by Edward Brody
The King looked over to me. “What was it that you needed again, Gunnar?”
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I think you’ve actually answered all my questions. I’ll leave unless you need anything from me.”
“How about you rally your forces and end this war?” The King mustered a sarcastic grin. “Perhaps you and your guild could take on the Scourge like you took on the Shashana.”
You’ve received a quest offer: End the War
The King of Highcastle would like you to repel the Scourge and the current war.
Reward: 20,000 XP
Do you accept this quest? Accept/Decline
“You shouldn’t torment him after everything he’s done,” the Queen said. “Gunnar has helped us enough already.”
“I was only joking,” the King said. He held his hands out to his side and smiled at me. “But if you can perform another miracle, I would not be opposed…”
“Oh, stop, Daddy!” Isabella scolded and swatted at the King’s shoulder.
I chuckled and shook my head at my second impossible quest request to end the war, oddly offering less experience than the first. “I appreciate the offer, but we’ve barely been able to defend Edgewood through all this. I don’t think we’re in any position to take on the Scourge, but we’ll keep killing any orcs and goblins if they attack.”
You have declined the quest: End the War!
“Understandable, Gunnar,” the King said with a nod.
Commander Eldrich strode up to me as I was pulling out my rune for Mist Vale. “Is Ozzy still in Edgewood?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he should be.”
“A messenger may have reached him by now, but if not, please ask him to report to the barracks as soon as possible. We’ll need as many men from the Fighters Guild as we can get until we’ve ended this.”
“I’ll let him know,” I said with a smile. “Hopefully, this will all be over by the time I see you all next.”
“I certainly hope so,” the King said, overhearing our conversation. It seemed as if he was trying to smile, but the stress wrinkles in his face showed a lack of confidence in his words.
“I’m sure things will return to normal soon,” Commander Eldrich said. “Stay safe ‘til then.”
“You too,” I said as I flipped my rune over so that the etching was face up.
“Take care of yourself, Gunnar!” Isabella yelled out as I began to channel a recall spell.
“All of you as well,” I said, right before I vanished.
Chapter Nine
2/18/0001
“Ambassador,” a High Elf guard said when I manifested in Mist Vale.
I kneeled immediately.
“You may rise,” the elf said.
I looked up to the smiling elf standing on his usual guard platform and over to another guard stationed nearby. I was surprised at how friendly and collective they appeared and the relative quietness in the area. I sensed none of the fear or concern that was so prevalent in Highcastle.
I gave the guards a slight nod and proceeded past them without receiving any protest.
When I arrived at the village of Mist Vale, everything appeared unchanged. There were no signs of war, and people were going about their business like nothing at all was happening just across the river in the Freelands. There was the normal daily chatter, laughter, and like usual, people were splashing about naked in the pool below the waterfall. The elven pie vendor was set up in his standard location, and I couldn’t help but stop to indulge in a bite.
You are well-fed! Stamina and Vitality increased by 15% while this effect is active.
I moaned at the taste of elven pie, but as I continued towards the castle, I felt a tinge of both guilt and jealousy. While everyone else was back in Edgewood defending what little we had left, there I was indulging in a virtual orgasm of my tastebuds. And while the High Elves were living it up in their magnificent forest, part of Edgewood—particularly the segment where we stayed—had been reduced to a few damaged structures and ash.
The elves guarding the rising path to the palace eyed me as I approached but said nothing to me as I passed, and the guards immediately inside the palace also seemed to recognize me right away. Refreshingly, I was allowed to enter the palace without an ounce of protest.
Queen Faranni and King Ryvvik were both standing up from their thrones when I entered, and the Queen’s Great Cat made a slight roar in my direction when it caught sight of me.
The King and Queen both turned at the sound.
“Ambassador,” the Queen greeted with a smile. “I was hoping to get an update from you soon.”
“And wonderful timing as well,” the King said. He waved his hand towards somewhere deeper in the palace. “We were getting prepared to have an early dinner. Why don’t you join us and fill us in over a meal?”
I didn’t feel hungry after eating elven pie, but I didn’t want to be rude. “Yeah, of course. Sounds great.”
“You are here to update us, right?” the King questioned.
I nodded. “Yeah, there’s a lot of news to share.”
“Delightful,” the Queen said. She looked down the hallway and then back to me. “Perhaps you can fetch Adeelee and let her know that our meal will be ready in the dining hall any moment. She’s been quite upset lately, and I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”
The King frowned a little and eyed the Queen out of the corner of his eye.
“Sure, I can get her,” I said as I started heading for the hallway. After taking several steps, I realized I had no idea where exactly to go. I turned around. “Umm… where is she?”
“You don’t know where her room is?” the Queen asked.
I shook my head. “Is it the garden area where she was training last time I was here?”
“She doesn’t stay in the garden. Just head straight until you see a set of stairs on your left,” the Queen replied. “Climb the stairs, and her room is the first on your right.”
I nodded and continued down the hall.
I had been in the palace many times, but usually I was escorted by a guard or another elf any time I was there, so it was surprising that they were allowing me to wander around alone. That fact, and the guards acting so indifferent to me made me wonder if I had gained some sort of hidden reputation with the elves that made them all trust me a little more. Perhaps word of my involvement in Adeelee’s rescue had spread?
Eventually, I reached a set of white, marble stairs, and began to climb them as the Queen instructed. The walls housing the stairs were covered in small vines, and the stairs circled upward several times before finally reaching a second floor.
The walls of the second floor were also covered with thin vines, but there were no other notable features that set it apart from the main level. It consisted of a long hall with several doors on each side. With no one watching me, I was tempted to poke around the other rooms, but I resisted the temptation and followed the Queen’s instructions, heading for the first door on the right.
When I arrived at the door, I knocked lightly and waited a few seconds. When no one answered, I leaned in. “Adeelee? Are you in there?”
I knocked again.
I heard a faint feminine voice but couldn’t make out what was said.
“What was that?” I asked, leaning in closer. “Adeelee?”
“The door is open,” a frail voice said a little louder.
I grabbed the handle, gently pushed in the door, and was greeted by a large but simple room. The floors and walls were a creamy white marble like much of the palace, and thin vines grew up each corner of the room, continuing ‘til they all met at the center of the ceiling. There was a table with plenty of seating in the middle of the room, a dresser, cabinets, and a marble bed set off to the side where Adeelee was lying. A large window brightened the area, while pink and yellow flower accents were darted about.
I felt mixed emotions when I saw Adeelee lying on her side in the bed, the fluffy white pillow below her head soa
ked with tears. Her hair was tossed about, and so was her skirt, revealing the upper portion of her thin, long legs, and a pair of silken, white panties underneath. I was concerned about her, but at the same time, I just couldn’t stop staring. Even in her worst moments, one look at the Princess could take a man’s breath away.
“Gunnar?” Adeelee asked as she slowly sat up in the bed. She sniffled and rubbed a finger under one of her eyes, wiping away her tears.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I scurried closer to her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know you were coming. I’m just…” She shook her head, and her lips quivered. “I’m just…”
“What’s wrong? What happened?” I questioned as I sat down beside her.
“I just…” She shook her head again. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”
“Tsarra?” I asked.
Adeelee frowned, and her eyes tightened, trying to hold back tears.
I leaned forward and put my arm around her, pulling her in close to me.
Adeelee rested her head on my shoulder then slid down ‘til her face was pressed against my chest. “I knew it could happen someday. There’s always that risk when you use a Great Beast in battle. But we had been together so long. It’s just so hard…”
“I understand,” I said and patted her back gently, though in reality, I had no understanding of how she felt. I could only imagine how devastating it would be if I ever lost Sora, and Sora and I hadn’t been together very long. Not knowing what else I could say to comfort her, I just followed up with, “Everything is going to be okay.”
“I’m glad you made it here unharmed,” Adeelee muttered, though I didn’t really understand the context, since she knew I could recall to the Vale. “Thank you so much for everything.” She took a deep breath, pushed herself off of my chest, and wiped the moisture from her cheeks. She mustered her best smile and looked me in the eyes. “Really. Thank you so much. For saving me, for everything.”
I smiled and shrugged. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Adeelee glanced down and sniffled again before looking back up at me. “I’m happy you came. I’m starting to feel better already.”
I scratched the side of my head shyly. “I’m glad to be here… I mean, I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
Adeelee took a deep breath before leaning in and wrapping her arms around me, burying her head deep into my chest. It was so strange to see her so vulnerable and frail, so different from the spirited Princess I had first come to know.
I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands, whether to embrace her tightly or merely accept her hug, but the feeling of the Princess squeezing her soft body against mine and her smell—that comforting natural, perfume-like smell that I had only experienced when being near an elf—was making me delirious.
I placed my palms gently on Adeelee’s back, and the longer she lay there, squeezing on me, the more my mind started to wander. Those silky legs… that short skirt… that gorgeous face. The timing was inappropriate, but after our last kiss—on the hill, right after our encounter with the Dark Hand—something was pulling me closer and closer to her in a manner I couldn’t resist. My hands moved downward ever so slowly, until they stopped at a soft, fleshy area right at the beginning of her ass.
Adeelee looked up to me when she felt my hands change position, and she stared at me with glistening wet eyes for several long seconds. Slowly, her eyelids closed, and she leaned her face closer to me until her lips touched mine.
Her mouth was just as soft as I remembered, and I could taste the salty tears that had fallen down her face. I allowed her to lead with the kiss, starting slow, but quickly changing to a little faster mushing of our lips. Her hand reached up to my face and tiny fingertips traced down my cheek and across the bottom of my chin.
My heart was pounding, and blood was rushing to my groin. The passion in Adeelee’s kisses validated our previous two kisses, which had both caught me off guard. This time, though still unexpected, I was ready and accepting of everything she had to give me.
I had been timid about intimacy in Eden’s Gate, mainly letting things play out rather than actively seeking sex in the game, but I had acquired a little bit of NPC relationship experience after spending time with Keysia. Further, I had been lusting after the Princess ever since I stepped foot in the game. If ‘elven pie’ was potentially on the table, specifically Adeelee’s, I wasn’t about to pass it up. I had to make a move in the moment, or I’d beat myself up forever.
I moved my hands up until they were on Adeelee’s waist and firmly picked her up and pushed her back away from me at the same time.
“Gunnar…” the Princess murmured, as I gently laid her down on the bed and crawled on top of her. She rested her elbows on the bed and held her knuckles up loosely as if she didn’t know what to do with her arms and hands.
I looked down at her, grinned and paused, making sure I hadn’t overstepped any bounds. “Are you okay?”
Adeelee’s eyes darted back and forth, scanning my face, but after a few seconds she gave a gentle nod and closed her eyes.
Just like that? I wondered. The usually proud and resolved Princess is suddenly shy? Her suddenly fragile, submissive demeanor only increased my eagerness to have her.
I leaned down and pressed my lips against Adeelee’s again, holding them there as I fumbled with my robe, trying to gain access to my ever-growing excitement.
“Ambassador?” I heard someone say outside the door.
My heart jumped as I jerked my head up, and Adeelee and I both just stared at each other with wide open eyes.
“Adeelee?” the voice cried out again. “Is everything okay in there?”
Adeelee cleared her throat. “Yes, everything is fine!”
“Meal preparations are complete. The King and Queen are waiting.”
Adeelee swallowed and adjusted her position before loudly yelling, “We’ll be right there!”
“Very well,” the voice answered.
As the footsteps began fading away, Adeelee reached up, grabbed each side of my face and pulled me closer to her. I breathed deeply as we fell back to our previous positions, and our lips met again.
I placed my hand on her thigh, and slid my fingers up her soft smooth skin, but when I was about to reach the spot I was hoping to reach, I felt something…an odd resistance. It was resistance not from Adeelee, but something inside my being.
The King will kill me, I thought.
Not figuratively but literally. I knew if the King caught me fucking his daughter in the palace, he’d almost certainly have my head. I was a human, after all, and having sex with someone in a position of power like Adeelee was risky. Doubly, doing it in the palace when I knew both the King and Queen were just around the corner was practically suicide.
I shook my head, trying to forget my negative thoughts. I wanted to take Adeelee right there, even if it cost me my life. I had been waiting for too long, dreaming about a moment of passion with her since the first day I met her in Addenfall.
I reached down to grab my tool so I could navigate it to where it needed to go, but as soon as my hand made contact, the thoughts came rushing back to me. The King will kill you. Someone will hear. What if Adeelee screams or moans? You’ve seen the King’s power. There’s no way you could outrun him. And forget about remaining a part of the elven faction if you get caught. They’re waiting on you to eat dinner!
“What’s wrong?” the Princess asked as I froze there in a muddled state.
“I don’t know… I just…” I looked her in her eyes and tilted my head to the side a bit. “What if the King sees us doing this in here?”
“He’d kill you,” Adeelee said. She grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me closer, trying to claim another kiss. “But don’t worry about that. You’re a Reborn.”
“Yeah, of course.”
When my lips touched hers again, an even colder fear washed over me, and the negative thoughts all rushed back to the for
efront of my mind. My brain told me to stop, not to hurt myself, not to get myself killed. Everything inside me told me that what I was doing was unreasonable and deadly.
I paused and sat up straight, almost reflexively.
“What is it?” Adeelee asked.
“I’m not totally sure, but I can’t… not here, not now. Your dad will kill us. Your mom will rip my head off.”
Adeelee smiled shyly, but her smile slowly melted into a frown. She lowered her eyes and scooted away, a bit, giving us both some room. She adjusted her clothes and combed her hair with her fingers. “I don’t know what got into me.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It was me, not you…”
“Yes,” the Princess said. “But I let… I…” She rattled her head. “I’m not sure what I was thinking. My emotions have been getting the best of me lately. It’s not like me.”
“No, no, no,” I said, raising my hands to her defensively. “That was real… I mean this! This isn’t your emotions getting to you.”
The Princess looked down, and her voice turned a bit cold. “It was just a kiss, right? And you were right to stop us where we were. Father would kill you, and mother would be livid.”
I couldn’t believe how the conversation had turned on its head. There I was in Adeelee’s room, and after chasing her and getting swerved by her so many times, I had finally reached a point where I was going to get some real action. How could I have possibly messed it up?
Sure, I felt some reluctance before we had even started, knowing that I still cared for Keysia and still wanting to find Rachel, but all of those thoughts were drowned out by the sight of Adeelee in bed, looking as beautiful as ever. And it was just a little sex, right? I had only been intimate with one person since entering Eden’s Gate, so it didn’t seem unreasonable to want another point of comparison. I was single, after all.