The Demon King's Plot

The sound of the slammed door echoed within the room and through the hallway. There was a long silence that follows and it lasted for what seemed like hours. Dimitri stood there in disbelief – he has never been this insulted before. He was never challenge in all his life and the first time he did, it was by a human girl no less. She was nothing but a sacrifice, abandoned and betrayed by her people, and yet she still had the guts to actually show that sort of attitude to Dimitri. He was fuming, he was frozen with rage.

“Are you sure about that?” was a question that followed after the steward, Alex, cleared his throat to break the eternal silence.

“Sure about what?” Dimitri asked, his mind still seems to be off somewhere; he is clearly yet to recover from that.

“Are you sure about not doing the ritual tonight?” Alex continued, “I mean, I get that you are furious after what that woman did, but shouldn’t we continue with the ritual either way? The god might not bless us with his boon this year,”

“God?! Who cares about that damn god?!” Dimitri asked, “His village sent me that disrespectful woman! I can’t bear to see her face tonight. I will decide what to do with her and hold off with the ritual until I did.”

Alex was silent. Dimitri’s way of addressing the god who rules above the creatures in the castle seems sacrilegious but he does not want to upset his Alpha. He, after all, is the chosen one and there isn’t anything much hat Alex can do about it, for now.

“Don’t let anyone in my room tonight,” Dimitri continued, “I want to be alone.”

“Sure thing,” Alex replied, “You need to decide what to do on the woman, though.” Alex reminded him before turning for the door, “and quickly. You know what happens when he gets upset.”

Dimitri merely gazed at Alex as he left and closed the door behind him. Of course Dimitri knows – he has lived in this castle since he was young and he knew that he is powerless before the god. But he also knows that he must be revered as the god’s representative in the castle and the sacrifices are offered because the village is at the mercy of the same god.

He could not sleep that night: he was torn. On one end, he is undeniably attracted to the girl. She had deep eyes that spoke more words than what she actually said, her were almost shining as it reflected the lights from the chandelier. She is perfect in all things physical. On the other, she does not bend her will to anyone, not even the Demon King. Dimitri knows that she is intelligent from the way she spoke; Dimitri knows that the girl is aware of who he is, and that makes him even angrier.

Dimitri thought that he needed to find a way to bend the girl’s will. He could have just ordered his servants to murder and devour the girl earlier, or he could even tell them to do so right at this moment, but he feels like it would be such a waste to dispose of someone like her. He wants to give him a chance. Maybe if she actually knows what she will be dealing with if she crosses the Demon King again, she would change her mind and actually start to worship him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Demon King’s castle has been home to various creatures that have sprung forth since the very first Demon King and they have been living there for centuries. The more sentient creatures like the Lamia, the Lizardfolk, and even the Harpies, the Trolls, and some of the Goblins were assigned to maintain the castle and take leadership tasks. But they are only a small portion of the ones who actually live there.

Deep within the recesses of the castle, and even in some places where the weakest of the creatures fear to tread, are the less intelligent creatures. The Gargoyles, the Ogres, the Centaurs, the Minotaurs, and all the other beastfolk that have succumb to their primal urges and have become nothing but killing machines, devouring whoever or whatever it is that gets in their way. The current Demon King does not actually mind this bunch a lot, but he also knows that they will have their use when he would need to defend the Castle from attackers.

And so there are places in the Castle that are hardly maintained because none of the maids and other servants would dare to go and only the best of the werebeast warriors could hope to repair whatever needs to be repaired from these desolate places. If the woman would not bow to Dimitri, he needs to show her the kind of creatures that he controls and maybe she will change her mind. And there is only one way to do so.

“So you are saying that you will assign her to clean the places that even the bravest of the maids, the Lamia, is afraid of cleaning?” Alex repeated what Dimitri suggested to him that morning. He barely finished his cup of coffee and his Alpha already dropped this on him.

“That is what I am saying,” Dimitri replied. He looks serious – he is ALWAYS serious. “If she refuses to bend her will to me, maybe I need to show her what creatures I have under my control.”

“And if she does not?” Alex asked, still doubting his Alpha’s decision.

“If she does not, then we would need a new sacrifice for the ritual.” Dimitri answered immediately. There was decisiveness in his answer but Alex feels like there was something off about him as he said that.

“Should I inform the village ahead of time, then?” Alex asked, the village needs to know that they would need to send a new sacrifice, the ritual needs to be done as soon as possible after all.

“There is no need.” Dimitri replied after thinking about it. Deep inside, he wants to hold on to this mysterious girl as much as possible, he is fascinated by her and having something to entertain him like this is rare. If only she would revere him like the others. “We will give her one more week. If she still refuses to respect me by then, then we will inform the village.”

“I see.” Alex replied. He is even more concerned. One week is the longest that the god would allow them to delay the ritual. They would have to suffer for a year until the next one if they could not do so within the week. “So you are determined to actually keep her.”

“She somehow fascinated me,” Dimitri replied. “It would be waste to just dispose of such a nice specimen.”

“Yeah” Alex replied and paused for I while. She remembered the way the woman looked the previous night and even he was awestruck. “I get what you feel.”

“Arrange for her to be transferred to a room close to the beast’s quarters.” Dimitri finally ordered. “Send warriors to guard her door and give her just one attendant.”

The guards were mostly to protect the woman from the beasts. Dimitri knows that the smell of a ripe and untouched human female would induce mating in the wild beasts and they will definitely attack the woman as soon as she lives close to them. Sure, Dimitri wants to bend her will, but he does not want to do it that way, at least not yet. The attendant will be placed so that there would be someone to watch over her and report directly to Dimitri about the woman’s activities and if she is already willing to bow down.

“And that would mean that we need to assign a non-human attendant for her,” Alex replied, realizing that a human attendant might help the woman escape instead. “How about the Harpy that took her here. I think she would be more comfortable with a creature that she has already had a conversation with.”

“I don’t care who it is,” Dimitri replied, “Just send someone to attend to her and observe her. And make sure to use the best warriors to guard her.”

“Got it” Alex replied and remained silent. 

In a guest room far from the Demon King’s main Chamber, the woman is also still awake. She also could not sleep but her thoughts are on a completely different thing. The Lord of the castle is clearly upset about the way she acted earlier but she does not regret that, no, her mind is off wandering to a completely different place, and a completely different time.

Back to a time when Jessica, Irene, and Grace were still with her; back to when her parents would take her to the lakeside where her father would set up to fish and her mother would tell her about the flowers that grow by the bank and towards the forest. About how she learned for the first time why the people would call her Lily instead of Amanda.

Those were happy times, those days were bright. There was only the smell of flowers and of perfumes, and of freshly caught fish that is already roasting by the bonfire. She felt detached. She knows that she is not experiencing those things right now: She knows that the brightness comes from the chandelier above her head and the smell of flowers ore from the vase. The perfume, of course, is the one that was put on her earlier. She is in a completely different time, and most definitely in a completely different place.