by Marcus Sloss
“If I ever hear of any dissent about your current predicament, I will sell you to ogres to be cooked over an open fire while alive. I am the master of you. You have zero rights until you earn them. There will be no second failure option. Your slave contracts now have a minimum release of ten years of good conduct. Do not make me regret my leniency.”
I was hoping one of them would have the courage to say something. They lacked it though. At this point, Darwin’s idiots had mostly been removed. I never looked back over my shoulder. The griffins left their perches which indicated to me the crowd was dispersing. An off tune whistle escaped my lips for all of ten seconds. A griffin pounced me from an alleyway sending me tumbling.
“Food!” “Food!” “Food!” “Food!” “Food!” “Food!” “Food!”
The trio had got me in a zone out. No… I had been so vigilant until this moment too. I saw Lydia watching from a perch on Zenith. She had some important nest cleaning to do. Apparently, I was a baby sitter for the next bit.
“Fine, let me up, Lance. Damn fine tackle young sir,” I said.
“Food!” “Food!” “Food!” “Food!”
“Enough! One more and I will run to get some distance, then cast earth magic to hide in the ground. Dig my way into a building you cannot find me in.”
“Lies!” Sunny accused me while her golden feathers ruffled in confidence. Atta girl.
“Bold statement, possibly true. Come on. I should have some useless mount we can sacrifice for a nice meal.” I said hoping to run into Roz on the way to the stables.
The trio shadowed me and the crowds parted as we walked to the northern stable area. I passed a few meat venders and even a vendor selling tools. Generally, that was reserved for the market. I needed to visit there. I went to detour when Lirkon landed. Right food for the trio. Damn, I got sidetracked even with three griffins shadowing me. They were being so well behaved I had zoned out. Lirkon, on the other hand, was holding me to my word.
We entered the stable area and the original mammoth was still in here. It was well cared for and groomed nicely. We could use it so I bypassed it as the trio trotted behind me. I swore they drooled at the mammoth that sensed being stared at as prey. The trio backed up when the side of the pen was smashed by tusks. The rel and elk were gone from here. The rhino was inside his pen, if we didn’t have desert cities being established I would free it to watch the trio kill it. I bypassed that creature and then saw the giant salamander. The species was named dranda if I remembered right. Perfect animal for swamps, which Vin had zero of.
I snapped the lock off the hinge and opened the double doored gate. The dranda sprung out into the hallway in sudden freedom. The trio did not realize what I had intended. Lirkon did though.
“Kill it before it hurts some weak humans! Emperor Gryff is giving you a test you must not fail!”
The lizard bolted for the exit down at the opposite end. The griffins finally leaped into action. I saw the salamander round the corner and heard a woman shriek. So maybe this was not my smartest idea. I raced after the prey being hunted with excitement. Lirkon waited for me at the exit the kids and salamander had bolted out of. I scurried up his saddle and we were off for an aerial view. I saw a poor elvath dusting herself off and picking up carrots that were strewn from a turned over basket. I scanned my surroundings until I located the trio. That damn salamander had scaled a pen wall and was hiding in the flock of white sheep.
They were soon red sheep as the trio dove down with claws out. At this point, the commotion had attracted thousands of griffins that poured out of Vertex and Zenith. The hunt was on. The dranda had conned the triplets. They got lost in killing my sheep. I was so getting yelled at later. The salamander had scurried into a war boar pen. A few griffins went to avert the disaster when King Aves himself cut them off to hold them back. The trio were in full sniff mode. Their prey had eluded them. Pearl had the bright idea to get height. She launched into the air thirty feet off the ground.
A quick call out was given to her siblings as they bounded and then achieved flight. The salamander was not a dumb animal. Sure it had claws and was not an intimidating predator. It certainly was not keen on being killed either. The trio closed the distance inside the war boar pen. Expensive creatures bolted to avoid both predator and prey. A few smelon trees had been added in most pens and earth magic used to get them to full growth. The salamander scurried up a large tree with a solid grip from its claws. Lance was the first to the tree. He rushed to its base before his siblings arrived. The salamander went on the offensive. It dove onto Lance’s back. I felt Lirkon cringe at seeing his son being mauled. When he went to help I yanked on his saddle.
“Let them learn. King Aves will kick your beak in if he sees you aiding them,” I warned and he gave an exasperated sigh.
Pearl still had the height. She darted for her brother’s attacker. Her claws gripped the salamander's neck and a sickening twist resulted in a loud pop. The salamander twitched a few times then stilled. Sunny raced to her brother and tackled him in a loving hug. We all watch her cast her first spell. Her body radiated green onto her wounded brother. When they parted he was healed and still covered in blood. I watch Lance shake off the damaged feathers. Pearl went over and healed in replacement feathers. I looked down at the damage. A few dozen sheep dead from grievous wounds, a few more died of heart attacks. Then two war boar broke necks while racing into walls they weren’t expecting in fright.
“A feast!” I demanded and fireballs shot into the air. The trio just realized they were watched by almost all the griffins here. I was sure they would learn many lessons today with more to come in the future. For now, it was a good time to revel in their victory and allow another chance to fatten up some griffins.
“Take me to Roz please Lirkon, I am sure you can hear her talking somewhere,” I said and was flown to my seventh floor estate.
“Thank you Gryff, Lydia is so proud of these three she wants more when we can. I do not think it is a bad idea. A lot has improved since that first day I begged for goblin meat from you. The trio, the griffins, and our freedom. Thank you Gryff, I know not everyone sees your achievements. Know that I do.” Lirkon said. With that, my friend went to his children.
I watched proudly as he flew down to the northwestern fields to talk to them about what he saw. To hear how they thought it went vs how observers felt it went. There was normally a gap in what happened. I sighed and went to avoid Roz for a few minutes.
I found my nursery not quiet. Velia was breastfeeding Herc while rocking gently. Lila was crying, I knew it was her because of the name at the end of the box. I sat down in a nursing chair and tried to soothe her to quiet. Velia swapped me babies. Herc was still actively looking for a boob to drink more milk from. Two wet nurses entered the large room we had expanded once already. I rocked Herc as the other crying babies were all getting diaper inspections and offered nipples. I did not know these wet nurses. It was clear they were human mages though by their black robes giving them away. Herc fell asleep from my rocking or his full belly.
I was able to spend a half hour with my children until I was finally pulled out of my nursery. I had a chance to bond a bit with most of the children. Ahris had my half elvath tucked away in her private estate. When I asked she said it was what Nexa wanted. I was not sure I liked the idea of keeping two of my offspring separate, then thought on it. I was conflicted on if it was a good idea. With my ability to travel everywhere fairly easily now via portal, over long griffin flights – I could split the wives up.
When I left the nursery I decided to address it to Amber. As protected as we were here, we did have all our eggs in one basket per se. Then I realized I could not protect them if something suddenly happened. I would then need separate guard sets which meant another crack may slip and a plant may get in close to do damage. I should probably move my capital somewhere more central. Where I could fish and only those trusted to me got to get close. I was zoned out in my discovery thought process when I stum
bled into a very pregnant Nautica.
I heard a splash of water hit the floor. Awe… Seven hells. “When did you? Let me carry you to my bed, the western one should be open.”
“This ain't my first youngen husband. The first one in ages though, hopefully, this baby won't ruin this fresh body. I found out yesterday. I got rush delivery this morning after vomiting. I hate vomiting. We dvarettes cannot stand emptying our stomachs. So I talked to some elvath and ended up ready to pop. Which if your husband is zoned out and smashes into you… causes your water to pop. I wanted to try sex but I guess this works. NURSES FOR DELIVERY!” Nautica screamed out.
Sure enough, the hallways swarmed as I was found carrying Nautica to our room. I saw Priscilla reach our side with Bella. They were our healer wives so made sense they would start checking on her first.
“Gryff is that blood on your shoe from her. Answer quickly?” Priscilla asked.
“Nope,” I left it at that. It was time to let the women focus. I walked past our open door and laid Nautica on my bed. When she was set I kissed her forehead and wished her luck. There were mutterings and cursing from pain. I stepped back to a sidewall and let the team assemble. It was the eighth delivery up here in a few weeks so I knew they would be ready. Uroxa came over holding Perthos. I nicknamed the tiny Addilyn lookalike Pertigirl. It was geeky and silly but I was proud of myself that I recognized her.
“She will complain for no more than an hour. We dvaren align our wee ones to shoot them out the door with our stomach muscles. When they are lined up we open the barn doors. If you put that baby in Nautica then you know what I mean by opening the barn doors…” That was as far as Uroxa got into the explanation. Not even five minutes into labor and there was a squalling baby.
That was the first I had seen Pipi lose her composure and storm off. The woman was frustrated to no end and I reasoned she was justified in her tantrum. Pipi had pretty much died from childbirth and Nautica did it with ease. I walked past the nurses and a little girl was handed to me with the cord still attached. I cradled the screaming angel in my left arm while I bit the umbilical cord to cut it off my daughter. I saw a few squeamish looks. I had ogre brains in my mouth earlier, my wife's life giving cord was nothing. The little girl looked just like me and her momma. She was shorter than the other and felt denser, but other than that it seemed she was another perfect mixed baby.
I saw Nautica waving me forward from the bed. “You did not name any of your babies besides Herc. What were you thinking?” Nautica said. Besides her cheeks being puffy and nurses cleaning the mess from between her legs you would have never known she recently given birth.
“I can give you three and you pick. Dee, Bloom, and Olivia.” I said and heard mutterings from the assembled ladies. “What did I do wrong?”
Nautica laughed weakly as she brought our daughter down to feed. “These ladies are shocked you gave options. If I told you I liked Piggyboobthirstertheseventh, would you deny it?”
“Seri works. You can use that and get Seri.” I looked and saw coins exchanging hands.
“Seri it is. Get out of here you goof. Love you though Gryff. We’re going to feed then nap,” Nautica said and I was removed.
I was ushered out where I saw Virtue. “Boy or girl?” He asked.
“Girl, how did Aroxa handle the visit with her dad?” I said as the door to my room closed and the background chatter died off.
“She mentioned very little about it. She was adamant that she enjoyed our time together. We have dinner plans tonight. If I can escape to not miss our date I would be grateful.” Virtue said without much emotion. I could tell he was joyful in spirit.
I smiled at his happiness. Virtue was a scholar in his own rights, and Aroxa was a step above that. Good for them. That made me think of Donnie, I missed the young Count. I went past Virtue and to where I expected Amber to be.
The meeting room was busy. Elan was here with Yvette, Amber, Addilyn, Bella, and Roz. Amber moved from the head seat and Addilyn made room for Amber. The whole thing was silly. I let it slide.
“Another daughter to dote on. Congratulations your grace,” Amber said. “What can we help you with?”
“Declaration first. There was a minor uprising among the humans. Some woman who forgot she was a slave was removed from the equation. I do not want to hear another protest about quality of life. Understood?” I asked around the table and Amber bit back a reply. Her opinion here probably was irrelevant because I already went over the deep end. “Now, how are we on finances? I want to buy some desert dvaren and go obtain a few catalysts. Heard the scorpions and air elements are a challenging fight. Victoria complains about being out of catalyst all the time which is fair. We have farmed for all the other catalysts beside air.”
“We sold three sets of bibles. I was approached by a cyclops auctioneer. He asked to authenticate a set. So I gave him a full dozen and he got back to me yesterday. They want to buy every set out. There is a stipulation though. We cannot make any more copies of the original dozen, ever. It is a tall ask, and his price was not that high. The flip side is you move a lot suddenly and gain two hundred million. He purchased the set I loaned him in escrow.” Roz pulled out the bank sheet and went over the numbers. “Combined we are up to twenty seven million soul stones. Unless you have some you can add to it.”
“Roz the whole point of us using Rakmar is to hide what we have and not put a target on you. I asked you to move a few sets. Not find an auctioneer and start back dealing with shady people. Now as to more money I do have some from Hallow Hall. Get me one of your shamans.” I ordered and she snapped her fingers. A shaman entered from a side door. “Scan my head. You will see a few carts of silver. Tell the dvaren you see cleaning up the place you are taking the silver to market. Do exactly that and bring back raw stones. No notes okay.”
The shaman gleaned the location to Hallow Hall and left the room.
“I would prefer not to kill dissenting individuals,” Amber spoke her thoughts and I raised my eyebrow. “Things are delicate and we need a united front.”
“We will not have a foe to unite against soon, then what do we do when they ask for more. I know your father was a sound diplomat. One of legend. I am not. I am… Shit, I need to ask Rakmar what happened to your dad. I promise to get to the bottom of it and free him if he is still alive. With that being said supreme dipshit deserved to die. The old way of human diplomacy died when the coalition of planets failed to halt the Horde invasions. Now if Lady Ona has dissent I will listen to it. Same with King Olon, I did marry his sister after all. My point will not change and my word is final on this. If they are coming from the worlds I knew and they are currently slaves it is adapt or leave. They used to vote, debate, and spend money on the dumbest things. It was so counterproductive nothing ever got done.”
I wanted to ramble on about how much I dislike big governments. I choose not to though. A simple decision and we were right back to be an effective government. The debate ended and we moved on to talk of the desert expansion.
“There is a lot of ogre and goblin hearts in Hallow Hold. How are our stores for earth catalysts doing?” I asked wondering how much we had set aside. “Can probably get a lot of projects done now.”
“I actually know this one. Your Ooney Bay had a cleansing of goblins. You are able to build whatever you want since demand here in Fernlan slowed.” Addilyn said. She thumbed through some paperwork. “Scavenge teams are flowing south to north. Amber opened the cities that were sacked to be reclaimed. Assuming they have been cleansed of Horde. A migration to avoid the snow is in full effect. Food numbers are doing great. We won’t know the full effect of the human arrivals until they are here for a few weeks. A few million job openings have already been filled. Mostly in handling animals, cooking food, making clothing, and tending the land. There is bad news though. Our in processing numbers show it was forty to one female to males.”
I nodded. I decided to not mandate anything drastic at this time. The population was t
oo high as it was. The Empire under Salvoni used to proclaim we needed to breed to increase our numbers, now we bought slaves. Speaking of which.
“Where do you want to go dvaren shopping at? Will Parxa work for desert dvaren? While it is fun to visit new trade worlds I want to get in and out. Virtue do you think that shaman that knew you from before… I forget his name. Do you think we can bribe him to get us the location of dvaren breeder farms?” I asked Virtue.
The shaman was all smiles as he stood against a sidewall. I watched as he did some internal thinking and then decided to give his answer.
“Wilvert my Emperor, and yes without a bribe. Especially if you buy out all the desert dvaren he has for sale. This will lead him to possibly showcase a few planets. He gets a large commission for direct sales. It saves everyone money and the Parxa council still gets a decent cut. Moving slaves is costly.” Virtue said while answering my question.
“Perfect, take this balance sheet Virtue. Addilyn, Amber, Yvette, and Bella would you like to join me on slave buying?” I said and only Addilyn accepted. Yvette said she intended to spend the next few days being doted on in the sun in Livina. She was sarcastic. Apparently, the city needed a lot of work and there were sassy elvath with attitude who needed to be reminded who was in charge. Queen Yvette was. Queen Bella was managing babies and helping ensure Lakeland continued its smooth transition. Empress Amber had an empire to run. With more gold, she was able to get more things done. Like, find help to manage the new immigrants we received.
I stood and then the rest of the table rose with respect. I saw a dvaren guard at the door. “Find me Count Donnie and send him to the sixth floor balcony,” I said and the dvaren went running off. We walked to the foyer, transitioned to the sixth floor, and went to find Ruby.
She was waddling with Priscilla and Victoria. Well, hot damn. “My dear husband!” They said. I got rushed and covered in happy kisses. “We had the elvath try and sure enough we grew. Doris is taking over for me, Trish for Victoria, and Colleen for Priscilla.”