Chapter Three - New King, New Laws

The guards had already finished cleaning by the time Amos returned from his bath. It looked so spotless, if Amos hadn't been there for what happened, he never would have known. "You've done well, Lord Amos. As promised, I will tell you about yourself," The old man spoke to Amos who was currently sitting himself down on the throne.

"Your father is - sorry - was Lord Zareth. One of the strongest of the demon tribes to appear in generations. You, too, possess this same demon blood. When your father learned of the assassination plot on his life, he put a protective ward on you and sent you away using transdimensional magic. A powerful spell that severely weakened your father and drained his life force. He cast the spell to also return you to this dimension should his enemies ever find you," The village chief spoke for a quite awhile and Amos nodded, listening attentively.

This all felt so unreal, like something out of a dream. Still, Amos felt like everything he said sounded so familiar. "So, I am the next heir of the demon tribe and this is my real home. Is there no way for me to go back?" Amos looked to the old man who shook his head.

"I can not say, my Lord. Only Zareth knew this spell to my knowledge. Why, is something amiss?" The old man pondered as he searched Amos' eyes for a hint of what was wrong. Amos thought that he would never be able to see his little girl's grave again. As he was thinking he ordered over a nearby guard.

"General Rigal, send a man into the village, near the Koxu Sector. There you will find a little orphan girl with red hair. Her name is Astra and I want you to bring her to me. She is to be treated especially well. If she is harmed, I will not be pleased," Amos spoke as his eyes turned deep red showing that he would expect nothing less than absolute obedience. The guard bowed hastily before rushing off to find Astra for his King.

Turning to the village chief, Amos looked at him and smiled. "How would you like to become my advisor, Junichi? Advise me on matters both foreign and domestic and guide me to being a good King," He asked of Junichi and the old man smiled, bowing his head respectfully.

"It would be an honor to serve you, Lord Amos. I will do all that I can to not betray this trust," He smiled, pledging his loyalty to the new King. Nodding in satisfaction, Amos ordered Junichi to round up all the attendants so he could address them.

Amos sat in the throne room alone while he waited for Astra. Rigel finally emerged again after sending his soldiers to fetch Astra. "General Rigel, I have some new military maneuvers and training for your guards to undergo. I want these implemented immediately," Amos finished writing down some military training regiments and new squad maneuvers that should increase the speed of deployment and institute a new guard rotation shift.

Rigel took the piece of paper and bowed his head before rushing off to pass on the new King's orders. Rigel looked at this piece of paper in his hand. These new orders were strange and yet, even a novice recruit could see the difference these changes would bring.

As Rigel was leaving, one of his soldiers passed by with little Astra in tow. She was clearly frightened because the town had heard nothing about what was happening. Upon entering the throne room Astra saw Amos alive and well. Tears in her eyes, Astra ran and jumped into Amos' arms. "I'm so happy you're unharmed, Lord Amos," she pouted into his chest as he hugged her tight.

"Of course I'm fine, and I have a surprise for you. I'm going to let you live here with me, as a family," He spoke sweetly to her and rubbed the top of her head. When Amos told her she could live together with him she was overcome with joy.

"Now, I need you to do something for me," Amos whispered and motioned for his attending maid. "Can you go with her? She'll show you around and help you get situated," He said, gently passing Astra to the nearby maid. "I still have some work to do here. Be a good girl, okay?" He waved goodbye to Astra as she disappeared down the hall. Turning to Junichi he gave a toothy grin.

"Next item, everything in the treasurey needs to be sorted and accounted for. Once that's done, we will split off a third of that to give back to the people. Another third will go to infrastructure to fix the city and to work on building a 2nd wall that encompasses the village. The last third will remain in the vault for now," Amos started barking out orders and divvying up the treasury as he saw fit.

"Finally, you are to put together a summit with our current allies for talks of peace," Heaving a huge sigh, Amos smiled, his job finally finished for the day. As the last of his attendants left for the evening, Junichi walked up and smiled. "Junichi, one more thing," Amos stopped Junichi before he turned to leave. Amos paused for a moment as Astra entered into the room. "Never mind, it's nothing that can't wait til morning. Hey Astra, how was the tour?" He dismissed Junichi for the evening and turned his attention to Astra, smiling softly.

"Lord Amos, is everything alright?" Astra asked innocently and climbed up on Amos' lap.

"Everything's fine, Astra. Just a busy first day. Let's get you to bed and I'll tell you a story. How about that?" He asked and Astra smiled, nodding happily as Amos picked her up and carried her to her room. Amos told her a story from his world and she fell fast asleep.