by Eric Vall
“Master, thank you for teaching me,” she gasped in my ear.
I kissed her fully on the lips, and she melted into me. Our mouths moved passionately against each other, and we drank in one another for a few moments. When we parted, I held her hand in mine and led her back to the encampment for bed.
I was tired after the long day and yearned to sleep cuddled in the same bed with all of my minions. I wanted nothing but their soft bodies pressed against mine from all angles and even longed for Carmedy’s soft snoring in my ear. When I glanced down at my pale companion, her face was still shining, and the smile was still in place, pleased with her success.
We were almost to our tent when I spoke again, and she tilted her head at me as she listened intently to my voice.
“When you asked me a question earlier, I was surprised you didn’t ask if I loved you instead of Carmedy.”
Morrigan gave me a knowing smile as she blinked slowly and moved farther ahead, our fingers parting slightly. “I never ask questions that I already know the answers to.”
Chapter Six
I woke earlier than the others, and as I dressed, I looked down at my four minions snuggled together in a big mass of pillows and blankets. When we slept together like this, I always lay in the middle, two women on each side of me. With the absence of my body heat, Morrigan, who had been on my left, and Annalise, on the right, scooted and moved in closer. I smiled to myself as Morrigan’s white eyebrows furrowed and she turned over in her sleep, and Annalise’s arm snaked around her.
Both Carmedy and Rana were snoring, the cat-woman’s snores soft and wispy as her ears twitched against the pillow while the fox’s snores were louder and rolled in the back of her throat but not to the point of obnoxiousness. I wanted to stay longer with them, surrounded by their warmth and never-ending adoration, but I had a few tasks to take care of before they woke and we headed off to our next destination.
The sun’s rays were just barely bruising the sky purple and blue in the moments before early dawn, and I relished the sight as I walked through the silent and sleeping encampment. From our location, I could hear the sound of the water lapping on a rocky shore and knew we were near the Riese River. Despite last night’s excitement, it was peaceful for a moment, and I stepped between the tents into a clearing and watched as the sun rose over the mountains and sent long shadows through the trees.
It was beautiful here, and I could plainly see why my swordswoman loved her land so much. The weather was harsh and cold, but it was bearable just to be able to see sights such as this. It nearly took my breath away as the rising sun bathed the whole land in golden light. I never knew that there could be so many different sunrises and didn’t think I would miss them when I was trapped in my dungeon.
The sunrise in the beating heat of Valasara was just as breathtaking as the sunrise in the blistering cold of Tamarisch, and it made me wonder how many other mornings I would have the pleasure of witnessing. I considered myself to be very lucky as I thought over my entire life in these few passing moments of silence. I had the luck to be born a god, though I didn’t remember much of my parents, only a few snippets of faces and bodies.
In the hierarchy of gods and goddesses, my father was in the top few that led our people, and he was one of the people who chose to cast me out. In a way, it reminded me of my High Elf, the two of us thrown away because of our interests in the darkness around us. I vaguely remembered my father’s godly face, and it reminded me of the face I molded my avatar’s into, stern but with a softness in his eyes.
I wouldn’t say I hated him, but there was resentment in my heart. I was his eldest son, the prodigy who mastered his powers before any of his brothers, and I was the one who was looked down upon the most. My mother’s face, I could not remember. Her presence had a coldness to it that my father’s didn’t, and it stung me to try and conjure her image. Just as Annalise’s parents, mine were bound to each other by an arranged marriage solely to create wunderkind children.
When written in ancient text and runes, my mother’s name was a sun disk, but as the sun rose above me and warmed my face weakly, I felt no connection to her. I felt no connection to my parents, which is exactly how I felt when I resided in the heavens. Even the brothers they had given me were strangers, interlopers with similar faces. My father’s name was Chirus, the god of victory, and I thought to myself, how ironic would it be when I snatched the holy heavens from him.
The god of victory would know defeat for the first time in his life.
My mother’s divine name was Qyris, goddess of the sun, and it was said when she was born from her mother’s body, brilliant white light flooded onto the earth, and all the creatures living there worshipped her as the first god. Some of the oldest artifacts found in tombs of the dead bore her name and the ways they worshipped her. It was a tale passed down for generations through the humans and gods alike, but when I looked into the face of my mother, I found nothing but frigid hatred no child should ever know.
As their first born, they gave me a strong name, a name to be feared, though that was not their intention in the beginning. I dared not speak it, willed myself not to. It was a banished name, and I knew once I was cast out, the name would never touch my family’s lips again. Once a god was cast out of the heavens, they were as good as dead to their families and friends, carved out of historical texts as if they had never existed in the first place.
The brothers that came after me were of no consequence, boring, obedient little bastards, but the one who betrayed me was the one who came after me. As a child, it hadn’t taken me long to realize he was my mother’s favorite because of his power and namesake. Otia, the god of honesty and truth, he could never tell a lie, and he was obnoxiously pious until the end. He always pretended he was the first born and our father’s place in the heavens was his birthright, and in the end, he made that reality with my banishment.
I felt nothing towards them but rage. I had only done what my namesake foretold, and yet, they shunned me and left me for dead. They threw me to earth and then turned their backs on me. I knew they could see me and that some of them were still watching, disgusted and disappointed I had found a way to escape my hellhole and roam free with four gorgeous women.
I wanted them dead, mostly my sniveling little brother, but first I needed to conquer the earth. Then I would take to the heavens and destroy them, too.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice asked from behind me, and I looked over my shoulder at the newcomer who disturbed my silence and remembrance.
Ansel strode forward in his polished Tamarisch armor, a long gray and white fur cloak around his shoulders as he puffed on a long-tipped pipe. The smoke billowed out behind him as he moved to stand beside me and admired the view.
“As beautiful as the sunset is from the highest tower in the Tamarisch palace,” he continued, “there really is nothing like waking up to the chill and watching the sunrise from the battlefield. It makes a man feel alive, gets the blood pumping.”
“How old were you when you joined the army, Ansel? Seventeen, correct?” I asked as I watched the sun hit one of the white tents and reflect off it.
“Aye,” he confirmed as he took a long pull on his burning pipe, his muddy brown eyes on the still rising sun. “Seems like overkill with the trials to become a soldier, doesn’t it?”
“It does. I have never seen a bánwolf for myself, but Annalise has described them to me in great detail,” I said as I folded my hands behind my back and turned to face him fully.
“They are great hulking beasts, able to fit a grown man in their maw with room to spare, but as terrifying as they are, they are still magnificent to see,” Ansel told me, and I listened with interest. There wasn’t much information on the bánwolves and what Annalise had told me was mostly second-hand information she heard from someone else. “You’d think with their huge size that they’d be quite stupid like most big animals are, but they are intelligent and have a complex social system within their pack.”<
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He arched an eyebrow then, and his next words came out thoughtfully. “Generally, in the pack, there are one alpha male and three or four alpha females below him. These are the females that he mates with, and they are essentially the ruling class of the pack, keeping all the others in line.”
“Really?” I mused. That sounded familiar.
He nodded his head but then grimaced. “Sadly, when it was my turn for the trials, I found the pack's den and only the alpha male inside with his young. The alpha is the biggest out of all of the bánwolves, and not surprisingly, he almost killed me. Nearly tore my whole left arm off with one bite to the shoulder, but this gave me the opportunity to slice his throat while he was preoccupied. I knew if the alpha females were to come and find his body, they would be able to sniff me out by scent easily. I skinned the alpha and covered myself in his fur and hid away in a tree. Then I watched them for two days, and the strangest thing happened. The four alpha females could not go on without him. They never left the den, and slowly as I watched, the bánwolves chose a new alpha and moved on without the four females. The dominant females couldn’t survive without the love and guidance of their alpha.”
Ansel looked at me pointedly, and I understood the hidden meaning behind his words.
“There are people in this world who need the leadership and love of one sole leader, and once that leader is gone, they cannot survive on their own,” I added as I looked deeply into his chocolate brown eyes,
“At first, I couldn’t understand it,” he said to me and never broke the heated eye contact between us. “My strong-willed little sister placing herself within a group of three other women to follow blindly behind a man she had never met. The idea was asinine to me. To let herself be a follower instead of a leader was not the Annalise I knew. I will admit that when I met you, I was disgusted, parading around with the women like some hot-shot, but then I truly didn’t understand. I came back to the wolves and what you did for us last night, and now, I see. I hope there is an understanding between us now, I as her older brother and you as her husband and caretaker. I hope I too have the privilege to call you Master?”
I bowed my head and accepted him as yet another of my growing collection of dutiful followers. “Of course, Ansel, and as one of my followers, I have a request of you and your brothers, if you wouldn’t mind hearing me out?” I inquired as I laid a hand on his armored shoulder.
“I will do anything you wish, Master. We’re just getting breakfast started, shall I round them up to discuss what is on your mind?” he asked with a bright smile as he reached out too and placed a hand on my upper arm.
“Yes, that would be best, but please let my women sleep for as long as they like,” I agreed. “We have a lengthy ship ride ahead of us, and I want them to be well rested for the journey.”
It took about an hour and a half before Ansel was able to find Amos and Adam and bring them to me. I waited by the fire and watched the army’s cook work over the again blazing flames. He was preparing some sort of meat and potato dish in a large cast iron skillet. I watched his skilled hands crack eggs over it, and their surfaces cooked and crackled pleasantly in the early morning air. The cook reached into a large metal box beside his feet, pulled seasonings in small jars out, and sprinkled the top of our meal with it.
The cook seemed unbothered as the fire jumped up and licked at his fluid hands. He only pulled them away with a grunt and reached for a spatula and turned the contents of the pan over with a sizzle. The delicious scent that wafted over to me made my stomach gurgle and growl with hunger.
I raised my eyes and watched as Ansel walked with Amos and dragged Adam by the ear toward me. I chuckled to myself, and the cook lifted his head to glance at me but went back to our breakfast quickly. I recognized him as the man who had scooted away from me last night, but now, he seemed more comfortable in my presence. Ansel neared us, and Amos found his usual seat and reached for a plate but was swatted away with a painful slap of the cook’s spatula.
“Our Master must receive his plate before anyone else,” the cook grumbled as he grabbed a white plate and piled it high with food. It steamed in the cold air, and he handed it over to me with a low bow of his head. I took it and thanked him quietly.
Amos tried again for food and this time was able to grab a plate now that I had my share. He didn’t look upset or taken aback, and I was slightly surprised they accepted me as their master this easily. Amos wolfed his food down so fast that he could have been Carmedy’s twin as he held out his plate for a second serving. The cook grumbled in an annoyed tone but gave him another much smaller pile on the plate, and it soon disappeared into Amos’s mouth as he greedily gobbled it down.
Meanwhile, Ansel didn’t let go of Adam’s ear until he threw the younger man into a seat and gave him a warning glare. I raised my eyebrows and wondered what had happened for the oldest brother to treat one of the twins like this. I watched Ansel grab a plate too and start to eat, but when Adam reached for the food, Ansel gave him a dark glare, and the hand pulled back as the younger man sighed loudly.
“I want you to apologize to Master and apologize to Rana when she joins us for breakfast. Then you can eat, pervert,” Ansel commanded as he sat back on a wooden log, and Adam sighed even louder before he raised his eyes to me.
“I’m sincerely sorry for my actions, I merely acted out of curiosity, and it made me look like an ass,” Adam muttered in a hoarse voice like a frog was stuck in his throat. “Please punish me any way you see fit, Master.”
My eyebrows rose even higher. “What did you do, young man?” I asked as I scooped a heaping mouthful onto my spoon and ate it.
“I may or may not have--” the oldest twin started, but Ansel cut him off before he could explain further.
“Adam!” Ansel warned with narrowed eyes, and Adam shuffled his feet and readjusted his shoulders.
“I grabbed the fox-woman’s tail,” he admitted.
“And why did you do such a thing?” I asked in a low rumble, my face impassive as I stared him down.
Adam avoided my gaze, and his cheeks tinted a soft pink in the morning light. “Well, uh…” he started then stopped, and I could tell he was embarrassed as he thought over what to say. “I’ve never seen a fox hybrid before … they’re pretty rare around here and I couldn’t help myself.”
“That’s a pretty shitty excuse to touch someone you don’t know,” Ansel chided as he pointed his fork at his brother, and Adam nodded solemnly. “In her culture, that might be the same as grabbing her ass or something. It’s still unacceptable for a respectable soldier, and even more unacceptable coming from a prince.”
“I know,” Adam grumbled in his croaky voice as he rubbed at his throat. “I shouldn’t have done it, and I’ll apologize to her too.”
“What’s wrong with your voice, Adam?” I asked as I set my spoon down on my plate and observed him.
“She punched me in the throat … ” Adam squeaked out as he squirmed under my gaze, and I had to hold back my own amusement as Amos roared with laughter while the milk he was drinking sprayed out of his mouth and nose in a blasting waterfall to the ground.
“A punch well deserved.” I nodded gravely, though I couldn’t hide the amusement on my features as I snickered softly. “I will spare you my wrath this time, Adam, but make a habit of it and I’ll kill you where you stand, brother-in-law or not.”
“Of course, sir, I really didn’t mean any harm by it, I swear,” he assured me, and from his expression, I could tell he was remorseful, and his intentions were innocent enough. If he were any other man and had done the same with malicious intent, he would have been struck dead where he stood.
With that settled, they ate in silence, Adam still not allowed his share until he apologized to Rana, and when they finished, Ansel turned and faced me in his seat.
“What was it you wanted to speak to us about, Master?” he asked as he bent down and washed his plate and utensils then took mine and cleaned them, too.
&nb
sp; “As all of you know, my minions and I are on a journey to conquer and defeat each and every dungeon,” I began as I watched the fire before us crackle and pop in the weak sunlight filtering in through the heavy cloud cover. “After challenging the old High King, your father, Annalise was able to defeat him, making her the high queen and I, after our marriage, the High King. However, it will take quite a long time for us to reach and defeat each dungeon, which will leave Tamarisch without a steady ruler during that time.”
My eyes scanned across the brothers. “Annalise and I have discussed this at length and would like all three of you to rule in our stead until we are able to return. I can assure you that your high queen will be protected while away, and I will let no harm come to her, she is my wife after all. The high queen and I would like to divide the kingdom up into three sectors while we are absent and each of you will become lord over those sectors for the time being. If you don’t think you are up to the task, please let me know now so we can make other preparations before we set off for Tintagal.”
The three men glanced at each other, then down at their hands as they thought hard about the weighty task I was asking of them. I was unsurprised when Ansel was the first to speak, his voice authoritative and determined.
“I accept. As your brother and faithful servant, I will do as you ask.” The oldest bowed his head to me, and I smiled wide before I looked over at the twins. Amos was nodding along while Adam still looked thoughtful, his hand rubbing his throat where Rana had socked him.
“I’ll do it too,” Amos agreed. “It’s about time Tamarisch had some order and a good leader, and I think you and Annalise will do a fine job.”
I reached out to him, and we shook hands heartily. My eyes wandered back to Adam who was still thinking, but then his face suddenly broke, and he gave me a wide smile.
“Oh, what the hell, let’s do it!” he shouted as he raised a closed fist into the air excitedly. Amos and Ansel followed in an unfamiliar whistle, and I assumed it was the same communication they used last night to speak to each other.
