Curled Horns

33. A Sharp Tongue

"I wrote a letter to my father explaining the situation. With your approval, Your Majesty, he wants to send my personal guard troupe here. I have no more use for the pixies, so I might be able to apprehend them with my men's help. They all are more trained in hunting those creatures than your knights. If you want to keep your court clear of bloodshed, then I will take the pixies back to my homelands."

Mingi raised his eyes from the chessboard. Onnah did the same, seeking his eyes first before the two of them turned to glance at the sliver of light that travelled from the meeting room and carried the conversation to their ears. Vur next to the door showed no acknowledgement of what he had heard.

"I know you want to ask me not to take Yunho, but-" Before San could continue, Yunho interrupted him. His smooth voice was calmer than San's harshly cutting words.

"I would accompany you, of course. In attacking you, they also hurt a friend of mine. It's no more just my people I seek to protect."

Mingi nervously rolled the figure in his fingers. As usual, Onnah was winning against him, but he clung to the hope of his bishop. He set the figure down, taking Onnah's queen into his focus. She played a regular pawn.

"Yunho already made his prepositions clear. He is willing to risk his rank for these matters. I had hoped that I brought him up more level-headed, but I know these walls won't hold him if he chooses to abandon them. Although I fear a dispute with your father if he loses his horns as well."

"My father knows just how dire the situation is. I wouldn't have lost my horns if it were a trivial matter."

Onnah rolled her eyes. Mingi pushed her rook off the board gently. Both of them knew that San's arrogance had played a major role in his loss, but he was right. The two pixies were no predictable enemy.

"My last plan got disrupted by the vicious ambush on my group. But I suggest using Yunho as a decoy. Of course, he will restrain the pixies before something happens." Through the narrow slit in the door, Mingi could see San throw his head back confidently, his bulging arms crossed. Bandages still wrapped around the flat stumps on his head. Seeing a demon without horns looked all kinds of wrong. He looked small and unprotected, even more so than the draped-horned demons.

The king hummed, the rumble resonating in the room. The advisors kept wisely quiet; only the rustling of parchment under the quick feathers of the writers sounded.

Onnah eliminated another one of Mingi's pawns. He moved his bishop closer as he was still distracted from the conversation.

"The pixies showed remarkable wit. How will you ensure they will fall for your trap?"

San grinned, his fangs flashing in the light. His face looked sinister, like that of the demons' human books described.

"What else is there to have in this kingdom? Either they will come after us, or after you, Your Majesty. And if they infiltrate the palace, they will walk the direct path to the gallows," San purred dangerously. The king grunted, pleased with the praise of his tight security system.

"You may try it if you find the courage. I hope Yunho will return with his horns."

Onnah moved her last knight, that had been lingering around needlessly so far. Mingi's king dropped under her elegantly clawed fingers. Yet another win for the beautiful demon. Mingi gave her an awed smile as he leaned back in his chair.

"I will look after myself and the men involved. Soon, we will see this to an end," Yunho promised. His stable voice convinced the round, although Mingi still wondered how Yunho would have solved the matter if he had free rein. If San didn't push for action.