Tales of a Seductress

TOAD – Chapter 54

I was a as giddy as a young maiden right before she was gangbanged by goblins. Actually, I was probably the only maiden who would be excited about such a thing happening.  The center of town belonged to a large plaza, and while the demon king went to the council building, I was taken to another building that could only be described as a mansion.

“These buildings belong to each of the council members.” The soldier declared nervously, keeping his distance and giving me side looks. “The demon king will be staying in this one.”

“I thought he wanted to show me in front of the council,” I stated, but the words came out slightly petulantly.

I wasn’t particularly angry with the king. He did just save my life, after all. I didn’t know how I felt about the king completely, but I would know more once I took his cock for a ride. Was he big or small? Was it soft or rough? Would he let me lead the way, or would he dominate me? You really couldn’t know a man unless you fucked him. That was my policy.

“H-he will. The council isn’t in session right now. He’s just making his presence known to anyone who wants to have a meeting with him.” The soldier explained. “In the meantime, I’ve been ordered to make sure your needs are met until he’s available.”

I gave a small smirk. “Oh? My needs? They can be quite hard to meet.”

I would have normally reached out and stroked him, but the way these soldiers were scared of me, he might faint or attack me despite the consequences. That’s what my instincts were telling me. Maybe, I had gone a bit too far by showing off my stuff in front of them so soon. Well, it was fun teasing a young soldier who was out of his element. He was kind of cute too. I wondered if I asked the king real nicely if he’d let him join? Just the thought of how terrified this soldier would be double-teaming me with the king was enough to cause me to break out in a laugh.

Since no joke had been made, my sudden laughter only served to further unnerve the soldier. The other soldiers that were escorting me also grew more uncomfortable at my laugh. I didn’t mind it. They could think of me what they willed. When I finished, I gave the one a slight nod, and he continued to lead the way into the demon lord’s mansion.

“It’s you!” We had barely made it a few feet when I heard a somewhat familiar voice and the draw of steel.

The demons that had previously been terrified of me appeared to be more terrified of me being hurt. They tightened their step around me, every single one of them drawing a sword. As for the person they were facing, it was someone I never would have expected to see here. The shock of it forced me to have to look twice in disbelief.

“Devon Hyburn. It’s been a long time.” My voice didn’t come off as welcoming at all, but it held a bit of mockery. “I seem to recall you saying you’d kill me the next time you saw me. Well?”

I held up my hands. Devon had instinctively pulled out his sword, but he was being faced down by two dozen guards. The Devon I knew wouldn’t be too intimidated by that. Devon had a strange special skill that allowed him to divide his body up, creating clone after clone. A battle between these demons and Devon would be somewhat even, I imagined. Then again, he was in the territory of the enemy.

Devon didn’t stand out as much as one might think. Most demons were little more than humans with a slight animalistic trait anyway. Many were indistinguishable from humans, and when it came to demons they didn’t discriminate as badly as humans did. There were pure humans in the demon realm too, who lived, worked, and married into the lower demonic lines. They were mostly extended family, and certainly not part of the stronger pure demonic families.

In short, had Devon not made his outburst, he likely would have walked past unnoticed. He must have noticed me when I let out my laugh. The last time we had met was on a battlefield. He had spared my life, and I had spared him, in a way. We still hadn’t split amicably, and there was that promise to kill me. There might have been a time I wouldn’t have agonized him, but this last year had been a bitter one that left me far less caring than I once had been.

“Aria…” He grumbled, his eyes looking over the guards as if he was still considering it before putting up his sword.

“Devon Hyburn, the hero, and you were invited here to under the preamble of a gift of peace, were you not?” A voice interrupted us, a slim man with a goatee and pale skin. “Although we don’t require you to put up your weapons in the city, it would be best if you didn’t pull your blade on one of the demon king’s pets.”

“I apologize, Lord Tigon. She’s… an old acquaintance.” Devon declared. “It won’t happen again.”

I was going to give him another antagonistic remark, but that’s when I saw another form that was accompanying the lord that had just appeared. It was Min, but she was no longer wearing a helmet and armor that hid her face. Quite the opposite, her elvish ears were on full display. Her hair used to cover her ears, but she had cut it so that nothing hid her identity.

No, calling her a she was wrong. Min was committed to the role of a man. He had seemingly grown a bit more muscular, although he was still short. His face had several scars on it. It didn’t make him ugly, but it took away some of the feminine beauty and made him appear more grizzled and manly despite the lack of facial hair.  I knew where those scars had come from. They had come from me.

I hadn’t even truly know if I had left Min alive that day. After beating him to a pulp, I had fled and never looked back. That wasn’t the first time I thought I had lost Min. Min was supposed to have died before that when an arrow caught him. I found my words catching in my throat. I was never particularly good at dealing with exes. It was always so awkward. I preferred to just fuck them and get it over with, but I wouldn’t do that with him. I couldn’t.

Min had come so far from that scared girl being raped by goblins. He didn’t need me anymore. He had his strength and his own story. I had been in this world without Min longer than I had been with Min. Nearly a year and a world of difference had passed in that respective time. Min was no longer the person I remembered, and I was no longer the person they remembered. There was a time when he called me something, and I thought we’d be together forever. What was that word again?

“Vessë…” The word just came out.

Min’s eyes jumped to me like he had been poked. Our eyes met, but I couldn’t glean a thing from his expression. I had a mastery of deception, yet I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. However, the conversation between Devon and the other man started to click in my mind. In particular, the name Lord Tigon started to have some familiarity. I knew I had heard that word before.

“See that it doesn’t.” Lord Tigon declared.

 “The Truthsayer…”

The Truthsayer that had orchestrated the disaster on the border was Lord Tigon’s man. Lord Tigon was opposed to the demon king. He ran the enemy faction. He had also conspired to use me and to wipe out the Typhon family. The Typhon family supported the demon king and held some considerable military power. They did until they met me. I did end up wiping out the Typhon family, so Lord Tigon had succeeded in getting everything he had wanted. I didn’t like being used.

“I happen to be in the market for a new truthsayer.” Lord Tigon gave a friendly smile before turning to the boy next to me. “What would you say? Interested.”

“Ah! I-I’m loyal to the king! I can only be his truthsayer.” The young soldier who had been talking to me declared.

I nearly fell over in shock. This youth I had been talking to was the demon king’s truthsayer? I had just assumed he was some random soldier. However, wouldn’t it be stranger if he was? A demon king would surely have servants to take care of their matters. Now that I knew it was this truthsayer he had sent with me, I started to see him in a new light, but only a little.

“It’s a shame. Loyalty can be… a burden.” Lord Tigon sighed, his eyes passing over me one more time as he turned to Devon. “You will present your gift at the council meeting tomorrow. Before then, I suggest you remain in my mansion. There is no point in being on the street with the rabble.”

Lord Tigon was pretty good. I might not be able to read Min, but Lord Tigon was much more obvious. He could throw out slights and insults while seeming completely amicable. He had indirectly threatened the truthsayer, suggesting that his loyalty would get him killed. When his eyes passed over me, I could see the hostility veiled underneath. Twice, he had insulted me. I didn’t miss when he had called me a pet, and now he was calling me rabble. He wasn’t so unconnected that I wasn’t positive he knew my status as the future demon queen. He was trying to insult me on purpose.

I realized one other thing about him. He was part of the vampire family. He was the same family whom I had just killed noble for. The truthsayer had been a morai, which was some kind of vampire undead servant. It looked like I was destined to be enemies with these people from the start.

“My lord Tigon,” I called out to him as he turned away.

He stopped for a moment as if he was debating whether he would engage me or not. “Get on with it, woman.”

“You may call me Aria. I do worry about the filth on the streets as well. It looks poorly on the demon king. Someone ought to take care of it. I’m sure once you return to your mansion, the issue will start to improve.”

I wasn’t necessarily bad with my words either. I had implied that he was the filth on the streets and that he was on my list to be taken care of.

“Charmed.” He responded before continuing to walk away.

His entourage followed, including Devon and Min. Devon looked back at me hesitantly. His eyes were filled with curiosity. He wanted to ask questions, even now. As for Min, other than that single reaction, he hadn’t acknowledged me once. When they were gone, the Truthsayer let out a long breath.

“That man is extremely dangerous. I’m pretty sure he had the previous demon king’s Truthsayer poisoned.”

“Foolish Devon.” I sniffed. “It’s your lot in life to be used, it seems.”

There was no way Devon would be here and be under Lord Tigon if he wasn’t falling for some kind of plot. I could easily see him working under yet another awful and evil noble. Min, on the other hand, was a bit touchier of a subject. I decided I didn’t want to dwell on him anymore. It would only put me in a bad mood.

“My lady?” The Truthsayer glanced at me questioningly.

“I was promised a bath!” I shot back.

“Y-yes! This way.”

I followed him into the mansion, wondering just how much more complicated this was all going to get.