The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 134: Interlude - Kordia - Part 2

Chapter 134: Interlude - Kordia - Part 2

The Present

************

The Slaughter at Darlbridge.

That was what they were calling the news to come out of the south.

The news had spread like wildfire, but Kordia had not been in a position to hear about it until one of the other girls who was staying over the summer told her about it.

The rumor said that a demon had slain three angels and a hundred expeditionary soldiers, or that it was up to a half-dozen demons and their servants. Or that it had been a single demon against a small army and one angel.

The rumors couldn’t agree on whether it was the Adventurer’s Guild or the Chain Syndicate or both that had been the victims, and oddly almost nothing was said about the villagers of Darlbridge... But there was only one person that made sense as being the "demon."

Kordia worried about Kir. Was he alright? Had he somehow broken free of the seals on his magic? He said he was traveling with people. Nothing in the rumor had said the demon died, but Kordia worried anyway.

Whatever the truth was, the earliest date Kordia could assess put the event around the time she’d sent her message back to Kir...

By the time it occurred to her to go and ask at the Adventurer’s Guild, she couldn’t afford the time.

The morning after that evening epiphany was the day her mother was supposed to arrive. After breakfast, Kordia brought a book to the foyer of the Academy to wait.

Around noon, she was still waiting when a messenger arrived.

"Are you Kordia van Mora?" The youngish-looking birdkin asked. The feathers on their head were a pleasant blue and black, and their taloned feet clicked on the polished floor. Colorful birdkin tended to be male, but she made no assumptions.

"I am," Kordia answered.

"Jubilium and Ulster van Mora request your presence at the Lakeside Flower. Your parents have arranged transportation and proper vestments." The feathers around their neck puffed a bit... officiously? It was hard for Kordia to read birdkin somatics.

"I have the proper vestments of clan and clade," Kordia said, suppressing her annoyance. This was so like her mother...

"If you’ll follow me, there is an air carriage waiting." They gestured with an arm, one which had small blue-black feathers instead of hair.

Wanting to get this over with more than she wanted to make a stand, Korida followed, reminding herself that the birdkin was just the messenger.

Inside the carriage, she found not a traditional outfit like the one she had commissioned but one that had been tailored with more modern cuts, designed to emphasize her hips and bust. It didn’t seem tailored to accommodate her three tails, until she saw that the backside had panels held on by red ropes that could be loosened.

The gaudy accessories that had been included left an ominous feeling in her gut. This is more like a wedding dress... she thought as she rooted around with her fingers, poking the worst offenders away with a claw. She recognized her grandmother’s comb, patterned after a radiant sun with little rubies. It was also the only accessory with a bit of magic in it.

Sliding that into her hair was the only concession she made before shoving the contents back in and preparing to depart the carriage.

The carriage landed in front of what had to be the richest-looking hotel in the upper district... until she realized it wasn’t a hotel. It was the mansion of Norneau’s wealthiest family, the Lumins.

This was where Chancellor Lumin lived.

The messenger accepted the box from her with a slight tilt of their head, which she interpreted as interested disapproval, before leading Kordia past the front gate and into the spacious yard.

A fountain dominated the center, spraying water in four directions that briefly spiraled toward the apex of their arcs before cascading down.

Fine gravel surrounded the path they walked, and all around, statues in the shapes of various spirits from history were poised as if leaping, roaring, or otherwise cavorting. Bushes, uniformly arranged, divided the yard into three sections and formed walls at the border of the manor’s fence.

As soon as she arrived at the doors, they opened on their own, and Kordia looked down, sensing the magic that powered the simple construct.

Waiting for her on the other side was her immediate family. Her mother, Jubilium van Mora, was a voluptuous woman with orange-gold hair and fur. Her face, well enhanced with simple red and white makeup, was held in a seemingly perpetual, confident smile. She reclined on a couch, five tails fanned behind her as she leaned against her husband, one of her large, fennec-like ears held just slightly away so as not to occlude his face.

Ulster van Mora was not a large man. He was lanky, rather like Kir now that Kordia saw him again, but without the muscle and with a large set of round glasses that gave him a scholarly air. He had a single tail to him, and richly white fur with a bit of black at the tips of his ears and tail. He turned his face to her with a smile, only to stop as Jubilium squeezed his arm.

Across from them, sitting next to Chancellor Lumin were the last people Kordia wanted to see.

Her fiance. And his parents.

Kassin Karabodur was the second heir to his clan. He had bright orange hair with black tips and very intelligent eyes. He was also thirteen.

His father, Herz Karabodur, was a fully evolved bear beastfolk, and Kordia judged from his slightly sleepy demeanor that he had not gotten much of it lately. A large man, he had deep brown fur with wings of white at his eyes, eyes that were a bit hard to see. He was powerfully built, having grown his magic and strength to the point that his body was perfectly poised between human and bear.

Lastly was Fruhe Karabodur. Gra’Rhuel was the largest holding for any clan, and she was the powerhouse of the clan. Fruhe was largely seen as the reason Gra’Rhuel was on the cusp of becoming a queendom, and her rich red-orange fur and the seven tails arrayed behind her were a testament to her overwhelming capability with magic.

Kordia’s marriage to her son had been arranged as more of a redundancy, a means to ensure that Fruhe’s line could be maintained matrilineally. Beastkin tended to be born with the traits of their mothers, but Herz and Fruhe had produced three bearkin children.

Kordia knew one had died, that their eldest daughter was a mavin with ice powers, and that the third was Kassin’s twin brother, but little else. She’d only ever been introduced to Kassin, when the Krabodur’s had visited her family’s holdings in the Laikals around Lake Mora. With only one foxkin son, she’d reached out to Kordia’s clan in the hope of producing a granddaughter with foxkin traits.

"At last, she arrives," Fruhe smiled. "Such power at her age, I am envious." Her eyes slid across Kordia.

Covetous, more like. Kordia suppressed the urge to shiver at being regarded like a piece of meat.

"Indeed," Kordia’s mother sat up, her eyes the only indication she disapproved of Kordia having shown up without wearing the dress. Those eyes delivered a needlepoint glare, one that Kordia last saw when she’d been arguing to go to the Academy.

The birdkin servant, who had delivered the box to some unknown place, moved to stand behind Chancellor Lumin.

"Now that we’re all here, let’s catch Kordia up on the situation," she said with a firm tone, one that suggested she was officiating in some capacity. With a gesture, Kordia was offered a seat opposite the Chancellor, one that put her squarely in the middle of the two interested parties, facing everyone.

"What catching up is there?" Fruhe asked. "Obviously she is more capable than ever of joining my clan. I see little harm in simply moving things up... Since a wedding would guarantee our two clans’ union in perpetuity."

"Come now, cousin," Jubilium smiled back knives. "There’s still the issue of the dowry. Kordia’s rise in power here has clearly demonstrated she is worth far more than our previous arrangement."

Kordia’s father shot her a nervous glance and an apologetic twist of his face.

"Honored Clan Heads," Lumin interrupted, "As your hostess, I must insist that the negotiations will not proceed without all parties being apprised of the situation. So please, do what you need to be ready, while I speak to Kordia."

Jubilium quieted with a press of her lips together, but Fruhe grinned. "Let us send the men away." She pinched her husband on the shoulder and he started with a small jump, his eyes blinking rapidly. Had he fallen asleep? "Please take Kassin to the garden," she smiled.

He smiled at her affectionately, and when he spoke his voice was a deep, deep bass. "Of course... Is it time for lunch yet?" He looked and saw Kordia. "Ah, young Kordia, good to see you. You’re looking much healthier."

Kordia hadn’t seen the Kassin since she was a cub.

Fruhe cleared her throat loudly, and he remembered what he was supposed to do. While he took Kassin from the room, Kordia’s father stood and walked toward her.

She stood up and gave him a hug as he opened his arms, and he combed his hand through her hair as he whispered, "I’m sorry. I couldn’t change her mind."

It didn’t take much to guess what had happened. Kordia had sent her letter, and he had argued on her behalf. Argued and failed. She said a few encouraging words to him before letting go and sitting back down, watching as he caught up to his counterpart and her fiance.

"Ulster." The bearfolk greeted her father.

"Hertz. Kassin," he smiled to both.

"Dad says you’re also going to be my dad, too" Kassin said, his voice still youthfully high.

"Inlaw," her father corrected, "it means-"

The doors closed behind them with a loud clunk.

Once that was done, Professor Lumin whispered to her servant, who left and returned pushing a tray with a carafe of some black substance, and several mugs.

"Before we begin," Lumin said, "I’d like for everyone to try something the school has been producing for the guards and soldiers. Something that will make sure we’re all awake and alert."

"Is it a potion?" Kordia’s mother asked, accepting a mug that had been pre-filled. A small amount of steam rose from it.

"Of a sort," Lumin said as she received her own mug. "I understand the original creator called it coffee."

As soon as Kordia had hers in hand, Lumin sipped.

Her mother followed next, and almost immediately spluttered into a cough. "Oh, it’s vile..."

Fruhe smirked and sipped hers for a long time before audibly gasping and smiling at Kordia’s mother. "Cousin, if you can’t swallow a little bitterness now and then, how are we to come to an agreement?"

"We will come to an agreement because Heaven wills it," Chancellor Lumin said. Kordia’s body tensed as soon as she heard that. "Understand, honored Matrons, that this is not a negotiation between two interested parties, it is a negotiation between three. Norneau Academy also wishes to have a stake in the future of Kordia van Mora."

Kordia sipped her coffee, it didn’t help with the tension but it did comfort her. She knew what it was as soon as it was named, because it was a thing that Kir had created. The professor he’d worked with must have completed his technique.

Somehow, he had seen the value of a simple bean, just like he saw her when they first met.

She set down her mug and cleared her throat.

"I’d like to begin," she said, drawing a sharp look from her mother that she ignored. "And please understand when I say that this is a negotiation between four interested parties."