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TOAD – Chapter 52
TOAD – Chapter 52
The demon king was a man of few words, and we had ridden in silence for the last few hours. Behind us was a long column of soldiers, with the demon king riding at the head. Part of me thought that this was hardly the safest position to be within the army. Then again, it showed a great deal of confidence on the demon king’s side, and it explained why he had so many followers. Who knows? Maybe he actually could back it all up. As for talking, I didn’t care much whether we talked or not, but I was a bit curious about the destination.
“Yes...” He responded with a slow and deliberate pause. “Each established demon line has a head, a patriarch that presides over all of the demons from their family. The heads make up a parliament, which is the center of control from the demon realm.”
“So, you don’t have all of the power?” I raised an eyebrow.
He snorted. “The parliament can only meet to make decisions involving the fate of the entire realm. This is a rare occurrence. Sometimes years go in between meetings. This is why they select a noble family to otherwise reside in the kingdom. As long as I have the support of the parliament, then my authority is unchallenged.”
“It seems like there are those who are starting to challenge it.”
“A few houses always try to sway the parliament to selecting a new family to run things. Some go along with them hoping to rise to power. This rarely, if ever, goes anywhere. My strength is too great. Short of a complete civil war, they won’t be able to remove my family from our rightful place at the top.”
“So, I take it the parliament is meeting soon?”
“Yes, the parliament has been called, and thus all of the houses will be meeting.”
“Not in the capital?”
“The capital is my seat of power. The parliament would feel pressured if they had to make decisions directly under the king’s domain. That’s why the house of the parliament is located in another city in the middle of the demon realm. We’re not too far away from that city now.”
“I see...”
It didn’t seem that the demon king was averse to talking, but any question I asked had a very direct response that seemed to offer no room for chitchat. I was glad that he was answering my questions, but I felt a bit like I was grilling him.
“I will be announcing your presence to the realm as well.” He declared. “You will be by my side during the parliament.”
My eyes widened. “Is that a good idea? I thought you said that I had pissed off a lot of people.”Vissit for updates
The demons did not line up in the streets or make some grand display with the demon king there. At best, they made sure to not be anywhere in his path or the path of the soldiers, but otherwise, they seemed to go about their day as if this was nothing new. I supposed if most of these people were nobles, then everyone else would be used to seeing such people and wouldn’t react much, even for the demon king.
As a result, we moved through the city rather quickly, approaching the center and that cathedral-like building. That had to be the seat of the parliament, then. The building was extremely tall and ornate. It would have had to be tall to be seen outside of the thick city walls. The building was also covered with various art, depicting monsters and demons through wall carvings and statues.
As I was looking up at it and admiring the spires at the top, a sudden glint caught my eye. An object quickly flew toward me, but just as I started to focus on it, a hand flew in front of me. I went cross-eyed for a moment as I focused on the object that had seemingly been stopped a few inches from my face. It was a crossbow bolt. The hand holding it came from none other than the demon king, who had seemingly caught it in midflight.
Just as I managed to register what had happened, the demon king leaped off of his horse. He jumped onto the wall of the cathedral and then began to scale it faster than I could even run. At this point, the soldiers behind had figured out something was happening. A flurry of horses rode around me as the demon created a protective barrier, although they still kept their distance. By this point, the demon king had already made it to the ledge where I had seen the glint. He charged inside, and a few moments later there was a shout followed by silence.
The silence lingered on for five minutes. The soldiers kept up their protective wall around me seemingly unperturbed. No one followed the king to make sure he was still alight. That’s when the door burst open. I could hear sounds from the inside, people letting out shouts of surprise like a beehive had been disturbed. The king strolled out, and in his hands was a small man firmly in his grasp.
“Speak, or I will break every bone in your body.” He threw the man to the ground at the foot of the parliament doors. “Who hired you?”
“No one!” The man responded, baring his teeth.
The demon king lifted his foot and then stamped down on the man’s leg. There was a crack, and the man let out a resounding scream.
“One last chance... tell me!”
“Fuck off!” he spat.
“Very well...” The demon king reached for his sword, but just as he was pulling it out, and gentle hand touched his, stopping him from drawing it.
He turned to me, his eyebrows raising for a moment.
“Perhaps... you should allow me to question him.” I smiled. “It’s my specialty.”
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