Everything they said about dragons was untrue. They are not blood thirsty beasts. Of course, I didn't know that when one of the dark, scale-covered creatures swooped down on me while I strolled through the courtyard with my parents.

As the great creature held me in their claws, I was initially gripped with fear. I thought the strong digits might crush me or the claws pierce my flesh. While my heart pounded in my chest and I struggled to get my breathing under control, a million thoughts flashed through my head. I regretted contemplating killing myself, only because it meant the certain end to the hope I had that I might somehow escape the tyranny of my parents over my life.

But as I was carried, I realized the care that the dragon carried me with. They occasionally gave a glance down at me.... not as if I were some morsel, but as if they cared for some precious cargo they carried. Slowly, I calmed and became more curious about my situation than fearful.

The Dragon landed near the top of great mountain, landing on an outcropping from the mountain more than big enough for the Dragon's massive footprint. They carefully set me on my feet, released me, and then gestured with one of their front claws for me to follow them.

Upon crossing the threshold into the darkness, the Dragon leading me started to shimmer and thier shape to change. They became more humanoid, though taller and still retaining their scales and many of their dragon traits.

"So sorry to whisk you away on a sudden." The Dragon spoke in a low, fried voice. "It seemed like something of an emergency for you, princess."

As I was trained, I reacted with anger at being called 'princess.' "Excuse you! I'm a prince!" I replied.

The Dragon lifted their brows as they turned to look at me. "Is that so?"

"Y..yes?" I said, not sure if I had to keep up the act if the Dragon knew.

"Perhaps I should take you back then..." The Dragon suggested, starting to move back toward the opening and gesturing with their hand.

"N-n... why did you kidnap me?" I tried to change the subject.

"It seemed you were in trouble. Contemplations of suicide due to suppressing yourself, being denied every aspect of your identity by your parents, and not to mention the ways they mentally and emotionally abused you...."

"They did no--" I cut myself short and looked down. For a few moments, I let memories of being shouted down for my opinions, being physically hurt by my parents, and how they denied and shamed me when they found out that one of the handmaids had been letting me wear her old dresses in private and put makeup and jewelry on me. "They... they did."

"I and my partner wanted to give you a better life, but we can take you back if you don't like it here."

I took a deep breath and looked up. For the first time, I actually looked at the Dragon and the room I was in.

The Dragon was as tall as the tallest man I ever saw. Their eyes were a cool and gentle blue, partly clouded and peered through gold rimmed glasses sitting on the end of their nose. A purple tinged white beard went down to their belt with a waxed and upturned mustache, and they had matching cropped hair. They wore a purple, black, gold, and silver plaid kilt and doublet, stockings and heeled black boots.

The room appeared to be a royal chamber with rich carpets, bookshelf-covered walls, a fireplace, and lavish decorations everywhere.

"Are you a king?" I asked.

They gave a non-committal wiggle of a hand. "Kind of, you don't have an accurate word for it in human language." They raised their brows. "You may call me Polari, and you may use any of your human pronouns for me, I'm not picky." They scrunched up their nose and smiled. "I don't know exactly what you would like to be called..."

My heart seemed to freeze for a moment, then it sped up as if trying to catch up to where it should have been. My breath caught as I tried to speak. I swallowed, cleared my throat, and as I spoke I felt a warmth rise up through me. "Princeps Morfa... she and they." I looked up, feeling a familiar fear threaten to grab and shred my blooming joy apart as I sought Polari's face for approval.

Polari only smiled that warm smile at me. "A pleasure to meet you, Princeps Morfa."

And then the fear released. I gasped in relief and in surprise. Before I could recover, I felt overwhelmed with a need to sob with joy. I started to feel my knees give as I sought to crumble into a disgusting crying mess.

"Would you like me to hold you while you work out your feelings?" Polari asked.

I nodded weakly and Polari moved quickly to catch me and hold me against themself.

"It's okay, Princeps. You're safe. You can stay here as long as you like or go when you like. You will be loved, educated, cared for, listened to... but it's all up to you, okay?"

I sniffled and sobbed and nodded against their shoulder. It was so unexpected that I might escape that torture for something better. But I got lucky enough to be rescued. I started to look forward to tomorrow instead of dreading it.

"Your majesty, the rebellions are bad enough without killing the horses of your noblemen to achieve what has been done in Spain with those... 'aero carriages.'" Edward tried to explain. "Horses aren't necessary anyway. Not with what we've been able to put together."

Henry narrowed his eyes at what looked like a crossbow built for the hands of a giant. "Nothing is faster than horses..."

"Cannot arrows reach their mark before a horse?"

Henry was quiet and seemed a bit ruffled.

Edward gestured toward the men standing around the contraption. They started to whip and lead a pair of oxen on either side so that a thick rope was drawn tightly back. A groaning sound came from the arms of the contraption as it was drawn and then finally locked into place. There was a call from the Ox teams and then at the front another team guided an 'aero carriage' into the groove so that it was like a loaded crossbow, the carriage being the bolt.

There was another call and the driver climbed into the carriage. He gave a wave.

Edward turned to Henry. "At your call, your majesty." He gave the King a smile.

Henry nodded. Edward raised his fist, then pulled his arm down. The lock was released and with a low twang the winged carriage shot off into the sky. No cliff, no horses.

When it became clear that the aero carriage was going to stay in the air for awhile, Henry's mouth fell agape.

"It won't stay in the air much longer than the Spanish aero carriages as it currently exists--however, we think putting in a lathe or a pulley might allow the carriage to remain airborne by spinning a smaller wing at the nose."

"Huh... well.... well done Edward."

"As you wish, your majesty." Edward grinned from ear to ear.

As Henry looked on, marveling at everything, Edward reached into his bag. He produced a large leatherbound book with a space cut in the pages. A screen flesh dimly, words and pictures changing. "Looks like the rebellions are still going to happen. Everything according to plan..."

Have I got news for you…. https://m.tapas.io/series/The-Demon-Lords-Substitute/info

I decided to start writing it as a regular series.

"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!