by Marcus Sloss
“Gryff as your steward I promised that city to your fellow kings as an expansion point…” King Horus said and I paused him.
I glared at Addilyn, then at Amber. They both tucked their heads. “Maybe I wasn’t clear… Maybe my rule has been too lax… I appreciate your efforts King Horus. THE KINGS CONTRIBUTED NOTHING!!!” I bellowed out in rage. I was irate. “King Omarr did not stop Salvoni from starving griffins. You King Horus have not killed a single Horde since I have been on Vin. You are managers. I respect that. My victories, my conquests are mine to do with as I please. I do not need to placate or please you. I am a DEMIGOD! I could crush you and replace you. You serve at my whim, not the other way around. This does not just go for you. Amber if I award my soldiers something, you do not back deal behind me. You will address me first. Give a moment.”
There was silence as my breathing settled and my rage dissipated. “Better. I don’t have time for this petty nonsense. Build under your cites. Build outside the barriers now that griffins have cleansed the horde. I am bringing armies here to reconquer Vin. Hopefully by the millions. Next chance I get I am dropping the peace accords. That is final. The griffins and I are ready. While we wait for that moment I will expand my catalyst collection and my armies. I suggest you ready your generals. If I call upon your troops and they sit getting fat in southern ports I will not be merciful. Retaking Vin is not a minor objective, it is the only objective and it has been mandated by the gods themselves. Let that resonate while I go wash the rest of this blood off.”
King Horus leaped out of his chair in rage. “I will not be…”
I hurled my plate with purple aura at the wall. The shattering of it was deafening in the enclosed space. “Another word and it will be your last. Do you not realize you have zero power. You cannot march armies, you cannot fight me, and if you will not obey me… then step down. You are my wife’s father. That is the only thing sparing you from my wrath. If you want to retire then I have no problem making Riza king from a duke. I like you Horus… I do. Realize your family would like to see you grow old, seven hells that includes me. Empress Amber will run the Empire when I am away. You are to immediately return to Tent Crossing and stay there. That will be all. My wives follow me.”
I was interested to see how Addilyn reacted. She turned her nose up and trooped with the rest of our family out of the room. It was a somber and quiet trip up the stairs until we entered our sectioned off estate. The moment the door closed Addilyn latched on in a hug.
“I almost killed him, that plate went into the wall and not his face because of you,” I said as my wife sobbed into my chest. Addilyn just gripped me tighter.
Amber walked over with a large stack of paperwork. “You are not home enough for me to know all your wishes. I will not apologize for buying back those properties in Livina from your troops. This… This stack, it all needs you or me to approve. Let us clarify this now. Do you want to adventure or handle this.” Amber said as she went to the small table in the room and placed the stack down. “If you have a portal shaman. You need to come home more if you want to manage the Empire to go exactly your way. Not to mention relieving Horus of steward increased my workload by a lot. A whole lot.”
Addilyn had calmed now and was no longer crying. “I will help you Amber, but Gryff… she is right. You were down for a month. Decisions had to be made and we continue to do so. I think you may be missing the fact you cannot do both. Run an Empire and adventure.”
I sighed at this. I did bypass the stack of paperwork because I did not want to deal with it. I hated to admit it but they were right. When I neared our bed I undressed and slid under the covers. My four wives stared at me. I propped myself up on my elbows.
“I will try to come home more. I want the dvaren to have Uhara. I want Livina to be a home for the elvath. There will be many more dvaren and they need their own home. There is more than enough space in Livina it was big enough for hundreds of thousands. I want humanity to expand outside the barriers with the aid of the griffins. Write this down please.” I said and Velia raced to a dresser. She extracted a pen and paper. When she was ready I continued. “Hire a team to visit the last three desert cities. I want detailed maps and descriptions. If there is land to divvy out, then select one city and make it an awarded location. Leave two blank for our later needs.
“Next, we are getting into the slave business. I need a committee formed in every kingdom. If a person's crimes are great enough to warrant execution I want them tried for punishment by slavery. Justification is I can free more innocent slaves, including humans by forfeiting the lives of the guilty. This is not up for debate. If you ladies need to make any major changes let me know. For example, Amber why did you acquire those waterfront properties?”
Amber left the stack of papers behind. She was in a loose fitting casual dress. When she let it fall I grinned. Her large tits bounded free and her hips swayed as she sauntered for the bed. Pipi did an equally dramatic boob reveal and approached naked from the other side. They slid into bed with me while I drooled. Addilyn went to the paperwork and started signing documents. Velia watched patiently while taking notes. I waved her over and she got naked to join us.
“It is where I want to raise our children. We decided without you and it slipped by in your rush. It was kind of a wild day when you awoke. Let things settle and we promise to be more informative and transparent. Addilyn dear, leave that for later. Come snuggle.” Amber said and patted the bed.
I patted the bed too and her frown vanished. We were all a bit on edge from earlier. They were doing a great job of running things while I was away. I did let it sink in, I couldn’t do both. Run an Empire and fight for it.
“Do not expect these often. But I apologize. A lot has transpired that you handled marvelously. I trust you as a team. I think I resent your father trying to dictate my achievements. I don’t get angry the same way with you girls. I will visit more for updates if I can. Enough talk of business. Tell me how your day was. Each of you one at a time. Then I will go over mine.” I said.
And so it went for the next hour. Eventually, Bella and Trish joined us through the nursery door. Introductions were made to Trish and Bella got a bit of teasing over never taking a concubine then doing exactly that. They joined our friendly conversation. At one point Pipi left to ensure Vern was behaving and to get snacks. For the first time in… Well, ever the entire family relaxed in bed and talked late into the night. I knew some of the girls wanted sex, but I kept my cock soft to discourage it because Bella was here. That was the first time we all squeezed into the large bed together. I was exhausted and for once was more than okay with falling asleep in a ball of bodies without sex first.
CHAPTER 18
I peeled myself out of bed early in the morning when I heard giggling. Like enough giggling to be a dozen young ladies. I exited our room naked and found a swarm of young women getting ready in the extra bedrooms reserved for the wives. I raised an eyebrow at this and then returned.
The noise of the girls combined with the loss of my body heat awoke my wives. I saw them stirring. “Why are there a dozen plus young women getting ready in our estate?” I asked in confusion.
“They are healers. Your mother said to hire a lot of healers. We figure it would be most appropriate to hire some ladies. Is there a problem?” Amber asked being assertive. “No… Good then come to bed. You leave soon and we want to send you off properly.”
I was about to run and jump into bed when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and saw Roz being escorted by Donnie.
“Seven hells Gryff, where are your pants?” Donnie said averting his gaze. I saw him look down the hallway full of young women with bouncy bits running around. Donnie’s eyes glazed as he smiled. Right! I didn’t want to leave either. “The team is waiting for you. This… shaman was asking for you. She was all lost by the landing pads. I am going to head back there.”
“I will be there shortly,” I said as I ushered in Roz and closed the door on Donnie.
“Why are you here early?”
“Good morning master, may I seat myself at that table?” She asked and I nodded. “My harem was very fulfilling. I have never actually used my succubus powers so fully before. I have far more energy than I thought possible. The most I had heard of was a female shaman being allowed two. I have thirteen left. I killed the first one this morning when we climaxed. The griffin stationed there ate the dead body.”
I shuddered with the mental image. I lost all appeal of sheet wrestling with my wives. Secretly I think Bella was relieved.
“That is great, we can always get you more. We still have more bibles. I need to move a lot of pieces today on my chessboard. Before that escapes you it is an analogy. I will introduce you all to chess when I have time. How did the bidding go?” I asked and started searching for clothes in drawers.
I found all the lady underwear a man could want to see but nothing of mine. Velia giggled at my failure to find my own clothes. I was lost without here so it was fair. She found a set of noble clothes and handed them to me. I got dressed as Roz continued. My wives were slithering out of bed to dress for the day too.
“You won all the bids except one for the farming dwarves. The big deal is Urshoe. She has been pinging your contract all morning. Your elvath she purchased are causing issues for her. It is best we go there first.” Roz said while tapping impatiently on the table.
“I am going to send the elvath to Livina. Who do you want to liaison with them?” I asked Amber.
She tapped her chin and then wiggled into a set of boy shorts. Her red hair danced with her large tits at the jiggling motion. Amber was so damn fine. A marvel of a woman's body. I heard her talking but was not listening. My eyes focused on her tits. Velia snapped her fingers beside my head.
“She said for me to go Gryff, I will attend to you today,” Velia said fully dressed. My brown eyed brown haired vixen was smirking. “Those tits are fantastic. I wonder what childbirth will do to them. Eek!”
Amber chased around Velia smacking her ass and they were both loving it. Ambers tits were bouncing perfectly as she ran. This was going to blue balls me.
“Enough… Please.” I said meekly. “Time to go Velia… Kisses girls so I can get to adventuring. Good luck running our Empire.”
Addilyn kissed me deeply. She then said she would smooth things over with her father. Maybe offer him a retirement place in Livina while one of her brothers stepped up. I like that idea. Pipi kissed me and said she was going to setup Vern to stay with Dennis. She wanted to travel south with me to the Tundra but needed more time to prepare. Bella kissed me deeply then cried in my chest. She was getting more emotional now that she was past the morning sickness stage. I was told how she should start to show soon. Then Amber walked up to me with no top on still. Placed my hands on her tits and when I zoned out gazing at them she kissed me blocking the view. My hands were grasped before our lips unlocked and my plain pants provided no protection. The ass smacking stung by the end.
“Ladies rule!” was followed by the girls high fiving each other.
“You humans are odd. Your leader is much too kind,” Roz said.
Velia was ready. “Yeah, he definitely doesn’t fuck us to death. Cock blocker.”
Roz stared blankly. She missed the quotes meaning completely.
“Alright, fun is over. Help get in my armor real quick. Never know what trouble I will get into.” The ladies helped me switch from decent clothes to combat gear. I checked myself to ensure I was ready. I had my sword with shield, two crossbows, and a dagger. My javelins were on my back as was my bag. The thin leather glove had two patches on it from where that snake bit me. Stupid snake. I was ready to go.
The ladies joyfully laughed as we left the room. I was glad everyone was in a good mood. We passed by the young healers getting ready for their day at work or the academy and even though I had watched my five hot wives go from naked to dressed – I couldn’t help but gaze. I saw Velia watching too. We both sighed at the lack of release this morning. I led us out of the Tipsy and up the ramp from Dais to Fernlan.
The landing pad was right around the corner and I looked over the team. I ordered combat checks when I realized Nate was missing and there was a new mercenary in the formation. At least I thought he was a mercenary.
“Where is Nate?” I asked.
“He is your Captain of the Guard now. He needs a day to recover, his wife laid into him about relaxing at home. No one has been properly vetting immigrants. Nate said his near death experience was enough. You need proper guards and he only trusts himself to get the job done right. He will be recruiting while we are in the south. This is Travis, war buddy of Nates. Good with a sword and shield. Was highly recommended. I am your second now.” Lazra informed me. Made sense, he was Una’s second and a skilled fighter.
“Kneel… Travis, Ovas, and Poe. Congratulations and welcome to the team.” I said as I tipped my sword over both shoulders of my three kneeling team members. “Arise Sir Travis Knight of Fernlan. Arise Sir Ovas of Fernlan. Arise Sir Poe of Fernlan. Sorry, no pompous here.”
“Thank you, my Emperor,” They said as one with a proud smiles.
“In a casual setting like this, Gryff is fine. If someone not on our team is around or sworn to me then sure use titles. Everyone this is Roz. You are going to love Roz. The griffins certainly will. Lord Nova go ahead and stand down. I got transportation covered today. Maybe make some baby griffins. I hear Sly is looking for a mate. Hurry Roz portal us to Kikra.” I said and Roz did not hesitate.
The portal spun up behind her and I leapt through before I had to listen to either stubborn griffin complain about matchmaking.
∞∞∞
The portal was crisp with a smooth transition. I was under the massive circle of the Kikra slave market. Urshoe rushed over to me.
“Hide your face, now!” Urshoe hissed with an urgency.
I clasped my face shield closed. Only my eyes were exposed now. There were hundreds of thousands of slaves in pens ready to be moved. A small group of three cyclops were making their way over to us, behind them a few dozen more guards followed. My troops finished entering the portal and I had them clasp their facial protections also.
“Urshoe are these the minions for my elvath buyer?” A fat cyclops demanded. The kind of fat only a robe could contain, and even then the middle seam struggled. The scowl on his made it apparent he was angry. The tone also a dead giveaway.
“Yes mighty Barunth, they have come to collect that which they fairly paid for,” Urshoe said.
“Nonsense we are prepared to rebuy our stock at double the price,” Barunth said.
I had no idea what was going on. I did see a pen filled with thousands of gorgeous female elvath. I ignored the minor quibbling and approached the females. Roz squeaked with surprise. A meaty hand grabbed arm. I broke the wrist of a cyclops that gripped me. I then kicked him dozens of feet to send him soaring into a wall.
This set off some sort of ritual clearing space for a fight. My team had hands on their weapon hilts. We all were uncertain about what came next.
“I am the mighty Barunth, representative to a slave lord of a hundred planets. How dare you strike my servant? Wait… that outfit and that power. You are the Elvath Champion himself. No wonder you bought all my stock for sale.” Barunth spun and screamed in rage. He stomped his feet like a child. There had to be some sort of rules against fighting here. Or else his guards would have drawn weapons. “I will offer this only one more time scum. Sell me my slaves back, or I will declare right of combat against your master.”
The elvath were at the side of the pen now waiting for me with eagerness. I turned my back on the cyclops. The Barunth could go screw himself for all I cared. Well, he did lose his temper then. The dozens of guards that waited further back drew weapons as one. Now I had never seen cyclops fight but this did give me pause.
“I declare you a cheat!” Barunth said. A yellow contract flew not from Barunth but from some planetary mediatory.
I studied it and I found the loophole I needed. He had the chance to declare a champion to fight me but must do it instantly. If I killed him before the words came out I won.
“I accept your challenge to combat!” I said as fast as I could.
With aura enhanced precision and speed I raised my crossbow and zinged a bolt into his forehead. It would have made a gunslinger from a western proud. He never got a chance to declare a champion. He was dead before his body hit the ground. Roz, then Urshoe, stared at me in shock. Velia and my team laughed.
“I declare no more challenges shall be accepted by me or those who represent me for twenty hours.” The yellow magic spooled from me to the mediatory.
A young cyclops seethed with rage and tried to establish a challenge to me. I stepped forward as he charged. The yellow magic caught him before his weapon damaged me. He disintegrated.
“You fools, my master knows the laws of the contract. Unforina is precise in her rules. It is best you learn when you have crossed lines and are defeated.” I said in arrogance and scooped up the loot from the two bodies. I handed them off to Roz. “Hey, did he have anything worthy I can claim?”
“No, he was an important representative. An errand master of great renown. You will have struck anger in many hearts. So delightful working with you. His son too. This will be worthy of much laughter to many souls. Your elvath and dvaren were separated into different pens. Where would you like to send them to?” Roz asked as we left the dead bodies and moved to the first pen full of maidens.
“Umm… Boss… Those elf ladies are mighty nice to look at. Where are the men?” Markus asked.
“Dead or coveted inside breeding environments. Elvath or elves as they go by in stories are ancient. Billions of years old and they only birth once per million years. You are certainly right, I think Velia agrees. They sure are sexy. I am excited to have our women get clothing tailored by them. Now pick up your jaws and show respect.” I commanded.
Urshoe stepped forward. “My lord there are more than the fifteen hundred, I traded in some favors. When Barunth found out, he promised I was to be tortured and killed. I was fired from my job and shunned by my family. There is an open contract on me if I ever leave Kikra. I need employment with safety. I figured we could help each other. I am an excellent goblin manager and am learning portal magic. I have been talking through contract magic with Roz. She tells me you are a good employer that spoils those he works with. Your contracts contain no loopholes or exploits that we cyclops are used to eventually learning about. She even said you gave her… a harem. I am not a strong mage like her but I think we can help each other. For a few years at least until this ordeal blows over. You have caused quite a stir.” Urshoe said and sent me a contract for employment that built on our contract for secrecy. I pulled it apart and studied it. She saw this. I confirmed it with my aura. “Thank you, sir.”