps... specimens?"
"They will be living here for a few years," Xulthas replied, "Prepare three grand chambers. The Northwest is a lonely place, we might as well fill the rooms."
Iruna, clutching her arms to keep from shaking, intercepted. "Two is enough. brother and I do not need separate spaces."
Xulthas didn't even turn his head. "Three grand chambers. And I want a physician on standby twenty-four hours a day. Also, Thalassa, find a human chef. Malachi was quite... specific... about the consort's diet."
Harun felt a bitter laugh bubble in his throat. It was the ultimate irony, Malachi had beaten Zaliyah into a state of near-death, dropped him from the heavens, and shattered his bones-yet he was still worried that Zaliyah might not get a proper diet.
Thalassa bowed, her face unreadable. "A human chef. I shall organize a hunting party for the human realm tonight."
The interior of Castle was a shock to the twins' systems. It was plain, boring, and utterly devoid of the gold leaf and intricate carvings of the Capital's palace. The walls were bare stone, the floors were cold slate, and the maids were all dressed in severe, high-collared black. The lack of color made the Capital seem like a vibrant paradise by comparison.
Thalassa led them first to Zaliyah's chamber, a massive, circular room at the top of the North Tower. It was cold, the only heat coming from a fireplace that struggled against the draft. Later, she showed Harun and Iruna to their own separate rooms.
For the first time in their lives, the twins were alone. They had shared a womb, a nursery, and a bedroom for nearly two decades. In the Capital, they had spent the last few weeks sleeping on the floor of Zaliyah's room, comforted by eachother.
Here, there was only the smell of charcoal and guttering candles.
A loud knock echoed at their doors. They both opened them at the exact same moment in their separate hallways. Two maids stood there, holding new attires made of thick wool and heavy furs.
"The Commander's compliments," the maids said in unison.
Once dressed in the heavy Northwest gear, Harun and Iruna didn't even look at their new rooms. They bolted down the hallway, meeting at the entrance of Zaliyah's chamber. They needed to be near him. He was the only thing left of the life they knew.
Inside the chamber, the first physician was already at work. Xulthas stood by the window, watching with a clinical, detached interest.
"Remove the dressings," Xulthas ordered.
The physician, an older demon with spectacles, began to snip away the graying bandages.
As the layers fell away, exposing Zaliyah's torso, the physician gasped. His hands began to shake. No matter how many times the twins saw the damage, the sight of Zaliyah's wounded body was a fresh trauma.
His skin was a tapestry of deep purple hematomas, yellowing bruises, and the red lines of healing lacerations.
"Keep going," Xulthas said as be watched the physician's hand trembling.
The man continued, his breathing becoming heavy as he reached Zaliyah's face. When the final wrap fell away, revealing the broken jaw, the split lips, and the raw, bald patch where the scalp had been torn away, the physician couldn't hold it back. He turned his head and vomited onto the stone floor.
Xulthas's lips curled into a thin, dark smile. "Classic Malachi," he mused. "To think the consort was carrying his own bloodline while he did this , The King has a flair for the dramatics doesn't he?"
Harun and Iruna stood in the corner, their minds linked in a silent, telepathic scream.
Do we tell him? Iruna's mental voice echoed in Harun's mind . If the commander thinks it's the king's child, he might be more careful. But if he finds out it's a human's...
He doesn't need to know, Harun replied firmly. Knowledge is a weapon Xulthas doesn't deserve.
Xulthas clapped his hands . Thalassa appeared in the doorway like a shadow.
"Commander?"
"Get this incompetent fool out of my sight," Xulthas said, gesturing to the trembling physician. "If a man cannot look at a few bruises without losing his stomach, he has no place in medicine."
Thalassa grabbed the physician by his collar, dragging him out of the room like a sack of grain. His fate remained unknown, but the cold look in Thalassa's eyes suggested he wouldn't be practicing medicine ever again.
Iruna couldn't stand the silence. She went into the adjoining bathhouse, filling a wooden bucket with warm water. She tore a strip of fabric from her own undershirt and began the agonizingly slow process of wiping Zaliyah's body.
She worked with care, her movements so gentle she was barely touching him. A single tear escaped her eye, landing on Zaliyah's pale, scarred shoulder.
"It's okay if you cry, Runa," Harun whispered, standing behind her and resting a hand on her shoulder.
"I don't want to cry," Iruna snapped, even as a fresh sob shook her frame. Her tears kept falling, washing away the dried blood from Zaliyah's neck. She wiped his hair, his bruised face, and his swollen eyes. Finally, she changed his linens, covering his distended belly with a soft wool blanket.
Thalassa returned shortly after, escorting a new physician, a much younger demon with curious eyes. The new physician didn't flinch. In fact, he looked amused, leaning over Zaliyah with a look of genuine scientific interest.
"Remarkable," the young doctor muttered, poking at a deep bruise. "He should have died of septic shock or internal hemorrhaging . His core must be doing all the heavy lifting."
He quickly determined that the baby was still thriving, the "second heartbeat" is remarkably strong and steady.
He applied a thick, black medicinal paste to the wounds and re-bandaged Zaliyah with fresh, clean linen. Once he was finished, a maid escorted him to his own quarters, he was now a permanent prisoner-guest of the castle until the birth of the child.
Thalassa lingered in the doorway after the doctor left. She looked at the twins, her expression almost pitying. "Xulthas sees the way you two look at him He says your devotion is a weakness."
"It is not weakness, it is loyalty," Harun replied.
"He says," Thalassa continued, ignoring him, "that you both need to break your soul-bond with the queen if you truly want to protect this boy. As long as you are tied to her, she can see through your eyes. She can feel your fear. She can find him whenever she wishes."
Iruna froze, her hand still holding Zaliyah's. "We have tried. I fear it is a soul-tie. It cannot be broken without destroying the soul itself."
"You are aware that the Commander is the most powerful warlock to grace this realm," Thalassa said, ."Why doubt him? He can unweave the very fabric of your existence and knit it back together without a mistress."
"It is not doubt," Harun said, his mind racing. "It is the cost."
"I cannot assure you the process will be smooth," Thalassa admitted. "It will feel like your heart is being pulled through your throat. But think about it. I will return in three days for your answer."
She exited, the heavy door clicking shut behind her.
Harun stared at the fire, his eyes reflecting the orange flames. To be free from Kizari... If he could break that bond, he could finally be free, He wouldn't be a puppet anymore. He could become strong enough to protect his sister even against the queen.
Iruna, however, felt a cold dread. What if I die? If the process failed, who would watch over his highness? Who would keep the baby safe? Who would keep Harun from losing his mind?
While the Northwest was an ice cold tomb the Capital City was a hive of activity.
For once Malachi was not sitting idle, Under his iron fisted rule, a new dawn was being forced upon the Underworld. A new court was being enacted, filled with younger, terrified heirs who replaced the nobles, general's he had slain, young demons who were too scared to breathe without his permission. New commanders, even more ruthless than the last, were being appointed to the borders.
The Banquet Hall, once the site of the bloodbath, was being redeveloped. The stained stones were being ripped up and replaced with white marble, a symbolic "washing away" of the past. It was a new beginning for the Demon Realm.
Back at Castle , Harun stood by the balcony, watching the snow bury the world outside. He felt a strange weight in his chest. For the first time, he felt the stirrings of an ambition that didn't involve serving a Queen.
The twins stood in the center of the room, two different souls facing two different fears, while Zaliyah lay between them, a silent, bandaged bridge to a future they couldn't yet see.