Fostering Faust 3

by Randi Darren

  After a minute, Alex patted her on the shoulder.

  “Good job, I’m spent,” he said, gently pulling himself out of her mouth. “Start eating Six. Try hard to get out as much as you can. Six, make sure she’s diligent.”

  Sighing, and feeling much better, Alex collapsed into his bed next to Eleanor.

  Looking over, he found Riley watching. She was dressed in a night shirt and was sitting at his desk.

  “Hey One,” Alex said, waving a hand at her. “That letter is for Anna. Could you send it in the morning?”

  Riley nodded, the bell on her tag chiming softly. “Of course, my love.”

  “Want to sleep in my bed tonight, One? Gonna be a bit packed, but it’ll be warm,” Alex offered.

  “Yes, Alex, I would,” Riley said with a bright smile. She immediately came over and got into the bed, snuggling up to his side. Putting him between her and Eleanor.

  Wrapping an arm around Riley, he turned to watch Katherine.

  She was head down in Eleanor, her mouth wedged in tight and her eyes closed.

  “When you’re done there,” Alex said. “You can come warm up One here. I think I’ll play with her next. Then you can clean us all up when I’m done.”

  He was going to abuse Katherine mercilessly.

  If she wanted to keep her maidenhead, he was going to make it costly.

  Katherine nodded her head and lifted it up for a second.

  She met his eyes and gave him a strange, coy smile.

  “Yes, dear,” she said, sticky seed dripping from her chin. “I look forward to it.”

  ***

  Sylvia was lying naked in the middle of his bed, with Katherine between her thighs doing her “job” as she’d come to call it.

  Alex had made a point of bedding the Numbered who were with him repeatedly over the last day and a half. Katherine was ever and always present now wherever he went, and she didn’t need instruction anymore on what was expected of her.

  The only one who escaped the treatment was Nannie. She was so averse to the idea of it, he wasn’t going to force it on her.

  “I th-think it’s a trap. It’s a supply depot we’d never heard of until now, and it isn’t defended enough,” Sylvia said, shuddering. Her hands were on Katherine’s head. He’d spent some time working Sylvia over as her reward. She’d been especially sensitive and lost in that strange headspace she ended up in when he dominated her.

  “Yeah?” Alex asked, lying next to her as he watched Katherine.

  “I do. It was too cheap, the information too clear,” Sylvia said, and then she moaned softly. “A-and it’s clearly something we’d want to attack and hit. Everything lines up for it to be too easy.”

  Alex thought on that.

  Katherine was watching him watch her. He’d been concerned he was twisting her up a bit too much, but she seemed to be enjoying her role now.

  Lifting her head up, Katherine cleared her throat.

  “It does sound like a trap, dear,” she said. “From everything you’ve said, this feels more like them playing into the tactics you’ve already demonstrated. Though this isn’t the first one, is it? It seems to be the enemy’s preferred tactic.”

  “Fair point,” Alex said. “Come over here and clean me a bit more, Katherine. Four looks like she needs a break.”

  Sylvia nodded rapidly. “Yes, please. It actually feels sore. It’s just too much for me.”

  Katherine made a humming noise and started to slide over.

  “You’re just making me do all this so I’ll give up my maidenhead,” Katherine said, reaching up to cup his semi-erect length.

  “I am. Willing to give it up yet?” Alex asked, reaching down and smoothing her hair back from her brow.

  “No. This… isn’t half bad, actually. Other than my jaw getting rather sore at first, it’s workable,” she said. “I’ll get through it, and you’ll lose.”

  Then she leaned in and simply slipped his length into her mouth, bobbing slowly up and down.

  She made a light questioning noise as if to say “See?” as she closed her lips tight around him. Watching him with a smile.

  Hm. I’m not sure if she’s acting or it’s really not that big a deal to her.

  Starting to remind me a bit of Rebekah.

  “Alright, so we’re agreed. It’s a trap, but we need to go into it anyways,” Alex said. “The question becomes: how do we spring their trap and make them pay for it? Pay for it and take as much as we can from them.”

  Sylvia had the back of her arm draped over her eyes. She was quick to get her rewards and fast to offer herself up, but she always seemed beyond spent after a good go.

  “I’ll work on it. I think I could put out some false information that could be sold back to our enemy,” she said.

  “That’d be ideal. Sell them information about the makeup of our force. That way they bring some heavy soldiers out that way. Then I’ll just give the mission to Quinn and Dan. Tell them not to engage at all but hit a different target nearby,” Alex said. Closing his eyes, he just lay there and enjoyed Katherine’s attentive mouth.

  He was determined to get her to give in.

  It was a struggle, a game, and it was fun.

  Really getting an idea on how Sylvia thinks lately.

  “That’s all we can do for the time being. Keep hitting targets they’re not expecting, dodge head-on flat-terrain fights, and make them play our game,” Alex said, his fingers idly combing through Katherine’s hair. “It’ll be dull and boring, not to mention time consuming… but it’ll work.”

  Chapter 11

  Alex swayed back and forth in the saddle easily as they rode along the open plains.

  He’d definitely gotten a hefty amount of riding experience in the last year.

  Lately I spend more time in the saddle than I do anywhere else. Smell like a horse too, more often than not.

  Riding on each side of him were Nannie and Eleanor, both in their full armor with weapons at the ready.

  Even Alex was in his plate-mail getup. Truth be told, it wasn’t as heavy as he’d thought in his old world. It certainly did weigh a considerable amount, but that wasn’t going to offset the protection it offered considering he had little fighting experience. The weight itself was generally well distributed and seemed to support itself.

  The real annoyance for him was how hot it was.

  Tael was of course with him again. The young general had been proving rather useful as an aide de camp for Alex’s wild rides.

  “I feel like a jar of metal bits rattling around,” Alex grumbled.

  “I’ll rattle your bits,” Nannie said. She had taken to wearing some knightly armaments, but not all of them. She looked like a cross between a soldier and a knight at this point.

  “Har har,” Alex said, shaking his head.

  They weren’t traveling that far today, thankfully. Most of the fighting occurred out in the plains, far from the cities. Alex was thankful for that, in a way. It meant he didn’t have to account for city fighting.

  That seemed to be the quickest way to get soldiers killed, as far as he could tell from his memory and what he’d seen so far. Going street to street and house to house was a great way to invite ambushes and surprise attacks.

  “The enemy general seems to learn from every fight,” Katherine said. “Do you think they’ll learn enough before you can finish this?”

  Alex shrugged.

  She wasn’t wrong. The enemy general seemed to be rapidly developing every time Alex hit her.

  Every exchange, every skirmish, every little trick Alex played came back to him in a slightly different way down the road.

  He was able to counter them for the most part every time, but it’d been surprising.

  The general they were fighting was a clan princess, much as Quinn had been.

  “It’s almost a shame. I’d love nothing more than for her to serve in the army. If she can learn that much from having tactics employed against her, I imagine she might blossom
into a frightening thing with direct tutelage,” Alex murmured for Katherine alone. “But that’s how it goes in war. Sometimes you’re forced to fight or kill someone you respect. War is war, after all.

  “Though I do hope she manages to survive. With any luck, we can capture her and see if she’ll work for me or Quinn.”

  “Is that why you told everyone not to kill her?” Katherine asked.

  “Yeah. It is. So far this war has almost entirely been a game of dodging for us,” Alex said. “They attack, we scatter and flee, reform at a defensive position. If they attack again, we take from them. If they flee, we hit their supply, cities, or camps.”

  “Speaking of hitting them,” Tael said with a cough. “We’re here, sire. The enemy’s forces are out ahead of us.”

  Sighing, Alex nodded his head.

  It wasn’t really an enemy camp, and they weren’t really enemy soldiers. Truth be told, the whole thing was a training camp. Soldiers were being trained in infantry tactics by mercenary commanders hired from the empire.

  Alex couldn’t allow such a thing to continue. This could and would be a problem if he didn’t end it quickly. The last thing he needed was an enemy filling in a weakness.

  The worst part was, he was fairly certain this was just a new trap. Rather than a supply depot as the last one had been a month ago, this one was a training yard.

  Because that was exactly what he’d do. Present the enemy with a target they couldn’t avoid or ignore, then hit them.

  “What was the last trap like this?” Nannie asked.

  “Supply depot,” Eleanor said. “Quinn handled it. Sacked a city and a village instead.”

  This little brawl in the wild lands is just the start.

  I’ve done nothing but wage war on the common citizen from the get-go. I’ve limited the casualties, but it’s still going to change everything.

  A scout came galloping up to them, the horse looking completely spent.

  “General, sire, the encampment is empty,” said the scout.

  “Yeah… not surprising,” Alex said with a sigh. “Which brings us back to why we only brought fast-moving soldiers. The question becomes: are they going to be chasing us back to our own territory?”

  “No,” Tael said. “None of the scouts have reported back about seeing anything at all. Nothing. Not even a track.”

  Alex frowned, thinking.

  “Fine. Whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it away from here,” he said after a short time. “Which means we’re an accounted-for force to act accordingly. From their viewpoint, if they ran into something like this, they’d run back. Either assuming their city was under attack or their main forces.”

  “That sounds logical, sire,” Tael said.

  Wincing, Alex had a thought. He imagined it was one of those inconceivable thoughts that most people wouldn’t consider.

  Especially since it would put the strain on the citizens just as much as the soldiers. The effects would long be felt.

  He really would become as nefarious as Sherman.

  “We’re not far from… I forget the name,” Alex said, shaking his head. “Where the Risis… Risisix… Ris-whatever clan has most of their farmland. Right?”

  “Yes, sire. It’s half a day’s ride,” Tael said.

  “Let’s go burn it to the ground,” Alex said, rubbing at his jaw.

  “You want to… burn their farmlands,” Eleanor said.

  “Mm. I do. To the ground. On the way back, let’s torch every farm we come across as well,” Alex said. “It’s time to put pressure on the individual clans supporting the entire war effort. Not much time left on my oath to the duke.

  “In fact, Regina should already be fighting him directly by now. Which means I’m already late.”

  Taking in a breath, Alex changed his mind.

  I’m the Count Inferno, aren’t I? Let’s show them all the price of defiance.

  I’ve played nice, considering what I’m capable of. I’ve given them the opportunity to back down.

  Let’s just… crush the enemy by crushing those who support them.

  “In fact, let’s just… move south and southwest. If we keep on the move, we can just torch everything down here. They’ll never even catch up to us,” Alex said. “Torch it all. Burn every farm, every silo, every business, every stable, every single thing that could supply the enemy.”

  “Everything,” Tael repeated.

  “Yes. They’ve presented us with this moment, so let’s take it,” Alex said. A quote from history floated up from the depths of his mind. “Burn it all. Burn… everything. To the point that crows flying over it will have to carry their own rations with them.”

  ***

  “Sire, all the farms nearby have been put to the torch,” Tael reported.

  “Great. Let’s keep moving,” Alex said. “What’s the next one?”

  “Ah… there isn’t anything immediately close by. If we keep moving in the same direction, we’ll pass into the clan of Xilin. They’re a mid-level contributor to the war effort,” Tael said. “We can swing a bit further south into their farmlands than we have already.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do,” Alex said. “Anything else of interest in the area?”

  “The capital city of the Risixshi clan isn’t far off,” Nannie said. “Let’s go pay ’em a visit. Show ’em what a bad idea this all was.”

  Alex nodded slowly, turning to Tael. “Any idea on their defenses?”

  “Almost non-existent, I would imagine. We’re well behind enemy lines,” Tael said. “No more than a normal capital city’s guard force. They stripped all the soldiers from all the cities this far back weeks ago.”

  “Let’s go see if they’ll make a deal,” Alex said with a smirk. “After that… let’s see if we can’t visit the capital of Xilin, and whoever else we might find.”

  At this point… I’ll just let myself believe in the sunk cost of this and go with it. My patience is long past its end.

  Losing himself in his thoughts, Alex began to wonder how much of the villain role he was taking on.

  As long as I don’t actually become the villain, I suppose. If I don’t justify everything but at least question it. Question what I’m doing.

  Worrying over the legacy he’d be leaving behind here, the change in tactics and strategy, and all the people who’d be indirectly and directly impacted, Alex sank deep into his thoughts.

  Unable to shake the morose belief that he was making the world worse, Alex was distracted as his soldiers fought their way through the capital city’s defenders.

  The toughened, mentally hardened, blooded veterans tore through the city guards as if they were nothing more than straw dummies.

  Nannie and Eleanor had nothing to do as the army rushed itself down the boulevard leading up to the enemy keep.

  Taking the steps up to the fort, Alex watched as his soldiers smashed down the door almost instantly and then rushed inside. They’d clear and secure the keep while looking for the clan head at the same time.

  Marching into the keep itself, Alex made a beeline for what he believed would be the throne room.

  Every keep they’d attacked so far had been almost identical. Some had a few variations, but nothing more than changes to the layout of the rooms.

  By the time he entered, his troops were pulling a group of people out from a side hallway. If this keep was like the others, that’d be the royal apartments they were coming from.

  One and all, the group was thrown down to their knees in front of Alex.

  “Alright,” Alex said. “Who’s the clan head?”

  Everyone looked to an older man in his fifties who was lifting his chin up, not shying away from his role.

  “Me,” said the man. “I’m the clan head and my name—”

  “Is mud. Mud the sack of offal,” Alex said. “You can surrender now, here, and retain your clan and kingdom if you swear an oath to a goddess of my choice, or I can tie you up and throw you over a horse. Take you ba
ck to Quinn to deal with.

  “Though to be fair, so far she’s been giving me all the women and executing the men. That’s her business, not mine. I’m just here to support her in your war against her.”

  “She’s a puppet to—”

  “I’ve given you an opportunity and the choices available to you beyond that,” Alex said, interrupting the man. “How would you like this to happen? Understand I’ll not tolerate you being rude.”

  Making incomprehensible frustrated noises, the man seemed to be absolutely lost in his rage.

  Alex clicked his tongue and turned to Tael.

  “Fine! I’ll swear it to your goddess to back out of this war. It’s done nothing for me and my people, and that damned general couldn’t do half of what she promised,” groused the red-faced man.

  “Aren’t you a peach,” Alex said. “Also, I’ll be taking your daughters as hostages and insurance. Can’t have you trying to subvert your oath, after all.”

  Grand. We’ll just hit every capital city and burn every farm on our way back home to Quinn.

  Though I do wonder how things have been going for her while we’ve been away.

  Never did figure out what the intent of that trap was, other than perhaps to weaken our forces to a degree.

  ***

  Riding back into Fis’Er, Alex was beyond the possible definition of exhausted.

  “I want a bath,” Katherine muttered. “A bath, and a lot of fatty food. I’m absolutely tired of hard tack. Makes me feel like I’m going to break a tooth on it.”

  “I think I did break a tooth,” Nannie said. “Not as young as I used to be, apparently.”

  “None of us are,” Alex said with a sigh. “I think the next time I get a hair up my ass about going on these excursions I want you to club me and throw me in my bed.”

  “I can do that,” Eleanor said. “I’m a knight, not a soldier.”

  “Wasn’t that bad,” Tael said.

  Katherine, Nannie, Eleanor, and Alex all stared at Tael.