Hell of a Job by Paulk Kate

Author:Paulk, Kate [Paulk, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: magic, halloween, demons, Fantasy, Hell, Short Stories
ISBN: 9781611360134
Publisher: Naked Reader Press
Published: 2010-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

***

The final tribute left the hall, the guard-Orcs shepherding the chastened Knights of Virtue to the Tower of Recreation. All seemed certain they were headed for a fate worse than death. The late High Commander Everlight would, before his death from exhaustion, have agreed. Maehi had been grateful for the gift.

Elizabeth watched them go. It was a fair reward for several months of hard work. The corruption and public relations had been so successful that disgruntled peasants had done most of the work before the Armies of Light met the Dark Forces.

The Armies of Light had thought the Dark Forces had been poisoning the food they commandeered from the local peasants. The little surprises peasants had left in their fields had taken a heavy toll, too. It was amazing what could be done with a few bits of scrap wood in the hands of a semi-skilled carpenter.

Elizabeth had never accepted that Goodness could preclude stupidity.

The real challenge had been the other Dark Lords. For some reason, they were nervous about her successes and had tried to remove her in the traditional manner. The end result had been a lot of screaming, three now-former Dark Lords being sent early to their infernal rewards, and - of course - a mess that the cleaner-demons took forever to clean.

Fortunately the Dread Lord Himself hadn't objected to anything she'd done: he seemed to lose all his evil self possession whenever she smiled at him with a real smile rather than the Dark Lord 'something terrible is going to happen to you any moment now' smile. The lessons she'd been taking from the succubi helped.

The hall was quiet - apart from the distant echo of screams from the Tower of Recreation. She now ruled the whole Mappe, and if the Dread Lord of Hell remained as vulnerable to her charms as he had been so far, she might well come to rule a great deal more than that. Not openly, of course. With Lord Elthirial as her putative master, she could work knowing that if some remnant of the Forces of Good remained they would target him and not his 'concubine'.

The air twisted in the now-familiar shapes heralding one of the Dread Lord's appearances. Elizabeth smoothed her hair, and waited for him to manifest himself fully.

"That was quite an impressive parade." The Dread Lord smiled. "What did you plan to do with them?"

Elizabeth grinned, and noted the way his expression glazed. "I had planned to give them to the succubi and incubi, my Lord. Unless you have other plans?"

He blinked rapidly, as though he was seeking to clear his head. "None as yet, Lady Elizabeth." He swallowed.

Surely he wasn't nervous?

"I have need of a capable consort," the Dread Lord said after a long pause. "You are more than capable, and are not... without attractiveness."

Elizabeth smiled a Dark Lord smile, and the servants fled for the doors. "How could I refuse, my Lord Elthirial? I am a loyal servant of the Dark: your wish is my command.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.