"Magic?" she repeated, nodding to herself. "Of course. Why didn"t I think of that?"She turned to her guards. "Did you guys hear that? The entire kingdom is run on magic."
Her guards looked puzzled as they looked back and forth between themselves and the advisor.
"How can our kingdom be run on magic, when there"s no mages? I"ve never seen a wizard or witch in my life," said one of the local demons, who was close enough to overhear.
"Exactly!" Aella exclaimed, pointing at the one who spoke. "Tell me, do you have to pay taxes?"
"I"ve never had to pay taxes, but my grandmother used to when she was a young demoness."
"And why is it, that we stopped collecting taxes?" she asked, looking around. No one answered.
Sighing, she turned back to Ernun. "You said you told the owners of the warehouses to convert these into living s.p.a.ces. I see no progress for that. What was the response?"
"The owners wished for clarification on what we wanted," he answered.
"Of course, they wanted clarification. How big should things be built? A family could be any number of people. Advisor Ernun, do the advisors live in the palace? Do they have any contact with the people at all?" she asked, stepping aside as a crossbow bolt hit the wooden floor where she had been standing.
Firion darted off before she even glanced his way. Ernun swallowed.
"The advisors must live in the palace, to be able to handle the things we are in charge of," he answered.
"I want the owners brought here and I want anyone with any woodworking skill brought. Is there even any wood available for this building feat?" she asked.
Ernun shrugged and said, "I"m sorry, Your Majesty, I don"t know."
"Then bring who ever does know, as well!" she hissed, and he darted off, shouting orders to whoever would listen to him.
Glancing out a window, she spied several small shacks built of thin boards, that were barely still standing.
"Who owns those small buildings there?" she asked, pointing them out.
"No one does," said a demoness that had followed them from the palace. She had been eyeing some of Aella"s guards appreciatively. "They were built ages ago, by the poor people who eventually died or were sent off to the military."
"Wonderful," Aella said, turning to the nearest door. "Does anyone here know how to build with wood?"
Several people spoke up, so she motioned for them to follow her.
"Everyone who helps to convert this warehouse into a series of homes, by using the wood from these small sheds, will be paid one gold coin at the end of the day."
Those standing close enough to hear her, looked at each other for a second, as if making sure they had all heard her correctly, before a mad rush occurred. The sheds were torn to bits within minutes and demons were hauling the boards back into the warehouse. They were using rocks to pound the nails out, straighten them, and then reuse them to start constructing walls. They wouldn"t be good walls, but they will be walls.
"Seifer, pay attention to who is actually working, so I know who to pay in a bit. Frederik, find me a bathroom so I can pee, please."
Seifer nodded and Frederik quickly spotted a small building that was used for demons to relieve themselves. Glancing around, she spied a demon carting live chickens in small cages.
"Cyran, get me one of those chickens."
With puzzled looks all around her, she grasped the chicken firmly under one arm and headed towards the bathroom. Shutting and locking the door firmly behind her, she plucked a feather, eliciting a loud squawk from the chicken, and jumped into the treasury, using her cloak of teleport.
The mimic came alive, throwing saliva all around it, as the chicken went crazy. Aella threw the crazed bird into the air, and stood back to watch the mimic chase it for a moment. With a shake to her head, she turned to the chest that held gold coins, and opened it. Stepping inside, she was greeted with a sight that took her breath away. Aella was standing on top of a mountain of coins. They threatened to slide out from under her feet with every shift of her weight. For as far as she could see, in every direction, there were gold coins. With a loud laugh, she finally slipped, and slid on her back down the mountain.
Jumping into the air, before the coins could bury her in the golden avalanche, Aella marveled at the amount of money this room contained. If the way the demons responded to the promise of gold were true, it was a very precious and expensive coin. She would have to find someone who understood money better than her, and explain it to her. Could any of the tutors?
Scooping a handful of coins, a frown covered her face. How was she going to carry enough coins to pay everyone? There had easily been dozens of demons willing to work for the pay of a single gold coin. By the time she was done today, there would be hundreds. Thinking carefully, she left the chest and went into the clothing chest. Could there be a magical pouch that could hold more than it appeared to?
Searching for several minutes, she couldn"t find any pouches at all. Maybe they were in the miscellaneous chest? As she stepped out of the clothing chest, and went to step into the miscellaneous one, the chicken gave one last squawk before the mimic managed to catch it.
Aella paused to watch as the mimic raised the trembling bird to its giant maw and shoved the whole thing in. As it turned to smile at her, she shook her head at the feathers that were everywhere, and stepped into the chest.
She found a table with various magical pouches and claimed one rather quickly. It would hold as much of one item, as she weighed. And it could hold a hundred different items, or so, that were small enough to fit into the pouch. There were other pouches that could hold more of one item, but couldn"t hold that many different things. Jumping back to the gold chest, she quickly had it as full as it would hold, of gold.
Jumping back to the small bathroom, she stepped outside, straightening her clothes and paused to brush off a couple of feathers that were clinging to her shirt.
"What…never mind," said Frederik with a shake of his head.
"What happened to the chicken?" whispered one of the demons.
"I don"t know, and I don"t think I want to know," whispered someone else.
Aella watched the people as they found more and more shacks to tear down and salvage wood to finish the walls in the first warehouse. There were many more buildings to convert, and as they began on the second one, she got an idea.
"Didn"t someone say they needed someplace to move their business into?" she asked.
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"I believe someone had said that," Vesh nodded.
"Then let this second warehouse be converted into a business area. Instead of homes, let"s have each section be a different shop. When we find some good wood, you can build a second floor for the owners to sleep in. That way, all of the stores will be in one place."
Several of the workers nodded in agreement and spread the word. Aella was pleased they liked the idea; it was actually kind of fun to see her ideas being listened to and put into use.
"I call this one, too," said Firion, appearing briefly before disappearing again. Aella merely nodded without turning around.
"Your Majesty called for us?" panted a demoness, jogging into the warehouse with several others behind her.
"And you are?" Aella asked, turning to look them over.
Their clothes were nicer than most of the demons she had seen so far, except for those in the palace, so they must be the owners of the warehouses.
"We are the n.o.bles who own these warehouses you have claimed. It would be nice if you had given us warning of these decisions. It will take time to convert them sufficiently for the entire populace of the city to live here," said the first demoness with a frown. Apparently being forced to hurry over, and then to see her precious warehouses filled with trash lumber haphazardly nailed into place, didn"t lift her mood much.
"Shall I have your tongue cut out now, or after we are done talking? I would hate for you to not be able to finish your thoughts on me, and my decisions."
Her mouth hung open in shock as her eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn"t dare! I am the most prominent n.o.ble in the city! If you harmed me in such a barbaric way, none of the other n.o.bles would dare do business with you!"
"Is that so?" asked Aella, stepping forward and quickly grabbing the demoness by one of her large horns. Bending her down so she didn"t have to stretch, she held her hand out to her guards behind her. "Hand me your dagger," she said, not caring who responded.
"Your Majesty, please! I beg you not to cut out my tongue!" she cried, as huge tears began to fall from her purple eyes and sobs began to shake her body.
"And why not? Your king is after all nothing more than a barbarian. Let"s see how many of the other n.o.bles speak to me in such a rude manner!" Aella growled, jabbing the dagger that was placed in her hand, into the demoness"s mouth and proceeded to cut out her tongue. Letting go of her struggling form, Aella dropped the b.l.o.o.d.y piece of meat at her feet and leaned down towards the writhing demoness below her, to clean the dagger before handing it back to its owner.
The other demon n.o.bles that had come with this one watched in horror, a few even covering their mouths in fear.
"If you can prove you are useful, I will have my court healer tend that wound, but it will not be today. I am your king and I will have your obedience, or you shall pay the consequences."