Chapter 1: Into a Contract With a Demon and Never Out
Before you cast your judgement, know that if you were to walk in my shoes your tracks would match mine and be twice as bloody. We were at war.
"Cordelia, you can't possibly think that it's a good idea to-"
"That is General Clarke now, Officer Agnar." My voice boomed across the meeting room.
I needed to be taken seriously. When my father passed he left no fortune, instead he left the title of a General and a legacy that needed to be sustained on top of the shoulders of a nineteen year old girl. Granted, my father had taught me the battle strategy knowledge of three generals before he passed, but that knowledge becomes rendered useless when it comes from such a delicate source.
"For now, we must retreat. We continue to build our forces, and we take back our land, but right now if we leave our men there then they die in the mud and our good country loses the only protection it has. Do I make myself clear?" I barked sternly.
He scowled, but bowed his head to me.
"Understood, General Clarke."
He left the meeting room through the large red doors, followed by the few men that accompanied him to meet with me.
My advisor turned to me. "Cordelia, perhaps you could deliver your orders in a tone that is more-"
"Did father ? Did he deliver his orders in a gentle voice? Did he allow the men he ordered to treat him with the disrespect I face? Did he face this-this adversity every time he made a decision? No, he didn't and if they respected the Clarke name before they should respect it now all the same."
My advisor stepped back a bit. I realized now I had gotten closer in my anger, and had been waving my arms around aggressively in his personal space. He looked down shamefully and sighed. He ripped off his brooch and allowed it to fall to the floor, making a high pitched noise as it hit the stone. He looked at me with the shameful eyes of a puppy that's just pissed on the floor.
"General Clarke, I am resigning from my position as your advisor. I cannot stand here and watch as everything your father worked for is gambled in the hands of a temperamental child."
My nose scrunched and my lips drew closed. My hand balled up into fists and filled themselves with rage so intense it took all of my will power not to deck this man in the throat.
"Well-then fine. Leave now, or you'll be escorted out." I said this knowing it was only to give me an illusion of power. I wanted him to stay, I needed anyone who could possibly help me by my side. Perhaps I was a temperamental child, what more could I be ? My men weren't listening to me; how can I be a general when my every command was being fought?
I watched as he left the room, leaving me alone in the vast cold empty space. I ran to my room fighting back tears and sat on my bed. I banged my fists against the hard mattress and bit my lip. I didn't want to cry, I didn't want to confirm their theory that I was more incompetent than them.
I wish more than anything that someone could help me. Please, I'm so lost.
Tears began to stream down my face, It was inevitable. I wished my father was there. I wished I had been born in a body that commanded the respect of my officers. Instead of being born in this small frail death sentence.
I looked in the mirror. My family turned grey early. My hair was now almost entirely grey, with a few strands of black still intact. My eyes looked tired, there was no light in them anymore. They seemed even darker than they were when I was a child. I was slim, from stress. That certainly didn't help me present as a leader.
I wish for power.
Suddenly a bright blinding light filled my room. Before my eyes closed reflexively it almost looked like fire. The red flash bounced off of every surface in my room that would reflect light, making it inescapable. I lifted my feet onto my bed and covered my eyes from it. It felt like eternities before it finally subsided, but right before I could open my eyes I heard a voice call out from the unknown.
"Hello little general, I have a proposition."
I opened my eyes. There was a tall slender man in my room. He looked like an angel, impossibly beautiful. His long straight hair seemed to frame his perfect bone structure. His lips seemed to be pillowy and alluring. Every part of this man was crafted to draw me to him, but my focus went straight to his eyes. They shined in the shadows of his face, devil's red. He was no angel.
"What do you want, demon?" I said bitingly. I sat up in the bed, attempting to seem taller.
He seemed taken aback, he lifted his eyebrows, and made his way over to me.
"I don't want anything from you. I am here to offer you my services. You desire help, and it wouldn't be gentlemanly of me to turn away from a woman in distress."
I thought for a moment. There was no way a demon came to me because he saw me get teary eyed. I knew he wanted something more, maybe my land ? A sacrifice ? I wouldn't give up anything that wasn't mine.
"And in exchange for your help?" I asked him, prodding for more.
The corners of his mouth lifted, I could see him trying to hold them down. This made my heart kick against the walls of my chest.
"In exchange, I get to consume your mortal soul. You die, I consume you. You enter neither Heaven nor Hell. You simply, cease to exist."
There was a blaring silence after he said that. The possibilities ran through my mind. He could be an advisor, a soldier, or a bodyguard. If the men didn't listen to me before maybe they would with him by my side. To have him in battle, how many lives could he save ? At what cost? A soul branded for Hell anyways? The answer seemed simple.
"Alright, demon." I stuck my hand out to make a gentleman's agreement "You may have my soul."
He seemed shocked that I had made up my mind so quickly. Of course, how could a demon understand self sacrifice.
"Oh no, little general. We have a much more formal way of solidifying such an important agreement."
He took a scroll out of his coat pocket and began to unravel it. The title read : Faustian Contract. I had read about them in stories before, but to see one in front of me was horrifying. The evil aura it emitted filled the room, and my body began to shake. As much as I tried to hide it the demon noticed. He handed me a long quil and pointed to an X on the paper. My moving hand hovered over the paper.
"... Do you promise that you can aid us in winning this war?" I asked the demon.
He lifted his brow up; he seemed to finally fully understand why I was doing this.
"I can only promise to do what you ask of me. If you can win this war, then yes, I can be a tool."
I looked down at the X peering into me. Then, pen to paper like knife to throat, I stained the paper with Cordelia Clarke in black ink.
The demon took the paper afterwards and stuffed it back into his coat pocket. He turned towards me and knelt to the ground.
"I, Sebastian Michaelis, am pleased to be your humble servant, General Cordelia Clarke."
"No need for formalities, demon. At the cost of my soul, you belong to me now, how much more casual can that get." I took a deep breath, trying not to think about what I had done. "I need you to listen in on my counsel immediately, and tell me what it is that they're thinking."
Sebastian rose. "Straight to work I see. I do admire a woman who knows what she wants. One moment please."
The demon left the room at an incredible speed. I sat back down on my bed and began to process what had just happened in the last few minutes. It was all so fast, but I needed to act fast. If I gave myself any time to think it would have given me the option to put myself before the people of my country, and that would have shown my weakness.
This was the right decision. I have the most powerful weapon in the world now. My demon will act as an angel of battle, bringing thousands of men fighting an unjust war back to Hell with him.
While I was justifying my decision to myself. Sebastian had located a group of my counsel members in the dining hall. He stood opposite them behind a column and focused his supernatural hearing onto their conversation.
"I think it should be done tonight, when she's asleep. She's a little thing, but I know her father trained her enough that she could put up more of a fight than she's worth." A voice from the group said, if I had to guess I bet it was Agnar.
"But, if we do kill her, won't that cause upheaval higher up the ranks ? Her father was a very esteemed man."
"I don't give a fuck if her father was the king himself, we need our land. It is a soldier's job to fight for their land and, if needed, die for it. Not to retreat when the enemies bear their fangs."
"So tonight." Another voice joined. "We'll enter her room, and-"
"Slit her throat. A quick death, bitch will bleed like a pig, but at least she won't have to feel it for long."
The group became silent after that. I'm sure that the thought of killing someone that they had watched grow up weighed heavy on their conscience. Of course, not heavy enough to halt their plan to commit mutiny, but heavy nonetheless.
When Sebastian had heard all he needed to he made his way back to me and told me what he had heard.
"Unbelievable." I muttered under my breath. Although, it was absolutely believable, I was just in denial that these men were going to give me one inch of respect that I did not need to fight for tooth and nail.
"Yes, it was quite dark, but I suppose it isn't anything to worry about. When they come for you, I'll-"
"No." I interrupted him. "I will not kill any members of my counsel. Not when there's a war that desperately needs every person that it can get, but, " I grabbed my sheathed sword and walked out of my room. "I will show them that I am not to be fucked with."
I called the counsel members to the meeting room, and when they were all silent I sat in my large chair at the head of the table. Their eyes seemed glued to the long table in front of them. Their guilt was palpable in the room. I could breath their shame in and feel it against my tongue. What an unloyal group of degenerates.
"I called you here because it has been brought to my attention that my counsel has been conspiring against me." I projected my voice as I said this. My chest was puffed out and my spine straight. I could show no fear for them or they had already won and might as well slit my throat.
They all widened their eyes in surprise. Some seemed as though they wanted to say something, but none of them did. What could they say ? 'A thousand apologies General Clarke, we won't plan an assasination again'? No, they were forced into their silence because there was nothing left to say that their actions hadn't already countered.
"I will not delve into how utterly disgraceful and pathetic it is to plan an assasination for your general. However, there's a more important matter at hand." I gestured to Sebastian. "This is my new advisor." His red gaze seemed to carve into the members of my counsel, making them freeze in place like statues.
"He has a vast knowledge of combat. As my loyal servant he is going to be guarding me with his life. He will never leave my side, and most importantly."
I stood from my chair and stabbed my sword into the map on top of the long table. The tip of my sword cut into the part of the map where our soldiers were, where I was planning on retreating them from.
"He is going to win us the war."