Chapter 359: Book 3: Chapter 110
A/N: Sorry! I redid this whole thing! I had so much done!!! Wah WAH WAH WAHHHHH (hehehe… that’s from The Fallen Prince, Kaizen’s book.) Oh, and I got stuck at work!
\----two days later----
Zayde
Why did I put this off?
Why did grandfather ask for such an audit of the castle’s inventory?!
Well, I know why. This is the Realm Queen’s doing. But at least I was comfortable damn it. While everyone slept, I moved my desk to the comfort of our room. I sat in my now enchanted chair with the lights off so they could sleep comfortably… My back feels so good, and the heat from the electric blanket kept me from feeling cold.
The castle is kept about as cold as a hospital, despite the fact that Tiffany, Micael, and myself are cold-blooded. I felt like the warm-blooded members shouldn’t suffer being too hot in this already humid, stuffy environment.
Plus, if I kept the castle at the recommended 85F, I’d still need to cool off in a pool or something. Maintaining body heat can be a little tricky in a climate controlled environment. Then there’s also the fact that with this much humidity, and that much heat in here… the walls would probably sweat, and it would be hard to maintain artifacts. Some can still rust, fade, or become weathered even with spells if the husbandry is wrong.
My phone went off. Lord Kaizen texted me, saying that he’d come over to show me something confidential…. And secret.
What could the First General of Hell want? Likely it has to deal with the Lord of Time?
That’s not right either… I’m a grandson. Grandfather, maybe father should be called right? That’s the King and Crown Prince…. I’m only a Duke?
And I go and think that, yet I’m the one who hosted someone like Calaxious.
I’m glad teatime at my coven went so well, but the event stressed me somewhat.
… It does not matter how friendly they are. Just as the Horned One rules the Coven…. I entertained someone who rules him.
That we were the chosen venue gave Yellow Diamond honor that might make someone jealous…. But honestly, who’d piss off the Horned One with squabbling, or making drama?
It feels like entertaining the CEO that owns a company. It felt like I entertained the boss of my boss… the manager of my manager…. Yet, the Lord of Time does not behave like I initially expected.
I don’t know what I expected to be fair. This doesn’t happen… Yet here I am, still kind of full…. And a little hung over.
The old man had his way and showed this world the full unedited truth, not just the bits that would be nicely received. That’s what made me trust him.
I could never forgive myself if I accidentally harmed my mate or my coven. I would never mistreat my witches to the point to where they’d want to overthrow me…. It serves no purpose, other than cruelty, and inflating an ego. Thankfully I’ve also never been that arrogant…. But he was. And what was done could not be undone.
.
He also gave his word… the king of my master even asked us if he could stay.
No ruler would do that. It serves no purpose. We’re not in a democracy… and that is the issue some voice.
It’s one thing that most fae are jealous of.
Humans can vote! Humans can move up and down their caste systems much easier, since it’s not based on something like physical strength or magical ability…. Humans are equal, or get fed up with their government and make it so.
Many fae societies can’t do this. An Omega will never be a king… In some societies like the dragons, where males are nearly double the size of females, there will never be female dragon lords. There will never be a male hyena Alpha, because females are the bigger of the two. An elf born in a low house can’t outclass a noble in magic unless they’re born with an additional blessing. And even then, they may not be socially accepted for a while because they hold no title. They’ll have to earn one first, then they may challenge their local lord.
Elves very rarely acknowledge new blood.
As we go up the chain of command, the ability to move up becomes more and more impossible…
I swear I heard something, but it was probably Tinzaa ruffling her feathers.
The rules and the rulers become more absolute.
All the kings combined cannot slay the Realm King…
The Realm King with all his power and every god under him cannot defeat his father.
Everyone combined cannot stop the Lord of Time.
After that, I don’t know. Calaxious rules this Layer, which suggests that this plays out in some form in a multiverse of unfathomable possibilities.
Maybe there is a Layer ruled like a council? But how would you fire someone ruling a portion of a universe? Do they voluntarily step down, or would there be an epic battle like we watched?
We’re thankful our universe is ruled by competent leaders. The sun works, the gods stave off some of our global warming, and I don’t have to worry about war breaking out, or having my planet gobbled….
I thought about this while I collected everything. They wanted the numbers of humans we held, all the magical creatures, the wyverns, Lord Eskaal’s birdkin, even how much grain we produce
Just one more page.
A signature. I’m Done!
Yes!!!!!
Zayde!” Shouted Lord Kaizen.
“AH!” I yelled, damn near knocking over my fucking computer! “Oh ha-ha First General.” I complained… “So funny. You scared both our familiars!”
The three of them scream too.
He stood as his true height of 7’5ft, and held glowing eyes, but what startled me was that I didn’t expect anyone to be in here without knocking so early!
Indeed, the mighty demons were together under my desk, while Tiffany glared sleepily…. But to be fair they were all snuggled in bed until he showed up!
Kaizen, if he shows it or not, is technically our boss now… Thank the gods it isn’t Tyson… I already have enough on my plate with Harmony right now.
He laughed.
“Sorry. I forgot about the time; I was off world.” He said honestly. “Come with me.” he said waving his hand. With it the lights were turned on, if only to annoy my mate.
“Cousin Get Out.” Tiffany grumbled, throwing the sheets over her head. “I’m busy.”
“Sorry, get your beauty sleep.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll take only Zayde to go visit a half demon discovered with the title of Flayer.”
“What.” She said fully awake.
“Yup.” He popped the p. “Just us.”
“No wait! Kaizen!” she complained, but he’d grabbed my hand.
“Bye.” He sang.
We were both teleported high into the air, over a city in the desert. I’ve only been here once. I believe we were in Doobai.
“Oh, is he a noble?” I asked.
He said nothing…. We flew past the beautiful lights, and skyscrapers of the human paradise as lightning! I didn’t question how nobody saw that, or how I wasn’t ripped apart from the speed, but this was amazing!
I was blinded though. Even though he turned on the lights, it’s so sunny here that vampires only come out at night. The sun is so hot, and the air is so salty that they tend to smoke.
But we flew past the rich part of the city with the general’s magic…
Soon… the buildings were shorter… the sweetness to the air became more industrial, stagnant, and rancid….
The slums.
“I understand why you picked me instead of grandfather.” I mumbled.
“You aren’t subscribed to the Hell York Times?” Kaizen asked.
“No sire.” I said respectfully.
“Just Kaizen’s fine, even in public Zayde. You’re my little cousin’s mate man.” He said casually.
“I half expected King Tyson to be First General.” I almost half asked him… Why is Kaizen First? He is the Second son of Bryson. Now was my chance to find out.
“The Horned One didn’t want those two with all the titles.” Kaizen smiled. Tyson’s the Wolf King, Grace is the Dragon Queen. They already have jobs they don’t want to do… Now I have mine.”
“Wait… did they overreact?” I asked.
“Well… there’s a bit of an uproar. This is the only unaccounted child of the First Demon’s line. Those two want to bind him, and bring him in the fold. I think he should WANT to.”
“So, you ordered them to be hands off.” I asked.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know it’d make the news. Or at least, that everyone would make such a fuss over this one person.” Said Kaizen. “Oh, the shenanigans I’ve dealt with tonight could make a damn book!”
I would ask more, but as we landed, I could see through my hands. Kaizen was better with magic than he realized. They always complain about being bad at it, or out of practice, but this is an advanced spell.
Unseen, and unheard, we walked down the dirt streets, that were dusty and dry. People here covered their faces, and those who didn’t coughed. The smell here was … unpleasant…