The land's devil

“I like it.”

Sarah drew a short breath. She glanced at her old boss, he was smiling like it was Tuesday and the sky was clear. It was Tuesday. The Chosen One was breathing in contentment. One of his goons leaned closer towards Him.

“It’s beautiful,” he said ambiguously in The Chosen One's ear.

The tone of his voice made Sarah’s elbow itch. Was this allowed ? Are you supposed to flirt with what’s considered the nation’s biggest treasure ? She scratched her elbow. The Chosen One was lost in His own contemplation.

“What’s the story of it ?”, he asked after a while.

Sarah’s eyes flashed with panic. She didn’t fucking know, she was just the receptionist. Sometimes cleaning lady, when she was bored. It was a small town’s museum, there wasn’t much to do.

“All of our tour guides are busy at the moment”, she said in a rapid breath.

The plural was a lie. They had one guy; he was handling highschoolers in the next room.

“Don’t you know ?”

Now He was looking at her. She had read Tony’s - the tour guide - slides once or twice. The details never committed to memory. She only remembered that the painting was depicting a decisive battle between local pirates and a foreign navy. The navy lost. They were very proud to be descendents of pirates in this little coastal town.

“That’s not really -” my job.

The boss stepped up.

“I’ll do it, Sarah.”

He always knew how to interrupt a conversation, neither too soon or too late. Her boss started his speech, Sarah made eye contact with the flirty bodyguard - bodyguard ? Agent ? Secretary ? She didn’t know. He stared her down like she was his husband’s mistress; the itch came back. Do they fuck ?

“It’s a great story.”

For some reason, the way The Chosen One spoke was a bit childish. On television, they said He was hundreds of years old, reincarnated again and again to demand the king paid the blood price he had promised to Him long ago, when the country was formed. The legend was that the first king asked The Chosen One to protect the land and make him sovereign in exchange for a bundle of souls. The first king had planned to sacrifice the villagers that used to mock his ambitions, but The Chosen One disagreed : “All the houses in the village shall be opened to me. I will go and choose one, and the villagers that live here shall be mine to eat.” In the story, the house The Chosen One chose was the house of the first king’s first love, the woman he had planned to make his spouse. Not that it mattered in the end, as he eventually married the beautiful princess of a foreign land; but the story was made to be a tale about sacrifice. For some reason, even now, hundreds of years later, sacrifices were still required. After every coronation, The Chosen One would visit the country without a precise itinerary until He found a house He liked. Then He’d kill everyone inside and disappear, leaving not a drop of blood but wonders of architecture as every house He chose ended up looking like an insane art piece. Chandeliers melting into rugs, folded doors into corners, floating kitchenware making up fractals. One of the country’s main tourist attractions was following the Golden Road; it linked every house The Chosen One had ever made His together into one clear itinerary. Some would do it as pilgrims. Fanatics, like that guy staring at her.

The Chosen One was only called that in recent years, after the church pressured the royal family to make a public statement. Old people still referred to Him by His old name : the land’s devil.

Still, under one name or another, He was still considered the country’s biggest blessing. His existence was enough of a threat for the country to keep its independence, despite it being annexed multiple times before in its history. The people’s respect for the royal family was directly linked to their special bond with the devil.

Sarah didn’t really understand the hype. She was a foreigner here. Neither pirates or devils meant a thing to her.

“I think here is good enough.”

The Chosen One’s words woke her up from her daydreaming. The bodyguard frowned slightly.

“My lord, I’m sure there are much better places…”

A sudden feeling of panic rose inside Sarah’s chest.

“For what ?”, she asked out of the blue.

Her eyes met The Chosen one’s.

“I think I want to do it here”, he repeated.

“Do what ?” Her voice rose higher. “It’s fucking Tuesday.”

Her old boss put a hand on her shoulder.

“Calm down, Sarah. You’re misunderstanding.”

“I’m not dying on a Tuesday.”

She was looking straight at The Chosen One, lips slightly trembling. Something in those clear eyes was making her instincts scream in pain, like looking danger in the face; like losing to it in conversation.

“You’re making a fool of yourself, child.”

The boss squeezed her shoulder, voice heavier. The Chosen One’s eyes shifted away from her face.

“I will open the portal here.” One second later, He added : “In this city.”

The bodyguard nodded.

“If that is Your will. Shall we plan somewhere for You to rest tonight ?”

The Chosen One turned away from the painting.

“No.”

Then He started to leave. Sarah’s heart was still beating too fast as she watched Him walk away. She didn’t catch the bodyguard’s glare as he passed by her. Her boss waited for them to be out of earshot before shaking his head.

“What a way to jump to conclusions.”

“Conclusions ? Conclusions ? He’s going to open the fucking portal here. Here. He said it !”

“In this city.”

“Oh, because that makes it fucking better.”

“You really thought he was going to open the portal in the museum ? This is a public space. Everybody knows -”

“Well I don’t. I’m not from here, remember ? I don’t know what the devil wants or how he operates. What I do know is I don’t want to be here when he does his little magic trick. I’m out.”

“Your workday isn’t over.”

“Fire me.”

“Sarah.”

She ignored him entirely as she walked back to the employees’ room. She grabbed her lunchbox in the fridge, her bag and her coat. That was maybe the last time she saw this room; maybe that was madness. Adrenaline was cursing through her veins. When she got out with all of her stuff in hand, the devil was standing in the reception area next to the tourists’ info point. He was reading an ad about scuba diving. Sarah avoided His group and went straight for the doors. Outside the sky was clear, the sun was shining. It was Tuesday. She pushed the door with force.

Didn’t open. She pushed again.

Her already quick pulse became more chaotic as the door wouldn’t budge. Then she remembered she had to pull, and she almost sighed in relief; she pulled.

Somehow it didn’t work either.

From behind her, a soft voice rose like a child’s.

“I think it’s time for a magic trick.”

Urgency made itself more present to Sarah’s mind and she started fighting the glassdoor like a madwoman. The ray of sun falling down on the front porch was both so close and so far away. Her struggle was witnessed by the group near by.

“My lord ? Could it be that You wish to open the portal here, here ?”

“Hm.”

“It’s so sudden. I - how to properly bid my lord farewell on such short notice ?”

The Chosen One slowly raised His gaze from the ad He was reading.

“But you are staying”, He said plainly.

The man blanked out for a second.

“We are ? My lord, that can’t be right.”

The Chosen One stared at him.

“It’s too late now.”

As the last syllable fell from the devil’s lips, everything beyond the glassdoors suddenly turned dark, as if a black curtain has been dropped between the museum and the rest of the world. The bodyguard’s face turned pale as Sarah’s reddened from futile efforts. He plead :

“Is there no way for my lord to undo it ? Many of us have families to provide for… We also need to report back to the church, I...”

The Chosen One dismissed him.

“I won’t undo it.”

From the very back of His pupils slowly surged the emotion that has been lacking from His face. It dropped from the corners of His eyes to the tip of His tongue as He added :

“I don’t want to.”

The smile parted His lips - joy.

Today was a joyous day for the devil.