Chapter 56 Bridgette the Body Pillow

Bridgette snorted, waking Aella up. She was up against a wall, under the desk by the door, with Bridgette, still in the bed roll, snuggled up against her. Aella couldn't climb out without waking Bridgette. How long had she been asleep? Surely it wasn't morning yet? She didn't normally sleep that long, but for some reason she had felt safer and more secure then she had in a long time. Could it be the magic of the bedroll?

"Bridgette?" Aella said, touching the girl on the shoulder.

"Hmm?" she murmured, snuggling in some more and smiling softly.

"Bridgette," Aella said louder, giving her shoulder a little shake.

"What?" Bridgette cried, jerking awake and jumping up wide eyed.

Aella grabbed her shoulder to keep her from banging her head on the underside of the desk.

"Why are we under a desk, sleeping together?" asked Bridgette, taking in the situation very quickly, and peeking under the covers at herself, as if to ensure her chastity.

"When I arrived last night, you were already asleep, and I was so tired after killing off an entire nest of giant ants, that it seemed logical to lay down and go to sleep too. I'm not entirely sure how we got under the desk though."

Bridgette struggled to her feet, fighting the bedroll as it seemed to cling to her legs, and stumbled back over to her pile of books. Climbing out from under the desk in a more dignified manner, Aella picked up the discarded bedroll and began rolling it back up.

"I was so tired as I read through this history book, that I decided to lay down to continue reading it. The bedroll seemed like a good idea until I actually climbed into it. I don't think I like it very much," yawned Bridgette before she sat down on the floor and started looking over her books, setting them in a particular order, as if to have them for reference later.

"So, have you figured out anything new?" asked Aella, trying to remember everything she had wanted to ask Bridgette from the day before.

"The humans promised to share the valley with the demons, when they came over from their old home, if the demons would help to farm the lands, and basically do a lot of the hard, manual labor, seeing as how they were bigger and stronger, and the demons agreed. I think the demons were kind of desperate, based on some of these accounts I'm reading of their former home, and would have done most anything if given a chance to live here. I can't figure out where they came from though, because after we looked at the map I found, none of the things they describe in these books, matches up with anywhere on the map."

"You had mentioned that the human's accepted them when they arrived to the valley, but never on how they got to the valley."

"The only thing I can find is that they stepped through a tunnel to these new lands, but that could be referring to the journey here. A lot of this author's words are twisted on themselves and often mean more than one thing."

Aella sighed. She didn't have to read a book for someone's words to be twisted on themselves. All she needed to do was talk to one of these Advisors or nobles. With that thought, she remembered several of the things she had wanted to ask Bridgette.

"You found that book that produced magic food for you. Do you think that magic could be used on a larger scale?"

"How large?" asked Bridgette, looking up from her book.

Aella thought hard about what to tell Bridgette, and finally decided to tell her the truth. She didn't have enough understanding of politics just yet to keep it from her any longer.

"I'm the Demon King," she said, looking straight into Bridgette's eyes.

"Oh, I knew that already. This book over here said that the library here had been cursed by the first king of the demons, to only be opened when a new king brought a sage to open the doors. I was wondering when you would tell me."

Aella studied the girl before her, knowing that her respect for her just jumped higher than it had been. "My people are starving, because there has been a drought and the humans are causing fires to burn what little crops my people manage to grow. I've managed to get them enough food by dealing with a monster in the north, to last a couple of weeks, but winter is coming and I cannot see my people starve."

Bridgette seemed to age before her eyes, as Aella watched her glance over at a different book. "There is magic you can use, to provide enough food for them, but it's not easy to cast, and would have tremendous repercussions if not cast correctly. There are other ways of making sure there is food, if that is what you are wanting?"

"I have the coastal waters to the west, but there are storms so severe, fishing is difficult, or so I've been told."

Bridgette nodded, grabbing a book from a pile beside here, and flipping it open. "This book was written by a noble that lived on the coast. He claimed that the coastal waters were cursed because of the greed of those who would fish those waters. The people who lived in the waters were starving because those on land were taking more than they needed, and ignored their pleas. While I'm not sure how much of that is true, it was an interesting story. With your Air Hero abilities, you would probably be able to determine very quickly if there were magic involved.

"There's also a lot of information in here on how to preserve fish in order to ship it over-lands. The first king apparently had quite a fondness for tiny little fish called sardines. You could probably take this information and use it to feed your people for a short while. Also, there's tons of information on how to grow crops during droughts in these books. I skimmed through them, but I could read them in more detail if you want?"

"I need a solution to this drought. There are so few people left, as we struggle to survive."

Bridgette looked at her and said, "You've only been king a short while, and you care so much for these people. How is that?"

Aella thought about that. Did she really care about these people? She didn't know them, but then the memories of the smiles on the faces of the people she had paid for working for her, and the appreciation in the faces of those she had helped and spoken to personally, surfaced in her mind.

"These people have no one to rule over them, to protect them and look out for them. They have been taken advantage of for so long, and after I struggled so much with having no voice myself, I decided I would get rid of the unfairness of it all, by becoming the one in charge. But it's very hard, and I'm struggling with not understanding everything."

"You sound like Alfred, except I think you just want to kill the people who get in your way," said Bridgette, setting the book down she was holding and picking up another one. "I think the best thing for you to do, is to visit the Spell Spire. It's the top most point of the palace, where the mages would gather and cast their spells. I believe all of the magic of the entire kingdom originates there. If there is magic involved at the coast to the west, or anywhere else in the kingdom, you should be able to find out there."

"Even if the magic isn't originating here? Like that curse you mentioned? Or the monsters that keep coming out of the mountains?"

"Yep, according to this book here, by a mage known as Iviwix, you can monitor all magic in the kingdom from that spire. Whether you can understand it will be another thing," she added as Aella went to stand up.

"If there is magic preventing moisture from coming from the coast, could I break the spell from this spire?"

"Technically, yes, but you need to be very careful. Some magic can be determinant on other magics, so if there is a spell keeping the moisture from coming inland, and that moisture has been building up for a long time, and you release the magic, it could cause flooding and massive downpours."

Aella nodded, even though she didn't understand what those things were. She was just excited that there could be a fix for the problems her people were facing. If she could get it to rain, everyone would think she was a hero! Despite actually being one, of course.

Teleporting to just outside the main hall, she allowed her king ability to direct her, to take her up stairs and down halls, climbing higher and higher in the palace, until she finally stopped beside a window, overlooking the surrounding countryside from really high up. She could feel the urge to climb up higher, but there was no door or set of stairs before her, only the window. Sticking her head out, she looked up, and saw a metal rung sunk into the outside of the spire. Following the ladder with her eyes, she saw it climb up to the very tip of the tower, where another window beckoned at her. Without hesitation, she began to climb. The winds swirled welcomingly, and she fought the urge to laugh in delight as the breeze tickled her scalp through her short hair.

Behind her, the faintest pink glow could be seen, hinting at the coming sunrise. Ahead of her was no doubt, the location Firion had been trying to get to. There was no doubt, going to be at least three people in the room above, if not four, and she couldn't wait to see them.