Chapter 41
“It feels strange to be leaving after so long,” Fara said.
She stood at the palace entrance, a small leather bag by her feet. Rys and Vallis stood near her, seeing her off.
“Aren’t you coming back in a few weeks?” Vallis asked, raising an eyebrow. “What are you being all dramatic for? You’ll visit your sisters, then come back once you’ve had your family bonding time.”
Fara’s tails shifted and Vallis swore as something struck her in the head.
“Rys is such a bad influence on you,” Vallis said as she rubbed the top of her head through her black hair. “Do the two of you do kinky stuff like that in bed?”
Fara’s warning glare caused Vallis to raise her hands and take a step back.
Rys shook his head at their antics. If anything, he’d miss this over the next few weeks.
The morning sun streamed through the glass doors and windows. A few demihuman maids spied on them from nearby, not even pretending to do their morning chores at this point. Rys suspected they weren’t on duty yet, given how early it was.
At some point, it had become sport for the various servants to spy on him and the various other cabinet members. They scrawled down notes.
If Rys didn’t know that Tyrisa had put them up to this, he’d be suspicious.
No, he still was suspicious. But whenever he wanted to, he knew he could bully his little Chief of Staff into spilling the beans. Until then, it served as something to pass the time as he tried to work out what his staff were doing.
Fara stepped forward and enveloped Rys in a hug. “I’ll be back soon, Rys.”
“I don’t get a hug? What kind of godmother are you?” Vallis asked.
“The tough-love sort.” Fara beat Vallis upside the head with one of her tails. “Try not to keep Rys up at night.”
“Pretty sure that’s what you’ve been doing,” Vallis said.
The two women stared at each other. Slowly—very slowly—they both reddened. Then they coughed and looked away.
“I feel that I need to automate the soundproofing,” Rys said.
“Why do we need to turn it on in the first place?” Fara asked, her face still cherry red as she realized that her nightly activities in her bedroom had been overheard.
“Because sometimes you want people to hear what’s going on in your bedroom,” he said, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
Both women stared at him. Then they rolled their eyes.
“How did we end up with you?” Fara asked.
“Do you regret it?” he asked.
“Now you’re just trying to bully us.” Vallis laughed. “Go on, Fara. I’ll keep our great and glorious Incubus King company.”
“I thought I banned that title,” Rys said.
“I’m the viceroy. I reinstated it.”
Fara rolled her eyes and picked up her bag. She turned and opened the door, about to disappear from their lives for a few weeks.
Given that Fara had been a constant figure in Rys’s life since he had awakened, the next few weeks would be emptier while she was away. It had only been a few months since they met.
A lot was different now. Fara had changed, and continued to change.
Rys stepped up behind her and sank a hand into one of her tails.
Fara’s gasp caused Vallis to turn red. The viceroy looked at Rys with wide eyes.
“Don’t take too long to get back,” Rys whispered into Fara’s ear as he leaned over her.
He stroked her tail, causing her to moan in pleasure. His other hand crept along her thigh and teased the edge of her panties.
“Not here,” Fara mumbled. She looked back at Vallis, whose hands were wandering along her own body. “The two of you are as bad as each other.”
“I’m just reminding you of what you can expect when you return,” Rys said.
He pulled Fara into a kiss. When they separated, her eyes glazed over.
“You’re making this hard,” she said. “Just like every time I go near Maria after she’s been near you. She rubs your scent all over herself.”
“Jealous?” he asked.
“Yes,” Fara said. She gulped. “I’ll have to get my fill of your scent when I return, Rys. Don’t forget me.”
She slipped away from him and left the palace.
He stood there for several long seconds, watching her dart away using her empowered muscles. She planned to travel by foot and go through the mountains.
“The two of you are acting like this is some long separation, when she’s going to be back in your bed before the end of the month,” Vallis said.
Rys looked over his shoulder at her. Her skirt was noticeably rumpled. She flushed at his gaze.
“What? That was hot,” she said. “And I’m right.”
“Yes, but it’s more fun to play things up. You’ll understand when you’re older.” Rys patted her on the head as he passed her.
Vallis blinked. “Older? I’m an adult, you know.”
“I couldn’t tell,” Rys said drily.
They wandered to the war room, which was mostly empty now. The map had been updated, but little else had changed. No figures sat on it, and there weren’t piles of notes and crystals everywhere.
Grigor stood next to it. He used his human form, which had become a constant recently. While many knew that he was a demon, it hadn’t become common knowledge given his Gift allowed him to hide his nature.
“Anything concerning you, Grigor?” Rys asked.
“It is the lack of concerns that does.” Grigor let out a grunt. “The Malus League backed down too easily after their inglorious defeat at our hands. Based on what little we’ve learned of their military strength, we lack the power to truly fend them off. They concern me.”
“I think they concern everybody,” Vallis said. “But they need to be wary of invading others. They have the Royal Gorgrian Kingdom just across the channel to the south. When they attacked Tarmouth a decade ago, Queen Faeris intervened. And they invaded Gorgria just a few years ago, which only makes tensions worse.”
“I guess that’s the problem with being a pariah,” Rys noted. “If you take action, others will attack you while you’re focused elsewhere. Is Gorgria powerful?”
“They’re the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the archipelago,” Vallis said. “Supposedly, Faeris is connected to powerful nobility in Gauron. She was a powerful adventurer before she came here and founded the kingdom along with her husband. They have a massive professional military, have dissolved all of the dains, and basically control their territory without opposition.”
“Hence why they named their kingdom after the island,” Rys said. He frowned. “But she’s ruled for over a decade and still doesn’t control the whole island?”
Vallis winced and scratched her cheek. “The king passed years ago. I haven’t heard good things since then. People say that Queen Faeris is an ageless beauty who is respected and loved by all, but she also has a reputation due to the sheer amount of nubile men she collects.” Vallis shrugged at that. “The RGK is a stagnating power.”
RGK—an acronym for the Royal Gorgrian Kingdom, Rys realized.
The situation was an interesting one for Rys and his new kingdom.
He competed with two powers on his own island. To the north was Avolar, a small collection of dains. The south, the Malus League, who were the pariahs of the archipelago. Tarmouth were close by and controlled all intercontinental trade.
But three other major powers dominated the archipelago. The RGK to the south, who represented immense power from Gauron. To the east were the Tolaran Federation, who controlled Dalyros and wanted to marry Rys and Alsia into their political fold.
And, in the far north-east, was the island of Kinaria. Tenno Morai controlled it. She remained a mystery, but Rys knew he’d need to confront her eventually. Her power appeared to be the closest to that of the ancient angels and infernals of his era.
A long path lay ahead of Rys. Longer still, given he needed to reclaim more of his power.
“Making plans?” Vallis asked. “Proper ones, based on your expression. Maria will be disappointed. I think she wanted to make extensive use of her time here.”
Rys raised an eyebrow. “You seem a lot more comfortable talking about this than you were last time. Have you made up your mind?”
Vallis reddened and look away. “I’m still thinking. Last time was hot, but, uh, I’m pretty busy with all the viceroy stuff. But I’m happy for Maria. She’s been glowing lately. Makes me a little jealous.”
There was an easy resolution to that jealousy, but Rys let it lie. The path he had in mind for Vallis didn’t involve bending her to his will because he felt like it.
She needed to choose her path. While he didn’t intend to let her slip away, good things came to those who waited.
And Rys had plenty of time to wait.
He had power to regain. A military to recruit. Nations to learn about and rulers to understand. At the apex of all of that was his plans to control the archipelago, and return to his full strength.
That was his long-term goal. Perhaps it would take years. Or decades, even.
Then, and only then, would he turn his eyes to the continents.
That left him plenty of time to relax. He was in no rush. Vallis, Fara, and the others could grow and stretch out around him. They had grown accustomed to him. More time could only improve things.
But, as always, Rys’s mind ticked away. He focused on his next objectives. What he wanted sooner, rather than later.
Orthrus had been eager to explore the Labyrinth again, and Rys agreed with his fellow prisoner. The key to Rys’s lost power lay within the twisting confines beneath the castle. There was also that undead dragon to defeat and power slates to claim.
The sooner Rys dealt with that obstacle, the sooner Orthrus could locate the next power conduit. Despite the dangers of the Labyrinth, Rys wanted his strength back. He hated constantly worrying about attracting attention, when he should be more powerful than everybody else in this tiny archipelago.
“Grigor, focus your training efforts on a Labyrinth dive,” Rys ordered. “Bring Alsia and her best Kinadain into it. Only her very, very best. You saw them fight and can judge them.”
Grigor flexed his muscles and grunted. “You are taking back your power, Rys?”
“Soon. Once Fara is back. A lot of things can wait,” Rys said, his eyes focused on a specific part of the map. “But whatever I want to do, I need to be stronger. I need to be able to remind people who I am. And I need to recover my memories.”
He stabbed a finger at Gorgria. “If Orthrus is right, the Labyrinth can lead us here. There is another power conduit here. We’ll need to defeat that undead dragon to get there.”
And then, after that, Rys would ensure the Kingdom of Kavolara really was the only kingdom on Kavolara.
His eyes stared at Avolar. The village of foxes was there. As was a collection of dains.
Rys’s conquests had ceased for now.
But they never truly ended. His hunger for more power was never sated.