Chapter 18
“I expected Fara, actually,” Rys said as he crossed the room to his liquor cabinet. “You’ll need to be more specific than ‘what happened in the Labyrinth.’ Because a lot happened. I’m ignoring some of it for now.”
He kneeled down and rifled through the bottles, uncertain what he wanted to drink. When he presented a bottle of wine to Alsia, she screwed up her nose at him.
“You really should get used to alcohol,” he commented.
“If it is an acquired taste, then I don’t understand what makes it necessary to acquire it,” she said primly.
“Kids say the same about vegetables.”
She pouted at him. “Are you saying I’m a child for not drinking?”
“Tastes change. A few years from now you’ll wonder why you hated wine and question the taste of anyone who dislikes it.” Despite his words, Rys put the bottle back and instead retrieved an opened bottle of herbal whiskey.
“You’ve taken a liking to the local spirits,” Alsia noted. “The amount you purchase from us has been noticed by the dains.”
“Because nobody else usually likes stuff this strong?” he asked as he poured a tall finger of amber liquid into a tumbler.
“No. Because the warriors know that nobody other than you and Grigor drink it. I have been asked about the state of your livers. Your liver, to be precise. I don’t think anyone questions Grigor’s health.”
Nobody ever did.
“If there are any Kinadain who hope that I’ll drop dead from alcohol poisoning, and that you or somebody else will take my place, then they’ll be very disappointed,” Rys said.
He swirled his drink thoughtfully for a few moments. “I should probably start checking these bottles for poison, on that note.”
“You don’t already?” Alsia’s voice turned shrill.
“People tried to poison me so often in the Infernal Empire that I stopped caring. I saw a lot of shocked faces as I drank glasses that were more poison than edible substance.” He laughed. “Demons often play drinking games with poison and other crap, too. I remember a rather nasty one where they increased the amount of tar in their cups each round, until there was only one demon who hadn’t puked his guts out.”
Alsia’s face paled and she looked down. “Is that a thing that Grigor does?”
“Did, and only when he was younger. These days he doesn’t need to prove himself. If somebody tried to undermine him using a challenge like that, Grigor would probably just slug him in the face.” Rys shrugged. “Even demons have politics, it just manifests in a different way.”
“I see. Perhaps that explains a little of what I saw in that… place.” She licked her lips. “I will admit that I don’t fully understand what I saw. I suspect that I don’t need to. Even that angel seemed to be beyond my understanding.”
Rys didn’t want to talk about Ruathym. Instead, he took a seat on the sofa next to Alsia and faced her. Her tail twisted behind her as she turned to face him.
“You’re not here to talk about that, are you?” he asked. “Both you and Fara have things on your mind, but they seem more personal. So, out with them.”
Alsia nodded, took a deep breath, then asked, “How can I be useful to you?”
“By continuing to do what you’re currently doing, but you want another answer.” Rys raised an eyebrow, and she nodded.
“I… cannot help but feel that I provided little assistance to you in the Labyrinth. That spirit—Orthrus—guided you. Your infernal warriors are far superior to anyone that comes from my dains. And although I felt that I was a highly capable spellblade, I pale in comparison to you, Grigor, and even Fara.” Alsia refused to look at Rys as she spoke.
“I wouldn’t downplay Fara’s experience,” he said drily. “She’s an old lady by most standards, and has slain more monsters than I suspect every hunter in your dain has ever met.”
“But she seemed like…” Alsia trailed off.
Rys waited patiently for her to finish her sentence.
“She seemed like an equal.” Alsia winced at her own words. “Both Maria and Vallis have so much more experience governing than I do, and I find myself reliant on them. I lean on you for influence and power. But Fara was a warrior, and I had spent much of my time training to become one. I hadn’t thought she would outstrip my brother so badly.”
“Much of that is due to experience. Fara is very good at pushing herself past her limits, while still knowing how to retreat. You have the raw power and talent to match her and best Barul, but will you make the right decision in almost all situations?” Rys sighed at Alsia’s expression. “Why do you think I trust Grigor in a battle?”
“Because he’s strong,” she said.
“If I gave you his strength, do you think I would trust you in battle just as much?”
Alsia hesitated. “If I knew how to use it, couldn’t I quickly learn how to match him?”
“Maybe in a story. Reality is far harsher. Even if you have talent, it takes time to develop that into a consistent skill,” he said.
Rys clenched his fist in front of his face, his gaze turning distant. “My rune-crafting initially came from raw talent, but if I had relied entirely on that and coasted, then I never would have achieved half the things I have. Grigor is the same. As a Kashlovian, he has a raw advantage in strength over other demons. But there’s a reason he’s still alive and almost every other Kashlovian his age is very dead.”
Gulping, Alsia’s hands shifted in her lap. “Do you think that I am wasting my talent, then?”
He gave her a sidelong look and tried not to laugh. Had he worried like this when he was her age?
Probably. He genuinely couldn’t remember. What he did remember was his raw ambition and desire to constantly push forward and not let his failings bog him down. Because he had a lot of failings in his youth.
“You’re young, Alsia. From what Vallis tells me, talented mages can stop their aging process easily. So you have centuries ahead of you, even without my help. The only way you can waste your talent is if you convince yourself that you can’t use it.” He ran a hand through her hair, and she gasped. “If I didn’t think you were capable, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Is that why you aren’t marrying me off?” she asked quietly, a blush rising to her cheeks. “I don’t believe I am governing well, and I am not that useful in battle. But you haven’t even considered any of the marriage invitations from the Tolaran Federation.”
“Oh, do you want to be rid of me so easily? Is that what this is really about?” Rys hid a smile as he teased her.
Alsia’s face turned ashen instantly. Her eyes widened, and she stared at him.
“No!” she squeaked. “I meant that…” She coughed and tried to compose herself. “Isn’t there a lot to gain politically by marrying me to a powerful noble? I gave you the power to choose, and given I feel I haven’t been as useful to you lately…”
Her self-doubt was cute, but began to grate on his nerves. Rys felt it was time to give her some direct encouragement.
He leaned over her and cupped her chin in one hand. She tried to gasp, but he held her mouth shut. All that escaped her was a muffled moan.
His free hand snaked behind her and grasped her tail. He rubbed his fingers along the soft side of her tail, and her face turned cherry red. Her legs rubbed together in response.
“I have no intention of giving you away to anybody else,” Rys rumbled. “If you had that in mind before you came here, you made a mistake by giving me that right over you.”
Alsia stared up at him with wide eyes. Excitement glittered in them.
“Then, what about children?” she murmured.
Rys blinked. He took a moment to mentally adjust his thinking to this topic.
“We talked about this before, after the battle against the Malus League,” he said. “You brought up the risk of otherkin—”
“That doesn’t bother me,” she said flatly. “The Kinadain must change, and accepting otherkin would be part of it.”
Ah, so any child he had with her would be one of those “tainted” otherkin. She had only hinted at the idea, but this confirmed it.
“I did want to focus on uniting Kavolara,” he added. “You mentioned that Avolar dislikes me, and that they’re supported by certain people within the Federation. Is it really wise to push them so early?”
“Are you opposed?” she asked, her eyes boring into his. “I thought about this while talking with the elders about my succession plans. There are many reasons for both of us to have children, even if you have no plans to perish or leave. And I have wanted a daughter for… longer than I care to admit. Many of my friends have already had children, sometimes two. I’ve only been able to look on and play from a distance.”
Rys wanted to say that Alsia was young, but he supposed that in her environment, it wasn’t strange to have children so early. Alsia was now a noble, and just like Maria, she needed a bloodline successor.
Or at least, that was how Rys justified it. There were too many complexities to think about when it came to his own children. He found it easier to consider the situation from her perspective.
“I’m not, but I like to have a good reason. If all you want is a warm bed…” he trailed off, his hand running over her soft cheek.
Alsia gasped, and her tail whipped back and forth behind her.
If he wanted to, he could take her right now. The desire and lust in her eyes drew him in.
“But you want more than that,” he finished.
“I do,” she said with a gulp. “I envy the sounds, smells, and stories that you leave with Fara and Maria. But I don’t merely want you to make me scream in pleasure, Rys. I chose to serve you and remove the elders because I felt it was the right thing for my people. The same applies here. I won’t accept a half-measure. Please, Rys.”
Alsia’s hands drifted onto his legs, then over his crotch. She froze at the contact, and he swore that her dark horns began to redden.
“I’ll need a few days,” Rys said. “Or maybe weeks.”
“Oh,” she mumbled.
“That’s a yes,” he said.
“Oh!” she brightened up and withdrew her hands. “But…”
“I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m not exactly human anymore. I’ll need to use magic to… help things along.” He chuckled. “That should give you the time to come up with something a little more seductive than ‘give me a child because I want one.’ I mean, I appreciate how forward you are, but I think even Mina did a better job of trying to bed me.”
Alsia pouted at him. “But you said yes?”
“Do you think I would have said no if Mina asked the same thing?”
A glimmer of mischief lit up in her eyes. “I’m not sure we’d be having this conversation if you ever said yes to her. Fara might not appreciate you moving on her niece before you’ve given her a turn.”
Rys opened his mouth to say something witty, but then something occurred to him.
Was he perhaps opening the floodgates with this decision? He had no idea whether Fara or Maria had an interest in children.
Honestly, Maria didn’t concern him. Her interest in her family line was minimal, and he suspected she’d be more interested in how different sex might be while pregnant than actually being a mother.
But Fara…
“Well, I guess planning for war is the least I’ll need to do in the coming days,” he said. “While you practice your seduction and how to break the news to your dain”—Alsia’s face paled—“I will talk to Fara.”
And while he was at it, Rys needed to broach more than one topic with Fara. She still hadn’t told him what had been on her mind when they had been in Ruathym.