“What we do?” Dinni asked nervously.
Greta stepped forward, scrutinizing the whole of the room and the furthest door in particular. “Let’s see…” she murmured thoughtfully, tapping her chin. “If the century of the ageless was here… and those stars must have moved in the constellations… then…”
Dinni watched her in dull silence as she muttered to herself. The gertling jumped when she suddenly clapped her hands. “Got it!” she crowed in delight. “The doorway is sealed and will only open on the twelfth hour of the night. And it is… let’s see… the fourth. So it seems we have a while to wait.”
“Wait?”
“Yes,” Greta said, sitting on the floor and fetching out her blanket from her pack. “And I think it’s a prime time to rest. I’ll need all my magic for the passages ahead.”
“You sleep?”
“I am. You keep watch. If anything happens, wake me immediately.” She gave him a stern glare. “And don’t even think of trying anything while I’m asleep. Or you know what will happen.”
The gertling swallowed and rubbed the dark band around his neck. “Me swear!” he squeaked. “Me not do anything!”
Greta scoffed. “See you don’t.”
Pulling her blanket around herself, Greta rolled over and rested her head on her arm. Gods she was tired. Once she’d lain down she felt the exhaustion of her near death in the chamber of the pit press down on her. Gods. She really had almost died there. Were it not for the gertling, she’d probably be just another corpse lying at whatever dark depth lay within the pit. A broken heap, forgotten while monsters rampaged over what had once been her home. Her lashes fluttered as sleep slowly claimed her. And if she died… she’d never get to see… the empress… again…
Her eyes slid shut, and when she opened them again, she was no longer in the cold stone chamber beneath the earth. Instead of the pale constellations the world glittered with the warmth of a hundred golden chandeliers whose candles flickered like stars in the sky. The walls were the deep bronzed hue of amber worked in immaculate designs, and the floor shone like a lake of silver.
Greta strode forward, a gown of ruffs and lace fluttering around her. She knew this place. She’d known it well. The grand ballroom of Muskov. The palace of the emperor. And she knew this day. Recognized it from her memory. It was the coronation of the emperor. A day when all the great houses of Istanov had attended to swear their allegiance to their new ruler.
Greta remembered this. The actual coronation had been a hopelessly dull affair. She, like the countless other nobles, had waited in a line before the throne of the empire. She’d bowed before the smirking emperor, still firm with youth. Handsome and strong. For this had been before he’d sunken in the debauchery of his rule. When there had still been hope for him as a great ruler.
“Ugh,” Greta grunted as she moved listlessly about the ballroom. She was already sick of the whole affair. She missed her pants and her jacket. The gown was fluttery but it dragged at her, and the ceremony was unbelievably dull. She doubted Androse would make a good emperor. The man had been so arrogant. Not to mention a lusty ass. She’d felt his eyes wander over her as she curtsied and swore to serve him.
“I look forward to it,” he’d grinned.
“Pig,” Greta grumbled, snatching a glass of rich wine from a server’s platter and downing it in one go. The liquor drowned her tongue in its sweetness but the heaviness that filled her head was comforting. She glanced around at the splendour of the ball room. It had been a long time since she’d seen anything quite so beautiful. She really should get out more. But she just couldn’t bear the other women of court. All so air headed and insipid. She could barely hold a conversation with one for a minute. And none had the true appreciation for antiquity. She sighed, head slumping sideways. She supposed it was to be expected. After all, especially in the capital, it was like everyone moved in orbit around the palace.
Everyone but the Red Mages.
She caught a glimpse of one of the red robed figures moving about the edge of the room, their features masked, hood drawn up. A shiver raced up her spine.
“Greta Dalia.”
Greta jumped, whirled about, and nearly dropped her glass in shock. For before her was the loveliest woman she’d ever seen. Blonde hair like fresh spun gold framed a face of striking beauty. A flowing gown suggested curves and laid bare the upper globes of flawless pale breasts. Eyes of sharp intellect and intensity met Greta’s. The woman tilted her chin, eying her like a curious specimen.
“H-how do you do,” Greta said, quickly curtsying.
The woman smiled, and Greta felt her face warm with a blush. “Do you know who I am?”
“S-sorry?”
The woman moved her hand from her side, and Greta saw she wore a sword at her hip. Greta blinked in surprise, but then she saw the jewel that topped the hilt. The jewel she had read about from the days of the expansion of Istanov’s empire.
“Oh gods,” Greta said. “Y-You’re the Grand Duchess!”
“Damera Istanova,” she said, extending her hand. “A pleasure.”
“It is? I mean, ah, th-thank you, my lady. I don’t… I’m so sorry. I’ve been drinking and I…”
Damera laughed. “No need to apologize, Greta. And please. Damera. I believe since we are cousins we should at least be able to call each other by our names.”
Great flushed again. “That, um… I am so sorry I didn’t recognize you.”
“Hardly surprised,” Damera said, turning her head. “After all, it’s not my evening.”
Greta followed Damera’s glance and to the far corner of the room. The new emperor stood there, surrounded by knights and sycophants, two blushing, busty women in his arms, pulled tight against his sides. Face flushed with drink, the emperor gave a great booming laugh, squeezing the ripe breasts of the pair in his grasp.
“Ugh,” Greta said. “Pig.”
Damera glanced her way.
Oh fuck. “I-I mean, I am sure he will ah… l-lead the empire well,” Greta quickly amended.
Damera gave a thin smile. “Hm. Do you?” She again glanced towards her brother. “I’m not so sure…”
“My lady?”
Damera shook her head. “No matter,” she said, returning her attention to Greta. “Now, there’s a reason I approached you, Greta. I read your treatise on the Argonus Kingdom on the Isles of Wytes with great interest. You think that it was in fact their priests that wielded the power over the realm through some sort of hallucinogenic drugs?”
Greta’s mouth sagged open.
“Am I wrong?”
“Oh! N-no, my lady. Actually, if you look over the relics claimed from the island, it becomes quite obvious that they did so. The emphasis on ritual pots and pipes, not to mention the legends that spoke of an isle of bliss off the Kandian coast, all indicate that the Isles were, in fact, ruled by a kind of mystical priesthood rather than the warrior kings all assumed.”
“But the Kandian coast is far from the Isles, Greta.”
Greta nodded eagerly. “True! True. But, Kandia once stretched much further south than it does now. It used to hold the entire shore in its grasp during the Age of Magic. But when they were pushed back by the Wilders, they were forced to abandon much of their southern forts. Looking at the architecture of the ruins along the Wild Bay, it’s clearly Kandian, rather than merely influence by them.”
Damera nodded slowly. “Interesting. I believe you’re right.”
“Of course!” Greta laughed. Then realized who she had been talking to and coughed. “I… er, thank you for your opinion, my lady. I mean…”
“Damera.”
“D-Damera, I mean.”
The woman who would be empress chuckled softly. “You’re energetic, Greta. I’m quite pleased. I’ve read a number of your works and I’m very impressed.” She glanced about the ballroom whimsically. “But this is hardly the place for such conversations. Please, won’t you join me in my study? I have some fascinating scrolls I
haven’t been able to make heads or tails of.”
“Scrolls?” Greta said, perking up like a rabbit offered lettuce. “Of course! I’d be happy to.”
“Hmm. Good.”
Greta followed Damera across the dance floor. Guards saluted as they passed them and into the halls of the palace, the sounds of the festivities fading behind them. From there, Greta knew, they would go to Damera’s study, spending half the rest of the night going over ancient documents filed away in the dusty shelves of the Muskov archives. Greta would talk endlessly, relishing the intellect of the Grand Duchess, listening with bated breath Damera’s opinions and firing back her own.
It would be the happiest night of Greta’s life.
But as she dreamed, it wasn’t to the study the two went. When the door opened it revealed an elegant boudoir, a large bed filling the center of the room, curtains drawn around the walls, as if the room were shrouded in softness.
“Come in,” Damera purred, drawing Greta in. Greta’s heart pounded, a lump in her throat silencing her. The empress led Greta towards the waiting bed and gently stroked her shoulder. Like water, Greta’s clothes sloughed away, leaving her ample curves on full display, garbed in nothing but a blush so hot it made her head spin.
“Beautiful,” Damera said, stroking Greta’s shoulder. “Are you mine, my dear Greta?”
Greta nodded. Without a word she slowly sank to her knees, bowing as if she were about to be knighted. “Oh my empress,” Greta said softly, breathlessly, burning as if with a fever. “I will serve you all my life. Everything I do will be for you. You’re just so lovely. So wonderful. I… I love you…”
The empress smiled. Not cruelly. Not wickedly. But with pleasure. Pleasure to see how eagerly Greta would serve her. How deep her loyalty went. The empress brushed aside her gown, the front parting, baring her puffy slit. “Swear your loyalty, my champion.”
Greta’s heart soared. It felt so perfect. So right to crawl towards her empress. To lean in and plant a delicate kiss on her sweet folds. To slide her tongue up the empress’s cunny and taste her dewy juices. Sweeter and more intoxicating than even the wine she drank.
“Oh my empress,” Greta moaned, grasping Damera’s hips. “I love you, my empress. I will serve you. I will obey you. I will make your reign the greatest in all of Istanov’s history. My empress. My beloved,” Greta breathed, inhaling Damera’s wonderful scent, her tongue delving into the royal’s cunny, searching for that wonderful bead.
“Mmmm,” Damera moaned as Greta found the empress’s clit. Adoringly she lapped at that pleasured nub, waves of hot and cold pleasure washing through her as Damera gasped and hips twitched. Greta shuddered in delight at pleasuring her empress. At letting her tongue slide up and down that sweet slit, her hot breath washing over Damera’s groin, her lips locked in an adoring kiss to that pleasure engorged slit.
“Yesss,” Damera moaned, grasping Greta’s head, pushing her harder against her cunt. “That’s it. Ah. My servant. My sweet Greta. Lick me. Right nnn… there. Oh yes. Gods yes. Greta. Greta I’m so close. I’m almost… I’m… ahhhhhh!”
Damera’s cry shot through Greta in a flash of pleasure. The young noble moaned as Damera’s cunny shuddered, her juices spurting into her mouth. Eagerly Greta lapped and licked it all up, relishing the taste and her submission to the wonderful, powerful, magnificent woman above her.
Panting, Damera pulled Greta’s face from her cunt. Greta rose at the slight pressure on her face, climbed to her feet and face to face with the empress. They stared into one another’s eyes, and then their lips were locked in a kiss.
“Mmmm,” Greta keened, surrendering to the wonderful experience of their embrace. Damera turned them about and together they fell into the soft embrace of the bed. Their breasts mashed together, their curves rubbing against one another as they lost themselves in the sensation of the kiss and each other’s bodies.
With a gasp Damera broke the kiss, rising to straddle Greta’s waist. Flushing, lips buzzing from the force of that kiss and the taste of the lips of her empress, Greta stared raptly up at the beauty above her, still garbed in the trappings of royalty, while Greta lay naked, exposed, helpless beneath that magnificence.
And how right if felt to lie beneath that woman. That queen. That heavenly creature that had at last been recognized by all for what she was. For what she was worthy of. Blonde hair flaring about her head like a golden halo. Cheeks brushed with pink, eyes bright with wisdom and intelligence that had enthralled Greta in their correspondence and rare meetings. How she adored this woman. How she loved her. Loved her so passionately she would face hell itself for a smile. A caress. A word of affection.
“Oh, my empress,” Greta gasped. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Greta,” Damera murmured in her dreams.
Greta flushed even harder. She hid her face behind her hands. “Oh gods. M-my empress… you… you shouldn’t s-say that. You’re destined… you’ll marry some prince and I… I…”
“Shh,” Damera hushed, pulling Greta’s hands away, forcing Greta to look into those compassionate eyes, filled with love for the young noble. “How could I not love you, Greta? After all you’ve done for me? After delivering me the key to saving Istanov and our kingdom from the monster horde? Hush,” she said again, leaning down, capturing one of Greta’s shapely curves in a hungry hand. “Hush, my love.”
And they were kissing again. Moving against each other. Greta curled beneath the gentle scratch of her empress’s nails. Moaned and ground her muff against Damera’s thighs, feeling her empress’s pussy rub against her leg, slickening her with those wonderful juices. Her hands stroked and wandered over Damera’s hot flesh, and wherever they moved Damera’s clothes fell away. Away until both were naked. Panting. Locked in each other’s desperate touch as they fucked and gasped and moaned in unequalled pleasure. Yes. Yes, this was it. This was what she’d always imagined it would be like. Magical and wonderful and an ecstasy like no other she could dream of.
“Yesss!” Greta cried out, rubbing herself more frantically against the shapely blonde, driving herself towards that wonderful peak. “Oh gods! Yes! Yes! My empress! My empressssss!”
With a scream of utter pleasure she came, her orgasm more intense than anything she’d known before. She threw back her head, keening as her hips trembled with the force of her climax, her breasts molded in the hands of her beloved, her very soul crying out with love for the woman above her.
Damera gasped with her, long lashes lidding her eyes as she stiffened with her own orgasm. The scent of sex and desire and sweat mingling in a wonderful haze of hot sensation and adoration.
“Oh, my empress. My… my empress. P-please. Please, let me… let me kiss your ass.”
Damera looked down at the flushed and panting brunette with amusement. “Oh my sweet Greta. Always were one to be on the bottom.”
Greta giggled nervously. “Ohh. I am, my empress. But I just… You’re so perfect. I just n-need to serve you.”
Damera stroked Greta’s cheek. “Of course, Greta. You may serve me as much as you like.”
Greta panted as Damera slowly stood and stepped over her. The young brunette stared raptly at the curvy frame of her empress towering above her. Flawless pale skin muscled and toned, yet her curves so soft and pliant. Damera smirked down at her, then turned around, and slowly lowered herself.
Greta moaned as those flawless cheeks descended around her face, surrounding her in darkness and the earthy scent of her empress’s ass. She moaned with delight at the subservience of her position. Her fingers sank deep into Damera’s plush bottom, her tongue delving into that dark star, tasting the spot no other had ever known.
“Ohhhh yessss,” Damera moaned, grinding her ass down atop Greta’s face. “That’s it! Lick your empress’s ass out. Mnnn. Just like that. Good girl! Oh yes! Yes Greta! Show your empress your love. Show her your obedience!”
Greta could only moan, lost in the delight of her submission. Her humiliat
ion. It was all too good. It was all too perfect!
“Yes! Greta! Oh gods, sweet Greta. I… I’m… mnnnn!”
Damera’s soft ass tightened around Greta’s face, smothering her as the empress came, her shuddering climax surrounding Greta in a haze of wonderful submission. She moaned adoringly, hips bucking.
Damera suddenly lifted her ass from Greta’s face, the young brunette gasping moments before her empress’s cunt descended. She knew what was expected of her. Without a moment’s hesitation she resumed her loving tonguing of Damera’s quim, hips bucking with a gasp when she felt Damera lie down atop her and bury those royal lips against her own slick cunt.
Greta sank into the haze of mutual pleasure, losing track of time and herself. Only focusing on the pliant pleasures she and her beloved enjoyed. But like all dreams, the sensations began to fade. That strange, carnal reality bleeding away as she woke slowly to the insistent shaking of her shoulder.
“Wo-man! Wo-man! Something happen!”
“Mmm.”
Greta swatted away the gertling’s hand as she sat up, wiping the sleep from the corners of her eyes. A low grinding sound reached her ears, startling her to full wakefulness. Greta’s head snapped up, watching in surprise as the door at the end of the passage slowly began to open, the moons marked above it shifting to the new positions. Greta brightened, climbing eagerly to her feet as the glow of her spell fell on the darkness of the next passage.
“Excellent,” Greta breathed. She hastily stuffed her bedroll back into her bag and shook the last lingering weight of her nap away. “Coming, Dinni?”
Ecstasy of the Lore Hunter Page 3