“A little,” she said. “Give me a minute to process this.”
“That’s boring,” Kadria said. “Where’s the emotional reunion? The crying? The kiss? At least tell me what you think about receiving a fat, gooey injection from Nathan?”
Sunstorm glared at Kadria. She looked back at Nathan. “Can I cut her head off? Please?”
Nathan shrugged. “Does your head grow back, Kadria? You’d make a magnificent prize to impress Leopold with.”
“Fuck you,” Kadria spat, baring her teeth at him. “Make your threats when you have somebody else who can bring back your lovesick puppies.”
She certainly took that joke well, Nathan thought.
Nathan coughed. “It’s good to have you back, Choe.”
“It’s good to be back. Even if I appear to have threatened you more times than I care to remember,” Sunstorm said with a wince. She rubbed her head. “There was something I wanted to tell you. I can’t remember what it was. Strange. I know I could remember it only minutes ago.”
Kadria grinned, her eyes practically shining in the void. Nathan pinned her with his gaze, and she tried to look innocent.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“Made things more interesting,” she said.
“You made her forget things?”
“Only one particular thing. When the time is right, it will come back. But I don’t want her spoiling the show.” Kadria giggled. “Think of this like the spice that producers add to an episode to keep the viewers interested.”
Nathan and Sunstorm stared at Kadria in confusion.
The Messenger sighed. “I suppose you wouldn’t understand that analogy. How about this, then: I’m bored. After a while, you get boring if you win all the time. Plus, I want to make sure that you’re winning because you’re competent. You have so many advantages. Knowledge of the future because I brought you here. My help in bringing your former lovers to your side. Stress relief from chatting with me. Regular cleaning out of your pipes, courtesy of yours truly. The least you can do is use your brain from time to time.”
“Do you genuinely believe that all of my advantages are due to you?” Nathan asked.
“Who else would they be due to?” Kadria watched him, eager for him to bite at her bait.
He chose not to.
“Fine, be that way,” Kadria said with a pout. Then she grinned and threw Sunstorm onto the bed. The assassin shrieked. “Now it’s time for my payment!”
Kadria crawled on top of Sunstorm. Fingers ran along thighs, and lips kissed skin. Sunstorm moaned under the attention from Kadria. When the assassin spotted Nathan’s focus, her face lit up like a tomato and she futilely fought back against her assailant.
“How cute,” Kadria mumbled against Sunstorm’s neck.
Something entirely different captured Nathan’s thoughts.
Kadria’s bronzed, plump ass wiggled in the air. Her bangles clinked against each other as she moved against Sunstorm, and the translucent silk strips of cloth attached to her hips waved about. But what really drew Nathan’s attention was the tiny strip of black cloth that barely covered her entrances. It stuck so tightly to Kadria’s body that Nathan didn’t need to imagine what lay underneath.
Nathan ran a finger along Kadria’s rear. She gasped in response, but didn’t stop moving.
He peeled away the black cloth that Kadria wore as clothing. There was nothing underneath, confirming that Kadria walked around in her underwear.
Nathan stroked Kadria’s lower body. When she looked back at him, her eyes were glazed over in pleasure. He rubbed her again, causing her honey to drip down between Sunstorm’s legs. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth.
“You’re supposed to do that to her,” Kadria muttered, her voice oozing with pleasure.
“Do you want me to stop?” Nathan asked.
Kadria didn’t respond. She laid her head against Sunstorm’s chest and stared at him. He continued to pleasure her, while ignoring Sunstorm’s plaintive looks for attention.
Eventually, Kadria’s hips bucked as she reached her climax. Nathan maintained his pace. His hand was slick by the time she collapsed against Sunstorm, and she stared into space.
“You seem new to this,” Nathan pointed out.
Kadria glared at him. Then, without warning, she vanished with a pop.
Looking around, Nathan realized this wasn’t invisibility. Kadria had teleported away or left through some other means. Clearly she hadn’t appreciated being the one on the receiving end, even if it was clear that she enjoyed the new experience.
“Nathan, my turn,” Sunstorm begged.
He grinned and slipped his fingers into her.
When he finished, and plenty of white flowed out of Sunstorm onto the bed, Nathan let her cuddle up against him.
He suddenly noticed something moving at the foot of the bed. Or someone. He glanced down to see a shimmering shape between Sunstorm’s legs. Kadria.
“Enjoying yourself down there?” Nathan asked.
Kadria melted into existence. Her face was a mess of white.
She looked up at him, face red. She grinned. “I couldn’t let this amazing stuff go to waste in this silly girl.”
Then she buried herself in Sunstorm’s crotch again. Nathan’s length remained hard, and he somehow knew that Kadria was keen on some gooey injections of her own, if of the oral kind.
Chapter 31
“I feel like we’re putting too much faith in someone who tried to kill us yesterday,” Vera said.
Sunstorm refused to take the bait and continued pointing to Fort Taubrum on the other side of Gharrick Pass.
Nathan had gathered everybody of importance for a strategy session the day after Sunstorm’s “awakening.” Vera, Anna, Sen, and Fei joined him and Sunstorm in his office. The map of the region sat on the table in the room. A handful of brass markers sat atop the map.
“She’s agreed to serve me as a Champion. I’ve already taken ownership of her gem through my binding stone,” Nathan said.
“You can do that?” Vera said.
“Only with the Champion’s permission. A gemmed Champion’s mind is effectively impenetrable unless they allow the intruder in. If this Bastion Theus had been here, then he could have stopped me, but he wasn’t.” Nathan shrugged.
“Why does his presence matter?” Anna asked. She nibbled on some warm cookies that the cooks had provided.
“Champions are protected by the magic of the binding stone. Sunstorm chose to lower her mental protection and allow me to transfer her connection to my binding stone. But Theus could have overridden that, given he controls the binding stone,” Nathan explained. “It’s the same reason why Champions can’t use their gem abilities against their Bastion. Which is the other reason not to worry about Sunstorm. Her gem ability can’t harm me.”
“What about me?” Vera asked. “What if she does things behind your back?”
“There are ways to stop rogue Champions, if necessary,” Nathan said.
“This is one of those times that you hide behind your oath, isn’t it,” Vera accused.
Fei frowned and looked between Vera and Nathan. Sen and Sunstorm looked resigned. They might not have their memories from Nathan’s timeline, but they could remember their emotions of the events in it. And they didn’t like the idea of a Bastion stopping a rogue Champion one bit.
Sunstorm spoke up, “I was prepared to die for my failures when fighting for the Federation. Master Nathan has offered me a second chance under him. I will not forsake him. And as an experienced Champion, I know what comes from betrayal.”
“An experienced Champion? Experienced in betrayal, you mean,” Vera commented.
Sunstorm’s face remained impassive, but Sen’s did not. Nathan placed his hand on her shoulder before she could speak and opened his mouth.
Anna beat him to it. “Vera! Enough!”
“Anna?” Vera leaned backward and stared at Anna in surprise, blinking rapidly. “Surely you find this suspic
ious as well—”
“But I am also a devout follower of Omria, and understand the value of an oath to her,” Anna snapped. “Nathan isn’t hiding behind his oath. He’s respecting it. You should be thankful that he’s sharing as much as he is about Champions and Bastions. Leopold wouldn’t waste his breath on us when it comes to this sort of thing. If Nathan’s not telling us, then it’s probably for damn good reason.”
Vera froze, then looked to one side. She covered her mouth for several seconds.
Eventually, the sorceress faced Nathan and looked him in the eye. “My apologies, Bastion Nathan—”
“Just Nathan, Vera,” he corrected.
Anna rolled her eyes.
Vera’s lips turned upward ever so slightly. “My apologies, Nathan. I forgot that your oath is a matter of faith, rather than one to the state. Perhaps dealing with Leopold too much blinded me, given his close relationship with the Emperor.”
“No need to apologize,” Nathan said. “In the end, my oath is between me and the Watcher Omria. She will be the one who judges me on my faithfulness.” He paused. “And Leopold, I suppose. He can have me executed at the drop of a hat for heresy.”
“Don’t joke about that,” Anna muttered.
“It’s not a joke.” Nathan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “But we’re getting distracted.”
“Indeed,” Sunstorm said. “My original point was that the Federation still had considerable resources at Fort Taubrum. This is the staging post used to assault Gharrick Pass.”
Nathan placed a finger below Sunstorm’s. “Right here is Vera’s tower.”
“It’s not my tower anymore,” Vera said sourly.
Sighing, Nathan continued, “Can we assume that there’ll be a significant army defending it?”
Sunstorm nodded.
“And this Seraph? Will she be there?” Nathan asked.
Sunstorm bit her lip. “I don’t know. She’s the brains behind Theus’s Champions. The Federation assigned Lilac and me to him purely to provide extra strength, but Seraph runs the entire province. Theus only thinks that she works for him. In reality, she works for one of the regents of the Federation.”
“Regent?” Fei asked.
“Several smaller nations make up the Federation, forming a single larger country, and each of these smaller nations—called provinces—is ruled by a regent,” Nathan explained. “They use a wide variety of titles, including ‘king’ of all things, but they’re collectively referred to as the regents of the Amica Federation.”
“And Seraph works for one of these regents, but never told me who,” Sunstorm said.
Nathan had a fairly good idea who it was. He knew who was responsible for the war with the Empire in the first place. But he remained silent. Openly stating the name would raise suspicion from Anna and Vera for little gain.
“If we’re only facing one Champion, then this is done and dusted, right?” Anna suggested.
Nathan let out a bark of laughter. “I wish. Sunstorm says Seraph is a highly experienced duogem Champion. I have two monogem Champions, a spellblade equal to a monogem Champion, and a sorceress who can perhaps match a monogem with the help of her cairn.”
“I don’t follow,” Anna replied, giving him a quizzical look. “You have four Champions. They have one.”
“Even if we beat her—which is far from guaranteed—she’ll likely kill one or more of us,” Nathan said flatly. “Each gem provides an exponential increase in power. That’s why trigem Champions are legends. A single one can demolish lesser Bastions and several duogem Champions.”
The room fell silent. Sunstorm stepped back from the table with a grimace.
Time for a break, Nathan thought. He shooed everybody into a separate room and had some of the newly hired staff bring up lunch. Small talk was had over spiced sausages, potatoes, and bread. A simple meal, but nice enough.
Nathan spent part of it fighting off Fei’s wandering hands. She kept trying to eat his food.
After he stopped her from cleaning his plate, she then tried to clean a certain other part of his body. He stopped her from doing that too, much to her annoyance and the relief of the other women in the room.
“So, do you have a plan?” Anna asked him once the plates were taken away.
“Leopold finally responded over the wireless,” Nathan said.
“And?”
“He’s coming here.” Nathan frowned. “Whatever plan I come up with will depend on his support. I don’t know what happened at Forselle Valley, or whether Leopold will order me to hold the pass instead.”
Anna huffed. “But what do you want to do?”
Nathan smirked. “What do you think I want to do?”
“Given how you’ve acted since you got here?” Anna walked her fingers across the table. “Go on the offensive. You talk up Seraph and how dangerous she is, but you’ve said that about everything. I know you have a plan. What you’re looking for is an excuse to put it into action.”
“And do you want me to do that?” Nathan asked. “You are my countess.”
“Let’s say that I’m looking forward to ruling both sides of Gharrick Pass.”
Chapter 32
Seraph drummed her fingers on her desk. The old men droned on and on, their voices projected over the wireless. Her patience had long since worn thin, but she was nothing if not professional.
Snapping at her employers and her current Bastion did her no favors. So she muted herself, poured a glass of wine, and stared at the wall of her office. Nobody else was here. The lights of her office were off. Only moonlight kept her company.
“Theus, tell us again how many Champions you encountered at Forselle Valley?” one of the old men asked, his voice reedy over the wireless projection. This was Grand Meister Korvell, the regent of a city-state within the Federation.
“At least a dozen,” Theus said.
Seraph resisted the urge to burst into laughter.
The old men bickered amongst themselves again. Only one of the three didn’t believe Theus.
“Pray tell, Theus, where the Empire could get a dozen Champions given their current situation?” the disbeliever asked. He was King George II, whose family split from the Empire a century ago.
Gharrick Pass had originally been part of George’s territory, when his family had seceded from the Empire and created their own kingdom. That had lasted for about a decade, before the Empire reclaimed everything west of the Gharrick Mountains. But George pretended he owned the pass anyway. These days his power had faded so much that he had joined the Federation and was a king in name only.
Why the Federation let him call himself a king was beyond Seraph. Korvell had been the head of a merchant guild that ran a city-state from the shadows. George was a noble who could trace his bloodline to the archdukes that ruled the Anfang Empire in the time that the Watcher Omria walked Doumahr. The two held the same status in this meeting, as both were regents.
The last member of this triumvirate of grumbling old men finally intervened.
“Now, George, we all know that our intelligence on the Empire’s military resources has been unreliable at times,” the last crafty old bastard said, his arrogance oozing through the wireless. Seraph grimaced at the magical device.
High Lord Torneus. Seraph’s long-term sponsor, and the regent of one of the founding states of the Amica Federation. The stories behind how he had become the regent were many and varied. He had been one of five ruling council members in his country. The other four abdicated their positions or mysteriously lost the ability to live, just in time for Torneus to become regent.
Seraph suspected the worst of him at all times.
“Don’t patronize me,” George snapped. “Nothing my spies have given us has been wrong so far. Theus is a dunce.”
“If your spies knew what they were doing, I wouldn’t have walked into a trap, your majesty,” Theus ground out.
“A trap? Bastion Leopold wasn’t even at Forselle Valley!”
“Enough,” Torneus shouted, his voice crackling over the wireless.
The silence lasted only a few moments.
“Fine. Have it your way, Torneus. But I’ll tell you what I do know,” George said, his voice laced with bitterness. “The Empire has invaded the Pearlescent Canyon again and restarted their war with Trafaumh. Theus didn’t encounter a dozen Champions because the Empire can’t spare a dozen Champions at our border.”
George paused for a moment, and Seraph suspected he took a drink of water. “They’re battling the most powerful nation on Doumahr over the most important religious location to both nations. Omria herself descended there. Those fanatics in Trafaumh will throw everything they can at the Empire. And the Empire will hit back with everything they have. If we can’t win now, what hope do we have?”
With those words, George disconnected from the wireless call. A high whine rose from the device, then quickly went away.
“Is that true?” Seraph asked. “Do we have confirmation that the Empire has finally started their war with Trafaumh?”
“That is not your concern,” Torneus said.
The hell it wasn’t, Seraph thought. If the Empire had already invaded Trafaumh, then that changed everything. Their entire country would gear up for war. Patriotism would skyrocket. Invading the Empire was insanity now. Any victory would be met by three new Bastions a month later, eager to take back their homeland.
“Do you want my recommendation on what to do next, regents?” she pushed. She wasn’t going to let Theus dictate the next steps with his peanut-sized brain.
“I don’t think—” Torneus began to say.
“Why—” Theus spoke at the same time.
Their voices overlapped, and the connection became a mess of static.
A new voice cut through. Korvell said, “You have had the most exposure to this new Bastion, Seraph. Go ahead.”
Torneus and Theus seethed silently. They couldn’t openly contradict Korvell. Unlike George, who was considered a pompous fool, Korvell was wealthy and influential.
In most nations, a smart man never angered a noble. In the Federation, people said the same thing about merchants. Money spoke the loudest here, and noble blood thinned with each passing year. Even Torneus trod lightly around Korvell.
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