by D. R. Rosier
Brent was currently sitting at the table, gazing at her back with hatred and impotent anger. She realized then she’d made a mistake, she should’ve set a geas that did all he agreed to, but that he’d also try his best. He might not be able to disobey her orders, or try to kill her, or not protect her life, but he could choose to do a piss poor job of it all.
A geas was a magical oath that his life depended on to keep, but Brent still retained his will, unlike when he’d been under the shadow domination spell. There were always loopholes. She’d have to figure out a way to secure his loyalty somehow, but she wasn’t sure in that moment how to do it.
She focused back on the map and what she’d learned. The governor of North Carolina had survived the alien attack and had tightly secured North Carolina using the national guard that had reported in as well as some of the soldiers that’d survived the attack on Fort Dix by being absent for one reason or another. He was a tin-plated dictator at that point, and little better than a raider, just one standing on the tattered and torn constitution of the old United States. Especially since his election term to office had expired three years ago.
The one thing the governor of North Carolina hadn’t done was invade anyone else. He sat tight, ran his state, and had his guards protect it. That… really pissed her off. The man really had enough resources and manpower to at least help the neighboring states. Instead he seemed content to rule over his little kingdom, and let women be abused everywhere else. The bastard was probably doing it himself too. Granted, the elves, dragons, and other magical races just north of him in Vermont in some magical forest bullshit might’ve had something to do with that stance.
South Carolina and the state they were in, Georgia, didn’t have any kind of central authority any longer. Florida too, for that matter. There were maybe fifty small communities between the two states, and while the rape gangs were put down finally, there were still well-organized raiders and other communes like hers where the evilest of men could explore their darkest instincts without fear of laws or justice catching up to them.
She glared at the closest community to where they were, just eight miles away close to Savannah. Eight fucking miles, and those bastards never found the small commune and compound she was tortured in for five long years. They just kept their head down, worried about their own, and fuck the rest. She thought that made her even angrier than the truly evil men did. Evil men who’d only prospered because the rest didn’t care enough to even try to build civilization back up.
They should all be punished for their failures.
Betty asked, “What are you thinking we should do now, priestess?”
She said, “I must spread the word of my goddess. At the same time, we’re going to take this new world into our control. There are many that need to answer for this new horrific world. We’ll start here.”
She pointed at the large community.
Brent snorted, “You’re one crazy bitch.”
She said a brief prayer in her mind, and shadows left her hand and wracked him in pain. By the terms of the geas, her sorcerer slave wasn’t allowed to shield from her magic. She watched coldly, in fascination really, as the front of his pants stained, and the way his body twitched in agony had her mesmerized.
It made her a little wet, actually. Heat flushed her body as her nipples tightened, and sharp desire rose in her core. Even she knew that was a little messed up, maybe more than a little, but it was better than the cold hollow feeling she’d felt upon wreaking revenge on her former captors.
She demanded, “Explain yourself.”
If looks could kill she’d be dead, but he seemed to master himself, and even spoke civilly, which made her tingle a bit. It felt good to have control over him.
He said, “My magic has limits, as I’m sure does yours. That community is huge, with several thousand people and hundreds of them train daily to defend themselves. Even we didn’t raid them, wouldn’t have dared. They’ll kill us, or I’ll use so much magic I’ll age prematurely and die. Plus, you had me kill all the men, and we’re the only two that can fight that’s left.”
She bit her lip, maybe he was right, and she should’ve kept more men alive to control. She was free and had her revenge, but she still needed to serve her goddess and spread the word. She couldn’t do it alone, not the way she had in mind. She looked at the map again. She’d asked him for all the communities he knew or heard about up the coast. Vermont was as far as he knew, and below them in Florida he hadn’t been sure. How had he known?
She asked, “What about more communes, run by sick fucks like you? How many do you know of?”
The blood drained from his face.
“Six, mistress.”
She was about to hit him with more shadows, but then decided she liked that title. It was all she could do to sit still and not rub her legs together. She didn’t think she’d ever felt quite so hot before.
“And… you all communicate. Don’t make me drag it all out of you, or you’ll just piss me off.”
Brent grunted, “Yes. Although I only know of one other with a sorcerer. Four of them have around twenty like we did, the other two were much smaller. I don’t know exact numbers. They weren’t exactly the trusting sorts if you know what I mean. But we pass along rumors, tidbits, and warnings to each other.”
She snorted.
Brent said, “What?”
She said, “Then that’s where we’ll start. I bet they know of even more commune locations. I can build an army of assholes and direct them to better pursuits.”
Brent asked respectfully, “Won’t a geas only work on someone with magic? The rest of the men would rebel, or they’d run if you tried to turn them into some army on a holy crusade against men, to lift women up.”
She bit her lip, “Fear of me, control and fear from you and the other sorcerer will keep them in line. And… I’ll need a carrot too.”
Brent asked nervously, “A carrot?”
She smirked, “Come now, Brent. Surely you understand. For us food was the carrot, and beatings the stick, sex the price. Before we put you in your rightful place, under my shoe.”
He grimaced, and then nodded.
She said, “For my army, fear and magic will be the stick, fighting in my goddess’s name will be the price, and the carrot…”
She shivered, knowing what the answer had to be to keep the men from deserting. Well, the bitches deserved it, for being traitors. For getting their fellow women beaten and sometimes killed just to cozy up with their captors. She was still enraged about her cousin’s death. Five long years her older cousin had been raped and used, only to die to a traitorous tramp’s words less than a month before freedom and new life was realized.
“Are the three you tortured dead yet?”
He tilted his head, no doubt reaching out with his magical senses, “Annie is. Shirley and Rebecca aren’t far behind.”
She smirked, “Good. Go heal them. It seems they have some use after all.”
Brent narrowed his eyes in confusion, or maybe doubt.
She rolled her eyes, did she have to spell it out? To him of all men?
“The carrot, you idiot. I’m sure there’ll be faithless women that betrayed their own kind to garbage like you in all the communes. They will serve as the carrot. When you’re done healing them, you might as well enjoy rutting yourself before returning to me.”
His eyes widened in disbelief, but he got up and moved quickly from the room, his cock already outlined in his pants.
She wondered if she’d gone a bit far. But, when she looked over, Betty and Nancy looked viciously happy at the fates she’d just decreed for the two women who had no doubt gotten them beaten before.
They also looked, excited. She bit her lip, she was more than a little horny as well, and there was no way in hell she was letting Brent’s cock into her body again in this life.
“So, would you two like to join my bed tonight? We can start the campaign to build our army tomorrow morning.”
<
br /> She felt a surge of lust, as Betty’s and Nancy’s eyes lit up with desire.
Katie felt conflicted as they headed northwest. Not about the mission, but her apparent age. Outside of the elven city in the trees, which was nearby Merlin’s… her home, she hadn’t seen many men the last five years. Human ones that is. She wondered if maybe she wasn’t a little too vain.
She’d never really enjoyed it, she hadn’t. But when she looked fifteen years younger men had noticed her and often blatantly stared, some were even crude about it. She hadn’t enjoyed that, but nor had she really minded it. It was just the way some men acted around beautiful women, and even the ones that didn’t stole a casual and quick look.
It wasn’t so much that she missed those looks, she even kind of enjoyed not having to deal with it at all. It was why it wasn’t happening anymore that bothered her, and as such a yardstick measurement that depressed her. She was still attractive enough to engender a little attention, but mostly from older men and such. Which meant… John really loved her and saw through rose colored glasses. She hated looking older than she was.
She also hated what that said about her. She never knew she was so vain a creature.
Despite that vanity, she wasn’t at all jealous about the silver-haired beauty that rode at her side, and who definitely still attracted looks of all kinds. Bria was simply stunning, it was more than her hair, it was her ethereally youthful beauty and her body built for sin, even more than Katie’s was.
She was a sorceress, the bearer of the mantle, the one charged with the balance. Quite possibly, one of the most important people on this Earth. So, she really needed to get past it.
“Have you heard from Kurien or Arielle recently?”
She’d seen them a bunch of times since their bonding ceremony, but not at all in almost two years.
Bria said, “They’re doing a tour of all the other communities, should take about fifty years. Since Prince Kurien will take over his mother Sianne’s position on the council in a millennium or so, and Arielle is slated to take over as high priestess for Trielle. They need to be familiar with all the other councils and their heirs. We might run into them later in the mission, once we’re done in the west. They’re in the Vermont forest right now.”
Bria added after a moment, “You could communicate with them yourself, you know, while Arielle can only talk to other priestesses of her goddess. I know they’d love to hear from you, and still count you as a friend and ally.”
She smirked, “The last two times I tried that they were… busy.”
Bria laughed, “The hazards of magical communication that includes a fancy illusion of who you’re speaking with. Especially newlyweds who are still trying to have their first child.”
Katie tilted her head, “You’re right. I suppose I could save that one for official communications with a council during council time, and just use a simpler telepathy spell for the rest of the time.”
Bria grinned, “What fun is that, I bet they looked hot together.”
Katie blushed furiously, “They really did. I was mortified.”
Bria snickered, “And then you went and seduced John, I bet.”
She had, but she’d never admit it. Dragons were a bit debauched and shameless when it came to sex, at least until they mated. Nothing was taboo to them, in a conversation. She was just glad John was on point and not able to hear their current conversation.
Except perhaps a human or elf suggesting a dragon give them a ride, that was something that would lead to violence more often than not. Only the ignorant or very stupid would ever suggest such a possibility. They’d been absolutely outraged when they’d found out over their absence there’d been a startling amount of dragon rider fantasy literature.
Bria said, “Have you considered Arielle could’ve easily put up a ward against magic, perhaps they wanted you to see them.”
Katie laughed, “Wicked dragon. So what about your exploits, any new boytoys to report?”
Bria sighed, “No. I need to find a new distraction.”
She asked, “Can I ask, how does mating work for Dragons. The books I read on the subject were very… subtle. Too subtle.”
Bria giggled, “Well, the male dragon puts his penis in the female dragon’s vagina…”
Katie snorted cutting her off, “You know what I mean. Is there an age when you mate and settle down, or does it depend on meeting the right dragon, or what?”
Bria smirked, “Like a magical mate connection out of some tale? No, of course not. Actually, I’ve already met my mate. Our marriages are arranged by our parents, often by bloodline. He’s a good sort, and we get along really well. We won’t mate until my first egg quickens, which will be about another three hundred years. So, I get to enjoy lots of sex with whoever I want before then.”
Katie asked, “Three hundred years?”
Bria nodded, “Our eggs don’t quicken until we reach our full size. Dragons aren’t fully grown until they reach six hundred years of age, though in every other aspect we’re considered adults and independent at about two hundred. I’ll be about twice as big as I am now at that point. In dragon form, I mean.”
Damn, she was already as big as a house. A small one, but… damn.
Bria asked, “So, what about you. It’s been five years, and you haven’t spit out a little human yet.”
Katie giggled. That was the danger in asking a dragon personal questions, they didn’t hesitate to return the favor.
“The books I read said I’d know the right time. I’m not the first female to hold the mantle. For now my… ovaries are in a kind of stasis. So that I don’t run out of eggs. The theory is the goddess will know the best time, and that Gaia can see the future of the earth and will know when there’s a sufficient stretch of time between balance threats.”
Bria nodded, “A problem Merlin didn’t have, obviously. I could see where being nine months pregnant or breast feeding during a battle for the world’s survival could be an issue. It seems like five years would be enough time, with a nursemaid to babysit while you save the world.”
Katie snickered.
“Maybe, but I needed to be working on my studies, magical, martial, and historical. There’s still so much I don’t know, but at least I’m not totally green anymore. If I’d had a kid I wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much done. Perhaps I needed that preparation to face this challenge, or the next one.”
The conversation died for a while. It was just their second day on the road, they had weeks to go before they’d get to where they were going. Hopefully it’d be boring, but she kept her magic out to watch for threats, or large numbers of people on the move between settlements.
Mara sat in the kitchen feeling conflicted and confused while waiting for Cassie and Sean. She had her answer. Truly, it was a no-brainer. She could do the most good, spread news of her goddess, and search for other potential priests or priestesses faster, easier, and better with their help. She wouldn’t be their servant, from what Sean had said they’d just be working together, as allies and perhaps friends in the future. He wouldn’t be her master, employer, or ruler, he just wanted to help improve the lot of his people.
It wasn’t his plan that had her conflicted, it was him.
She’d expected the infamous Sean Anders to be a very intense and hard man. After all, he’d managed to conquer the entire west coast as well as mostly pacify it in under a year. Mostly, because there’d always be evil men and criminal enterprises, that was just human nature.
Instead, she’d found an intense and kind man. His hazel eyes had been as intense as she imagined they must be when meeting him shortly before dawn, but she truly hadn’t expected the kindness in them. He had empathy for his people. It wasn’t about ruling, it was about protecting them from those that would trespass, and then simply getting out of their way.
With her helping him, his zombies would be able to do more than kill and guard, as they worked together to lower the death rate. He was also right about her
power, and she wondered why she’d never seen it before. The four communities had taken advantage of her empathy and kindness, and she’d been doing so much that others could do. It’d be better for everyone if she could focus on what was impossible for most, and thereby save and help many more otherwise doomed people so they could flourish.
It wasn’t just the kindness that had surprised her, however. His intense and kind gaze had warmed her, filled her stomach with butterflies, and attracted her potently. He wasn’t even all that handsome, but his power, kindness, and very toned and muscular body even at five foot nine had her rather… distracted.
The conflicted part of course, was because he was a married man. He already had a life mate, and one he obviously loved to distraction. She had no business lusting after another woman’s man, and that made her feel horribly guilty. It was also confusing because her power and intuition had always told her when a man that attracted her was the wrong one for her. That they wouldn’t make her a good match or mate.
She felt no such thing when she looked at him. Just… deep attraction, and a slow delicious warmth that flowed from the center of her body. She may have even tingled once or twice over breakfast that morning, when his warm intense gaze was on her, and his soft yet manly deep voice spoke to her passionately about what good they could do together.
It wasn’t completely overwhelming though. Her magic wasn’t urging her to jump his bones. Her goddess and her intuition just wasn’t warning her away from him. Which made no sense and felt wrong, even as it made her attraction slightly more potent than usual, and her naughty thoughts and desires had shocked her.
Cassie was his mate, she reminded herself firmly, and quite beautiful and attractive, in a way she wasn’t. Oh, she knew she was very attractive, but it was a different type of beauty, where Cassie was all ripe and sumptuous curves, and almost dripped sensuality with every movement of her body.