Chapter Twenty-Six
FIELD MARSHAL SHORDIAN, NEW COMMANDER OF THE HIGHLAND ARMY
“It would be a smarter move to retreat and regroup,” General Deltian said to me, “the entire chain of command has been demolished, and we’ve just finished promoting the last replacements.”
“We can’t wait,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes, “the raid last night was done for the sole purpose of launching an attack today. They have us on our heels; they will not wait for us to recover.”
“As your advisor and councilor, I am telling you, we need to fall back ASAP,” Deltian said, “there’s a bog between us and them that will slow their advance; we have time, Field Marshal, but not enough to waste.”
“No.” I said firmly, “We will deploy our troops in their assigned formations and engage with Droughtius’ plan. Every man has drilled these tactics for weeks, which makes it our best chance of winning. We’ve mapped the battle field and tailored everything to this spot; we cannot abandon all of that preparation now.”
“Brock Terdini is counting on you following Droughtius’ plan,” Deltian said with a hint of anger, “he knows we won’t be able to react quickly to changes in formation! He’s hinging his success on our predictability! We need to retreat and rethink our tactics!”
“That will be all, general.” I said with a wave of dismissal.
“Field Marshal,” Deltian said exasperatedly, “Droughtius never followed his strategy to the letter, he always improvised. He would throw this plan in the trash if the enemy’s formation did not adhere to it. We must fall ba-”
“That will be all, General!” I yelled. Deltian got up from his chair in a huff and stormed out of the tent. I would not have his words sew doubt in my mind. Droughtius’ plan would work, it had to.
COLONEL BORTIUS
“Orders, commander?” I asked General Deltian as he stormed out the field marshal’s tent.
“Get the division in formation,” General Deltian growled, “light chain and poles today; no long swords, no spears.”
“That goes against Droughtius’ formation.” I responded.
“I want a line of long poles stretching the entire front of the light infantry columns,” Deltian said, ignoring my objection, “I want them aimed for the hills.”
“Are you expecting a mounted charge into our side-columns?” I asked.
“I don’t know what Brock’s cooking,” Deltian said, “but he’s not as stupid as Shordian wants him to be. His one tactical advantage is those hills, and he will use them to full effect. Long poles, light chain, and long shields. Leave all extra supplies here.”
“Why?” I asked, “We’ll need them when we advance into The Tundra.”
“We’re not advancing a fucking foot today.”
CAPTAIN GRERTIAN
“Officers!” Colonel Bortius yelled, “light chain and long poles! Leave supplies here! Companies A though E, front lines, column one. Companies F through J, front lines, column four.”
“Front line, Sir?” I asked. I was the captain of G company of the first light infantry division, and our original orders were to stay in column one, ten rows back. For some fucking reason, General Deltian wanted his entire division spread out along the front lines of columns one and four, right in front of the two hills.
“Orders, Captain.” Colonel Bortius said. I could tell by the look in his eye that something was wrong. The raid last night took out almost half our commanders, leaving General Deltian one of the few veterans left. Whatever the new field marshal was planning, Deltian was going against it. There was no way Shordian would allow one division to spread out this thin. Deltian had lost confidence in command, and was going rogue.
“Alright, you heard him, men.” I said to my company, “Long poles and light chain. Short-sword side arms. Whatever’s coming down those hills, we’re going to have to hold them. I want checker-board formations: long shield, pole, long shield, pole. Take a shit, take a piss, jerk-off, and suit up.”
“Yes, sir!” my company roared. I had a sickening feeling that most of them weren’t making it out alive.
PRIVATE FREYTIAN
“We’re going to the front?!” Daklian exclaimed.
“That’s what it sounds like,” I said as I screwed the spearhead into the twelve-foot pole, “new command, new plan.”
“We were supposed to be half-way down the column!” Daklian stammered, clearly losing his nerve.
“Relax, pussy,” I said as I tested the weight of the pole, “the heavies are taking the brunt of the attack, we just have to close in on the sides; we’ll be fine.”
“Why would Deltian spread his entire division into the front?” Daklian said as he hoisted the shield onto his back.
“Who fucking knows,” I said as I strapped the last piece of mail onto my torso, “command’s always doing something to make things more complicated than they need to be.”
“I don’t know, man…” Daklian said, “something’s fucked up.”
We walked across the buoyant wooden paths the engineers had built over the bog. Murky water and sludge sloshed over the sides and wetted out boots. My feet were fucking soaked by the time we got across.
“Hey, you!” an officer yelled at me, “What’s you’re regiment ID?”
“First light infantry, G company, Sir.” I replied.
“Where the fuck are you going?!”
“Entire division’s moving to the front.”
“What?!” the officer yelled.
“See what I mean?” Daklian said nervously, “We’re not supposed to be doing this!”
“Orders, Sir.” I replied to the officer and kept walking.
The entire division lined up at the fronts of columns one and four. The cavalry rode along the outsides of both columns, while the heavies moved in the middle and formed columns two and three. The archer divisions moved behind the heavies, and the mages came in behind columns one and four. Ballista and trebuchets covered our advance and moved slowly behind us until they were in place at the rear. The entire army stretched for half a mile, standing about a thousand yards back from the two hills. We stood, and waited.
We heard the orc horde before we saw them. The ground shook and the air filled with a low rumble. Deklian shifted nervously next to me. The rumbling grew to a roar as the horde neared, and I could start to make out the sound of a chant. Some three-syllable word was being shouted from behind the hills. Rah-rah-rah, rah-va-rah, ya-va-rah,-Yah-va-rah- Ya-var-a, Yavara, Yavara, Yavara. The tens of thousands appeared along the valley between the hill tops. They shouted the name of The Dark Queen at that the tops of their lungs. They drove their spears-butts into the ground and smashed their swords against their shields as they yelled. I heard the terrifying growls and wines of the war dogs and the familiar trot of horse hooves. Thousands of wargs and centaurs soon lined the hilltops, staring down at us from above. The chanting of ‘Yavara’ grew louder and louder until she appeared.
I’d heard rumors of The Dark Queen’s power, but I’d never seen it for myself. She rocketed through the sky like a fucking missile and shot over our army, way too high for our archers to reach her. Her horde roared as she ascended into the sun. I couldn’t help but gawk. She had black armor that gleamed in the sunlight, with golden highlights on her shoulders and chest. She circled above our army threateningly, like an eagle scouting its prey. And then she dove. I watched in terror and amazement as Yavara shot right for the siege weapons. They fired their salvos and missed her completely. She blasted right through a row of seven trebuchets, smashing the instruments into splinters and sending the pieces into the back of our army. She was low enough for our archers now, but their arrows seemed to bounce off her like they were pebbles. She shot through another trebuchet, causing an explosion of wood and beams to blast into our rear. The mages finally started firing their attacks and she ascended into the sky, but not before lifting ten unfortunate souls with her and dropping them from a hundred feet up.
The orcs screamed their thunderous war cry and charged into the valley. Our cavalry moved from our flanks and charged up the hill. The centaurs and wargs tucked to the inside of the hill and gave our cavalry the outside. The remaining ballista and trebuchet loaded and fired, sending hundreds of shot and boulders flying over our heads and crashing into the advancing horde. Yavara’s attack had delayed the siege weapons long enough to only allow three salvos. Massive holes appeared in the orc’s lines as the missiles ripped through them. The holes closed almost instantly, and the horde kept their pace. At three hundred yards, our last salvo was fired, but the horde had advanced close enough for our archers. Tens of thousands of arrows were released at once, forming a swarm of deadly wood that rained onto the charging orcs. They fell by the thousands, but still, they advanced. At two hundred yards, our archers fired another wave. The orcs were noticeably thinner now, and I could see the back of their army. It was much smaller than we thought. This was going to be easy.
The orc heavy infantry crashed into our center. Our heavies buckled under the strain of the attack, but maintained their line. Men in golden armor were sent screaming as the large orcs ripped them from the ground and threw them over their shoulders. I could make out the tribal headpiece of The Froktora in the vanguard, his massive body barreling through our lines like we were made of twigs. The light infantry held our formation as the heavies methodically fell back. The orcs were doing enormous damage to our heavies, but they were still holding the line, for the most part. Brock’s personal vanguard were smashing through our center with ease. I’d heard legend of The Terdini, but I never realized they were that fucking big. They stood almost a foot taller than the other orcs, and fought with relentless brutality. They pressed through our center and formed a spearhead for the rest of the horde. Our heavies wavered and fell back, but we stayed at that the flanks. Soon the entire orc horde was in the claws of our trap. Now was our time.
The light infantry divisions began to close in on the flanks of the orcs. I turned to join in on the imminent slaughter, but Captain Grertian stopped us.
“Face the hill!” he roared, frantically moving down the line to keep us in place.
“Captain, they’re-”
“Hold ranks, face the hill!”
I saw why the captain was adamantly ordering us to stand fast. The orc wargs and centaurs had pushed our cavalry to the outside, and formed a lane that thousands of orcs were now barreling through. The only men in position to stop the advancing army was our division. Now I understood why we’d been given poles and shields. General Deltian had foreseen this, but no one else had. Every other light infantry division was engaged with the orc heavies, their flanks completely exposed to the incoming attack, the only thing to save them from slaughter was the one rogue division that had prepared. We would hold this line to save the army, and we were all going to die doing it.
“Freytian,” Deklian said with a trembling voice, “I’m shitting my pants.”
“So am I, old friend,” I said, shitting all over myself, but holding my pole steady, “so am I.”
We screamed in primal terror and dug our heels into the dirt. The horde crashed into us, sending us sliding back five feet, but we held the line. I skewered three orcs just by holding my pole steady. Deklian was frantically stabbing over his shield with his short sword and screaming at the top of his lungs. I thrust my pole forward until it was weighed down with the wrenching bodies of dying orcs, and then dropped it and drew my sword. I grabbed the side of Deklian’s shield and pushed against the mass of orcs, our heels sliding in the dirt. I thrust over my head again and again, each blind stab meeting its mark, impossible to miss against the wall of bodies. We slid back further and further. The men on either side of me were grabbed and thrown backward into the orcs. The line was failing fast; shield after shield was falling backward on either side of us, orcs pouring through the openings like water through a breaking dam. Deklian screamed out next to me and fell. I reached for him, but was pushed back, and could only watch as he was dragged beneath my shield.
Captain Grertian rushed in to take Deklian’s place and pushed against the other side of the shield. We screamed and pushed, constantly sliding back as the line burst around us and orcs flooded through. They were on our sides and behind us, and I was painfully aware that every breath I was taking could be my last. I looked at Gretian with terror in my eyes. He looked back at me and smiled manically.
“Let’s fucking DIE!” he roared.
An insane grin crept across my lips. We nodded and dropped the shield, causing the orcs pushing against it to fall between us. We stabbed them in the backs and rushed head-long into the wall of bodies, screaming manically with eyes wide in terror. I cut down three orcs before I was impaled and trampled. I looked up at the last rays of the sun I’d ever see and smiled before a heavy boot came crashing down.
GENERAL DELTIAN
“Get to the fucking front!” I yelled, physically dragging soldiers from their flanking positions.
The line my men were holding on column one was breaking fast, and the line on column four had already been overrun. Our cavalry was still bottled up against the centaurs and wargs, and our only hope of keeping column one from collapsing was to get as many light infantry to the front as possible. The replacement generals were fumbling around, issuing contradictory orders and frantically waving their swords. The veteran generals were all thinking what I was thinking: if columns one and four collapse, we’re all fucked. We’d be surrounded and massacred. The veteran generals all ran to the flanking light infantry and pushed them to the front. When we’d amassed enough men, we charged.
I’d never been prouder of my men. My entire division held the line for the precious few minutes we needed to launch a counter attack. I raced toward the last surviving members of my division and watched in anguish as the fell. I was the general of no one now. I screamed my war cry and crashed into the advancing orcs. I sliced though one of their necks and ducked before an axe decapitated me. I struck my assailant in the nose with my elbow before driving my sword into his eye. My men rushed behind me and pushed the line forward, pinning my body against the chest of an orc. He raised his arm to bring his hammer down before I bit into his neck and ripped backward. Black blood spurted onto my face and armor, and the orc fell into the advancing wall of beasts behind him.
A bolt of lightning blasted from behind the orcs and struck an elf in the chest. The electricity bounced from man to man until twenty of them were fried. Zander Fredeon appeared from the crowd, shooting spells wildly from his fingers and staff, cutting down tens of elves at a time. I fought my way through the mass of orc bodies, dodging attacks and carving their exposed flesh. I was covered head-to-toe in black blood by the time I’d made it to the wizard. I bull-rushed Zander, attacking his blind side. I raised my sword and struck downward before I was thrown off my feet. I looked up to see The Dark Queen racing just above the front, shooting a shockwave of air that blasted elves backward to the ground. The orcs advanced and killed the dazed soldiers where they lay. I scrambled back just as Yavara turned in the air and came back for another round. The entire elven line was blown ten feet back, hundreds of men at a time, and then cut down by the orcs. I stood up just in time to block a sword and stick my own in the orc’s belly. Yavara turned in the air and came back for another one. A hundred scorching fireballs consumed The Dark Queen. She put up her shield just in time and retreated. The mages had finally fucking come.
FIELD MARSHAL SHORDIAN
Everything had gone wrong. It looked like my cavalry would break to the outside and flank the wargs and centaurs, but the enemy mounts just held them there while forty thousand orcs rushed into my light infantry. If it weren’t for a single division that held the line, columns one and four would have collapsed. The rest of the light infantry had gotten in place just in time to hold off the advance, and the mages had come before The Dark Queen could do too much damage. Still, the battle was lost. The heavy infantry relied on the support of the light infantry on the flanks, and without that, their line was being pushed back into the archers. We needed to retreat before the heavy infantry line broke, and the orcs in the middle smashed through our vulnerable ranged units.
“Glordias and Frytian,” I said to my messengers, “tell the cavalry to break off their attack and hit the orc light infantry on the flanks. Dwandian, tell the heavy-infantry generals to pull back, and leave three sacrificial divisions to cover our retreat. Erisian, Karlian, tell the light infantry divisions to perform a tactical retreat to the bog, and ranged divisions to cover them. Tell the mages to hold off the enemy advance for as long as possible; make sure they stay intact, they’re too valuable to lose.”
The messengers rode off. We’d lose at least five-thousand men in the retreat, but it was better than the whole army. I ordered the ballista and trebuchets to fire at danger-close. We needed to punch holes in the orc army before we turned tail. The salvo of siege munitions shot over the heads of my men and into the horde. A few errant projectiles crashed into the backs of my own heavy infantry, poking gaping holes in their line. It was unfortunate, but necessary.
I watched as the golden helmets of my men turned around and came streaming for the bog. The sacrificial divisions held on admirably, allowing most of us to get onto the wooden paths. We abandoned the siege engines where they were, burning what we could before high-tailing it across the bog. I waited for as many men as possible to get across, and then ordered the ropes cut. The men left on the buoyant paths screamed out as the orcs descended upon them. I watched in grim silence as they frantically dove into the muck, and then never resurfaced.
I’d be stripped of my rank and titles for this catastrophe, I knew that much. I’d recommend General Deltian as my replacement. Without his leadership, we’d have all died on the field. I said a silent prayer and made my decision. I walked to the field marshal’s tent, wrote my letter of recommendation, and then drove a dagger into my chest.
BROCK
“State your name and regiment ID.” I said to the elf as I packed my lip with tobacco.
“Captain Grertian, first light infantry division, G company.” The wounded elf said.
“Who is the commander of the first light infantry division?” I asked.
“General Bractus Deltian.” He responded.
“General Bractus Deltian…” I murmured, not recognizing the name, “it was he that ordered you to bring poles and shield?”
“It was.”
“And no other division commanders ordered such a thing?”
“No.”
“He’ll be field marshal tomorrow,” I sighed, and then looked to my son, “our days of easy victories are behind us.”
“Why do you say that?” Trenok asked.
“This general ordered his men to hold an impossible line, and they did,” I said, “this general went against high command because he knew better than they did. Every elf on that field saw the first light infantry division save their ass; they’ll demand to be led by a man like that.”
“Casualty count, sir.” An orc said and handed me a piece of paper.
“How bad is it?” Trenok asked me.
“We lost a little over ten-thousand,” I said, “mostly heavies. Gorlok lost only five hundred wargs, he should be pleased. Looks like one hundred Terdini dead, three hundred or so Protaki, five hundred centaurs, and basically an even distribution of the rest of The Ten. Not too bad.”
“And what about our casualties?” Captain Grertian asked.
“Around twenty-thousand,” I responded, “we really fucked up your heavies.”
“Do you take prisoners, Froktora?” Captain Gretian asked.
“It depends,” I said, “if Titus wants you as a vampire, he’ll take you in. If Queen Yavara wants you as a hybrid, well, you better figure out your dress size. If neither want you, then Queen Yavara’s policy is for you to pick an arm you don’t like very much. We relieve you of your least favorite appendage, and then send you on your way back home.”
The captain looked from one arm to the other, seemingly deciding which one he liked the least.
“We’ll spare you the mutilation, Captain,” I laughed, “I respect your courage too much to cut you to pieces. If I were you, I’d start thinking about investing in sun screen; Titus is gonna love you.”
LEVERIA
“…we counted a little over sixty-five thousand survivors. Your army is still intact, my queen, but we’ll need reinforcements.”
“You’ll have them, general.” I said, looking at Deltian from the mirror, “It’s my understanding that you organized a defense that likely saved the army.”
“My men fought valiantly.” General Deltian responded.
“How many of your men survived?”
“None.” General Deltian said grimly.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I replied, “Your peers and your former superior have recommended you for the position of field marshal. I agree with their praise, and have decided you will fill the vacancy left by the departed General Shordian.”
“Thank you, my queen.”
“Keep Yavara’s army out of The Highlands,” I said, “at all costs. Goodbye, Field Marshal Deltian.”
“Goodbye, my queen.”
I touched my hand to the mirror and sighed. I knew this war wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t think we’d be losing already. I rubbed my forehead and began to mull over my options. I felt two soft hands gently press against my shoulders and massage them.
“Rough day, huh?” Elena said.
“Not for you,” I replied, “I’m sure you’re ecstatic.”
“Not true,” Elena replied as she pushed her thumbs inside my shoulder blades, “those are my countrymen that died out there.”
“And now I have to find more of them,” I sighed, running my fingers through my hair, “the enemies in my court will use this loss against me. The noble court is a den of snakes, looking for any sign of weakness.”
“My mother,” Elena said, “she is of high standing; how does she feel about you?”
“Oh,” I smiled, “she’s an ardent supporter of mine; especially after she heard of the heroic actions of her daughter.”
“What?” Elena exclaimed, “but you told her I was a prisoner of war!”
“Once I made you an Alkandran diplomat, I had to make a cover story for you.” I said, “You acted as my double agent the whole time, even keeping your true purpose from my father. You killed rangers to keep Yavara’s confidence, and when the time was right, you killed Prestira Rasloraca and gave yourself over the rangers. You tactfully endured torture at the hands of your own countrymen so that Yavara would believe the lies you told her and accept you as a diplomat to my court, thinking that you still worked for her. Your mother couldn’t be more proud of her brave daughter, and understood that I had to initially lie to her about your imprisonment in order to maintain your cover.”
“I don’t know how you do it.” Elena said, shaking her head.
“Practice,” I said, smirking at her in the mirror, “and you’re getting quite good at it yourself...Ambassador.”
“My queen,” a guard said from behind my office door, “King Reagent Tiadoa is here to see you.”
“Should I…hide?” Elena asked.
“No,” I laughed, “just sit down and keep it formal.” I turned to the door, “Tell my father he may enter.”
Elena sat in the chair across from me and crossed her legs over her crotch to conceal her gift. Father walked through the door, looking even older than the last time I saw him.
“Ambassador Straltaira,” my father said to Elena, “the last time I saw you, I’d given you a mission to find my daughter.”
“And I found her,” Elena smiled, “so, mission accomplished.”
“Had I known what she’d become,” Father said, shaking his head as he sat down, “I never would have sent you on such a mission. I’m sorry for what she made you; it’s my fault.”
“It’s no one’s fault,” I said to my father, “Elena has sacrificed much for her country, and has remained loyal to her people through trying times.”
“Indeed, she has,” Father beamed at Elena, “convincing Yavara to trade her silver to us during war time was a stroke of diplomatic genius. How did you ever manage that?”
“I’ve had to do many things,” Elena smiled, uncrossing and crossing her legs, “to maintain Yavara’s trust and confidence.”
“Ha!” Father laughed, “A spy in the true sense of the word! Sleeping with enemy, Elena; that’s a dangerous game.”
“It is,” Elena said, smirking slyly at me, “but it’s all for queen and country.”
“Why have you come to see me, Father?” I asked, getting a little uncomfortable with Elena’s familiarity in front of him.
“I heard the battle at The Tundra had not gone well,” Father said, “I thought you might need my counsel.”
“Your counsel is always appreciated,” I said, “tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I was hoping to speak with you in private.” Father said.
Oh, so that’s why he’s here.
I’d been neglecting Father ever since Elena had come to Bentius. My desire for my father’s passion had dwindled rapidly since my coronation, and seeing him desperately come up here like a begging pup disgusted me. The old man didn’t have a spine anymore. I needed to end this soon. I derived no emotional pleasure from him anymore, and the risks of being caught were still very prevalent. Just because I was queen, didn’t mean I was invulnerable to internal politics. Every aristocrat with a shred of noble blood thought they had a claim to the throne. They would look for any way to undermine me, and advance their interests. After the lost battle, I couldn’t even afford rumors of incestual infidelity, much less evidence of it.
“Ambassador Straltaira, if you please…” I said, pointing to the door. Elena got up and walked out, taking a moment to look back at us with a raised eyebrow before leaving.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” Father said, “why are you avoiding me?”
“I’m very busy, Father, you know that. I’m not mindfully avoiding you,” I lied, “I’m just distracted.”
“Being a ruler is a consuming role,” Father said, “but you must not neglect the needs of those you love.”
“Do you have ‘needs?’” I smirked, “Did you come here to fulfill them?”
“Yes.”
“Am I your queen or your whore?” I asked.
“You’re my daughter, my lover, and the mother of my unborn child.”
“I’m two of those things,” I said coldly, “you’ve lost your passion.”
“Old age removes many things.”
“You fucked me like an animal just a few weeks ago,” I said, lighting a cigarette, “but something’s changed.”
“The betrayal of your mother and sister,” Father said, dropping his head, “it’s made my age catch up with me.”
“I don’t think that’s the only thing,” I replied though a mouth of smoke, “I think what’s really aging you is your abdication. Power and control kept vigor in your life; now you wallow about the castle with nothing to do.”
“My love of power left me when its consequences bore fruit,” Father smiled sadly, “I don’t desire it anymore. My only love in this world is you.”
“That’s sweet,” I smiled sarcastically, “but it hasn’t left me.”
“You’re young and full of ambition,” Father chuckled, “wait until you’re my age. You’ll be old, tired and filled with doubt and regret.”
“I don’t think I will be,” I said through a cloud of smoke, “I think there’s a difference between you and I. You once said we were very much alike; that we lusted for power above all else, but it seems one of us covets it more than the other.”
“Perhaps you’re right.” Father replied.
“And therein lies the problem,” I said, “because I’ve done some soul-searching over the past few days, and I’ve realized: my love for another person is entwined with my love of power. I need someone to challenge me, to defy me, to look at my demonstrations of power and sneer at them. You used to provide me with this love, but no longer.”
“And Elena provides you with this love?” Father asked, smiling at the surprise on my face, “Oh, come now, Leveria; just because I’m old doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
“Are you jealous?” I asked as I put the cigarette in my mouth.
“No,” Father smiled, “I just want you to be happy.”
“And I just want you to be jealous.” I replied, disgusted at his weakness.
“I’m not that man anymore.”
“You’re hardly a man at all.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That struck Father, but not in the way I wanted. The rage wasn’t there anymore, only sadness. He was a pathetic, weak man, and I was going to treat him as such.
“Drop your pants,” I commanded, “now.”
Father looked at me with confusion on his face, but pulled his pant down nonetheless. I stood up and walked over to him sultrily, sliding my pale, thick legs out from the slits on the sides of my dress. I loomed over my father and raised a naked leg up, pressing the heel of my stiletto shoe into his groin. He cried out, and I sneered at his pain with the cigarette burning between my lips.
“You used to be such a domineering man,” I said, pushing my heel harder, “you used to just take me whether I wanted it or not, you didn’t ask, you didn’t beg. I miss that man, Father, where has he gone?”
“Leveria,” Father gasped in pain, “stop!”
“Stop?” I laughed cruelly, “Stop? That’s all you can say? A few weeks ago, if I did this to you, you would have made me sit on this heel. You would have abused me like I wanted, and punished me for my insolence. Now look at you: begging for mercy like a little bitch.”
“Leveria!” Father cried, “Please!”
“I’ll give you what you want, Daddy,” I said with a puff of smoke, “I’ll give you what you came here for, but you’re not going to like how I give it to you.”
I took a pull from the cigarette and leaned forward, blowing a smoke ring into Daddy’s terrified face. I smirked at his fright and pushed my cigarette into his thigh. He let out a yelp of pain, and I drove my heel harder into his crotch.
“Shhhh” I said, putting a finger over his lips, “we don’t want the guards to come in, do we?”
Father shook his head, his face reddening in pain. I raised my foot from his crotch and giggled at his gasps of relief. I kept one foot planted threateningly just below his balls while I raised my other leg and pushed my stiletto-heel into the back of the chair, right next to his head. My bare legs extended from the slits on the sides of my dress, leaving a sheet of fabric hanging between my thighs.
“Well, Daddy,” I smirked down at the pathetic, old man, “come get what you came here for.”
Daddy nervously leaned forward and dipped his head beneath the hanging fabric of my dress. I let out a small gasp and closed my eyes. His tongue slid between my pedals and lathered my froth. I reached down and held him there, not letting him come up for air. I lit another cigarette and savored this new dynamic to our relationship. This couldn’t last, but I’d enjoy it while it did.
“That’s it, Daddy,” I sighed pleasurably through a cloud of smoke, “eat your baby’s cunt.”
I decided I was still being too nice to Daddy. I grabbed his face and pushed his head over the top of the chair, fixing his gaze to the ceiling. I smirked at his frightened eyes as I slung one leg over the back of the chair, and then the other, forcing his head between my thighs and my pelvis onto his mouth. I leaned forward, putting all my weight onto him, dangling my bare legs over the back of the chair. I looked down and laughed as I watched my father’s head moving beneath my dress. He finally got his mouth into position, and began to obediently suck on my clit. I tilted my head back and moaned, placing my hands between my legs and grabbing his hair while shifting my weight forward. His mouth sucked harder, pulling my clit with his lips and teasing it with his tongue. My thighs squeezed together and held his head firmly in place as a shutter ran through me. Little gasps of pleasure began to seep from my lips with the cigarette still burning between them. I shifted forward until my legs were dangling straight-legged off the chair’s back, forcing my father’s head to tilt uncomfortably upward. I rode him like that, my pelvis grinding across his face, the back of his head pushing into the wood crowning of the chair's top.
I traced my hands up my naked torso and slipped them beneath the silk that covered my breasts. I pinched a nipple in each hand and pulled outward as I grinded on Daddy’s face. Daddy’s tongue slid into my cunt and began running along my ceiling. I closed my eyes blissfully as soft cries of pleasure began to slip from my smiling mouth. Father reached up and grabbed my ass with both hands, squeezing my cheeks and pushing me harder against his face. I let out a delighted gasp that sent my cigarette falling from my lips. I grinded harder in response to my father’s grip, dragging my slit across his tongue and pressing my asshole to his chin. Two fingers from each of Daddy's hands crept between my ass cheeks and pushed against my rim. I shifted my weight backward slightly, moaning while gyrating my hips, telling him with my body exactly what I wanted him to do. His fingers pushed in, and my eyes flashed open.
Daddy was trying desperately to take back control. He pulled on my rim, stretching me gaping, sending delightful shocks of pain into my colon. My spine arched, my arms straightening and pushing down on his head, my neck curving back as my face tilted to the ceiling. He dug into me deeper, forcing a growl of pleasure to rumble from my chest. I pushed my pelvis down, bringing more of his tongue into my slit, savoring the methodical way he was moving inside of me.
“Deeper!” I commanded lecherously. He complied, pushing his four fingers to the knuckle and spreading hard, forcing my ass to gape. A quiver ran down my spine and I clenched around his fingers, willing him to push back against my resistances. His tongue pressed against my vaginal ceiling, relentlessly driving along my sensitive spot, causing my legs to closed around him like a bear trap.
“That’s right, Daddy,” I panted, my dress darkening with sweat, “fill your daughter’s insides, you weak, old, piece of shit!”
I pressed forward a little more, crying out in pleasure as he drove two more fingers into my ass and pushed his tongue forcefully against my spot. I shifted my weight back and forth across him, riding his mouth and lathering his face with my juices.
“Daddy!” I moaned, “I’m going to come in your mouth!”
My voice shook with pleasurable strain and my breathing became desperate and rapid. My holes clenched around Daddy as my shoulders hunched and I pressed down on his head. My legs began to twitch and shake involuntarily as little spasms of ecstasy traced up my pelvis. My asshole convulsed around my father’s fingers; clenching and constricting with frantic randomness. I panted and cried out, the ecstatic quaking in my nethers rising and taking over my body. I looked down and held back a scream as I came, squirting my orgasmic juices into my father’s mouth. At the precipice of my climax, I lurched forward, pushing my full weight off the back of the chair. Daddy’s neck snapped with a sickening crack, and his dead fingers fell limply from my gaping ass.
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I’d never murdered with my own hands before. I thought I might feel regret or guilt, but I didn’t. I felt…good. I felt the blood coursing through my veins like it was burning inside me. I felt each and every heartbeat thumping in my chest. I could hear minute sounds in crystal clarity that I’d never noticed before, as though my senses were heightened.
I didn’t feel sorrow for killing the man I once loved; I felt sorrow for letting him live this long. I had watched as he allowed himself to succumb to weakness, and shrink to a shadow of the great man he once was. I should have faked his suicide after mother’s execution, and spared him the few weeks of monotony that allowed him to stoop so low.
I pulled his pants up and cleaned myself of his face. I closed his dead eyes dispassionately, their familiar gaze meaning nothing to me anymore. I adjusted myself in the mirror, and then dragged his corpse to a nearby table. I pushed a vase off the edge of the table, and screamed.
The guard came rushing in with his hand on his hilt.
“Get Glendian!” I shrieked, crocodile tears streaming down my cheeks. The guard rushed out and Elena came racing in.
“Holy fuck, what happened?!” Elena screamed.
“I don’t know…” I sobbed, “One moment he was…and the next...his heart…”
Elena rushed to my father’s corpse and placed her hand on his pulse. She closed her eyes and counted silently, and then lifted the dead king’s head to listen for breaths. She stopped and stared at me.
“He has a broken neck.” She said, looking at me with fear in her eyes for the first time.
“No,” I said coldly, “he had a heart attack.”
“Why?” Elena asked, her voice wavering.
“Because he was weak,” I said, a little disappointed at Elena’s fear, “because his existence was a threat to me, but provided me with no joy.”
Glendian raced into the room and pulled out a potion. He tilted my father’s head up and then came to the same realization that Elena had. He looked at me and nodded.
“What was the cause of death, my queen?” he asked.
“A heart attack, Glendian.” I replied.
“That is my conclusion as well.” Glendian scowled before casting a spell that healed my father’s spine, “I’ll make the preparations.”
Glendian ordered three guards to help carry my father’s body. The old mage stared at me as he left. Elena and I sat in silence for a moment. I felt guilt, but not for murdering my father. I felt guilty because Elena knew I had done it, and that knowledge would change the relationship we had.
“I wonder,” Elena said as she looked at me, “how long I have until I bring you no joy.”
“Do I frighten you?” I asked, feeling the blood-lust leave me. I didn’t want Elena to be afraid of me, I wanted her to love me. “You don’t have to be afraid of me, Elena.”
“I thought I knew your limits,” Elena said, “but I was wrong. You loved your father more than anyone, and you killed him because he was an inconvenience.”
“I didn’t love him,” I said, looking at the floor, “I thought I did, but what I really loved was the power he gave me. I loved taking things from him, and now I’ve taken everything. I think I might have hated him all along.”
“And me?” Elena asked, “What do you enjoy taking from me?”
“Nothing,” I said, feeling tears welling in my eyes as I stared at the floor, “I don’t want to take anything from you. I want to give you everything, but you don’t want what I have to give.”
Elena’s hand tilted my head up by the chin. She stared into my eyes with a kind gaze.
“Do you love me, Leveria?” she asked.
“Yes.” I gasped, as tears streaked down my cheeks. I didn’t have the courage to ask her if she felt the same, I just wanted her to know how I felt. Elena pushed the tears from my face with a tender thumb.
“I should hate you,” Elena whispered as she gazed into my eyes, “I want to hate you, but I don’t, Leveria. The moments we share; I’m not faking them. When I kiss you, I’m not doing it to manipulate you…I’m doing it because I want to. Because I want you. You’re a monster, a psychopath and a murderer, but I just can’t fucking hate you.”
Elena grabbed my face fiercely and brought it within an inch of her own. She was shaking, her hands trembling as they held me, her words quaking with emotion.
“You asked me if you frighten me;” Elena whispered hoarsely, “you don’t. But I’m scared, Leveria, I’m scared because every day I’m with you, I wander further away from Yavara, and closer to you. I’m scared, because one of these days, I’ll have to choose between the two of you. I’m scared that I’ll choose you.”
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Elena pushed her face against mine, our lips pressing together and opening in fierce a kiss. The tears on my face wetted her cheeks as we desperately shared our mouths. I entangled a hand in her platinum hair, and she roughly pulled the straps of my dress down, yielding my ample, pale breasts. Her hands hungrily sunk into the tender flesh of my bosom, forcing my nipples to protrude between her thumbs and forefingers. My hands left her hair and made their way to her back. I fumbled with the buttons of her dress and then gave up, and ripped it from the seams. She pushed hard against me, her throbbing cock pressing on to my soaking nethers. I pulled the tattered remains of her dress past her shoulders and breasts, relishing the warmth of her tits pressed against my own.
Elena moved from my mouth and kissed me down my neck. Her lips found a nipple and she wrapped them around it. My head tilted back and pushed against the floor. My back arched from its relaxed position, ardently pressing my chest forward and my nipple deeper into the mouth of the nursing hermaphrodite. Elena didn’t bother with the foreplay, and instead fumbled with her member until it pushed against my slit. My fingers entwined together around Elena’s head, pushing her deeper to my breast. Elena sucked my entire areola into her mouth, and the thrust her cock all the way into me.
I took her in gratefully, crying out at the feeling of her warm hardness breaking through my insides. I wrapped a leg around her waist, my foot pushing onto her supple ass, driving her forward, willing her to take me with her passion.
“Oh god, fuck me, Elena!” I cried. Elena sucked harder on my nipple and drove ferociously into my dripping cunt. My soft pussy lips were pushed inside of me with the forcefulness of her thrusts, and gripped her greedily as she pulled out. The top of her shaft ran along the underside of my clit with each push, sending delightful tingles of pleasure into my pelvis. My insides stretched delectably around her girth, expanding me in just the right way, every inch of her cock pressing against the walls of my sensitive channel. She was brutal were her thrusts, just like I wanted, but her movements bore no malice, only desperate passion. She was making love to me, not just fucking me.
Her hands left my breasts and slid under my ass. She spun us around until I was the one on top. She wanted me to make love to her. We were equals in this passion, and now it was my turn show her what I could give, so I gave her my all. I straddled upright on top of her and looked mischievously into her eyes with a promiscuous smile. I began to grind my hips in a circular pattern, causing my pussy to rotate around her cock. My torso flexed and stretched in my lustful dance, my back arching slightly to keep my weight centered on her cock. Elena reacted beautifully, her eyes widening and her mouth falling agape.
“Do you like that?” I gasped between moans.
“Yes!” Elena cried out, “Don’t stop!”
I smiled and kept my pace, but grinded harder, pushing my pelvis forcefully against her own. Her head pressed to the floor and tilted back, a strained cry singing from her throat. I giggled at her lustful response, watching as her bronze body twitched and flexed in reaction to my movements. The way her cock stirred inside of me was slowly driving me insane. I gave in the instincts of my body, and began to grind with deeper, more impassioned movements. I lurched forward and sunk my fingers into Elena’s perfect breasts. Her hips drove up in response, lifting me off the floor. I put my whole back into my motions; hunching as I pushed back and then arching intensely as I pulled forward, as though my entire body were moving in lustful waves. Elena growled and squeezed her fingers deeper into my ass cheeks, forcing my flesh to protrude delectably from between her fingers. She learned the methodical movements of my passion, and began to enthusiastically participate. She drove her hips upward as I hunched and pushed down, and let her hips fall as I stretched and pulled up. The result was a deep, grinding penetration that sent her cock breaking into me with long, full movements. Our voices reflected the impassioned sensuality of our sex, with drawn-out moans that rose and fell with our motions.
Elena decided it was time to speed things up. I continued my deep bodily oscillations, but increased the pace. The intensity burned through me, and I gripped Elena’s breasts until my knuckles were white. My diaphragm flexed with each push, yielding heavy gasps from my gaping mouth. Elena drove into my cunt with harder and harder thrusts, and I pushed back against her with equal ferocity. We fucked faster and faster, until my blonde hair was whipping chaotically in the air. The sweat poured from our bodies and slickened our movements. I slid up and down Elena’s bronze torso, my voice rising in pitch, my moans turning to cries. Elena increased the pace to a frenetic cadence, the beat of our passion punctuated by the slapping or our skin and the clapping of my ass. My pussy was brutalized with her ferociousness, forcing delightful spasms deep into my pelvis. We screamed out together, our voices fluctuating with the rapid drives our lust.
“Elena, you're making me come!” I cried. Elena didn’t let up on me; she continued her forceful thrusts, and I responded with impassioned drives.
“Oh, fuck!” Elena screamed.
I flexed against her cock as she blasted it into me. I felt her throbbing and pulsating against my walls. Her orgasm was rising, and the way her cock felt as it engorged with cum was driving me into a frenzy. Deep contractions of pleasure twitched inside me. The pressure of my climax grew and expanded, ballooning from my center and outward to my legs and torso. I panted my elation with Elena, our eyes locked and quivering, our mouth agape and gasping. She drove into me with one last powerful thrust, sending me screaming over the edge. Elena screeched her own exaltation and blasted her seed into my womb. I sustained my note and twitched violently on top of her, my heart fluttering and my legs quivering in delight. Elena squeezed my ass as she cathartically yelled the last throes of her lust. We stayed breathless and panting, stuck in euphoric static, before our bodies fell to the floor in blissful satisfaction. I stayed on top of Elena and reveled in her warmth and smell. She recovered from her passion and took me beneath the arms. She dragged my body upward until we were face to face, and then she kissed me deeply. My pussy leaked her cum and my juices onto her body, and I slid my body into them, wanting the hot liquid of our passion to seep into my skin. Our tongues and lips communicated the depth of our ardency. We stayed locked together, neither of us wanting to break the moment. Eventually Elena pulled away, pushing a strand of my hair over a pointed ear.
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“I think your master plan of Stockholm syndrome is working.” She smiled.
“It doesn’t have to stay this way,” I whispered, “I won’t hold your mother over you, Elena; I’ll let you go, if you wish.”
“I still have so much work to do,” Elena giggled, “I can’t leave you to your own devices in the middle of a war. I’m afraid you’d commit a genocide just to get me back.”
“I’ll drag this war on forever if it means you’ll stay.” I smiled.
Elena smiled back and gently traced her fingers along my back. I rested my head between her breasts and listened to the comforting sound of her heart. Elena took my face in her hand and looked at me sternly.
“You have a husband, Leveria,” she said, “this can’t last forever.”
“I had a father too.” I responded. Elena frowned, and I regretted saying it.
“Did you enjoy killing him?” Elena asked.
“I did.” I said honestly.
“Was this the first time you’ve killed someone with your own hands?”
“Yes,” I said, “how was your first?”
“The first time I went out on a raid,” Elena said, shifting her body until I was snuggled in her arms, “I was attacked by an incubus. I tackled the creature and pulled out my knife. He transformed desperately from man to man, wondering why I wasn’t reacting to him. I told him that his tricks wouldn’t work on me, and then I killed him with a stab to the heart.”
“But did you enjoy it?” I asked.
“At first,” Elena said, “I did. I felt powerful, I felt my senses heighten, like every breath I took yielded the sounds of the forest, as if it was breathing with me.”
“And then?”
“And then the feeling left me,” Elena said, studying me, “and killing lost its thrill, and it simply became duty. But it haunts me, Leveria. I see the incubus’s fear as he desperately searched for a way out. I see the exact moment he realized he was going to die. And then I see his dead eyes looking at me in my mind, as though his soul were trying to live through my memories. You will see your father’s dead eyes staring at you in your sleep tonight. They’ll stay with you for months, and then they’ll go away, and you’ll think they’re gone for good. One night, many years from now, you’ll have forgotten all about your father’s eyes. And then you’ll see them again. They’ll stare at you with no empathy or judgement. They’ll just stare. And you will know, Leveria, you will know they will never leave you.”
PLOT POINTS
The battle of The Tundra commences. Yavara's army wins, and Leveria's army is barely saved by the actions of General Deltian. Yavara made sure to display her power prominently during the battle.
General Deltian become field marshal of Leveria's army, supplanting the former Field Marhsal Shordian, who committed suicide after the loss.
Brock is worried that the new field marshal may be a strong opponent.
Leveria worries about how the loss will effect her power in the noble court. She tells Elena that there are people in the noble court who seek to undermine her.
Leveria tells Elena that she has fabricated a story for Elena. According to Leveria, Elena acted as a double agent for The Highlands the whole time, and still acts as a double agent even though she is Yavara's diplomat. Leveria told this lie to all the nobles, including Elena's mother, who formerly believed Elena to be a traitor.
Leveria kills her father because she no longer loves him, and his existence is a liability.
Leveria tells Elena that she loves her. Elena reveals that is scared she might have strong feelings for Leveria.
Leveria tells Elena she will no longer threaten her mother, but Elena decides to stay with Leveria anyway.
