"Have you lost your mind? No! No, they'll notice that a Demon Lord has gone missing! Angela! Angela!" The Demon Lord growled. "I swear you better not..." She must have heard the line click. Angela had hung up on the Demon Lord. "How did she end up staying in Heaven and I get thrown down here?"

I peeked around the rotary phone's base. "You chose to fight in the rebellion, remember?"

She nodded and sighed. "Yeah.... " She dropped into one of the big comfortable chairs in her chamber. "Yeah, I remember." She rubbed her thumb between her brows.

"Are you going to go?"

"Of course I am. She and Belezbia are best friends, and if I want to keep things going well with Belezbia, I need to stay on good terms with Angela."

"So what's the plan, Your Grace?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Well, if I'm not going to be sitting on my throne, I need a substitute." She said, tapping her stilettoed black nails on the armrest.

"Do you have anyone in mind? Someone you can trust. You don't want someone to use the opportunity to start a coup."

A slow grin spread over the Demon Lord's face. "What about you, Ziel?"

I widened my eyes. "I apologize for being so blunt or speaking crudely to you, your grace, but are you insane? Look how small I am! I'm a lowly Imp! How would I keep anyone in line? How can I--"

"Shh! You're perfect. Someone I can easily get rid of if they start a coup. Someone I am confident is loyal in the first place. Someone who understands the politics and how everything works around here. You're perfect, Ziel--well aside from questioning my judgement."

"But, your grace!"

"No buts! You're going to by my--" She stood suddenly and dramatically, pointing down at me. "SUBSTITUTE DEMON LORD!"

~*~

Okay, okay. I've got this! Substitute Demon Lord!

I went through my normal routine--though many times larger. It was strange to be so tall and to look like my Demon Lord. I had to use the powers she gave me to make my checklists bigger so I could actually write on them. I spent hours and hours pouring over everything--checking every box! Crossing every T! Dotting every I! Ha, I was good at this!

"Your grace?" called a voice.

I ignored it, steeped in the minutia and paperwork of running my Demon Lord's kingdom.

"Your grace?"

I still didn't respond. Not until I felt a tug on the majestic robes I was wearing, suddenly reminded of the role I was playing.

"Your grace..." once more the voice addressed me. A voice attached to a demoness with too kind a face to belong in Hell. Too graceful a stride to be a lowly demon. Her hair was like black silk and a pair of horns like alabaster curled back along the sides of her head like a ram's. She peered up at me with humility from her ocher complexion.

She was mesmerizing and I nearly forgot who I was supposed to be again. "Ah, uhm yes?"

"Greetings, your grace. I'm Vizhabel, the new handmaid to Demon Lord Belezbia. I would have sought out your handmaid imp, Ziel, but I was told she hasn't been seen for a few days, so I hope I'm not imposing or breaking any rules."

She was meant to see me? It had been days? I felt my eyes start to widen but pulled the expression back into something cool and easy. "Oh, well, I sent her for a vacation. She's been working very hard."

"Oh," she paused, knitting her brows. "I didn't realize we got vacations."

I nodded. "Oh, it's a new thing we're trying. I think we might get better work out of the demons if we offer occasional rewards for service."

Vizhabel nodded. "I suppose that makes sense and I shouldn't question the judgement of a Demon Lord." She replied, her cheeks darkening a little.

"Nonsense. Do you think I would be doing so well if I surrounded myself with people that agreed with me all the time?"

There was confusion on her face. "Belezbia said you were an odd Demon Lord, but..."

"She's not a normal one either."

"I--I suppose." Vizhabel agreed hesitantly. "When will Ziel be back?"

"How does it concern you?"

"My Demon Lord thinks I might benefit from learning from her, and since you and Lord Belezbia are on such good terms it seemed like an easy thing to arrange."

"Ah, well, why don't you stay by my side. You can be my part-time handmaid and receive the training you need--after all, I trained Ziel."

"Ah, uhm," She face darkened more and she got quiet. After a moment she seemed to regain her composure and looked up at me. "Yes, your grace. I would be honored to serve two Demon Lords at once."

I smiled broadly at her, starting to feel my own cheeks start to glow with a warm blush. Eventually, I caught myself and cleared my throat. "Ahem. So what business did your Lord send you here for?"

"She is ready to receive you for the tea you arranged to meet her for."

"Oh! Oh yes! I think I will certainly benefit from having you around while my Ziel is away."

~*~

"Oh, Zunabir! I've missed you!" Belezbia cheered as she wrapped me up in her arms.

It was hard not to get intoxicated with such a powerful and beautiful Demon Lord. I wanted to surrender everything to her in that moment, but duty pulled me together.

"Hi, Belezbia." I replied.

"Hi?!?" She released me and glared into my face. "You're only going to say hi to me?"

I panicked and felt my cheeks going hot and, thankfully, she didn't seem to realize the blush belonged more to guilt than affection. "Oh! I-I'm sorry. Without Ziel, I've kept my mind busy with running my kingdom."

"Oh? What happened to Ziel?"

"I gave her a vacation."

Belezbia narrowed her eyes. "That's very strange."

"It was Ziel's idea. And you know I can hardly function without her."

Belezbia let out a loud laugh and threw her arm over my shoulders. "You know, that is believable. But you don't even have a replacement to help you get by until she gets back."

"Oh, I only did it this morning once I met Vizhabel. She needs training and said you wanted Ziel to train her and I trained Ziel... it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out. Maybe I can get a little more mileage out of my demons if they get little carrots every once in awhile."

"You are very odd, but I think I like that about you, Zuna. You're not like some of these stinky, ogres that run a lot of the other kingdoms of hell."

"Ha, yeah. Stinky ogres. Yuck." She shook her head.

Belezbia chuckled again as she pulled me over to a table and we sat to take tea. She locked eyes with me and I tried not to flinch or shiver. There was so much power behind her glowing golden eyes. Under the pressure of the gaze I let out a soft simper and tried to cover it with a clearing of my throat.

Belezbia tilted her head back and laughed into the sky before settling her gaze back on me. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" She asked, speaking in a low sultry voice. "Do I intimidate you sweet?" She asked, standing and leaning over the table. "Do I hold power over you?"

What do I do? What do I do? I panicked.

Belezbia leaned closer. "I love seeing you squirm." She said and leaned in close to press our lips together.

And I panicked!