Stolen by Her Demon King Mate

Chapter 7: Funeral and Fear

Last night I didn’t give him an answer to whether or not I wanted to mate now. I think he was able to tell my answer was no. Mating was a big step and my family was safe so the same urgency wasn’t there anymore.

When morning came I woke up crying because I had dreams of Vey. Grayson held me while he was half asleep. When he was fully awake I had calmed down a lot. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I thought I was done with my crying the day before yesterday but I wasn’t.

“Shhh,” Grayson tried to further calm me down. 

“Can you do something for me…?” I asked mousily. Grayson nodded in desperation to help me. “In the dungeon, I-I left a bracelet she gave me when we were younger.” It was the only thing I had to remember her by.

“Of course.” He kissed my forehead then left the room.

I leaped up from the bed and quickly put socks and shoes on. I grabbed one of the maps he kept in his bookcase. Lastly, I threw one of his hoodies on and pulled the hood over my head after tying my curly hair back in a low ponytail. I opened the door and looked both ways. He wasn’t in sight so I started to make my way down the hall. I didn’t think the castle would be too hard to navigate.

I was wrong because I met several dead ends before I almost gave up on escaping. Cane’s tour obviously wasn’t enough.

“Aria?” It was Vaness’ voice. “Are you leaving?”

I slowly turned around and avoided eye contact. “I planned on coming back…” My face was stained from my tears and my eyes were watering. “I just needed to say goodbye to a friend… a sister really.” Last night I watched the news before going to bed and I learned they would be having a funeral for her today. “If you don’t tell Grayson I won’t try again…”

Vaness emitted empathy and started walking. She waved for me to follow her. We took a few turns and walked down two flights of stairs until we got to the back doors of the castle. When we got to the back gatehouse a guard tried to stop us.

“King Grayson didn’t approve of his mate leaving without him unless she’s marked.” He looked at my neck. “You don’t look marked to me.”

“Don’t you trust me Zake?” Vaness said. “We’ll leave together and we’ll come back together.” The guard wasn’t altering his decision. He pulled out his walkie-talkie to alert the other guards, Grayson, and/or his advisers. 

“Hello? King Grayson did you give-“ I panicked and grabbed the guard's wrist. “Hey, don’t tou-“ he was underestimating me. He passed out mid-sentence.

“What… what did you do?” Vaness stared at the guard. 

“I’m blessed with the ability to transfer energy through touch. I drained him of enough energy to knock him out but not enough to harm him.” I would have attempted to do the same when I was attacked at the hotel if I wasn’t attacked by spell casters. Their spells prevented me from being able to come in contact with them.

“Did I give what?” Grayson’s voice was heard from the walkie-talkie on the ground. “Does it have to do with my mate? She sent me on a fool's errand and she’s not in my room anymore.” He snarled. “Everyone should be searching for her, do not allow her to leave but do not harm her.”

I grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed the button and spoke into it, “Grayson it’s me, I need to go see Vey before she’s buried. I’ll be back I promise.” I put the walkie-talkie on the ground and grabbed Zake’s keys to unlock the gate. 

“Aria, do not leave. There might still be low-class demons in that area. I’ll take you myself.” He paused. “Aria?” I never heard him use this kind of tone. He almost sounded scared “…my love.”

I sighed. “You can go.” 

“I hope you get to say your goodbyes.” Vaness walked away.

I picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button. “Okay. I’m at the back gatehouse.”

When Grayson met up with me he hugged me. “Don’t do something so idiotic.” I wasn’t sure when he’d let go but he was warm. He looked at the guard on the ground. “My guards are some of the best warriors in the demon realm. When we met you said your ability wasn’t exactly threatening.” The guard started to wake up. 

“It’s not if they don’t let me in contact…” He pulled away from me. “I’m a one-trick pony and he wasn’t prepared to avoid my touch. I just caught him off guard.” I looked away. At that moment I realized two things. I gave my location away and decided to go with him because I feared him. I feared being on the run from him. He might have seen it as a betrayal I couldn’t come back from. He made it clear if he saw me as a serious threat who couldn’t be trusted he’d kill me. The second thing I realized was that he pulled away because he feared me. We were supposed to be in love but instead, we feared each other.

He walked behind me at a distance as we made our way back into the castle. He gathered three guards. We took a turn down an unfamiliar hall. He knocked on a door. “Tobias. We need a portal.”

The door opened. “Yes, my king. Don’t come in, the place is a mess where do you need a portal to?” His voice sounded familiar. 

“Baken,” I answered. 

Soon the portal appeared in the doorway and we walked through it. “Is Tobias your castle’s sorcerer?”

“Yes and my other adviser. He’s the one who advised me to send someone to protect your family. I want you to formally meet him and Panya. I know you must already dislike Panya for her role in your capture but when you become the queen she’ll be advising you as well.”

I led Grayson to Vey’s mate’s home. I knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Grayson wasn’t beside me, he was a few feet away from me with the three guards.

“Aria right?” Vey’s mate guessed after he answered the door. He looked like a mess and he had scars across his face and arm. They had to be from the low-class demon who killed Vey. 

“Yes.”

“You’re here for the funeral today?” He glanced at Grayson in shock. “What’s the king doing here??” 

“Ignore him, he’s accompanying me. Yeah, I-I’m here for the funeral.”

“The rest of the blessed community are staying in the hotel.” My mother was here. He handed me information for the funeral. “I didn’t think you’d come. Your mother said you wouldn’t be able to make it. I’m glad Vey’s closest friend will be here. She had the crystal you lent her made into a necklace. I made the decision for her to be buried in the necklace. It was the only material object she cared about. I only knew her for a few weeks and she only had it for a few days but I think it was her most prized possession. I’d still understand if you wanted it back. It wouldn’t be too lat-“

“I want her buried in it,” I assured him. 

“Thank you, I’ll see you at the service in a couple of hours.” 

I walked back to Grayson but when I got close a guard stepped in front of him. “The funeral starts in two hours. I’m going to see my mother and brothers while I’m here.”

“I can’t allow that Aria.”

“What? We’re already here.” I squeezed my fists.

“It’s fine King Grayson, if she or any of the other blessed demons try anything we can constrain them.” One of the guards said and I realized it was the same one who kidnapped me and the other one was there too. I took a few steps back and a few deep breaths. Since I was at a distance the guard in front of Grayson moved aside. I realized that the reason he said he couldn’t allow it was because he thought the other blessed ones and I would attack him for my freedom.

“Lead the way Aria,” Grayson agreed.

I fidgeted with my fingers the entire way to the hotel. I walked in but I wasn’t sure what rooms they were in. It wouldn’t be too much of a problem because it was a small hotel. We waited in the hall until I saw someone from our community.

“Aria?” One of them approached me. “Your mother is going to be so happy to see you.” She rushed to a hotel room door. “Anka! Anka Aria is here!” 

The door opened and it was the oldest of my three brothers. He was thirteen. “Aria?” He turned and stuck his head into the room. “Aria’s here.” He announced with glee.

All three of my brothers ran to me and tackled me to the ground. “I’ve only been gone for maybe a week.” It was hard to tell how many days went by when I was stuck in the dungeon but it had to have been a week since I was taken. The oldest let go first and stared at Grayson. 

“That’s your mate and he’s really the king?”

“Uh yeah.” I didn’t really want to talk about him. “Where’s mom?”

“She’s out doing some things. She won’t be back until the funeral starts.” He explained. “We didn’t know you were coming.”

I looked at their hotel room as someone left it to speak to Grayson. She must have been the woman sent to protect my family. I think she was reporting to him. We all walked outside the hotel. I ran around with them playing tag like we always used to do. Grayson watched with his guards and my family’s protector.

After we played tag, I spoke with my brothers for a while while we got something to eat. They enjoyed having their protector around but they’d trade her for a second to have me back. They gave me the bag of the only things I owned. It was going to be nice to have my things with me at the castle. The youngest asked if they could move into the castle but I knew that wouldn’t be possible.

Soon came the funeral. I was a mess the whole time and Grayson wouldn’t touch me. He hadn’t laid even a finger on me since he saw what I did to the guard. I had my brothers to comfort me. My mother arrived and the look on her face was a mixture of surprise, sorrow, and regret. We didn’t get to speak but we hugged. Emilio was at the funeral too but he didn’t bother approaching me while my mate was around. The funeral was an open casket so I was able to see Vey one last time.

I sobbed when I watched them lower her into the ground. I reached in my pocket and put on the bracelet that I lied to Grayson about. I didn't lie about her giving it to me. I only lied about it being left in the dungeon. 

When the funeral was over a portal opened. Grayson stared at me waiting for me to walk through first. “Wait, I haven’t spoken to my mom yet.” I looked over to her and my brothers. Vey’s mate looked like he wanted to ask me something before I left but I didn’t have the time.

“You can say a quick goodbye.”

I walked to my mother and hugged her. “I have to go. I’ll try to come back within a month.” That was my goal to be marked and mated to Grayson within a month.

“I know that’s the safest place for you right now. I miss you so much. I love you.” 

“I love you too mom.” I walked through the portal. The guards dispersed to their posts except one. 

“He’s going to show you to your room Aria. You’ll be staying there from now on,” Grayson announced. “I would show you but I have to speak to Tobias as soon as possible.”

“What? You’re that afraid of me that you think I’m going to kill you in your sleep?” I fought back against tears. “For me to kill someone by draining energy they’d have to almost be willing to die even if they’re asleep. I’m not powerful enough to drain that much energy from a demon whose will to live is fighting to keep their last ounces of life force!”

“How do you know that?” Grayson challenged doubtfully.

“Because I’ve killed someone before!” I snapped.