Vaid Empire: Conquest
Chapter 99
24th of Silla, 19 AVE.
Kingdom of Lian, Praith.
“He killed her. He killed my mother.”
The voice of the young prince echoed through the lounge of the royal stronghold as his twin clung to his side.
“A lie. You don’t know what you saw!” Cendra said as she paced frantically about the room. “No one knows what happened.”
“He killed her. He killed her,” Arinax muttered repeatedly. On his back upon a large cushion, he stared as if he didn’t see them. The Dagger of The Heir rested beside him on a table, discarded. “He killed her.”
“Hush, child. You need to rest.” Kneeling beside him, Vixin assessed the work of the healers as she inspected the bandages wrapped around his chest. Zela slapped her hand away from her brother, trembling.
“Where’s Nafalya? Or father? Or Anyone that can offer more than the words of a mere boy?” Cendra’s knuckles were white as she gripped the hilt of her sheathed sword.
Vixin ran her fingers through her hair, messy from sleep, burying her face in her hands. After a long breath, she peered up with exhaustion. “I don’t know.”
“He killed her. He killed her.”
“You had better quiet him.” Cendra glared. “Such vile lies can never leave this room.”
“There’s no need for that,” Vixin replied firmly. “We’ll learn the truth when this horrid morning is done.”
“He killed my mother. He killed her.” Arinax didn’t seem to hear them.
“Silence!” Cendra ignored her sister.
“Don’t speak to him like that!” Vixin shot back.
“He killed her. He killed her.”
Cendra rushed forward and smacked him with the back of her hand. Zela screamed. “Snap out of-”
Vixin jumped to her feet, snatching the nearby blade and bringing it to Cendra’s throat. “Don’t you dare lay a hand upon him!”
Feeling the dagger pressing against her fair skin, Cendra froze. Swallowing a moment later, she spoke with a quiet scowl as her hand remained upon the hilt of her sword. “It’s treason to threaten a Vaid.”
“Your word against mine.” Vixin held the blade steady.
Meeting her sister’s determined eyes, Cendra released her grip on her hilt. Vixin let her step back, making no move to stop her as Cendra stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.
Sighing, Vixin hurried to comfort Arinax, holding her brother close. “Forgive her,” she muttered as she cradled his head to her chest, caressing his reddened cheek.
Zela appeared terrified, as if Vixin would snap the boy’s neck without warning. The sight of the girl tore her heart in two, and Vixin tried to pull her to join them, only for Zela to frantically retreat. Only when she granted the twins space did the girl return to her brother’s side, holding him close.
Knowing she could do little to help them, she stood. “Stay here. I’ll return shortly.” She regarded the girl. “Look after him, Zela.”
Making her way to the door, she paused, preparing for the battle ahead. Departing into the hallway beyond, she uttered a long sigh as she saw Cendra lingering, her back against a nearby wall with her arms crossed. “Listen, I apologize for…” Her words trailed off as she heard the sounds of whimpering. “Cendra?”
“Stay back!” She turned her head away.
Stepping closer, Vixin saw tears running down her sister’s cheeks. Stunned, she reached out a hand. “If this is about what I did, I’m-”
Cendra batted away her hand, recoiling.
“Speak to me. Please.” Vixin didn’t retreat.
“You don’t understand. It’s happening again.” Cendra tried to conceal her tears by burying her face in her hands. “She’s dead. Irith is dead.”
Biting her lip, Vixin attempted to approach once more. She felt her heart racing, knowing her world stood upon unsteady ground. If she dared to think of Irith, dared to focus upon the horrid truth of their reality…
Cendra fought her once more, yet her resistance was half-hearted. As Vixin’s arms wrapped around her, pulling her close, she buried her face against her sister’s shoulder as she wept. “It’s happening again…”
“I know.” Vixin felt the dampness threatening to gather in her own eyes. Attempting to console her sister, she caressed her head gently. “We have to remain strong. The children will look to us as the elders.”
“You don’t understand,” Cendra muttered through her tears. “I had a second chance.”
Vixin released her, holding Cendra’s shoulders as she forced her to meet her gaze. “Listen to me! If anyone in this accursed world understands, it’s me. That second chance was shared by us both.” Her lip quivered, knowing she risked unraveling. “This time, we lost a mother together.”
To her surprise, it was Cendra that reunited them, wrapping her in another tight embrace. “I’m sorry.”
The words echoed in her ear, slamming against the dam of emotion Vixin had forged. “No.” Wrapped in Cendra’s arms, she blinked, feeling a tear trickle down her cheek. For a moment she believed she could stop herself, that she could endure. “No.” The world seemed to spin around her as the truth gradually tore itself from the deep pit in which she had tried to bury it. Irith was dead. A trickle became a flood, and everything poured forth.
Holding each other in the deserted hallway, alone with their grief, they wept together as they should’ve years ago. After all this time, after all they had grown to become, they were reduced to the girls they had once been, drowning once more.
It seemed an eternity had passed before either could regain their strength to stifle their tears. When their sobs eased to muffled whimpers, they remained together with a heavy sigh between them.
“Her urgency…” Vixin muttered with a sudden realization. “She knew her time was limited when she invited us into her bed. She…she wanted to ensure we were united before the inevitable came.”
Both women had discovered the message cylinders Irith had delivered to their quarters before her attempted departure, of course, though by the time they arose in the morning, it was already far too late.
“Her questions…if we had only known…” Vixin grimaced, feeling as if a dagger cut into her stomach. “I could have stopped her. I could have convinced her against such madness…”
Cendra shook her head, resting it upon Vixin’s shoulder. “Those thoughts will destroy you.” She closed her reddened eyes, banishing an urge to pull away. She wouldn’t abandon her this time.
Once more a silence lingered. When a tiny chuckle escaped Vixin’s lips, Cendra’s head rose to peer at her as if she had lost her mind.
“Forgive me.” Vixin covered her lips. Despite her soft laugh, there was little but sorrow in her eyes. “It’s just…” She shrugged. “This is exactly what she wanted, wasn’t it? You and I, here, now?”
Cendra was unable to meet her gaze, peering down with guilt. “I suppose she’d be pleased to see us.”
As they stood together, the sound of approaching steps came from the staircase at the other end of the hallway. Panicked, Cendra pulled herself from Vixin’s embrace, straightening proudly as she frantically wiped the tears from her eyes.
When Salduin ascended the final step with Jinilya in his arms, he regarded them with a sigh of great relief, rushing to join them. He paused only at the sight of their reddened eyes, his own expression brimming with grief. “I told you we’d find them, Jin.”
The girl practically jumped into her arms, and Vixin felt her emotions harden once more. She would not weep before her child. “Salduin?”
“Where are the guards?”
Silent, Cendra offered no demand for him to bow, fearing that her voice would shatter. When Vixin turned to her expectantly, however, she cleared her throat, doing her best to present a firm tone. “I drove them away.” When Vixin continued to stare, Cendra blushed. “Perhaps I was…harsher than they deserved.”
“I’ll summon them inside again at once. Whatever occurred, I want every member of House Vaid accounted for and guarded.” Salduin hardly took his eyes from his daughter, as if ready to defend against a blade in the shadows. “Hesin is searching for Nafalya. She didn’t return to her quarters last night.”
“Princess Nafalya,” Cendra dared to correct, clinging to her formalities as if they’d protect her. As she hesitated, however, her expression softened. “What of my father?”
Salduin wiped perspiration from his bald head, his shoulders hanging as if they were too heavy to carry. “He took Irith’s body to Praith’s burial chamber.”
Cendra couldn’t correct him. No Concubine Empress came forth. Instead, she quietly touched her lips, grimacing as her tears threatened to overcome her once more.
“Is he unharmed?” Vixin asked. When Salduin said nothing, the look he granted her was all the answer she required. “I must speak to him.”
“He speaks only in whispers, and only to the slaves that have assisted him. He turned me away.” Salduin gritted his teeth as if the fact pained him.
“He’ll speak to me.” Vixin turned, taking Cendra’s hand. “Or rather, he’ll speak to us.”
Cendra recoiled. “I…can’t. Not now.” She offered an apologetic grimace. Unwilling to show her weakness before Lord Salduin, she leaned closer to whisper into her sister’s ear. “Forgive me. If I must face him…if I must witness her body…”
Vixin wasn’t so cruel as to force her to finish. “Will you tend to the children?”
Blushing, Cendra opened her mouth as she sought an excuse. “I doubt either Arinax or Zela will wish to see me now.”
Vixin offered a reassuring tone. “Go to them. Apologize. They may despise you for a time, though they need you now more than ever.” When guilt continued to linger in her sister’s gaze, her own hardened with determination. “We’re the elders, Cendra. I need your assistance in this.”
Reluctantly, Cendra nodded. “Very well. They shall be safe in my care.”
Grateful, Vixin relinquished Jinilya into Salduin’s hold before embracing her sister once more. “Thank you.” Watching Cendra blush as the large man regarded them with surprise, Vixin pulled back with a long sigh, knowing what awaited her. “I shall find our answers from father.”
***
The burial chamber was silent. Dominax appeared as lifeless as the corpse that he knelt before. A Vaid never bowed, yet as his silver eyes traced over Irith’s cold features, the world seemed to fade away.
She had been placed in the center of the room upon a stone slab that had been dragged inside the wooden chamber. The mud that still clung to his cloak had been cleaned from her skin by the healers. She was a beauty frozen in time, her bare body pale, the blood from her back wiped away. She nearly appeared as if she’d take a breath, yet Dominax knew he had stolen her last.
Though he had donned his armor, his helmet rested in his lap. He peered down at it in silence, alone with his deed. The chestplate concealed the damaged fabric of his one-suit where he had been struck by Arinax’s power.
“I killed her.”
It was only a whisper, yet his words seemed to shatter the world.
Only slaves had dared to break his solitude, assisting with the stone slab, his armor, and bringing news of Tempian, until now. He didn’t sense her approaching. The world seemed cut off, severed, inconsequential as he stared at the corpse. Only the sound of Vixin’s voice from behind made him blink.
“Father?” Vixin stood at the entrance, almost afraid at what awaited inside. For her family, for her father, for Irith, she had to be brave. Taking a step, she approached with caution. The sight of him seemingly unharmed should’ve brought her joy, yet further words caught in her throat as she glimpsed Irith’s corpse. Reddened eyes once again filled with tears as she covered her mouth. She had been prepared, knowing what she’d see, yet reality tore through her anew as she began to sob with grief.
Dominax hardly heard her as he discarded his helmet to the ground before him. His hands hung limply.
Vixin slowly made her way to his side. Every ounce of her strength was required to stifle her tears, gradually regaining control over herself until she could speak. “What happened?”
He offered no reply.
“Arinax claims that you…” The statement was too horrid to finish. She let the question linger in the air.
Finally, his silver eyes slowly shifted from the body to his daughter.
“I need to know,” she said when he continued to offer nothing. With a glance at Irith, she felt her resolve gathering. “I deserve to know. She wasn’t loved by you alone.”
When at last he offered a slow nod, a confirmation of all she knew and feared, he watched her expression twist with horror. “She sought to tear Arinax away.”
His deep voice shook her to the core, yet Vixin didn’t crumble. She scowled with disgust as her tears trickled anew. “She sought to save him.” However frantic they had been, the scribbled words inside Irith’s message had been clear.
The defiance of his daughter was something Dominax was hardly used to. As he watched her weep, he felt a tiny flame flicker to life to ignite his frozen insides. “I loved her, yet she sought to destroy me,” he said, his voice low, oozing through the room like a fog. Vixin had to understand.
“Will you shed no tears?” She wiped her own away.
Dominax returned his gaze to the corpse. Once more the flame was extinguished, leaving him empty. Was he capable of weeping any longer? “You’re still human after all, Dominax,” he remembered Irith saying long ago. What was he now?
When he offered no reply, Vixin gathered the courage to approach the body, kneeling beside her stepmother’s head. She had witnessed countless corpses as a Sage, yet the sight of Irith’s familiar features was nearly too much to bear, her pretty face pale. There was no doubt in her mind that she would’ve attempted the same madness to protect Jin. Glancing at her father, her certainties faltered with a second question. What would she do to someone that attempted to take Jin away? Someone she loved dearly?
“What’ll become of her?” Vixin asked, biting her lip with agony as she touched the dead woman’s cold cheek.
“I cannot let her beauty fade.” Dominax moved slowly, appearing as if he was a corpse himself, a dead man learning to control his heavy limbs as he carefully took hold of Irith’s arm. Glancing at Vixin, then the other arm, the princess reluctantly followed his silent command.
“Where?” she asked with uncertainty.
Every moment risked tainting her flesh. He had waited as long as he could. Dragging her together with extreme care, they guided Irith toward one of the pits carved into the floor, empty after removing its former occupant during the first riots. If only the greatest warriors deserved to rest within the chamber, he could think of no one worthier than his Concubine Empress. Gently easing her corpse into the Saitha, they watched the elegant features of her face fade from view as she sunk slowly into the glowing amber liquid.
“The thought of her beauty decaying to time is…a vile fate I cannot allow,” he said in a low voice. The strange liquid would preserve her as long as he required. “I depart for Domani in three days.”
Simmering in her grief, her father’s reveal was more than sufficient to snap her back to attention. “You…what?”
“I put the world to the sword, yet still I failed her.” The rare truth felt like a blade driving into his chest. “I won’t send her to her tomb alone.”
“Yet the Lanthians…” she muttered, utterly stunned. “You’d abandon the conquest now? After all you fought for? After all Irith fought for?”
Once more the flame flickered anew as he grimaced. “This is no retreat. I’ve received word that the siege of Tempian was successful. I will merely accompany Irith’s corpse to Domani myself. When she is safe in her tomb, I shall return,” he said, his tone harsher than he intended, only for his expression to ease. “I must protect her during the journey home.”
The pain in his tone was concealed, yet she knew him well. Biting her lip, she sighed. “Let me accompany you.”
“No.” His tone offered no debate. “Your siblings require a guiding hand, and I will not drag them through the jungle while war surrounds us. Praith is our stronghold, and that is where you shall all remain until my return.”
Wishing to debate the matter, she paused at the slight glow in his eyes. Knowing that his will would not be swayed, Vixin reluctantly nodded. “So be it. If I cannot go, I want to prepare Irith’s body for the journey myself. No other healers.” She met his gaze, feeling the dampness in her eyes. “Please.”
Seeing her urgency, he nodded.
Relief caused her shoulders to ease. It was a small victory plucked from a sea of tragedy, yet she’d claim it nonetheless. With a final glance at the outline of Irith’s form through the viscous liquid, she prepared to depart. “I must return to Cendra and the twins. She must know your intentions.”
He dismissed her with a half-hearted wave, only to change his mind as his words followed her towards the door. “My flower,” he said in what was nearly a whisper. “Judge what I’ve done as horrid, for indeed it is, yet know that I loved her.”
Vixin nodded. “As did we all.”
***
Moonlight trickled through the trees as Nafalya lounged atop a branch. High atop the tallest trees protruding above the jungle canopy, she rested beneath the night sky, feeling as if she would slip from Ayphieal and into the hungry black void above.
“Onis, Twic, Thriduin, Fonic, Fixuin, Silla, Senin, Iahta,” she whispered, reciting the moons in order, just as her mother had taught her. Whenever she felt a wetness gathering in her eyes, she repeated the names, focusing.
Midway through the month, both Silla and Senin colored the sky together. Two glowing orbs in the darkness, impossibly far away, they felt like a set of eyes peering down at her in judgment.
“Onis, Twic, Thriduin, Fonic…Fixuin, Silla, Senin, Iahta.” Her throat tightened.
The expressionless mask rested in her grasp. When she heard the subtle rustling of leaves, she donned her true face. She knew Hesin would discover the encoded message she had left for him eventually, though she thought she had more time alone. When he stepped from the shadows onto her branch, she rose to meet him. “Master.”
Eyeing her up and down, he sought signs of injury before folding his arms beneath his cloak. “You’re a difficult one to find.”
“What do they know?” she asked, cutting to the heart of the matter as she peered down at the city far below.
His expressionless mask revealed nothing of his thoughts as he sat down, joining her in watching the tiny humans and Lanthians below. “Half of our Truthseekers will spread rumors that Irith was killed during a quiet raid. The other half will whisper that she fell while protecting The Prince Upholder from a Lanthian kidnapping plot.” He gestured for her to sit. “The legionaries she encountered last night will serve to support the second claim, and it shall become history.”
She sat several inches from him.
“Those who whisper the truth will awake to find they have no tongue to whisper further,” he continued.
Nafalya nodded coldly. “The God Emperor’s reputation is protected, then.”
“As is your mother’s.” His single eye offered the only hint of emotion behind his mask. “Irith will be buried as a Concubine Empress, not a traitor.”
The princess stared straight ahead, as if lost in a daze.
He removed his mask with a weary grimace, discarding the face of her master, and meeting her with the scarred face of her lover. “What you did was for the best. Irith was a good woman, though you preserved The Empire’s future. What’s done is done.”
“What’s done is done,” she repeated, her tone metallic behind her mask.
Hesin frowned. “And you remain whole?”
“I remain The God Emperor’s shadow. Nothing more.”
25th of Silla, 19 AVE.
Kingdom of Lian, Praith.
Anthara cradled the boy to her green breast, letting him suckle. She watched his tiny wings flex and twitch, taking silent delight in the sight of her child. Resting upon their bed, Lalian held her in his arms.
“A son,” she thought to herself, yet the words no longer pained her so deeply. The boy in her grasp was strong, never to be a slave. “He’s a thirsty one. Look at him. Our little Lalian.”
The name they had chosen made Lalian press closer against her side. He could not give their son his blood, yet he gave him his name. He watched Lalian The Younger suckle, a sight that nearly calmed his worries, though not quite.
She needed only to look over to see the thoughts dancing chaotically behind his eyes. With a sigh, she knew what troubled him. “There’s nothing you can do out there.”
“The God Emperor is suffering, yet we bask in our happiness.” He shifted uncomfortably. “It’s a…a…an injustice.” He seemed to return to his thoughts, holding back a decision he had made long ago. Knowing him well, Anthara’s gaze silently pressed him until he cracked. “I’m returning with him to Domani.”
Anthara straightened to sit against the headboard. “Have you lost your mind?”
Lalian instinctively lifted a hand as if to hold back her wrath. “He…needs me there, even if he doesn’t yet know it.”
“I need you. Our son needs you.”
He rose to kneel beside her. “A…a temporary absence. You may come if you’d like, yet I must go.”
“It was a torture to come here. Now you ask that I leave before our task is done.” Her fury seemed to dampen as she raised a brow, seeing the need in his gaze. “Why, Lalian?”
Finding his courage, he straightened. “He’s my friend, Anthara. The best I’ll ever have.” He took her hand as his tone softened. “I won’t send him to bear his pain alone.”
Anthara hesitated, peering down at Lalian The Younger. “He did give us the world.”
“Now his has been taken.” Lalian caressed the boy’s black hair with an unsteady hand, seeing his friend in the boy’s features. “I…I need to ensure he comes back. I need to ensure he isn’t lost along the way.”
“The God Emperor? Lost?”
“He is only a man, my love, and…and a man now in pain.” He squeezed her hand. “Please.”
Feeling the child suckle, she sighed before nodding.
Relieved, though far from joyful, he rested his head against her shoulder. “As…I said, you may come if you’d like.”
“If I leave, I may never bring myself to come back,” she replied with a grimace. Though the boy in her arms was indeed strong, she still saw the faces of the slaves she had mistreated when she looked upon him. “I’m going to stay until our purpose here is done. I’m going to fight, and when it’s over, when this human empire gives our people peace, I’m going to rest with the hope that all I’ve done, and all my betrayals meant something.”
Lalian could offer no argument. Instead, he merely savored the quiet that followed, holding his family close.
26th of Silla, 19 AVE.
Kingdom of Lian, Praith.
“I cannot let her beauty fade.”
Vixin remembered the words of her father as she worked in solitude. She had accepted them as a silent command. The burial chamber glowed with the amber light from the nearby pits, illuminating the corpse resting on the stone slab.
She worked slowly, her hands gentle as she gradually wrapped Irith’s body in slinion silk. The black fabric clung tightly to her pale skin, displaying every detail of her curves. Indeed, her beauty would never fade.
Vixin paused to wipe the dampness from her eyes. It was only fitting to preserve her body in such a way, for the northern humans frequently mummified their dead using the same silk. The memory of being wrapped and tormented by Rosila brought no reprieve from her sorrow, for she had buried her first mentor soon after. Now, she had lost another.
It was slow work, ensuring no gap remained to let in air as she made her way up to Irith’s neck. Taking a final glance as if to remember her face, she continued on.
A wooden casket waited for her to finish nearby. A temporary vessel to protect her mummy, its deep interior was filled with glowing Saitha. The wood had been treated to contain the liquid without leaking, ready to serve its holy honor of carrying The Concubine Empress to Domani.
Vixin paused as she knelt at her side. Her duty wasn’t complete. Though Irith was similar in size, Vixin’s slender arms lifted her body without straining, aided by the strength of her blood’s power. Cradling her stepmother, she carried her towards the casket, carefully lowering her lower half into the liquid.
Any mummy would eventually decay in time. The bodies submerged in the Saitha, however, never had. She had tested the slinion silk during the previous day, discovering that the viscous liquid seeped through the silk over the course of several hours. Doubly protected, Irith would appear as beautiful as she did in life for thousands of years, her flesh never withering.
Submerging the mummy up to her neck, Vixin supported her head, peering down with reddened eyes.
The only living being in the chamber, alone with her stepmother for a final time, Vixin rested her forehead against Irith’s, closing her eyes. Biting back her tears, she fought to whisper, knowing that if there was a single chance that she could hear from beyond the afterlife, she deserved to hear her gratitude.
“You found a lonely girl and accepted her as your own.” Vixin swallowed hard. “You shall always be a true mother to me.”
Opening her eyes, she slowly lowered her stepmother’s carefully wrapped head into the Saitha. Leaving her to sink, Vixin felt the viscous liquid drip from her fingertips.
“Goodbye, Irith.”
27th of Silla, 19 AVE.
Kingdom of Lian, Praith.
The morning sun rose upon a somber legion. With the entire city seemingly gathered around the members of House Vaid, the royals prepared to say their temporary goodbyes as The God Emperor’s escort waited to depart.
All but the twins stood in the humid breeze, for Arinax and Zela had refused to leave the stronghold. As Vixin carried Jinilya, she knew it was for the best, for none should see their wounds, physical or otherwise.
“Keep her safe,” Dominax commanded Vixin as he kissed his granddaughter’s forehead.
“I want to go with you,” Jin demanded, though Vixin quieted her.
The wooden casket waited, ready to be hauled by legionaries. Only the most prestigious warriors of the legion had been selected for the high honor of escorting The Concubine Empress’s body home.
Eyeing the wooden box, Cendra tried her best to remain strong, knowing what was inside. A goodbye to Irith would undo her. A temporary goodbye to her father was all she could stomach without crumbling. When he kissed her, it was a small relief to discover that his taste remained familiar, for though she knew of his deed, the man before her was not yet a stranger.
“Protect them, my flower.” He caressed her delicate chin. “Our House, our legion, our foothold in these terrible lands. Protect them all in the safety of Praith.”
The news that Clin had not only survived the second battle of Tempian, but that his long siege had been successful had been a merciful light in the darkness. Once more she glanced over at the box. Once more she felt as if she’d crumble. If there was a single chance to save herself, to rebuild her strength… “Tempian is ours, father. Am I not to join Lord Clin in-”
“No.” The answer was swift and harsh. The fire behind his eyes flickered, as if animating a deceased husk of a man.
Cendra had known the answer she’d receive, yet her prediction did little to take away the sting of it. She backed away quietly as Nafalya stepped forth.
There was little to say, for both knew the secret they shared. Never did Nafalya look at the box nor meet Dominax’s gaze. Pulling her close, he didn’t want to release her, yet knew he must. She required no command, no orders, for she was his shadow.
Finally, when all was said, or rather, unsaid, The God Emperor marched forth to descend from the city, gazing emptily at the surrounding trees with Lalian at his side.
31st of Silla, 19 AVE.
The Shai Domain, Near Livshi.
The blizzard raged outside the stone walls of the towering stronghold. As the door opened to usher in their honored guest, snow blew into the entryway. Stepping inside, Potentate Varse of Clan Chalvarrus brushed the snow from his short cape and robe, regarding the beings waiting for him with a hard frown.
“Ah, welcome, my Potentate, welcome!” A woman stepped forth with a respectful nod. A fellow Dril, she was flanked by a human man and an Arkos woman, surrounded by guards of various races.
“Jinisa, I assume?” He raised a brow, receiving an eager nod. As the mistress of the facility, the sole Dril, she was the only one forbidden from bowing. Varse granted her a nod of mutual respect in return.
The stronghold’s thick walls held back the howling winds outside. Miles from Livshi, the nearest city, he knew the guards’ blood would freeze long before they reached civilization should they be cast outside. Each would gladly attempt the walk should he command it, of course, for they were all agents of Shai.
“You know why I’m here, then. Let us waste no further time on pleasantries,” he commanded.
“Of course, of course.” Jinisa offered a seductive smile. “I assure you, my Potentate, that this facility is among the finest you’ve yet to visit.”
He discarded her claims, turning his attention to the human man. Already he had inspected a dozen such strongholds, all sharing the same purpose, housing the many infants collected by Salik and his agents from the humans.
“Ah, no doubt you’d like to meet this stronghold’s breeder, my Potentate. Allow me to introduce you to Rixis.” She gestured to the human with a sense of pride. “He has over one hundred successful pregnancies and counting.”
Varse’s expression grew sour as he assessed the most distasteful piece of an already distasteful scheme. To kidnap infants from their mothers was a slow process, always inviting the risk of discovery. The man standing before him was Varse’s alternative. A son of The God Emperor, this Rixis was but one of dozens of Vaidspawn men that had been selected and kidnapped to impregnate willing agents. The man smiled brightly, though his expression dampened beneath Varse’s cold gaze.
“Rixis here was…reluctant at first, though he has since grown into an eager asset,” she said before shifting to the human language. “Go on. Show The Potentate how you’ve taken it upon yourself to learn the superior Dril tongue.”
“It is…honor to meet you…Potentate,” the young human tried to say in the Dril language, his voice heavily accented.
Varse scowled at the sound of his butchered tongue. “Enough of that. Show me the…”
The Arkos on the other side of Jinisa caught his gaze, granting him a playful smile. With a hand on her obviously pregnant belly, her athletic figure was visible beneath the short traditional Dril dress she wore.
“…children,” he finished.
Grinning, Jinisa put her hands on the pregnant woman’s hips. “Oh, of course. Yet first, allow me to introduce you to Sanak, one of The Shai Domain’s finest agents. She was the first to birth a child of Rixis, and since then, she has earned the honor of visiting us twice more.”
Varse merely nodded, gesturing to the hallway behind. “Show me the rest.”
Obeying, the Dril woman walked with swaying hips as she led the group down the hallway, relinquishing the guards as they descended several staircases below the frozen ground. Emerging into one of the lower levels of the stronghold, she guided them through several locked doors, each opened by waiting agents.
Entering a complex of many branching rooms, Varse noted every passing doorway, seeing several infants slumbering or crying within the small side chambers.
“Feel free to inspect any that you’d like. This stronghold is as much yours as it is mine, my Potentate.” Jinisa pointed lazily further down the corridor. “The older children, brought to us by agents from the human empire, are housed further down,” she explained before gesturing to the nearest rooms. “These are the work of Rixis here.”
The young man smiled with satisfaction. Within view inside a nearby room, a female agent nursed an infant to sleep before moving to the next.
There were surely hundreds spread throughout the chambers. Surrounded by the spawn of his enemy, Varse nodded, concluding his inspection. Every child he saw would one day grow to serve The Domain, forging an army that may stand against the human God Emperor. “They seem to be in adequate health.” He was both pleased and disgusted. “I’ve traveled long, and I am weary of the blizzard outside. I shall depart in the morning.”
Jinisa eagerly nodded. “Of course, my Potentate. We’ve already prepared a room for you.” She turned her attention to the pregnant Arkos. “Sanak, bring The Potentate to his quarters. He is surely exhausted after his travels.”
“Yes, mistress,” the athletic young woman replied in a low yet sensual tone. With a bow, she turned to lead him.
They ascended from the depths, climbing the guarded stairs high into the top levels of the tall stronghold. Behind, he watched her swaying hips and tail with curiosity, yet his cold expression never eased.
“Here you are, my Potentate.” She ushered him into a grand bedchamber, decorated with the colors and symbols of Livshi’s ruling Clan, purple and white. She eyed him with intelligent eyes, a subtle smile upon her lips. “Will that be…all?”
She knew her place. No doubt, she had served other Dril men, and perhaps women, remembering Jinisa’s familiar touch. With a humorless expression, Varse confirmed her thoughts, nodding towards the door. “Close it.”
During the years following his seizing of The Council’s control, the temptations of absolute power had never been far, yet always had he reminded himself of his place. He was a servant to his people, their guard. Nothing more. Here, however, with an outsider, he wouldn’t forgo an opportunity to relinquish his natural urges.
Slowly, Sanak began to remove Varse’s flowing black robes and cape. When nothing concealed him, she began to undress herself, removing her short dress with sensual movements. Her experience was ample, coaxing his needs further until the fabric dropped to the floor.
Her pregnant body was intoxicating, her athletic form glowing with a maternal beauty. With her flexible tail swaying to match her hips, she approached, biting her lip with interest. She hesitated, waiting for his permission before daring to touch his chest with a warm inhale of air.
A Potentate had to be prepared. Never had he grown lax in his self-defense training even as he began to age. Placing a hand on her hip, he felt her soft grey skin, decorated by her exotic black stripes. “Come.”
He guided her to the bed. There would be no time wasted for passion. There was no affection in this. He simply had a natural urge that must be satisfied, else it would cloud his judgment.
Maneuvering onto his back, he allowed her to straddle his waist. Already his manhood stood ready, as white as the blizzard’s snow raging outside. He gritted his teeth as she rubbed her sex against his shaft, feeling her warmth, her eagerness, the juices that had evidently been gathering since the moment her mistress had granted her the command to guide him.
Wet and ready, she groaned softly as she took him inside. His hands held her hips tightly, bearing the sensation of her loins.
There was nothing to fear. Already pregnant, he would put no abomination in her belly. Her body rocked atop him as he endured his pleasure, his humorless expression accompanying a low groan.
His urges had been the downfall of Tsida. A thought of her tainted the company of his own species. He could abuse his power to lay with any Dril he desired, yet never would he. Instead, he tended to satisfy himself with willing female agents of outsider species. Taking Lanthians, Taziks, and, on rare occasions, humans into his bed, he had spilled his seed in any way that avoided siring a forbidden hybrid. Arkos women, however, had increasingly become a danger, his weakness.
Caressing her subtle curves, he silently savored the warm body atop him. Exotic purple eyes stared back into his red gaze, her enjoyment clear.
A thought of his journey into The Wandering Desert came to him, remembering the Arkos women he had spent the night with. Sanak’s curved horns were a reminder of her, a memory from a dangerous time.
Placing a hand upon her round belly, he felt her pregnant swell. The spawn of his enemy grew inside her womb, the grandchild of The God Emperor he sought to put an end to. Varse’s frown deepened despite his pleasure.
“Cum inside me, my Potentate,” she moaned, rocking her hips. Her tail curled around to brush his chest as she licked her lips.
“As this Rixis boy did,” he thought to himself. It was a distasteful thought. He had seen the power the children could manifest with his own eyes during his inspections, however. The human God Emperor, this Dominax, had opened a bottle that could never again be closed. Countless children had inherited his power, and Varse could either harness it to defend his people or fall to it.
“Ooohhh…am I…pleasing you?” Sanak asked. Her experience was obvious, for her slow rhythm threatened to drive him to madness.
He nodded once. The fingers of the hand upon her hip dug into her dark grey skin as he endured the pleasure of her exotic loins. Her body sought his seed, her movements milking him.
Feeling his finish approaching, the hand upon her belly subtly trembled. “Will you save us?” he thought to himself, thinking of the human hybrid in her womb. “Will you be enough to hold back our end?”
Groaning, he pushed his hips upward as he finished, emptying his seed inside her pregnant cunny. There was no passion upon his face, his expression holding only a silent relief.
Savoring his warmth, she dismounted at his command, cupping her groin to keep his seed inside with a sensual smile. “I may warm your bed all night if you’d like, my Potentate.”
Waving his hand, he dismissed her with a shake of his head. “That won’t be necessary.”
Though disappointed, she departed with a bow after collecting her dress.
Lying upon the bed, his urges satisfied, his mind was clear to ponder. Staring at the ceiling, he couldn’t help but think of Salik. His son slept in a distant land, surrounded by danger.
As the smallest flicker of worry eased inside him, he banished the thought. When it returned, he sighed deeply. Never would he admit to such concerns. Never would he utter his thoughts to the boy, yet…
“Remain cautious, Salik,” he whispered, hardly more than a breath. Grimacing, he closed his eyes. “Survive, my son.”
44th of Silla, 19 AVE.
Domani, Capital of The Vaid Empire.
The waves slapped against the hull of The Silver Wind. As Domani crept into view, Dominax stood at the bow, watching the high peak of The Grand Pyramid rising in the distance.
He had known he’d return to The Capital with blood on his hands. Rather than a triumphant conqueror marching to thunderous parades, however, he drifted home in silence, the blood staining his blade red instead of green.
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