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Chapter 72
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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,
The Demon Chapter 76
The next day, the Chartreuses seemed somewhat subdued. And Viscount Latour...“Your Majesty, my wife...”After hearing out his anguished plea about his wife who had vanished together with his heir, I nodded.Of course, you should check the palace and question everyone, you are in your right.Go on.And I...sympathize with you so much. By the way, couldn’t she have left you, too?Carlie is a flighty girl, and during pregnancy, when even the most dignified women start being irrational... Abigail grew pale.Sure.She needed a newborn! But who would give birth? Finding a baby wouldn’t be too hard, but she needed that one specifically. Or would she get up the nerve to buy or kidnap the first baby she could get her hands on? She would, of course she would... Once, my mother had scraped the palace library clean. I made a mental note to return the books later.Before the princess’ departure, Abigail had never read any of them, and afterward, she couldn’t, but there was a lot of interesting re
The Demon Chapter 77
The next five days were dominated by spy reports. I kept reading and reading, even if the ghosts did discard the unnecessary information, leaving only the bare facts.The scale of the remaining corruption was astounding. The treasurer hinted to Abigail that he had always been devoted to the queen, especially if she left him in his position. The commander of the guard, the chamberlain, two senior chamberlains, two thirds of all courtiers... Whoa.If I decided to execute everybody, I wouldn’t have enough gallows in the entire kingdom. I would have to fix the situation another way.Finally, the fateful day came. I was sitting on the throne. In the morning, or, more precisely, at night, I had visited the brothel to make sure that Carlie had still been pregnant.Therefore, the child had no rights to the throne, not being a Radenor by blood. None at all. Even if he turned out to be Andre’s bastard, even then I would have been the first in line, I would have been recognized by the throne, to
The Demon Chapter 78
“I want to see the Retainer. Invite him to the palace.”“Your Majesty,” the holy thrall pouted. I looked at him coldly.“If he doesn’t come, I will revoke the tithe.”Actually, I was going to revoke it anyway, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. Aww, he grew so pale.The next morning, I got a letter from the Confidant of the Bright Saint, who agreed to receive me... In your dreams. I summoned the chancellor, Henry Morinar.“Prepare a decree. I will revoke the tithe. The Confidant has consented.”“Your Majesty!”The servitor was exasperated. I threw him an innocent smile.“I think we’ve discussed that...”“Your Majesty, don’t be hasty, I implore you.”“I will announce the decree the day after tomorrow.”The Confidant arrived at the palace in the evening. I looked at him, curious.Now that was a smart man, no mistake about it. His robe might have been expensive, but plain enough, and it was clearly hiding a strong and powerful body, while his eyes were full of intelligence and cunning.
The Demon Epilogue
Two days later, Carlie gave birth. It was a girl, the spitting image of my uncle, a gorgeous blonde child. Mistress Eliza helped me.In the slums, children were a dime a dozen, including newborns. And while the mother was resting after the labor, thanks to a sleeping potion, we replaced her child with another blond baby.Carlie’s daughter, whom I named Luisa Amalia, was sent to Torrin, together with her nurse, to be cared for by Cassie, Mira, and Martha.Meanwhile, Carlie got “her” daughter, after which I told her that I wouldn’t cede the throne to a girl. We’ll see how she turns out.The viscountess could go back to her husband. He had already searched the entire capital, together with the Chartreuses, several times, in fact. She cursed and called me names worthy of the most eloquent of stable hands, but I had expected that.I sent the viscountess home in a closed carriage, sedated, and returned to the palace. There, I sent everyone away and headed down, to the Heart of Alethar.I cu
The Demon Special Chapter
Once again, Innis missed a discovery. The old pages resisted being turned, warping under her touch, and the paper had an icky smell, which made sense, considering how much time had passed since the book had last been opened.Innis stumbled upon it by a complete accident, really. She had simply climbed up to check the upper bookshelf in the library and the book twitched right under fingers, making Innis freeze in place, barely holding onto the old ladder with her feet.Something cracked, producing a nasty, annoying sound and, in a second, Innis was lying on the floor—a miracle, no doubt. Later, when she gathered her breath and climbed back up, she figured it out. One of the bookshelves was sawed out, turning it into something of a secret compartment.Where is the best place to hide a book? A library, of course. But it was more than just a book—a thin booklet barely finger-wide and with a red binding, a color that she found creepily similar to dried blood. Fine. She didn’t actually thin
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