The Demon King's Hero Of Light 33 Chapter 33 Liquidation

"You are not going to be n.o.bles any longer. You have forfeited your family fortunes to the kingdom, for ignoring a summons from the king. Your staff will be moved into the palace and put to work as the lowest in status among the palace staff, and your families will have to work off the debts you have acquired, equal to your current wealth, to gain back their status as free people of the kingdom," said Aella, holding her mug up for Edgar to refill it.

"Slaves?" whispered the first n.o.ble, glancing at the dead n.o.ble beside him.

"I am using the three of you as examples for the rest of the kingdom, so I don't have to prove my authority again. The two of you will clean up that floor, until it shines as good as new, then you will be put to work. If I hear of any issues with you or any of your family, you will be whipped."

They were frozen in disbelief. Two servants showed up with the necessary tools for them to clean up the blood, and they looked at them blankly.

Turning to the newest member at the table, Aella took a sip of her ale before asking, "And your name is?"

"I am Destov, Your Majesty," he answered quickly with a bow of his head.

"Destov, see to it that you discover their wealth value, so we can keep track of how much the family will have to work. I expect all of their funds to be transferred to the castle, for my use in righting the kingdom. We have plenty of empty rooms, so it shouldn't be hard to find places to put all of them. I want their entire households brought to the palace and sell what we don't need."

"Liquidate everything?" he asked.

"What does liquidate mean?" she raised an eyebrow.

"It means to sell everything for money, just as you requested," he answered, licking his lips. A plate had just been placed in front of him, but he had yet to eat anything.

"Then, yes. If they have anything the palace needs, keep that, but otherwise I want their entire household liquidated."

He nodded as he clutched his hands tightly in his lap.

"It is late, and I am tired after so many attempts on my life today. I will see all of the tutors in the morning before breakfast, while my guards spar."
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She looked at their unhappy faces and smiled. No one was really liking her as the king. The way things had deteriorated, they all needed a little shaking up.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Vazzug, the green older tutor with a bow.

The other two followed suit and left.

"Destov, you will be my newest tutor, teaching me about money. It seems that the n.o.bles in this city know more about money, than anyone placed in a position to teach me to be king, so you should be an excellent teacher. If you are hungry, feel free to eat, otherwise you are free to tend to the things I have ordered of you. I still expect your family to be moved into the warehouse district with the other n.o.bles, by the end of the week, though, if you would like, I can allow you to live here in the palace?"

"No, Your Majesty, that is generous of you, but I would not think my family will be comfortable living in the palace, knowing that their family and friends are now slaves of the crown."

"Whatever," she said, waving her hand and picking up her fork to practice holding it the way she was supposed to, instead of using her fingers to eat.

Destov quickly left the table and the room.

"Do you think it best to rile the n.o.bles up like that?" asked Frederik, biting a chunk of ham.

"I think it's about time someone did something. To think no one in the palace even knows anything about money! That's just stupid. Did you see the way the people enjoyed you tearing into the n.o.bles like that?" added Kieran.

Taking one last bite of her duck, Aella climbed to her feet.

"I'm tired. I trust all of you can find your way to your own beds. I will see all of you at dawn in the new throne room. It will be our sparring room for now."

Her guards grabbed several more things to eat as they jumped to their feet to follow her.

"We're supposed to protect you!" exclaimed Frederik. "You can't just leave without us!"

Aella laughed. "If someone was going to kill me, don't you think they would have managed by now? If it pleases you, I'll let you guys choose who guards my door at night. I think two at a time should be enough. Maybe there won't be more a.s.sa.s.sins climbing into my bed with me."

"Do you need someone to guard you in bed?" asked Seifer with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

She laughed again. "I would be more likely to kill you in my sleep if you snored. I'll be fine, thank you."

The others laughed at the groan he made as they followed her to her bed chambers. Listening to them argue over who would take what shift, she securely shut her door and locked it. The room looked untouched, but she went over it carefully. Even the closet was inspected before she relaxed. There weren't even any secret spots for people to watch her in any of the walls.

"Your Majesty?" came a soft hiss, and Aella raised an eyebrow as one of the stones in her floor raised up.

"Frank? Or Louie?" she asked as the snake head peeked out at her.

"Frank is busy talking to the monster under your bed," said the snake with a soft lisp.

"Do I need to meet this monster?" she asked, leaning over to inspect her bed. She had checked there already, but maybe she missed something?

"It lives in a room under your bed, not actually under the bed," he corrected with a shake to his head.

"Oh, that makes more sense, what did you want?" she asked, taking out her sword and inspecting the blade to make sure there wasn't any blood on it after all her fighting that day.

"Frank thought you should know that we stopped five people from entering the castle today. They were all equipped with poisoned weapons."

"Thank you, did you enjoy eating them?"

He smiled, showing his fangs and sharp teeth. "We haven't been this well fed in ages."

She nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"No, that was all. Are you going somewhere?"

She was inspecting her boots and gently coaxing the magical cloak to form an actual cloak and hood to cover her face.

"I've been thinking about my father, and I think it's high time I see if he ever came home."

"Oh, well, good luck. Will you be back soon?"

"I should be home before dawn. Keep the castle safe. You're doing a wonderful job."

Louie nodded and slithered back down into the small hole, sliding the stone back into place.

Picturing her old home, she inspected the bas.e.m.e.nt carefully. It was dark and filled with cobwebs. That wasn't a good sign. Stepping forward, she teleported into the bas.e.m.e.nt of her childhood home.

In the corner where her bed had been, Aella could still see shreds of material from the blanket she used to use. The rest of the bas.e.m.e.nt seemed untouched since she left. Her eyes traveled up the unstable steps leading into the kitchen where her father would let her sneak to, on the coldest of days and nights. He had been so worried about her being found and taken.

Aella wondered now, if that was because she would be an orphan of a military person, or if there were more to it. Picturing the kitchen in her head, she opted to teleport there, instead of testing the stairs. The floors creaked, but held her weight as she studied the old stove. Glancing around was enough to verify what she already knew. Her father wasn't here. If he had ever returned, he didn't stay. Checking out the rest of the house, it was exactly as she remembered from when she had left that fateful day so long ago.

Aella stood at an upstairs window, watching people move about outside on the streets, as she thought about her decision to finally leave. The food had run out, that her father had painstakingly collected for her. The hunger in her gut had driven her away from this place. She knew that if she was caught stealing, they would kill her. What they had done was far worse.

A figure jogging down the street caught her attention. It was a military messenger.

Teleporting to the alley next to her old house, she watched the messenger pause under the bar sign, reading the words under the carving of a mermaid. The Drowned Mermaid beckoned her as he turned and dashed inside. It would be interesting if that messenger could answer some of her questions. Maybe the heroes were nearby?