“Could you share another one of your orbs with me before you go?” She asked.
The tiny orb I had sent into her at the reception had been a small thing, and I had been careful to not include anything that might have made things… awkward between us. But I detected a hint of urgency in her request, and it gave me pause. Even though I had left no hint of passion or desire in my previous orb, had there been something else that I’d overlooked? Something that made her crave another one?
“I’m not sure that is a good idea, Nadiel,” I replied cautiously. “My powers can exact a toll on their recipients, and I wouldn’t want to put you in any jeopardy.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said as her shoulders seemed to slump just a little. “I’ve never felt such pure devotion before. It gave me a certain sense of strength and resolve, things that I will be needing in the days to come.”
Her explanation made me reevaluate my caution, and I decided to give in to her request. If all she had experienced was my own devotion to the people of Arrika, I was more than happy to bolster that feeling.
Her eyes lit up when I brought forth a tiny luminous ball. She reveled in its glow for a moment and seemed to be mesmerized by its soft light as I held it in front of her.
“Are you ready?” I asked
“Yes, please,” she whispered back to me.
I held the orb in the palm of my hand and slowly drew it closer to her before I pressed it into the exposed skin just below her neck. Unlike last time, I held my hand against her as the orb vanished beneath her skin and maintained my connection as it sent my emotions flowing through her body.
I was intent on feeling Nadiel’s response, and I found her easily within the churning waves I had sent inside her. There was a profound sense of relief when I realized that she was truly only basking in the feelings I had sent to her and wasn’t experiencing anything more than that. When I was reassured that the orb wasn’t causing any harm, or creating any bond between us, I pulled back and let Nadiel revel in the orb’s remaining power.
“You were with me for a moment,” Nadiel said as she came out of her near trance-like state.
“I was,” I replied to her. “But only long enough to make sure nothing was going wrong.”
“You can go inside another person that easily?”
“Yes, I can,” I responded honestly.
“That is a rather frightening ability,” Nadiel replied. “One that could be used to cause a great deal of damage.”
“I’ve actually never even considered that possibility, Nadiel,” I confessed.
When I wanted to cause harm, I used my orbs. I never thought to send myself into someone with the intention of doing damage. After considering it for a moment, I realized that it was probably a very bad idea. The only people that I would be willing to hurt that badly were not the sort of individuals I ever wanted to be inside of in that way.
“You are indeed a very special person, Empress,” Nadiel responded thoughtfully. “I will see what I can do to accommodate your request when I return to Isouri. And I can assure you that I will devote my best efforts to fulfilling it.”
“Thank you, your Majesty,” I offered.
“Always Nadiel, please,” she smiled back at me.
“Very well then, Nadiel,” I returned her warm smile. “I look forward to our next meeting.
“As do I, Empress.”
Our time together could not have gone much better—with Nadiel promising to recruit some Evokers for me, and possibly even a few Curates, we would be well on our way to having a truly well-rounded and effective military, both for our own protection, and to begin forming the Army that we would eventually need to conquer our enemies.
My sense of satisfaction turned to utter joy when I returned to my rooms to find Tási and Bane waiting for me. Bane was stretched out on the huge pillow in his room, while Tási lay propped up against him, swaddled in a pile of blankets.
“Get dressed and join us,” Tási called out to me. “Then you can tell me all about your meeting with the Queen.”
I hurried to change into my sleeping outfit and then wrapped myself in the blankets beside Tási before beginning my tale. When I finished, Tási only had one question for me.
“You really never considered using your ability in that way?”
“It never occurred to me, no,” I replied. “Honestly, once I considered it, it doesn’t seem like a very good idea.”
“Oh, so you do have a brain inside that head of yours,” Tási teased me.
“Perhaps I should reconsider what I just said,” I replied as I glared at her. “Maybe even make an exception in your case.”
“Okay, you win,” Tási quickly conceded. “But it’s not fair that you can keep threatening me with all your Sintári powers.”
“You like my Sintári powers,” I purred back at her.
“Umm… Bane. Bane is here, remember?” She squeaked.
“You mean the big scaly guy behind me?” I taunted her sarcastically. “Yeah, I remember.”
Do you need me to fly away for a while, so you can properly discipline her?
“What did he say?!” Tási demanded when I broke out in laughter.
“You don’t want to know,” I managed to say between giggles.
“What did you say, Bane?!” Tási scolded him before she remembered the futility of it. “Dammit, he can’t even tell me.”
Bane just stared back at her with is big golden eyes as the bare trace of a smile curled up the corners of his mouth. His reptilian features lent an odd look to his grin, but it was something we’d both grown quite accustomed to.
“Sure, mock the halfling who can’t hear your little thought speech,” Tási grumbled as she wrapped the blankets around herself a little tighter.
She can be quite petulant at times, Bane noted.
‘You’re telling me?’ I sent back to him.
Tási resisted me just a little when I settled in next to her, but finally gave in and let me nestle against her as we lay together with Bane for the night. His not-so-soft purr echoed through the room like a lullaby and soothed us both to sleep after only a short while.
Wake up, my Sintári, you have a visitor. Bane’s thoughts entered my mind the next morning.
I pried my eyes open and saw Nentai sitting calmly across the room just staring at me.
“Good morning, Empress,” she said in an almost sing-song voice.
“Good morning, Nentai,” I replied as I cautiously slipped out from beneath the covers to not wake Tási. “What brings you here today?”
“Not you this time,” she answered surprisingly. “I’ve come to check on Bane.”
“Why? What’s wrong with him”? I asked her in concern. “You told me no harm would come to him!”
“And none has, I assure you,” she just smiled back at me. “I told you I’m only checking on him.”
“Checking for what, exactly?”
“Now, now, let’s not give the secret away just yet,” she chastised me as she rose from her chair and crossed the room towards Bane.
“Bane,” she addressed him directly. “Would you open your mouth for me, so I can have a little peek inside?”
She surprised me with her caring tone and the way she gently handled him when he complied with her request. With Bane’s massive jaws spread open, Nentai took a quick look around his mouth and even had him lift up his tongue for her before she seemed satisfied with what she’d seen and let him go.
“Soon,” she smiled at me almost mischievously when her inspection was complete. “You will discover exactly what you’ve done to him very soon, my dear.”
“You’re fucking killing me, Nentai,” I moaned. “He means the world to me and you’re taunting me with this.”
You would speak to the Goddess this way? Bane sent to me incredulously.
‘For you, I will speak to anyone that way.’
“Dreya,” Nentai replied without a hint of her former teasing. “Bane is fine. Nothing is
wrong with him. He’s quite perfect, in fact. What you’ve done to him is actually quite incredible, even more so since you did it without even trying. Without even knowing that it was possible. The Sintári of old, even when they knew exactly what they were doing, often failed to accomplish what you have done to him on accident. You will realize just what that is very soon now, and I don’t want to deprive you of the joy of discovering it for yourself.”
“Promise me,” I begged her. “Promise me that he’s truly alright.”
Nentai took a step closer to me and took my hand in hers as she replied.
“I have never lied to you, d-Dreya,” she oddly stumbled on my name as she spoke to me in a soothing tone. “And I never will.”
“I have to go now,” she said as she quickly returned to her normal demeanor. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but things should be getting very interesting for you soon, so I’m sure you won’t be missing me too much.”
Nentai gave me a very uncharacteristic wink as she shimmered and then vanished from sight, and it was only then that I became aware that Tási had woken up.
“Do you believe her?” Tási inquired from behind me. “Do you think she’s telling you the truth about Bane?”
“I do,” I replied to her without hesitation. “Nentai can be a bit frustrating at times with the information she holds back, but she’s never once lied to me.”
I need to eat, Sintári, and some time to think as well.
I understood his meaning perfectly and pulled his head down to rest my forehead against his while I scratched at the scales behind his ears for a moment.
‘Go ahead, Bane,’ I sent to him as I let go. ‘I know that you find peace in the sky. Come back to me when you’re ready.’
I walked to the glass doors as I spoke, opening them and the Khelduin gates behind them before Bane launched himself into the morning sky in a rush. I watched him fly away, gazing in admiration as the light of the early dawn glittered off his bright green scales until his form slowly dwindled away in the distance.
“He’s still so beautiful,” Tási commented as she stood by my side.
“No,” I corrected her. “He’s magnificent.”
We closed the gate and glass doors behind us, and Tási poked her head into the next room to ask the guards there to have some breakfast sent up for us. There was actually a small kitchen on the floor below in their barracks, so a meal was brought for us almost as soon as we got dressed again.
The antechamber outside my bedroom served multiple purposes, one of which was as the location where Tási and I most often shared our breakfasts together. And when we left the comfort of our chambers that morning, the table there was already laden with an assortment of goodies for us to choose from. I knew that I had my meeting with Broda’s uncle scheduled for lunch, so I only made myself a small plate, while Tási piled hers high, mostly with the sweet, sticky honey rolls that she seemed to love so much.
“What?” She said as I stared at the stack of sugary treats that she had hoarded for herself.
“How do you keep eating like that and never gain any weight?”
“When was the last time you saw a fat halfling?” She replied with a smirk.
“Never,” I realized.
“And you won’t,” she taunted me. “It’s probably the only physical advantage we have over the other races.”
“How is that possible?”
“I have no clue,” she said as she stuffed one of the sticky rolls in her mouth. “Anf I doff care,” she finished with her mouth full.
Tási continued her relentless assault on the sweet honey rolls while I picked at my own breakfast over a cup of hot tea. After we left here, Tási would attend to her duties as Commander, while I was destined for a briefing with Broda and Venna, who would update me on the progress that had been made drafting the various accords that were necessary for my new Empire. An Empire that was still without a name, to my consternation. After that would be lunch with the Dwarven King, an afternoon of catching up on the various reports from around the Realm, followed by what promised to be a wonderful dinner with the bitch-queen. I was just so looking forward to all of it.
As we went our separate ways, Tási headed for her new offices in the Imperial barracks, while Ella actually led my guard detail for the morning when I went downstairs to meet with Venna and Broda.
“You haven’t done this for a while,” I commented as Ella took command of my guards.
“Tási’s been keeping me busy,” she smiled back at me. “But I returned the favor by dumping a load of paperwork on her desk this morning, so I should be free for a while.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at their friendly rivalry. Over time, the two had come to not only respect, but actually like each other. But their friendship also had an element of competition to it, and they often went out of their way to sabotage the other in any way they could. Tási, being Ella’s direct superior, usually had an edge in that competition, but Ella was clearly not without the means to retaliate.
As we made our way down to Venna’s offices, I would’ve liked to have been able to hold her hand or express my affection for her in some way, but that simply wasn’t possible. I had sworn to Tási not to make any of my affairs public, and that was an oath I was never going to break. Ella understood well enough the conditions of our relationship, so she didn’t try to force the issue either. I tended to her when she needed me, and even loved her in my own way, but I simply couldn’t offer her anything more than that.
Those same thoughts lingered in my mind as I sat down in Venna’s office for our conference. Broda had yet to arrive, and as we shared some tea, I considered my relationship with Venna as well.
In some ways, my link to her was stronger than the bond I shared with Tási. Our attraction to each other began even before I had met the halfling, and the bond that had formed between Venna and me went well beyond love. There was an element of need, a connection that went deeper than our physical selves, and it had joined our hearts in a way that I hadn’t thought possible. Had she not been married, I wasn’t sure that Venna and Tási’s roles might not have been reversed. But that was only an observation on my part, and I didn’t regret how things fell into place one bit.
“I’m meeting your former Queen later,” I said to her in an attempt to focus my thoughts more productively. “I need to convince her to send me some scribes. Ones capable of producing resurrection scrolls.”
“Ah yes, the warm and welcoming Queen Líann,” Venna replied sarcastically. “Good luck with that.”
“Is she really that bad?” I inquired, hoping for a different answer this time.
“No, she’s worse,” Venna grumbled. “Politically, she’s fair and practical, but personally, she’s extremely cold and difficult. Líann has no friends and has rejected every suitor out-of-hand. Some believe it’s due to her upbringing, but other think she’s just a miserable wretch.”
“She’s a royal,” I replied. “How bad could her childhood have been?”
“Líann’s father was quite old when she was born,” Venna explained. “Her mother was his third wife, and Líann was their first, and his only child. Despite the healer’s best efforts, Queen Nyda died in childbirth, so Líann never knew her mother.”
“She was raised by nursemaids and nannies, and with her father’s advanced age, groomed for the throne almost before she could walk. I don’t think love or even friendship was ever a consideration for those in charge of her upbringing.”
“So, while she knows politics well, Líann is not one for people. You will be dealing with a very cold and impersonal woman tonight, one who will not bend for you just for the sake of friendship. You will probably have to offer her something in return for what you seek. And if I had to guess, it will be our Khelduin that she seeks.”
Shit–that was not a resource that I wanted to share. It was one of the things that I was counting on to give us an edge, and although the mines continued to produce it, I had no idea when those v
eins would run out. And while the Khelduin armor would protect my soldiers’ lives, the scrolls I sought would bring them back should it fail. This was not going to be an easy choice for me to make.
Broda finally arrived as I was contemplating the potentially difficult decision ahead of me, and we began our review of the negotiations so far. A rough outline had actually been agreed to, so only the details were left to be ironed out. My Imperial Charter allowed the monarchs of each Realm to continue administering to their Kingdoms as they saw fit. The only difference was that they would have to incorporate the principles I had outlined into their laws. Specifically, the concept that no one could be treated as less, or more than another simply based on their heritage or any other characteristic. Beyond that, little would have to change.
In addition, each Realm would be required to supply five hundred soldiers to the new Imperial Army. The number correlated to the general number of troops each Realm kept for offensive purposes, so it wouldn’t make them vulnerable to attack. In return, the Empire (still annoyingly unnamed) pledged to use its Army to defend any Realm that came under attack.
Armed conflict between Realms was strictly forbidden—all disputes were to be negotiated, and if that failed, the issue was to be brought to me for resolution. Any military attack by one of my Realms against another was cause for immediate retaliation by the Imperial Army, and the monarch of the offending nation would be removed from office and exiled. Several other points were explained, all to my satisfaction, but when the discussion finally concluded, I only had one burning question.
“What the fuck are we going to call this thing?” I asked in frustration.
“That subject has received some attention during our discussions, Empress,” Venna chuckled at my annoyance. “Several ideas have been put forth; however, none were deemed appropriate. But rest assured, we have resolved to decide the issue before we adjourn.”
Second Skin: Unified: A litRPG Adventure (Second Skin Book 3) Page 60