Chapter 17
The next two weeks passed quickly. They were well into summer now, and plenty of plans were coming to fruition for his kingdom.
His infernals began to patrol the Labyrinth, in case the Malus League intruded. A semi-permanent guard post was set up in the chamber that had contained the undead dragon, and demons rotated through it.
Rys’s attention turned to summoning more infernals, now that he had the power. As he had told Fara and Alsia, his priority was on intelligence. Mina had been whining almost daily about her lack of agents.
He forgave her for her whining because she tended to do it while acting cute and reporting on what she had uncovered about Avolar. The amount of work she was doing herself bothered him, given she was supposed to be a spymaster. He supposed that was his own fault.
“So, what sort of devils are you summoning?” Mina asked from her perch. She sat on top of a pillar in the Labyrinth antechamber, where Rys had summoned Fred.
“Two types today, and both are powerful in their own way. I suspect you already know about succubi,” he said.
Mina gulped and her face reddened. “Uh, I do. Fara warned me you were going to give me some dangerous subordinates. They’re not going to do things, are they?”
“I certainly hope they do, or why would I summon them?” he asked drily. “But they’ll know better than to disobey me. I’m optimistic that I won’t need to personally demonstrate why, but there’s a reason I have my nickname.”
“Lots of reasons, apparently,” she muttered. “Should I leave the room, then?”
He gave her a look. One that made it clear that he knew damn well that Mina spied on his nightly activities with Fara and Maria. Her face turned red as a cherry, but she merely grinned in reply.
“Oh, well then. I’ll be a little less quiet in the future,” she chirped.
“You’re not very quiet right now.”
Her tails and ears shot upright, before flattening in embarrassment.
Now that his spymaster had been put in place, Rys turned his attention to his first summoning circle. While not as complex as the one he summoned Fred with, it had numerous additional protections.
Mental ones, namely. Devils with mental manipulator powers loved to mess with their summoners. Rys had read many stories about how kingdoms and mage towers had gone awry due to an arrogant summoner calling on a devil without proper preparation.
Rys activated the circle. Three figures appeared in the midst of it after a flash of red light and shadow.
Each of them looked identical, from the slant of their eyes, to the very threads hanging off their clothes. They appeared as middle-aged men in worn suits, with silvering hair. None of them carried weapons or held even a trace of magic.
Their eyes suggested they were more than they seemed, however. The lead devil met Rys’s gaze. All that could be seen in those dark, beady eyes was an endless void. Rys stared into an abyss for several seconds.
“Hmm. It has been many, many centuries since a human has called upon our services,” the devil said. His very tone exuded charm and seemed to settle into Rys’s mind. Every syllable pushed at him to do what the devil said.
“And it’s been even longer since I’ve met a devil who can breach my mental summoning wards,” Rys replied as his mind batted away the suggestion spell. “It seems I’ll need to update them.”
The devils stiffened, but relaxed once they realized Rys wasn’t planning to do anything.
With a glance, Rys confirmed that Mina was shaking off their suggestion. She slapped her cheeks and glared at the devils, who grinned in response.
“Creepy,” she muttered. “Is this one devil or three?”
“Is there any way to tell the difference?” the lead devil said. “We are one, and we are three.”
“No, you’re not. I know because I summoned you,” Rys said.
“Ah, but—”
“Don’t waste your breath, Lethilium. I know that you Haunts love to sow chaos.” Rys raised an eyebrow at the surprised looks of the trio. “Also, I’m very familiar with the Darus Twins. Your essences feel nothing like theirs. They are one devil in two bodies, while you are three separate devils.”
Silence fell. The lead Haunt, Lethilium, spent several seconds sizing up Rys.
“May I know my summoner’s name?” Lethilium asked.
“Only if you agree to serve me.”
“Ah, so you are important. That bodes well, then. If we have important information about you, then that means our lives hold meaning. I look forward to serving you.”
The three Haunts bowed in sync, still intent on holding up their little masquerade.
But those words were enough for Rys to finalize the summoning. He snapped the circle shut over the essences of the devils, and they became his servants.
“I am Talarys,” he said.
The Haunts froze. A moment later, the rear two looked at each other as if they had perhaps made a mistake.
Lethilium merely grinned, and the abyss within his eyes somehow deepened. “This is truly a fortunate day. There are few men spoken of as well as you, General Talarys, and only one other interests me more.”
“The Pharoah, I assume,” Rys replied.
Lethilium bowed his head in acknowledgement. “I understand that you knew him?”
“I bumped into him once or twice before the Cataclysm.” Rys kept his reply limited in scope, as he began to suspect that the Haunt he had summoned was a little more than he had bargained for.
“Uh, Rys, who and what are these guys?” Mina asked, her tails raising defensively. “Because their voices keep pushing at me.”
“It’s good practice to learn how to push away light mental suggestion,” Rys told her. “I can’t even feel a thing. To answer your question, they are Haunts. A type of noble devil who excels in subtle manipulation and spying. They can hide their magical nature, and their manipulation Gifts are difficult to detect. The best of them can even take on other forms.”
“An apt summary. I am Lethilium. You may call me Leth, if that is to your preference.” The Haunt bowed again, but this time to Mina. “I haven’t spent much time in the company of mystic foxes. You do not look to be one of the warriors in service to the temples and shrines of Gauron. And your appearance… It is most exciting to be in the presence of a Pharosian fox.”
Mina schooled her expression, no doubt realizing that this was a test. “I am Mina. I serve King Talarys as his spymaster, and you will be assisting me with my work. Do you know what that is?”
Leth laughed. “The same as it always is. Sow chaos, cause insurrection, and prepare our prey for conquest. It doesn’t matter where or when we are summoned, for our labor never changes. Chaos is eternal, after all.”
“Uhhh,” Mina tried to say, turning to Rys in confusion.
“You’ll get used to them,” he told her, and she nodded with both her head and tails. The Haunts watched the movement of her fluffy appendages with great interest, and he doubted it was due to their aesthetics.
Turning back to Leth, Rys said, “You seem to be far more experienced than I expected, so I’ll make my expectations clear. Mina is my spymaster, but you will be expected to assist her as agents. I don’t expect you to hold her hand, but insubordination won’t be tolerated. If you use mental manipulation on anyone that serves me—without permission—then I won’t give you the chance to return to Hell.”
The trio nodded in reply.
“From anyone else, that would be an empty threat. But I don’t care to discover your methods of slaying infernals,” Leth said. “We shall work with you, dear Mina. Prove yourself, and perhaps we will work for you.”
Mina grimaced, but decided to accept what she had been offered. Working against Leth was beyond her at this stage.
“I thought the succubi would be trouble, but this…” Mina sighed.
“Ah, so we shall have guests?” Leth said. “If you don’t mind, I’ll leave you to it. Our presence might adversely affect the next summoning.”
Rys gave Mina a look as the Haunts began to leave. She nodded and leaped down in front of the trio. They stopped.
“Talk to either Prince Grigor or Prince Frederick about lodgings and your surroundings. I will brief you later,” Mina said, her tails fanning out behind her.
“Of course,” Leth said with a bow.
Then the Haunts left.
“Are they mocking me with all that bowing?” Mina asked. She rubbed her ears nervously. “I get the feeling that Leth could do my job ten times over.”
“Maybe, but he’d be a handful for me,” Rys said. “They weren’t mocking you. Haunts are professionals, and they almost always work for others. Unlike most infernals, they give you respect at the start, and take it away as you mess up.”
“And these succubi are going to have no respect for me?” Mina asked with a frown.
“They’ll have no respect for anyone. Succubi view others as food or pets. The Haunts will test your ability, training, and intelligence. The succubi will test your patience and butt heads. Expect them to immediately try to gain control and appear superior.” Rys chuckled.
The next summoning occurred, and this time three buxom succubi appeared inside it.
Fortunately, none of them had been doing typical succubi things, and they were all wearing at least some clothing. Although Rys suspected that they would be arrested for indecency in most cities.
Panties weren’t supposed to be the only thing covering a woman’s bottom half. They also usually left something to the imagination, rather than being so thin and sheer that they were practically useless.
The lead succubus hovered in the center of the circle, smoking a long pipe. She had long, braided hair that was a deep purple, and her red eyes were matched by red gems in her many pieces of jewelry.
“State your purpose, mortal. I hope you don’t imagine that you can waste the time of three succubi for a little roll in the sheets,” the succubus snapped.
Despite her attitude, the other succubi swiftly realized something was off. Perhaps they sensed the mental wards surrounding them. But they didn’t warn their “leader.” Instead, they smirked at her.
“You will serve me, and in exchange you will be allowed to remain on Harrium for as long as you remain useful to me,” Rys said.
Mina shivered when she heard him speak, and her tails and ears flattened against the floor. He felt the heat in her gaze as she stared at him from behind.
The succubi licked their lips, and one of them looked at him as lustfully as Mina was.
“So you are an arrogant fool. I am Hyrie, a senior succubus. I serve no one, not even the Succubus Queen herself. Who are you to—”
“I am Talarys,” he said flatly.
Hyrie froze, and her pipe clattered on the ground. The other two succubi looked confused.
“That’s quite the name to claim,” Hyrie said, trying to regain her composure. Her eyes narrowed at him. “You hold Gifts, judging from the state of your soul. I… have only read about mortals doing so.”
“Well, I haven’t stepped out of a book, if that’s what you’re asking,” Rys said. “I’m not claiming the name. I am Talarys, once in service to Malusian. Your choice is simple: serve me, or don’t.”
“You’ll allow us to return to Hell if we refuse?” Hyrie’s tone suggested she knew what his threat was.
She shuddered when he merely smiled at her.
“Then, indeed, Incubus King, we shall serve you,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze now. “To serve a mortal who bears the gift of the Succubus Queen herself is an honor.”
That wasn’t what she had been implying earlier, but that’s how life went with succubi.
“Mina will be in command of you.” He pointed at the young fox. “Remember that you only remain so long as you are useful to me. Do not cross me. Do not think that you can disobey me and get away with it. Am I understood?”
The succubi shuddered, and he could smell their arousal. Taking them would be trivial, if he cared to.
But a smart man doesn’t give a succubus their prize unless they have something to gain. Right now, he needed to hold back until Hyrie and her fellow succubi knew their place and worked with Mina with minimal complaint.
Rys left, leaving Mina to handle the new arrivals. As he ascended the steps, Leth came down and winked at him.
No doubt the Haunt wanted to intrude on the succubi now. Rys kept a surreptitious eye on Mina for the rest of the day, but nothing seemed to go wrong. For now, he had loyal agents to assist her.
When he finally returned to his office, he found Alsia waiting on the couches.
“Rys, may we talk?” she asked, her expression unreadable. “I feel that we need to discuss what happened in the Labyrinth.”