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Chapter 66
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The Demon Chapter 67
I wasn’t going to buy the courtiers’ flattery, of course.Rudolph’s death was very sudden, and that was why they needed me. We had either a war with Tevarr or a treaty with Riolon ahead of us, and Chartreuse wasn’t deluding himself; if anything happened, he and his family would be torn apart. He would have loved to put on the regent’s crown, but Abigail was yet to “give birth”.It wasn’t proper to give birth to a full-term child while three months pregnant, well, maybe four, five at most. She would have to walk around with a big belly for at least three months and act the hell out of it. During that time, many issues would arise and many would be dealt with.If the boy cleans up the situation—or, rather, not the situation, but something that was supposed to be shoveled—then great, we’ll see what we can do. We’ll have a boy and let him pass the throne, as he promised. And if not...well, it’s not like there’s a shortage of daggers. If he fails...we’ll just snatch as much money and valua
The Demon Chapter 68
How will I be buried?I will never know. But at least I can imagine.What is a royal funeral?The annual budget of a big city, cast to the wind. A gilded coffin, black fabric of mourning over the entire capital, black horses of the funeral cortege, black-clad courtiers, flags at half-mast and mournful music, black and gold, black and gold everywhere.Also everywhere are the hypocritical mourners, fake compassion written on their faces...snots... Mugs, that’s the word.A royal funeral was also an occasion to present yourself before the people, claim your place at court. The procession was led by a servant of the Bright Saint, who walked through the city chanting prayers. He was followed by a carriage with the king’s coffin, driven by four black horses. Uncle’s closest family walked behind the coffin: Abigail and I. The queen was...That day, she seemed especially fragile and martyr-like—black hair, white face, black dress, diamonds in her ears and on her neck, and a crown, of course. T
The Demon Chapter 69
Still, the night before the coronation got ruined as well. Carlie came first, heroically trying to get through Tommy and Rene, while I was sleeping.My friends were staunch, the girl kept squealing, and as a result, I had to wake up two hours before I had intended and climb out of bed.“What do you want, Viscountess?”“Alex! We need to talk! No matter what!”I was always kinder when half-awake, and I nodded at the door.“Fine. Come in.”Carlie obeyed, and blindsided me straight away.“Alex, I need your help.”“What help?” I asked, yawning.“I’m pregnant.”“Yes, I know that. Give my regards to your husband.”“It is your uncle’s child!”“Whoa.”I scratched the back of my head. Had Abigail lost the remains of any shame?Or... I didn’t have to wait long.“My child is the only legitimate heir of King Rudolph and should be recognized as a member of the royal family!”I really wanted to send her to Abigail and tell Carlie that the king’s wife had foreseen that, but I forced myself to stay si
The Demon Chapter 70
Upon arrival, the guards discovered a horrific scene. Four assassins with wounds of varying severity, one defender who was especially full of holes, and a frightened prince under the bed.What happened?I was sleeping, then somebody pushed me from the bed, bolts started flying, I crawled to the nearest hiding spot, there was a battle...is it over yet?They pulled me out, assured me that everything would be all right, and asked who had protected me.I have no idea.Yes, the country should know its heroes, but personally, I don’t know this one.Find out yourselves who it is, and don’t forget to protect me.They were trying to murder me! Enemies all around! Marquis Chartreuse tried to calm me down, but I was hysterical, and continued writhing in it until the arrival of Tom, whom I promptly assigned as the captain of my personal guard.Chartreuse tried to object, but the five bodies seemed quite convincing.No, marquis. In the future, you’ll only be guarding the dowager queen, and I’ll be
The Demon Chapter 71
Carlie was waiting for me in the parlor, just as I had asked her to. She was pacing the room, twiddling a strand of hair in her hand.“Alex!”“Carlie, sit down, please. We need to have a serious talk.”“About what, Alex?”“Do you know that there is going to be an attempt on your life?”“What!”“You’re carrying a potential child of Rudolph’s and don’t know about the fate of his previous mistresses? Abigail isn’t going to tolerate you...”Now that was something Carlie could believe.“But you will...”“Protect you?”Carlie nodded, but then realized that everything would be more complicated.“Carlie, dear, you’ll have to leave the capital and go to the country. Just for a while.”“Where?”Her voice was filled with so much disgust that one would think she had been offered a worm as a meal.“To the countryside—for a while. Two months or so.”“What for?”“It won’t be safe in the capital. There’s going to be a war with Tevarr, and I’ll have to leave. Who’s going to protect you in the meantime
The Demon Chapter 72
Duke Rataver was hung on the city square in two days. He was declared a warlock, and his daughter, the murderer of poor King Rudolph. Of course, that wasn’t proven, but who else could it be? And really, as soon as we catch her, we’ll prove everything! She’ll definitely confess.The Church will gently convince her to! We sent a letter to Mikael’s son in Tevarr, complaining that my royal counterpart had given me defective goods. Not just shelf-warmers, rotten since day one! And don’t even say that your father hadn’t known it.And now...such a blow!I’m positively shaken. The only way to ease my anguish was a big piece of land, and since my father-in-law was an unholy warlock, then Rataver could be a good way to compensate me for my torment. Either by the king’s will, or my own.I wasn’t laying the duke to rest. I had more important things to deal with: review the troops, hang six generals, two dozen colonels, and a countless number of lieutenants. Based on the results of the review, two
The Demon Chapter 73
For the time being, my priority was reconnaissance, and it didn’t let me down. The Tevarrian force had set up camp two days’ journey ahead of us. More than twenty thousand people—infantry and cavalry—against our five thousand.I had refused to take more. That upset the people, which made sense; nobody wanted to die. I wasn’t trying to calm them, I just said that we would fight. We camped in a convenient location, of course. I wasn’t going to march forward and risk clashing with the enemy army at the time of their choosing.Let them come and attack, and we’ll face them. The generals, who had just been appointed and still were in shock at such a boon, all agreed, and my troops started to set up camp.I complained about a headache, ordered them not to disturb me and to dig fortifications, and retired to my tent...only to leave it ten minutes later.I only took the ritual tools. By the middle of the night, I had to reach the enemy army. Whom did I summon as my assistant?Ak-kvir, of cours
The Demon Chapter 74
Argadon left at dawn, and his army with him. They were a gruesome sight. Well, they hadn’t been nice to look at from the get-go, but clutching pieces of bloody flesh in their claws and paws and fangs and teeth, all smeared in blood, some of them wearing human guts as bandoliers, they could creep out anyone.Ak-kvir stayed, baring his bloody teeth at me.“What are your orders, Master?”I made sure that no other demon other than him was nearby and broke the protective circle. I came out of the pentagram and dusted myself off.My next task was to clean up. I left the bodies where they were, took the cloak with me. The dagger, the candles...is that all? Ak-kvir dutifully let me mount him and darted off.I released him not far from our camp and got a look full of devotion.You bet.So much food each time. I covered the rest of the distance on foot. My absence, however, had been noticed, and six colonels were waiting for me in the camp.“What are you sitting around for?”I greeted them.“Yo
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