Page 70 of Their Princess

“That isn’t a good sign,” Zoman growled and drew his sword.

“What?” I asked.

“They usually fly in packs,” Talrinir explained. “And like to set things on fire.”

“Trey,” I snapped.

He immediately shifted into his dragon form. Without a moment’s hesitation, he flew up into the sky and roared at the flying demon, trying to scare it off.

A few moments later, ten more of them appeared, all headed in the same direction.

“Does this happen often?” I asked as I watched Trey bump his head into the flying demon, trying to veer its flight path.

“We have occasional attacks, maybe once a week,” one of the farmers, a male demon with hooves and a set of thin, but long horns atop his head. “Usually foraging demons who want food. We don’t often have just straight attacks, but those …” he pointed at them. “… they like to destroy things.”

“We should give them somewhere they can go to destroy things,” I suggested.

“What?” Zoman asked.

“Give them an area of do what they want. If it’s in their nature, it’s not fair of us to deny them that. We should embrace it and help them find a place to do what comes natural to them.”

“What about the mountains on the far side?” Mason suggested. “I remember seeing some trees there that regrow pretty quickly. If we can replant them quickly, then they could return there, burn them when they want, and leave the crops alone.”

“We’ll have to try it soon,” I said. “I’d hate to kill them just because they’re following their instincts.”

“We should ask Huk to speak to them,” Talrinir said.

We all turned to her. “What?” I asked. “He can speak to them?”

She nodded. “He might also know of the best spots for them to go burn things since he wanders the mountains the most. I’ll talk to him tomorrow about it. We’re scheduled to meet him at the orphanage for more discussions.”

“Thank you, Talrinir.” I smiled at her and said, “You’re really good at this, you know?”

“At what?” she asked, blushing slightly.

“Ruling.”

She sputtered and turned away. “I’m notruling, I’m helping solve issues.”

“That’s exactly what a ruler does,” Trey said with a soft chuckle.

“Whatever,” she muttered.

ChapterTwenty-Four

Kayden kept his hands over my eyes as he directed me from my room, through the house, and out the back door. Trey trailed us, while Mason stayed in the other room to deal with the kids.

“Kay, if it’s a dead animal again, I’m going to be mad,” I said.

He sighed. “I only did that once when I was six. You were sick and wouldn’t eat, so I thought if I brought you a snack that it’d help.”

“It was twice and both times I told you not to do it again.” Truthfully, young me had really appreciated the gesture and thoughtfulness.

“It’s not a dead animal,” he snapped and exhaled harshly through his nose.

“He put a lot more thought into this gift,” Trey reassured me.

“Well, I guess if Trey is vouching for you…”

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