Odyrn sighed forlornly, looking out the windows to the bright day beyond. Just a few months ago, he would be sneaking out the back door to meet up with friends and spending such a fine day at the lake, shirking their schoolwork and household chores. That was before the demons came. His village had been razed, nearly everyone he knew burned to the ground along with it, and now he was here in the literal heart of hell. (Figuratively of course, because as he'd since learned the demon armies and their fearsome queen lived over the mountains and very much on the mortal plane).
It wasn't all bad, nearly all of the servants in the palace were humans too, captured in a similar manner to him, and his friend Tarin from back home was a stable boy now so he had familiar faces to seek out in his free time. Being a slave to the demon horde was less than ideal, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't better fed now than he had been back on the farm. And Gladyr, the imposing head of staff, could dish out some harsh punishments but it was nothing compared to his dad when he got drunk. No, all in all, his transition from son of a poor farmer to maid in service of the Demon Queen was a net neutral one at worst.
He left the windows behind, feather duster in hand, and slipped into the antechamber to the royal quarters, doing his weekly rounds of dusting along the suits of armor and mounted skulls. The chamber scared him, but mostly it was the skulls, he'd never once seen the fearsome ruler of humanity's greatest foe in the months he'd been in service to the castle. Raised voices in the hall caught his attention and he gulped as he recognized the aforementioned head of staff.
"What are you doing polishing this armor?!" He demanded, and the other servants' reply was lost to him through the thick doors of the antechamber. "It was meant to be done a week ago! Whatever, Her Majesty has returned, it will have to wait, just clear the hall!" . . Odyrn's eyes went wide, the queen was here? Now?!
His eyes darted around the room in panic, and he lunged for a suit of armor in the corner on instinct, tucking himself behind it as the door burst open. He saw the tall form of Gladyr stride into the room and stop in its center, turning on the spot to inspect its state, and a sinking feeling filled his chest as he saw those imperious eyes stop on him in his poor hiding spot.
"Were you cleaning in here?" He asked, his tone not altogether harsh, certainly nicer than he'd been to the servant in the hall. He gestured Odyrn over and he came nervously with a nod.
"Good lad," he said kneeling down to get on Odyrn’s level, "it looks perfect, perfect for our glorious Queen's return."
There was a light in the Head of Staff's eye as he said it, one that Odryn had never seen on the usually strict and surly man's face, and he allowed himself a moment of confused pride at the praise.
"T-thank you, sir" he said, voice squeaking slightly.
"Wanna know a secret?" Odyrn didn’t respond, not verbally, just took in the almost kind countenance of the man and nodded. "When I was your age, I came to the castle just like you did, just another servant. If you work hard, serve your queen, and hold nothing but love and loyalty in your heart, you too can rise up to take my place one day!"
Odyrn gaped at him. Gladyr was the highest ranking member of the castle, their were demons on staff who followed his commands, Odyrn couldn't imagine ever reaching such a position. His shirts and coats were of the highest quality, glinting with gold and precious gems, and wherever he was quartered it was not among the lowly servants' rooms. Some in the palace called him the Queen's paramour, whatever that meant.
He never got a chance to respond, as at that very moment the doors to the antechamber were thrown wide and in strode a figure Odyrn had seen only once, during the burning of his village. . . "Gladyr. Bedroom, now-" she came up short at the sight of the pair of them. "Who's this?"
"Odyrn, Your Majesty, one of the new serving boys from Fensk." Odyrn was just shocked he knew his name, and was busying himself holding a steep bow in deference to the terrifying queen.
"And what are you doing here, Odyrn from Fensk?" She demanded, the impatience in her tone largely concealed. It might have been more obvious if he'd been looking up to her face, she was eyeing her Head of Staff in annoyance.
"C-cleaning, your grace, i serve with naught but loyalty in my heart, and one day can only dream of rising through the ranks like Master Gladyr." He kept his waist bent near 90°, not dreaming of looking up to meet the queen's eye. He missed the queen's roll of the eye, missed her raised one hand into Gladyr's face and with her long taloned fingers, give a snap all the while looking at her paramour as if to say you did this.
Odyrn bust into black flames, his screams were short lived, he was dead in heartbeats. Gladyr exclaimed:
"You've got to stop doing that my Queen! He was a good maid!"
"And you've got to stop telling the serving boys that hardwork and determination will get them into my bed!"
"I would never presume to hold monopoly over my Queen's heart!" He said, agast, "it is your right to sample us all as you see fit!"
She just grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him across the room toward the bedchambers, which she had not had the pleasure of sharing with him for long weeks while out on campaign.
"The ashes my queen! we must-"
"Leave them!" She snapped, hip checking the door to her room open, "someone else can clean them, you've got a job to do."
And then she threw him across the room and onto the bed by the fistful of his shirt she had captured.