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GIROTH
A successful haul of human women will surely put me in good favor with Asmodeus, though this is not something that I care too much about. If it were up to me, I would have already returned to my hounds, but now there is processing to do.
I find myself tired, the effects of the chaos magic and the battle now starting to catch up with me. It’s been a long time since I have expended so much energy, plus the weight of expectation that hung on my shoulders must have taken more of it than I realized. If I had not been successful in this mission, then my very life would have been at stake.
My eyes are heavy, and my body will soon become a dead weight. My shoulders are stiff with tension and I have little left in the way of concentration though there is still much work to do. If I can just get this completed, then hopefully my role in all of this will be finished.
I sit back in my chair and look up at the dark ceiling—this is not what I am made for! My jaw throbs still and all I want to do is get back to where I belong. Collecting humans was a surprisingly welcome distraction from the monotony of my life here on Ti’lith, but I am done now.
A knock on the door brings me back into the room. “Yes!” My tone is less than patient as the door opens and a guard steps in. “What is it?” I snap, returning to my work and not looking up from my desk. I don’t need others to see that I am feeling weary or think that I may not be up to the job.
“I am sorry to disturb you,” he says, and I can feel how little he means it. The times that us demons are sorry are few and far between. It is not a feeling that resonates with us.
“Then why do you?” I ask.
“There is a woman, a human.”
“Yes, there are many of them, I brought them here,” I say wryly. I don’t have the time or the patience for interruptions like this. My anger will soon get the better of me if I do not dispense with these duties soon and return to my hounds and the life that I know.
“There is one in particular that is causing a problem, Giroth.”
“Oh,” I return, noncommittally, shuffling through the papers that seem to be placed here just to torture me.
“She is riling up the other women, causing a scene. She insists on speaking with you.”
Why me—why is it always me? This is the last thing that I need, not for this job to become even more of a chore than it already is.
Then it hits me. Who out of all these women would ask for me? Most of them are in desperate fear for their lives. There is only one that has challenged me thus far.
Something in me stirs, and finally I look up at the guard. His face looks like I feel, and I can tell he has also had enough of this nonsense. “This woman, what does she look like?”
He gazes back at me almost stupefied. “Like the rest of them—human.”
“We collected many, they are all different—is she short, tall, what is the color of her hair?” I challenge, shocked by the interest that this news now raises in me.
“She is… well her hair is golden and rests at her shoulders. She is one of the most beguiling of them.” I see the shift in his eyes, and I narrow my own at him. These women are here for breeding purposes, that is true, but the way he speaks makes me uncomfortable.
It is her; it must be. The tightness in my body eases and a warm and unfamiliar feeling erupts in my chest. Of course, it would be her causing the trouble. Everything about her screams trouble—and a lot more besides. All of sudden the weariness I was experiencing has moved on and been replaced with something new.
“Very well,” I offer, rising from my desk. “Then I will accept an audience with her.” My voice is harsh, gruff, and does not betray that deep down I am looking forward to seeing the human woman again. It is not usual for me, but I cannot help but recall how she felt in my arms, so soft, so warm, so different to anything I have known before.
“I am indebted to you, Giroth. I fear if you did not grant her wish then we would have a rebellion on our hands.”
I gaze at him in disbelief, my voice laced with sarcasm. “We are demons. You are saying we can’t control a group of human women!”
“No, I am just remarking that—”
“Forget it!” I snap. “Let us go and deal with this situation. If I am the only one that can deal with this woman then so be it.” In truth I want to be the only one to deal with her, the thought of this task falling to another not something I want to entertain.
I storm out of the office with the guard trailing behind me, crossing the grounds quickly until we get to the cell blocks. The smell is worse than that of the kennels and I have to cover my nose as we enter the grim buildings.
It’s a place that could make even a demon’s skin crawl, a place that is not fit even for the worst behaved hounds—not that I deal with many of those. Urqins are more favorable to me than anything or anyone else.
The sounds of the women can be heard from the entryway and I smirk at their helplessness. At their whispers and cries and sniffles. Slowly, quietly I make my way to the large cells where they are all contained, the darkness masking me as I creep towards them.
That’s when I see her. In her hand is a large hunk of wood and she is trying to pry the cell door loose, failing miserably, as the other women try to help her. The look on her face is one of sheer determination. A look that I am already familiar with, and something about it brings a smirk to my lips.
Tilting my head, I observe her with amusement, wondering how she could even think such a stupid plan would work. But there is something that draws me to this strange and frustrating human. I did not expect one of their kind to even be capable of such strength of character. She has no magic, no physical strength and yet she seems to believe herself to have agency of some kind.
