This Life of Sin 2: Demonia

The Queen's Meeting

Chapter 11: The Queen's Meeting

I was up bright and early the next day after the ball thanks to a very insistent Kieran not taking 'no, go away' as the order it was meant as and insisting, I drag my poor sorry carcass out of bed and eat breakfast. I would have to have a word with him about what was, and was not, an order. Also, apparently, Demonia had no coffee, in any kind of name, for me to drink. No wonder demons had such a bad reputation: most people must have encountered them just after waking up. Anyone would be a grouch without caffeine. Heck, I was homeless much of my adult life and even I splurged on my choice addiction. That was how necessary coffee was to one's existence.

Kieran did not seem to be able to grasp that concept, however.

"Come now, Lady Sin." He sighed, clearly getting exasperated with my slow progress into true consciousness. "You need to get dressed and be alert. Normally you could sleep the whole day and I would not dare rouse you, but you do have a great many esteemed guests at present."

I groaned and stuffed a piece of toast into my mouth in a very un-queen like fashion. No coffee meant no effort spent on manners. "How many ended up staying in the end?" I asked. Well, more like mumbled. I really hoped I did not have to attend to three hundred self absorbed demon queens right now.

"I was told that seven chose to stay in the end." He said, holding up a simple yet expensive looking short dress. "This one should do. These meetings, though important, tend to be rather informal in situations like these."

"Wait- only seven?" I asked, feeling more awake suddenly. I thought for sure that at least a third of the guests were going to stay, if only to be nosey.

Kieran chuckled, draping the dress over my bed, and rummaging through a dresser as he spoke. "I am sure you have realised by now that demons, and queens, tend to be concerned only with themselves. Queens are also hopeless gossips, given they have very little to do on a daily bases, especially the queens who are older and well established. They all figure that what ever the few who stay here hear, they will share in no time. No doubt what ever is discussed here this morning, eighty percent of the Realm will hear about it before this time tomorrow."

"Wow, and I thought gossip spread fast on Earth with the internet and cell phones. The demon network must be a beast..."

Kieran looked at me with a screwed-up face while holding a set of leg wraps the same color as the dress. "There are times when you speak, Lady Sin Andra, that I am completely lost as to how to comment."

I laughed. "Sorry. Earth, talk I suppose. I will have to tell the people I know on Hearth about where I am from when I return. I was doing a semi- good job of keeping my Earth mannerisms in check for a good while, but I got out of the habit when I came here. They will be even more confused than you if I say something strange when we get there."

"Indeed. But before thinking on that we must first get you through this meeting."

"Yeah, yeah I'm getting ready alright." I stuffed a chunk of orange cheese into my mouth and pulled my sleeping gown up over my head with a sleepy grunt. "Where is Rougier anyway?" I asked Kieran as he pulled a brush out of gods only knew where and began attacking my hair, completely unphased by my nakedness.

I had stopped caring about him seeing me nude a while ago. I had only been reticent for his sake in the first place, but when I once disrobed- in a hope that he would flee and let me get ten more minutes of sleep- and he just kept on trying to get me on my way, I realized that he couldn't care less what form of dress I was in. Nothing would prevent my butler from doing his job.

"He took off for the stables as I was coming to wake you."

"The stables?" I asked, pulling the white silky dress over my head, and doing up the single button over my cleavage. "Why the heck is he going there?"