The Devil's Love

Queen of Hell: Chapter 26: Sarah

Anton snapped his fingers, and a demon came running.

"My lord."

"You are to maintain control, the queen and I shall be entering into meetings and do not need to be disturbed by the sounds of bored demons entertaining themselves. Is that clear?"

"Yes my lord, no fornicating."

I rolled my eyes, wondering why they couldn't keep it in their pants for a few hours.

"The demon master has been requested to find me when he arrives, please ask him to wait at those seats."

"Yes my lord."

"And the animal keeper will be as well. If he hasn't bathed and smells of dragon mess, send him away promptly. And with a scolding, he shouldn't need to be told twice to bathe. Make sure he returns immediately."

"Yes my lord."

Does the man know anything else? Probably not.

"Request that Peaco waits at the seats when he arrives and send a demon to search for Elstrach, tell him to come immediately."

The man hesitated.

"What's the matter?" I asked smugly. "Forgotten how to say yes my lord?"

Anton raised an eyebrow as he looked at me, a slick smile crossing his lips.

"No my lady. Forgive me, my lord. I will send a demon for Elstrach at once."

"Thank you, on with your duties."

"Yes my lord."

I chuckled, taking Anton's hand and continuing onto the meeting room.

"You are a cheeky thing." He murmured.

"Who is Elstrach?"

"A timeworn and easily angered seer. He will have trouble finding a demon to go to Elstrach willingly."

"And why do you want a seer to come here Anton?"

Opening the door, he offered a simple smile.

"Why to see into the future my love, what else is a seer good for?"

Igor stood to his feet immediately, bowing as we approached. I wandered to the two seats that were almost like thrones, sitting upon one with great difficulty. It wasn't the dress that was difficult, it was the train. Stupid thing was way too big.

"My lady, you look lovely this fine day. My lord, handsome as always."

"Vying for a top job Igor?" I asked.

The man smiled and sat when I gestured for him to do so.

"I hear kitchen has a chef who not understand grill."

"And with the chance to change your job, you still aim for the kitchen," Anton said as he sat beside me.

"This man lives to be in the kitchen, would be an honour to serve his king and queen."

I looked at Anton, he smiled at me in a way that said he would be happy to have Igor in our kitchen.

"Then so be it, Igor." I began. "If your life and your love is the kitchen then that is where you shall be. We would love to have you happy and serving us your divine food."

"Thank you, my lady."

I was not used to this. Igor hadn't been in my employ for long, but I liked being Sarah. This was something that I had to get used to, the man didn't want to end up in the pit for not addressing his queen properly. But still, it upset me.

"I liked being Sarah."

Anton gripped my hand with a sympathetic smile.

"We can alter it a little my love when Igor is at work, and in daily life, you and I will always be his king and queen. But if there is a time when we invite him for a friendly chat then we can permit him to address us like a friend would."

He took my hand and kissed the knuckles, smiling as he looked at me.

"Thank you, Anton, I do appreciate it."

"I know." He offered and turned to Igor. "Now, tell us everything."

"Yes my lord. I received your message about the changes. The cops still hang around, searching for clues. I say to the detective that you have gone on a honeymoon and left me in charge. He accepts it; I find no ill thoughts in his mind. I say that you become disheartened as there is no money to rebuild and."

He paused for a moment, his eyes darting to Anton and me.

"It's alright Igor; you may refer to us by our names for this conversation."

The poor thing nodded, and I frowned at Anton. I knew there wasn't a thing he could do other than what was already being done. Demons served, demons answered correctly, or they're in the pit.

"Thank you, my lord. I say you have no money to rebuild, no insurance and Sarah not want to rely on donations or goodwill. She prefers money go to homeless or unfortunate. He asked about employees, and I say that we all find good jobs, that Sarah does not leave us without. All the money she had left went to the employees, and he nodded again."

"Still no negative thoughts?"

"None my lord, I never find a human so accepting. I not believe is the truth but accept for the purpose of pretending. Detective asks about the apartment, and I say you cannot afford it and going to live with your parents. I do not say Sarah's parents; I worry they look and find they are dead."

Or that my blabbermouth sister goes and sees the detective and tells them everything she knows.

"He says I am a good friend for helping pack while you are on holiday, I say I had nothing better to do and help out good boss when she is sad. Catty brings the car, and we pack things and take them to the storage unit, the detective followed us. He might be starting to snoop."

"He won't get far," Anton said dryly. "What of the things in storage?"

"Catty open earth up from underneath, had demons remove and bring down to the castle. She said they take to your servants who was dealing with them."

"Everything nice and tidy with the apartment block and the shop?"

Igor nodded slowly, a smile crossing his face.

"Preparations to sell both are under way, people sending paperwork to your office."

"And the detective?"

"A hindrance but with he cannot investigate what no longer exists. Our lives have been packed up and brought to hell."

Anton smiled softly, but I couldn't help but wonder why Igor was so willing to leave his yellow sun. Catherine wanted to live in Greenwich Village; they loved their lives in New York. But all of it changed, and Igor smiled as if he didn't care about any of things that he or Catherine wanted.

"Igor, don't you and Catherine want to be in New York?"

"My lady, we go to many places in our lives. I not always live in a grand city, Catty likes many places. We never settle because in here, we know where our heart feels most at home."

He held is hand to his heart, a fond smile washing over his face as he looked at me.

"We are demons; demons live to serve their master. They love their home, and they know that when they walk on Earth, it is only for a short time. We happy to have a little time is better than no time. We come home, and we are happy. You see happy demons, my lady?"

I nodded, remembering seeing so many smiles.

"Is because demons feel sated when returning to home."

"And that's why I told Felhar to ensure there was no fornicating."

Igor nodded. "Sense of happiness makes demons relaxed, so comfortable they want to show their intentions to others, and you know what can happen if they not told to behave."

Yep. One grand hall of demons writhing in the throes of passion. Not what I wanted to see.