Chapter 848 Rajah of Maharaja
Cain, Selena, and Gracie walked down from their carriage in front of the palace. Two Rakshasa approached them, bowing.
"Your majesty, Maharaja. Welcome back to your palace. It's been a while." They then looked at Cain and Gracie, "We also have residence prepared for your companions, so please follow us."
The palace was massive, spanning hundreds of meters on each side, and made of tens of small houses with one large keep in the middle. The Rakshasas were found of gold and gems, seeing that each was decorated to an uncomfortable degree.
Inside the houses, Cain could see them fully carpeted, and the Rakshasa sat on pillows instead of chairs. Demon spider silk, he could tell at a glance.
"This is the inner sanctum of her Majesty, the great sultan of the Rakshasa, Maharaja." One of the escorts looked back with a smile, "Our queen rarely stays here, so her work piles up through the years. The last time she was here was ten years ago."
Cain looked at Selena, "You're neglecting them?"
"I didn't choose to be a Maharaja. They just started calling me that." She gasped.
"We don't choose the Maharaja. She's always chosen as the strongest female of our race. The one with the most power and cunning ends up at the top," The escort added with a smile.
"Your Highness, there can only be one Maharaja at a time. And you're the strongest."
Cain looked around, "Well, what kind of work does she have? I doubt you need her for actual ruling, do you?"
"We would rather have our Sultan present at all times for politics and her duty, but, we have grown accustomed to her absence and could manage." The escort smiled, "This is the gate of Acheron, the infinite battlefield. He pointed at the sky toward a massive floating gray cube."
"You want her to fight something there?" Cain asked.
"Actually, no." The escort shook his head, "The battlefield has been peaceful for decades now. We only seek her to open the gate."
"For what purpose?"
"From here we can make our way to Acheron, and thus pass to Mechanus. It simply makes it easier to travel the plans of existence by using the gates in Mechanus to enter the inner planes and then spread across." He replied with a smile, "Our fight has halted with the grand constructs of Mechanus, and it's a golden opportunity for trade and a new future to emerge."
Cain nodded, "So, when it's the part you start eating people?"
"After we secured a decent wealth from trade, I say several centuries in the future." He giggled, "You know us well, human."
Cain thought about it. ^Primose stopped the war with them since he wanted them out for some time. Probably I should leave him to deal with that.^
"Open the gate for them, and let's go." Cain looked at Selena, "We don't have that much time."
The escort stopped, turning toward, "That would be most pleasant. Food and drinks are already on their way. Please wait inside till the preparations are done." He bowed and then approached Cain.
"May I speak?"
Cain looked at him, "Like informally? Go ahead,"
"How did it come you speak for Her Majesty? I've been serving my whole life and I never got the chance of such treatment, let alone from one like her." He looked at Selena standing in the back.
"Rakshasa's females are usually violent and dominating. Speaking against them is punished by death." Cain nodded, "But I'm not her servant,"
"Husband-nya," Selena said in the back.
"Nya?" The servant stared at Cain, confused further, "Her majesty took a mate of a human. How, strange." He lifted his hands, "But, I'm not one to question her taste. As weird as it may be, she's free to do what she likes."
"Is that all you wanted to know?"
"Yes, the bare minimum for me to know how to address you. Rajah of Maharaja." The escort bowed again, backing away and opening the door for them to walk in.
They walked inside the massive room, seeing a bed of pillows covered with a silk veil ahead of them. "It's been a while-nya," Selena sighed, sitting on the pillows and scratching at them with her claws.
"Is this your throne?" Gracie asked, looking around, "I've never been here before."
"It is-nya," She replied with a smile, tapping a pillow for Cain and Gracie to come sit.
Thud! Cain sat down, and the door opened. Five Rakshasi walked in carrying trays of grilled meat, drinks, and weird dishes. A sixth Rakshasi walked behind them carrying a large pot with a tube coming from it.
Selena lifted her hand, "I don't smoke-nya, take it away-nya."
"But, Your Majesty, this is a new one I've been developing for the past decade. I'm sure you would like it." The Rakshasi said with a sad face.
"I said no-nya!" Selena growled at her, and she ran away.
As the food was laid, Selena pulled a large roast and Gracie carried one of the strange dishes.
Cain stared at the food, sweating.
"You won't eat?" Gracie looked at him.
"Well," He looked at the dishes. Minced soul worms, roasted Abagary meat, and more. "All from disgusting monsters he knew, and he couldn't get the image of the monsters from his head."
"I will just drink," He lifted a cub.
"Ahh," He drank a bit and spat the rest, "Acidic and disgusting, the food here is far worse than Avernus."
After eating, Cain sat in the corner teaching Gracie the spell to break Sofia out while Selena dealt with the Rakshasas' problems as they waited for the gate to be ready.
"Your majesty, great sultan of the Rakshasa empire, Maharaja. My Dominions clan and the Armos clan had a dispute three years ago." A woman bowed before Selena, "They killed two of my servants, and blamed me for their loss in the mortal work."
"Your majesty, great sultan of the Rakshasa empire, Maharaja." Another woman approached, "This Dominions Rakshasi allowed her servant to be summoned by the hero's party against my men, and they ended in our plan going to dust. Her clan should be punished for going against our plans."
Selena nodded, "So you blame her for your own incompetence? And you went to the length of killing her servants?" She growled, lifting her hand.
Rakshasi from the Armos bowed down, "Your majesty, great sultan of the Rakshasa empire, Maharaja. I beg your pardon. Our scheme would have been flawless if they didn't interfere."
"I won't repeat myself again. You didn't account for the possibility of the heroes summoning another Rakshasa to deal with your men, and that led to your loss." Selena growled, "You served her for three years, that's my decree."
"But Your Majesty..." CLACK!
With one swing of her claw, the woman's head got divorced from her neck, rolling on the ground. "She would resurrect soon, clean the place."
Servants rushed in to clean as the woman from Dominions approached Selena, bowing down.
"Thank you. Your Majesty..."
"Finish that line and I'm cutting your head off as well," Selena growled, "It's too long and annoying, Maharaja is enough."
"But..." CLACK!
The woman felt her tail fly away, "What did you say?" Selena glared at her.
"Nothing, thank you for cutting my tail." The woman crawled back in silence, picked her tail up, and walked out.
"Next!" Selena called and the door opened with another pair of the Rakshasi nobility approaching her for ruling in their matters.
Cain looked at her, "You're quite a violent ruler,"
"This is hell-nya. And they don't respect you unless you treat them like this." She looked at the nobles, "Rakshasa are prone to scheming and plotting, cunning evil beings with a streaming lust for power. Isn't that right?"
The nobles bowed on the ground, "Your words are the truth."
With a smile on her face, she moved to the side a bit. "Cain! Come here and help me-nya!"
Cain stood, "Gracie, you can keep practicing on your own, right."
"Of course."
Cain sat beside Selena and she put her head on his lap, closing her eyes and purring. He combed her hair with his fingers, staring at the nobles with a smile. "No, I'm the one to make decisions. What brought you here,"
The nobles stared at each other for a second, pondering if they should plead with the Maharaja to wake up.
Cain stared at them, "She was right," He lifted his hand, "Care to speak, or I will start cutting,"
The nobles bowed, "Your Lordship Rajah of Maharaja, we came here in a dispute over land. I own a potion in the west and seek to..."
After spending an hour dealing with the Rakshasas' problems, a fun one finally came.
"You lordship Rajah of Maharaja. My daughter ran away with a human to the mortal world. I seek permission to send forces to retrieve her." The Rakshasi woman said, bowing down.
"Your daughter ran off her own will, let her be," Cain replied. "Human doesn't live that long anyway, she will be back in fifty years."
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