Royal Trouble: Past & Present: Royal Trouble, #1

By Colin Reid-FitzGeorge

THE DEMON KING HAS KIDNAPPED THE PRINCESS OF MULLION!!

The Demon Kingdom has come under intense threat from the Kingdom of Petti and to make matters worse, the princess of the neighboring Kingdom of Mullion has been promised to one of Petti's princes. With Mullion about to come under Petti's influence, the Demon Kingdom will lose one of its last few partners for trade. Something drastic will have to be done and the Demon King Zain can only think of one person who can help; his childhood friend Aelia, the Princess of Mullion. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Colin Reid-FitzGeorge
• Release date: Sep 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201347598

Colin Reid-FitzGeorge

Colin is born-and-bred from the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. He grew up with its bright lights, interesting people and endless stories. The unique atmosphere, combined with a steady diet of the most unique stories the 1990s could offer, gave him an undying love of stories. He hopes that people will come to love his stories as much as he grew up loving others'. 

Book preview

Chapter 1

"S ay...that... again ." The Demon King Zain commanded coldly. His blood red skin glinted ominously in the light of the throne room’s torches as he tightly gripped the arms of his throne. The onyx feathers of his large wings puffed up as he unconsciously spread them out. His demon advisors all trembled slightly at the rare sight of his genuine rage.

Of course, Master. Lirra, the only human present and Zain’s personal assistant, said calmly. Her face remained impassive as she raised the report in front of it once more. Zain watched her bright blue eyes disappear behind the parchment as her olive-skinned hands gripped it tightly.

The second prince of the Kingdom of Petti, Gureed Petti, has been offered the hand of Princess Aelia of the Kingdom of Mullion in order to secure a union between their two countries. The wedding is to happen in two weeks time, to allow Prince Gureed to travel without hurry to Mullion. Lirra repeated.

She handed the report to Zain in case he felt the need to confirm what it said once again with his own eyes. Everyone in the room knew such a union would be disastrous for the Demon Kingdom. Petti had already openly refused to trade with them, which meant they had to spend far more to get less of it from other kingdoms. To add political insult to financial injury, Gureed himself had been travelling the world in order to convince other nations to stop their own trade with the Demon Kingdom.

If Mullion joined the other nations were boycotting them, the Demon's Kingdom's trade economy would all but disappear. Petti could also easily convince Mullion’s king to merge their armies together under the pretense of strengthening their borders. Should Petti's aggressions escalate further into war against the Demon Kingdom, the casualties would be innumerable. A union between Petti and Mullion could not happen, no matter what.

All of you get out. I need to think. Zain commanded his court. All the demons hastily answered with Yes, Master and practically stomped one another flat in their efforts to get away from Zain's anger. Lirra had waited until everyone else had left and did not budge from her spot until Zain waved her away. When finally alone, Zain finally allowed himself to fully lose his cool and slammed his fist on his throne hard enough that it left an indent on the wooden arm.

He hated that he had to be alone before he could allow himself to really let go but it was necessary. The Demon King was the face of the entire nation and demons already had a bad reputation of being bloodthirsty, cruel monsters thanks to rumors that Petti spread amongst every nation they came across. Demons did fight until the last man and did whatever it took to win but under his rule they had never been the ones to instigate combat.

Anxiety dripped into his anger and Zain rose from his throne, went behind it and pulled out a small box. It was ornately decorated with both his own family's coat of arms and the Demon Kingdom's national symbol. He carefully opened the lid to reveal the contents of the box, a small piece of cloth that his mother had given him as an infant for comfort and a tiny white flower he had preserved when he was still a boy. He took a seat back on his throne, set the box on his lap and gently took out the flower. Memories of simpler times, of times when he truly believed that good intentions and hard work were all that would be needed for a better world, flowed gently into his mind. He closed his eyes and thought back to when he first met the young girl who had gifted him the flower.

Zain, 11-years-old and next in line to be Demon King, hit the ground of the grassy clearing with a grunt of pain as he failed once again to properly use his wings to take off into the air from the ground. All he had managed thus far were a few brief glides from low-hanging tree branches. He knew his wings were still too small for true flight but he wanted to improve his skill and strengthen his wings. That meant trying and failing again and again until he got better.

He got up and brushed the grass and dirt off his bare chest, simple pants and brown boots he wore. Zain was thankful that his appointed attendant couldn’t see him in such a state, especially not in this beautiful forest, so far from home. The old ogre would grouchily demand that he wear a shirt and choose someplace within the Demon Kingdom's borders if he insisted on such a meaningless exercise. Zain couldn’t help but sneer at the mental recollection of his mentor’s smug attitude.

"What does he know anyway? He doesn't have wings." the young Demon-King-to-be grumbled aloud as he checked for injuries.

"Who doesn't have wings?" he heard a stranger's voice say from only a few feet away.

Zain jumped slightly, half in surprise and half to get some distance in case he was under threat, and saw a small human girl staring at him with curiosity. She wore a viridian dress that went all the way down to her ankles and left only her hands and neck exposed to the open air. The girl cocked her head slightly as she looked at him with eyes nearly the exact same shade of red as his skin.

Who are you? Zain asked as he glanced around to see if other humans were around. Are you alone?

"Proper manners demand you introduce yourself before asking a lady her name, you know. she stated matter-of-factly before her curious look turned to a mischievous grin as she stepped closer. Here, I'll demonstrate. I am Aelia, from the Kingdom of Mullion. Who might you be, young mister demon?"

The grin never left her face as she curtsied and her head tilted forward far enough to see snow white hair that went down all the way to the back of her neck. Zain’s eyebrows rose slightly at the sight of it. He had never heard of such a combination of hair and eyes colors for a human. He wondered if perhaps this young girl wasn’t actually human after all despite being from Mullion. He decided he could find out later and followed her lead. He politely tucked his wings close to his body, placed a single hand on his chest and bowed back to the young lady.

I am Zain, son of Tyrra and Zafiro. he said before he stood back up and spread his wings out. Now please answer my question, are you alone?

I am. she answered with a nod. I decided to sneak out of the house today so I could enjoy the forest without having grown-ups around who scare away all the animals.

I see... Zain said with a subtle sigh of relief.

"So what are you doing out here, Zain? I did not think that demons liked trees and grass."

"Of course we do. Why would you think we would not like trees and grass?" Zain asked with a slight scowl.

The grown-ups always say that nothing green grows in the Demon Kingdom because demons do not like nature. Is that not the case? she replied as she regarded him curiously.

"Absolutely not!" Zain replied, angry and offended enough that his wings snapped out involuntarily.

Aelia stepped back, clearly a little frightened by the display and a sharp pang of guilt shot through the young Demon-King-to-Be. He forced his body to look relaxed before he apologized.

My apologies, I didn’t mean to lose my temper, Miss Aelia. I just don’t like to hear my people spoken poorly of over misunderstandings.

...oh, okay. she replied as she visibly relaxed and took a moment to smooth out any wrinkles on her dress. "So do you know why grown-ups think that then? The misunderstanding must come from somewhere."

"My magic teacher says that it’s because of how our forests don't grow like yours do because all the magic we demons have seeps into the ground over time and changes the lands we live in. We have trees and forests and grass, but they don’t look anything like this forest does because our magic has changed the plants. It’s why we do not expand our Kingdom outwards until it is absolutely necessary. If we did, we could end up ruining the world without meaning to." Zain answered.

I see. Aelia said with a large smile. Her eyes had been large the entire time he had explained and Zain wondered if she was the type who grew obsessed with learning new things. He almost missed what she asked next.

So why are you here, Zain, and who were you speaking of earlier?

Oh, uh... Zain stuttered, a little embarrassed he had been caught speaking to himself. "I'm out here practicing with my wings and I was talking about a teacher of mine, who thinks I should wait until I'm bigger... or at least until my wings are bigger."

"Well why don't you wait then? Is there a reason you need to practice now?" she asked innocently with her arms crossed behind her back. He wished that she would simply mind her own business and accept that he had his reasons but there was something about her that compelled him. He growled softly and resigned himself to answer so long as she didn’t get too personal.  

"People expect a lot of me. One day, when I'm all grown, I'm supposed to do all these great things. I don't want to waste time I'm supposed to be helping out everyone trying to get the basics of using my wings to fly. I want them all to know that I can do it right away so they won't worry about me or the things I’m supposed to do." Zain explained, careful to keep his wording vague.

He didn’t expect the young girl to understand his problem and turned away from her with his wings extended. He slowly flapped to feel the wind that blew through the trees and lost himself in the sensations. He was caught completely by surprise when he felt Aelia's hand on his shoulder and whipped around to see a sympathetic smile on her features.

I understand quite well. she said to him as he turned around.

"I may not have wings, but I know all too well how much it hurts when you feel you've let down the people you care about. It's part of the reason I came out here, to get away from everyone's expectations for a while. To have a little time to just be me, without worry about what people will think about the way I act, or speak or even breathe."

Zain blinked. Though he didn't know if she was telling the truth, something about the way she spoke, the way she gently squeezed his shoulder made him feel as though he could trust her. She truly did seem to understand the emotions behind his plight, at least. She was likely a noble’s child, given her fine clothes and speech, so she probably understood the weight of adult expectations quite well. Their talk of it had certainly made them dour.

So what is the other part of the reason then? Zain asked her in an attempt to try and find something to talk about that would lighten their moods. Aelia's smile practically glowed as she let go of his shoulder and came around him to speak face-to-face.

"Because my mother told me that it’s important to remember that I am still a child, and that I should make sure to do childish things while I still can. So I came out here to the woods to run and play and get dirty like I'm told ordinary children do." she explained happily before she held out her hand to him and spoke again.

Maybe it would help you feel better if you joined me in childishness for a while. Come on!

Zain hesitated, unsure if he should accept the invitation from the strange girl despite his feelings of trust in her. If other humans were to come across the two of them playing, they would likely assume he was trying to manipulate or even harm her. It could even cause an incident between the Demon Kingdom and Mullion, all because he spent time with this human girl in this forest he was definitely not supposed to be in.

Aelia, however, clearly didn’t share his worries. She grabbed him by the hand and ran quickly towards the trees. Zain struggled to keep up, caught completely off guard by the sudden movement and gave an undignified yelp as he nearly tripped several times. He was saved the humiliation of falling on his face only by the use of his wings to keep himself upright.

She laughed merrily as she led him through the trees, no attention paid to her surroundings until she tripped on an exposed tree root. She was saved from falling face-first onto the dirt by Zain, who had extended his wings fully to catch them both. He pulled her back up to her feet while she was still mid-fall, with her nose the merest distance from the hard forest floor.

I know your mother said you should get dirty but I don't think she meant for you to break your nose, Miss Aelia. Zain teased after she was solidly back on her feet. She looked at him quietly for a moment, stunned. He wasn't sure if it was his attitude or his words that had caught her so off guard. It wasn’t like he really knew her, despite his earlier judgment of her character.

Thank you... she said softly, with a smile that slowly grew larger and larger on her face. She drew closer to him and Zain couldn't help but admire the beauty of her eyes and the features of her face. It was all too easy to see that she would grow into someone of great beauty one day. He felt a blush crawl onto his face and silently thanked his mother for a skin tone that wouldn’t show it. He quickly let go of Aelia and stepped back to cough into his hand in hopes that she wouldn't realize he had been admiring her.

You're welcome. he said in as composed a manner as he could. Perhaps we should slow down a bit though? Take things at more leisurely pace?

Perhaps you're right. Aelia agreed.

She took his hand again and walked through the forest with him as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. Even though he had not revealed himself as the future Demon King, he was still a demon. How she seemed to be so comfortable not just being around him but even touching him, he wasn’t sure. He decided it would be best to simply ask her, instead of wondering endlessly.

Miss Aelia? May I ask why you're leading me around by the hand?

She stopped right after he asked and looked down at their hands, as if she somehow hadn’t realized that she had done so. A slight blush colored her cheeks but she didn’t let go.

"I'm sorry. I didn’t even realize I grabbed your hand again. I’m not making you