Page 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Trey guided me away from our house in the demon world, hands on my shoulders, a blindfold over my eyes. “Almost there,” he promised.

“It feels like it’s been an hour, so I hope so,” I muttered, grumpy because I wanted to know what this surprise was.

Elrith giggled next to me. “Mama doesn’t like surprises.”

“No, she does not,” Kayden agreed with him. “That’s why we try to give her one at least every few months. Keeps things interesting.”

I growled at him, which earned me laughs from everyone.

We’d walked through a mostly silent area, then through a noisy area full of voices and sounds that I assumed was the city, then to a quiet area again. Were we on the opposite side of the city? I tried to mentally picture the area and the side I thought we were on was just a field.

Trey stopped me and removed the blindfold.

After my eyes adjusted to the bright sun, my hands flew to my mouth as I gasped and tears sprang to my eyes. We stood atop a small hill that allowed us to look over the field below. Only, there wasn’t a field anymore. Over a dozen houses had been built, creating a little suburban area, and there were already demons living in the houses, tending to their yards, which I noticed had not grass and flowers, but crops behind each one.

The reason for the tears was the excitement that my people were getting better housing and that my grandparents and parents had helped with this in secret, but also because every door had a lily with a snake wrapped around it. My symbol that the demons had claimed as a protective symbol, one to ward off danger.

Trey wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “We thought you might like it.”

“Was it Grandpa Rhys?” I asked.

“No, it was Trey,” Mason answered before Trey could even open his mouth.

I looked up at Trey in shock. “You?”

He smiled softly, love seeping down our bond, and said, “Rhys and I have been working together, he’s been training me in architecture and I’ve been learning from the various trades so that I could accomplish this for you. When I saw how sad the desolateness made you, I knew I had to do something. Something to see you smile just like this.” He poked a corner of my mouth and smiled wide. “We have a lot more plans as well. Mason created a map from his flights over the land with Kayden’s help and we’re working with Jol and the Demon Council to develop the area in a way that allows the demons to thrive the best they can. Not like those of Jinla, but in a way that the demons need.”

“Like leaving the mountainous areas alone, so Huk and the other giant demons have space to roam and hunt. We really want to ensure we don’t hurt their food supplies,” Kayden explained.

“We’ve also given the hellhounds a specific route so we can patrol the world to keep it safe and ensure we have all of our hunting grounds and breeding areas,” Dhun said behind me.

I spun around with a smile for my friend and he pulled me away from Trey for a hug. “Dhun!”

“Hello, Lily.”

I’d known Dhun had suggested that the hellhounds act as a patrolling force, but to hear that the routes had been established already and he had taken into account hunting and breeding showed how much Dhun had matured in such a short time.

“I can’t believe you’ve all accomplished so much in such a short amount of time and without me knowing,” I admitted. “What else have you done behind my back?”

“We also created a training facility so that we have our own protective force,” Dhun answered.

“What?” I gasped.

“They’re called the Demon Guard,” Kora said in a really excited high-pitched voice. “They’ll protect us from invaders.”

Wow. They really had been doing a lot without me realizing it. To be fair, I’d been really focused on my training and the orphanage for the past month.

I hugged each of them, including the kids, and smiled at my family. “Thank you all. Seriously, this makes me so happy to hear and to see. I can’t wait to see how much we can improve the lives here and how well the demons will thrive.”

“Princess!” Zoman called as he ran towards us, a hand in the air.

“Hello, Zoman,” I greeted.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he advised and ran a hand through his hair, between his horns, smoothing down the wild locks. “The farmers are asking for you to visit the crops again. The field on the east side.”

“Oh? Is something wrong?” I asked and immediately started heading in that direction. Mason and Kayden flanked me while Trey picked up Elrith and Dhun picked up Kora to follow.

“You’ll see,” he said cryptically.

“How goes your search for a mate?” I asked with a sideways glance at him as we walked.

His cheeks flushed, and he looked away from me. “Fine.”

“Oh ho! Did you find someone you fancy already?” I asked, trying and failing to hide my smile.

“I won’t jinx it by discussing it,” he replied immediately. “Anyway, how did you like the housing development? Trey spent a lot of time on that.”

Glancing over my shoulder at my mate, I said, “I love it. I can’t wait for us to have enough housing that the demons won’t have to worry about it in the future.”

“Your father, er, the striped-haired one, suggested we develop a curriculum to teach constructions skills to demons who want to learn, so that we can build the houses in the future instead of requiring bringing people from the other world. I hear that there are many males eager to sign up here.”

The striped-haired one? Oh, he must have meant Triston, who was a tiger shifter.

“I think that’s a great idea! I’m a little irritated I didn’t think of it myself,” I admitted.

As we approached the fields where they’d planted the crops, my eyes widened at the flourishing plots. The corn was already tall, much taller than if it was only being grown naturally. “Have the elves been coming to help often?”

“No,” Zoman said and frowned at me. “Why do you ask?”

“The corn looks taller than it should be for how long it’s been growing,” I said.

“I know the elves commented on the quality of the soil, so perhaps it’s that,” he said and shrugged his shoulders.

There were several demons working in the fields, watering, picking weeds, and tending to the various crops. Some were picking the ripe fruits and vegetables and putting them in large containers that they then dumped into crates in a cart that sat nearby.

“So, what is it that they want me to do?” I asked.

“We’d like you to sing,” Talrinir said from behind the cart as she straightened and dusted off her hands. “The plants always do better at the castle when you sing, so we thought it’d be a good test to see if it was because of your singing or something else.”

“Oh. Okay. I can do that.”

“If you’ll just walk down the rows while singing, touch a few of the plants, just like you do in the castle gardens, please.”

“Any particular song request?”

“Mama, can we go play in the grass over there?” Elrith asked and pointed in the distance where a small hill was covered in green grass.

“As long as Kora and one of your fathers goes with you,” I said with a nod.

“I’ll go with you,” Mason said. “I’m not tired and don’t feel like being put to sleep by your mama again.” He winked at me to let me know he was teasing before turning back to the kids. “Race you to the top of the hill?”

“One. Two. Three. Go!” Elrith shouted and Dhun, Kora, Elrith, and Mason took off towards the hill.

“The focus song would be good and any of those upbeat songs I think will do best,” Talrinir said, answering my question.

“Very well, if I must,” I said with a dramatic sigh.

She smiled and said, “We appreciate your sacrifice.” Her smile slipped and she said, “Ah, sorry, that?—”

I waved off her apology. “I know what you meant.” Immediately, I started down the first row and began singing, arms out so I could touch the leaves of the plants as I went. The farmers smiled and bowed to me when I passed them and I smiled and waved in return, but kept up my singing. It took five songs for me to finish my path down all of the rows of crops, but when I finished and returned to Zoman, Talrinir, Trey, and Kayden, they were staring in wonder at the crops.

“What?” I asked as I turned back to look, trying to see what they saw. Then, I saw it. The crops were all glowing a slight silver in color now, like they were … sparkling.

“How interesting,” Trey whispered. “The plants have never glowed in the castle gardens.”

“Nor the ones at home,” Kayden commented.

“I swear, it’s like I keep finding out new abilities or unlocking new ones now that we’re staying here in the demon world,” I whispered as I stared in awe at the plants.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what you can do in a year,” Zoman said and Talrinir nodded with a huge smile, her doglike ears flopping back and forth in her excitement.

A flying demon with leathery wings headed our way and we all looked up at it.

“That isn’t a good sign,” Zoman growled and drew his sword.

“What?” I asked.

“They usually fly in packs,” Talrinir explained. “And like to set things on fire.”

“Trey,” I snapped.

He immediately shifted into his dragon form. Without a moment’s hesitation, he flew up into the sky and roared at the flying demon, trying to scare it off.

A few moments later, ten more of them appeared, all headed in the same direction.

“Does this happen often?” I asked as I watched Trey bump his head into the flying demon, trying to veer its flight path.

“We have occasional attacks, maybe once a week,” one of the farmers, a male demon with hooves and a set of thin, but long horns atop his head. “Usually foraging demons who want food. We don’t often have just straight attacks, but those …” he pointed at them. “… they like to destroy things.”

“We should give them somewhere they can go to destroy things,” I suggested.

“What?” Zoman asked.

“Give them an area of do what they want. If it’s in their nature, it’s not fair of us to deny them that. We should embrace it and help them find a place to do what comes natural to them.”

“What about the mountains on the far side?” Mason suggested. “I remember seeing some trees there that regrow pretty quickly. If we can replant them quickly, then they could return there, burn them when they want, and leave the crops alone.”

“We’ll have to try it soon,” I said. “I’d hate to kill them just because they’re following their instincts.”

“We should ask Huk to speak to them,” Talrinir said.

We all turned to her. “What?” I asked. “He can speak to them?”

She nodded. “He might also know of the best spots for them to go burn things since he wanders the mountains the most. I’ll talk to him tomorrow about it. We’re scheduled to meet him at the orphanage for more discussions.”

“Thank you, Talrinir.” I smiled at her and said, “You’re really good at this, you know?”

“At what?” she asked, blushing slightly.

“Ruling.”

She sputtered and turned away. “I’m not ruling , I’m helping solve issues.”

“That’s exactly what a ruler does,” Trey said with a soft chuckle.

“Whatever,” she muttered.