Rainbow Book Reviews The Demon and The Emperor

 "From its beautifully rendered cover through to its final page, ‘The Demon and The Emperor’ is a magnificent example of what a good Yaoi romance should aspire to be."

Read the full review here: 
http://www.rainbowbookreviews.com/book-reviews/the-demon-and-the-emperor-by-yamila-abraham-at-yaoi-press

Conquering the Phobe

Conquering the Phobe

Passionate right-wing conservative Albert Reese has taken a dangerous interest in his gay classmate Denton Price.

Albert mercilessly trounces Denton during a very personal debate in their politics class, leaving Denton devastated.  He’s grateful this is the end of the semester.  He never wants to see Albert’s cold judging glare ever again.

But then Albert chases Denton down in the library…  

This super steamy, tumultuous romance is a standalone with no cliffhangers and a guaranteed happily-ever-after.  By the author of UnPrison!

Please don’t miss this one!  Click your country: Kindle USA, Kindle UK, Kindle Germany, Kindle Canada, Kindle Australia, Kindle France, Kindle Italy, Kindle Spain, Kindle Mexico, Kindle Japan, Kindle India, Kindle Netherlands, or Kindle Brazil!

Excerpt ~

On the third floor of the university library, Denton Price traversed aisles of seldom-used legal books to find a remote wooden table.  It sat in a corner too far from the high windows to ever catch a ray of sunlight.  The veneer had been ruined by coffee rings and the indentation of pen marks; a good table to hide at in an obscure corner.  Denton dropped into a clunky wooden chair with his back to the wall.  He placed his lean elbows on the table, his face in his hands, and let the tears come.

His body shuddered quietly as he sobbed.  He couldn't abide a stranger catching his anguish, and certainly not another student.  Even here, the most secluded place he could find on campus, there was still a chance of intrusion.  It was the best he could do, as far as he could go.  Denton couldn't hold back his pain another moment.

Once the first aches of his turmoil were quenched by tears, he wiped his nose on a handkerchief and ground his teeth.

"Fucking asshole," he said, forcing his voice to stay quiet.  "Fucking ignorant asshole piece of shit."

He clenched a fist and let his pain meld with the anger.  More tears came forth, now with such passion his stomach cramped.  The severity of his emotion made him feel hopeless, helpless--then he remembered one particularly stinging line Albert Reese had cleverly spouted.  Smoothly, as though he'd had the quip rehearsed, and delivered with cold nonchalance.  Denton's face reddened with humiliation all over again just at the memory.  He let his head drop into his folded arms so he could muffle sobs he couldn't keep silent.

"Hey."

Denton's entire body tensed a millisecond before he darted up his head to look.  Then his heart was raging in his temples.  Anguish was replaced with a primeval fight or flight instinct. 

His nemesis stood directly before him with only the table separating them.  This brought several harrowing revelations at once.  Albert had to have followed him.  There was no reason for him to be in this part of the library--no possibility he'd been caught there by chance.  And he'd snuck up on him.  He'd probably been watching him this entire time through the gaps of a bookshelf.  When Denton had buried his head in his arms, he'd emerged, quiet as a cat, to block him into the corner.  Denton couldn't leave without fighting his way past him now.

He stared at Albert while trying to keep his rapid breathing from becoming too apparent.  He'd overheard once that Albert was the dean's son, and though only a sophomore he was three years older than most other students in their grade.  The added years had given him time to fill out more.  He had a formidable athletic build.  (Wasn't he an athlete?  Probably in some irrelevant sport that didn't give scholarships.)  He had inky black hair that gleamed, and there was scruff on his chin, trimmed to the fashionable length that accentuated his mature, masculine presence.  He wore a long black coat with shoulders that came out to stiff points and polished buckles fastened along a slick angle. 

The first time Denton saw him he'd thought he looked like a male model from a Virgin Airlines billboard, but that was before--before he knew what kind of monster he was.  Now he just looked like a villain.  Not a cartoonish vaudevillian, but some menacing actor in a psychological thriller.  One where his good looks would have the audience presuming he was a good guy until the show neared its end.  Then it would come out that he was a psychopath, injecting children with fatal viruses or holing up victims in a basement torture chamber.  He could easily see Albert removing someone's teeth with a pair of pliers.

All these thoughts came as he stared at him, not knowing with to say or do.  He felt like prey.  Albert had captured him with void brown eyes that had to note his apprehension. 

The moment drew on long enough to grow awkward.  Denton heard himself swallow.

Albert let the strap from his bag slide off his shoulder.  He dropped it on the table, then pulled out the chair across from Denton and sat.  He positioned his body sideways, crossed his legs, then let out a slow exhalation through puckered lips.  He rested his other elbow on the table. 

"That was very elucidating," he said without looking toward Denton.

Denton attempted to shake his head in disbelief, but the movement just came out as a tremble.  He wasn't sure if Albert meant the debate or his crying. 

"What do you want?"

Albert's eyes flashed at him, then lowered.  "I've taken an interest in you."

He felt incredulous once again.  This smug asshole!  He dug the nails from both hands into the wooden edge of the table.

"Can I get you a hot chocolate, or something?"

His smooth easy tone renewed the fury in Denton's chest.  He began to tremble.  Tears built up behind his eyes, but he managed to bite them back.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" Denton said.

Albert groaned, a muted nasal sound of impatience and annoyance.  He turned in his seat to grab his messenger bag.  Denton tensed as he opened the bag and dug around inside.  Maybe he was seeking his phone to take a selfie with Denton while his face was still red and swollen from crying--a trophy for his victory today.

Albert withdrew his searching hand without removing anything from the bag. 

"I left my vaporizer at the house.  Do you have that gum?"

The request eased the mood slightly.  Albert didn't seem to have any malevolent motives.  Back here, far from prying eyes and ears, he had no one to impress with his verbal gay bashing. 

Denton picked up his own bag without taking his eyes off Albert.  He pulled out a wrapped square of nicotine gum from his side pocket and slid it across the table.

"Take it and go."

Albert looked at it, then at Denton.  "I'm not going.  You stay put, too."

"What the fuck--what do you want?"

He peeled open the gum, put it in his mouth.  "I heard you crying.  I thought we should talk."

"You followed me."

Albert chewed.  "Yes."

"Why?"

"I told you.  I've taken an interest in you.  The class is over--I don't know if we have any more classes together.  I need to a means to pursue my interest."  His brown eyes fixed on him with a gleam.  "Like a friendship."

The trembling infected his lower lip.  "Are you literally psychopathic?"  His heart began to race again as he challenged him.  "Who the Hell talks like that?  You don't want to be my friend.  You wouldn't have gone at me so viciously in class if you did."

"Hurting you wasn't the goal.  Just an unfortunate necessity."  Albert chewed a few moments before tucking the gum into his lip.  "Let me get you that hot chocolate."

"Leave me alone."

Albert turned himself sideways again.  "That's not going to happen, Denton.  I'm obsessed and you don't have enough fortitude to do what it will take to get rid of me."  He shot him another glance.  "Why don't you give this...friendship a chance?"

Denton rubbed his hand over his face.  "You're obsessed with me?"  His chest was beginning to ache from the tension.  "You're just going to say that like it's normal?" 

"I know a lot more about being normal than you do."

"Fuck you!" 

He needed to cry again.  Every word Albert pulled out of him veered dangerously towards choked emotion.  He was feeling threatened with Albert so close, and the cathartic release he'd needed had been blocked.  The wretchedness of his situation, his entire miserable day, was collapsing in on itself.  Maybe this was what a nervous breakdown felt like?

He buried his face in his hands and let himself cry.  That's probably what the asshole wanted.  Maybe that would get him to leave, without torturing him some more first.

Fine.  Watch me cry, you sick fuck.

Once he started he couldn't hold back.  His entire body shook with the sobs.  He let the pain shudder out of him and drench his hands with tears. 

The sounds were still stifled.  He muffled hiccups for breath behind his palms.  Albert was close enough to drink it all in, even if he wept softly.  The bastard had no shame, to sit quietly watching him.

"That's good.  Get it out of your system."

Denton snuffled and gathered up his handkerchief again.  Albert had turned to sit facing him during his tumult.  His gleaming brown eyes got to drink in every ounce of his pain.

"We're both going to get an A, you know."  His voice was bereft of sympathy.  "One had to win, and one had to lose.  It only had to look like we were both trying."

"I was trying," Denton said through his teeth.

Albert's smile was insidious.  "I know."  His eyes lowered.  "It was good.  Really good."

Denton was incredulous.  "So what?  You came to gloat?"

Albert shook his head while considering.  "Not really.  I don't think you need more punishment today."

What?!

"I am celebrating though.  This was a big deal to me."  He paused to draw a contented sigh.  "I wish I could have filmed it.  Best fucking debate of my life.  No one will ever believe me--that I trounced a gay on gay marriage.  In this day and age?"

Denton began to tremble again.  The speech was twisting his stomach.

Albert fixed on him.  "We worked well together.  You're the perfect foil for me.  I don't want to give that up."

"Would you please fuck off?"

"Shut up!" 

The burst of anger made Denton's neck hair's prick up.  A half-second later and Albert was once again composed.

"You're not letting me get to my point.  I wasn't out to hurt you as badly as I did.    You're...I mean look at you.  I've got nothing but sympathy for you."  His eyes moved up and down him in one dismissive sweep.  "Your condition."

"God you are such a fucking asshole."

Albert grinned.  "Of course you'd say that."

"Look, you had your fun.  It wasn't emotional to you.  It wasn't personal.  It was easy for you to think up all the bullshit you wanted ahead of time, and just be a fucking clever douchebag.  You had all the advantage."

Albert nodded.  His smile was gone and he looked enthralled.

"Yeah, you killed it.  You trounced me.  It was so fucking awesome for you.  But it's over, Albert, it's done.  End of the semester.  End of your glory.  You don't get an instant replay.  You don't get to drag it out!"

"That's not what this is about."

"Yes it is, because I'm sick over what you did to me and you're here grinning like a fucking idiot because it just reminds you of how good you fucking nailed me."

"Hmm."  He nodded in smug contemplation.  "You do make me happy."

Denton jabbed out his finger to point to toward the exit.  "It's over!  Go!  Leave!  I'm not going to give you anymore fucking joy today!"

Albert lowered his head and rapped his nails on the table.  "You're not in control of what I do.  I don't think you've grasped that."

Denton groaned and placed his face back into his hands.

"I wish I could have won the debate without going so hard on you.  There's some guilt."

Denton didn't look up.  "Tough shit."

"You have enough problems.  I mean, I don't know why you chose this lifestyle--"

Denton gave a sound of pained infuriation.

"I don't know why my cousin became a heroin addict either.  And it's easy to judge, but I haven't lived his life--or yours.  I don't know what pushed you to this degree of depravity.  I need to have some compassion."  He gestured with one upturned hand.  "Maybe I could help you.  Have you considered getting treatment?"

His chest quaked.  "You're a condescending prick."

Albert rolled his eyes and shook his head, as though Denton were a petulant child.  "Anyway.  I should take responsibility for my actions.  I condemn your lifestyle, but at the same time I'm just adding to your neurosis with the way I devastated you today.  I could simply damn you for your life choices, but it's far nobler, far more Christian, for me to reach out and try to help you.  That's what you really need.  I'm not so deluded that I can't see that."

Denton shot up from his chair and grabbed his duffle bag.  He lifted one of his long legs so he could kick back the table enough to go around the other side and get past Albert.

"Go to Hell!"

Albert remained seated.  "That's where I'm trying to prevent you from going."

Denton stomped away.  He heard the legs of Albert's chair scrape the floor as he reared it back to stand.

Don't follow me, you fucking asshole!

"That was impressive, Denton.  Maybe you do have what it takes to stand up to me."

"Unbelievable!"

He got the elevator to close without seeing Albert behind him.  Even if the bastard went down the other elevator he had enough of a head start to get away from him. 

With luck they wouldn't have any classes together next semester.

Maybe he'd never have to see the evil son of a bitch again.

** * ** * ** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** *

Denton's dorm was a converted brownstone in a residential area.  It was one street removed from the main campus, which was scattered over two bustling city blocks.  The walk wasn't far, but the sidewalks hadn't been plowed and were clogged with dense ice, the result of several back-to-back snowstorms.  Denton had to walk in the street outside the tight perimeter of parked cars lining each side of the road.  With the snow banks on either side the lanes had grown precariously narrow.  Vehicles had to slow down to pass each other without nicking side mirrors.  Denton forced cars to maneuver around him into the oncoming lane.  The road was too slippery for most vehicles to gain speed, regardless of traffic.  Denton marched over black ice hidden by powdery snow with little fear of getting hit by a car.  This was winter in New York.  Everyone had to adapt.

The sound of an engine got him to lower the faux-fur lined hood of his coat and turn back.  A 4x4 Jeep with tire chains had just turned onto the road.  Denton could see two figures inside through the dash.  The driver had his lips pulled back so that Denton could make out his clenched white teeth.  He slammed on the gas.  The nimble vehicle gripped the road with such precision it quickly gained speed over the ice. 

Denton merely stared for the first second.  He realized the driver was Carl Rieger, a Junior from the same fraternity Albert was part of.  He'd been in the audience during the final debate Denton and Albert had presented in their Political Theory class.  Next to him was a sorority girl Denton vaguely recognized.  She was gripping her seatbelt with a look of fear.  As the Jeep continued toward him at fifty miles per hour Denton came to share her expression.  Even if the asshole was only trying to scare him he was coming too fast on too narrow a road to safely swerve around. 

Denton started running.  He got to the first gap between the cars and leaped out of the way.  The zipper of his open coat cracked against the Jeep's front fender.  It rushed past without slowing. 

Denton watched the Jeep disappear down the road with his eyes wide with terror.  His heart was thumping in his throat. 

He was trying to kill me!      

It took moments for the notion to really sink in.  Carl Rieger, someone he'd never spoken to or had any trouble with, had just attempted to run him over.

"Jesus Christ."

He couldn't get himself to step back into the road.  His mouth had gone dry. 

Why?   

They were strangers.  They had nothing to do with each other.  Had Albert put him up to it? 

For some reason he doubted this.  He'd seen Carl and Albert speak one time about some fraternity chores or something.  They'd sat far apart in the class, despite enough room in back to be close if they wanted.  Carl was a junior and had other closer friends in the frat house.

Why the fuck did he just try to murder me? 

It was a spur of the moment thing.  Carl just saw him and sped up.  A split second decision.  Just like that.  With teeth clenched in rage...

For what? 

That's when it dawned on him.  The debate.  He had argued in favor of gay marriage.  Albert had argued against it. 

Albert had outed him during the debate.

Denton hadn't refuted his 'accusation,' but it was one of barbs still spearing his middle from the ordeal.  His orientation was no one's business, but he wasn't about to deny it.  He wasn't ashamed. 

Now Carl knew.  Based on that--the fact that he was gay--Carl Rieger had just attempted to end his life.

He took a deep breath.  How could he do something so extreme?  Something that would ruin his own life?

No.  Denton realized Carl already had an alibi.  He was walking in the road.  It was icy.  Everyone would believe it was an accident.

Denton felt sick. 

He forced his legs to work again and made it back to his dorm.  It was official now:  this had been the worst day of his life.

He went up to the second floor to the three-bedroom apartment that served as his dorm.  His bedroom, the smallest, was shared with Soledad Murphy.  Denton's spirits crumpled even further when he saw his roommate was absent.  The other five students sharing the apartment had already gone home for winter break.  Soledad was his last hope for someone to commiserate with.

He grabbed his phone and sent him a text.

Where are you, man?  I could really use someone to talk to.

He saw an indicator showing Soledad was typing a reply.

Sorry.  Out.  Won't be back until really late.

Denton felt like crying again.

Going to the s&f in Poughkeepsie.  On the bus right now.

Denton grimaced.  S&F stood for suck and fuck. 

Sorry I can't go to Blinkys with you. This too good to pass up u know? Maybe my white stallion be there. Lol.  Promise you'll still go out without me. 

Denton set down his phone and sank against his large pillow.  He tried to will the tension out of his muscles.  His neck felt so tight it cricked when he moved. 

A Swede named Lars was a kindly daddy who frequented Blinky's.  If he was there, Denton knew he would snuggle him in his large arms sympathetically, and then walk him to his nearby apartment for some gentle no-strings lovemaking.  He was the first man Denton had given himself to, back in the fall semester of his freshman year.  This was probably the one-year anniversary of that night.  Sucking on his thick organ for a half hour or so would go a long way towards alleviating Denton's stress.  Lars could then ease his condomed cock inside of him while uttering sweet nothings in his native tongue.  The hope for such a comfort almost got him to rise from his bed.  He'd been to Blinky's enough times with Soledad to feel safe there.

Was anywhere safe for him now?  Carl Rieger had tried to kill him, just like that. 

Just like that.

He huddled back again.  He was too numb still to text Soledad about the incident.  He'd will himself to perform the task later.  His flamboyant roomie needed that dose of reality.  Idiotic risks at random men's houses needed to end.  Their normal argument was just about Soledad's lax attitude on safe sex.  Now he was actually scared something other than HIV was going to end Soledad's life. 

** * ** * ** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** * ** *** *

Denton spent an hour sitting on his bed feeling tense and dejected.  He eventually had to get up to go to the bathroom.  His body unfurled stiffly, with anguish still built up in the fibers of his muscles.  Once he emerged from the bathroom he decided to remain in motion.  He had to pack to spend the holidays at his sister's house. 

He'd just finished stuffing his dirty laundry into a mesh bag when the door intercom buzzed.  Denton padded over the cold hardwood floor to answer it.  He stopped halfway.  The monitor revealed Albert Reese holding two cups of hot chocolate in a cardboard cup carrier.

Renewed anguish squeezed Denton's chest.  And yet, Albert didn't seem quite as terrible now that he had Carl Rieger to compare him to.

He still didn't want him in his dorm.  How did he know where I live?  He thought of ignoring him.

Albert pressed the buzzer again.  Denton still didn't move.  The wealthy asshole started to tap a buzzer message in Morse code.

Denton stomped over and pressed the speaker button.  "What the Hell do you want?"

"Let me in."

"Why the fuck would I?"

"I brought you hot chocolate from Stexies."

"Get lost."  The meager power he had now made his chest brim. 

"I want to talk to you about something--it's important."

Denton chewed his lower lip.  Did Albert know about what happened in the road?  Had he been watching him?

Denton bristled.  "Are you alone?"

Albert added confusion to his annoyed expression.  "Yes.  Who do you think I'd have with me?"

"Carl Rieger."

Albert lowered his head enough to obscure his eyes.  "Carl already left for Brooklyn to spend the night with his girlfriend."

Denton pressed the button to unlock the door.  There was still another locked door between them, so if anyone besides Albert came in he could call the police.  Such thoughts would have never crossed his mind before. 

He watched Albert enter alone and released the button.  Denton met him on the second floor landing.  The prick brightened with a convivial smile when he saw him.

"Are you by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Denton led him in.  He set the cups on the dining room table and then took off his gloves and coat.  The apartment was clean thanks to him and his OCD Vietnamese roommate Tin.  Albert was taking in the sparse décor approvingly.

"Nice place."

Denton let his shoulders slump.  "What's this important thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

He gave a slight shrug.  "Nothing," he said during a blink.  "I just said that so you'd let me in."

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Conquering the Phobe Preview Reading

A reading from Yaoimila's newest novel, Conquering the Phobe.  Available on Amazon tomorrow!

The Demon and the Emperor

The Demon and the Emperor

by Yamila Abraham

“I must ask you–with greatest respect, Lord Demon…”  The general looked up with eyes maddened by fury.  "Why do you drape your arm around the Divine Emperor with such intimate familiarity?“

Rodukjo stared down his nose at the general.  "Your emperor has but one thing of value to offer in exchange for my fealty.  The pleasures of his body.”
Newly crowned Emperor Dianese needs the power of the lascivious demon Rodukjo to solidify his authority.  The mighty demon asks for a dear price in exchange for his aid, one Dianese has no choice but to accept.  
The emperor expects a life of suffering at the hands of the demon, but as their partnership evolves something more profound develops.

• A FULL-LENGTH novel presented in its entirety–not a series.
• Intense erotica with elements of bdsm.
• A fantasy realm more typical of anime than fairy tales.
• The well earned HEA comes after numerous twists and turns!
• The author’s longest and most satisfying work to date.
• Fans of Yamila Abraham’s Vanquished Series will love this book!

Do you know you don’t need a Kindle to read Kindle ebooks?!  You can read them you can read them right on your computers!  Or Blackberry, iPod Touch, or even the $35 generic tablet your gramps got you from a flea market!!!  YOU CAN READ KINDLE EBOOKS ON ANYTHING and you can NEVER LOSE THEM!  You can always log into your Amazon.com account and access your entire library from any computer or device!  Just click your country to buy this now!  Kindle USA, Kindle UK, Kindle Germany, Kindle Australia, Kindle Canada, Kindle France, Kindle Brazil, Kindle Italy, Kindle Japan, Kindle Spain, Kindle Mexico, Kindle Netherlands, or Kindle India. Everywhere Else: grab it in ANY format from Smashwords.   Coming soon for Barnes & Nobles, iTunes, Kobo, Scribd, and Google Play—just search for it!

Exerpt~

Emperor Dianese exited his coach where the road ended in Farravie forest.  He could hear the waterfall, though it was at least a mile off, as well as the trilling of cicadas.  The forest had dense overgrowth that allowed only a few blades of sunlight to crack through.  Dianese filled his lungs with a long draw, then exhaled with a slump of his shoulders.  He hoisted a large leather satchel onto his shoulder.  His attendant, Tessai, lunged for it in protest.

"Let me carry that, Divine Emperor."

"You're not coming with me."

Tessai eyes bulged.  Though a sword cut had rendered him too lame for battle, he was still dense with muscle.  His shoulders were broad enough to easily handle the bundle.  On Dianese's delicate frame it looked as though he were an ant carrying twice his body weight.

"Divine Emperor, you shouldn't go alone.  There could be assassins."

Dianese ignored him to make his way through thickets that threatened to destroy the fine silk fabric of his robes.

Tessai stayed planted beside the coach behind him, as he would never disobey a command, yet still cried out to the young emperor.

"Divine Emperor!  Why will you not let me help you?"

Dianese turned to meet his servant's eyes.  "I must do this alone.  If I don't return in two hours time, you may come to look for me.  But if you come sooner than that, Tessai, I will demand your suicide."

Tessai's eyes bulged once again.  "My Lord..."

Dianese gave a gentle smile to ease the sting of his threat.  "I'll be fine, Tessai."  He continued on until his servant was no longer in earshot.

His silk curl-toed shoes with ivory soles had no traction on wet leaves.  Dianese had to scramble on hands and knees to get over even the shallowest gully.  His burden made it feel as though a fire had been lit between his shoulder blades.  Then he grew aware of his labored breathing, and how his sweat caused some of his feathery tresses of blue hair to stick to his forehead. 

A toppled great oak offered a tempting place for him to rest in a clearing.  Dianese didn't have to check his pocket watch to know he was already taking far too much time to reach the waterfall.  If he rested then he risked coming back after dark.  Even if he could find his way back to the road, their coach would likely fall prey to blockades on the way back to the city.  He thought it fine to pay a few unscrupulous tolls, but Tessai would rather coat himself in their blood than suffer such disgrace.  If one got the better of his attendant, then what would Dianese do?  He could never make it back to the castle without a guardian.  Even his mile-long trek with a bundle of bones was proving a greater challenge than he'd imagined.

The air became electrified with the cleansing aura a massive waterfall produced.  Dianese came around two ancient trees broader than houses, and then spied the clearing.  A roaring waterfall poured into a misty crater that led to the underworld.  The spraying water had drowned any grass growing near the hole, leaving a bare circle of sodden peat. 

Dianese ventured as near to the crater as he dared and let the bundle drop from his aching shoulders.  He dropped as well, getting muck on the shimmering silk of his green dressing gown.  For a while he could do nothing but gasp and wait for his pain to abate.  Then he settled back on his bottom to behold the glistening water as it disappeared into the abyss. 

He had to look wretched.  He'd dressed for a royal ceremony, the kind he should have been carried to in a pristine litter so that his dainty feet never touched the ground.  This was to give a good impression to the demon.  He wanted to be sure he knew the highest manner of noble was summoning him.  Lack of experience had caused him not to anticipate the rigors of his journey. 

Dianese wished to wash his face, since his powder had certainly been ruined by sweat, but he dared not get near enough to the crater to scoop some falling water into his hands.  He instead drew out a handkerchief and wiped his face clean.  This renewed his confidence.  Even without make-up he knew his face was incomparably beautiful.

He forced himself to his feet to dump out the bones: a gozz-hound's tooth, the leg bone of a giant tortoise, the lower jaw of a giant, the finger of a tangador bat, and, wrapped in cloth, the skull of a virgin queen whose eye sockets had been filled with jewels. 

Each relic brought him back to the time and place when his father had obtained them.  Two thousand brave men had died to battle the gozz-hound.  Not a one of them understood what their sacrifice was for, or why they hassled the reclusive beast who was a threat to no one.  Then the tortoise, so beautiful a creature and over 1,000 years old.  None understood why the former emperor Ryuinto had ordered that its species be made extinct.  The giant was simply a man who had grown to gargantuan proportions due to reasons of ill health.  No one claimed he was cursed, as they might have done with someone who was less well-liked.  He had a wife and a large brood of children who all relied on his income as a carnival sideshow act.  He'd committed no crime, yet was still slaughtered at the whim of Ryuinto.  The final relic had to be obtained through war, two hideous years of it.  Fanterah suffered famine and poverty at levels they'd never known before, and a generation of children would now be reared without fathers.  Their enemy had been a valued trading partner who'd never crossed them.  Emperor Ryuinto first killed the king and then his only daughter, who'd become queen at the age of 13 after her father's death.    

Dianese scattered the bones around the perimeter of a circle large enough for him to sit in.  He took his place, and then felt a cold in his middle so profound he hugged his arms close to his body to warm himself. 

Dianese's lower lip trembled.  He swallowed, closed his eyes, and whispered a soft oath.

"You must.  You must.  It's all that matters.  You must, Dianese."  

He gave a deep sigh to still his rioting nerves, then bowed as low as an envoy from a lessor country might bow to him.  His forehead rested on his hands, which rested on the earth.

"Come forth, Rodukjo."  His voice was weak even in his own ears.  He cleared his throat.  "Come forth, Rodukjo.  It is the Divine Emperor Dianese Diancanchi who summons you."  

"I'm here."

Dianese's pulse thundered in his temples.  He'd not only heard the deep voice, but now sensed an encompassing presence mere feet from him.    

He lifted his head slowly.  Seated on folded legs outside his circle of bones was a demon twice the size of his large attendant Tessai.  His flesh, mostly bare, was intricately colored in red and yellow.  Red on the rounds of his massive shoulders, and carving accents over the rippling muscles of his arms.  Yellow on his bare chest and bulging abdominal muscles, though surrounded by red on his flanks.  His face had red markings over yellow skin in an aesthetic manner.  Dianese was at once reminded of the masks used in battle hundreds of years ago.  He now beheld the demon these soldiers sought to imitate to add to their fearsomeness.  While those masks were grotesque, the source was indelibly regal.  His red and yellow face was handsomely boned with a broad masculine chin and enticing full lips.  His eyes, though pure white and without pupils, bespoke both confidence and serenity. 

Dianese felt emboldened by what he sensed in the demon's eyes.  He sat up in full to continue his examination.  Rodukjo had a long mane of thick black hair.  On the top of his scalp were six horns, two of gold in the up-curling shape of a bull's, two in silver, in the shape of a ram's, and two coming from the peaks of his hairline, short and black like onyx.  The demon's feet were bare, revealing toes tipped with sharp black claws.  His hands rested on his lap and were also accented with fearsome black claws.  He wore metal gauntlets on his forearms and similar guards on his calves.  Besides this, his only garment was a skirt of brown leather with tassels of softer leather dangling before it from a braided belt.     

"How pretty you are," Rodukjo said.

Dianese fixed his gaze back on the demon's eyes.  There was now the touch of a smile at the corners of the demon's lips. 

"I thank you," Dianese said, forcing the words past a building lump in his throat.

"Speak, Divine Emperor who has summoned me."  Dianese glimpsed the demon's sharp white teeth as he spoke.  "I'm so eager to hear what you have to say."

Dianese nodded.  "Honorable demon, unimaginable efforts were taken to procure these gifts I've laid about me."

"I have no interest in any of that garbage.  Why would your father kill the last giant tortoise in existence?"

Dianese's heart resumed its thunderous beats.

"And you bring me the skull of a virgin instead of the virgin herself?  That sickens me."

"I don't understand."  He gazed at the hard-fought treasures about him.  "My father was convinced these items had merit for you."

"The fool probably spoke to a witch who sent him on an impossible quest rather than admit her ignorance."

Dianese's stomach squeezed.  He recalled the conversation about a witch his father had consulted shortly before adopting him.

"I beg you to forgive my ignorance, honorable demon."

"Call me Rodukjo."

Dianese bowed his head in consent.  "There's more on offer than these regrettable items, Rodukjo.  We purchased twenty of the finest courtesans from nineteen brothels in seven regions."

"I most recently aided a warlord who granted me sixty courtesans."

Dianese believed the ground was spinning.  He realized it was only an illusion caused by the churning waterfall in his peripheral vision--as well as his collapsing situation.

"I could provide you with a hundred."

Rodukjo smirked.  "Ah.  But then they would not be the finest."

Dianese mouth was growing dry.  He sealed his lips and tried to draw up some spittle.

"Never mind the courtesans, sweet emperor.  Twenty, sixty, or a hundred--it matters not.  My appetites could be sated with but a single bride.  It's your kind who deems me a glutton."

Dianese's voice lowered to scarcely above a whisper.  "Forgive me for my ignorance once again."

"You're more ignorant than you know.  I desire no courtesans.  If I were to grant you aid it would be for you, Dianese.  You, personally, grant me compelling enough a reason."

"Tell me what you wish, Rodukjo."

"I have told you."

Dianese lowered his gaze.  "Then I don't understand."

"First I'll take your body."

Dianese looked back at him.

"I've been a glutton on these courtesans, as I said.  My palate can endure no more rich desserts.  I desire the finer meat of a half-fey emperor."

Dianese felt a terrifying pang within him, as though frozen metal were pressed against his tender abdomen.  "How did you know that I'm--"

"Next I'll take your authority.  You must accept me as your master.  Oh, you may continue to perform your duties as emperor.  I care little for mortal minutia.  However, you'll truly be no more than a viceroy henceforth.  My will shall supercede yours, particularly on matters of war.  When I choose to rule you shall be as my puppet and carry out my wishes over your domain."

Dianese's lips were parted.  He shook his head slowly.  "You've asked for two things I can't possibly grant you."

Rodukjo laughed softly and without malice.  "My sweet emperor, you have no choice."

Dianese kept his gaze fixed on him.  Fear had evolved into cunning, as it always did when he felt cornered.  He remained calm and listened.

"I've no need to threaten you.  You already knew the only two possible outcomes for a meeting with Rodukjo."

"You either help the summoner," Dianese said, "or kill them."

Rodukjo nodded.  "But the threat of death is not why you will come to accept my terms."

"Tell me."

"It's because...you must.  You must.  It's all that matters.  You must, Dianese."

A chill dripped down his spine at hearing his words parroted.

"You're desperate.  I'm your only hope.  You've already conceded to my wishes in your mind as you sit there.  You're inwardly celebrating that I've agreed to help you--regardless of my terms."

Dianese considered while staying fixed on the demon's white eyes. 

"I have conceded.  But I'm not celebrating."

Rodukjo smiled.  The sharp-toothed grin portended no cruelty.  The demon was merely pleased.

"Shall we go, then?" Rodukjo said.  "Your attendant grows mad with worry."

"Would you humor me a moment longer?"

"Of course.  For the rest of your mortal life, I shall."

"How did you know that it was my father who gathered your gifts?  How did you know of my desperation?  And...how did you know of my half-fey blood?"

Rodukjo laughed through his nostrils.  "Which of those three questions is the most pressing to you?"

"My blood.  How did you know?"

"I knew it was that."  He braced himself with an arm and rose to his feet.  "I'm going to fuck you and take you as my slave."

Dianese cringed both within and without.  The demon was too blunt for him to stifle it.

"Yet what troubles you most from our meeting is that I know who your mother is."

Now Dianese crumpled forward and buried his face in his hands.  "You know...as much as that?  Who was she?  I beg you to tell me."  He began to weep against his will.  His reaction repulsed him.  The demon already had control over him to cause such emotion. 

"Wipe your tears and rise, sweet emperor.  I'll answer you in your coach."

Dianese lifted his red-rimmed eyes.

"Dark approaches fast in these months after harvest.  Your domain belongs to me now, and I should like to survey it in the daylight."  He offered Dianese his clawed hand.  "I should also like to hold you on my lap as we ride.  I wish to fathom your delicate form enshrouded in your silk layers.  The look of you is like a bird, lighter than one would expect, fragile and easily crushed.  I've not held anything truly delicate in centuries."

The speech granted Dianese time to collect himself.  He wiped his tears on his sleeve and accepted Rodukjo's hand.  The strong demon lifted him with little effort.

"Before I bring you to my home...no one can know of my heritage."

Rodukjo's smile returned.  "Have no fear."

"Nor of our terms."

"We'll discuss that further."

"Nor that I shed tears just now."

Rodukjo bellowed with a laugh.  "You're troubled by such foolish things!"

Dianese scowled.  "You are not familiar with my plight."

Rodukjo pulled Dianese against him.  He closed both thick arms around him so that the small man was pressed against his body.  Dianese kept fixed on his eyes with determination.

"I am familiar."  Rodukjo moved his lips very close to Dianese's face.  "I know who your mother was.  I know who your father was before Emperor Ryuinto adopted you."

The determination drained from Dianese's face.  His lips parted.  "Then...you know everything."

"Everything you wish to hide."  He brought a large hand up to stroke the blue tresses of Dianese's hair.  "Indeed, my sweet emperor."

Dianese swallowed.  He looked back into Rodukjo's eyes.  "It's good that you know...if we're to be allies from here on.  There should be no subterfuge between us."

Rodukjo smiled with one side of his mouth.  "Yes.  Save your cunning for the rest of your court.  You can't deceive me.  I know the roots of your soul."

Dianese nodded after a moment's hesitation.  "Then you must know that I wish for you to release me now."

Rodukjo's smile grew tender.  He wove his fingers through the long strands of Dianese's hair.  "I know that very well, sweet emperor.  It's just that I don't care."  He forced their lips together.

Dianese made a nasal scream.  He bashed both clenched fists against the demon while wrenching his body to struggle free.  Rodukjo pulled back and dropped him.  The emperor tumbled to the ground.  He remained where he fell, panting while glaring up at Rodukjo.

The demon's white eyes were wide.  "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"We have an agreement."

Dianese climbed up on shaking legs.  "And this is how I intend to serve that portion of our agreement.  By resisting with every fiber of strength I can muster."  He dusted his robes with furious swipes.

"I--I can overpower you easily."

Dianese turned his back to him.  "I'm aware.  I'll still resist."

Rodukjo's voice lowered.  "We are meant to be allies, Dianese.  An ally is what you need."

Dianese crossed his arms.

Rodukjo grunted through his nostrils.  "This won't do.  And I've no wish to kill you now, despite you violating our terms." 

Dianese turned back to face him.  For several moments the demon looked him up and down.  A stitch formed between his dark brows. 

"Perhaps I could take the time to court you in some manner--and then seduce you gently.  Will you cease your resistance then?"

"What you suggest is despicable."

Rodukjo flared his sharp teeth.  "There can be no alliance between us if I have to rape you!  You must yield on this.  I don't owe you any compromise.  You're my possession now."

"I don't wish for there to be strife between us any more than you do.  I've enough strife to contend with.  But...what you seek, that was never meant to be our bargain."

Rodukjo's white eyes narrowed.  "The deal is already done."   

Dianese drew a breath and then shuddered as he exhaled.  He uncrossed his arms and bowed his head.  "I will compromise."

Rodukjo's one-sided smile returned.  He strode ahead of Dianese to lead him back to the road.  Once he'd passed, Dianese allowed his own sly smile to form.

"You needn't act like it's a death knell," Rodukjo said.  "I'm the greatest thing to ever happen to you, and you're getting almost all the benefit from our arrangement.  You should admit that this is the beginning of a magnificent partnership."

"I admit that without reservation."   

He paused at the bones before following.  So much time wasted, so many sacrifices, so many lives lost--and now it was just litter on a forest floor.  Dianese shook his head and sneered.  What a fool his father had been.

***

Tessai placed his hand on the hilt of his broadsword when the demon broke through the woods ahead of Dianese.  Rodukjo looked the large man over with a placid expression.

"Hold, Tessai."  Dianese emerged, once again winded from his journey.  He maneuvered himself between his demon and attendant.  "This is the great demon Rodukjo, Master of Ten Thousand Armies."

Tessai gasped with his mouth opened wide enough for his uvula to show.

"He has graciously joined our cause.  Grant to him as much respect and consideration as you would me."

Tessai dropped to the dirt at the demon's feet.  He bowed as low as Dianese had when first greeting him.

"Lord Demon, I am without words."

"Oh, you have words."  Rodukjo smiled down at him.  "Let me hear them."

Tessai's large form quivered.  "For...for ten years my former master sought your tributes.  He had me lead my men in so many directions...chase so many phantoms.  No sacrifice could be too great to one day summon you.  Once we had you...we would be invincible.  Now that day has come.  If only...if only Emperor Ryuinto were alive to see this."

"If it were Ryuinto who'd summoned me I would have killed him."

Tessai lifted his head.

"You were a commander of soldiers once.  How is it you're now the handmaiden of the Emperor?"

Dianese's brow rose.

Tessai's face grew marred with pain.  "During the war with Yowscot--I was wounded.  I could manage the rigors of the battlefield no longer."

"He's still a most able servant to me."  Dianese exchanged a glance with Rodukjo.  "I needed a guardian as well as an attendant."

"Of course you did, sweet emperor.  You can not even lift the sword your man carries so easily on his lame hip."

Dianese heard Tessai gulp.

"Yowscot was the land of the virgin queen, was it not?"

"Yes, Lord Demon."

"We still suffer the consequences from my father's insane quest," Dianese said.

Rodukjo looked down at Tessai.  "How would you feel to know that I desired no such thing as wretched as a young woman's skull?"

Tessai sat back on his haunches.  Tears streaked his reddened face.  "It...it was all for nothing?"

"No, there was merit in the war games, the battle training.  No simulation of war could serve your soldiers better than actually going to battle.  But your former emperor was a deranged lunatic.  He should have measured the cost of his folly and sought to win my aid by other means."

Tessai closed his eyes, allowing more tears to fall.  His voice was now hoarse with emotion.  "He had us convinced that nothing short of the ultimate sacrifice would do."

"You are not to blame for that.  Be glad that your master replaced him before I was summoned or it truly would have been for nothing.  I would never serve one so despicable as your former lord Ryuinto."

Tessai nodded slowly with fierceness in his eyes.  "Lord Dianese is the more worthy emperor."

Rodukjo fit inside the coach despite his horns cutting the satin fabric of the ceiling.  Dianese accepted Tessai's help to climb in since his limbs had scarcely any trace of strength left.  The door of the cab was closed and they were lightly jostled as Tessai climbed onto his seat outside to steer the giant stag that pulled them.

Dianese sat across from Rodukjo.  He was unsure of whether to be angry at the demon.  His expression and voice was neutral.

"Why did you discourage Tessai like that?  He nearly lost his leg and his life in the war.  When he saw you he thought he'd finally had validation for the sacrifices he'd made in order to obtain your tributes.  Now you've told him it was all a waste.  You may have destroyed him."

"Did you hear his words, sweet emperor?"

Dianese kept an unblinking stare focused on him.

"When he said, 'Lord Dianese is the more worthy emperor.'  He was telling this to himself.  It was the first time he'd come to realize that.  Tessai was only loyal to you because you were the son of his cherished Emperor Ryuinto.  Today, in that moment, he has finally shifted his devotion to you in earnest.  This is what you need from your closest attendant.  I could not proceed with him in our inner circle until he made that leap."

Dianese touched his chin in consideration.  Then he bowed his head one time to the demon.  "You are more insightful than me...something I thought impossible.  I won't question your judgment again."

Rodukjo smiled.  "Wonderful, my sweet emperor."

"But will you expose my father's folly to the rest of our soldiers?  I fear the discouragement this will cause them.  Morale will plummet--don't you agree?"

Rodukjo leaned back into the satin cushions.  "Have no fear.  There's no need to tell them.  They will become loyal to you when they see my own fealty.  When they know there's no way they can have use of my armies without Divine Emperor Dianese leading them, then they will bow to you with the greatest devotion."  He smiled gently.  "You'll still need to make amends for your father, without exposing his folly.  Let your troops discover what a fool he was slowly and for themselves.  This will be long after they've come to appreciate your rule.  They'll realize they've lost nothing, for they have a far better lord to serve."

Dianese smiled back at him.  "Your wisdom humbles me."

Rodukjo patted a spot on his lap.

Dianese lowered his eyes.  "I'll come into your arms, if that's what you truly wish, but I'm caked with filth and sweat.  You shall find me most unpleasant right now."

"The sweat was clean as it poured from your freshly bathed flesh.  The dirt was clean as it soiled your perfumed garments.  You're not unpleasant at all.  This is a chance for me to absorb the true essence of you.  I find it erotic."

Dianese's face grew paler.  Rodukjo merely smiled.

"If you do more than hold me I will scream for Tessai.  You'll be forced to kill him--and he's valuable to us."

Rodukjo reached out and took Dianese's finely boned hand.  "I wouldn't fuck you here, my sweet emperor.  Such a thing shall happen on a bed, and at that time you shall relinquish yourself to me like a dutiful bride on her wedding night."

Dianese stood in the rocking coach since he was small enough to do so.  He let Rodukjo help him onto his lap.  The demon cradled him in his large arms as though they were lovers.  Dianese's aching limbs and shoulders strained with tension.  The demon soothed his hair.

"Relax."

"This is most distasteful for me."

"Struggle past your distaste in order to please me.  Am I not entitled to that?  Breathe deeply until your muscles grow slack, then cuddle your body against me.  Amend your heart to pleasing me, even with so small an offering."

"This isn't small to me."

"But it should be, for it's merely an embrace.  It's but one step on a mile long journey."

Dianese closed his eyes and his chest swelled with a deep breath.  He exhaled slowly, allowing his shoulders to slacken as he did.  Then, with his eyes still closed, he rested his cheek against the demon's massive chest.

Rodukjo caressed his throat with one clawed finger.  "How sweet you are."

"I value you--and our partnership."

"Indeed.  And you think I'm not aware of your manipulation."

Dianese's eyes opened.

"You would take all that you can from me and give nothing in return.  You're already aware of how your charm will grant you everything you wish from me."

Dianese waited.  He did not yet feel the anxiety the discovery may have warranted.

"You think I can't seduce you--that you're entirely in control.  In truth you're just enriching my challenge.  I'm exhilarated.  I've never sparred with so worthy a partner.  Taking you without resistance shall be one of the most glorious triumphs of my existence.  Not just the first time you yield, but each time I bed you.  You're a treasure I'll savor precisely because you're nearly as cunning as I am."

Dianese thought for a moment in the silence that followed. 

"Alright.  I accept that I can't manipulate you unless you abide my manipulation.  I will speak to you as plainly as I'm capable.  I could never give my body to you without reservation because you are a monster whose endowment will tear me in two."

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