by Reed James
“And that means travel, travel, travel.” I glanced back at my sister. “But you need stability to practice your art. Rithi... She...” I took a deep breath. “I'm leaving you, Kora.” I gripped my fists. My words sounded so foolish. I hated myself for every word I said. But I had to make sure it stuck. I had to make sure Kora understood. “You're my step-sister. We may not be related by blood, but what we have isn't right. We can't do this. I can't do this. I can't be around you at all. I never should have taken your virginity. I never should have surrendered to the weakness in my heart.”
Instead of pain, anger exploded across my sister's face.
~ * ~
Kora Falk
“Not right!” I shrieked. “A mistake?”
I marched at my step-brother, his face twisted with an expression I had never seen on him. It was almost like contempt, or even disgust, but it wasn't directed at me. It was directed at himself. His eyes grew dull. He shifted, Zanyia turning her head to stare up at him. “You don't believe that one whit. I know you, Sven Falk! You don't hold back. You had no reservations when you took my virginity. You never regretted once what we shared. You reveled in it!”
He shifted but held his gaze. His expression hardened like clay drying beneath the withering heat of the kiln.
“So why are you saying this...?” My words trailed off. “You made a deal with Rithi and... She...” I shook my head. After returning from Faerie, Ealaín talked to me about leaving my brother, hinting that it wasn't right for me to be with him, that my art suffered. Now Sven said that same thing. He wanted to drive me away with these lies.
“Ealaín wanted me to leave you. She kept nudging me in that direction for a while. I just thought she didn't understand you. When she finally surrendered to your passion after we killed the naga, I thought she understood that you were necessary for me, but... You had already bargained with Rithi. During the miracle! Didn't you, brother mine?”
“If I don't let you go,” Sven said, his voice sounding dead, bereft of any hope. What little light remained in his blue eyes died. A purr rose from Zanyia. She nuzzled against him like she was trying to show him differently. “If I don't leave you, Kora, then you all die. You, Zanyia, Aingeal, and Nathalie. Rithi will take back her miracle.” His shoulders bowed, crushed by an unseen force.
Gasps echoed from the other women. Zanyia's purring stopped. She trembled, holding him so tight. “Master...” she whispered. “Oh, Master, that's horrible.”
“And she'll let me live knowing my selfishness got you killed so...” Sven took a deep breath. That hardened expression returned. The self-loathing twisted his features. He spat out, “We're done!”
His words slapped me.
He whirled around in place, Zanyia still clinging to him. He marched away, not bothering to hide, his back straight. The lamia stared at me over his shoulder, her golden eyes wide, her face pale. Even her triangular ears had fallen. Nathalie sobbed nearby.
“Sven,” groaned Ava, her voice thick with pain.
My heart wanted to break. This was terrible. Monstrous. He was destroying himself to save me. Us. He loved us that much that he would rip out his heart. I clutched at my breasts, my own heart screaming in pain.
“No!” I shouted, such anger surging through me, swallowing my agony. “Rithi!”
~ * ~
Ealaín – The Adamant Palace, The Astral Realm
The walls of The Adamant Palace quivered with Kora's rage. Her words echoed through the halls. I lifted my head from the comfort of my mother's embrace. She soothed me in my death. My soul had returned to my home. Rithi stiffened, lifting her head from me.
Kora was a Radiant, a priestess of my mother. She could commune to the Goddess. Every time a priestess prayed, or used divine magic, it echoed through the walls, whispering to my mother. Normally, it didn't shake the foundations.
Kora's righteous anger assaulted The Adamant Palace.
“Fool girl,” Rithi said. Her face tightened. She had the same midnight-hue to her flesh as me and my aoi si sisters.
“It was a mistake,” I told her. “I was wrong about Kora.”
“Quiet, daughter,” Rithi said. “We will not discuss this again.”
When Rithi healed Sven after I died, I told her she needed to release him from his oath, that it was a mistake to pry him from Kora. She bade me to silence, just like she did now. But I couldn't. I loved them. They were my spouses. I wanted Sven's happiness as much as Kora's. I grew to love the man. He'd won me over.
“I was a fool, Mother.” I looked Rithi in the eyes. “She loves him. He is her inspiration. He is more her muse than I ever was. You can't part them.”
“He seduced you, daughter,” Rithi said. She pulled away from me, leaving me sitting on her bed alone. She rose, staring at the walls. Then she shuddered and gasped as Kora's words resounded with power.
“Rithi, inhabit my art and speak with me!”
Rithi shivered as her priestess invoked her image. My mother closed her eyes and sent a piece of her power to answer Kora's prayer. I trembled, hating myself. How could I not have seen it right away? At first, I thought Sven a distraction. No true artist should devote herself to one passion. Not if she wanted to create a myriad of art that spoke about beauty, love, emotion, hatred, anger, suffering, joy.
How could she be an inspiration to others if she reveled in only one experience? But for Kora, that one experience—that one man—would take her to new things. Would expose her to new ideas and wonders from which she would create new art for the world to enjoy.
~ * ~
Kora Falk
I faced my Goddess as she inhabited the illusion I painted. She appeared with skin of purest black, her hair a white so pristine it almost glowed. It fell around her majestic form. Reality warped around her, bleeding into rainbow hues, colors I had never seen at all in my entire life, not even while we were in Faerie. She looked so much like Ealaín. I could see it in the shape of her face, of her ears, in the way she stood with all that confidence.
Majesty.
My Goddess manifested before me.
“I won't give up my brother,” I said to Rithi, my chin raised. I wouldn't back down. I wouldn't let her destroy my family. I would fight to the very end. I had my family. I had wed him with Luben's blessing. “I will not be parted from my husband, my Goddess.”
Her head cocked to the side. “Then you will die.”
“I'll die without him,” I snarled. “I'll leave the priesthood. I won't make any more art. I will never dance again. Never paint. Never make love. I won't enrich this world any more, only poison it with my bitter grief. I promise you, that I will be done with it. He is the man I love. He will be the father of my child!
“You will not part us!”
My words resounded. I felt Sven watching me. He had turned from his flight, walking the only path he could. Fleeing was the only way he could save us. But there had to be a better way. Something I could do. His presence, the presence of my family, gave me strength.
“All mortals die,” Rithi said. “I expended my power to save you. If you will not enrich the world, then it was a waste of my effort. I will return that energy to me and your original destiny will resume, my radiant.”
“Then kill me!” I snarled. My entire body shook as the fury roared through me. “Strike me down with your unjust deal!”
Rithi arched a narrow, snowy eyebrow. “Unjust?”
“You made a deal with my brother that affects whether I live or die, and you don't include me? Then you try to control what inspires me by strong-arming the man I love into abandoning me! Into hurting me!” I folded my arms before me, fixing my Goddess with the hardest stare ever. “What type of artist does that to another, Rithi?”
A muscle twitched my Goddess's cheek. An inhuman rage bled off of her and washed around me. The air bent and warped more, reality distorting beneath her presence. I didn't care. I faced her down.
“I will not let any critic dilute my art!” I hissed. �
�I won't let your opinion, your will, sully it. I don't care what you do.” I whirled around. “You do not get to dictate my art to me, Rithi! My soul is my own! No one owns it!”
I marched to my brother. He stood there, Zanyia clinging to him. His back straightened. He nodded his head. The respect in his face, in the set of his jaw, touched me. A strange joy rippled through me despite the righteous fury whipping me onward. His arms opened wide.
Engulfed me.
I hugged him and Zanyia, my face resting on his other shoulder. Zanyia's fierce eyes met mine. A defiant purr rose in her throat. My arms slipped around the both of them. Zanyia brought my brother and me together. I was glad she was here for this.
“Kill us,” Aingeal said as she fluttered down and hugged me from behind.
“Master! Mistress!” Nathalie darted in, throwing herself into Zanyia's back. The young girl buried her face into the lamia's tawny mane.
I looked at Rithi over my shoulder. “Will you keep me from my inspiration? I lost one muse today, I'm not losing another.”
The distortion around my Goddess dwindled. Her stance shifted, shoulders bowing ever so slightly. Her eyes flicked away from me. “Ealaín says she was wrong. She... realized her mistake too late. She is sorry, Kora. You're right. I can't dictate your art. I am not Krab demanding my worshipers follow my plans. I won't keep one artist from her inspiration.
“My apologizes, my Radiant.” Rithi caught my gaze. “I can see that you will create such works of beauty. It will spill out from here. It will change the world in such profound ways. Your love will be expressed. And your grief.”
“Thank you, my Goddess,” I said, my voice cracking. My body shook as the emotion swelled within me.
With a nod of her head, her form melted away.
~ * ~
Sven Falk
Ava, Greta, and Carsina surged in as the Goddess vanished, reality restoring to normal. They flung themselves into the group hug. Faces shining with tears, twisted with the outflow of emotions, stared up at me. All my women cried out their joy as they held me.
I wanted to join them. Emotions stung the corners of my eyes. My throat tightened. I didn't have to leave them. I didn't have to abandon them. Hurt them. Kora was brilliant. She convinced a Goddess to change her mind. It was so overwhelming. I squeezed my sister so tight to my chest. I smiled at them, blinking my eyes against the tears. How did I get so lucky as to have these women? To share my life with them? To be united with them?
I didn't know, but I wouldn't fuck this up. I wouldn't vanish to find my own adventure. I had to be their husband, their Master. Some carried my children. I would be a father. My children needed to have someone to be an example to them.
Like my own father had been.
I cleared my throat and, instead of surrendering to the emotions rippling through me, I said as cockily as possible, “So, we have a princedom to rule.”
I grinned. They laughed.
Chapter Forty-Six: Crowning Achievement
Princess Ava – Echur, Princedom of Kivoneth, The Strifelands of Zeutch
My hands smoothed the satin of my blue gown. It hung over the layers of petticoats beneath, giving my figure the shape of a bell, a tight waist that then flared out over my legs. I shivered, my small breasts rising and falling as I struggled to control my nerves. My stomach twisted and churned, reminding me of my morning sickness the last few days.
But I knew this wasn't morning sickness. Today, a month after destroying the amulet, I was being crowned Princess of Kivoneth, ascending my dead step-father's title and inheriting the war he was losing. There was so much to do after today. I had my family to help me get through that.
“You look perfect, your Highness,” Greta said, wearing her own gown of green satin. It wasn't as fine as mine, but she looked lovely in it, her blonde hair spilling in curls around her youthful face, her large tits about to spill out of the low-cut bodice. “You're going to look so majestic.”
“Yes, she is,” Sven said as he slipped into the room. He looked so roguish in a dark-gray doublet, his blond hair combed back, his blue eyes hungry. His clothing fit him well. He sauntered towards me, his smile wolf-hungry. “Just look at you.”
Sven's presence helped to calm the rippling in my stomach. “You think so. It's not too much?”
“There's a large group out there,” he said. “You need to impress them all.”
“I am aware of that,” I said as he stalked around me. “What are you doing?”
“Just making sure you're ready,” he said.
He stood behind me. I felt him there, a wolf about to pounce on me. A wicked heat washed out of my pussy. I trembled. I looked over my shoulder at him, my strawberry-blonde hair swaying around my face. His smile only grew. A twinkle gleamed in his eye.
“What are you doing, husband?” I asked as his hands grabbed my skirt.
“You look a little nervous,” he said. “While I think you need to glow.”
Greta giggled beside me. “Master, you are going to ruin her dress.”
He drew up the satin skirt. It rustled and shifted over my petticoats. I shivered, the heat growing in my pussy. That molten passion swelled. My hands clenched as he exposed more and more of the lacy petticoats beneath.
“Let me help, Master,” Greta said. She moved up before me, her own skirts swishing, and clutched at the layers of petticoats, lifting them. “She's going to glow.”
“You are such a wicked husband, Sven,” I groaned as they exposed my legs. Then my rump. I found myself bending over anyways, that heat burning in my pussy. My face pressed into Greta's cleavage. I rubbed my face into her soft breasts as my naked ass pressed into Sven's crotch.
I felt his cock tenting his pants. I groaned, rubbing my rump from side to side across his bulge. He groaned; his hands gripped my hips. He humped against me, making me feel so hot. My pussy clenched. Juices leaked down my thighs.
“You are going to ruin my coronation,” I groaned.
“I just want your subjects to see you in your full radiance,” he said, his hand moving from my hip. He shoved down his tight, woolen hose. His naked cock popped out, smacking my rump. I groaned at the feel of his girth.
“Master, make her glow!” Greta said as I kissed at the slopes of her tits. My fingers pulled at the laces of her bodice, opening them up so I could properly bury my face between those large boobs. “She wants it.”
“Just letting her subjects know the real Ava,” Sven said, the tip of his dick sliding down my right butt-cheek. His precum smeared across my flesh. I groaned as he nuzzled it into my bush and found my hot, silky snatch.
He slid his cock up and down my slit. I shuddered and whimpered. Greta's bodice came open. My face nestled between those big breasts. My bedmaid, my submissive wife, groaned as I squeezed her pillowy boobs about my face. I kissed at her inner slopes while I trembled, Sven's cock teasing my pregnant pussy.
Then he thrust into me.
My eyes widened as his cock buried into the depths of my pussy. My cunt clenched down on his dick as the silky friction burned in my nethers. A ripple of heat washed through me as his balls smacked into my clit, his crotch spanking my rump. My skirt and petticoats rustling as I moaned out in delight.
My husband was in me. My prince-consort drew back his cock and then slammed back into me. I shuddered at the pleasure burning in my pussy. Sven fucked into me hard. My cheeks warmed with the pleasure. My nipples tingled in my bodice.
“Ooh, yes, yes, make her glow, Master,” moaned Greta, her hands clutching at my skirts and petticoats, keeping the cloth out of the way so our husband could fuck me.
“I'll make her shine!” Sven groaned. “You're about to be a ruling princess!”
“I am!” I moaned, my hands squeezing into Greta's soft breasts. I rubbed my face back and forth. She smelled so sweet, felt so silky.
My fingers pinched her nipples, twisting them as Sven pumped away at my pussy. His thick dick churned up my pregnant pussy, the rapture rippli
ng through my body. Juices ran down my thighs, flooding out of my cunt.
He grunted as he thrust into me. His crotch smacked into me over and over. His hands gripped my hips as he thrust into me. My cunt squeezed around his dick, massaging him, waves of delight rippling through me. I whimpered. I groaned.
I loved it.
My husband was with me. Sven was here in Echur. We didn't have to worry about my father. Everything was changing. He would help me rebuild from the rubble my father left behind. I groaned, clenching my cunt around his shaft, giving him as much pleasure as I could.
He saved me from my step-father. I would be having his child if it wasn't for Sven, would still be being used and abused by my father. Now I had joy. With Sven. With our wives. Our sex slaves. It was so wonderful. I sucked at the inner slopes of Greta's breasts as the pleasure built and built in the depths of my cunt.
My eyes squeezed shut as I groaned, “Make me explode, Sven! Make me erupt.”
“Yes, yes, yes, Master,” moaned Greta, her voice so sweet. “Love her pussy, Master.”
“Always!” he groaned, his dick plunging so hard into me.
His shaft rammed into me, churning me up. My pleasure built and built. I trembled, drinking in more and more of the rapture of my husband's cock. My cunt squeezed down on him while I moaned into Greta's soft breasts.
His balls smacked my clit. My pussy clenched hard around his dick. The friction increased. That wonderful, silky plunge of his shaft buried into me. His crotch smacked into my ass, pressing me into Greta's tits.
“Slata's hairy cunt, but your pussy is molten, Ava,” Sven groaned, his voice so thick. “You're going to be crowned Princess of Kivoneth with my cum dripping out of you.”
“Good!” I moaned, my heart pounding. The ripples of bliss fluttered out of me. My eyes squeezed shut as the pleasure burst out of me. It was just so wonderful. It was amazing. “I want that! It'll make me feel so naughty!”
“Yes!” he grunted and buried hard into me.
