The Demon King’s Hero Of Light - Volume 1 Chapter 145 145 Prince Groznik Silvermane

Aella smiled at the dwarf before her and said, “Thank you for allowing me this far. I was wondering if I would actually get to meet a dwarf of the royal family, and am honored to actually meet you, Crown Prince Groznik Silvermane. I am Gargoyle King Aella of the Demons, and these two are Frederik, my regent, and Alfred, the Hero of Light.”

The dwarf had started to turn away from her when she started speaking, but at the announcement of his name, she had his entire attention.

“How do you know my name?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“I was told of you by the king of the elves on our trip over. He said you would be the dwarf with a black burn scar on your nose,” said Aella, making sure to not mention what else the elven king had said. He wasn’t very impressed with this dwarf, and she was curious to see why.

Prince Silvermane rubbed the burn mark on his nose self-consciously, then nodded slowly. “Why are you here, demon king?”

“Your people have something of mine, and I have come to retrieve it,” she said, deciding to cut straight to the heart of her visit.

“A stone carving?” he asked, “I have it. Is that your only reason for coming?”

Several dwarves entered at that point, hauling a stone slab between them, and Aella approached it. The carvings had a being of light shooting a beam of light at several different people. She recognized the dwarf, the elf, the human, and the gargoyle, but there were several more she didn’t. She decided it must represent the deity that Bridgette had told her about bestowing the heroes of the different peoples of the world with their powers.

“The elves have one of these, but they refuse to hand it over until after I spoke to you about the issues between your two peoples. I personally don’t care what your problems are with them, but I want what’s mine,” she said, looking up at the dwarven prince.

“I wondered if that was why the elven king traveled with you to the edge of our lands,” grumbled the dwarf.

“I also have another issue, that I wished to bring up,” said Aella, touching the stone slab softly. She wondered if she could place it into her magical bag.

“Oh? Does it also involve the elves?” snarled the prince, obviously not impressed with them.

“No, actually. It involves a good drink at a bar,” she said with another smile, turning away from the carving to see the suspicious look on his face.

“What could the demons possibly know about a good drink? You’ve just lost your kingdom after fighting your way out of the fighting pits your kind throws your children into.”

“That’s partially true,” she said with a nod. “I did fight my way out of the fighting pits and my kingdom to the north of these mountains is gone. However, we no longer allow children in the fighting pits, as I don’t intend to be killed quite as easily as my predecessors have, and I have safely relocated all of my people far from here. The human church is not going to cause them a problem again for a very long time.”

“It must have been a great undertaking to move so many so quickly. What threat prompted such action?” asked Prince Silvermane.

“It came to my attention that all of the problems plaguing me as the new king were directly related to the human church. The best method of removing all of the threat was to move my entire kingdom,” she said with a shrug.

He gaped at her for a moment then shook his head. “I think I may need that drink after all.”

“I have an acquaintance who owns a magical bar. He wanted to know if you would be willing to allow him a space to open that bar within your city?” she said, thinking of how easy it had been with the elven king.

“Do you mean Bob?” asked the prince with a frown. “He has been trying to get a bar in our city for years. We keep telling him no. Magic is frowned upon by most dwarves and he is very much a magical being.”

Aella sighed. She was afraid it had been a fluke with the elven king. Of course, it would be more difficult with the dwarves, since they were the ones, she had agreed to help Bob with. He probably knew it wouldn’t be so easy, too.

“What are your chief complaints preventing him from opening a bar?” she asked. Maybe she could do something about them.

“You are really trying to help him, aren’t you?” asked Prince Silvermane curiously.

“Yes. I wouldn’t call him a friend, but I did agree to help him,” she said.

He sighed himself and turned back to the table, sitting in the chair on the other side and motioning for them to sit as well. She was amused to see that the chairs on their side didn’t have backs to them.

“In order to open a bar, you would have to physically build the bar. I understand Bob is magical and can just insert his bar over whatever existing building is available, as he explained to me a while ago, but my dwarves will not want to go into a place they didn’t see get built. If you, as a king, would stoop so low as to get your hands dirty, then I shall allow it.”

She raised an eyebrow. This guy had no idea how dirty she had been in the past. She thought over the blood and mud that had covered her in her short life and laughed out loud.

“I can handle those requirements. When can I start?”

“Wait just a minute, now,” he said, holding up his hands. “All building projects have to be approved by the crown, specifically my sister, and you have to purchase the location, as well as all the materials going into the build. My dwarves don’t mind getting paid to build the bar for you, but you would be expected to get in there and help out.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” she said.

Leaning back, he studied her and her companions for several minutes in silence. “You are nothing like I expected. What specifically did the human church do to cause you to move your whole kingdom? I see you have the Hero of Light with you, so he must have swapped sides?”

“They released a storm monster to try and kill my entire kingdom when I raised a magical barrier between the two kingdoms. After dealing with it, I was informed that spies from the church were everywhere throughout my people and that they had an even more impressive monster tucked away. A monster that if released would cause trouble for all of the realm, not just my kingdom.”

She had his attention now. It was obvious he knew what she was talking about.

“I was told by one of the spies in my advisors, that the humans were considering releasing this monster to deal with me, when I didn’t immediately give up with all their prior attempts to overthrow me. I moved my people far enough away I’m sure this threat won’t bother them, but your kingdom, on the other hand, would be right in the crosshairs if it was to escape its bonds.”

“The moving mountain,” muttered the dwarf. “You have proof they still have it contained?”

“All of those I spoke to under my power, who knew anything about it, swore it was still contained, however, when I spoke to the former leaders of the church, they said that the restraints were crumbling. I have no idea if it is still contained after the recent explosion, or not.”

“This is far more important than anything else we have discussed here today,” he said, standing quickly. “Come, we must discuss this in more depth in my keep.”

She stood with Frederik and Alfred, and watched as the dwarves pulled open a large door behind the prince. It had been seated so well; no seam had been visible until they went to open it. Aella wondered how many other doors she may have walked past without realizing they were there.

As she stepped through the door, her breath left her in a whoosh of surprise. She was standing on a balcony, with wide steps carved out of the stone, sweeping down ahead of her. She could see the walls were carved into great pillars, holding up the mountain itself. The dwarves had hollowed the entire mountain out, and built a city into the walls. Far below them, she could see the fires of massive forges keeping the vast area warm. The carving stairs trailed over the entire space, allowing the dwarves to travel from place to place as needed. She couldn’t imagine the planning and math that would have been needed for such a place as this. The small noble houses she had moved into her new city had seemed so extravagant to her, until now.