Rerek Apepi was a renowned mage and ruler of his kingdom. He did not see the point in listening to the wishes of peasants. One of his attendants, Gage, always told him that races other than demons were barely even sapient creatures. He didn’t see why his other attendant, Zonnon, made sure that these wretched things continued living. Something about loyalty and labor he guessed. Rerek never really did pay attention when he was in royal training, he felt his power was enough even without all the boring talk of history.
His two attendants, Gage and Zonnon, handled most of the boring stuff for him anyway. They never agreed fast enough for Rerek to bother listening to the entirety of each problem within the kingdom anyway. Rerek didn’t even bother to read documents anymore before signing, they were much too boring with all the technical talk added.
That's why when Rerek took over the continent, Gage graciously offered to handle the diplomacy between the overtaken kingdoms and himself. Zonnon though, would not let him have so much power to himself. Zonnon was a devout member of the Order of Atonement, a religious group believing that people were born into this world to follow the paths set before them as described by their title. Instead of enslaving the other races he preferred to let them live normally, as long as they submitted to the demon army. That way they could fulfill the purpose they were born for. As the Long Lived King, Rerek was obviously Zonnon’s favorite. Gage, being labeled as Wicked Lord, was hated by Zonnon as he disliked those born with evil titles, thinking their only path was an evil one. Zonnon was labeled the Shepherd of the blind, and lived his life as such.
Zonnon had very specific rules about how his prisoners were to be treated. He let them live somewhat peaceful lives under the demon lord's banner, only forcing those who were born with evil titles, criminals, or those who had too much unpaid debt to do the truly undesirable tasks. All other citizens were promised protection from these tasks as long as they pledged allegiance to the demons and followed the orders they were given.
Gage on the other hand ruled his territory with fear and cruelty. Rerek found his ways boring. The citizens weren’t fun to mess with, they lived in such poor conditions that they didn’t even run when he chased them with his spells anymore. Rerek told Gage he didn’t want to see his toys in that condition next time he visited though, so he assumed they had all been fixed up by now. Slaves were fine, but they should at least be able to do their jobs right?
Zonnon always had his toys in good condition and ready to run on command. They even seemed to enjoy it sometimes. There was a certain guard Zonnon kept with him that was really good at dodging his fireballs. He would bring some of his friends sometimes and they would all run from Rerek at the same time, dodging and ducking. Rerek healed these toys when he was done with them, he actually held these ones somewhat dear to him since his siblings died. It wasn’t often that he found toys that could actually entertain him.
He didn’t have any siblings after he had killed his adopted father’s biological children. Gage said that letting them live would mean that he would have to fight them later down the line when they had gotten much more powerful. Rerek didn’t actually care how powerful they got, he could still destroy them with only the strength he held in his pinky finger, but Gage had seemed anxious about it back then so he did it anyway.
He missed them sometimes, along with his adopted father and mother. They were fun to be around before they started becoming jealous of his strength. Gage had told him the nasty things they would say behind his back while they were out of sight. Things like how they could use his power for their own advancement. His elder brother was apparently going to kill him and take over the position of crown prince. Gage protected him though, giving him the information before his brother had a chance to act. He easily made his brother kneel and beg for mercy, saying that he could spare his life if he told the truth.
He was still so unwilling to give the position up that Rerek had to spend an entire week slowly burning his flesh off before restoring it and starting all over repeatedly just to get him to admit his plans. What made it worse is that according to Gage, his father knew about the prince’s plans and didn’t discipline him accordingly. Without the skill to even keep his own family in check how could he possibly keep the whole kingdom in check? So Rerek wiped out the rest of the former royal family. He did not care for those who thought themselves above him.
Since he was still technically a child, many people tried looking down on him as if he couldn’t possibly run the kingdom. He showed them though, he was running the kingdom and didn’t even have to do any of the stupid paperwork Zonnon was always drowning in. He had the most powerful demons on the continent at his disposal and he used them as he liked. He made them do the paperwork, talk with the foreigners and peasants, and even just play with him. If there was still a demon on this continent that found him unworthy they were too scared to voice it.
Zonnon said that being a proper ruler in the eyes of others would mean having the respect of those he ruled over. This is one of the reasons that Rerek agreed to do the audience days Zonnon had asked for. This entailed Rerek having to sit on his throne and listen to the nonsensical gibbering of the peasants who came to wish upon the great emperor. Zonnon was only able to convince him after explaining how Rerek would actually stand at the pinnacle of kings if he created miracles for mere peasants. Obviously everyone already knew that he was the best, but to hear the people cheer at his benevolence felt nice. Not a single other demon lord in history had such a feat. Zonnon said he should be proud of creating such an image for himself. Mercy was only available to those who showed themselves as powerful, undefeatable rulers. And so he sat here on his throne, listening to the desires of those underneath him.
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The day was already half gone when two human children came to plead for help. One was a scrawny brown haired boy who seemed to be a younger teenager, and the other was a small girl with long blonde hair he was holding in his arms. They both bore common titles, the boys being laborer, and the girls an artisan. They both wore tattered clothing and looked like they hadn't bathed in days. Rerek hated these unscrupulous things, they expected him to pull them out of the hellholes they call lives for nothing more than the measly few coins they paid in taxes each month. They didn’t even bother buying new clothing or washing up before greeting him. It felt like an insult to his own greatness to even have to be in the same castle, let alone room, as these animals. The boy was on his knees in front of Rerek’s throne, head bowed and concentrated on the girl nestled below him.
“Rise, you have permission to address the king” a guard standing to the side of Rerek bellowed. The boy got to his feet, wobbling like a newborn colt, and cleared his throat.
“Yes, your highness, I came here today to plead with you to cure my younger sister of her illness.” Rerek looked down on the boy, and then at the girl in his arms.
“What is her condition? Do you know which disease she has contracted?” The boy looked as if he had wanted to avoid the question, pausing for a few moments before slowly answering.
“I’ve been told it's caused by the low amount of mana in her body, as she grows her mana has stayed the same. Her body doesn’t have enough energy to maintain her physique anymore.”
Rerek rolled his eyes. This boy knew even before he came here that Rerek could not heal her within the designated time frame allotted by a single audience. Mana deficiency was a common disease that took at least a full hour of mana injections to heal. Rerek could only talk to each commoner for a maximum of five minutes to ensure the fairness of audience days for all. He thought of the best way to help the child stretch the mana she did have for now until the boy could find a mage with a sufficient mana injecting skill.
He threw a hand in front of himself and cast a spell. “Virtue of stamina.” What looked like a fractal made of crystal expanded over the child. The spell should at least contain the mana she had left. It slowed her heart rate down drastically reducing the strain her body had on her mana reserves. The boy looked relieved, until the girl's rigid body went limp in his arms.
“What did you do!” the boy shouted as he tried to shake the girl back into responsiveness. Already charging to where the children were sitting, the guard who had been by Rerek’s side started shouting at the boy for his insolence in yelling at the king. Rerek felt offended that this boy would assume he had harmed his sister on audience day, a day specifically revolving around helping the poor. It was part of why he hadn’t liked the other races much, they always assumed the worst of him for some reason, always afraid. He hadn’t even done anything to hurt them though, his attendants ran everything, what’d he have to do with how they were being treated?
“She's stopped breathing” visibly distressed, the boy seemed to look more panicked, looking between the upcoming soldier and the other child. “Please, your highness, bring her back, I did not mean to offend you. I’m sorry I asked for such a greedy request, please don’t punish my sister for it.” As the guard lifted him off the ground roughly, he tightly clutched his sister's body, not allowing the guard to separate the two. “I’ll do anything you want. I’ll work for you for the rest of my life, or become a slave. I’ll even become your mistress or anything else you could find useful of me please!” The boy pleaded for sisters life as well as his own now.
“It would be little to no effort for me to heal your sister” They boy looked hopeful at this, “but why would I when you have nothing of use to offer? Your talents? Your body? Neither of which are attractive. You're uneducated, probably to the point where you don’t even know how to read or write, and your body is so thin you might as well be a skeleton. What use would I get from helping you, other than the scorn of all the other commoners in the room? You are labeled as a simple laborer, even if you were given resources to grow, your skills wouldn’t be anything special. Why do you think so highly of yourself that you think you deserve more of the King's time and money? You already knew when you came here that the allotted amount of time was not enough to treat her. Did you intend to make me look foolish?”
The boy flinched at the last part. Rerek didn’t understand what made the boy think this situation could possibly turn out in his favor. Instead of trying to refute the statement the boy offered even more of himself to the other boy.
“I can take care of your horses, or become a butler. I promise I will learn incredibly fast. Anything sir, you can use me for target practice or rituals. Please just save my sister” his body trembled, looking like an autumn leaf hanging in the wind. Being accused of purposely fooling the king was as good as a death sentence. Accepting his inevitable death, he clung to the hope that his sister would be able to live. Sighing, Rerek decided to pity the young man.
“I’ve already done everything I can for her, she’ll live for a while longer at least.” Rerek looked down at the scene feeling tired already. Audience days lasted until nightfall, and he still had a few more hours of listening to the peasants' wishes to go. He was bored, as usual. “Instead of killing you for your insolence you will be brought into the royal palace as my personal jester. If you fail to keep me entertained, you will be executed in a way I see fit. Does that sound fair to you?” Rerek asked this rhetorically, knowing that if the boy didn’t agree the guard would kill him right here and now. He liked the new orange rug Zonnon had put down in this hall though and would rather blood not be spilt upon it. He also saw this as a fair punishment, if the boy was fast enough, he would only suffer mild burns after playing with Rerek. Even better than that, this way Rerek could just give his sister the man injection she needed outside of audience restrictions. Zonnon said that on audience days many commoners would come see him in all his glory and that he should be merciful when he could.
“Yes your highness, thank you for forgiving my terrible behavior. You are truly a wise and gracious king.” Rerek moved his hand to sign to the guard to remove them from the hall.
“Someone will show you to a guest room. There you will find a pen and paper to write to any relatives you might have waiting for you. You are not permitted visitors until you finish your time as my jester.”
With that done, the next commoner came up to his throne, waiting for Rerek to grant his wish.