The human realm rippled as a

  demon crossed over in the dungeon. I had wanted to be there to meet

  them and get my hands on what they were delivering to me as soon as

  possible, but it felt too suspicious to be looking so forward to

  slogging through what most considered to be a dry, tedious, and

  outdated political book. Requesting it in itself would have normally

  been suspicious just from the fact how rarely anyone has ever cared

  to look at it, but I had smoothed over the request by explaining that

  I simply wanted it as an example and guide to base a similar tome on

  for the House Yser.

  I waited an appropriate amount

  of time after the knock on my door to make it seem like I was in no

  hurry, then lazily swung the door open, pasting a neutral look on my

  face that I then transformed into a look of utter boredom as soon as

  my eyes fell on the dusty, leather bound book clutched awkwardly

  against his body.

  The demon’s human glamour

  cracked a grin and it let out a low laugh, far to loud to be

  convincing as a human, he must have been someone not used to

  traveling over. It certainly would make sense for them to have drawn

  straws to choose who to make the delivery. The book itself was nearly

  the size of my torso and just about as thick, not exactly a

  lightweight piece to hand deliver.

  “That’s exactly what I

  thought,” he said while bowing as low as the cumbersome delivery

  would allow, “not exactly an exciting read.”

  “An understatement of the

  century,” I replied dryly and stepped aside for him to bring the

  book in.

  He stepped inside the

  bedchamber and I gestured to my writing desk which I had cleared

  specifically to house the book while I had possession of it. It was

  not the type of book designed to be put away on a shelf between use.

  In my family’s library the

  book had its own special stand that it sat on as both a point of

  practicality and its reverence as the foundation of the rules for the

  monarchy. The demon gave a grunt of effort and set the tome gently

  onto it’s temporary resting place, then turned around and bowed

  deeply to me.

  “I ask for your forgiveness

  for the unacceptable bow when I first met you, Lady Mistra. The book

  made it difficult to give you the respect you deserve as a member of

  royalty.”

  “It was understood.” I

  waved away his concern with my hand. “You have done me a service,

  what is your name?”

  “Germanis, my lady.”

  “Germanis,” I repeated, “I

  will remember that. For now, would you please inform the royal

  librarian that the charter has been delivered safely and is in proper

  hands? I know they will be concerned that it is out of realm, but

  please assure them that I am eternally grateful for their willingness

  to lend it to me so that I may complete my duties with establishing a

  similar royal code with our interests here.”

  “Of course, it will be an

  honor to convey your message.” He bowed low again, lower than

  normal, perhaps trying to make up for the subpar one from earlier.

  I gave him a warm smile, then

  walked him to the door, closing it behind him. Turning to the book,

  it sat invitingly on the desk, though a bit imposingly. The book was

  something that even the royal lineage would often just learn the

  footnotes for instead of studying the whole document. Perhaps my

  father had read it in it’s entirety, but it would have been long

  ago and I found it doubtful that he had actually read every last word

  even if he assured his tutors he had.

  My hand ran over the aged

  leather, appreciating how fine and supple the cover was after so many

  years. I couldn’t bring to mind what manner of beast had gone into

  its creation other than it was something not of the human realm. By

  the feel I guessed it was probably something of lizard or lizard-like

  origins, though as one piece it would have to be one of the bigger

  animals that roamed the more dangerous outlands on the very fringes

  of the kingdom.

  “Is that it?”

  My heart skipped a beat at

  Toria’s voice. I had been so enthralled in thought that I had let

  me guard down, a rare misstep on my part. It served to exemplify the

  nerves and excitement I felt with suddenly having such a powerful

  tool in my possession.

  “It is,” I confirmed.

  Keeping my face neutral as to not let on she had caught me by

  surprise, I turned to motion her to approach the book. “This here

  is the basis for monarchy for my kingdom. It holds all the letters

  behind the laws. If there is a way for me to take my kingdom without

  bloodshed, it lies somewhere in these pages.”

  Toria ran her hand over the

  leather in much the same manner I had and shivered. “You can feel

  the power of the demon realm clinging to it.”

  “The tome has been sealed

  with many different forms of magic to protect it against all sorts of

  destruction,” I explained. “If this whole castle was reduced to

  rubble and then scorched to ash, you would still be able to find this

  book intact in the remains.”

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  “That sounds like something

  that should be done to the whole castle, in that case,” Toria said

  with a light laugh, though it was obviously not just a joke. “I had

  not thought that sort of thing was possible.”

  “On a small scale it is

  doable. Though, if my early education doesn’t fail me, I believe it

  took quite a bit of time and effort to imprint the magic on something

  even this small. It would perhaps take years, maybe even decades, and

  all sorts of magical might to protect something as massive as an

  entire castle. It also would attract a lot of attention. I think

  other kingdoms would start to get pretty paranoid if you started the

  process. They would likely be very suspicious at best and try to stop

  the process at worst. If it was simple enough I’m sure my father

  would have initiated the process long ago.”

  Toria nodded, but still ran

  her hand over the cover wistfully. “Would be lovely though, to have

  the ultimate security that nothing terrible could befall the seat of

  your power.”

  “The idea would be even

  harder to execute in the human realm,” I said, laying a gentle hand

  on her shoulder. “I know the thought is intoxicating, but the

  magical background here is so low that it would add extra time and

  effort to complete.”

  “I suppose,” she sighed.

  Her hand slid off the edge of the book and felt down the

  yellow-tinged pages before resting at her side. “A monarch can

  dream, but I guess now I should head off for evening training and

  leave you to start your study.”

  “How is that going?” I

  asked.

  Her lips curled up into a

  half-smile and she gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head.

  “Interesting. I’m actually looking forward to going to the demon

  realm for a while where I might feel like I’m making real progress.

  Right now we’re just working on keeping basic skills strong.”

  “You likely will only need

  to wait a couple days now at most,” I replied. “I know the

  trainer they have summoned for you. She lived quite far away from the

  castle, but I would think they will make it soon. Once she has had

  chance to settle in and set up they’ll summon you and you’ll get

  the see the full extend of demon hospitality. I regret not being able

  to be there to see how you get on with being there for more than just

  a few hours at a time. If I thought they would leave me alone and let

  me study while there I would love to be witness.”

  “You think it will end up

  being very different? I have never seen anything much different

  between how we host here and the times I’ve gone there,” she

  suggested with a shrug.

  “I know it will be,” I

  replied. “They are always on their best behavior for you. If

  nothing else they’re almost entirely male and you know that when

  women are out of the picture they turn more barbaric and get

  accustomed to a different way of living and speaking.”

  “I am a visiting monarch

  though, perhaps they’ll keep up the guise,” she said with a soft

  chuckle. “It would be considered bad form to drop the manners for

  such a distinguished guest. I would take care to adhere to at least

  some of their expectations if they were here for long term instead.”

  “In your realm...” I took

  her hand in mine and raised it to my lips, fluttering my eyelashes at

  her while I kissed the top of her hand. “… it is sometimes easy

  to forget that we are from different worlds with different customs.

  You mistake my humanity as a reflection of the culture I come from. I

  adhere to slightly different ideals than my family, something much

  closer to your own than theirs. They will find it difficult to keep

  up your standards or manners for very long and I ask that you

  consider not taking much offense to it for the sake of keeping the

  alliance strong for now. When I am in control things will be

  different, but for now it cannot really be helped. They are an

  arrogant bunch and will certainly believe that their idea of what is

  acceptable supersedes yours.”

  She frowned, but nodded her

  head. “I have seen bits of it, the coronation dinner comes to mind

  when they got drunk and started acting what I assume is more like

  themselves.”

  “That was only a taste of

  it, my dear.” I grinned. “Try not to let it bother you, you are

  much more refined and regal than they will ever be. Just keep in mind

  that before you know it you’ll be returning to your own kingdom and

  to me.”

  She pulled me close and ran

  her lips along my chin before pressing them to mine, lingering for a

  long, soft kiss. “Alright,” she whispered with her lips still

  brushing over mine, “you get to work.”

  I pulled away and kissed her

  forehead. “And you.”

  With a soft look back at me,

  she left our bedchamber, closing the door behind her. I swapped out

  the chair that normally sat at the desk for the overstuffed arm chair

  that usually sat by the fireplace. I was going to be sitting in the

  same place for an untold number of hours and I would need as much

  comfort as I could possible get. In the interest of comfort and

  efficiency I also moved the water pitcher and cup on the small space

  left on the desk along with the bell used to summon servants.

  The leather crackled as I

  opened the front cover, it hadn’t been opened in perhaps decades.

  The overwhelming smell of old paper wafted out along with the

  strangely sweet smell I could only describe as unique to infernally

  enchanted items. The writing on the table of contents was in an old

  style of the demonic alphabet, readable but would take some getting

  used to after having not having read anything in the same style since

  I was a young girl. Skimming over the different sections, I briefly

  considered if maybe I could get away with just picking out sections

  to read where I thought a loophole would be likely to hide, but

  quickly chastised myself for even thinking of taking shortcuts with

  such an important task. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking

  for, therefore I would need to read every last word to have a full

  picture of what was within my power and rights. Besides, the document

  was widely known to be horrifically convoluted with lots of little

  clauses and rules snuck into strange places. There was no way for me

  to know where something I would find significant would be hidden.

  Resigned

  to a long and studious trek, I turned to the first page and placed my

  finger under the first sentence and began to read, dragging my finger

  along so as to not lose my place among the handwritten scrawls. I

  perhaps would never be able to take over my kingdom by military force

  like Toria, but I had my mind and a terrible complex constructed law

  of the land on my side.