“Katya, which floor do you want?”
“The second,” she replied immediately. “I want to see whenever you go out or come back home.”
“Smart girl,” Lilith joked. “Then I’ll take the fourth, once it’s ready. Master can take the third.”
“How very clever of you. That way you can visit him without me knowing, right?!” Katya snapped.
“Bah! Same goes for you!” Lilith replied. The two titans were locked in a contest of wills and trying to establish dominance. Whoever ended up on top today, could call themselves the first. I sighed and got up, knocking my chair over by accident.
“Whatever. I’ll be up on the third floor, sleeping. You can figure out amongst yourselves how you want to do this.”
I found the bed up on the third floor and just collapsed on it, fully clothed. I couldn’t care less about getting undressed. Tomorrow, I’d have a bath and put on something fresh. Yes, tomorrow was a new day, and with a new day would come new problems. But I’d tackle them one at a time.
The sound of timber being felled, yelling and weak tremors filled my ears. I awoke with a headache that rivaled being impaled by Lilith. I opened my eyes and yawned. I ended up cursing and crawling backwards as I noticed both Lilith and Katya sleeping beside me on the king-sized bed. It would seem they’d undressed me, and then joined me.
I peeked under the covers and gulped. Both were stark naked, just like I was. From one side, Katya’s heat warmed me. From Lilith’s, a dull cold radiated and enveloped me. I wasn’t cold, rather, it soothed me.
“Is peeking really your thing?” Lilith asked as she stared up at me and stretched out over the bed. “If you want to see more, you just have to ask.”
“Yeah,” Katya added. She pulled down the sheets and leaned toward me, her large breasts hanging down in front of me, ready to be claimed. “So, who do you choose?”
“Yeah, who do you choose?” Lilith repeated Katya’s question. “There’s only one cock, and there’s two of us, after all”
It grated on my nerves when they acted like this, but I couldn’t do anything to stop them, far as I could tell.
“Neither. I want to go wash off in the river. If you want, feel free to join me. I’m not in the mood for anything else at the moment. I’m hurting all over from all the fighting I’ve done. And we also need to go seek an audience with the king. I wouldn’t feel right, letting so many people die for nothing.”
“You mortals are so boring,” Lilith said as she got up and walked over to the window. The people outside could see her naked chest, but she didn’t seem to mind. “I can fly you over, but do you think they have a fighting chance against the mages?”
“No, they don’t,” I replied after a long moment of silence. “But--”
“But what? Do you plan to fight the war for them?” she snapped back. “You think I’d let anyone claim me like that, and then watch them die?”
“Lilith’s right. We’re in no way capable of dealing with a kingdom. We can alert the Krafnians, but would they even believe us? We have no proof. We have nothing.”
I bit my lower lip and thought about how it would look like if we were to just show up. A blademaster, a magician, a demon queen and a gigantic wolf. They might even think we were the ones who had attacked the villages near the border.
“What do you propose, then?” I asked Lilith as I sat upright and leaned against the wall. Katya crawled up to me like a cat and put her head on my lap. I caressed her face and hair. She smiled up at me, as if nothing was wrong. At least her innocent smile hadn’t disappeared yet.
Lilith crossed her arms across her chest and smirked at us.
“I don’t blame you. She’s gorgeous,” Lilith said, as her eyes roamed Katya’s body. “Even the scars. I love them to death.”
Katya’s eyes grew wide, unable to speak for a few moments. When she did, she stuttered a little.
“W-Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s true. You’re to die for,” she said and winked at her. “You two deserve each other, you know. I’ve lived for a very long time, and I’ll still be around once the two of you are gone, so whatever. I’ll steal him every now and then, show him a good time and then return him to you.”
Katya waved her off and leaned in even closer.
“So, what would you do in my position, Lilith? You’re ancient, and you’ve seen the rise and fall of many civilizations, no?”
“Thank you for reminding me of how old I am. So very gentlemanly of you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Get over it. Tell me, I’m curious.”
“Very well. You won’t like it, though. Leave them be. In the meantime, we build up our town, recruit capable people. Become an independent kingdom, even if quite small. Once the Kravnians have taken over, we can start raiding them and wage a war of attrition.”
“How many kingdoms have you brought down up until now?” Katya asked. Lilith shrugged and lay down beside Katya, tracing two fingers down her bare back.
“More than I’d like to think about. So, how do we proceed?”
“We let them do whatever they want. Once things settle down, we start our own war. However, Homitage is to be considered an ally. We need to help them. There’s tons of resources there that we can use to further develop our own island. What’s more, maybe we could establish a guild over here? The island is big enough, from what I’ve seen.”
“Big enough, yeah. But we need to keep resources in mind. A lot of people will eat a lot of food.”
“So what do you think we should do? Stockpile provisions?”
Lilith shrugged and leaned in.
“There’s another way, however. No matter how many people there are, we can thrive on even a small amount of food. Would you like to know more?”
“I guess,” I replied. It irked me that she was so cryptic, but she obviously didn’t want to propose such things without being asked to do so.
“I can change the people into… something more than human. All they will need is a liter of blood each month, and they will never die a natural death.”
26
“Wait, are you proposing to turn them into something similar to yourself?” I asked, shocked by the mere suggestion that she could do that.
Lilith nodded just as Katya sat upright. I could see she was confused, so I decided to explain it to her.
“Katya, Lilith is a sort of demon queen. She restores magical power by draining humans of their blood.”
“So that’s why I’m feeling so wary around you. Some instinct kept nagging at me, insisting that you weren’t quite human. And the feeling turned out to be right.”
“Yeah. She’s very old and quite powerful. Lilith killed me quite easily, to be frank. It was only thanks to Astaroth that I even managed to beat her.”
Katya got up and pulled Lilith to her feet. She squared off against the ancient demon queen leaned into her face. Katya showed no fear, which only served to arouse me. Both women were like goddesses, one dangerous and feral, the other loyal and tamed.
“So how do we feed these… things you’re proposing to make? Having them attack people at random for blood?” Katya demanded.
Lilith let out a high pitched laugh as she pressed a finger against Katya’s chin.
“No, not quite. All I need to do is to feed them some of my own blood. That should get the process going. Once they’re… done changing, they’d need fresh blood. I propose having people offer them blood willingly at the start. Give the donors benefits to encourage them. One donor can feed five a month easily, without risking their health too much. But to be on the safe side, we can do two. Even one. It would all depend on how many are willing to undergo the process.”
Katya stepped away from her and looked me in the eye.
“What’s your take on all this?”
I shrugged. What did she expect me to say? It wasn’t like I was the right person to come up with a solution for problems like this.
“We can propose it during a town meeti
ng? We can explain what the benefits are, and from what I’ve seen, there’s bound to be many.”
“Oh, yes!” Lilith said. “The strength of five men, endurance of ten, and immunity to most diseases. No more need for food or drink, or going to the bathroom, even.”
My right eyebrow rose before I tried to speak, but was unable to, because Katya spoke up first:
“Why the hell didn’t you make those bandits into whatever you call your changed ones?”
Lilith shrugged as she leant against the wall. Her eyes slid from mine to Katya’s and back to mine again.
“Can’t say. Never needed to. The bandits were strong and smart enough, so I guess I just didn’t bother.”
I got out of bed and stretched. All this talking was getting on my nerves. I needed action, not distractions.
“Get dressed. I’ll have Ian go out and round everyone who’s present up. Meet me outside in twenty minutes.”
I walked past both women and put on some clothing, fighting the urge to grab either one of them and make love to them then and there. There were more important things to do at the moment. Making sure Homitage wouldn’t go down without a fight. What’s more, I needed to see the guildmaster again and offer him the chance to relocate to our island. It could easily hold tens of thousands of people.
When I went down to the first floor, Sophia was cooking. Ian was sitting in a corner and was writing on a large piece of wood.
“Good morning, Master. Please, have a seat. I’ll bring you something to eat and drink,” Ian said as he noticed me.
“Good morning, kid. Thanks, that would be great,” I replied and sat down in the chair next to where he’d been sitting. I couldn’t read well, so I didn’t even bother trying to figure out what he’d written down. “Sophia? Did you sleep well in your new home?”
The young woman turned to me and flashed me a smile.
“Very much so. Knowing my friends and family are alive and well, safe even, as well as having my little brother here is amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
“Good, good. Ian, would you care to go out and gather everyone together? I need everyone to be in the square in, say, some ten or fifteen minutes from now.”
“Sure thing. I’ll get right on it,” Ian replied, as he put down the tray of food and water. He left quickly after that. Footsteps from behind me drew both mine and Sophia’s attention. She shied away from me and went back to the food.
“Good morning, dear Sophia,” Lilith was the first to speak, as the two women came down the stairs.
“Morning, Sophia,” Katya added. “Mmmm, that sure smells good. It’s a blessing to have you with us.”
My heart fluttered at the exchange between the women. I knew that some of it was pretend and halfhearted at best, but if they could actually try to make this work, I’m sure that we could be a happy little family.
“My ladies,” Sophia replied with a curtsy. “Please, sit with master. I’ll have food for you immediately.”
My right eyebrow shot up again, wondering what she’d prepared for Lilith, who sat to my right, while Katya sat on Ian’s chair.
“Lady Katya,” Sophia said and offered her a plate. She then leaned toward Lilith and pulled down her dress, revealing her left breast. Lilith smirked and let out a seductive laugh.
“Good little lamb,” she whispered and dug her teeth into Sophia’s breast. The young woman groaned both from pain and pleasure, from what I could see. Katya put her hand on my leg and squeezed, her eyes bulging out at the sight of what Lilith was doing.
“Don’t drain all of her, Lilith,” I said and took Katya’s hand in mine, squeezing it softly to reassure her that everything was all right. She didn’t look away however. I could feel her tense up as she bit down on her lower lip and moved around in her chair.
“Yeah, don’t drain all of her. Maybe you could… drink some of my blood?”
“What?” both Lilith and me asked in unison.
A loud thud against the door drew me away from the sight of Lilith’s bloody lips. Ian strode in, breathing heavily.
“Master, they’ll be assembled shortly,” he said.
“Right. I guess we should get going, then. We can eat up later,” I replied and pulled Katya to her feet. “Lilith, mind joining us?”
“Awww, and I was just about to start enjoying myself,” she replied playfully.
There seemed to be more people present than had been there at Ithice. At a rough estimate, I figured there were at least some forty more people present. Ian caught on to my counting, and enlightened me.
“Master, the workers from the ships stayed with us, as well as the captain and his family. Some others sailed here in small rowboats, once they’d heard about a sprawling new community.”
I stared at the kid, shocked at the way he carried himself and had everything so tightly under control.
“How old are you again?” I asked and put my hand on his shoulder.
“Twelve, master. Why?”
“Nothing. Say, how would you like to run this place? I’ll get you some guards and soldiers, then we can really become a kingdom,” I laughed. Ian, however, beamed at the idea.
“Really? I could finally protect my sister, like she had me!” he squealed. I sighed and patted him on the back just as Katya and Lilith walked up to me.
The two were immaculate, and almost looked like twins. Long, raven black hair fell halfway down their backs while their green eyes roamed the villagers. Each wore the same kind of ceremonial dress. Katya, the black one, and Lilith the white. Their arms and legs were uncovered, as well as their stomachs.
“Since when do you two get along so well?” I asked mentally, as Lilith took her place to my right and Katya took her place to my left.
“Since I sucked blood from her right breast. She loved it, even begged me for more.”
I coughed and almost choked on air.
“Now, now. What’s wrong my dear?” Lilith said out loud. I stared at her mischievous look and shook my head. I couldn’t get mad at her, there was just no way.
“Nothing,” I said and straightened up. “Say, where’s Al?”
“I’m here,” he replied with a physical voice. It was gravelly and low, but loud and clear.
“Today is full of surprises. And where the hell were you until just now? I didn’t see you when I got here.” I didn’t get a response.
Al just walked up and sat in front of me, his head a few inches lower than mine. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh.
“Thank you, everyone, for gathering here on such short notice, but we have some decisions to make. Decisions that will shape this community, as well as our new ‘kingdom’. First, none of what I’m about to propose is obligatory, so think carefully about everything you hear today. Though keep in mind: whatever you hear hereshould not leave the island. Five of us can read minds, so don’t even think about trying to do anything stupid with this information.”
I stopped for a moment to take a deep breath and to let it all sink in.
“Now, my queen here,” I went on and nodded at Lilith, “has the ability to turn… willing humans into something more: something much stronger, faster, something with more stamina and power. We don’t have a name for it, but that shouldn’t matter anyway. What matters is that you will feel no hunger or thirst, except for one thing alone. That one thing will be blood. A liter a month is enough for you to live and thrive on, once changed.”
I made another pause and studied their faces. Almost all of them seemed against it, except for one young man who stepped forward.
“Take me as your first, my king, and my queens,” the young man said and knelt. He had the air of someone who knew how to take care of himself. With a muscled physique and long arms and legs, the young man almost towered over me after he got up again.
“What is your name?” Lilith asked and took control of the situation. She stepped up to the young man and traced her fingers along his bicep.
“Mathi, my queen,” h
e replied proudly. “I hail from a tribe far in the north.”
“I see, Mathi. Take my hand and drink,” she said and slashed a long nail across her palm. The young man didn’t even hesitate in the slightest as he licked up all the blood and let it slide down his throat.
“Today, we only turn one! Mathi, as the first and the bravest among you, will get a special title as well: Protector of the kingdom. You will be taking care of everything that’s related to the military, the guards or public safety. You will be the guardian of the town, as well as bodyguard to my little friend Ian, here. Most of you might have seen this coming but Ian is being appointed as a sort of mayor. He’s well known and liked by most of you, skilled in writing, reading and organization beyond what’d you’d expect anyone to be capable of. I hope that all of you will help him in growing both as a man and as a public figure that will serve us all well.”
The crowd didn’t burst out into cheers and ovations as I’d hoped they would, but it was better than nothing. One by one, they started talking amongst themselves.
“How long does he need to change?”
“A couple of hours. Why?”
“I want them all to see the results.”
“I see. I’ll speed it up, then,” she replied and snapped her fingers. A thick fog appeared out of nowhere and covered both Mathi and the three of us. Lilith slammed her fist into his chest, and pierced Mathi’s heart with her nails. His heart accepted Lilith’s blood and healed instantaneously. I looked on in disbelief, unable to comprehend what was going on. The young man looked up, his feral red eyes staring into Lilith’s. She grinned at him and nodded.
“Thank you for making me one of yours, my goddess.”
27
“What?!” I growled. “Your goddess? How dare you insult me as your king, and queen Katya as well?”
Mathi went down to one knee and lowered his head. I could feel he was uncomfortable with me calling him out, but we had to nip this in the bud. There could be no misplaced loyalties.
Lillith Page 15