Elijah by Jacquelyn Frank Page B

knowledge, history, and prophecy that had the dust of the ages on them. Some of them had not been opened in over a millennium, hiding secrets and thoughts that not even Gideon, a millennium old himself, knew about. He was hoping that within them he would find clarity in all of the chaos of the time. However, the archaic nature of the ancient Demon language made the going slow and difficult.
    The best scholar for this task would be Isabella, the female Enforcer. However, despite the fact that Isabella’s Druidic powers included the ability to easily translate the Demon language in all its forms through the ages, it simply was not possible for a new mother to devote herself to such an intensive study so soon after giving birth.
    Scholars like the King were seeking the answers for problems in the present in the works and prophecies of the past. Destiny meant a great deal to Demonkind, both individually and as a society. It was very much like a religious experience for them, to follow the purest path to their destinies, watching prophecies become truth in the present, forming into wondrous history.
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    It was this that had made Ruth and Mary’s betrayal of their people so hard to grasp early on. It was practically unheard of. Noah realized, however, that the female traitors bent on causing heartache and mayhem thought, in their warped perception, that their paths were just as destined as anyone else’s. And, Noah supposed, there was probably truth in that. Not every path was destined to be one of moral good and soulful clarity. If that were the case, there would be no wars, no violence.
    In the minds of these traitors, these acts of vengeance against their own brethren were justified, even righteous. The siege last May, just before Beltane, had been a brutal act of retribution aimed at Jacob the Enforcer at first, but then had spread like a virulent poison to include all of Demonkind. Since then, Demons had suffered under the hands of these turncoats repeatedly, victims of damaging guerilla tactics with little or no reason to them. If the past six months gave them anything to be aware of, it was that enemies were all around—some closer than they would have ever expected.
    All of this lent a strong hand to a worry for a missing comrade the King would normally never consider worrying about.
    There was a cry from near the fireplace across the Great Hall, and Noah immediately left his volatile thoughts behind and hurried to the delicate crib the cry had come from. He reached into it, scooping up the littlest bit of a baby into his big hands, taking a moment to tuck the infant girl into the crook of one arm, a blanket wrapped warmly around her.
    “So, sweet,” he said conversationally to her, “you have something to say about this?”
    The babe, little more than two weeks old, who could barely hold her head in a single position for long, made her face squish up even tighter than it naturally was, making the Demon King laugh in spite of himself.
    “You are going to be just like your parents, I think. Will you be my Enforcer one day, sweet?
    Fetching wayward Demons back to me for the punishment they so very much deserve?”
    Noah turned his body to ease himself into his favorite seat before the fire. The Demon lifted up his hand and playfully began to light his fingers on fire, making the flame jump from one fingertip to the next, with a speed that made the baby go wide-eyed. She thrashed arms and legs in her excitement, reaching for him, but he made sure he kept the playful lights far out of her reach. She screeched in infant frustration.
    “Shh,” he whispered. “If your mother knew, she would have my royal head.”
    Noah grinned and put out his flames with the same passing thought that had lit them. The Fire Demon then reached to stroke warmed fingers over the silky cap of black curls on her head.
    “I am quite put out that your parents chose Elijah to be your Siddah over me. However, I understand they anticipate