His girl left with the prince. Hiei did not quite like what it looked like, but he knew the two of them needed to leave the room so he and the large demon could have a private discussion. Possibly it was the mate's idea. She seemed like she would do almost anything to make her son end up with his girl.
He did wonder why the large demon had Yomi's son, the clone, stay with them, too. Hiei could not imagine what was going through the clone's head, having to sit in the presence of the demon who killed his father. The clone was calm though, and very attentive. His demeanor was eerily similar to that of Yomi. Almost frightfully so. Nature versus nurture blended into one with him.
Once the three of them were alone, the large demon spoke, "now, I'm in a predicament." He looked at both the clone and Hiei when he spoke. "I was going to name the runner up from this tournament as my king's steward. However," he paused to steel him. "I never meant... I'm so sorry for what I did. I never meant to...," he told the clone. The clone looked over at him, clearly acknowledging what was said to him, but nothing else. When the large demon realized the clone was not going to speak, he continued. "I still need my king's steward. Set up as a competitive role via the Demon Tournaments in the future. The winner of the next tournament will be the next king's steward.
"But I will need one for the next few years. The tentative plan is for the next tournament to take place in five years time. I wanted to discuss with you two which one of you would be interested in the role as the son of the runner up and the third place fighter."
Hiei was surprised by the large demon's directness. He thought about what all that would mean if he accepted it. He might have to move to the demon king's castle. He would either have to bring his family with him or be separated from them for possibly months at a time. Neither option was appealing. He still needed to help his girl run her territory. It was a large territory in the Demon World. Sometimes even Nishi had to help the two of them run it.
Hiei spoke up, saying, "I don't want it."
In the same instance, the clone, "I accept your offer. Provided I keep my claim on Gandara in the process."
The large demon seemed surprised by either one or both of their responses. He should have suspected Hiei's in the least. "Well, that was easy," the large demon said. Hiei could detect just a hint in of disappointment in his voice.
After that, the large demon excused Hiei next, on the pretense of having a private discussion with the clone, his new king's steward.
Hiei left, curious as to how his girl fared with the prince. He did not like the idea of it. She was at least a year, if not longer away from anything romantic. He sought out the rose gardens, but from a vantage point on the second floor of the castle. He wanted to see the two of them, but did not want them to see him. It took some time, but he eventually found what he was looking for.
He found a balcony on which to look down on the rose garden. He found mate there as well. Surprisingly, she was not with the beauty or anyone else as her guard. She was frowning in annoyance. She greeted him curtly when she realized he was next to her, but did say much more to him. She scowled down at the scene unfolding in the rose garden.
Hiei looked down over the balcony's ledge just in time to see the beauty pulling the prince away from his girl and Nishi pulling his girl away from the prince. His girl looked like she had been tangled up in a rose bush, thorns, bramble, and even a rose stuck in her hair.
He could tell the mate was very disappointed that a fight had broken out. "Congratulations on becoming queen," Hiei told her dryly.