by Tamryn Tamer
“I always look my best,” Fiora answered as she nodded toward the temple. “So, the king’s in there?”
“Yes,” Frost said as the doors of the temple burst open, ten guards marched out two at a time and King Asmund followed behind, dressed in what appeared to be a militaristic dress uniform. It was black and covered with gold ropes and buttons in various areas that didn’t really need ropes or buttons. In his right hand was a double-sided war axe that looked far too heavy for the tall slender man to wield.
“My love!” Desdemona rushed straight for him as she exited the temple, practically tackling Frost as she wrapped her arms around him. Her soft chest pressed against his as she embraced him. “I’ve been showing Dari the village and he’s really impressed! He even said that he was going to have to dispatch some spies to keep an eye on you!”
“Herald Frost,” King Asmund handed his axe to one of his soldiers who nearly dropped it before another helped him hold it. He nodded at Frost as he stood in front of him. “I assure you it was a joke.”
“I know,” Frost chuckled. “Good to see you again.”
“Likewise,” King Asmund said. “Although Desdemona was telling me that you’re running into some issues with Zira.”
“I assure you there are no issues,” Grand Counselor Leaucault stepped forward and presented her hand. King Asmund quickly took it and kissed it as he bowed politely. “Grand Counselor Queen Valencia Leaucault.”
“Queen Valencia,” King Asmund said, turning his attention toward Fiora. The young blonde quickly offered her hand and King Asmund enthusiastically took it, giving her a similar peck and bow. “You must be Princess Fiora. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine,” Fiora said, curtseying. “We should probably…”
“Are you going to kill him or not?” Elias growled from the rear of the group. “He’s unarmed and…”
“Kill me?” King Asmund said, glancing back at the guards holding his axe. King Asmund smirked at Frost. “Herald Frost? Is this some type of elaborate trap?”
“No!” Desdemona said loudly, putting herself between Frost and King Asmund. “My husband wouldn’t do that Dari!”
“Fiora,” Grand Counselor Leaucault tugged her daughter into her circle of guards. Her handmaidens found themselves looking around for protection before sprinting off to hide behind a small cottage. “Stay here please. I’d prefer you not be caught up in any of this.”
“Any of what?” King Asmund cracked his neck while staring at the cloaked man. “And who’s this accompanying you?”
“Oh?” Elias chuckled as he pulled his hood off. “Don’t you remember me?”
“The prophet,” King Asmund chuckled. “I see you’ve found him.”
“He didn’t find me. I found him,” Elias said smugly. “It’s like I said before, Riliandra would have her revenge on you for killing her herald.”
“Yeah,” King Asmund glanced at Frost and then back at Elias. “You did say that. Wasn’t really expecting my elf-fucking brother-in-law to have a part in it.”
“That’s the best part,” Elias said. “He’s the Herald of Riliandra.”
Several elf onlookers gasped while whispering to each other.
“Shalia commandeered our summoning spell to send Herald Frost to this world,” Elias continued. “Every ounce of power he possesses was granted to him by Riliandra and her followers. So, I offered him my support if he wished to officially take the title. You see General Asmund, you should have never crossed me.”
“Uh-huh,” King Asmund said while signaling his guards not to stay back. “I have to admit, the timeline makes sense. And since I don’t have any children and he’s married to Desdemona, he’d have quite the claim to the throne. I can’t imagine anybody could argue with him taking over. Hell, he’d have to be a fool not to take this opportunity to kill me.”
“Exactly,” Elias laughed. “Glad to see you understand our predicament.”
“Herald Frost,” Desdemona gripped his arm. “You can’t…”
“Killing me would be the smart decision,” King Asmund stifled a laugh. “I imagine you wouldn’t even hesitate if you were in his position. You’ve offered him everything he could ever want and all he has to do is kill me. I bet you can’t even fathom a scenario where he doesn’t take that offer.”
“What do you mean by that?” Elias said, his voice trembling slightly as he realized that nobody was moving. “He’s already agreed to it! He even told the Herald of Ziralia that he’d do it!”
“The Herald of Ziralia requested that Herald Frost kill me?” King Asmund glanced at Fiora and her mother. “Really?”
“Herald Law introduced Herald Frost and Prophet Elias,” Queen Valencia said. “Neither Herald Law nor my husband have anything to do with this.”
“That’s what I figured,” King Asmund said, grinning at Elias. “You know Elias, I would have thought after the incident with Wildflower you would have learned the importance of due diligence. You gave the man an entire cart of gold to assassinate me and instead of killing me he dropped the cart off in front of my tent. That’s why due diligence is important. Tell me, what did your due diligence reveal about Herald Frost?”
“What?” Elias looked at Frost nervously. “What’s there to know? The man only cares about shoving his cock in a warm cunt. He’s just as much an animal as the women he lays with. Every bard sings of his depravity.”
“Look around,” King Asmund said, pointing at the bathhouses, the academy, and the demihumans watching the spectacle. “Look at the clothing quality of his peasants.”
“What’s that matter?” Elias scoffed while looking at the villagers.
“Yeah,” King Asmund nodded. “You were probably blind to it. I wonder, Princess Fiora. I know it’s rude to involve a noblewoman in something like this, but would you mind telling me what you see?”
“King Asmund,” Fiora smiled. “A test?”
“Maybe,” King Asmund said. “Indulge me.”
“Herald Frost’s villagers are all wearing clothing with a minimum value of fifty rel,” Fiora said causing several of the demihumans to gasp. For most of them fifty rel was nearly five weeks pay in their assigned villages.
“That much?” a gorgon said while staring at her skirt. Several other villagers muttered amongst themselves while comparing their gowns.
“That’s the minimum of course,” Fiora said, smirking. “Several of them are wearing dresses that would meet the standards of an upper-class merchant family or a fairly poor noble family.”
“Thank you for indulging me,” King Asmund said, turning his attention back to Elias. “You see Elias, you need to research your enemies. Herald Frost, for instance, I researched him thoroughly before giving my sister. If you listen to the bards’ songs about him, I’m sure he’s a comical oaf that lays with a different animal every night.”
“What songs exactly?” Frost asked while glancing around, several of the villagers blushed and looked away. “Okay, I’m going to want to hear some of these later.”
“But Elias,” King Asmund shook his head. “You really need to conduct your own research. You looked right past those demihumans. It’s not just their clothing either. Their levels are twice as high on average than a standard human village and even there are children that are training as archers and elementalists. His crafters are already nearing the quality of some of the more prestigious crafting guilds and they have a surplus of resources due to the systems he’s set up. Yet, you think he’s some ignorant animal that’ll fall in line because you offered to endorse him?”
“Herald Law has hostages,” Elias blurted out as he stared at Frost.
“Now that might be effective,” King Asmund nodded, glancing at his soldiers to be ready. “I’m fairly certain Herald Frost would take my head if it was between me and a comely woman.”
“If I may,” Fiora said, pushing her way out from behind the guards. “King Asmund, I’ve very much been looking forward to this me
eting. While I am perfectly confident that you would be able to handle this situation on your own, I took some liberties in order to ensure things went smoothly. I hope I haven’t overstepped but to ensure that Herald Frost would not kill you, I arranged for the release of his hostages.”
“What?” Fiora’s mother snapped, clearly unaware of her daughter's scheming.
“What do you mean?” Elias said, voice trembling as he looked back toward the forest, contemplating his escape. “You’ve betrayed me?”
“Interesting,” King Asmund chuckled.
“King Asmund,” Fiora smiled. “As I said, I’ve been very much looking forward to meeting you and would have hated for our meeting to be cut short. Based on the information I’ve gathered you’re a competent man that is very effective militarily but struggles with capturing his people’s hearts. I believe our pairing would be highly beneficial to both of us in that regard. If you’ve researched me you would know that my people absolutely adore me. I can also assure you that I am extremely healthy and the women of my family have a long history of birthing healthy children. If you look at my mother, you can get an idea of how well I might age.”
“Herald Frost,” Elias said, stepping toward his horse, preparing to hop back on escape. “What do you have to say about all this? You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“So, Darius,” Frost smirked at King Asmund. “Is there a bonus for handing him over alive?”
“No,” King Asmund said. “I have no use for him alive.”
“What?” Elias looked around fearfully. “You’re joking. I was offering you an entire country. What’s he offering you?”
“A bit of land,” Frost answered, leaning down to peck Desdemona’s crimson lips. The demoness smiled excitedly, baring her fangs. “But ultimately, Des would have been sad if I’d killed her brother. Originally, I intended to accept your offer, kill you, and then figure out a way to get the courtesans out of the prison, but fortunately Fiora kind of solved that problem for me on her own.”
“You mean you were never going to kill him?” Fiora snapped bitterly, briefly losing her composure. She was clearly upset that he tricked her into their agreement despite it being completely unnecessary.
“You still get what you want,” Frost said, smiling at the princess.
“You can’t,” Elias growled. “I’m under the protection of Herald Law. If you kill me it’s no different than attacking him!”
“Actually,” Frost shook his head. “You’re not under his protection. You see, when you agreed to come with me, I became responsible for your protection. Notice how none of the royal guards surrounded you?”
“He still has Princess Brynn Hilde,” Elias said. “He still has her handmaidens.”
“Yeah,” Frost sighed as he looked around at the villagers while thinking he certainly couldn’t kill the man in front of all of them. “Brynn promised they would be fine. So, I suppose all that’s left is to deal with you.”
“Wha…”
Frost walked toward the paralyzed man.
“So,” Frost grumbled while tossing the prophet over his shoulder. He looked around for a place to kill the prophet as the villagers pretended not to notice anything. “Really wish there was a bonus for just handing him over alive.”
“No bonus,” King Asmund shrugged. “But if you like, I can take him off into the woods and do the job myself. He did try to kill my sister.”
“Are you going to kill him?” Desdemona asked, her crimson eyes glowing as she wiped some droop from the corner of her mouth. Her face turned pink as a twisted smile formed.
“We’ve discussed this,” Frost said, shaking his head. “I really don’t like you eating people…”
“He did try to have me killed though,” Desdemona said ardently, entranced by the paralyzed man.
“Did you skip breakfast?” Frost asked, somewhat concerned by her expression.
“I was really excited to show Dari around and…”
“Figured,” Frost said, glancing at the paralyzed man. “Fine. But afterward you have to take a bath and brush your teeth and…”
“Gargle alcohol for at least ten minutes and spit it out and then drink half a bottle,” Desdemona repeated, slowly walking toward him with a terrifying smile.
“I really shouldn’t condone this,” Frost said, handing her the body which she easily tossed over her shoulder. “But there’s a certain irony to it that I’m rather enjoying.”
“He did try to have her killed,” King Darius said, shrugging. “It’s somewhat poetic.”
“Yeah,” Frost agreed as Desdemona grabbed the body and carried it toward the butchery near the stables.
Less than a minute after she vanished into the building Frost felt his paralyze spell vanish.
“Well,” Frost cringed while trying not to visualize Desdemona tearing into the man’s throat. “I suppose that’s my end of the bargain. I expect the paperwork for that land transfer to arrive soon.”
“I’ll have it to you in a couple weeks,” King Asmund said, standing beside Frost. “So, you really have no issue with that?”
“With what?” Frost glanced at King Asmund. “Oh? Des? Not really. Can’t say I’m a fan but she’s not the only carnivore in the village that’d eat people. I’m sure the Arachne have eaten several and not to mention the werewolves. I mostly try not to think about it.”
“Same,” King Asmund said before turning toward Fiora and her mother. “Well then, we should probably start the interview.”
“Wonderful,” Fiora said, completely undeterred by what transpired as she offered her hand to King Asmund. The princess glanced at her mother writing a note. “Mother, please don’t bother writing a note for Herald Law. I’ve taken measures to ensure that any message you attempt to send him using your guards won’t make it to him. The messenger will be taken into custody and held. Overcome with shame at being taken into custody, they will slit their wrists with a knife they’d hidden on their person.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Fiora’s mother growled, struggling to maintain her composure.
“I am ensuring that I am married to a man of suitable status,” Fiora said, smirking victoriously. “Just like you always wanted.”
“I had an agreement with…”
“I’m aware,” Fiora said. “But I prefer King Asmund.”
“You really are as impressive as I’ve heard,” King Asmund said. “I’m looking forward to learning more about you.”
“And I you,” Fiora smirked.
Fiora and King Asmund walked toward the temple and her mother had no choice but to follow. Frost went as well to make sure that they came to an agreement.
CHAPTER 18
Slade leaned against the wall counting down the minutes until the midnight guard rotation. Once the rotation occurred, they’d have eight hours until the morning rotation arrived. That was plenty.
Fiora arranged for the guard patrols to avoid the route between the prison and the southern river grates and for transportation once outside of the city. The grates themselves were normally unlocked an hour after midnight to allow for any corpses or trash to flow out of the city so no guards would be suspicious when they heard them opening.
Slade made the rest of the arrangements through various brokers to ensure their hands were clean. Once the fox-eared cunt and her whores were out of the city there would likely be an investigation that would lead nowhere. Slade made sure of it.
He watched a pair of royal guards approaching the prison and activated all of his stealth related abilities as he followed behind them, completely invisible.
One of the men turned and looked right at him, unsure of what he was sensing but positive that something didn’t feel right.
“I hate this fucking city,” he mumbled as they reached the door. “It always feels like somebody is watching me.”
“What do you expect,” the other guard laughed. “Disgusting place is full of criminals and animals. Might as well be wandering around a forest
at night.”
“Right,” he said as they opened the door to the prison. “Can’t wait to get back to the capital.”
Slade cautiously followed them inside, making sure to remain close to them. It was counterintuitive but the closer he was to his targets the less likely they were to sense him. He’d experienced it himself before. Your mind will ignore things that don’t match what it knows to be true. A guard knows that a person couldn’t be two steps behind him without him noticing so his mind starts to ignore the indicators. With the proper abilities you could stand an inch away from a person and they’d never know.
It wasn’t enough to hide his scent or the sound of his footsteps. He needed to temper his breathing and perfectly redirect his breath to match the direction of the wind when possible. Sometimes he’d need to go upwards of two minutes without breathing to ensure that he released his breath at the right time. All of it was important to maintain the illusion that he wasn’t there.
“Finally,” a guard said, standing next to the stairway to the basement. He turned and yelled down the stairs at his partner. “Rotation is here! We’re done!”
“Thank fucking Ziralia,” the other guard grumbled while stomping up the stairs. “And her glorious fucking tits.”
“Don’t let the herald hear you talking about the goddess like that,” his partner chuckled as they nodded at the replacements. “He’ll cut out your tongue.
“Oh, fuck off,” he groaned. “I’m tired.”
“Have the animals been behaving?” one of the replacement guards asked. “I’d love to knock some heads.”
“They’ve been quiet,” he replied. “And orders are to leave them be.”
“No idea why Herald Law is giving these fucking vermin special treatment,” a replacement grumbled while heading toward the stairway. “I’d just as soon chop off all their ears and tails to teach them a lesson about where they stand.”