Without wasting a moment, Zamien bent down and lifted her up so easily, it was as if she was made of paper.
"Wrap your hands around my neck, wife." He said gently and Dessa happily agreed.
Her eyes carefully avoided looking at his face that glowed so brightly in the dark. She tightened her hands around his neck, held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut.
She was all ready for the takeoff but instead, all she felt was a cold breeze and a bright light hit her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find out that the both had arrived at a completely different place. A castle it seemed. Pure white and sparkling like fine china. Bright white lights shone everywhere, making the castle almost transparent. It looked so magical and she could literally see shadows of people in the castle.
They castle of the king of Rhodes was located in the capital city Decna, while Zamien lived in a city located near the border of Rhodes called Litrz, travelling from Lirtz to Decna was a journey that would take at least 5 hours on a carriage. But how did they get here so quickly, without even flying, because she could've sworn Zamien never flew up. She had been so thrilled and excited for nothing. It really felt like they had…teleported.
"We're here." Zamien breathed into her ear. Startled, Dessa scrambled down.
"Zamien, I am sure we barely moved. How did we get here?" she asked, her eyes going back to the amazing castle.
How could a place that was supposed to be both hell-like and devilish, end up looking so enchantingly picturesque?
"Do you like it?" Zamien asked, smiling with scorn.
"It's quite enchanting, I must say." She replied without glancing at him.
The castle seemed to be surrounded by a garden of death roses, which was an irony to the pure white castle and its bright lights. It felt like the garden was separated and had nothing to do with the castle, even though there were lots of death roses creeping on the castle walls, their thorns as sharp as knives.
"Let me help you with your cloak, wife."
Zamien said, pulling her attention back to him and Dessa could only stand still as Zamien carefully pulled down the hood of her cloak.
"If anything troubles you or causes you feel uncomfortable, don't hesitate to tell me." He whispered, causing Dessa to blink.
She could only nod, biting the inside of the lower lip, it was all she could do to curb the rage and nervousness she felt at being about to meet the king that ruined her family.
When they stepped forward, the music became louder in her ears. The lights of the massive chandeliers hitting the mirror glass windows combined to form a kind of light that looked like a rainbow.
The ballroom screamed of nothing but magnificence and elegance. It was like a dream, like some fairytale land. Ladies in beautiful gowns, over-exaggerated hairdo and sparkling jewels were moving so gracefully while the men moved so gallantly in tandem with their partners. The entire scene itself was breathtaking.
The party was lively and the atmosphere wasn't heavy at all. She could see the demons enjoying themselves – smiling, talking, drinking and dancing. At that moment, one thought came to Dessa's mind; she would soon wipe those pretty smiles from their disgusting faces. The thought didn't surprise in the least, it was what she craved for the most. At night when she knelt down to pray to the heavenly one, all she asked for was that he helps her destroy Rhodes Empire and all the demons in it.
They didn't deserve to laugh and smile like the other beings, not after what they had done.
Then a loud strange voice came, jolting her out of her thoughts.
"His royal majesty, crown prince Zamien Ruel Ylvai, the dark dragon. And her royal highness, crown princess Juno-Licina Irridessa Erato Ylvai, the light of the dark dragon.
The volume of the music seemed to have reduced and both the dancing and drinking had stopped. No one was talking and all seemed to naturally stop smiling.
Dessa's expression slowly changed, her stiff emotionless face breaking into a dazzling and charming smile, one that made people feel uncomfortable. The only reason for the abrupt change in the atmosphere was her. She was the only outlier here – the odd one out. And she accepted that fact happily. The demons didn't welcome her presence. But in a few years she would be their queen, how annoying and irritating she must be to them, especially the younger females, who were eyeing her with both jealousy and disgust. This was how it should be; at least they had all stopped smiling.
The slow march towards the king's throne was with all the elegance she could muster. Her head up high and the smile still on her face, she tightened her hold on Zamien's hand and walked with pride. Although her heart did still skip a beat when she caught sight of the king.
Zamien leaned in and whispered to her, "Relax wife, I am here." He said and Dessa wondered how just his words could so easily make her heartbeat mellow out completely. She decided there and then to not involve him in the revenge plan. When she's done with her business, she'll settle down with him and they'll have lots of kids.
The moment Dessa looked at the king, she was a little surprised. She had expected the demon king to look somewhat terrifying, with a scar on his face perhaps. But to her bewilderment, he was nothing like that. Granted, the king did have a deadly aura surrounding him, but aside from that, he was exceptionally handsome. Not as perfect as Zamien (no one was in her eyes) but handsome enough to make her pause.
He was wearing a sweet smile on his face and looked nothing like a greedy wicked dark ruler.
"I am pleased you could make it tonight, princess." His voice sounded like deep flowing waters over the riverbed, a voice the matched the look on his face.
Unmoved, Dessa bowed slightly and greeted him, "The pleasure is all mine, your grace." She managed to say it all out without reaching out to choke him to death.
The king turned to Zamien with the same smile.
"Zamien."
"Uncle," Zamien greeted with a slight nod, most of his attention on his beloved wife and the smile on her face.
And after a few exchanges of words of pleasantries, Zamien led her to their designated seats.
Dessa felt relieved as soon as they were seated. She had really wanted to gouge the king's eyeballs out of their sockets the whole time they were talking.
The demon king raised a glass of bloody red wine and toasted her.
"Everyone, welcome my new niece, Irridessa. A toast to the empire's new crown princess!"
With strained efforts, the demons raised their glasses and made a toast to Dessa who was seated with a smile on her face.
After that, the party continued and demons were back to their fun activities although occasionally turning to stare at her with disgust. Dessa caught every gaze with a sweet smile, catching them off guard.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself, Dessa." Zamien's voice came beside her.
"It's a nice ball, anybody would enjoy it." Dessa replied.
"Do you want to dance?" he asked.
"No, I don't dance. I never learned." She replied with a snort. Dancing had never gone to well with her feet.
"Ohh, okay." Zamien replied, with a wave of a hand, he got glasses of wine from a servant and passed one to her, smiling as she took a sip.