Lord Kieran was seething in anger. It was obvious to him that Xanaros was using this opportunity to undermine him by using the mortal magus against him. It would be unfair for the mortal human to take the blame for the death of Aleera's high mage.
However, it only proved that Iris's magic was extremely deadly to the extent that her magic was able to repel the magic of a high mage. The memory of the creation magic Iris showed that fateful night showed that she was more than just a fourth tiered magus.
No magus would be able to resist such a mental attack and restore one's health and life, unless they reached a certain level. Her creation magic was almost comparable to the High Queens of the faerie kingdoms. It was said that life bloomed anywhere they walked on, but Iris had practically restored the woods in a blink of an eye and dispelled the vampire lord's eternal winter spell.
Remus, a saint who was able to use divine magic, assumed that Iris was at least able to cast fourth tiered spells, but it was only because the Undead Lord placed a magic limiter on her. There was no telling how strong Iris could be if once she was capable of utilizing her magic at its full potential.
Perhaps this was why Aleera wanted Iris dead. There hadn't been any magus that were able to reach the seventh tier after the Black Mage's fall. Did she perhaps think that Iris would follow the footsteps of the Black Mage once she learned how to utilize her magic? Or was she afraid that another Black Mage would appear amongst the magi in Asnar?
"It still doesn't change the fact that Lord Kieran has marked one of the maidens as his people." Aleera insisted. "Dravial has sent us the list of the names of the tributes for us to forecast their fates. Bringing a marked tribute here has put Remus's hard work to naught."
"Kieran wouldn't take back the geas from Lady Iris." King Eldas pointed out. "Now that she's one of his people, I assume that he will take responsibility for all of this."
"She belongs to him now." The Red King nodded. "Since that's the case, let's push it one step further, shall we?"
The Red King snapped his thumb and forefinger together and Iris felt like she was being incinerated alive. She dropped on her knees and cried in pain. A rune appeared on her back, burning a part of her shirt in the process, exposing the rune for everyone to see.
"Iris!" Amelia cried. However, before she could take a step towards her friend, Ricci appeared behind her and stopped her from going near Iris.
"You can't touch her, Miss Amelia! You will die!" Ricci said helplessly as Amelia struggled in her hold. It was clear that Iris was being punished by the Red King.
Panic rose in Amelia's eyes as she looked at Iris then to Lord Kieran, hoping that the demon lord would do something to help her friend. However, her stomach dropped when Kieran ignored Iris's pain.
"How dare you?!" The Undead Lord hissed towards the Red King. A scalding sound followed and a wisp of smoke appeared behind him. "You dare to mark me with this mortal woman?!"
He was betrothed to Iris Scarborough now and will be bound to her through magic and mating rune that were embedded on their skin. The hardness in his eyes showed displeasure at the sudden turn of events.
Xanaros cocked his head on one side and clasped his hands together. It was obvious to everyone now that he was taking delight in seeing the Undead Lord try to spare the human magus from being killed.
"What? Think of it as I'm extending an olive branch to you. I'm merely helping you reach your goal. Aren't you curious whether this mating rune would be able to kill you?" He said arrogantly. "If this human dies, you do. Or is it an exception as well? Your curse surely has an exemption at some point."
Lord Kieran's jaws hardened. He then looked at the human who was crying out in pain on the dais below them. He waved his hand and Iris suddenly passed out and lost consciousness.
Seeing what he'd done, the Red King burst into laughter. His mask did nothing to hide the amusement on his face and the wicked smile on his lips. It curled deviously, showing his perfectly white teeth.
"You act like this mortal human meant nothing to you and yet you took her pain away. How the mighty have fallen. To think that there would come a day that I will see you protect a mortal human - the creatures you've despised the most? Do tell us, Kieran, what kind of spell has this magus placed on you?"
The Undead Lord said nothing, but the way he looked at the Red King, it promised slow death and torture. He would have killed Xanaros right here, right now if they weren't all bound to a blood pact they made a millennium ago.
The pact was to keep the thirteen demon lords from murdering each other. However, it wasn't enough to stop them from scheming and trying to use others to kill one of them. Xanaros had been trying to kill Lord Kieran for centuries, but to no avail. The Red King kept failing every time.
"Eldas, do you think this is enough punishment for Kieran and Lady Iris?" Xanaros ignored Kieran's deadly glare and regarded the other demon lord instead. "This way, if something happened to Lady Iris, Kieran would be affected as well."
"Do as you wish, but this better not bite your arse in the future, Xanaros." King Eldas warned him, but Xanaros shrugged it off.
"We'll see." He said nonchalantly. Xanaros didn't care if Iris died in the process. He was merely curious if the mating bond between the two would be able to kill Kieran as well.