The Demon King's Hero Of Light

She had made a portal location for both of the cities for the demons and the humans, just outside their city walls. That way the leaders of the cities could maintain the safety of their people and still have the possibility of trade with the other kingdoms. Aella was sure it wouldn"t take long for homes to pop up outside the walls, now that the storms had abated.

"Where do you think the dwarven king will want his portal?" asked Precious as Aella looked around the dark chasm that took up the middle of the dwarven city.

"I"m not sure. I just hope that it"s not outside again. It would be pretty hard for their traders to haul their things up to the exit I"ve been using."

She teleported into the throne room to see that the dwarves had removed all of the elven aspects. King Voluri was in the middle of finishing his supper for the evening, so Aella landed in front of him and let herself be known.

"Ah, Aella!" cried the dwarf. "It"s been a while! Things been busy for ye?"

"Yes," she said, nodding at him. "I"ve made a trade town for all of the kingdoms of the realm to be able to conduct trade with each other. I would like to know where you would like the portal to connect your dwarves to be located? The demon and human portals are located outside their cities to ensure that no one can just march troops in and take over. I"m sure you would have a better idea?"

He wiped his mouth with a napkin, taking care not to mess up the intricate braids of his beard.

"Actually, Aella, I"m getting ready to be wed," he said, picking up a pitcher to refill his cup. "Do ye think ye could wait until after the festivities in a week or so, to address this? Ye"re welcome to come to the wedding, of course!"

Aella thought about having to wait that long to make the portal, then shook her head. "Do you think you could direct me to where you would like the portal? I want to get them all made over the next week, but they won"t be active just yet. I"m waiting for another month to get everything finalized before I activate them."

He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him, thinking seriously about her request.

"This portal will be solely for traders of mine to go back and forth to your trade town and that"s it? No one else will be able to use it?"

"I would leave it up to you to decide that. I plan to have guards on my side of the portal to ensure that only those you want to go through are allowed. None of the portals on my side are close together, so you don"t have to worry about people running from one to the other to escape arrest or things like that."

He nodded again and then sat back up. "I have a spot I think will work, but I"m not allowed to leave the throne room until the time of the wedding. It"s not good if the bride sees my beard. I"ll have Nergrol show you the way. He"s my second in command and not doing anything right now. That offer to join the wedding is still open."

She laughed at the twinkle in his eyes and at the way he wiggled his eyebrows. "I imagine you"re going to have plenty of drink at this event?"

"Of course! What dwarven wedding doesn"t have the halls running with ale!?" he laughed.

"I"ll think about it," Aella laughed, turning to the dwarf that had stepped forward at the sound of his name.

"Take her to the cave near the main entrance. We"re just using it as a storage area right now," said Voluri, picking up his fork.

Nergrol bowed and then motioned for Aella to follow him. She was a bit surprised at how fast he walked, turning and twisting through the various tunnels. They stepped out into a large carved out entrance that took her breath away. The walls were carved with intricate pictures all the way up to the ceiling far above her head.

"This is the entrance, that most people used to use, before you came along," said Nergrol, speaking his first words to her as she gawked at the dwarven workmanship.

"I love how you highlighted the random minerals encased in the stone, bringing out their beauty," she said, following him slowly as he waited by a large doorway.

"I didn"t work here myself. It"s been several generations since anyone has touched these walls."

Aella nodded silently, then followed him into the next room. It was the perfect size for her to put the portal, so she quickly went to work, making sure to incorporate the runes inside the stones so they couldn"t be accidently damaged by anyone.

"Who"s the king marrying?" she asked, as she put the finishing touches to the portal.

"Princess Daefina," said the dwarf.

"The elven princess?" gasped Aella, turning to look at him.

"Yes, they managed to convince her brother while they stayed here. He still isn"t very happy about it, but it will seal the relationship between our people."

"Well, that"s good," nodded Aella after a few moments of thought. "The two will get along well, I believe."

"Will you be attending?" he asked.

"I was going to visit the elves next, to see about making their portal, but I imagine most of them will be here for the wedding?"

"Probably," he grinned.

"Then I suppose I could stay for a short while," she conceded, looking over her portal and nodding in satisfaction. "Mind showing me the way back?"

He quickly took her through a different route, and she soon found herself surrounded by dwarves and elves who were mingling in a large open room. Elven and dwarven decorations intermingled all over the place, pulling the focus of your eye to one end where a small stage had been erected for the couple to be wed to stand on. She nodded and smiled at many she recognized as she made her way over to the snack table.

"You can"t stay long," purred Precious. "You need to cycle your air eventually."

"I know," she sighed, picking up a plate and choosing a few choices from the buffet before her. "I was hoping to see Daefina before I had to leave, but I guess no one is supposed to see her before the wedding, either."

"If you wanted to see Daefina, all you had to do was ask," said a male voice behind her.

Aella turned to see King Elalar standing behind her with a small smile on his face.

"Elalar!" she gasped. "You look nice!"

"I would hope so, it"s not every day my sister gets married," he chuckled.

Aella felt uncomfortable in her own shoddy black, that she normally wore, and her cloak complained in her head, before changing her outfit to be something much more revealing and appropriate to the situation. She could feel Elalar"s eyes traveling over her new dress as she studied his own. There was intricate metalworking into the edges of his jacket, causing her eyes to travel in swoops and whirls, and pulling her eyes lower and lower.

Giving her head a shake, she smiled at him and said, "I would love to be able to wish the bride-to-be good luck. I need to speak with you as well."

"Oh?" he almost purred, sipping from his drink. The s.e.xual tension between them was incredibly high, and Aella fought for control. She felt like she was choking on her own pheromones.

Following him, Aella fought not to stare at his wiggling b.u.t.t. When he reached the room his sister was in, Aella almost had to tear her eyes from him to even notice Daefina.

"Aella! I"m so glad you made it. Will you be staying for the entire wedding?" cried Daefina happily.

Aella smiled, gazing over the gown Daefina was wearing. It was pure white, with tiny golden lions st.i.tched into it.

"I"m afraid not," said Aella, feeling a bit sad at that. "It is still the full moon, and I don"t wish to have my pheromones ruin your wedding. I came to speak with the groom about placing a portal to my new trade town, and found out about the wedding by accident. I couldn"t pa.s.s up seeing you in all your finery!"

"Oh! So, you"ve seen his beard?" Daefina whispered, her eyes going wide.

Elalar laughed behind Aella, "It"s all she"s managed to think about. I can"t understand it myself, but she"s going to be very happy. I a.s.sume you wanted to speak with me about a portal for the elves, as well?"

Aella turned to include him, fighting the urge to stare at him and nodded.

"I think it"s a wonderful idea, and I think I even have a perfect location for the portal, but I can"t show it to you at the moment, of course," he said, taking another sip of his drink.

"Aella, how are you keeping your pheromones under control?" asked Daefina, giving her a funny look.

"I"ve created a bubble around myself, that the pheromones can"t escape from," said Aella.

"And you"re taking that air with you when you teleport around?" asked the elven princess.

It was such a simple question but Aella froze. Surely… she had been taking the bubble, but the air?

"Please tell me you haven"t been pheromone bombing everywhere you"ve been?" asked Daefina in a soft voice. "Have you teleported any here?"

"No, I haven"t yet," whispered Aella. Her heart was in her throat. She had been trying so hard to be careful!"

Glancing at Elalar one last time, she grabbed all of the air around her, and teleported high into the air, feeling the brisk winds pulling on her fancy gown until her cloak changed it back to her normal black clothing.

"Well," mewed Precious. "What now?"

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