The Forest Demon regained consciousness to the unsavoury sound of royalty squabbling. His eyes cracked open, encrusted with sleep, and his tongue, not blue as may have been expected, but red, slipped out to moisten his chapped lips.
"Jean Grey, did I not give the order for you to only cast your spells after consultation with the Queen and I?"
"I regret, your Majesty, that I have not yet received that order from you or any messengers. I shall be sure to check with you next time. May I ask, does that count for the entirety of my clients or only when I cast a major spell?"
The King considered this a second. "Minor spells you may carry out without our prior knowledge. But any working you perform with regard to our daughter and heir Princess Amanda must receive permission from us beforehand."
"I understand and obey, Lord."
The Queen turned to the fuming Amanda. "Let that be a lesson to you not to rebel against our wishes again, daughter mine." Amanda struggled to calm her rising ire. Her usual conduct would not be pleasing to the Queen, in other words, her mother would be angry if she acted spoilt and arrogant around her parents. Her Majesty saw the debate raging inside her daughter and added; "It is petty and beneath you to be so self-centred. Let this be a lesson to you. Open up a little more."
The King and Queen then adjourned, leaving their daughter free to mutter obscenities about them without fear of being caught. Their departure meant they also missed the Demon's awakening.
Ow. Mien Gott, Ich habe eins grosse kopfschmerzen. "Where am I? Wha." Amanda, the mage, and all the attendants spun to face him simultaneously. Amanda was the first to recover.
"So it's true. You do speak."
The Demon spared her a glance as he began to wriggle and twist, somehow managing to free his hands from the rope knotting them to the pole. "Ach, nein, a cage." He groaned; taking in his surroundings. "I hope you don't think you can keep me here. I really hate to disappoint people." His legs were free. And with a couple of bone-cracking stretches he abruptly disappeared, leaving a sulphur-smelling cloud and a rush of imploding air behind him.
"I thought that wasn't supposed to happen with the Binding Spell on." Noted a servant.
As the blue furred monster reappeared next to the Princess, eliciting a startled response from the latter; Jean smiled.
"It doesn't."
Amanda was not the sort to appreciate any kind of shock. It won't be doing that foul little trick again, she promised herself.
"As you can see demon, your little disappearing act no longer works as you would like it to. And if you try to so rudely escape again I shall not be pleased."
"It's called teleporting you plebeian. Don't you know anything? What did that verdammt mage do to me?"
Amanda grew bored of the Forest Demon's cheek, and ended its complaints with a mere nod to one of her bodyguards. The thickly built peasant stepped up to the fiend and employed his only skill, specifically, beating people up. He was once again an unconscious heap of blue fur on the paving of the Menagerie.
The princess distributed various orders concerning her pet's welfare to those it concerned, then proceeded back to the castle and her bedchambers; her retinue following behind at a discreet distance.
Once there, she dispatched messages to the resident carpenters and smiths, and instructions to the Menagerie's vet. When her preparations were complete, the sun was going down.
Stifling a yawn behind a manicured hand, she pondered her next actions towards the Forest Demon. After a short period of reading the princess retired to sleep.
Half a mile away, past the lavish gardens and elaborate maze, surrounded by exotic sleeping animals; the Forest Demon mourned his lost freedom.