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Archdemon Empress Luna

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When Luna heard from the summer faerie's mouth that the Spring Courts' militia would come to capture her and her husband, she didn't hesitate to swing her leg out of bed and went straight to their wardrobe, naked.

At first, she didn't care who saw her body initially as she rummaged for comfortable clothes, but later, she changed her mind and looked over her shoulder.

The faerie messenger was quick to give her the modesty she needed and faced the door.

The large wolf was smart enough to do the same.

Luna wore the indigo bodice and a long flowing skirt in a hurry before covering herself with the sleeveless armor breastplate.

She wrapped a golden sword belt around her waist.

Apollyon had given her this brand new set of clothes as a gift a week after she came back to him.

Her husband liked to shower her with expensive gifts, but of course, Luna would choose his love over material things.

Apollyon was still on the mattress with the sheets barely covering his lower half, exposing his sinewy muscles with one hand behind his head while he faced the ceiling with his eyes closed.

Did he go back to sleep?

Squinting at her lethargic husband, she pulled him some simple clothes from the cabinet and threw them in his face.

Apollyon didn't react.

He just held the fabric in his fingers as he tilted his head at her in confusion.

Did her husband care if the Spring Courts arrested them for some unknown reason?

Apollyon slowly got up from the bed, and Luna assisted him like he was her child, getting him to wear his clean underclothes and his trousers quickly and wrapped the tunic around him afterward.

The young faerie asked. "Are you ready to go with us, Your Highness? Empress?"

When Luna was done clothing him, Apollyon sat down on the cushions while clutching his head. "I am still confused about this quick turn of events. So, the peace negotiations at the Spring Council and Prince Aspen's petition to let us slide for ridding the demonic faeries were useless?"

"Yes." The Summer Faerie crossed her arms as she tapped her foot impatiently on the wet floor. "It deemed useless because of what you did last night, Vampire King."

He scowled at the girl's back. "What did I do last night?"

Luna knew what Apollyon did, but it seemed like her poor husband didn't remember.

Both of them glanced down at his bloody clothes on the floor.

Apollyon turned to look at her in question, and Luna gave him a half-shrug.

She had speculations about what Apollyon did when he confessed to her that he might or might not have killed those who the Archdemon of Lust possessed with his ax--convicted rapists at the Spring Courts' Prison House.

Anyhow, Apollyon was inebriated yesterday, so what was circling on her thoughts right now might not be true.

The Summer Faerie faced them and changed the subject, "The Vampire Realm is too far away from here, and the barriers around them might be infested with Faerie Sentinels. They might attempt to kill you if they saw you return."

Apollyon's lips curved upward, yet his Prussian blue eyes were cold and hard. "You must be delusional to think that my wife and I couldn't defeat them if we returned."

"There is also a chance that you might get trapped in this cabin once the militia arrived, Your Highness." A tight smile. "They wouldn't arrest you without strong magic in their arsenal."

Feeling suddenly cold, Luna wrapped her arms around herself.

When Apollyon noticed that she needed comfort, he rose from his seat and hugged her, his chin resting on her shoulders, and Luna hugged him back. "We don't know if where the wheel of fate will turn on whose favor."

She sighed.

She thought her life would finally go easier on after she told Apollyon her secret.

With every ray of sunshine she had in her hands, a gray cloud would soon follow.

Likewise, when things weren't going their way and hit rock bottom, the only place to go back up was the top.

Whatever plans and schemes they lay out for themselves to reach their goals, they will be at the mercy of fate and fortune not unless the gods and goddesses interfere.

"Husband." She urged. "We need to decide right now if we still wanted to go to the Summer Courts."

"The Summer Courts will offer protection to the grandson of King Oberon." The summer faerie informed them. "It is the nearest refuge we can go to to keep you safe from the Spring Courts."

Luna found the offer tempting.

"I will leave this decision up to you, Luna." Apollyon murmured, "Do you want us to go to the Summer Courts?"

She nodded.

"Alright. No, problem." Apollyon withdrew from her embrace to look her in the eye. "As much as I would like to avoid meeting my family there but your wish is my command."

Then, he turned towards the Summer Faerie, "I am not familiar with the terrains of the Summer Court, so I doubt if I can safely teleport the four of us there. I couldn't imagine specific details on how our destination looked like, and we might land in a different place. Can you let me access your memory if I can?"

"No, husband," Luna said. "That would be an invasion of her privacy."

"The real question here is, did she want to help us out with her memory, or are we going to stand here wasting time staring at each other?"

"I want to use my new skill—" Luna trailed off, reminding herself that she shouldn't tell Apollyon of her newfound abilities to open portals through her Archdemon Magic when the stranger was here with them.

Luna wasn't certain that they could trust the girl.

Who knows what she will do with the information?

Luna gasped in surprise when her sensitive ears picked up the whistle of arrows before they landed on their cabin's walls.

They were under attack.