"We"ll move troops north to protect the harvesters then," said a demoness, wearing military dress with golden epaulets on her shoulders. Her horns had golden tip ornaments that matched her outfit."How are we doing against the monsters to the north? Any chance we could use some of the troops there?" asked another demon woman with grey hair. The golden ornaments on her horns weren"t as military in nature. They were far more decorative.
"The demons we sent in to clean out the nest never reported back, so they"re preparing another team that"s three times as big." answered the military demoness as she straightened up from the map they had been hunched over.
Aella smiled at her, enjoying the look of surprise and shock that flashed over her face. The other five demons turned to look at the door where Aella stood, also exhibiting their own looks of shock and surprise.
"Your Majesty," said a third demon woman, wearing a beautiful blue dress that had no signs of military aesthetic. "We weren"t expecting to see you so soon. Surely you would like to enjoy your new living quarters, and rest after all your fighting?"
"Oh, those fights were nothing. I"m not tired at all," chuckled Aella, waving a hand as she stepped up to look over the map they had all been studying intensely. "What"s this about monsters to the north?"
The demon advisors all glanced at each other, and Aella could tell that they were all waiting for someone else to answer. With a sigh, the blue demoness spoke up.
"Well, um… we were just discussing a nest of griffons. They have been plaguing the farmers and ranchers near the mountains."
"Griffons? What kind of monsters are those?" asked Aella, not entirely sure she recognized the word.
"Griffons are large monsters with the body, tail, and back legs of a large cat, and the head and wings of a bird. Depending on the monster, the front legs can be either cat or bird claws," explained the blue demoness carefully.
"So, they would attack from the air?" Aella asked, noting that her kingdom was basically a large area with mountains to the north and south. To the west was a body of water, and there was a black line where they were fighting the humans in their kingdom to the east.
"That is correct, Your Majesty," answered the military demoness stiffly.
"If they attack from the air, why don"t you give the troops big bows to shoot them down?"
The military demoness seemed to refrain from gritting her teeth, and answered, "They are too smart for that. When they see the ranged weapons, they stay away and attack in the dark of night."
Aella shrugged. She didn"t see a problem here. "Then give the farmers and ranchers these weapons, to keep them away during the day, and put the animals up into buildings at night."
The demons around her seemed to want to sigh in frustration, and Aella knew she wasn"t understanding the problems they were seeing.
"Of course, Your Majesty," said the older demoness, bowing her head.
"Look, I understand that you have all been doing your jobs for a while, and I don"t have a clue what you are doing. Perhaps you could all introduce yourself, and tell me what your specialties are," said Aella, stepping back to get a better look at them all, as they all towered over her.
"I am Varnin, and I oversee all military operations," said the military demoness quickly, as if to get it over with.
"You must have a lot of experience fighting with all of the human invasions and monsters constantly hara.s.sing our borders. I"m very impressed with what I"ve heard so far. I look forward to speaking with you later on what I may be able to help you with," praised Aella, turning to the next demon in the circle around the table.
"My name is Jirga, and I mainly oversee everything that pertains to food within the kingdom," said the older demoness.
"You have your hands full, dealing with such a task! I can"t imagine it"s easy, with all of our trade routes gone and having to rely on ourselves to feed the entire kingdom. I look forward to hearing how that is going," said Aella, again turning to the next demon.
"I am Xathtak, and I handle the sanitation of the kingdom. If there is a battle, I am the one who makes sure the dead are dealt with," said the blue demoness with a small smile.
"Surely there is more to your position, than dealing with the dead?" asked Aella.
"I also have to ensure that the sewers under the cities are kept cleared and the waste of the populace itself is dealt with," she added with a small nod.
"I am Ernun, Your Majesty. I handle the law for the kingdom," said a tall demon with grey blue skin. His hair was slicked back, exposing his horns that hugged the top of his head. He wore a black outfit with intricate golden lines that stood out against the dark fabric.
"How many judges do you have under you? Do you have to deal with any law breakers yourself?" asked Aella.
"I a.s.sure you, Your Majesty, that I do not have to deal with criminals personally. The system in place is quite proficient."
"I look forward to learning about that system," she responded.
"My name is Rannaun, and I see to the kingdoms water needs," explained a young-looking demon with almost a pink skin. His eyes glowed a bright yellow, as he looked her over appreciatively. He was the only demon advisor in the room not wearing gold. "I make sure things stay moist."
Aella studied him, not really liking the look he was giving her. "I do hope you can do more with that mouth, then spit compliments and innuendos."
His pink skin seemed to get even pinker as the other advisors chuckled at his discomfort.
The last advisor bowed to her. "I am Orolon, and I have no set specialty. I tend to fill in wherever I am needed."
Aella turned to this last demon, incredibly intrigued by him. His skin was completely white, as were his horns and eyes. She could tell he wasn"t an albino demon, as she had seen one of them before, because there were no signs of blood veins moving through his skin, as the albino she had killed did.
He smiled at her. "My coloring is natural, I a.s.sure you. Both of my parents were incredibly light in color, though neither were white, as I am."
She nodded and asked, "So, you"re the one who makes people disappear?"
The other advisors looked shocked she would say such a thing, but he broke out in a grin.
"If that is the task I must take, then yes."
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Aella nodded, placing her hands behind her as she paced around the room, making the demon advisors twist and turn to keep her from walking behind them. They all knew that to have made it to king, she was very good at killing demons. And she a.s.sumed she wasn"t the first one to try and kill them as soon as the king was crowned.
"As far as I can tell, you all seem to have a good handle on things here. I don"t even dare to know enough to give you advise. If you don"t mind dealing with an unschooled demon such as myself, I would greatly enjoy learning from all of you.
"You can all relax as I see no reason to try and kill or replace any of you, yet. In fact, because you know what you are doing, I strongly want you to stay doing what you are doing. However, because I am king, I want to know what is going on. I expect to be updated every time I return to the castle," she proclaimed, coming to a halt next to Tezra, who was trying to shrink into the wall next to the door they had entered the room through. The rest of those who had been trailing her since the arena, were out in the hall, waiting for her to continue on to her rooms, where she would decide what each of them were to be in charge of.
The looks of relief that were playing out on each of the advisors faces quickly turned to alarm and horror at the thought of her leaving.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean when you return to the castle?" asked Xathtak in panic, placing a clawed hand over her blue bosom.
"Oh, you don"t have anything to worry about, I don"t intend to leave any time soon. I want to fully explore my new castle and learn about what it means to be a king. Also, there"s this matter with the heroes that the humans are sending over, probably as we speak. I should probably deal with them as soon as possible, to ensure that my reign doesn"t come to a quick halt, as have every other king for the past couple hundred years. By the way, could one of you explain to me how these heroes manage to get in and out of the castle, without causing a lot of damage and death every time? Surely the king isn"t the only one they fight?"