Hell's Consort

Newest Chapter of Highest Tier (July 2021)

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Archdemon Empress Luna

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Luna could tell that her husband was pissed off at her from the slightest movement of his brows and his gritted teeth as he stared her down, breathing hard as all of his muscles were bunched up.

The message that came across her cut her like a knife.

The unspoken essence was like a sword slashing on her chest while her wrists were tied.

When her husband was in the mood to tear her to shreds, he couldn't be stopped.

Apollyon had a point.

Yet, every time he told her about what she did wrong felt like she wasn't good enough for the position and it seemed like it was the irrevocable truth.

Unfortunately, her mind had checked in and out from the discussion because she was having none of this.

She was too busy feeling bad for herself to hang on to his every word—every ruthless word.

Luna knew Apollyon was angry but where was it directed?

Was it because of what she did by letting Sloth off the hook or was he mad about the existence of the Archdemon  Familiars in this Realm and he just took it out on her because he couldn't do anything about it?

It felt one-sided when all she did was nod her head in agreement.

How easy it was for one man to make her feel insecure.

It hurt her pride that she just wanted to end  this and return to Ravin and Sloth to continue searching for Princess Ourania's paintings.

While her husband droned on about her lack of experience in controlling the two Archdemon Familiars, she glanced down at the floor.

She sniffled and looked away from his scrutiny and his judgment of his carelessness.

Now that Apollyon pointed it out, she became too conscious of her decision to let Sloth play with the bees for a minute.

Was it a  mistake on her part?

Was she too lenient in handling her Archdemon Familiars?

Shoulders hunching over from guilt, Luna pressed her back against the wall when Apollyon brought his face closer that her lips could feel the chilly breaths coming out of his mouth when he spoke to her in a whisper.

His limbs had a slight tremor in them as if he was holding back rage.

Hearing her husband scolding her like this in a quiet corner away from the rest felt like she was a brainless moron who must be taught properly how to handle slaves.

Of course, her husband would have expertise because of the Consortium.

Yet she didn't want to point that out or she would get in trouble.

Her husband wouldn't appreciate it.

He might think she was being petty when all he did was warn her of the consequences of unruly Familiars.

She should still be grateful that her husband considered not exposing her in front of her Archdemon Familiars like what he did when the Kings visited the Vampire Realm during the Marriage Auction.

Never again would she find herself in that helpless situation and remain stuck there to deal with shame in front of their visitors.

He knew better not to humiliate her… was she the one who humiliated herself?

As her anxious fingers fiddled with her skirts, Apollyon must have noticed that she was quiet—too quiet—that his frustrated monologue shifted into something else—something more understanding of her predicament instead of nagging at her to get her act together with her Familiars.

His tone was less cold and savage when he told her that he will prepare himself for the worst so that he could do his absolute best in protecting her, complaining that those Archdemons never cared about his status as the Vampire King because they were not from this Realm.

Apollyon reiterated that these devils did not hold an ounce of power because Luna was the ringleader and the puppet master—the one who can control them with a command and an utter of their true name—and it was an ability that nobody, not even she, should take lightly.

She closed her eyes and exhaled soft breaths.

Luna forgot that how easy it was for her to command them and make them look like fools in front of a huge crowd—make them loathe their demonic existence.

She sighed in regret.

It wasn't right that she was tolerating Sloth's behavior.

Finally, Apollyon was done with his litany of reprimands and his hands fell from her shoulders to her clenched fists.

"I apologize, wife. Are you angry at me for telling you about Sloth's antics earlier?" He asked softly, "I'm doing this because I care. Don't think that I hate you for doing that. I don't like seeing you hurt."

"No. I just realized you were right." Luna raised her head and continued, "I need to discipline them. Draw the boundary before they persuade me to tolerate their behavior. I think I might have done this on purpose since I can sense his emotion about training these creatures in the Seventh Circle and giving it to other demons when he got back and I unconsciously sympathized with his desire. I indulged him to try the trumpets for a minute, allow him to steal from the beekeeper and see if he still finds them as fascinating."

"I noticed you didn't use his true demon name right away." Apollyon's Prussian Blues were probing.

It didn't feel good for me to be their Master because I'm starting to see them as beings with wants and needs." Luna explained as she rubbed her palm against her forehead.

I didn't think too much of it since I was going to stop him if he did something evil. If you are so mad about them, I can lock them in a room if you prefer." She offered.

"As much as I desire to lock the Archdemons in a room until they rot, we wouldn't be able to monitor what they do." Apollyon's hand cupped her cheek and said, "A Master shouldn't be charmed into doing the things your Familiar wanted. It must be the other way around. Don't make the situation worse by loosening their leash. You must take responsibility for your Familiars, Luna because I can't do that part for  you."