The Demon King's Bride

Variation

Victor

Demon Kingdom - Wedding Day

Things taking place were not sitting well with Victor. The last thing he wanted was for the King to learn that the female they had given him as a bride was flawed. Since their arrival, Victor had done his best to keep his daughter restrained and hidden on the far side of the manor. He needed this wedding to go off without a surprise and to help further the plans he and the rest of the Shifter Kingdom had for the future.

The last thing he needed was said King realizing that his bride was defective. Victor had known this would be a difficult situation to navigate. He had also known that this daughter was the only female that fit the bill for their plans. They needed a wolfless shifter that would not be a loss to them, but would be malleable so that they could control all that came from this union.

Fortunately, Victor had spent years teaching his daughter her place. The girl never spoke, she barely moved unless told to. It had been imperative she know that she was nothing more than a tool to be used by her superiors, and had taken the lessons well. The only thing that Victor would have changed was that now, the girl made no sound when she was punished. They had tried many things in the last few years to break what stubborness remained. Whips of Silver, Wolfsbane laced gloves, even going so far as to have her fight a whole new class of training warriors on the packgrounds when last she tried to run away. The girl had nearly every bone broken in her body and had not made a sound.

Vaguely, Victor acknowledged he was likely the reason for that. Perhaps, one alpha command too many on her not speaking had finally rendered her without a voice. Not that it would make any difference, once she was married off to the King, he and his sons would reside in her wing of the house and continue to plan from there. In truth, it was a perfect situation as far as logistics of battle and planning seeing as how he would have time to explore the kingdom from within. That kind of knowledge would be priceless while they formulated their plan of attack to make sure the Demon King was removed from power and a new heir placed on the throne.

At the very least, he had found a use for the waste of space that was his daughter. Not that Victor would ever claim her as such. She had been born with his son's but she held none of the traits of their kind. His son's had been born in their wolven form, a trait of the strongest of their kind. Something he had been exceedingly proud of, until he had seen their sister. It had been obvious from the moment of her birth that she took after their mother. A mistake on his part.

Victor had been trying to find a suitable female to strengthen his bloodline. While he would have preferred a shifter, he had been unable to find one with the strength he needed. In the end, he had used his pack's new policies to procure females to start trying to sire pups on. While some refused to acknowledge such an act, the business of shifting bodies between realms for service or mating was lucrative. Victor himself had known it was the best way to sift through the rubbage and find someone to fulfill his standards.

Many outside of the shifter world did not understand why what Victor had done had been so difficult. In rejecting his fated mate, Victor had made it nearly impossible for him to carry on his line. Rejecting one's moon chosen mate, made it difficult for one to carry on their line. You were meant to mate and have offspring with your mate. When you reject them, your odds of finding anyone with the capability of carrying your offspring was almost impossible.

Which was why Victor had found someone outside of their kind with strong power that made it possible to carry his offspring. Even creating a half-blood, the offspring were a damn sight better than producing children with his fated mate. An Omega. The lowest of their kind and not fit to run a pack or be seen among the nobles in the Shifter Kingdom. So, in taking a woman of power to ensure he had strong children, he still appeared unmated but his children were strong and a source of pride to their people for all their strength.

The future that Victor was working towards with his King, was the legacy for his sons. And it was his wolfless daughter that would get them exactly what they wanted. Now, he just needed to make sure this day went off without a hitch.

Since their arrival, Phoenyx had been sequestered. He had controlled the flow of food, information, and drink in and out of his daughter's room. He had limited the servants that the Demon King had among the rooms just to keep his daughter as secluded as possible. Once the ceremony was done, he just had to keep Phoenyx contained while they carried out their plans.

While Victor knew he would have to let his daughter stand at her husband's side for part of the time, he was also aware that he needed to limit her time with the man. In doing that he would assure his success. Turning slowly, he took in the decor of the hall. Despite this being an arranged marriage, it would seem the Demon King went all out. Garlands of flowers and braided herbs hung around the eaves of the room. Candles were lit on stands that were placed down the sides of the hall, burning in an array of colors ranging from black to purple, each differing colored flame flickering to cast a soft light around the room.

At the double doors to the back of the hall, Victor saw King Jaicen, speaking with the Demon King himself. The conversation seemed more animated than normal and left a small niggling feeling of doubt in the back of Victor's mind. He watched as they parted, and frowned, seeing Jaicen coming in his direction.

"Victor, we have an issue." Jaicen began.

"Your Majesty." Victor bowed his head and then frowned, "The Demon King has decided not to accept the marriage?"

"No, he has accepted it. However, he has requested that everyone except your daughter's personal attendants vacate his lands as soon as the ceremony is finished." Jaicen frowned, "I thought you had made arrangements for your family to stay after the marriage."

"Well, not officially. I assumed I would be staying after the ceremony to help with their transition." Victor frowned, "Personal attendants?" Victor chuckled and shook his head, "That's not going to happen."

"However it may be, he has said anyone with shifter lineage that has a wolf, should return to their home until the negotiations after the marriage." Jaicen frowned a little and moved to shake his head before whispering, "We cannot afford his suspicion, we have to leave after the ceremony, we will figure out the rest later."

"This cannot stand, Jaicen." Victor frowned, unsure what to do now that a new edict had been set in motion. He had less than an hour to find a way to navigate this new turn of events. Already moving away from Jaicen in order to figure out the best way to make the Demon King call him back.