“Wait... Hell? We’re in Hell?” She stared at him in disbelief and he nodded.
“This realm is what many in your world would consider Hell. A place filled with demons and darker creatures, and even fallen angels in some areas.”
“You moved your people to Hell from the mortal realm... because it’s better here?” She frowned at that and he could see she was having difficulty grasping it.
“Here open warfare is rare and we do not come into contact with many dark species who would seek to harm us. In fact, since Vail went to war with me, many species living in this realm believe us to be the most violent and dangerous in all of Hell.” He had always hated that. His species were not warmongers, unlike many of the demon species who were always involved in a demonomachy with at least one of the other demon realms. “Most species in this realm prefer to remain within the borders of their own lands and only venture out to trade with another species in theirs.”
“I see. Like countries.”
He nodded. “If you would prefer that term. This country shares borders with two of the demon countries, and others. There are countries here run by gods and goddesses, and even the being you would know as the Devil.”
“Hell, no... he exists?” Her eyes shot wide and a tremor of fear went through her.
“I would never allow him near you, Olivia, and he has little interest in mortals. Mere speculation by your kind.” He drew her closer anyway, wanting to reassure his female that she was safe in this land with him. No one would dare harm her here. Well. No one except his brother.
Loren’s heart slowly sank, thoughts of Vail weighing it down in his chest, and Olivia raised her hand and smoothed her palm across his cheek, the action soothing him.
“What’s that look for?” she said softly and he tried to wipe it off his face and shut down his feelings, but it was hard when he was standing on the balcony in the spot where he had often stood with Vail, discussing matters and looking out over their kingdom.
“The portal was Vail’s idea,” Loren whispered, a twinge of sorrow causing his heart to clench. He missed Vail and how things had been once, and would have given anything to have his brother back, had tried so hard to achieve that, but he had finally realised that it was impossible. He couldn’t save Vail, just as Olivia hadn’t been able to save her brother.
Olivia’s eyebrows furrowed and she sighed as she stroked his cheek, looking up at him with her back pressed against the balustrade.
“Is there a king and a queen in your kingdom?” Nerves laced her voice.
Loren shook his head and her fear melted away. “There hasn’t been a king since my father died over forty-eight centuries ago. We moved to this world after that, and I ruled together with Vail.”
“What about your mother?” Olivia said.
Loren looked beyond her to the distant green lands, struggling to bring forth any memories of his mother. “She died giving birth to Vail. I was around a century old at the time, too young to remember her clearly. Our father died around fifty years after that.”
“How old would you have appeared in human terms?”
“I would have looked like a young teen, perhaps sixteen or seventeen in your terms. Vail had looked half my age.” He caught her frown, smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, curling his fingers around it. His own ears were pointed, marking a difference between their species that he hoped wouldn’t come between them. He was sure his people would love Olivia, regardless of their differences. “Elves age quickly during their first two hundred years, reaching adulthood by the end of them. Our aging slows dramatically after that, until we reach a point where it halts completely. Your aging will do the same because of my blood in your body and the changes the bond has caused, granting you immortality and increased strength and senses.”
“You were very young when you took control of your kingdom then?” She cast her dark eyes out over the castle grounds below them, her gaze flickering around and following the people in the courtyard as they went about their business.
“Vail and I had good advisers, but we also had our father’s blood in our veins and had been raised with all the knowledge we needed to run our kingdom.” Loren’s smile faded again as he thought about how difficult things had been though. Many of their kind had broken away from them, unwilling to follow the lead of what they considered children. They had remained in the mortal world, their souls becoming increasingly corrupted until they had become something as dark and wretched as vampires, straddling the gap between the two species but belonging to neither.