Hell's Consort

****************************

Archdemon Empress Luna

*****************************

Luna was taken aback when she saw the 'innkeeper' on the receiving area sitting comfortably on his long blue couch with some darker stripes on it.

Why was the innkeeper of Vinca Inn a frog wearing a black feathered hat?

As she frowned at the amphibian who was busy making paper planes out of the documents on his table, she wondered why Apollyon's cat wasn't permitted to step its front paws on the threshold.

And no, they couldn't blame that to the feline's black color claiming it was bad luck.

Why would they warn their guests that no animals will be allowed inside the premises when the innkeeper was an animal himself?

Apollyon took a step forward to the innkeeper's desk, but Luna curled her arms in his to halt him in his tracks.

"Is there something wrong, Luna?" Apollyon asked as he tilted his head at her.

Luna lowered her voice. "We don't have paid for the lodging and amenities when your sister didn't have the money."

"I was going to ask if they would accept the currency from the Spring Courts."

Luna closed her eyes and exhaled.

When she opened her eyes, she told him, "Princess Sapphire already told you that it wasn't allowed."

How many times did Apollyon's sister have to tell them?

"That didn't make sense." Apollyon's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "They are the most popular among the travellers from the other Realm. I can see different flags on the walls. Maybe, they would accept money from the Spring Courts."

"I didn't come here often to Vinca Inn, Your Highness, so I wasn't sure if we can find a money changer around here." Princess Sapphire glanced around the small boutiques at the corners. "I heard that Vinca Inn had a variety of shops in this level that we could check. That's why I told you that you could also buy your clothes in here."

"At least, we headed to the market place to get them for free for the meantime." Apollyon caressed the black corset around the emerald dress he was adamant for him to wear, his Prussian Blue eyes twinkling at her with mirth.

He wanted that specific gown on her, and he got it. Luna could feel how smug it made him get what he wanted for free. "If only I could  sell the signet ring, I would have paid for everything just because my wife didn't want to be in debt."

"Yes, I don't like that for us." The orchestra inside this spacious tavern began playing sweet music, and some of the summer faeries began dancing in pairs. "A King should never be indebted to anyone. It's bad for your reputation."

"Honestly, we don't even have to pay for other stuff. I could sell the onyx diamond necklace I had to the innkeeper. He will probably pay a large sum of money from those gems. How much more if he found out it was created along with the crushed powder of the stone found on top of the unicorn's horn?"

"And, accuse you of what, a unicorn killer from the Spring Courts?" Luna's hands fisted before she unclenched them. "Never mind. It's a priced item, so we can't give that away."

Luna pinned his husband with an intense gaze. "I have other plans."

+++

She figured out too late that the innkeeper was actually inside his own office at the corner of this huge tavern, but he was encased in glass-as if he was an ancient artifact that needed protection.

The innkeeper, a frog who can stand upright like a humanoid creature, wanted people to see him in his transparent office.

At the same time, he desired to see the long tables occupied by happy, excited clienteles enjoying themselves.

When she entered his office while Apollyon, Princess Sapphire, and Xerxes trailed after her, a transparent curtain smacked her face when she entered.

She had to whisk the invisible drapes away from her face in annoyance.

Was this some jest?

Luna was lucky that she didn't hit her head in any unseen glass around this area.

As he casually leaned an arm at the back of his couch, the ugly frog smirked at her when he found her groping the air for invisible glass, her face flushed in embarrassment.

Now, everyone in this part of the village knew that this was her first time in the tavern!

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Luna stalked towards his messy desk and sat on a chair across from him. "Are you in the innkeeper of the Vinca Inn?"

"Yes." Luna expected him to sound human the moment he opened his wide mouth, but he didn't.

His vocal sac vibrated when he croaked, "Are you a guest?" The frog glanced to the chandeliers in his ceiling, hitting the dangling clear quartzes with his paper planes.

He was too preoccupied with his paper planes which she realized were contracts signed by the guests of Vinca Inn.

What an irresponsible innkeeper!

He was ignoring her as well.

She found Apollyon grabbing the vexatious curtains at the entrance, circling the strange cloth with his fist, and tugging hard.

It was made of flimsy material, so it easily detached before he threw it to the side.

Apollyon fanned out his cloak before he sat on the chair and rested his chin in hand.

Now, that caught the innkeeper's attention!

It was either he desired men, had a misogynist's heart, or maybe, he was a shy innkeeper.

Luna would bet that the innkeeper hated the female race because he regarded her with cold indifference.

"I am the Vampire King, and this is the Empress of the Vampire Realm." The way the innkeeper's smooth green face paled and abruptly changed his demeanor felt like Apollyon's casted hypnosis on him, and Luna enjoyed every second of that.

"We only brought the money from the Spring Courts with us. We are about to roam the shops to exchange the currency of our money, but my wife over here can find a better payment than these mere coins, which wouldn't be hard to find if you are an owner of a famous inn."

The talking frog narrowed his black, beady eyes at him. "What do you suggest?"

Apollyon smiled a mysterious one. "My wife can get rid of your curse. Someone had cursed you into a frog, right?"