The carriage stopped. As soon as it did, the demonic female turned towards me.

I braced for her wrath, thinking that my turn had finally come. Instead, the female’s face transformed completely. A broad, warm smile replaced her fury in an instant.

“We come. Follow I when we out.”

“I guess she’ll deal with me in private,” I thought while swallowing the lump in my throat.

Her smile only got wider. It wasn’t a creepy or an evil smile. It actually looked genuine.

“Ok, if she can smile at me like that, then she has to be a masterful manipulator,” I realized.

As soon as we were out of the carriage, the female grabbed my hand and started leading me forcibly, leaving the other demons behind. I looked back, searching for Jens, and found nothing but a disinterested look on his face. He looked back at me with eyes devoid of any emotion.”

“If he doesn’t intervene here, this demoness will be the end of me! I must do something!”

“My lord!” I screamed. However, his face didn’t change. He didn’t avert his eyes from me either, making me realize just how soulless the demons are.

“My lord, I don’t want us to be separated! I was given to you! I was meant to serve you, however you deem fit!”

The demoness responded instead, yanking my hand: “You get no male. You on you’re own.”

I realized that all of my skills in seduction have become useless. I spent an entire century learning how to get what I want out of the males, as any noble lady should. How to get them on my side and make them do my bidding. And I was created for it. The gods were generous enough to give me everything I needed to become an expert at it.

But now, all of my skills became utterly useless in an instant. Instead of dealing with the males, as I was used to, I had no choice but to face the fury of a competing female.

And that female dragged me on with a gleaming smile on her face.

-----

The demoness led me into the castle. Although the night had already fallen, bright lights shone all over it, revealing its alien structure. It had huge windows, the biggest ones I’ve ever seen, even bigger than the ones in the throne room. And it didn’t look like it was made out of stone, it was … it looked as if it was molded from a single piece. Also, its towers were missing, making it look very civil-like, as if it’s not a stronghold but an oversized tavern. It even had a nicely done façade, something you never see on castles whose primary purpose is to take as much punishment as possible.

And yet, only the castles could be this big.

After passing through the glass door, something I never thought I’d see in my life, the demoness had a brief conversation in demonic tongue with another male demon, after which she pulled my hand in a rush and started dragging me once again. As we moved through the corridor, she looked back at me. The gentle smile was still on her face.

“You is hungry I know. Come eat some thing.”

She dragged me into a room at the end of the corridor. It was spacious and filled with white tables and chairs.

“Whitewood … how strange. And this place is well lit, even though the night has fallen.”

Looking around the room, I realized that its entire left side was completely covered in windows. There was no wall at all, nothing but some thin window-frames.

The ceiling was decorated with many strange lights. Weird, glowing circles illuminated the place. There were no chandeliers, torches, or candles anywhere in the room, all the light came from the ceiling itself.

The demoness had yet another brief conversation, with a demonic female this time. She looked like some cheap, old maid, dressed in white, unaesthetic garb that lacked even a hint of elegance. She glanced at me for a brief moment, after which a sad smile set on her face. Then, she turned around and did a few things that were utterly alien to me. She moved her hands in strange ways, pressing some contraptions I had never seen before. She was back quickly, with some kind of tray in her hands.

She gave it to the demoness, but looked at me as she did so.

“Enjoy.”

Unsure how to respond, I nodded my head respectfully. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with that.

“Come. Follow,” the demoness commanded.

She led me to a table, sat there, and motioned to me to do the same. Then, she put the tray in front of me.”

“You is hungry I is sure. Please eat that,” the broad smile on her face didn’t falter for a moment.

I eyed the “food” carefully. It did look like it, some unfamiliar meat with some strange, yellow side-dish. There was also some round bread on the side.

I looked the demoness straight in the eyes but couldn’t find any malice at all. And her lack of ears or tail made it impossible for me to guess her intentions.

But I did figure it out.

“Is she taking me for a fool? Does she really think I don’t know what she is doing? I guess I’m just yet another stupid, uneducated slave to her, when she’s giving me poisoned food like this. Why else would that servant look at me with such sadness? She knows this demonic whore is about to poison me. She must have plenty of influence around here, when she can order servants to do something like that. Not to mention how she defied Jens in public, in front of his servants.”

“Could she be his wife? How else would she wield such power?”

“Please eat,” the demoness gestured towards the food.”

“I … thank you, my lady, but I’m not hungry.”

“No need to is shy. You must is starve. Have collar and all. When is last time you eat?”

“Oh, you think I’m hungry because I’m a slave, my lady? Yes, some of the slaves do get hungry, but I didn’t have such a rough time. My masters always wanted me to look as best as possible, so they took good care of me. I was always fed well.”

“Oh, no! I’ve nailed myself with that one! Now I appear like some spoiled brat who always gets what she wants! Now I made myself appear like an even bigger threat to her!”

But the demoness just kept smiling at me.

“No master now. Next thing take that off,” the demoness said while pointing at my throat.

“My … my throat?”

“Yes. You need it no any more.”

“That’s the most drastic change in attitude I’ve ever heard of! Is she telling me she’ll cut my head off if I don’t eat her poison?”

“I must think of something, and fast!”

“Umm … I … I … it’s not … I’m not allowed to … to eat without the master ordering me, my lady.”

“No master any more. You no have master. And no call me lady.”

“But … but I was given to master Jens as a gift … I’m to be his slave …”

“You no have master! You on you’re own!”

The demoness calmed down right after that fit of abrupt rage and got her wide smile back in place.

“Sorry … you no have master. I learn you.”

“Will you be my master, my lady?”

“I say no call me lady. And no. I say you no have master. You is alone. I learn you what you need to learn.”

“So, she’s going to put me in my place.”

“Please eat.”

“I …”

“Is good …” the demoness reached for one of the yellow things on the plate with her bare hands, putting it in her mouth without hesitation.

“See. Is good.”

“Thanks, but I’m not hungry, my …”

“No call me lady!” she cut me off, furrowing her brows, “No call any one sir or lady here.”

“Sorry my … if that is your desire. But truly, I’m not hungry.”

“You think?”

“I’m sure. I really appreciate it, you’re very kind, my … but I was given a meal before our departure. I can’t take a single bite.”

The demoness tilted her head a bit. An inquisitive look replaced the smile on her face.

“Hmm … is good. Tell if hungry. No be shy. Promise?”

“I will let you know when I’m hungry, I promise.”

That got the demoness smiling again: “Good. I show you’re room. Follow I.”

The demoness stood up, going back the way we came.

“I guess I should follow her for now. Maybe that will make her think I’m obedient and will help her rethink murdering me.”

I glanced at the counter as we passed by. The servant gave me a slight nod and a sour smile. I nodded back in appreciation.

“But clearly, I’m not safe yet.”

“And what’s with the way they’re talking? It’s like they have some serious issues with compounded sentences, like I heard some barbarians do. And why aren’t they talking in the common tongue? Why are they insisting on ours?”

“And why is she insisting I drop honorifics in this place? Is she trying to set me up so I’d appear rude to the other demons? That would put me in a lot of trouble.”

“Should I point it out? Better not. I don’t want to give this demoness any excuse. I’ll just follow her and do as she wants, as long as she’s not ordering me to poison myself.”

The demoness led me through several corridors. The strange, round illumination was everywhere, on every ceiling. It was so bright, it felt as if it was mid-day. The corridors were empty, with no decoration besides an occasional door. All the doors were perfectly identical, making the corridors feel absolutely soulless. And yet, everything was spotlessly clean. Everything looked the same to such a degree that at one point I started wondering if I was being led through a castle or a maze.

That being said, I was grateful there were no corpses to be seen and screams to be heard, contrary to what I expected from a demonic dwelling. The soullessness of the place felt odd but was bearable.

The demoness stopped in front of a door that looked no different from any other we’ve passed on our way. She took a key out of somewhere, opened the door, and walked through.

Hesitating for a moment, I swallowed yet another lump in my throat before joining her.

It was … a strange but comforting place. Certainly something I didn’t expect from a demon, especially a merciless one. The quarters weren’t that small but were filled with too many gadgets and furniture, leaving very little space to walk through.

“Sorry for mess. No think some come,” the demoness said.

I kept inspecting the quarters. It appeared to be a combination of the living, working, and sleeping quarters, all merged into one. There were many strange things in it that I couldn’t even guess the purpose of. What I could recognize was a bed, fit for one person, and a small desk. The strange thing about the desk was that it was filled with all kinds of gadgets instead of papyrus. There was also something that looked like food on it.

“Pretty much what you would expect a well-to-do peasant to live in. No separate bedroom or a study. One room for all the needs.”

“Does that mean that … no … she can’t be … a commanding person like her can’t live in such squalor. If she can argue with Jens, then she can certainly make him give her much bigger quarters.”

“Yes, she’s probably giving these quarters to me. She’ll kick someone out of it … most likely that black guy.”

“Now I understand why he was so worried.”

The demoness turned around to face me. The warm smile on her face got even wider. It became so wide, her tiny eyes had to close.

She spread her arms left and right, as if trying to engulf the whole room.

“This is I room! I sleep and do here! And you sleep here too with I!”

“Eh?”