The Demon King's Favorite

Chapter Six

From the looks of all other demons, I gathered that 2000 gold coins was much for a slave.

Why would she spend so much money on me.. I thought looking at the dark hair demon striding over.

"2000 coins for a slave, General Agyris?" Drusus asked. I could see the greed in his eyes.  "Add more and she's all yours"

"3000 coins. Do Not Push It" General Agyris growled.

"Done, she's yours". Drusus said pocketing the bag of coins thrown at him. "This isn't over" he whispered to me gripping my upper arm tightly.

Wincing, I yanked my hand from his grasp following the general out the door.

"Thank you for saving me in there" I say catching up to the general.

"I did nothing, only bought me a slave"

Geez..

"And it is master to you"

"Huh..What?" I ask confused.

"You are to address me as master" he snaps looking angry.

"Oh okay. Master"

We enter a large room and there's a maid waiting there. She's dressed differently from me, her clothes aren't as short or transparent.

"This is Lisa, she'll be your guide till you get your bearings" motioning to the skinny servant standing in the center of the room. She had coppery skin and her brown hair was cropped close to her scalp.

Lisa smiled at me, her green eyes  alight with warmth and I smiled back.

"Hello, I'm Alexandra. Just call me Alex" I greet her with a wave.

"She'll put you through all you need to know" Agyris says dismissing me.

Lisa takes my hand and guides me out the room, down a flight of stairs to where she called the servants quarters. The servant's quarters was located at the basement and had few windows. The air felt musty and torches were mounted on the walls for light.

"This would be our room" Lisa said cheerfully showing to me a room the size of a broom closet. There was a tiny window with bars on them facing the door. A bunk bed was crammed into the little space and there was very little space to move round.

I wondered what made Lisa so cheerful. The question must have been written on my face for she answered with a "This is one of the biggest room in the servant quarters"

Wait what?!

"We are privileged to have a room to ourselves. It is usually ten in a room. Only we and the Queen's servants have a room and bunk beds to ourselves, the others sleep on thin mattress laid on the floor " she further explained laying on the down bunk. "You'll take the up bunk, the down bunk is already mine"

"Okay, so who was your former roommate?" I ask since the top bed was unmade and there were scratches on the wall. 

"Um, she left" Lisa says avoiding my eyes.

"She left?" I ask rushing to her bed. "How?"

"Well, she didn't leave exactly. We can't cross that force field unless you have a death wish"

And there goes my plan of escaping out the window.

"Then where is she?"

"She was sent in an errand outside the castle. She didn't come back and has been missing for weeks now"

"And no one went in search of her?"

"Why would anyone go in search of her? She was just a servant and is replaceable. We can't leave the castle without permission. The moment you try and step out of the castle without permission, the collar chokes you. I've seen this happen once before"

"So she's dead?"

"Probably"

"I'm to sleep on a dead girl's bed?" I ask incredulously.

"You don't like it, sleep on the floor. The cold will kill you before morning" Lisa says pissed.

My stomach chose that moment to grumble and Lisa's mood did a 180 degree turn.

"Let's put food in that stomach. You must be starving" she said beaming at me.

Lisa kept chatting happily on the way to the kitchen. She greeted and introduced me to every single servant we came across and by the time we got to the kitchen, their names and faces were all a blur in my mind.

The kitchen was warm and smelt of different spices. There were pans and pots everywhere and a man in a white chef hat was furiously fanning the fire under a large pot with his back to us.

"Sam, meet my new roommate. Her name is Arya. Could you please fix her a plate?" she introduces me to the middle aged man in a chef hat fanning the fire.

"Hello it's nice to meet you" I say to Sam taking a seat at the counter next to Lisa.

Sam ladles out two bowl of what he's cooking and brings it over to me and Lisa. Even though it was fresh from the pot, I sniff at it suspiciously.

"Try it, it's meat soup. Here is some bread to go with it." he says handing me a small loaf of bread with his eyes crinkling up in a smile.

I take a tentative spoon of soup and the flavour burst on my tongue. Nodding at Sam with approval, I wolf down the soup in hurry.

I had never tasted anything so good and warm. After living on canned food all my life, this warm, delicious meal was heaven to me. Using my last piece of bread to dab at the empty bowl to get every last drop of soup.

"Thank you Sam. I have never tasted anything better. It was delicious"

"It was my pleasure, Arya" Sam says heading back to the cooking pot. "Lily come help me serve the masters their supper"

"Alex stay with Sam, I'll be back later. Make sure you wash all the plates and clean up the kitchen. That'll be your first work."Lily says to me hurrying out of the kitchen with a tray.

I begin scrubbing the mountain of plates in the sink humming to myself. The food had lifted my mood and if the least I could do in return was to help Sam wash the dishes, I'll happily do that.

It was way into the night by the time Lisa came back with dirty dishes and a tired look. After washing the plates, we said a goodnight to Sam and trudged tirely to the staff quarters.

Taking the thin blanket and pillow off my bed, I lay on the floor facing the wall. Thoughts of my sister and friend filled my head and I choked back a sob.

How I missed them