''Is this some kind of sick joke?''
The whole courtroom fell in a pin drop silence when Azrael asked again. The old man in the hospital gown growing nervous when Azrael no longer had that welcoming feeling to himself. His subjects knew when to be playful with their king and when not to take as much as a single breath of hell down their nostrils, should their king should switch moods like a light switch.
The demon on the throne was not only funny and crazy. He had the most intense mood swings that can be triggered whenever someone dared bring up the prospects of marriage to him. During his previous regime as Hell's king, they had always suggested the idea of giving hell a queen. The system of rule is quite different from any monarch rule you would find anywhere. You are not entitled to its golden throne of bones simply by being of royal blood. You can be of royal blood, but you would still have to prove your worth to its hellish citizens every two thousand years.
If you are not watchful, a common demon from hells dump can rise and be king right before your eyes. It is a system of government that is fair to all. Democratic with a tint of monarch rule.
If not that the lower demons had a say in which arch demon would get to rule them next, Lucifer, and his entire bloodline would have their chance to rule them all till hell runs out of sulfur.
The system of government gave lower ranked arch demons like Azrael the privileged to be clothed with the robe of the seven stars. The crown of venom on his head and the staff of the eye of providence firmly around his grasp. His reason for wanting to be king, when he was of the lowest rank was still unknown. More so his rank gave him away that he must have wiggled his way around the system to be elected as the new king.
The higher your rank as an arch demon, the more famous you are among the lower demons and hell's citizens at large. Lucifer is the highest ranked arch demon existing. To have his ass kicked five times consecutively by a playful and carefree arch demon from the northern part of hell was enough to make history and set records.
Records enough to earn you new foes and admirers.
Azrael face was ice-cold, murderous, and uninviting. It had the human taking cautionary steps back.
Commitment.
One thing the demon hates the most. To be committed to one thing. It gave him this vibe that he is being tied up.
Marriage is a big and scary word. It limits his access to other women he might eventually grow fond of along the way. It makes him feel submissive only to one person. Pretend to see her as the most enticing among every other woman, every day and for the rest of his immortal years.
He scoffed.
The bloody woman they want to set him up with is not even immortal. She would die and leave him after he has been attached to her and has chased other potential chicks he might encounter along the way, max fifty years after their so-called marriage.
The fact that the marriage entails taking your vows before God.
As far as he is concerned with, he has never been a big fan of the big guy up there and his ways. He wasn't going to stand before him and promise him anything.
Azrael deepened his level of irritation at the human. His audacity was not only admirable, but something must have convinced him that he would agree to such bondage without giving it a second thought.
''What would a demon like myself gain from being bound to your daughter for a lifetime?''
In his demon years, right from the start he grew an inch of his horns and learned the forbidden alphabets of the Hellish kingdom, he had always known give and take as the only means of survival.
Yes, the human wanted to be rid of his miserable life by being possessed demonically. Well, that wasn't a big issue. The man wants him to get married to his daughter, which would still only benefit this dying human before him the most.
What's in it for him?
''Gain?'' The human faked like he could not understand his question.
Azrael felt insulted that this human grabbed their attention from the start only to try to make a big fool out of him. He rested one of his hands on his laps as he leaned closer, a strand of his braided white locks dangled sexily at the side of his face.
''Yeah, gain, benefit, profit, revenue, return, earnings, share…should I keep going?''
Mr. Ashworth smiled sheepishly. His eyes rotating in their sockets in heavy confusion at what the demon was hinting at. ''What's a better gain than getting to marry my daughter freely and having a queen by your side to take the city of Hell to greater heights?''
''When have we ever told you earthlings that we wanted to take the city of Hell to greater heights? If the sickness in you hasn't also taken your eyesight you would see that Hell is already pretty established and does not require two people to make it greater.''
Most of the people in the courtroom nodded only Vanessa that had her head lowered in deep thought and understanding.
''Except you still underestimate us after ruining most of your lives with our demonic manifestations?''
''No, No, No,'' Mr. Ashworth stretched forth his hands and shook it to communicate that wasn't the point. Azrael was already taking it personally and in another way. ''That's not…'' He shook his head and continued saying, ''We have never once underestimated you. In fact, we all fear you demons and what you are capable of doing to us.''
The demon on the throne tilted his head a bit to the side in doubt.
''We praise and love you. I praise and worship each one of you without you being aware of. I once was here, many years back and made a deal with one of you to be rich in exchange for half of my wife's life.''
''That's your headache.'' Azrael dismissed.
''I cherish you demons a lot,'' he then fell to his knees in total submission before them. ''Because I am nothing today without your influences in my life. That's why to show my level of gratitude to the hellish kingdom, I have come to give one of my daughter up to be your bride to do however you please with her and give you full access to my body to destroy until the point of death and take up my soul and drag it down to Hell where it truly belongs.'' He bowed completely before Azrael's golden throne.
Azrael palming a side of his face in complete boredom as he leaned sideways on his golden throne. Eyes dropping in half-sleep at the human for the longest of time. During that period, Mr. Ashworth had his head completely bowed in submission as all eyes were turned to Azrael for a response.
Azrael faced one of the bishops assigned to his immediate needs, and it was forbidden for any of them to stare into the eyes of whoever sat on the throne.
''Please, what other languages do human speak apart from English?'' He whispered to the young bishop closest to where he sat lazily. The bishop moved his head in thought, all the while careful not to make eye contact.
''I am not quite familiar with their ways of life, Your evilness.''
Azrael sighed as he pushed himself into a more upright position on the throne.
''You be more dramatic or poetic than that, human and I would never lower my standards just to be hell bound with your daughter and lie right in the face of God that I would love and cherish her with all my heart. I believe my question was basic and direct, if I am to eventually be joined with your daughter tell me one thing that I would be benefiting from the forced union?''
Mr. Ashworth raised his head up to stare at the demon.
''Surely your daughter would be happy to have hell's most beautiful and sexually active demon all to herself. What's my reward to be chained down to your daughter until the moment she takes in her last mortal breath?''
Everyone nodded in agreement at Azrael's bold claims. His unusual looks even for a demon was enough to turn a thousand heads to himself. One of the many reasons, Lucifer has to be against the demon.
Mr. Ashworth didn't know what to say or respond until an idea struck his mind.
''My daughter currently has and manages one of earth's leading exorcism centers in the world.''
Azrael gave him the 'keep talking looks.'
''Because of her damned dream to be an exorcist brought about her rebellion to me and I want to make her regret it. Her exorcism center currently houses about seventy-five percent of demonic possession cases of all types, and she has ninety percent success rate in each case.''
A haunting smile overtook his seamless face. His eyes sparkling with devilish mischief.
''If you bond with her now and agree to have her as your bride, both her and her damn exorcism center will be in the palm of your hands to destroy as you see it best.''
''Once Hell's paradise falls, the only hope of mankind falls with it. And demons could then roam around freely without the fear of any exorcism centers on their tail and the will of Hell would be done without any strong opposition in their way. Does that please His excellence and convincing enough to have my daughter as his bride?''
Azrael closes his eyes greatly pleased. He opened it and smiled like he would do when all his enemies should gather around his feet to be forced with one of hell's nightmare pies.
''You just earned yourself a good son-in-law,'' He moved two of his fingers in the air and a tornado of black smoke and ash danced in the air, growing bigger with each swirl. ''And I promise to love and respect her until she has had enough.''
He chuckled darkly and kissed the little tornado moving few inches from his hands in the air before sending it to Mr. Ashworth.
The essence of Azrael's demon had all two-hundred and six bones of Mr. Ashworth snapping all at once. His cries of pain could be heard at Heaven's pearly gates, but it did not kill him. The demonic essence got vacuumed through his mouth and nose.
Azrael nodded admist the moans of pain of the newly possessed human struggling at his feet.
Introducing himself and getting to know his bride was a more enough reason to start a new life on earth to conquer and destroy.
But most importantly, he smirked.
For Honeymoon.