King Killer

by Michael-Scott Earle

  “Hey, Kasta,” I asked as Nilda and Fiuna worked on my feet. “Can you ask them where Madalena’s mother is? She helped prepare me for the rite, and we both got along.”

  “Sure,” Kasta said, and then she spoke to the women. Nilda answered the android’s question gravely, and the rest of the Vaish women’s faces turned to frowns.

  “Ohhh. She is with Tanal,” Kasta said.

  “Madalena’s father?” I asked.

  “Yep. Dang. So she is submitted directly to him, and she fled with him.”

  “Fuck,” I sighed as I covered my face with my hands.

  “Yeah. He took all his wives.”

  “Will they try to defend him when we come after him?” I asked.

  “Do you want me to ask that?” Kasta asked.

  “No,” I replied. “I’ll ask Madalena.”

  The women continued with our massages, and I worked on relaxing my thoughts. By the time Nilda and Fiuna were working on my chest, I felt completely relaxed. Then they worked on my arms, shoulders, and finished by rubbing my jaw, temples, and scalp. I fell asleep somewhere in the process and woke up when their hands slid down my body and removed the towel from my groin.

  “Laug,” Fiuna whispered to me as she pointed at the water. I looked over to see that my friends were already sitting in the hot spring.

  “Thanks,” I sighed as I rolled to slide off the table. Nilda held onto my shoulder to ensure I didn’t fall, or maybe she just wanted to touch me more, and then the two women walked me to the edge of the water. My friends turned to me as I approached and their whispered conversation ended in mid-sentence. I was naked, and all four of their faces displayed hunger as they watched me step into the water.

  “Oh my,” Kasta said once I entered the water. It was obvious what she was referring to, but Nilda asked the android a question, and Kasta nodded as she said a few words.

  “They will wash and braid our hair now if you want.” Kasta gestured to the Vaish women standing around the water, and they sat at the edge of the pool and gestured for my friends to come to them.

  “Damn,” Zea sighed a few minutes later after she was leaning against a pair of women who were gently rubbing their soapy wet hands through her hair. “I don’t think I could ever get used to this. It’s so luxurious.”

  “I could get used to it,” Kasta said with a light laugh.

  I was sitting at the edge of the pool with the water up to my chest, and I felt a pair of hands rub my scalp again. Nilda and Fiuna gestured to a bottle of what I guessed was soap, and I scooted back a bit so that they could wash my hair easier.

  All four of my friends were now being washed by the Vaish women, and their breasts were above the water line. I tried to keep my eyes averted so I didn’t stare at either Kasta or Paula, but everywhere I looked was either a naked woman or a woman wearing a wet see-through robe. I finally decided to just enjoy the fact that I was a man surrounded by all these beauties, and I let my eyes roam over them all. Besides, they had all just seen me naked when I walked to the spring, so they could deal with me appreciating their glistening wet bodies.

  Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, I felt Madalena approach. Her emotions were a mix of annoyance, gratitude, and trepidation, and I looked toward the far door on the other side of the forest when she stepped into the bathing chamber.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as she approached the pool. The Vaish women had been whispering and giggling with each other while they worked on washing my friends, but a silence came over them as soon as Madalena appeared. The minstrels even stopped playing, and every single eye was fixed on Madalena as if she was a goddess descending from the heavens.

  “I finished speaking with my admirals,” she said as she looked at the pool.

  “Come on in, Maddy, the water’s fine!” Kasta beckoned for the Prime Valkyrie to join us, and the motion made her breasts sway delightfully.

  “Maddy?” she asked with a raised eyebrow, and I saw the women touching Kasta’s hair turn the same shade of white as their robes.

  “Sure! Come on. Relax!”

  “Very well,” Madalena replied after she glanced at me. A moment later she had taken off her boots and uniform and stepped into the bath. I felt her pleasure as soon as the warm water enveloped her body, and she spoke to one of the attending women while she pointed at the table with the food.

  One of the minstrels jumped from her chair, dashed to the table, and then rushed over with a bottle of wine. She prostrated herself on the edge of the pool and then held out the wine to Madalena with shaking hands.

  The Prime Valkyrie took the bottle of wine from the woman without speaking and then drank from it a few times. Her cold eyes turned to me, but I could feel her desire radiate from the water. She handed me the bottle, and I took a few sips before passing it to Eve on my right.

  Madalena seemed to realize that the women attendants were staring at her and not working, so she barked a word, and they all hastily turned back to their task of washing us or playing on their instruments. I half expected a new pair of attendants to appear and wash Madalena’s hair, but none of the women moved toward her. After a few moments, Milda walked through the door, and she quickly knelt beside the edge of the pool, grabbed the bottle of soap Nilda and Fiuna had been using on me, and began to work on Madalena’s hair. Milda didn’t even bother to take off her uniform, and the water from the edge quickly soaked her knees and arms.

  “Soooo… that’s kind of weird,” Kasta said a few minutes after the women all returned to their tasks.

  “What is weird?” Madalena asked as her eyes searched for the bottle of wine. Eve had given it to Zea, but before the hacker could pass it back, an attendant gave Madlena a new bottle.

  “They all seem to like you,” Kasta said with a shrug.

  “That is weird?” Madalena asked, and her eyes narrowed a bit.

  “Oh, no, no, no.” Kasta waved her hands in a way that made her breasts bounce and my head spin. “It’s like you are a god or something.”

  “I am the Prime Valkyrie.” Madalena took a long gulp from her new wine bottle and then passed it over to me. Zea had moved away from her side of the pool and walked a few meters across so she could hand the bottle of wine to Paula. The engineer took it gratefully and then drank before passing it to Kasta.

  “Ahhh. There is that.” Kasta drank from the bottle and then passed it back to her sister. Then she stretched her hands high above her head, caught me watching her, and winked at me before she lowered her arms.

  “Madalena, can you update us on the conversation you had with your Admirals?” Eve asked in order to bring the conversation back to business.

  “The Jotnar probably did not know about my father. Our guess is that the group who attacked our station on Epsilon Tauri - b thought they killed me along with part of our armada. They must have planned this invasion as soon as they returned.”

  “So they had lucky timing,” I said.

  “It was actually unlucky,” Madalena said after she took the wine back from me. “My admirals just finished with the last of my father’s followers, so our armada was already deployed. The numbers were less because of what he took with him, but the Jotnar came out of hyperspace only to find our weapons warmed up.”

  “Then we came in, kicked ass, and saved the day,” Zea laughed, and an attendant handed the hacker a bottle of wine.

  “My people would have won had we not arrived,” Madalena said, “but we helped.”

  “What about your father?” I asked as she took another sip of wine.

  “My admirals agree with my thoughts about where he might have hidden,” she said, and then Madalena explained to my friends that her father might be hiding in one of four possible locations. Either the paradise world Nyr Valhalla, the battle fortresses Argkaron or Malifoaron, or the massive space station Jey-Lune.

  “Ugh,” Zea groaned as she leaned her head back against the edge of the pool. “Jey-Lune sounds like a real shithole. I bet he
’s there.”

  “I suspect you are right,” Madalena said.

  “You do?” Zea seemed surprised that the brunette woman would actually agree with her.

  “Yes. Nyr Valhalla is also a possibility, and I think we should go there first, but I believe that Argkaron or Malifoaron are unlikely. While they are both at the end of our territories, the Vice-Admirals are loyal to our clan and not submitted directly to him. As soon as we made an appearance, they would arrest him. Nyr Valhalla is filled with troops loyal to him, and Jey-Lune’s brand of chaos and criminal activity will ensure he is not found if he lays low.”

  “So Nyr Valhalla first?” I asked.

  “I am submitted to you, Husband,” Madalena said as her eyes bore into mine. “I will go where you go. But yes, I will recommend Nyr Valhalla first.”

  “Alright,” I said. “We can leave as soon as the warpdrives are ready.”

  “So that means we get another thirty-eight-ish hours of hot springs, massages, and wine?” Zea smirked at me and then took another long pull from her bottle.

  “There is a slight problem,” Madalena said, and we turned to her. “There is a concern that the Jotnar, or another one of the Nordar clans, might hear of my father’s dishonor and choose to attack my clan. We are still in some disarray, and it will take a few months for all of our communications to reach the farthest areas of our territory.”

  “So we can’t just take your entire armada with us,” I chuckled.

  “Wait, that was an option?” Zea asked. “Can we bring this fortress everywhere with us? I can just live in this hot spring.” The hacker let out a slightly drunk sounding giggle, and her small breasts bounced.

  “No,” Madalena said. “Between the fleet I lost at Epsilon Tauri - b, my father’s traitorous actions, and the recent battle with the Jotnar, we are in danger of being attacked. I can bring a squadron of maybe four or five destroyers, but we could not spare much else for a few months.”

  “I’m sure I already know the answer to this, but do you have any destroyers as fast as Persephone?”

  “No,” Madalena said. “Dance to the Dirge is the closest. We have some destroyers with hyperdrives half as fast as Persephone that we can use as an escort.”

  “Or we can just go alone,” I said as I took a swig of the wine. It was good stuff, but it took a lot of alcohol for me to feel anything. My friends did look like they were starting to feel the effects of the booze though, or maybe it was the heat from the hot springs that was causing all of their cheeks to flush. Even Eve looked like she was drunk, and the vampire’s pale white skin had a healthy red glow to it.

  “If my father is in Jey-Lune, taking only Persephone would be a good strategy,” Madalena said. “We could dock with little notice and begin our investigation. I have a few places I suspect he is hiding, and information can be bought for little expense. However, if he is on Nyr Valhalla, he will have what remains of his fleet. It will be a tough battle with just Persephone.”

  “Uhhh, wouldn’t Persephone and five destroyers qualify as a tough battle against a whole fleet?” Zea asked as she raised her body to get out of the spring. The tall blonde sat on the edge of the pool, and my eyes focused on the water dripping off her skin.

  “It is what remains of his fleet,” Madalena said. “He has a few hundred, but my admirals believe he has less than twenty ships fast enough to reach Nyr Valhalla by now. The rest will be in hyperdrive.”

  “Still sounds like tough odds,” Paula said. The engineer looked at Zea, took a sip of her wine, and then stood from the spring and sat on the edge with just her feet in the water. “It’s getting too hot.”

  “Yeah, it is,” Kasta said. “Meeeyooowwww. Adam’s getting to see all the candies today.”

  “Maybe I’m too drunk to care,” Paula stuck her tongue out at her sister, took another long drink from her wine bottle, and then turned her blue eyes to me. There was a bit of a challenge in them as if she was daring me to look at her wet naked body.

  Yeah. It was really hot in here.

  “What about your mother?” I asked Madalena in an effort to change the subject.

  “She will be with my father, as will his other wives.” She shrugged, but I could feel a bit of her dread.

  “What will happen to her when we kill your father?” I asked, and my friends leaned a bit closer so they could hear the Prime Valkyrie’s reply clearly.

  “You will kill him,” Madalena said as she met my eyes.

  “Yeah. After I kill him, what will happen to her?”

  “It is a bond for life,” Madalena said. “Some live through it, some do not.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Zea said, and we turned to her. “If you die, Adam is going to die, and vice versa?”

  “Perhaps,” Madalena said before she took a long drink from her wine.

  “Uhhh. That isn’t really an answer,” the hacker said.

  “Yes, it will probably happen,” the brunette woman said. “I will die if Adam does, but he will probably not if I pass into Valhalla. It is more of an impact on the one who is submitted, but still possible.”

  “Uhhh, and then Eve was talking about doing this submission thing to Adam. Let’s say we do that, and then you die, which makes maybe makes Adam die, what happens to Eve and me?”

  “You both would probably also die,” Madalena admitted.

  “Okay, that’s fucking crazy,” Zea said.

  “You do not have to submit,” the brunette said as she stared across the water at Zea. “I am in love with Adam and do not wish to live a second without him. I can understand how that might make other women who do not love him uncomfortable, so you do not need to submit to him.”

  Zea’s eyes narrowed and her jaw tensed along with her slender shoulders.

  “Damn, did it just get cold in here?” Kasta got out of the water and sat on the edge next to her sister. They both had their hair in pigtails now, and they absently reached up to touch the braids in an identical manner.

  “And here I thought you were turning into less of a bitch,” Zea growled.

  “I am speaking honestly,” Madalena said. “My love is real.”

  “And mine isn’t because I think your submission thing is fucking bullshit? Fuck you.” Zea bit her bottom lip and her blue eyes shot daggers across the water.

  “It is the way of my people you insult.” Madalena’s voice raised, and the Vaish women sitting behind Zea looked as if they wanted to run.

  “Hey,” I said as I leaned forward to be in between the two women. “We are getting along here. Madalena, Zea doesn’t need to submit to me to prove she loves me. Understand?” I stared at the Prime Valkyrie, and I knew she could feel my anger.

  “Yes.” Madalena nodded quickly. “Zea, I apologize. My words were uncalled for.”

  “Yeah. Fine.” Zea grabbed her bottle of wine and took another sip as she stared into the hot spring water.

  An uncomfortable silence fell over the hot spring, and my heart became heavy. Damn, we were all so close to getting along, but there was obviously a lot more work to do before Madalena fit in with my other friends.

  I turned to Eve, and the vampire let out a long exhale. She turned her red eyes to each of my friends and then cleared her throat. “May I speak?”

  The four women turned to her, but no one disagreed with her request.

  “Madalena, thank you for joining our crew, and letting us join yours,” Eve said, but Zea shook her head a little and took another drink from her wine.

  The twins and I looked at Madalena, and the Prime Valkyrie nodded at the vampire.

  “We are not as strong as you. We have no military training, no combat expertise, and virtually no experience. We are all alive only because we have relied on Adam to save us.”

  Madalena crossed her arms over her breasts but didn’t speak.

  “We all do possess unique talents, though. Adam has told you about them, but perhaps you are correct in thinking that the four of us should just live the rest of our lives
around this spring while you and Adam travel around the galaxy and fight the SAVO.”

  “Draugr,” Madalena corrected, and Zea bit her lower lip, shook her head again, and glared into the water.

  “Yes, of course,” Eve said. “You are wrong about us though. We love Adam as much as you, and we want to stop the Draugr as much as you. We are willing to die for each other, just like you. We should all be sisters instead of fighting over the name of a rose that we can all agree smells sweet.”

  “Eve, your stance is a bit naive. This is war. Adam and I need warriors to defeat the Draugr.”

  “Yes, you do,” Eve agreed. “And we are four warriors. A warrior is someone who will not quit when there is pain, or defeat, or hardship. None of us will.”

  Madalena sighed and then took a long drink from her wine. As soon as she pulled the bottle from her lips, she wiggled it, and an attendant removed it from her hand and replaced it with a new one. Then the Prime Valkyrie spoke a single word, and attendants rushed to give all of us full bottles.

  “Eve, it’s fine,” Zea spoke without looking up from the water. “Madalena and I will figure this out.”

  “Madalena,” Eve turned back to the brunette. “You let Zea have a shot with the laser array.”

  “Yes. What is your point?” Madalena asked, and I could feel a bit of annoyance pulse from her.

  “She missed with the first shot,” Eve said as she raised her eyebrow.

  “But she made the second,” Madalena replied, and Zea finally looked away from the water to stare at my wife.

  “Lux could have made the first shot with her eyes closed,” Eve said. “If the lasers didn’t hit the bridge, we would have flown by it, and we all probably would have died.”

  “Zea made the shot,” Madalena stated.

  “You bet your life, the life of Adam, and the life of your entire crew on Zea making the shot when you knew Lux, or Calisto, or any of your other crew could have done it.” Eve stared at Madalena, and we all turned to face the Prime Valkyrie.

  “I knew you would make it,” Madalena sighed as she looked at Zea, and the hacker’s eyes grew large with surprise.