Chapter 18 - No One Touches What Is Mine

They began their journey late noon, and arrived at another city in the early hours of the next morning. This time they did not camp in the woods but in the palace of the county governor. News had reached him that the king was coming and he had prepared a place for them to stay.

The governor and all the generals assembled in front of the palace gates as they welcomed king Zavian and his troop. Everyone stood in utter silence as he walked past them.

The governor led Zavian personally to his room, after ordering the soldiers to take the others to theirs;

'' Your Grace, I hope this suits your taste; '' The governor asked as he lowered his head;

Zavian cast him a side look as he walked into the room.

Draco, was his name. A short pot-bellied ancient demon, who had sworn his allegiance to Zavian. But even then, Zavian did not trust him because he was quite a cunning one. Draco was not loyal to him, Draco was only loyal to the ruling side and he knew that if something happened and he lost his throne, Draco would turn against him in a blink.

''I'll call the maids to come prepare your bath, and your meal would be served right after. Is there anything else you need, Your Grace?''

Draco asked, lowering his head again;

''That is all for now. You may leave. ''

…

Neera and the other maids were taken to the maids' chambers. After they had kept their things, they quickly went to the kitchen to prepare the king's meal. Now that Adeline was gone, Kira was their new leader since she was next in line after Adeline.

That night, the governor held a party in honor of the King. It wasn't dark yet and demons were already trooping in their numbers into the party hall, before long, the hall was filled with people.

Neera and the other maids served wine and meals to the demons.

She could feel their gaze on her, like they knew who she was. Neera knew why they were staring, but there was nothing she could do, she was a maid after all, she did not have a choice but to serve at the party.

''Indeed, she looks so much like here, I can hardly tell the difference from here; '' Draco commented as she gulped from his wine cup, his eyes staring lazily at Neera, who was pouring wine for a demon.

''Who?'' Zavian asked, as he turned to Draco, ignoring the women by his side trying to gain his attention.

''She, the one who looks like your wife. ''

Zavian's eyes turned to Neera and he stared for a moment before he reverted his eyes to the dishes in front of him;

''She is not her. ''

''I know, I can sense her human aura even from here.'' Draco said; ''But how could they look so much alike?''

Zavian picked his wine cup and gulped. ''That puzzles me even till this moment. I am yet to understand how it is possible,''

Draco shook his head; ''Your father is one hell of a crafty one, you know. '' he paused;

''If this is part of his plan, you need to avoid that woman.''

A small frown formed on Zavian's forehead; ''My father would not stoop that low, to use a powerless human to fight me, ''

Draco scoffed; ''you seem to forget that he is the devil, and the devil does not follow the rules. Right now, Lucifer would do anything within his power to come back to earth, and that includes using the person you love the most. ''

Zavian did not like the angle the discussion was leading to. What Draco meant by what he said was that he should give up every hope of him bringing his wife back. And that was not possible. After so many years, he finally found a slither of hope, and he was telling him to ignore it?

''If possible, send that woman away, to a place you would not see her… '' Draco stopped at his words when he saw the ugly glare Zavian cast him.

Zavian was about to say something in reply, when he heard Neera's voice;

''Please, let me go… '' she whimpered, as she struggled with a drunk ugly demon, who was holding onto her hand. He had called Neera over to pour him some wine and when she came, he tried to grab her.

The other demons with him laughed as they watched her struggle in vain;

''Oh, she is really stunning, I've always adored queen Delilah, who would have thought that the heavens would bring to me someone exactly like her.'' The ugly potbellied demon exclaimed excitedly as he ogled at Neera, his eyes scanning wishfully down her body.

''She is just a mere slave, you can have her all to yourself my lord!'' One of the other demons sitting around him said and the others laughed. Neera bit her lower lip as she struggled with him. Even though she knew she did not have any power or right to resist, she could not just let such ugly demon have his way with her. Just the thought of it made her want to puke.

"'Let go of me, I beg of you!'' she struggled but instantly yelped when she felt his fangs dig into her skin and blood trickled down her wrist.

''How dare you resist me? Have you forgotten your place? Just because you look like the dead queen does not make you one, you are still a mere slave…''

The old fart was still speaking when a loud slicing sound was heard in the air, and everywhere became instantly quiet.

Neera did not understand what happened until blood splashed on her face and clothes, that was when she saw the old man's hand dancing about on the ground.

The old fart held the remaining part of his hand as she screamed uncontrollably. Neera's eyes widened in shock as she looked around her, and then she saw him.

Zavian was standing, looking unbothered, there was a knife in his hand and he just tossed it away so casually like he had not just used it to split someone's arm apart.

''No-one touches what is mine. ''

Zavian's words rang out in the hall and amidst the crying old fart and the gawking demons, he walked to where Neera stood and took her hand, leading her out of the hall.