“Not yet,” Maria said cheekily. “But I’m certain that there’ll be an opening shortly, once Barul finds out about this and you need to remove him.”
Ice cold.
“Let’s talk about that in a moment,” he said. “What I want from you is simple: I’m in charge. King, emperor, supreme ruler—I don’t care what you call me. But you run the day-to-day affairs of the region and Anceston. You have the trust of the people here and know how things are run. But I have the army, wealth, and power.”
Maria cocked her head. “I believe I’ve read about that in Gauron. It’s a form of delegated governance. The lower nobles rule provinces or cities, while the king oversees the overarching kingdom and deals with underperforming nobles.”
“If you get it, then it saves me the trouble of explaining,” he said. “In my experience, local rule is always superior to some dumb foreigner trying to force the locals to adhere to a lot of rules and laws they don’t understand. My goal is to keep things peaceful and efficient so I can do other things. I don’t care what they do in their villages and towns so long as they don’t get in my way.”
“What if I disagree with you?” Maria asked. “Now that I know what the Kinadain are up to, I might be able to change things.”
How cute. She thought she had leverage. Rys had the power to conquer Anceston, but he doubted threatening her was necessary.
“Once you sign the contract, you have autonomy so long as I don’t take it away. I doubt that will be necessary,” he said. “As for not signing the contract, you can say no. But then nothing changes. The Kinadain only want you for your demihuman children. Your town kicked out your father because he didn’t have horns. Is that the future you want? To be viewed as a pair of horns by your town, and as a womb by the Kinadain?”
Maria winced. Her face flushed red, and she glared into her lap for several long seconds. Her silver curls blocked Rys’s view of her eyes, so he couldn’t see if she was holding back tears.
The door opened and Tyrisa walked in with a silver tray. It contained paper and writing materials.
“Did I interrupt something?” she asked, looking between Rys and Maria in confusion.
“No,” Maria ground out. “I was simply given a harsh reminder of my situation.”
Perhaps too harsh. Rys made a note to go a little easier on Maria in the future, and probably other people around him. While he had grown up in the shithole that was the Infernal Empire, this world appeared better.
“So, is this like the contract we discussed, or do I need to write up something new?” Tyrisa asked.
“Like we discussed. We’ll make some variations as necessary,” Rys said.
Tyrisa picked up a pile of papers from the top of the tray. The contract was fifteen pages long and full of legalese, clauses, exceptions, and all sorts of extra things.
“I thought this would be a spiritual contract, not an actual contract,” Maria said, bemused as she flicked through the document.
“What kind of idiot uses a spiritual contract for something so important?” he asked.
“I didn’t know there were different types,” Maria said. “So I don’t know why it would be stupid. Please enlighten me.”
“Spiritual contracts magically bind you to the spirit of the contract. Hence the name. The wording isn’t that important, so much as what everybody felt was the intent of the contract. These contracts bind you to the letter of the contract. Go nuts if you find a loophole,” he said.
Naturally, Rys didn’t call it an infernal contract.
Creating this one had been a pain.
Tyrisa had lectured him about all sorts of things. Like how he needed to specify what “poor performance” meant, or else he would have difficulty punishing her. Or the several pages about how to vary the contract variation, so that they could increase or decrease her responsibilities as she aged or Rys’s empire changed.
And, the most important one, which Maria picked up on.
“Are the pages about children necessary?” she asked, cheeks reddening.
“They’re extremely important. Some ensure that the children are bound by the contract until they come of age, in order to protect Rys’s secrets. Otherwise, you might use your children as a loophole.” Tyrisa looked really proud that she had thought up that part of the contract.
“Yes, but none of these require them to serve Rys,” Maria said, carefully reading each page. “That seems odd given the strict requirements elsewhere.”
“Wouldn’t that be slavery?” Tyrisa asked. “Can’t do that unless they sign the contract themselves. The contract only restricts them from doing stuff like blabbing about stuff they only know because of their privileged position. They can fuck off when they’re of age. Or, uh, get fucked, technically. I think it might be unwise to say no to a contract.”
Tyrisa winced at the sharp look she received from both Rys and Maria.
“Well, I’m glad you think I’ll be useful enough to be around long enough to have some children that come of age.” Maria’s eyes twinkled as she stared at Rys.
“It’s standard to include in contracts,” Tyrisa snapped. “Rarely ever matters.”
Maria glared daggers at the knowledge devil, who returned the look smugly.
Despite a bumpy start, Tyrisa was settling in well enough. She knew when to bow and scrape to Rys, and when she could get away with talking shit to everybody in earshot. Fara found her incorrigible.
After some discussion and a few minor variations and additions, Maria and Rys each signed the contract. Immediately afterward, Tyrisa produced two copies with magic. She stamped all three copies and doled one out to each of them, keeping one for herself.
“Triplicate. Really?” Maria said flatly. “I thought that was a joke.”
Tyrisa stuck her nose up. “I don’t know how you do things, but I run a professional office.”
The knowledge devil bounced off, a skip in her step.
“So, that’s it? I’m bound to you for life?” Maria asked. She moved her arm around. “It doesn’t feel any different. If you tell me to jump, do I need to ask how high?”
“You read the contract. It doesn’t work that way,” Rys said.
“True. It’s so different to the one I made with Barul.” Maria smiled at Rys, and it was full of razors. “Now, perhaps I should reveal that to you?”
Rys blinked, feeling as if he had missed something major. She had wanted to discuss the Barul situation earlier and had brought up spiritual contracts.
Shit, he had missed some major red flags.
“I walked into this one, didn’t I?” he asked aloud. “It can’t be that bad if you signed the contract.”
“Oh, it’s not bad. But it does require you to deal with a problem that’s bound me for years,” Maria said. “Shortly before my father was ousted as Lord-Mayor, he forged a spiritual contract with the Kinadain elders. Unfortunately, I was part of it. It restricts me from giving control of Anceston over to anybody except in specific circumstances.”
“What happens if you break it?” Rys asked, concerned that he’d already done that and now needed to sweep up the mess.
“I die.”
Unless Maria had always been a talking corpse, Rys assumed her spiritual contract didn’t think he had control over Anceston yet. Presumably, it would once he formally took power over the region.
“Only my children, somebody I’m engaged or married to, or somebody chosen by the Kinadain elders is acceptable,” Maria said.
“That’s a very specific list,” Rys said. “And this happened just before your father was ousted?”
“Yes. It was his attempt to keep control of Anceston within the family. If it looked like I wouldn’t become Lord-Mayor, or if my position was in danger in the future, I would always have a ‘secret weapon,’ in his words.” Maria shifted uncomfortably. “His bitterness toward the city after they turned on him was immense.”
For good reason, Rys felt. But Anceston might have also had good reason to kick him out.
>
“So, before I announce myself as the king of the region, I need to resolve this,” he said, musing about the problem. “I could marry you.”
Maria perked up.
“But Barul will still try to kill me.”
Maria frowned. “True. And a sham marriage would cause problems later.”
“How do the elders choose somebody? Was it specified?” Rys asked.
“No, but the elders aren’t dictators. They need the approval of the other Kinadain,” Maria said. “Barul became my fiancé because he was the greatest warrior in Kavolara. No other Kinadain hold the rank of Slayer on the island. If you defeated him in a duel, it would be difficult for the elders to deny your eligibility.”
“These are the same elders that are conspiring with Compagnon,” Rys pointed out. Then he grinned. “But it does give me a great idea.”
Maria’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”
“We know the elders are corrupt, but our problem is revealing that to others. The recordings implicate their subordinates, but they can weasel out of it,” Rys said.
“True. I know how close the elders are to their liaisons, but most won’t,” Maria said with a grimace.
“What we need to do is arrange a situation where the elders out themselves. Even if Barul is innocent, he hates me. In a duel, he’s liable to do something foolish. The elders might then try to go back on any deals they made beforehand,” Rys explained. “That’s our leverage.”
Maria gulped, her eyes wide. “I feel I really have made a deal with a devil.”
“They’re not exactly innocent,” Rys said.
“No, but…” Maria gave him an odd smile. “That doesn’t make this right. This isn’t something I can walk away from once it’s done.” She appeared hesitant, then said, “I know a Kinadain who can help us, as the elders have ostracized her for opposing them, but she is well regarded despite that. I can pass on her details later.”
Maria then paused, her eyes flickering low on Rys’s body. Her cheeks flushed. “I… I believe you promised a later, Rys.” She whispered his name at the end before licking her lips.
Rys chuckled and stood up. “You’re such a naughty mayor. The moment business is concluded, all you can think of is your reward. And you even have a fiance.”
He towered over her. Her eyes gazed up at him, shimmering with desire. He pressed his crotch against her face, and she responded with steamy breaths that hardened his cock.
Maria pressed her lips against his pants, her amber eyes focused on the bulge hidden behind the cloth. Her hands flipped up her skirt and slipped inside her riding pants. Wet noises filled the room as Maria pleasured herself.
Holding her head by a horn, Rys undid his pants. His partially erect cock flopped out onto her face. Her eyes crossed as they stared at the fat rod of flesh slapped across her skin. Warmth and a wet sensation tickled his balls as Maria suckled on them, creating obscene sounds that intermingled with those from her own pleasure.
He rubbed her face along his shaft using her horns as handles. Her eyes curved as he took control of her and she moaned against his balls. Precum dribbled into her curly hair as his tip slipped inside them and he pleasured himself by moving her head against his cock.
She gasped as the hot liquid drooled down her forehead, nose, and cheeks. Her tongue futilely tried to lap it up, but couldn’t reach.
When Maria tried to move herself to suck directly on Rys’s tip, he crushed her against his shaft. She gasped, then moaned with a broad smile.
“You like this, don’t you?” he asked her.
“Are you going to fuck me, Lord Talarys?” she gasped out, the words partially muffled by his cock.
“No. I’m going to feed you,” he said. Her eyes glazed in response and her tongue lolled out of her mouth. “One day I’ll take you. But you’re savoring every second of this.”
“Yes,” she breathed.
Rys carefully moved her away from his cock. Her eyes focused on only one thing, and her tongue tried desperately to reach it.
He held her with one hand and moved his rock-hard prick into place against her lips with the other. Her eyes widened as she finally tasted her prize. Maria flicked, sucked, and licked his tip, while pushing her head against his strength.
Then, when she finally stopped trying to push herself down his length, he rammed her head down the entire thing in one go. Her eyes rolled back into her head. She gagged. Drool poured from her mouth and dripped from his balls.
Maria screamed in ecstasy, the movement tickling his cock inside her throat. Her juices poured onto the chair and her legs raised in the air as she climaxed. Her fingers ran along her clit rapidly as she pushed herself to the peak of pleasure.
Rys joined her by using her horns to move her head. He scraped her throat with every motion of his cock. When he came, he poured rope after rope into her stomach while he pressed her against his crotch.
Afterward, he pulled out and held her face against his length. She moaned against him as streams of white poured along her face and from the edges of her mouth.
“It seems we have an agreement,” Rys told her. “And you have what you want.”
“Yes,” she moaned. She took his balls into her mouth.
Maria left after she cleaned up, but the look in her eyes changed completely. Her desire to be dominated screamed to Rys whenever he met her gaze. She knew what she wanted, and he had it.
For now, he needed to order Grigor to get started. It was time to crush Compagnon.
Chapter 17
Fara
Rain bucketed down around Fara in the dead of the night. She pressed herself against the tree trunk but did little else. If she used magic here, she’d give away her position. She stood on top of a tree branch, hiding within the forest canopy.
Far beneath her, a caravan rode into a town. A hundred soldiers ran alongside it. Horses pulled the carts, as magitech wagons were too expensive to use on most trade routes out here. Wheels bounced over muddy potholes. Mercenaries swore as mud splashed over their armor and into their faces.
As the wagons rolled toward the warehouses at the back of the town, the townspeople watched. They peeked out from their windows or from covered porches. Drunks yelled insults at the mercenaries when they passed the inn.
Fara kept a close eye on every wagon, just in case any peeled away. None did. They maintained their breakneck pace.
Privately, Fara was impressed by the drivers. None of the wagons crashed or slid into the muck. Compagnon brought the best.
Bought the best, Fara corrected.
The caravan pulled up outside the warehouses. The moment they did, the doors slammed open and workers rushed out. Despite the awful weather, they loaded up everything they had. Overseers shouted orders at the workers.
More mercenaries joined the caravan, along with several more wagons. Then Fara spotted the man she was looking for.
A mage wearing an ostentatious robe of ivory and gold trim. It glittered even through the pouring rain and terrible lighting near him. His head was bald, but he had a beard that fell almost to his waist.
Robert Hamperstill, a combat magister from Ahm who left his tower for reasons unknown. He was one of Compagnon’s pet powermongers and ruled this town with an iron fist.
Once Rys agreed to destroy Compagnon, he had put Grigor’s plan into action immediately. The first step was to target their allies. By removing the petty powermongers who threatened the towns and villages around Anceston, Compagnon would lose a lot of their ability to project power in the region.
Grigor slew a dozen of them in the first three days.
The result was pure panic from Compagnon. Their mercenaries streamed north. Many of the powermongers fled, returning the stolen land to the people.
But Rys needed to keep the pressure up, and Grigor swiftly ran out of soft targets. Those that remained were backed up by more of Compagnon’s military strength than before. And Compagnon swiftly reorganized how they operated. They tightened their contro
l over the region.
This caravan had rolled through a lot of Compagnon-controlled towns and villages to the south-east of Anceston. Robert’s town was the last stop, as he was Compagnon’s lieutenant in the region.
Each wagon was loaded with artifacts, cash crops, tools, and crafted goods. The rain might damage some of it, but Robert clearly felt that getting the caravan out of the region was worth the risk.
He feared Rys.
Good, Fara felt. He should.
She fumbled for the mindspeak connection with the Malakin. After a few attempts, she found it.
“Taras, can you hear me?” she asked using her mind.
“It’s Tarasu,” the Malakin commander complained.
“That’s a yes, then,” Fara said. “The caravan is almost finished loading. I count nearly over two hundred guards. Robert’s with them and appears to be joining them. He’s brought a bunch of horses, so there’ll be a vanguard.”
“Understood. The Prince-General is in position at the ambush point. We shall see you there,” Taras said, before closing the connection.
“Prince-General” was what the infernals called Grigor. Apparently “General” was too confusing, as that was what Grigor called Rys. And “Prince” wasn’t good enough for some reason. Fara had suggested “boss” but they said that was Rys’s title.
Infernals deeply confused Fara. All her life, she had learned they were the most unreliable and capricious monsters to walk Harrium. Now, she lived and worked with them, and they were the exact opposite. Hierarchy mattered more to them than it did to almost any human she had ever met.
She had thought the Imperial Court of Pharos was bad, given how bureaucratic and hierarchical it had been. Now, she wondered if Hell had been inspired by it, then made it worse.
By leaping across the treetops, Fara reached Grigor and the rest of the ambush team in record time. She took a brief detour to monitor the caravan and spotted Taras in the process.
Grigor stood in the shadow of a tree. If Fara didn’t recognize him, she’d think the woods had summoned a great spirit beast to consume her. His appearance was like a monster spawned of darkness. He towered over the noble demons next to him.
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