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Chapter 67
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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
The Demon Chapter 75
Radenor wasn’t especially excited to meet us. Morinar clearly hadn’t wasted any time.The streets were being patrolled, the corpses of criminals were hanging on the square, but the walls were freshly repaired, and the ditch, clean.The roads were also being paved. Maybe the executions had had an effect?Going by his report, that was true. I had barely started reading when Abigail burst into my study.“Alexander! That is unacceptable!”“What is, Auntie?”Of course, it was Morinar, who dared to make lists of thieves and stolen properties, had shut down Abigail’s attempts to continue in this vein, all in all, was behaving in an absolutely disgusting manner and forcing everyone to obey the law.What a degenerate. I had to calm her down. Don’t worry, we don’t execute innocents. If Morinar made a mistake, I will sort everything out.He suspects your family? That cannot be!They are famed throughout Radenor for their honesty. That has to be a mistake!You shouldn’t agitate yourself so much,
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“How do you know about the charm spells?”“How could I not! Innis, do you know that your mother had an elder brother?”Innis grew pale.“Y-yes. But he’s...”“Disappeared without a trace. Why would Sidon Andago need him?”I caught the girl so she wouldn’t faint.“Tell me more, you corpse!”That tone finally made him pay attention. The ghost looked at me once more, I released my power, and it was his turn to become pale—or, rather, translucent.“By the Bright! You—”“Yep. Me. And if you don’t answer me right now, I will burn your chicken coop to the ground!”The spirit sighed and began telling his story. He was also a necromancer, who, by a cruel twist of fate, had become a healer.If you make a drawback your advantage, you can heal with the power intended to destroy, that was true.I had never been taught that, but the Andago family seemed no stranger to experimentation.Anyway, Tidann had died like he was supposed to. But during his lifetime, he had conducted trials in that same labor
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I was barely moving my lips, but she definitely heard me, as she ran her hand over her hair and all of a sudden, broke down in tears. It had been a while since I had felt myself that stupid.Still, Martha didn’t cry for long. She raised her head high.“Alex, boy, yer alive!”And there was so much love and happiness in her voice. She didn’t care about herself at all, the main thing was my safety.I couldn’t help but blurt out, from the bottom of my heart, “Mother…”Truly, the mother is not the one who gave birth.“I was so scared for you. After we spoke, I ran off here, yer snake led me. Everything’s quiet, but the ghosts are all afraid. Lots of templars in the palace, all tip-toeing ‘round yer wifey. Methinks, ‘twas the bitched viper who started all this, mark me word!”“Mother, but where’s Tommy? Rene?”“Tommy’s on the lam, he’s taking his wife to Rick. Rene and his pa high-tailed, too. Probably hiding somewhere, ‘lest they lose their knobs in the heat.”“Did somebody get—”“Yep. The
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During dinner, I felt like I was the main course.The local residents questioned me about everything, starting from silk prices in Tevarr to my family, from weather to the royal palace.I squirmed like I was in a hot pan, trying to avoid telling too much. I was pretty good at that.By the end of dinner, Amorta graced me with a smile and a suggestive look from her thin eyelashes, while Sidon thawed out and started to tell me his hunting stories. If they had been true, all the beasts in Radenor wouldn’t be enough for him.I listened to them, nodded, and was finally rewarded with seeing the heir: Sidon’s complete copy. He had Amorta’s ears, but was the spitting image of his father otherwise.Maybe that was why he cherished the child so much. Innis was way too smart, sharp, and independent, not to mention, entirely Andago in her appearance.Blood couldn’t be locked away. I had to coo for a bit, while discreetly collecting a few stray hairs from the baby’s clothes.Let’s see if he’s truly
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Summoning Ak-kvir was easy.He appeared almost right away and sniffed the air.“You again, necromancer?”“Do you object?”“Do you have the payment?”I sneered viciously.“I’ll figure something out.”“Get comfortable, then.”I sat down on his back, and Ak-kvir darted off straight ahead. Eight hours to the town?Dear Innis, just twenty minutes...and that’s taking into account that the demon had grown very lazy.We passed the town wall in a few rough leaps.Good thing that Ak-kvir’s claws were saber-sharp and could pierce any stone three feet deep. And finally, I was left standing in a narrow street. Monsignors bandits, come on.I can’t believe nobody wants these easy pickings!Yeah, that was rhetorical.Five minutes later, a three-man group stumbled upon me.They were so delighted that it was even funny.“Oh, look who’s come to visit!”“A noble boy, bless his heart!”“You there, stand and deliver!”They tried to surround me; how naive. Did they want me to speak?Like dark lightning, I d
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Tommy was blissfully sleeping inside his house with Henrietta nestled against his shoulder, snuffling and smiling in her sleep. But when an ice-cold wave came over them, both had to rise up, their peace disturbed.That wind was something they could never hide or shield themselves from; it was a death wind, and it brought cold from the grave, making him feel as if he were in a coffin.Even dead men could wake up after feeling something like that...and sometimes, they did.“What!”The darkness in the room grew thicker and took on Martha’s shape, smiling with her mouth full of shark teeth.“It’s me, Tom. Martha.”Instantly, Tommy was relieved. He had seen that many times before.No big deal, Alex had pulled stunts much worse than that. When you live with necromancers, do as necromancers do.“What’s wrong?”“Treason. Take your wife and hide, I will warn the Morinars, so...try to get to Torrin. You are the most vulnerable of us all.”“How’s Alex?”“Alive.”Tommy breathed out.“Good. But wh
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I had two options: either promptly summon Ak-kvir and get to the capital, wherein I would clean up the mess, but the schemers would have time to get away, that was as clear as day.The other option...Fine, you’ve gotten rid of the rightful king.Now what?Oops.Well, you can sit on the throne of Radenor, you would even stay there...for like twenty seconds. After that, prepare a dust tray and a broom. No need for a coffin, the remains could be poured over a flowerbed in the palace garden. If I held off my return, I would get the chance to reveal the plotters.But what about my family?Well, that was a moot question. If I were a plotter, I would first kill the king—me—and then, if everything worked out well, switch to his entourage.Yet, I suspected that no templars had survived. Generally, I was a nice guy, but they had managed to really piss me off. I still had some time before they would attack Martha, Tommy, Rene, Dariola... Although, why would they attack Dariola?Her child was th
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Surprised, Innis stared at the demon who had appeared in her pentagram. He wasn’t quite what she had expected. Visually, he seemed a proper demon: claws, scales, and a tail.But should he really be all bloody and unconscious?Grandpa’s diary never said anything like that. Too bad I couldn’t find any other notes.But...what am I to do with it? Try to call him? Shake him awake?No, reaching inside the pentagram was forbidden.What if I poke him with a stick? He can’t just lie there in my tower, can he?I have enough problems on my plate without a dead demon!**I was in agony. Every bit of my body that was still there was emanating with pain, even my tail. “Demon, are you alive? Demon! Damn you, you’re a rascal, not a demon!”It was clearly a girl’s voice. She seemed young and quite upset. She had a throaty contralto, clear and singsong, like hot chocolate.I definitely wasn’t in a temple.Where then?I focused and tried to prop myself on my elbows, then open my eyes.Yeah, they had gi
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After Martha told me that my wife was likely with child, I wasn’t even surprised or worried.She isn’t saying anything to me?There could be lots of reasons!Maybe she didn’t know so herself or wanted to make sure. What was there to discuss? I just had to charge the court healer with a task.Alas, I was wrong, and I had to pay for that mistake sooner than I had expected. Two days later, I found myself on the way to a small town called Livaren.I was still traveling around the country so the officials I had appointed would stay on edge. When the king shows up on your doorstep and demands an answer...or just shows up...it can really shake you up.Bad news came from Livaren.Somebody destroyed ten of my ghosts. I had to visit and figure out what was happening there. That was exactly what I did. I was used to nobody ever standing in my way. Have I already mentioned that sometimes, I can be a real idiot?The mayor, Baron Fagin, was cheerful. He had clearly screwed up. But considering that
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Princess Dariola.What did she look like?Not a beauty, or at least I didn’t think so. She was tall, half a head taller than me, and thin as a rail.She had blonde hair and blue, watery eyes, and her lips were so pale they seemed almost white. She did have nice hands, with long thin fingers, worthy of an artist or a musician.I also liked her voice: high-pitched, clear. She would probably sound great singing merry songs somewhere in a meadow, during summer.Alas, but during our introduction, I didn’t seem to attract her much, either. I guess she thought me too weak and fragile, and I had no wish to disprove her.So, I just kissed her hand.“Your Highness.”Just a neutral phrase. No “My princess” or “Welcome to my kingdom.”They made me an offer I could hardly refuse, and that was enough.Oh, I had divorced soon after getting crowned.The church granted me my request, even if they did try to negotiate. Your Majesty, of course, we’re ready to help you in any way you want, but we’ve gott
