Seth paused in the doorway to the hall and glanced back at her. He chewed on his lower lip for a moment and let out a sharp breath. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I regretted my lesson the moment I released your arms. I realized I had pushed you too far when you hit me, and if I could take it back, I would. The only solace I have is that you gained ground on controlling your power. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me, but I doubt I will ever forgive myself. It wasn’t right to force you as I did.” His voice was low and the expression on his face was pained. He bowed her head and turned to leave the room.
“Seth, wait!” Zoelyn gasped. The bruises and the obvious suffering were too much for her. He had suffered enough already for the lesson; it wasn’t right to leave him wondering if she truly hated him. He paused once more and turned to look back at her with a questioning look. “You don’t have to wait for my forgiveness, you already have it,” she said quietly. He bowed his head at her words and a faint smile formed on his broken lips. “Just please, Seth, don’t ever do anything like that to me again. I know it helped me overcome part of my curse, but you terrified me so much,” she added in a voice laced with pleading.
“Never again, you have my word,” he murmured in a low voice. “Sleep, Zoey. Let’s put this day behind us and pray tomorrow is better.” “It will be. I will never lose faith in myself again, and I will learn to master my powers,” Zoelyn whispered as the door closed behind him.
Turning, she moved back to the bedroom, a faint smile on her face.
It had been a horrible day, and both of them had suffered, but tomorrow would be better. She knew the cost of giving up now, and she knew she could control her power when she focused herself. That knowledge alone gave her more hope than she had ever known.
At first, she had believed Jala would be her savior. The High lady seemed capable of any miracle, and yet she couldn’t seem to overcome Zoelyn’s failings no matter what they tried. She knew the truth now, though. Jala was her friend and she had helped her find her place in the world. Seth was the true savior, though. He had given her life and purpose, and had yet to ask for anything in return. Dray didn’t trust him at all, but then he didn’t know Seth like she did. He had never seen the sweet smile Seth had, or heard the whispered words of encouragement. Seth was a demon. That was true, but he had been serving penance for so long that he was well on his way to redemption. Dray might not be able to see it, but she did, and she would help him any way she could. Perhaps with her help, Seth could find a new lease on life as well. It would be the perfect way to repay him for everything he had done for her.
*
Seth paused outside the door and let out a long sigh. With a smile, he straightened his posture and summoned enough healing magic to wipe the bruises from his face. The wounds had served their purpose with Finn as well as Zoelyn. Both had reacted exactly as he expected. Finn, of course, had delivered the wounds, but it hadn’t taken long for the Divine’s fury to fade once he realized Seth wasn’t going to fight back. The urge to fight back had been there of course, and he likely could have wounded the Divine, but that wouldn’t have benefited him at all. He knew people well enough to know that Finn wasn’t the sort of man that enjoyed a one sided fight, and it was better for Finn to feel guilt than satisfaction. Seth could work with guilt and he intended to use it as fully as he could.
“Do you ever feel the slightest bit of remorse when you do this sort of thing?” Yasny asked quietly. She hadn’t been in the hall when he had left his room. She must have been watching and waiting for the right moment to appear, but then the dragon really didn’t have much in the way of entertainment so he couldn’t blame her.
Seth took a deep breath and summoned a thoughtful expression to his face. Tilting his head to one side he seemed to consider her question deeply for several moments. “No, not really,” he replied cheerfully as he smiled sweetly at her and started for the stairs. He had a lot to do tonight before Zoelyn woke in the morning and he wanted to be back the moment her eyes opened.
He was making real progress with her, and now that he had her trust it was time to push her about information on her past. He had kept silent on the matter entirely until he was sure she was indebted to him and trusted him enough to speak about the matter. After her heartfelt display at the sight of his bruises, he knew he had her. His excitement was difficult to contain and it was impossible to keep the smile from his face. Once he knew who had raised her, it would be a simple matter to bargain for his own resurrection. Not as an Undrae of course, but a full resurrection with all of his memories and powers intact. Then life would truly get interesting and Hemlock would finally get what he deserved. The pain of Dashara’s loss had faded centuries ago, but the humiliation of his defeat was still a bright lance of agony that would only be healed by Hemlock’s death. He had waited an eternity for the opportunity and it was so close.
“Does the smile come from the guilt you gave the Divine or the little girl’s stupidity?” Yasny asked.
Seth glanced at her in annoyance and frowned. He hadn’t even paid attention to the fact that she had fallen into step beside him as he descended to the throne room once more. “It stems from the fact that she forgave me and that she is making progress,” he lied smoothly and shook his head at her with disgust. “Not everything has to be about the suffering of others, Yasny,” he scolded gently.
“You liar,” Yasny murmured with a trace of amusement in her voice. “Fine, keep your secrets, but don’t pretend you are better than the rest of us. I know just as well as you do that the only thing left that can make us smile is watching someone suffer more than we do.”