"It is almost time, my King."
"Ok, I'm almost done here. Thank you, Kuiper." Reagan was looking at himself in the mirror while finishing closing his robe's buttons.
Kuiper, his closer servant, the one who would talk directly to the King, bowed and left the room.
One last glance at is reflection. Reagan was always very elegant, although he didn't need much to look great. His dark hair and dark blue eyes were perfectly contrasting with his pale white skin. His high cheekbones, strong jawline and straight nose were harmonic. The slightly plump red lips were always serious, but the tip of his fangs would always be visible. As one of the kings of the demon race, he was taller, stronger, had longer and sharper fangs, as well as nails that could dig easily into flesh. Especially humans. And, to complete, strong black huge wings, as well as pointy black horns with its tips golden.
He was not the vanity type of male, but that was a very special day: after many years, his sister was finally returning home. Not under the best circumstances, but yet… he would be reunited with Earla, his younger and only sibling.
Reagan left his chambers and the guards accompanied him to the great hall, where his throne was fixed. Earla would be directed there and, after this, both could head to the dining hall in order to celebrate her return.
"Is everything ready?" Reagan asked Kuiper, who was walking by his side, in silence.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Everything is ready for Her Royal Highness's arrival." The voice of the smaller demon was paced and calm. He hardly lost his temper and almost all the time had his mind settled and capable of fast thinking. His loyalty to Reagan was what gave him the status of Advisor's Head.
Reagan passed by the last column and turned left, entering the Great Hall. The moment he stepped on the red velvet carpet, all subjects and servants present bowed to him. He climbed the stairs and sat on his white marble throne. Now, he just had to wait, and wait he did for a very short period. Soon, the double door opened and a commission entered.
In the middle of those guards, a tall and feminine figure stood out. She was clearly his relative, having the same beauty and inner pomposity. Apart from the opposite sex, her eyes were a bit different: the blue was lighter and its outer corner was more upright.
The moment Earla saw her brother, her eyes showed a much lighter look and she slightly smiled. In front of the stairs to the throne, she bowed and kneeled, in respect. He was her brother, but still, the King of Ghiol and should be respected and praised as so.
Reagan rose from his throne and walked to Earla, who kept her head down. His face was serious and when he stopped right in front of her, everybody held their breaths. Earla had been sent to Ghiol as a favor and signal of cooperation between kingdoms. Otherwise, she would have been sentenced to death right away for her crimes. The nobles were in doubt if he would receive her with grace or rage.
He lifted her chin with his index finger and the siblings looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, until a big smile appeared on Reagan's lips and he pulled his sister for a bear hug.
"Welcome, Princess of Ghiol! Welcome home, my beloved sister, Earla!"
The nobles applauded and after a few seconds, Reagan started to walk with his sister to the Dining Hall, while she entwined her hand on his arm.
The festivity was happening for a few hours now, and Liora was being trained by the Head of the servants to take care of the King's chambers.
"Don't touch anything that is not the bed. So you understand me? You just have to change the sheets and make sure it is impeccably clean." Luna was saying while showing Liora, who arrived a few days before and showed to be smart and of good temper. "So?"
Liora took the sheets off and put them on, very quick and perfectly done. Luna smiled. She had nothing against humans and knew that some of them suffered a lot before they arrived at Ghiol.
Humans were slaves: food slaves - demons would drain their vital energy -, sex slaves or working slaves. Liora was the last case, but Luna knew that if it was in any other kingdom, where sex slaves were common, the blond girl would be a concubine without a doubt, because she was as beautiful as an elf.
"You're more than ready to start working here. I knew you were of better use than in the kitchen. It is not hard to find kitchen staff, but someone we can trust to enter the chamber, especially the royal ones, are very rare. Now, let's go down and you can eat something before heading to the dormitories."
Liora nodded and followed Luna outside.
By the end of the festivities it was already dawn and Reagan, who rarely drank, was definitely wasted. Kuiper helped him to his room, but it was hard to carry the weight of a Demon King. His body alone was already too much, let alone with the wings. Only Royalty and high ranked nobles had wings. That was how you could tell when the child shared the blood of the family.
"Kuiper, you are the beeessst!" He said to the Advisor, grasping the demon's shoulder.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" He answered, enduring the pain. Reagan was too strong and, drunk, had no control over it.
After being left in his room, Reagan was hit by a delicious smell. He stumbled to the bed and there, the smell was even stronger. He laid with his clothes and when his head hit the pillow, he had to grab another one of those and hug.
"Hmmm." He had never smelled something so great in his life. He slept for a while and no bad dreams surrounded his mind.
The headache when he woke up was an annoying one. Reagan sat up and looked around. There was a smell lingering in the air and on his clothes and bed sheets. Faint, but still there. It was sweet, but not too much, with a touch of spice. At the same time it was mouthwatering, he didn't want to eat the owner. Instead, he wanted to sniff a little more of that.
He got up and saw his reflection on his way to the bathroom - a room where his bathtub was in and should soon be filled with hot water. He looked like shit.
After his cleaning mourning routine, which happened by the evening that day, Reagan changed clothes and headed to the office. He needed to tend to some documents before enjoying more time with his sister and, of course, listen to her version of the facts of what happened.
During his way, suddenly the familiar smell from the night before hit his nostrils. He started to sniff around and followed the scent.