King's Orders

Annie and Lilin had to hurry their pace, but neither of them wanted to sacrifice the quality of their work. Annie knew that a rushed cleaning job wouldn't make anybody happy, and Lilin couldn't bear to let anybody judge her cleaning as less than perfect. Neither of them wanted to do a poor job or arrive late for the King's summon. It wasn't easy, but the two of them worked as hard as they could to finish as quickly as possible, and they finished just as the other servants filtered in to collect their jobs for the day. Annie gives a small wave to Six, but didn't have the time to do much more than that as Lilin hurried her towards the throne room.

"Alright, Ten, I know you're not used to the King like I am, so let me do the talking, alright?"

Annie nodded. As confident as she was, the King was somebody who still terrified her. She was glad Lilin was going to do all the talking. She took a deep breath as Lilin knocked, trying to prepare herself.

"Enter."

The sound of the King's voice shook Annie's entire body, not just from fear but from the actual sound. Annie thought to herself, surely that was because of some magical effect. There's no way his voice was just that loud... Right?

Annie nearly forgot to take a knee as the doors opened, distracted by her thoughts about the King's voice. Lilin quickly reached up and pulled Annie down, and the two of them just barely avoided the attack aimed right around their shoulder level. Annie was panting now, trying to keep her composure as she was reminded of the intense danger of the Demon King.

Annie waited for Lilin to stand, only standing once she did. The two of them walked forward, Annie always a pace or two behind Lilin. She tried to look up and see the Demon King, but her body refused to gaze directly at him. Annie eventually stopped, keeping her head down as she walked.

"Kneel."

Neither Lilin nor Annie hesitated. They both bowed on their knees, holding the position for what felt like ages. Annie trembled the whole time, unable to get herself to calm down. Lilin was nervous as well, but she couldn't believe how much Annie was shaking.

"Ten. Lilim. To the east, there is a small town. They have not paid their proper taxes to me. I task you with traveling to the town and retrieving the taxes. You will make them pay. You will depart today, at noon. You will return in 5 days. Failure will not be tolerated."

"Yes, milord," Lilin replied immediately. "It will be done."

"Ten."

Annie gasped. That was referring to her. She had to listen closely.

"You will accompany Lilim at all times. You will not allow her to leave your sight."

"Y-Yes, your highness," she replied, "I-I will not allow her out of my sight!"

Lilin felt a surge of indignity. What was the King doing telling Ten to watch her? Who was supposed to be in charge here! But she couldn't let her anger show, not here.

"Lilim. Prove to me you can be trusted. If you cannot succeed in this goal, you will be punished. Failure will not be tolerated. Am I understood?"

"Yes, milord," Lilin replied again without hesitation. "I will make you proud."

"Depart."

Lilin stood, Annie followed, and the two of them hurried out of the room as quickly as they could without running. All of the thoughts going through their head were put on hold as they focused solely on leaving. They passed over the threshold of the doorway, and the two massive doors slammed shut behind them. Finally, Annie let out a massive breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Oh my heavens... I... I was not prepared for that."

"Ugh, neither was I," Lilin said, crossing her arms. "What the hell did he mean by that?..."

"B-by what?" Annie asked.

"He told YOU not to let ME out of your sight, right? Shouldn't that have been the other way around?"

"I-I mean..."
Annie started to reply immediately, but stopped short. She thought about it for a moment, and realized that that was incredibly strange.
"Yeah," she said thoughtfully, "what DID he mean by that?"

Lilin's rage rose as she looked at Annie, but then started to lower as she saw a total lack of sass on Annie's face. She wasn't trying to be snarky or sarcastic, she wasn't teasing or making fun. Annie was genuinely puzzled by this.

"Ugh... Well, whatever. Annie, make sure to prepare anything you'll need to get to the town and back. Normal protocol is for them to take us in a carriage, so we won't need to walk or fly, but you'll probably need to be able to feed yourself out there."

Annie nodded. "Where can I get food to take on the trip, Lilin?"

Lilin paused for a moment to process that she was just referred to by name. Then, she responded.
"Do you remember how we cleaned that massive courtyard with a ton of stalls? That's a market. We're allowed to shop there. Just make sure you get stuff that won't spoil, alright?"

Annie nodded. "Wonderful!"

The two of them turned and started to walk towards their rooms together, Annie humming as they went. Just as they were about to split with Annie going to her room, she decided to speak up.

"One more thing, Lilin."

"What is it?" Lilin asked.

"You called me Annie."

Lilin gasped, her eyes going wide as she tensed up. Had she? No, she hadn't called her Annie. This was just a trick or a prank. But she had to cover her ass somehow, in case it had spilled out and she just hadn't noticed it.
"Like hell I did," she said. "Even if I did, it was... Probably just to screw with you."

Annie nodded, smirking.
"Ah, I see," she replied, feigning ignorance. "Well, consider me screwed with, dear."