Chapter 38 Change…Good or Bad?

Running through her forms, after waking up, Aella turned to Jozef, the first king.

"I bet I could snatch the Sage and teleport her here, to the castle. The problem is that she's a human. If any of the demons see her, they will try to kill her."

"Once she's in the library, the magic of the castle will keep her safe. Just teleport her straight to the library doors," he said with a shrug.

She knew he was thrilled she had found a sage so soon, but it was obvious from the wrinkles around his eyes, that he was worried about something.

"What's bothering you, old king?" she asked, propping a hand on one hip. Sweat was pouring down her back, and she was wondering how long it would take for the servants to draw her up a bath.

"You talked to the heroes, and yet, they didn't try to attack you," he said with a troubled look.

"I figured they didn't recognize me as king. The crown was hidden under my hood," she said, having the magical cloak form a hood again to show him.

"You're taller than they would be. They would have had to look up at you, and that would have made it easier for them to see the crown."

"It can also go invisible when I want it to," she said with a frown, trying to remember if it had been invisible at that time, or not.

He nodded, though she could tell he was unconvinced.

"What reason would they have for not attacking me, if they did suspect I was the king? I was under the impression Alfred thought I was sent by the king."

"Perhaps that's the case, but you should still be careful. There has been so much brainwashing for them to kill the demon king that I fear for you if you let your guard down."

"Don't worry about that. I don't ever let my guard down, except for here. That disappeared when I was very young."

Jozef nodded as she stretched once more and turned with a wave, stepping into her room. No one had bothered anything, and the dust she had scattered over specific parts of the floor was undisturbed. The guards outside her door must have done a good job. Now it was time to see if they were still there.

Throwing her door open startled the two so much, they both turned with their weapons drawn, ready to cut her down.

"You're slow boys. If I had tried to kill you, you would be dead now. Torrod, wake everyone and get them moving to the throne room. Ulrik and I will head over there now. I'm interested to see who's waiting on us."

"The others are already there, warming up," said Torrod, putting his hammer back in its holder on his back.

"They've been there for maybe fifteen minutes?" guessed Ulrik, placing his battle axe on his back as well.

Aella was impressed with their matching holders, wondering if the two were brothers or only close from their time in the pits.

"Then we're late! Let's go!" she said, shutting her door and breaking into a run.

The two demons were caught off guard, but quickly caught up, being able to keep up with her because of her short legs. Picking up her speed, she wanted them to be sweating by the time they arrived. When the crossbow bolt hit her in the chest, she merely laughed and brushed off the shards that stuck on her shirt, spinning to jump off the wall and up onto the ledge of the floor above her, as they entered a great hall. The would-be assassin freaked and tried to run, but she had grabbed the back of his shirt and pinned him to the floor. Breaking his jaw when he tried to bite down on a tooth to kill himself, she quickly dislocated his shoulders and hips to keep him still while the two demon guards caught up with her.

"Bring him with us, we can use him during our sparing this morning. Also, I want all his teeth ripped out, so he doesn't break the poisoned one and die."

Torrod gaped at the whimpering demon that lay on the ground, while Ulrik opened his mouth and began pulling out teeth. With the jaw broken, some of the teeth came out with jaw bone, but Aella didn't wait around and watch. Jumping back down into the great hall, where several servants were standing in shock, she nodded to them and they quickly kneeled until she had passed.

Reaching the old throne room, she saw that a board had been placed across the hole in the floor where the throne had been, and the other guards were covered in a thin sheen of sweat where they had been practicing their forms.

"Good job guys. Once Ulrik gets here with our guest, I've got some news for you."

They all gathered around, when she spotted the tutors entering by a side door. Ulrik was there after a few more moments, and dropped the moaning body near the sparring area and joined them.

"A few things have occurred to me in the night, that I need to share with all of you. The first thing, is that you all need to be given new jobs. It's obvious there are way too many things going on for me to handle everything by myself. Even with the Advisors and Tutors, too much needs done to get things back in some semblance of order, if we are going to keep our kingdom from collapsing. I need to know if any of you don't care for helping the kingdom, because if you don't care, I don't want to put you in a position where you won't do your best. I would hate to have to beat your butts down."

They all chuckled, but none of them spoke up, so she continued.

"I need some generals I can trust to handle the issues that are happening at the mountains to the north and the south. None of the people in power are trustworthy. After yesterday it has come to my attention that no one will ever be on my side, other than all of you. And if any of you break my heart, I'll steal yours," she said with a smile to let them know that while she was telling the truth, it was also a friendly jab.

"But, what do you plan to do with our hearts?" asked Kieran with a grin.

"Eat them, of course," she responded, causing the others to laugh at his pained groan. Seifer patted his back to let him know he understood.

"I want some of you to patrol the city and oversee the city guard, in case any of them are corrupted and following the nobles, instead of me. And I need a few of you to head to the western coast and get our people to come back. I have a feeling there's more to the mass movement to the coast than what they're telling me."

"Why do I get the feeling you've got something big planned?" asked Frederik, looking uncomfortable.

"Because I do," she said with a nod. "I have to make up for being short somehow."

"Your Majesty, I like my job," said Firion with a frown.

"Don't worry, Firion. I intend to keep you as the royal assassin. I don't have time to kill everyone who will be causing trouble. In fact, I'm extending your range to the city border. If you happen to find someone trying to kill anyone, or robbing someone, you have permission to kill them. Keep in mind your assassin magics only work in the castle, but I know you're skilled enough to get around that."

His smile would have made children cry as he nodded in understanding.

"I want Vesh to travel to the southern mountains with Morden. Find out the situation down there and figure out a way to end the attacks from the monsters. I expect reports once a week."

They both nodded, glancing at each other before turning to finish listening to her.

"Kieran and Cyran, the two of you will head north to the mountains up there. The same applies to you. Find out the situation and send reports once a week. We have got to get these monster attacks under control. Once I get a few more things taken care of, I will personally be traveling to each of these areas to help and check in with you, so be aware of that.

"Ulrik, you and Torrod will be heading west to the coast. Figure out why people are heading that way, and see if any can be brought back. I understand it may be a longer trip than a week, but if you send reports back every week, the messengers will arrive every week to update me."

All six nodded in understanding.

"Then what do you want us to do?" asked Seifer, glancing at Frederik.

"The two of you will stay here in the castle, running things while I am away."

"What?" they all cried, in surprise.

"I have business with these heroes. They are dragging their feet, and whoever wants me dead is going to drain my population with sending all these assassins to try and take me out. I would much rather these killers work for me, as Firion does, than whoever hates that I am king.

"I need you guys to keep the momentum going while I deal with the heroes and travel around my kingdom, getting a feel for what I am king over."

"Who will be traveling with you?" asked Frederik, concerned.

"What are we supposed to do, exactly?" asked Seifer.

"I can travel faster by myself, but don't worry, I don't plan to leave until after lunch. That should give me plenty of time to get your duties in order. I declare Vesh and Cyran Generals of the South. Kieran and Cyran are Generals of the North. Ulrik and Torrod, you are Generals of the West. Frederik and Seifer are Regents of the Crown. All these things I enact as the Demon King!"