The Demon King's Hero Of Light 160 Chapter 160 Hungry Lion

"He's worried about something, but I'm not sure what. Though it is interesting that you came from the mountains when your kingdom to the north is too dangerous to approach. How do you intend to return home?"

"I have a magical item that will let me teleport with my people when it is time. I believe I can take the lion with me, when we go, so that shouldn't be a problem," said Aella, scratching the lion's mane as he slowly flapped his wings to keep up with the king's lion ahead of them.

"So, you didn't use a boat at all!" exclaimed the princess. "That's why you came from the north when you arrived. You teleported to a location in the mountains!"

"That's right. I hope to finish with your brother soon so I can continue south to be able to meet with the halflings and the gnomes before returning home."

"You should leave the lion with us until you are ready to return home, as the halflings and gnomes don't like the lions. They used to be hunted by the wild ones before we caught them and domesticated them all."

"All of them?" asked Aella with a frown.

"Not all of them are born with wings," laughed Daefina at Aella's look of horror. "We have a large section of forest dedicated to them, so they aren't all penned up in cages."

"But if they are used to hunting the small folk in the south, are they able to hunt and live as the wild things they are? Why aren't they all born with wings?" Aella still didn't like this as it landed far too close to her own people. Not all of her people were born with wings, and they had lost any hope of being as wild as they used to be.

"If you feel so strongly about them, perhaps we could trade you some of them, a.s.suming you had the s.p.a.ce for them to be able to roam wild and free?" teased the princess, only half joking.

"I may be interested in that trade. What would you want in return?" asked Aella, thinking of all of the lions her people could bond with. Even if the lion didn't have wings, they would be able to travel faster than her people could run, and they would be safer to travel on than the fragile horses they had been using.

"Seriously? But Aella! They get huge! This one is big, but he's still growing! You can't possibly have the s.p.a.ce for them!" Daefina craned around Aella's side to look up at her in horror.

"I have more s.p.a.ce than all your forest here. What would you want in return for them?"

"I… I don't know. The lions have always been a point of pride for the royal family. I didn't really think you were serious. Now that I think about it, this lion was supposed to be breeding some of the females next week. If he goes to you, we will be losing our top breeder. But if he stays with us while you travel to the south, that will still work out…"

Aella glanced back as the princess fell silent. "You seem to have thought about something."

"I think I know what brother was upset about," she said softly. Aella only heard her words because of her Air Hero abilities.

"Do tell," coaxed Aella, s.h.i.+fting back to look ahead of them.

"These lions should only be given to those who are considered the most n.o.ble of our people. Often, there is a very grueling test for those who wish to have one as a mount. The requirements don't only include being able to give them the s.p.a.ce they need, or the food, but an actual test of ability as well. There is only a very small number who have managed to pa.s.s the physical requirements to qualify. I had thought since you were a visiting dignitary, a king of your own kingdom, brother might overlook this. Especially since you seem to have already bonded with the cat. If the n.o.bles of our kingdom insist, you may have to prove yourself to them by having to run the gauntlet of tests. I think he may have been trying to annoy you enough to prevent you from returning to the capital and avoiding the n.o.bles all together."

Aella laughed. "If your n.o.bles demand I perform these tests, they can't possibly be as tough as all of the fights I had to go through to get out of the pits."

"Ahh!" gasped Daefina. "I don't want you to think we're as bad as that!"

"Maybe that's why your brother was trying to push me away so hard," chuckled Aella. "I should have known that n.o.bles would cause me more grief even in the other kingdoms. After all, wasn't the royal twins the ones in the dwarven kingdom that caused me the most grief?"

"But they were the actual royals, not n.o.bles. I still can't believe they killed themselves. Do you think they were poisoned somehow with mind altering drugs?" asked Daefina, scratching her chin in contemplation.

"After seeing how much a dwarf can drink? I find it highly unlikely they were poisoned in any way. It would be easier to believe someone else killed them and no one saw it," said Aella, shaking her head.

"But you said you saw them kill each other,�� said Daefina with a start.

"I saw them die, yes," said Aella, hiding her small smile by not looking at the princess behind her. "It happened really fast. They were arguing and then they were both on the floor. Everyone was pretty confused. The guards rushed us to a room to wait until they could figure out what had happened."

"Sounds horrible," muttered Daefina.

"It wasn't as bad as what I had been through before. I was just glad I didn't have to witness anyone screaming and crying like babies. Everyone was very professional I thought," said Aella, tilting her head up to think about the reactions of the guards as they came out of their dazes.

"Well, if that is what brother was upset about, you should know more about the tests," said the princess, seeming to make up her mind.

"Alright," shrugged Aella, amused despite herself. If the princess wanted to tell her what to expect, she didn't have a problem about that. It would be far better than the trials she had to endure while in the pits.

"There are things they will test you one, to ensure that you will be able to tend to the lion properly," began the princess, counting on her fingers as she went. "First, you will have to prove you can provide for it by hunting something of the judges choice. Then you will have to show them you can keep up with its need for exercise by running a grueling obstacle course to prove your endurance. Third, you will have to call it, but we already know you can do that. Once it comes to you, they will judge you on how well you can groom it. That includes checking it for parasites and any injuries it may have gotten since the last time you messed with it. This can be pretty tricky, depending on how much trust your beast has in you. It's said that if they sense any fear or indecision, they will attack you while you attempt this.

"Then they will probably give you an aerial obstacle course to complete with your beast, to ensure you can handle it and keep it from attacking people you don't want to be attacked. I imagine once you get back with it, you will be able to give it a proper place to rest in, after you've seen what we offer them," finished the princess.

"Seems easy enough," shrugged Aella. "Will it take them very long to get things ready?"

"I'm not sure. It depends on how upset they are at the thought of you getting it. I would imagine they would want to modify the obstacle course for your larger stature, but that might take several days."

"I don't want to have to sit around twiddling my thumbs while they move things around to make it easier on me. That's ridiculous. I'll just perform whatever task they want of me as soon as we get there," said Aella, waving a hand at the stupidity of making a test easier for her. When was that ever a thing? How could they even consider that?

"It really was horrible down in those pits, wasn't it?" asked Daefina softly. "You won't even consider allowing the playing field to be equal, will you?"

"Life has never been about equality. It will forever be about doing the best you can with what is offered. If you ever decide to stop working hard, to complain about things not being fair, then you've already lost. If you expect things to be fair, then you're fooling yourself. This lion will not fail to eat you just because you didn't eat him first. He just wasn't hungry at the time. And you were more entertaining alive."