The First Book of Demons (The Book of Demons Saga) (7 page)

Chapter Seventeen

“
Who is this?” Carolina asked, her eyes lidded as she reclined in the steaming water of her bath, a mound of bubbles barely concealing the pale skin of her breasts.

“My Lady,” the eunuch standing next to Alex said with a bow, “This is a human.  Lord Balthazar desires that she remain under your custody.”

Carolina’s eyes
opened, a crystallized blue, piercing Alex with her suddenly piqued curiosity. 

“
A human you say?” Carolina said, wading to the edge of the bathing pool to get a better look at Alex, her long black hair swirling in the milky water around her. 

“Yes, My Lady,” the eunuch said, bowing again
.

“Very well, you may
leave the girl with me,” Carolina said, dismissing the eunuch with a wave of her perfectly manicured hand.

The eunuch quietly shuffled out of the room, and
the demoness relaxed back into the water of her bath, not saying anything to Alexandra.  She simply sat, eyes closed and head resting on the edge of the large rectangular bathing pool.  The heat from the water lifted up around the room, and Alex could feel the sweat forming on her face as she stood awkwardly before the bathing beauty. 

“Do not just stand there
,” Carolina finally said, cracking an eye open to watch Alex, “disrobe and join me.”

“I..um…No that’s ok
,” Alex stammered out. “I’m fine.”

“You are filthy, you smell
awful,” Carolina said, her delicate nose scrunched in disgust, “and I will not have you in my presence as such.”

Her tone and cold stare left little room for argument. 
Alex looked down at her hands.  Her nails were caked with a mixture of dirt and dried blood, and the rest of her body was in a similar condition.  She glanced around the small room, searching for privacy.  For the most part the space was empty, tiled from ceiling to floor in a soft red marble.  The only furniture was two thin tables filled with bottles of various liquids.  She was not left with much of a choice.  She turned her back to the demoness who was watching her intently from the water. 

“I’m not going to bite for heaven’s sake,” Carolina said with a heavy sigh, the tips of her fangs peaking past her lips and glistening in the soft candlelight of the bathing room.  “There is no need to be so shy, girl.”

Carolina waded to the edge of the pool and rose from the water.  Stepping out, the soapy water sliding down her slender hips, she padded over to Alex who was blushing profusely. 
She raised a wet hand to Alexandra’s shoulder, cleanly slicing through the dirtied fabric of her shirt with a single pointed claw.  The garment slid off and fell to the ground, Alex slapping an arm over her suddenly exposed breasts as she squeaked in surprise. 

“Much better,” Carolina said with a smirk, turning away from Alex and stepping back into the water.  “Now, remove the rest and get in.”

Alexandra removed her blood caked blue jeans and tipped toed to the edge of the pool, trying as best she could to protect her modesty as she lowered herself into the hot water.  The water felt amazing, and she soon relaxed, sinking into the perfumed bath water.  She stiffened as Carolina made her way over to her, her cheeks heating to a rosy glow.

“Don’t be so shy girl,” Carolina chided
, as she reached out and grabbed Alex by the wrist and pulled her closer.  “I want you to tell me about your kind.  It has been many centuries since we have been graced with the presence of a human.  ”

“My name is Alexandra,” Alex
said with a pout, “Why is everyone calling me girl?”

Carolina tilted her
head at the question, a shapely brow arching. 

“That’s what you are,” Carolina
replied. 

“Well I’m not that young,” Alex protested, “you don’t have to call me ‘girl’ all the time.”

“Age has nothing to do with it,” Carolina said, leaning over the edge of the pool to grab a glass bottle with a pearly liquid inside. “You have never lain with a man.  You are still but a girl.”

Alex
blushed, trying to hide her face behind her hair. 

“How did you know
that?” She asked.

Carolina
chuckled at the girl’s confusion. 

“
It is in your scent, girl,” Carolina said, pulling the cork out of the glass bottle.

“My…
scent?” Alex asked, her brows pulling together.

“Yes, your scent,” Carolina said as she poured a handful of the liquid into her palm
. “You can tell much about a person from their scent.”

Alex thought for a moment.  So, that’s why
everyone was calling her a girl, but this also brought a slew of new questions.  Her blush deepened as a thought crossed her mind.

“
What kinds of things can you smell?” Alex asked.

“
Where one is from, or where they have been,” Carolina elaborated as she moved behind Alex and began massage her scalp with the thick liquid.  “Even a person’s emotions, desires, arousal, if they have not learned how to master their aura, as you have not.”

“You can smell all that?” Alex gasped, a mix of amazement and embarrassment.  This certainly explained a few things. 

“Yes, of course,” Carolina said, gliding through the water, to come in front of Alex.  “Now rinse, and you shall wash my hair.” 

Chapter Eighteen

The
Devasi palace buzzed with rumors of the fight with Baal.  Balthazar and Tavi returned the previous evening with a bound and beaten Hasan, and a very peculiar creature.  Neither of the royal demon lords said a word of what had transpired.  When morning came and went with still not a breath of news, the Council respectfully requested Balthazar’s presence and an explanation.  They now sat around the rectangular table in the council chambers awaiting his arrival.  The newest council member, Lady Adira’s replacement, shifted uncomfortably in his, his rotund belly making it difficult for him to move.  He could feel the eyes of the other Council members on him.  It was a terribly unusual thing for a demon to be overweight, and Jahan was used to getting strange looks.  It wasn’t his fault he liked food so much, and despised any form of physical activity.  He had learned long ago that he could do a perfectly good job of telling others what to do without much effort at all.  And it seemed to work for him as he was now the new Khaja, or Master of the Palace Staff.  It was a very prestigious position, and if he had a wife, she would have no doubt been very proud of him.  Jahan, however, found no use for such a thing.  It would just be another responsibility that would require copious amounts of physical activity in the form of sex, something he had decided he could do without. 

Arastoo
, the Master Enchanter, fiddled absently with the embroidered edge of his robe.  He let out a heavy sigh and reached for his goblet, taking a long sip of the favored sugar wine, Tivi.  Darius, the Divan and right hand to the Lord Sultan, eyed him from the other side of the table.  He had known Arastoo for many years, and he was not a demon without flaws.  His blood was special, carrying the ability to perform small amounts of magic, but as was a common trait amongst the line of Enchanters, he was gangly and peculiar.  His way of thinking was inherently flawed; different from the way normal demons thought.  Yet, the members of his blood line had always been tied to the royal families and positions of prestige.  The magic in their blood had the potential to create powerful heirs when combined with a more powerful demon, such as that of the royals. 

“Lord Balthazar is a busy demon, I’m sure he will arrive
as soon as he is able,” Darius said, his attention returning to the pile of edicts that he was reviewing.  They were the direct orders of the Lord Sultan, and Darius spent most of his day reading through them. He had a constant backpile of them, and he was using this interim between Lord Sultans to get caught up.  The stack in his lap was the last of Sultan Sami’s royal decrees.  Darius would review them for any written errors, cross check the actual information with his personal notes, and finally he would place the royal seal at the bottom of the decorated parchment page before sending it off to the royal libraries for filing and execution.  It was as exhausting a process as it sounded and he looked forward to finishing them for a brief moment before the new Lord Sultan would be anointed.

“Tavi is curiously absent as well,” Arastoo said,
setting his glass back down with undue force.  Darius glanced at Arastoo through his brows.  Tavi was naturally accorded more leniency than a normal council member; he was after all a prince of the kingdom.

Balthazar finally arrived, late into the afternoon, dressed once more in the solid white silk robes of the Lord Sultan, Tavi by his side
.

“
Who is this?” Balthazar asked as he settled onto the white cushion at the head of the table.  His ashen blue eyes were fixed intently on the fat demon.

“Lady Adira has chosen Jahan as her replacement,
” Darius said, motioning for the demon to speak up.  

“
Lord Balthazar,” Jahan said, bowing his head, “it is a supreme honor to serve on this council.” 

“Why has this council summoned me?”
Balthazar asked shifting his gaze onto the other members.  Arastoo’s jaw hung slightly ajar at the blatant disrespect.  Even a fully anointed Lord Sultan had to answer to the Council.  Balthazar knew precisely why he was summoned, and his feigned ignorance was a jab at their legitimacy. 

“We are owed an explanation,” Arastoo said, lifting his pointed nose into the air.

“I owe you nothing,” Balthazar said coldly, his eyes narrowing at Arastoo. 

“How dare you!” Arastoo snapped, his face turning red. “We are the Council, and you are still but a prince. We are owed an
explanation.” 

“
Baal believed he was owed something,” Balthazar said, “and he is no more.  Raise your voice to me in disrespect again, and a far worse fate will befall you.”

Arastoo shrank back onto his cushion at the darkness in the young princes eyes.  Silence hung in the room, and Jahan tried his best to blend into the furniture.  The last thing he wanted to do was catch the wrath of Balthazar.

“Lord Balthazar,” Darius spoke in an attempt to soothe the tensions in the room, “I believe what the Lord Enchanter is trying to say is that we are all merely concerned.  Rumors spread quickly, and we have heard disturbing things.”

“There is no need for such feelings,” Balthazar said. “This council is dismissed.”

Jahan passed a glance at the other council members.  He had expected so much more.  He needed to know what happened, and more importantly what this girl was they had brought back.  He had his suspicions about this creature, and if it turned out to be right, it did not bode well for him. 

The Council members filed out of the room, their shoulders slumped in defeat
.  They were not happy about the events that had just transpired.  Balthazar was making very clear the type of ruler he intended to be.

“You know they were expecting more information than that,” Tavi said once the other members had left the room.  He would never speak in such a casual manner in the presence of anyone else, but in private he knew he could always be frank with his elder brother.

“Of course,” Balthazar re
plied, “They always expect more. It does not mean they shall receive it.”

“What of
Hasan?”  Tavi asked, reaching for a piece of the cut fruit that was on the table.  What Hasan did was unthinkable, and stupid.  He actually believed that Baal was going to make him the new Lord Sultan, as if Baal alone had any power to do so.  But, since Hasan was a prince, it seriously complicated matters.  The ideal would be to simply execute the brat, but aside from in open combat, it was unlawful to kill a prince. 

“I have a special punishment in mind for him,” Balthazar said, the chill of his words cutting into Tavi. 

“
And what about the human,” Tavi said popping the red fleshy piece of fruit in his mouth.  They both knew what was being left unsaid.  The human defeated Raza.  Granted, he left himself open underestimating her, but she killed him.  Raza was a powerful demon, and would have posed a great threat, even to Balthazar. 

“
I have use for her,” Balthazar said, a troubled look in his eyes.

Chapter Nineteen

Balthazar sat behind his
father’s desk, eyes closed and hands wresting on the knees of his crossed legs.  His face was serene, but beneath that calm exterior lurked turmoil.  Time was running out.  He needed the human’s cooperation.  But she was so damned defiant.  He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind.  His concentration had become increasingly difficult to maintain over the past few days, ever since the human had come into his life.  She was supposed to make his task easier, but instead she was beginning to complicate things.  Her scent lingered in his mind.  A hint of Anouri fruit tinged her smell.  It was peculiar, but he found it pleasing, the Anouri fruit being among his favorite foods.  The human was a bundle of contradictions.  She spoke the language of the nobility, yet her behavior was clumsy and unrefined.  She was weak and vulnerable, yet blatantly disrespectful, as if she had a death wish.  His chest rumbled, annoyance at his inability to push the girl from his mind.

“
I can come back,” a strong voice broke through Balthazar’s thoughts, “if now is not a good time.”

Balthazar’s eyes snapped open, h
ard and focused on the old demon that stood before him, leaning heavily on his gnarled staff.

“
I believe you summoned me,” Salaman said, sitting on a thick cushion, his old joints crackling as he settled himself into a comfortable position, “again.”

“
I have the human,” Balthazar said.

“
So you do,” Salaman said. “How fortuitous.” 

“You will
tell me how to use her,” Balthazar said, narrowing his eyes.  He was reaching the end of his patience with this old demon.

The old demon
sighed heavily as he stroked at his thinning white beard, the only hair he had left on his body.  His eyes trailed to the ceiling in thought.  Faster than a heartbeat Balthazar was out of his seat, the old demon dangling in his clawed grasp.  He pulled Salaman close to his face, his fingers wrapping tighter around the wrinkled throat of the old demon. 

“
You are wasting my time,” he said, his fingers tightening fractionally.

“I would not dare
,” Salaman said, his body limp and voice calm in spite of his current situation.

Balthazar opened his fingers, dropping the old demon to the hard floor with a thump. 
Salaman picked himself up, his fingers prodding at the forming bruises on his neck.  He straightened his robes, and then lifted his gaze to Balthazar.

“The human is weak,” Balthazar said
, turning away, “and disrespectful.  I do not see how she can possibly assist me.”

A smile wrinkled the old demon’s face as he noted the change in Balthazar’s aura when the girl was mentioned.  He had come prepared to disappoint the young prince, but it appeared he did not have to after all.  Salaman pulled a crisp square of parchment from his robe pocket and held it out to Balthazar. 

“We must awaken her powers,” he said, as the young prince took the paper. 

It wa
s a list with only three items.  Three very rare items.  A griffin egg, the underscale of a water dragon, and the ashes of a phoenix. 

“Take the girl
with you to collect these,” Salaman said, “You will need her.”