Beyond?

by Andur

  Maybe I should take the time to release them from their shackles to show them what a few months of servitude can accomplish for their own well being? Maybe the normal villagers will slay their elders on their own accord after my little lesson.

  I concentrate on the amulet around my neck and release the villagers who had their minds controlled so far. “I decided to let them act on their own from now on. Maybe they've learned their lesson.”

  My head priest bows. “The Master is very kind-hearted.”

  No. Only pragmatic in rebuilding the empire of my father. It's impossible to control everyone at all times with the amulet. Though it is by far the strongest artefact I know, its powers are limited.

  I wonder what my foolish brother is doing right now? Is he still playing the righteous Saviour after causing one civil war after the other? Falling in love wasn't good for his mind. Because of a single girl of low standing he caused more bloodshed than the old Empire ever produced in its whole history.

  It was impossible to uphold law and order while he kept running around, planting ideas of freedom and self government in the heads of our citizens. I hoped that he would cool down after his lover died of old age. There wasn't even an assassination attempt from my side after he freed her.

  In the end I couldn't protect the empire which our father created with hard work and his own blood. It's far easier to destroy something than to create.

  My eyes wander over the black fleet of ships and I turn towards the port where my carriage is waiting. “Get everything done like I instructed. I don't want to be disturbed any further today.”

  Leaving the head priest behind, I get into my carriage and instruct the carriage driver to bring me to the palace. The carriage moves at an average pace through the streets of my capital and a few guards are escorting it. I don't really need guards, but it's for the sake of appearances.

  The citizens are still calling the city Jont, even though it is far removed from the small village with which I began my work of rebuilding the Empire.

  The streets are neat and orderly. There are no beggars or homeless people anywhere. I decreed that people who have no work have to take the first job which they are able to serve in. There are no excuses and the ones who are searching for workers are only allowed to search for a limited time. Afterwards they have to take what they can get. It's not the best system in regards to productivity, but I don't want any people with too much time on their hands.

  Time allows people to think too much for their own good. And as the little children they are, they always get the idea to create mayhem.

  The big houses made out of white bricks pass by and I squint my eyes at some children playing on the street. Children shouldn't play on the street. It's dangerous and I created daycare organizations for that purpose. I snap my fingers at one of the guards who are escorting my carriage. “Ask the parents of those kids why they aren't able to take care of their offspring properly.”

  The guard nods and stays behind to give the parents of the kids a hard time like it should be. My personal opinion on matters like these may seem radical to most people, but parents who are too stupid to use the public facilities like daycare institutes should be grilled.

  My palace enters my view and I marvel at the golden structure. I built it with my own powers and am still adding new features to it. Whenever I have a little time I start creating new walls and corridors according to my fantasies.

  As someone can expect from such an approach, my palace is a mad collection of different architectural styles which accumulated over the centuries. Not a single stone was touched by someone else. When the people look at it, they know that this structure wasn't created by their hands.

  A part of the palace looks like an unfinished pyramid which transcends smoothly into a synagogue. On the other side is a slim tower which stabs through the clouds above everything.

  The carriage passes through a set of independent gates. I couldn't decide on which would be best to impress new arrivals in my palace, so I simply built all of them.

  The palace's hallways are big enough for the carriage to drive right through them and towards my private quarters. In hindsight my design might be a little megalomaniac, but it's handy.

  I jump out of the carriage and enter my private quarters while the carriage is departing with the guards.

  My private quarters consists of a big, circular living room and I sigh in relief after finally closing the door behind me. The coloured windows in the ceiling bathe the room in different colours. From here, I can enter the bath through the left door. There is also a pool attached to it.

  The door on the opposite of the entrance leads to my king sized bedroom. To my right is a long corridor which connects to a kitchen, storage rooms, workroom and office. At the end of the corridor are the quarters of my harem.

  I throw myself onto the comfortable couch in the middle of the room and close my eyes for a moment. There is nothing better than being able to relax after a long and hard day of commanding people around.

  “My god is already tired? You returned earlier today.” An erotic female voice stops my happy time alone and I open my eyes to find Elora looming above me. Her silky, black hair is glittering in the sunlight which is coming through the windows in the ceiling.

  Two perfectly white horns are creating the image of a diadem on her head. The horns are slim and rippled like a saw. Her face is attractive, but not as beautiful as other women's. Maybe it could've been if it wasn't for the single thin scar which is running from her forehead across her left eye and down to her cheek.

  It's an old wound from her days as a slave and she doesn't allow me to remove it.

  I grumble and take the stack of reports from her hands. “Was there anything extraordinary today?”

  “No?” She places one hand on her hips and looks at me in a displeased manner. “I guarded your private quarters as I do every day. The only one who came and went was the priest who brought your reports. That's all. My life is a very boring existence.”

  “Maybe you shouldn't have scared away the other members of my harem? You wouldn't have to be alone in here.” I take a look at the first report to distract myself from her furious appearance with the waving tail behind her. Her dangerous, frilly, black dress barely covers her private places while revealing everything else. It is very distracting.

  “As if I would let anyone else come close to you.” She sits down on top of me and places her cheek on my chest, pressing her adequate bosom against me. A few dozen years ago my soldiers found her as a child in a slave camp of some pirates.

  They brought her to me since I am always looking for women with high magical powers. I want mates which don't grow old and die within a couple of years.

  When I saw her as a child I immediately noticed her outstanding magical potential. If she doesn't suffer an unfortunate accident she might even outlive me. Because of that I added her as a future candidate to my harem and saw to it that she gets a proper education as a wife.

  The only problem is that she is a demon despite her looks. Surely and steadily she eliminated all her rivals while she was growing up. Either by making them run away on their own, or having them suffer an unfortunate accident.

  I recognized the pattern of her actions, but since I wanted to see how far she'll get I didn't act. Watching my harem's quarrels and rivalries was a source of entertainment. Surprisingly Elora dealt with her last three rivals at once and made them all disappear at the same time.

  Now she is the only member of my harem and I am running low on candidates at the moment.

  “Are you still focused on increasing your power? Isn't one continent enough?” she draws a little circle on my chest and looks up at me, trying to look cute.

  “I am only rebuilding my father's legacy. That's all.” I answer, trying to keep my voice calm. “Nothing can distract me from my goal.”

  She smirks and places her fingers on the hard bulge in my trousers. “I bet I can!” She opens my belt and kisse
s my neck while pulling my trousers out of the way.

  “I am not in the mood. There is work to do!” I point at the reports, but she doesn't listen.

  With experienced movements she mounts me and impales herself. “Keep reading. I'll help myself.”

  I try to concentrate, but her moaning and the swaying motions of her hips are making it impossible. In the end I give up and throw the reports to the ground. Grabbing her hips I force her into a rhythm which is more pleasing to me, then I close my eyes and start smiling.

  Being an emperor is still the best.

  91. ~Sightseeing.~

  “Selling houses! Pay first, visit later. There is no withdrawal from the contract.”

  -Street Vendor

  Quinn, Capital

  Azir

  I yawn as I walk down the streets of Quinn's capital with Stella hooked to my arm.

  “What do you think of Quinn?” Stella asks while looking around anxiously.

  My eyes wander over the explosion of colours, odours and shapes. Not a single house looks the same and all of the walls are painted with graffiti.

  The use of technology is also much farther spread than in Nict. There are many cars on the streets and on every corner you can find some type of mechanical gadget, like vending machines for example. People are busily running around and everything gives off the feeling of stress.

  I remember places like this from my old world, but for Stella it must be a real cultural shock.

  She is someone who is used to the orderly and neatly arranged buildings of Nict. This is like an attack on everything which she holds dear. “They are all nuts.” I state my own opinion, but I am referring to their choice of design and colour.

  “That's-”

  It's a provocation! “They aren't just clowns. They are insane clowns!”

  “-Not what-”

  And the way everyone is watching us. Like they are something better. I want to teach them a lesson! “If they continue looking at us like that I am tempted to wipe-” Stella's tail wriggles around my head to shut me up.

  “-I meant!” She slides her tail off my mouth, but keeps it around my neck as if she is warning me not to say more. “What I wanted to know is what you think about Quinn's invitation?”

  I purse my lips and think about how we ended up in a country which despises magicians. It's probably best to give Giana and Leon the fault. Their efforts in creating a good relationship with us went a little further than we anticipated.

  One day we suddenly got an invitation by Novak Zerces, king of Quinn and his queen, Frey Zerces.

  They invited Nict and Dwem to a conference about the future actions of our three countries. They assumed correctly that we would take action against whoever is behind the continuous deterioration of the world.

  Hence they thought about coordinating our actions with each other instead of acting independently.

  Of course they were very careful to avoid calling it an alliance or peace talks.

  “I think they are on their knees. Their country is surrounded by enemies. From the north, barbarians who are obviously influenced by our enemy. Marauding nomads from the west and the southerners from the south. It's a pain in the ass that all these factions don't have a unified government, you simply don't know whom you should kill. I don't want to think about how Quinn's borders must look like. Nict took a low blow by the recent attack from the southerners, so I assume that Quinn must be worse off. Right now they are surely frantically reaching for any arm which could help them to their feet.”

  Stella nods slowly at my side while glaring at the people around us. “If it's like that, then why is everyone looking at us like we are the enemy. Don't they inform their citizens about what's going on?”

  “It's their religion. They've brainwashed themselves with it until the general citizen can't see clearly any more. I am sure that king Novak is risking a revolt by letting us walk freely through his city.” Their fanatics must be grinding their teeth while watching us.

  Stella and I decided to take a little walk through the city after accompanying Lucas to the conference. Reaching Quinn wasn't a problem since our stepper disc arrived here months ago.

  The Great Shaman also used the disc instead of travelling on his own. Chuck wasn't very happy about being here and he expressed that very clearly to king Novak when they met.

  He isn't happy about the way magicians are treated in this country. Dwem is in a way even more dependent on its magic users than Nict. Their society relies heavily on being led by the smart and talented. Being confronted with a social construct like Quinn is an attack on everything which Chuck believes in.

  Of course that doesn't mean that Quinn's leaders are stupid, but they willingly throw away a big asset of their people.

  “Is that a church?” Stella stops in front of a strange building with a big symbol on top of it. The symbol looks like a Җ and seems to be made out of pure gold. Probably because their goddess has something to do with the sun?

  “I don't know and don't care.” Who needs churches? There were a lot of beliefs in my old world and I am very sure that all of them caused more bad things than good ones.

  Religion is a powerful tool to control the masses and its defenders are often arguing that it provides the society with a set of moral concepts which are necessary.

  But does a person really need a religion to be a moral person? Morality isn't something which religion has the right to claim for itself.

  And does a person need religion to get the answers which he is searching for? Isn't the inability to find the right answers for yourself proving that there is something wrong in your head?

  “Come on. We are on a sightseeing tour.” She pulls me inside and I grumble as I follow her through the big inviting entrance.

  Surprisingly the inside looks like a normal church, there is nothing special about the building. We are standing on a central walkway with many benches and praying people to the left and right. The walls are filled with paintings about their goddess and the windows are made out of coloured glass.

  Some pillars are strategically placed to support the ceiling while not obstructing the view on the central statue which is on the other side of the entrance.

  It's a golden figure of their goddess, ten metres tall and looking down on the people with a smiling face.

  “She has no horns.” Stella notices.

  I pull a grimace. “There is no tail.” The sexy goddess is displayed in a tight dress, but the tail is missing. The artist made a major mistake. Tails are important for a man's fantasies!

  “Four wings?” Stella points at the wings which are spreading left and right from the goddess in an attempt to encase the audience.

  “Are you searching for guidance?” The voice of an approaching priest is directed at us. He is an old, skinny fellow with grey hair and short, brittle horns. A long beard hides half of his wrinkly face.

  “We are on a sightseeing tour.” Stella proclaims boldly.

  I try to smile at the guy from whom I feel a faint presence of magic. It's like he is trying hard to suppress it.

  He smiles back. “So you aren't of the faith then? I heard that the king invited a few foreigners. May I ask from where you are.”

  “Nict.” I state matter of factly.

  “So that means that you are cursed too?” He asks with a sad voice.

  “Curse?” Stella asks dumbfounded. “You mean magic?”

  The priest nods. “Yes, I guess that's what you are calling it. It's the ability to influence the world with your mind. How are you dealing with it over there on the other side of the continent?”

  I shrug my shoulders. “I guess we accept it and train ourselves in using it properly.”

  The priest raises an eyebrow. “How can you use something as dangerous as that? I can remember that I almost killed a classmate when I was a child. He angered me and I forced him against a wall, breaking his arm.”

  He turns towards the statue. “Of course I was immediately bro
ught to the priests and they taught me to suppress my power. It took me many years, but finally I was able to return under the wings of the goddess.

  Sometimes a priest who manages to suppress his curse is given a wonderful gift by her. Then he might be able to heal people, or make plants grow faster.”

  Stella gasps. “Don't you guys know anything about magical training? A child with magical ability has to be taken care of and taught properly.”

  I pat her hand on my arm. “Those guys suppressed their abilities for generations. I doubt that there is anyone who can use his magic properly. Not to talk of subduing a child with its magic running amok. Someone without control is a serious threat to the people around him. We are also sealing the magic of children who are too young to be taught.”

  The priest nods. “Hm. So you have to resort to such measures too. It's sad that the goddess didn't teach us how to deal with this issue.”

  “No. That's completely different. They are forcing their people to ignore the gifts which were naturally given to them.” Stella complains, gesturing at the room.

  The priest tries to calm her down. “It's not like anything was taken from me. The goddess has a place for all people in her heart.”

  I notice the many eyes on us and turn Stella around. “You are right. The goddess surely is benevolent, but there are still many things to see and I believe we are short on time.”

  “May the goddess shed her light on you.” The priest waves us a goodbye and turns to deal with other believers.

  “What are you doing? We have to help those poor souls. They are being brainwashed!” Stella whispers to me.

  “Of course they are brainwashed. Brainwashed by living a whole life like they do. The fellow believed every word he said and you won't change his world view overnight. I started to fear that we might be forced to kill the audience.” I lead her out of the church.