The Demon King’s Hero Of Light - Volume 1 Chapter 142 142 The Elven King

Aella slowly stood from her chair when she first spotted the elven king. The first thing she noticed, as he approached her, was how young he appeared. Did elves not age that fast? Or was he a new king? If he was new, then this meeting could get very interesting.

“Welcome to my forest,” said the elven king as he drew close enough to speak to her. “I hope the hospitality shown you from my elves has been satisfactory?”

“We have no complaints,” said Aella, seeing that he sported a rather unusual hair style in comparison with the other elves they had seen.

Both sides of his head were shaved, and the hair on top of his head was long, pinned to the back of his head with a type of bladed hairpiece that she really wanted to study. Could it double as a weapon? If so, she really wanted one.

“Forgive me for making you wait so long for my arrival, as I was busy along my eastern borders. The dwarves are attempting to push against our borders and harvest wood that isn’t theirs,” he said in a deep growl that intrigued her.

“You don’t have good relations with the dwarves?” she asked, wondering if the clothing he was wearing was actually his battle garb.

It was a dark blue, almost black leather with green highlights that she had at first thought were merely decorative because he was the king, but the more he spoke, she decided maybe it wasn’t just for show. Perhaps elves don’t normally go around in leather? The daggers attached to his left hip were perfectly placed for him to quickly grab and throw if the need arose, and she was finding herself drawn to him in more ways than one. Maybe she needed to avoid the elves next year during that specific month

“No, when my father made the border agreements with them, it was only for the duration of his reign. Now that I’m in power, they’ve lost their bloody minds!” he threw his hands into the air and shook his head in frustration.

Aella nodded. She could understand people losing their minds. Many had done that when she came to power.

“How long have you been king?” she asked.

“Three years. I’ve tried to send people over to speak with them, but they refuse to speak with us because I had one guy insult them. One! Can you believe that? I’ve tried everything short of actually going to war with them, and I’m at my wits end!”

“Do you have advisors to offer thoughts?” she asked, thinking of the things she had learned from hers, even though some of the offered advice was ignored.

He frowned and said, “Unfortunately, I found most of my father’s advisors lacking in respect for my newfound position, and had to remove them from their positions. It has been a very frustrating couple of years.”

“I haven’t been king for that long, but I understand the troubles you’ve had to go through,” said Aella.

“Do you?” he asked, turning to her in surprise. “I thought you had to fight some arena battle to prove yourself as king, and that the advisors of your kingdom basically ran everything.”

“That is true, I did have to win the competition to become king, but when I met my advisors and realized how poor things had become, I had to step up despite no formal training.”

“See, I was always intended to be king. I took lessons and trained from a small child for the moment I would claim the throne from my father, and yet when that time came, I found those who were supposed to support me, instead were trying to lead for me. Not one of the advisors my father had placed in power actually wished to help me. They all had their own agendas and I was in their way.”

“That’s harsh,” she said, shaking her head. “Did you kill them?”

“What? No! Why would I do that? I merely fired them and placed others in their positions. They weren’t trying to actually harm me, just do what they wanted despite me.”

She looked at the young elven king before her and realized there was a whole world of difference in them. Nothing she knew from her personal experience as king would probably help him. She was able to gain respect from her people through fear. He would not dare to do that.

“I plan to visit the dwarves next on my trip, would you care for me to speak with them and see if I can work something out?” she asked.

“While I’m not refusing, I am curious why you would be willing to do such a thing,” he asked, looking at her cautiously.

“My kingdom to the north is no more. My palace there has been destroyed. The humans are fighting a massive plague that is sure to wipe out most of the evil church that controlled them so completely. I have moved my people far from here, and construction of new cities has been going well. Yet, I still have questions that I believe you can answer,” Aella explained.

The elven king glanced towards the mountains before looking back at her. “I was aware that something had happened to the north, but I had no idea it was to that magnitude. What is it you are looking for?”

“I’m sure you are familiar with the heroes?” she asked.

“They were a serious part of my tutelage as a child. What about them?”

“It came to my attention that a series of carvings were made and placed in a building in the mountains to the north of my previous kingdom, that detailed the history and knowledge of the heroes for future generations, yet, when I went to study them, they were all gone save one. You should have one for me, yes?”

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then nodded. “I believe there may be a large stone carving in safe keeping, among the historical objects of my people. If you are willing to speak with the dwarves for me, then I would be happy to provide it to you.”

Aella knew this was probably the best she was going to get. “Then I suppose we should be heading towards the dwarves?”

“Yes. I will arrange for transport, so we might travel faster than it would be by foot.”

The king turned towards some of the elves that were near, but not too near, and waved for one to come close.

“Send for the lions,” he said to the elven guard.

The elves eyes widened and he nodded hesitantly before turning to run off.

“Lions?” asked Aella, “Forgive me, but what are those?”

“Normal lions are like giant cats with a thick mane around the head on the males. They can stand as tall as 4 feet on all four legs, but these lions are much larger and have wings. My people have bred them for many years to be mounts for the royal family in times of need. I was able to get here so fast by riding on one,” explained the elven king, motioning for them to follow him as he turned and started walking deeper into the village.

Frederik and Alfred followed behind Aella, not making a sound. She wondered if they could have traveled faster on their own, but didn’t want to give away any of their abilities to the king if he wasn’t a true ally and only wanted to use her to make peace with the dwarves.

“Your Majesty,” she said after a moment of thought, feeling weird saying those words, “I wonder if I might be able to work out a deal with you, to make sure you don’t back out on your word while we are visiting with the dwarves for you.”

“Oh? What’s that?” he asked, pausing and turning to look at her carefully.

“I have an acquaintance who wishes to open a bar here, in your kingdom. I was wondering if you might allow that to occur immediately, before we leave?”

“Open a bar?” he asked, puzzled, glancing at Alfred and then at Frederik as if one of them might be the one she was speaking of.

“Yes, his name is Bob. He is very interested in being able to provide drinks to your people. I am sure he would be willing to meet any rules and regulations you might have in place concerning the running of a bar in your forest.”

“There are a few places in the capital that I suppose could count as a bar, but I’m not sure how much business a demon would be able to get. My people are not very interested in those that are different.”

“He’s not a demon,” she said, shaking her head, trying to think of how to explain Bob to the king. “He’s different. I’m honestly not sure how to explain it. He asked me to get him a location here worked out, and he would deal with the rest.”

“Well, if that’s all he’s requesting, then I suppose that would be alright.”

The king glanced around the small village for a moment, then pointed to a run-down little shack that looked like it had once had better days.

“He may have that place for his bar,” he said.

No sooner had he stopped speaking, then there was a flash of light, and the shack no longer looked run down. In fact, it looked brand new, and had grown in size.

“Good day, Your Majesties,” said Bob, poking his head out from the doorway. “Would you care for a drink before you depart?”