A smile of relief appeared on the angel's lips when he saw his friend waiting for them with his clothes. He rushed over and quickly pulled on his trousers.
"Azure, can you get us to the palace as soon as possible?" he asked as he buckled his belt.
Nodding quickly, the pegasus approached a rocky knoll and motioned for the two bipeds to join him there. Niris jumped on his back.
"Hurry," he urged A-ran, who seemed to hesitate.
Glancing anxiously at his back, he finally decided to climb up behind the angel. The traffickers would soon be out, he couldn't afford to linger. Once the two young men were on his back, the pegasus turned around and trotted off in the direction of the road that would lead them back to the castle.
"You don't know how to ride a horse?" asked Niris, curious as to why the demon was so reluctant to get on the pegasus' back.
"I can ride horses, but I've never ridden a pegasus...."
The angel smiled. He sensed the demon's chilliness with a certain curiosity that he could not hide.
"It's the same as riding a horse, you don't have to worry," he reassured him, unable to suppress an amused smile.
A-ran didn't answer right away, slightly offended by the angel's teasing. Dropping his pride, he smiled back.
"We're taught at school that pegasi are fierce and dangerous creatures, that we shouldn't go near them because they might eat us," he explained.
Niris laughed and the pegasus wiggled his ears in amusement.
"Pegasus are indeed carnivores, but they would never attack a conscious species like that! And they're anything but ferocious! What a silly myth you've constructed!" Niris replied after regaining his normal breathing.
The demon did not answer. He knew it wasn't true, but it was hard for him to ignore his upbringing when this was the first time he'd been confronted with a pegasus. Niris turned his head towards him, drawing him out of his thoughts.
"Azure wants to open a telepathic communication channel with you," he told him. "Do you agree?"
The demon hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
"Give me your hand, I'll link the two of you," the angel commanded.
The demon grasped the hand Niris held out to him. Then he felt an electric shock run through his body, making him jump. Moments later, the deep voice of the pegasus echoed in his mind.
"A-ran, can you hear me?"
"Yes...I can hear you sire Pegasus."
He heard the pegasus laugh in his mind.
"You can call me Azure," he told him.
The demon nodded, still a little impressed with the quadruped.
"I am sorry to hear that you have been given the wrong idea about my people," Azure continued. "As you are close to Jangta, I want us to have a friendly relationship if it suits you. And given what you've just told us, I think it's vital that you communicate directly with me. Feel free to ask me questions about myself, and I'll answer them as best I can."
Still, a little impressed and unfamiliar with telepathic communication, A-ran didn't answer right away. He blinked, finally coming to his senses, and answered the pegasus.
"Uh... okay, sure. I mean, that's a great idea! I'd love to learn more about you sir Az... Azure! And to be able to consider you a friend..."
Pegasus wiggled his ears, amused. Seeing his friend's reaction, Niris turned to the demon, intrigued, but the demon avoided his gaze. He felt foolish for being impressed by Azure. Faced with the demon's embarrassment, the angel did not insist.
Azure pushed his way through with his powerful body as the path had more or less disappeared under the wild plants that took great delight in growing across the path. After a difficult twenty minutes in the vegetation, they came to the main road that led straight to the castle.
"Hold on tight, Azure is very fast when he's at full speed, you won't last if you don't hold on," Niris warned him, grabbing both of his hands and closing them tightly around his waist.
The demon let him do it without saying anything. Niris didn't seem to realize what he had done, and the demon didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.
"I'm going to open a common telepathic communication channel for the three of us so we can talk. I'd like Azure to know what we've seen," he said.
The demon noticed the angel's concerned look. He felt bad that he had forgotten what had happened before they escaped from the cave. He shook his head.
"Will it sting like last time?" he asked sulkily.
Niris smiled.
"No, it only does that the first time," he reassured him.
"You could have warned me..." the demon grumbled.
"Stop complaining and hang on! A galloping pegasus can reach one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour!"
Obediently, the demon tightened his grip and pressed himself against the back of the angel who had laid on the neck of the pegasus. It was then that he felt the animal's propulsion force push him backward with incredible force. The angel hadn't lied. One could not hold on without a sure grip! Following the movement, he too bent over as much as possible, to counteract the force of propulsion caused by the animal's race which had reached its maximum speed.
"Why don't we go through the air?" he then asked via the common communication channel.
"Azure can't carry us through the air, we're too heavy," replied the angel. "And we'd be completely exposed if we went flying and the smugglers came out right after us. There's a good chance they'll come out of the air themselves, so we'd better avoid that route. We'll be more likely to go unnoticed if we go by road."
The demon said nothing. He was impressed by the angel's quick thinking and action in dangerous situations as if he was trained in this kind of thing. He had no skills in this area. He knew the workings of intergalactic politics to perfection but was completely incompetent when it came to dealing with a situation of intense stress.
The angel's voice cut him off as he explained what had happened in the underground cave to the pegasus. He paused at the end of his explanation before asking the fateful question that the demon knew he couldn't cut off.
"A-ran, why were you in the cave?"
The demon closed his eyes. He had to make his choice now. He had come too far to turn back. Either he trusted the angel, knowing he was the one who had surprised him, or he stayed on his side and kept the little prince out of it. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes again, determined.
"I was following them," he admitted. "I've been on their trail for two years, and I'm trying to trace the organiser of the traffic within the castle. The problem is that everything is so intertwined, and the evidence is well hidden. I've been trying for two years now to get what I need to take this to the intergalactic court, but there are so many high officials involved that I don't have enough eyes to keep track of everyone and everything."
"Would you be willing to take the case to court against high-ranking palace officials? Even if you are close to them?"
A-ran did not answer. Niris longed to ask him all the questions that were racing through his mind, but he knew this was not the time. For now, he had to concentrate on the slave trade. The rest could wait.
"The government of Egea is ready to take drastic measures and to invest in putting an end to it once and for all. All he needs is proof of the existence of slave trade in Yerpena to take action," he said.
"What do you mean, act?" the demon asked.
Niris thought for a moment before answering. He was walking on thin ice. He couldn't reveal his identity to the demon, it was too dangerous, and he didn't trust him enough. So he had to make him understand the will of the government without blowing his cover. It would be tricky, but for now, he had no choice.
"The administration will take the necessary measures and the government will openly engage against the traffickers, using armed force if necessary," he explained slowly. "The emperor will ask the intergalactic council for permission, knowing that it will be granted. No one dares oppose the Emperor of Egea."
A-ran listened in silence. The gravity of the subject had somewhat strained the atmosphere. Bringing up the subject without a thorough discussion of the implications of each had raised the two friends' distrust to a fever pitch. The demon regretted it, but he knew that for the moment he would have no choice and that he would have to bring the young prince to trust him gradually.
"It's amazing that the Lord of Meripea would now decide to get involved in such a fight when he's been in collusion with the government of Yerpena for all these years..." he only pointed out.
He still needed to see how far the angel was willing to go.
"Let's just say that the emperor has leverage over him and he has no choice but to comply," he replied without flinching.
Niris was tense.
"If your father is forced to help, you seem personally invested in this fight..." remarked A-ran gently.
He felt bad for cornering the angel like that, but he hoped he would eventually understand his intentions.
"Just because we're related doesn't mean we have to approve of everything our parents do. And it's all right to have parents whose thinking and actions you don't approve of."
Niris' answer was as cold as it was thoughtful. A-ran felt a wave of emotion wash over him. He had waited so long for these words that he despaired of ever being understood. He had spent his life opposing his family since his father's death, and he had felt like the unwanted family member, the one who had to be gotten rid of because he was an embarrassment. The loneliness and resentment he had felt because of this had made him forget what it felt like to be accepted, to be validated for who he was. It was as if the angel had told him that he had done nothing wrong and that he was within his rights to act as he did.
He had to suppress the emotion rising in him to concentrate on their discussion. Burying his head in the neck of the angel, who was surprised by his reaction, he breathed into his ear so that only he could hear him: "Thank you.
Not sure what he had been thanked for, Niris did not respond, seeing the emotion the demon was trying to contain. Clutching at the pegasus' mane to contain his own emotions, he gave him time to regain his composure before continuing. Forcing himself to regain control, the demon straightened.
"The two demons we saw in the cave were the Duchess of Omeyask and the Secretary General of the Palace," he said. "I knew that the secretary-general is one of the direct managers of the traffic, but I did not know where his hideout was and I have no tangible proof of it. I took advantage of the duchess' visit to follow her and flush out the cave because I know she is a big consumer of this market and not the most discreet of all. So it was easy to follow her. The rest of the story you know.
The angel and the pegasus listened in silence. Azure, who had remained silent until then, intervened.
"What information do you have on the traffic so far?"
"So far only names, places, and a few sales records, but on slaves who are already dead."
Niris sighed. If even A-ran, a palace demon, was having trouble getting the information he wanted, then he didn't see how he, an angel, would be able to find more.
"What do you need to get the Egea administration to act?" A-ran pulled Niris out of his thoughts with his question.
"The records would be enough, but given what you've just told us, I doubt we'll be able to get our hands on them."
"I'll deal with that," A-ran replied.
Niris turned an eye to him, concerned.
"A-ran, can you do that?" he questioned him a little uncertainly. "I mean, to stand up to your people like that..."
The demon looked away. He had made his decision long ago, he would not go back. It was too late. He knew too much, and he had too much hatred and disgust for those who caused such a disaster, even if they were close to him. His whole being, which had grown up with his father, a lover of angelic culture, howled in protest at the behaviour of his peers towards angels.
"Yes. I am determined to put an end to this. This foolishness of the demons to want to be belligerent and to believe themselves superior to other populations by simple national pride. It is ridiculous and dangerous. One day we will inevitably pay for the carnage we have caused. You can count on me to help you expose all those involved in this despicable traffic, whoever they may be."
The angel did not answer. He was still tortured inside and did not know what decision to make. He needed time to think about it but felt that he had no time to make a decision. He sighed, tired of the incessant worrying.
"We are almost there," warned Azure.
"Azure, go through the eastern flank and head for the door that leads directly to your wing! It's never guarded at this hour, so we can get in without arousing suspicion."
With a brief nod, the pegasus turned in the direction indicated by the demon and gradually slowed down. A few minutes later, they found themselves in front of the door that led directly to the part of the palace in which he resided.
As A-ran had predicted, the guard in charge of surveillance was fast asleep, slumped against the stone wall outside. Without making a sound, the pegasus entered the large wooden door and crept inside to the wooden door that led to their flats, at the far end of the castle and away from the eyes of the worldly. The two friends dismounted and after a quick caress on the angel's nose, the pegasus headed for the meadow that had been made available to him and Meica.
A-ran and Niris found themselves alone in front of the closed gate. The demon reached out to take the angel's hand but stopped when the angel reached behind his back. He closed his hand again and sat up, biting his lips. He didn't know if it was a sign of distrust or simply an expression of his emotional confusion towards him, but he didn't insist. Either way, it would only cause more resistance from the angel and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
"I know you have a lot of questions for me, and I promise to answer them the next time we have time alone," he smiled reassuringly, but the angel shied away from him.
"Mmh, right."
Smiling gently, the demon leaned forward and held out a small electronic plate to the angel, who remained at a safe distance from him.
"You can contact me via the dematerialized communication system, it will be easier to exchange information," he said. "Here is my card number. Register it and send me a message so I can register yours."
With a look of doubt that he could not hide, the angel took the small piece of iridescent purple glass and nodded.
The demon then pushed open the small wooden door and went up to his room, leaving Niris there, alone with his endless questions and feelings that were all intertwined at once. Unable to put an end to the confusion that had taken place in his heart and mind, Niris let herself rest against the stone wall behind him and observed the small glass cartridge in silence.
Running his finger over it, it lit up and a nine-digit number appeared. Tired of dithering, he recorded the number in his dematerialised chip. He opened a dialogue window and typed a few quick words before closing the window. Then he turned and walked up the stairs to his suite, which he entered without making a sound. Inja was sleeping with one eye open, as she knew he was outside with Azure.
Quickly changing his clothes, he wrapped himself in the blankets and closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep when a small note of music sounded. He raised his arm and the chat window appeared before his eyes. The demon had answered him.
"Thank you for contacting me. Have sweet dreams and rest well, it's been an exhausting day," accompanied by a smiley face.
"Aaaaah...." the angel sighed in despair as he dropped his arm over his eyes.
How could a simple message make his heart beat so unreasonably? It was beyond comprehension! He may have felt lost, but there was one thing he no longer doubted, and that was his feelings for the demon. This day had confirmed it to him more than necessary. He could no longer run away or pretend. He had to face the situation.
With a quick movement, he grabbed his blanket and turned on his side. It was decided. Tomorrow he would talk to A-ran about his feelings.