The Demon King's Hero Of Light 12 Chapter 12 The First Of Many Challenges

Zalgor's eyes widened in shock as he took in her dripping wet hair. Aella noticed Tezra glancing at Zalgor and stepped past Frederik, who swallowed loudly. Firion was eyeing Zalgor, not paying attention to her, but stroking his sword handle. She would need to let him kill someone soon.

"Tezra, you were going to take me to the next room?" asked Aella, turning towards her.

"Yes, right this way."

Tezra turned a little too fast, and hurried ahead down the hall. Everyone followed, with Aella's bare feet making small slapping sounds on the stone floor. Ahead of them, there was a T-junction in the hall, and Tezra paused only briefly before turning left. Pulling a door open on her right, she held it open for Aella to step inside.

Thick carpet welcomed her bare feet as she made her way further into the room, pausing to look at a rack of clothing on the side of the room. Behind her, everyone had followed her into the room. A tall skinny demon stepped out from behind the rack of clothing, and looked up in surprise.

"I thought…never mind. Please, step up here, my king-to-be," said the pink skinned demon.

"You thought I would be dead?" she asked, stepping up onto the stool and allowing her robe to fall to the floor.

The demon hissed as he averted his eyes. "I am sorry, but I must have been misinformed."

"You were told you would not have to deal with me, because I was to be poisoned during my bath, yes?"

He moved over to the rack of clothing. "Yes."

"From now on, you are to listen to me, not the counselors," she said, turning to look at the crowd that had followed her into the room, not bothering to cover her nakedness.

"You do not have the right to make that command!" seethed Zalgor. His blue eyes looked about to pop out of his skull as he clenched his teeth in fury.

"Not yet, Counselor Zalgor, but soon I shall be crowned your king, and you will obey me."

"Zalgor, you argue like a child. Why take such insult from our future king? Does it bother you so much that she has outsmarted you yet again?" said one of the demon counselors from the back, a female with red horns and yellow skin. She looked at her black claws as if bored.

"Jugthu, don't get involved!" snapped Zalgor.

She shrugged her yellow shoulders and flipped her short black hair out of her eyes. "If Drozgar hadn't died, you wouldn't dare speak to me like that."

"Yet, Drozgar is dead, and you shall soon join him, if you don't mind your own business," he growled.

The tailor held up two outfits for Aella to see. They were both incredibly revealing.

"Do you think I am a succubus? I am to be your king! Show me clothing depicting the respect I should receive as the king!" demanded Aella with a frown.

"Forgive me," he said, bowing his head and placing the two outfits back on the rack. Reaching from the back, he pulled out two others.

She examined them both with great thought. One was a suit of black leather that covered her from neck to toe, but wasn't very decorative. She like it a lot, but wasn't sure it would project the awe she was wanting. The other was a skin tight suit that covered her entire upper body, leaving her legs bare under decorative armor that had spikes on her shoulders and an armored skirt that exposed one leg through gaps in the straps. It had the feeling of awe, but was completely impractical when it came to actual use.

"The second outfit also has thigh high boots, that strap to the skirt and a breastplate with decorative skulls from various monsters we've fought along our borders," said the tailor, noting that she was focusing more on the second outfit.

"I want the first for normal wear, and the second for the ceremony," she said, feeling the fabric as he handed her the underclothing. It was incredibly soft and stretchy.

"This fastens in the crotch, to keep it in place," explained the tailor, helping her slip it on over her head.

"When was the last time you dressed a female king?" she asked, reaching down and fastening the crotch part herself.

"I have never had a female king," he said, being careful with his words.

She watched him as he lifted up the skirt and set it aside. "Never?"

"No, but I believe my grandfather may have. It has been a very long time. Now, it would be easier to put on the boots before the skirt," he said, picking up the boots.

Aella was relieved to see they had no heels, like the other boots she could see resting on the ground next to the outfits she had refused to wear. Slipping her feet into each boot, she found them somewhat comfortable, but didn't think she would like them as daily wear. Figuring out how to attach them to the skirt, the tailor went and picked up the armored breast and shoulder piece. He had a couple bracers that went on quickly before stepping back to look her over.

"I believe I am done here. If you wish, someone can come to do your hair?"

She ran her fingers through her hair. "What is wrong with it? It is clean."

"Perhaps to impress your people that attend the coronation?" asked Tezra.
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"Fine," agreed Aella with a sigh. This was ridiculous. She had already proven herself and was wearing very nice clothing. She might as well finish it up.

When the next demon stepped into the room, Aella's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She had no hair of her own, only horns.

"You have very short hair, I'm not sure I can do much with it," she said, stepping up to examine it.

"How are you qualified to mess with my hair, when you have none of your own?" asked Aella.

"I love messing with hair, but I wasn't born with any, so I mess with everyone else's. I've probably touched more heads of hair, then you've seen in your life, and I know that you were in that horrid underground colosseum."

"Short hair ensures that no one can grab it," Aella said, watching as the demoness ran her fingers through her hair in the floor to ceiling mirror that was positioned next to her.

"That makes sense. Do you have any plans to allow it to grow out? You have wonderfully thick hair."

"Probably not. I don't intend to allow anyone other than maybe you to touch my hair."

"Pity, all right. Then you are probably fine. Do you want any makeup to bring out those gorgeous eyes? I can do wonders for you. I've never had anyone with your skin tone before. It would be fun to see what works."

"No. I hate the idea of slathering stuff on my face."

The demoness pouted for a moment, then shrugged. "Good luck at the coronation. I hope you survive."

She slipped out of the room before Aella could turn and ask her what she meant.

"What did she mean?" she asked, eyeing the crowd before her.

The guards looked almost bored, not even bothering to glance her way. The counselors were looking at each other as if they hadn't intended to tell her. The other compet.i.tors were also looking at the counselors curiously.

"What did she mean when she said she hoped Aella would survive?" asked Firion, grasping his sword handle tightly and stepping up close to Zalgor.

"The coronation is a test of sorts with the castle of demons. The king will be tested to see if he, or she, is worthy of being king. The castle itself will decide," he finally explained, glaring at Aella.

"And you failed to inform us why?" asked Frederik.

"Would it change anything?" asked Jugthu. "You are ready, so let us proceed to the coronation room. I'm sure the crowds from the colosseum would have had a chance to move up there by now."

Tezra nodded and motioned for Aella to follow her, as she walked to the back of the room and opened another door. "It's this way, Aella."

Aella followed, as the crowd behind her moved to follow as well. On the other side of the door was a short hall that ended in stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Glancing up, she couldn't see the top. It would be interesting to see what blisters she got from her new clothing before she reached the top, especially the boots.

"We will not be able to follow you. This is the first part of the challenge from the castle. Any who are not worthy of being king, who step onto these stairs, will be killed," explained Tezra.

"Care to demonstrate that, Zalgor?" she asked with a laugh at the look of hate he had focused on her, before proceeding to the stairs. She didn't hesitate beginning the climb. If it weren't for the quick tingle she felt, stepping onto the first step, she would have thought they were lying to her. The climb was boring. She kept glancing up to see how much farther she had to go, but she never could see an end to the climb.

After a countless amount of time, she glanced down, and saw that she was still on the first-floor landing, with the crowd of people watching her. The amused look on Zalgor's face made her want to smash it in. Contemplating whether she wanted to sic Firion on him, she decided she needed to focus on the challenge before her.

Carefully examining the landing she was on, and the landing above her, she noticed that the steps had a different color board on the front. The landing above her had a dark cherry colored landing, but only a few of the stairs going up had that color of board. It was worth a try, so she jumped from one step to the next, only stepping on the cherry ones. There were gasps from those below as she was able to reach the next landing.

"No one's ever been able to figure that out before!" she heard below.

"Then how the h.e.l.l have you been able to get kings before?" she shouted back.

"We always told them," came Jugthu's answer.