by D. R. Rosier
I set all my wards, including my sword, Sienna’s bow, and on Sienna herself. Having a few hours to gain energy since the fast travel spell I was still quite a bit above three quarters full when I finished. There were a few strange looks Sienna’s way, being the only non-mage there, plus perhaps to look at the ward I’d put on her weapon.
They didn’t say anything, but those that didn’t know her dismissed her. I hoped the enemy was just as foolish, I hated bringing her along. Not because she wasn’t a mage, I wasn’t all that happy with Ari coming either, even though she was both better at magic and sword craft than I was.
We made it halfway to the castle before I could start scanning it with my abilities. A hundred yards later and my stomach tightened. There weren’t just thirteen mages in there, it was closer to twenty although two of those were healers. Still, seventeen to thirteen wasn’t exactly horrible odds despite me wishing they were better.
Still, I felt a chill down my spine as we walked through the gate and into the courtyard. No one attempted to stop us, the soldiers practically ignoring our presence. I wondered if this was some kind of trap, I snorted out loud, of course it was a trap.
I took a deep breath and pulled my sword as we walked into the castle and headed straight down the main hall for the throne room. It made me nervous, but Serina and Nialla were in the lead, the rest of us behind her.
The throne room was large. Outside of the thrones on the dais and a number of tapestries on the walls, the room was pretty bare. I guess the logic was to make the throne, and the person sitting on it, the only thing to focus on.
The regicidal king sat on his throne with Avery and Reed on either side of the throne ready to protect him. Along the walls on both sides of the room were the roving mages, twelve of them. The other two, the healers, seemed to be right outside the room. The king looked supremely confident, but I wasn’t intimidated, I’d spoken to him before and the man was a nutcase. I’d have been surprised if he showed any doubts or weakness.
The king said carelessly, “Serina, Nialla. What are two of my mayors doing here along with these others?”
Serina said in a cold voice, “Your murders and lies have caught up to you Jonathan. We are here to question you as the law allows and judge your crimes, will you uphold the law or further shame the honor of our kingdom?”
The king smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. He sighed and shook his head almost sadly.
“I have done things I am not proud of, but it was to save lives. My father was a fool, who couldn’t see the danger from the east as I and the Seneschal did. He would have doomed us all.”
Nialla snorted, “Why then lie and blame the Elves and this innocent man who is a stranger to our land? You put us in danger of that same threat by moving all our troops to the west out of some insanity and prejudice against our neighbors.”
The king shook his head, “I suppose it would appear that way, but there is more to the story. I’ll tell you what. I’ll put all my cards on the table and let you judge, let you decide if you will plunge this kingdom into war. The truth is I’ve been in negotiations with the Rhimera Empire for a long time. You have no idea how vast they are, they control twice the land we do and have even more land on other continents across the great sea.
“There would be no winning against them. The truth is, I killed my father because he refused to admit that reality and capitulate. There is no way we could withstand their attacks.”
He spoke loudly then, “You may come in my dear.”
The two healers came in, and they weren’t what I expected. There was a short woman in a green wraparound dress and her face was entirely covered by makeup, much like a Geisha from Earth. Behind her stood a mountain of a man, whose expressionless face could teach the Elves a thing or two about it. He was extremely muscular and had two swords on his back that were obviously magical.
The king introduced them, “This is princess Amara of the Rhimera Empire and her bodyguard. You see, there will be no war, as soon as we are married, there will no longer be a Cirenthia. I will no longer be a king, simply a governor of a new province of the Rhimera Empire. You both will still be mayors of course, and life will go on as it has in the past. There will be a slightly higher tax for the people, instead of horror and war, to be sent to the empire on a yearly basis. And of course, there will be some modification to the laws as we adapt theirs.
“Not nearly so bad a deal, is it? There was one other catch however. We are required as part of the empire to… expand it, and the emperor particularly hates Elven kind. But a war with the Elves will be much more winnable than the hopelessness of facing the empire. My… misdirection was a temporary measure to get things rolling in that direction before I revealed the truth.”
I growled softly but felt Ari’s hand on my back. I wanted to get to the killing already, assuming Nialla and Serina don’t fall for this crap.
The king went on, “Serina. Nialla. The painful truth is Cirenthia’s time has come to an end. The only question remaining is do we die along with it? Or do we choose to prosper as part of the Rhimera Empire? You can choose to punish me, to destroy me for removing a fool from the throne who would have let us been consumed by war, or you can acknowledge the truth and realize I took the path of the lesser evils.”
Nialla growled, “That was a pretty speech Jonathan, but it doesn’t quite explain why you killed my daughter. You can pretty your actions up all you want, but there was another path other than you being a tyrant. Did you enjoy it? Killing a helpless healer that loved you? Or how about the man that raised you, did you take joy in cutting his body open? You can try to justify it all you want, but the truth is you’re a monster, and a fool, if you think they will leave you in control.
“All you’ve done is let them got close to accomplishing a bloodless coup, and turn you against a faithful ally who has been our friend for centuries. You stupid fool. I judge you for murder, sedition, assassination of our rightful king, and worst of all treason against all that Cirenthia stands for.”
Nialla turned to the princess, “Princess Amara, you may want to leave the room, things are about to get… violent as we pass immediate judgment. Feel free to pack and leave, Cirenthia will not be falling without a fight.”
Finally, I really hated the bastard.
As the princess turned and left without a word, Serina asked, “And you all standing in here with the king. Will you truly risk your lives to protect his treasonous hide? Do you truly wish to be a part of a violent and pitiless Empire? Choose now, though I warn you, any siding with the king will find themselves charged with treason and executed. Even if you manage to win here today, I have sent all the mayors a message containing these proceedings and judgments.”
Two things surprised me, none of the roving mages left the room, but Reed left the dais and slowly took a place next to Serina and Nialla.
Reed said miserably, “I truly didn’t know he had done all of that, I feel like a fool.”
That’s when all hell broke loose…
Chapter 17
Close to thirty mages all in the same room throwing around elemental magics was… insane. I quickly lost track, visually at least, of where everyone was and just concentrated on attacking the enemy. I could feel Ari, Sienna, Serina, and the rest of my allies, but they were covered in ice, sheets of flame, or walls of earth as magic was tossed around.
I went to the right and went for one of the mages with my sword, but a large chunk of rock appeared from nowhere and pushed me back toward the wall. Before it could crush me my elemental dispelled the magic holding it and then moved me over it. I rushed them at full speed and ignored the ball of fire coming my way trusting my elemental to stop it.
The ball fizzled and turned to ice which I sent magic at to push it back at the enemy as I followed. A blast of air came my way and slammed me sideways into the wall. Someone must have briefed them on the way I usually fought because they were managing to keep me at a distance.
I started to fi
ght with magic instead, using all the little tricks I’d been thinking up. I sent shards of ice, blades of air, little funnels of air filled with ice as well that would tear up an opponent. They managed to block most of it, or only take a little damage from the attacks as we all fought.
I grinned evilly and sent my modified fast travel spell at the fire mage, using my water elemental. It was elemental water, not real water, it swirled around him and as soon as his protections dropped he was moved to the elemental realm of water.
He’d have very little luck trying to control fire from there, much less the whole breathing thing.
Of course, it was an expensive bit of magic, I couldn’t do that a lot or I’d run out of magic fast.
I kept up my magical assaults and rushed them again, this time I managed to lunge and stab deeply into the air mages chest before I was thrown away by a chunk of wall. My elemental got me out of it again easily enough, but by then I was across the room again. It was frustrating because I knew I could do better using the flash bangs. I wouldn’t have to beat their magic at all to distract and disorient them. The problem was all my allies could be affected too, they didn’t have the filters.
Five of the enemy had fallen so far, but there was a price to it. Thomas was dead, as was Nell, the mayor’s sister. I hadn’t liked Thomas all that much, but he was still so young I’d had hopes he’d grow out of his arrogance. Now he wouldn’t have that chance.
I felt the king make a run for it, there was a door behind the throne. Serina and Nialla were sending magic his way which the king and Avery were defending against. I rushed the guys I had been fighting again when I felt the arrow leave Sienna’s bow. We were in a fairly small room, and although Avery struck out at the arrow the elemental air encompassing it protected the arrow. He had no time to change tactics and block it with something solid.
The arrow pierced the king’s spinal cord directly below his neck, causing him to fall to the ground in shock and he was paralyzed. Avery screamed and heedlessly threw magic at Sienna which made me panic for a moment, but the ward I cast protected her, and without focusing on protection Avery was taken down quickly by Serina and Nialla.
It looked like I was about to go flying again as I closed, but Ari appeared as if from nowhere and started slicing into them from the other side which made them falter slightly and I took another out before being pushed away by earth once again. With the king and Avery down, the roving mages seemed to have lost heart, but they didn’t stop fighting.
They had been judged as treasonous, stopping would mean their deaths anyway, and I couldn’t blame them for continuing the fight.
Sienna had given up on the arrows, after taking down the king the other mages were defending against her attacks now using solid objects. I’d have to come up with another trick for next time. Instead she drew her sword and joined Ari and I. With the three of us working alongside each other, and with much less of them against the mages on our side now, they didn’t stand a chance as it slowly changed from a real fight into a slaughter…
We had no further deaths. Alethea had been badly burned, and Nialla’s husband had some crushed ribs and frostbite on his torso. A number of us also had abrasions and small cuts. Nialla however was able to get them both healed in short order.
I pulled Sienna into a hug, and then growled lightly at Ari and Alethea. It was hard to not grab them as well, but I knew they wouldn’t thank me for it in front of strangers. That’s when Serina and Nialla started arguing about something.
Serina growled accusingly, “What did you do!”
Nialla looked completely unruffled, “What’s right for Cirenthia, you were the only choice.”
Serina shook her head, “We all fought, why me?”
Nialla laughed, “Some of us fought, most did not, staying at home in their mansions. You are also the one that brought it all together. We need that if we are to survive what is coming. You also have a friendship with two elves, both from their ruling families. We need that to restore our treaty and standing. You are simply the only choice that makes sense.”
Serina looked livid and I was a bit concerned, so I asked, “What are you talking about?”
Serina spluttered, “She…” followed by sounds of frustration.
Nialla looked at me, “I simply nominated her to be our queen, she is one of the choices for the vote now. We should know by tomorrow morning what the vote is. We’re in it up to our necks, and she’s the only one that can unite us. It’s a shame we lost so many mages today, we will need all the ones we have left. The mayors that supported the king all know it was her plan that overthrew him, they will all vote with her in an attempt to get in her good graces. I’d also say there is a good chance half the mayors on our side will vote her way as well.”
Okay, it was probably selfish, but I wondered what that would mean for us. It also made me smile, I know she’d hate it, but she’d be really good at it. I just hope it wouldn’t tear us apart; we had enough obstacles as it was with her fears to trust and commit.
We tracked down a servant and found rooms for the night, it was late into the night and we hadn’t slept all that long the day before. We were brought to a room with a large bed and I wound up sleeping with my two mates plus Serina and Alethea that night. I hoped that was a good indication of how Serina felt; perhaps it was what my mates discussed with her today after lunch? I could hope, if they worked it out it would be okay by me.
I was pretty sure this could work, if she could tolerate my absences. It would just be… very complicated.
I assumed Alethea just didn’t want to sleep alone in what I was sure was a strange place for her. It would be safer for her to be with us, her family, and I didn’t give it any thought past that. I held Sienna tight and had Ari snuggled into my back, her arm thrown over me and our legs tangled together. I fell asleep wondering what would happen next, and how long it would be before Cirenthia was attacked.
In the meantime maybe I could start some businesses up; now that I was no longer hunted I could at least start to set some of my plans in motion.
Chapter 18
I woke up with the intense scent of Ari’s arousal right in my face, my nose buried between her ass cheeks and I moaned deeply at the warm wet heat wrapped around my length. I could tell immediately by technique I was deep inside Sienna’s mouth as she popped me in her throat and hummed. Oh god, that must be Serina’s tongue licking my balls and taint.
I licked up inside Ari and she ground down on my tongue and face. Three of them at once? Where they trying to kill me? As she swung her hips forward my tongue circled and then pushed into the tight ring of her puckered star.
I reached around her leg and slipped a finger between her swollen labia, finding her clit as I dug my tongue into her dark hole as if I were on a holy mission. I loved the taste of her, all of her. I stopped briefly and my gasp was muffled as I was overcome by bliss, my aching rod filled Sienna’s mouth and throat as she sucked, milking me with her talented throat, tongue, and lips.
My staff started to flag, but her talented mouth, Serina’s tongue, and the overwhelming scent and taste of Ari brought me back to hardness. It was too good, too intense. Too much pleasure as I felt Serina’s tight wet channel replace Sienna’s mouth. My hard length jumped when I heard kissing above me and I redoubled my focus on bringing Ari to bliss. I sucked and licked deep inside her puckered star as I played with her clit with my thumb and slid a couple of fingers into her hot slick heaven.
Ari exploded on my fingers and I kept going, her precious nectar running down my fingers and chin, down my neck. She pulled away and I let her go regretfully but found myself drowning in Sienna’s scent as she took over. I heard some suckling noises as I started to pleasure her sex with my lips, tongue, and fingertips. My imagination went wild as I considered who was sucking on what body part somewhere above me.
Sienna whispered, “Oh goddess Marcus, don’t stop.”
The absurd idea had never occurred to me, as I tried to dig
deeper into my wife’s sex I felt Serina trembling and cumming all over my length, soaking my body in her nectar. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was when she came down and moved off of me, my hard length exposed to the cooler air of the room jumped, but was shortly warmed by Ari’s tight wet passage as she impaled herself on me in one smooth motion. She cried out in pleasure and ground down against me.
I heard more kissing above me and the visual of Sienna kissing Serina wasn’t helping to keep my control. I tried to focus again, working for Sienna’s sweet nectar as I sucked in her clit and started to flick it and circle it with the tip of my tongue. I smiled and kept licking as I felt her body lock up and tremble, her juice soaking my face as I greedily sucked it in.
Ari’s sexy voice called out, “Goddess I’m going to c…” her tight passage locked down on my manhood as her voice cut off.
I felt her silken liquid rush over my length. My manhood, balls, and inner thighs were soaked. They switched again, this time Sienna working her tight body up and down my pole as I pleasured Serina with my tongue. I had to try really hard to block it out, Sienna was pulling out all the stops, tightening her body around my girth each time she rose, releasing a little of the pressure as she reclaimed my pleasure with her body.
I was doing the best I could for Serina who couldn’t sit still at all. She was grinding herself on me, and breathing hard as I pleasured her with my tongue, constantly licking and sucking between her clit, taint, and puckered star as she rode my face. I heard some more kissing and sucking above me and didn’t think I’d last very much longer. I desperately pleasured Serina with my mouth and fingertips as I slowly felt the buildup of pleasure in my balls as they tightened, I wanted her to come first. Sienna too, but she had a lot more control of that right now than I did, as she bounced up and down my length fast and hard.
I heard a breathless sultry voice, “Goddess you’re so hot all together.”