Chapter 21
Summer came to a close, and with it the first vestiges of a massive shift in temperature. Rys had guessed that the archipelago was colder than most of Gauron, but this confirmed his suspicions.
The perpetual snowcaps of the mountains grew in size, and winds brought chills into the palace. Rys marveled at the snow some mornings from the courtyard. He wondered if he would frequently see snowfall when winter actually came, if things were already this cold at the start of fall.
Gauron was in the southern hemisphere, and the bulk of the Infernal Empire had been in the northern half, closer to the equator. Serious snowfall was rare, and while Rys had seen plenty of snow due to incidents such as Kauros changing the climate of the entire continent, natural weather was completely different. Only the Sithran Mountains were south enough on the continent to frequently see snow.
The weather didn’t bother the Kinadain. If anything, they seemed to relish in the chillier weather. The devils grumbled and began wearing more layers, which caused the demons to laugh at them when they thought nobody could hear them.
But as the trees on the foothills began to rapidly drop their leaves and sales of fur, feathers, wool and other insulating fabrics skyrocketed, Rys looked at the strategic picture.
If it was this cold already, was it even feasible to start a war with Avolar any time soon?
The Kinadain were used to the cold, as were many of the locals, but that didn’t change the laws of physics. Winter ruined roads, limited food supplies, and stressed supply lines. Furthermore, Rys doubted that the Kinadain were used to marching in the cold.
The Labyrinth was unchanging, and its temperature varied arbitrarily but tended to be fairly comfortable. Kinadain warriors might struggle when exposed to week-long marches in blistering cold temperatures, even if they acted tough otherwise.
Rys’s real worry was that Avolar might be better prepared. They were a city-state founded around the local populaces—the Ariadain and Kinadain. Not only was their territory far less hospitable than the rest of Kavolara, but their soldiers would have trained for it.
Lapisloch, the agricultural hub that Avolar needed to secure food supplies, was only 50 miles or so south of Avolar’s largest southern fortress. Rys needed to know more about the current situation.
For all he knew, Avolar might be able to take Lapisloch while his armies were unable to respond. His armies needed to march through a narrow strip of land, around the mountains of Castle Aion. They would almost certainly be iced over or covered in snow. A war in winter was impossible for Rys, but Avolar might know that and be preparing to march south in the cold.
That meant it was time for Mina to show results.
He invited her to join him for breakfast one morning, and he found her loitering outside his preferred dining room. Her tails clung close to her body, their tips flicking back and forth. Mina rubbed her arms together, pressing her chest up.
Rys wondered if she was doing that consciously. It was a fairly obvious attempt at seduction, but nobody was around to watch. Maybe she had been training herself in her spare time. The more time she spent practicing these little gestures, the more natural they would appear.
“You can wait for me in the room, you know,” he said as he approached.
Mina’s tails flattened as she spun to face him. She licked her lips. “The maids are still getting everything ready. They always get so catty when it comes to you.”
“They’re servants, not maids,” Rys said. “And that’s the first I’ve heard about that.”
“If they’re wearing maid uniforms, I think they’re maids.” She smirked and her tails returned to normal. “They’re your personal maid squad. Shouldn’t they be possessive? The imps are the same when it comes to you. They even call me a stupid name when I’m not around, but never you.”
“That’s different. I go back a long time with the imps.” Rys stepped forward and held a hand against the door, but didn’t open it. “Personal maid squad?”
Mina stared at him. Her expression turned to disbelief. “You don’t know that you have a group of maids directly assigned to you? Alsia and Tyrisa selected them, although they’ve had to reassign a few recently. You don’t do much, so giving you all the best servants hasn’t worked out.”
That explained a few things. Rys had noticed that only certain servants served him food or cleaned his various rooms, but he generally left household business to others. The imps were more reliable when it came to sensitive tasks.
“Honestly, I just ignored them.” He shrugged at the face she made. “They make my food and clean my office and bedroom. The imps handle the atelier and anything important. Plus the Lilim are still enjoying their servant play. There’s nothing I specifically need.”
“How about wet, warm holes that will beg for it?” Mina suggested with a lewd grin.
“If I want sex, I just summoned three succubi. Not to mention the other women interested in me, including your aunt,” he said.
Mina pouted at the mention of Fara. “You know, I really expected you to be banging every woman in the palace. Where are the hot, evil orgies that I read about in these trashy novels imported from Gauron? Maria acts the part, but she tells me that you haven’t even lined up your pet rulers. Shouldn’t that have been the first thing you did? Bang Maria, Alsia, and Vallis on your throne?”
“I’m sure that will happen one day,” Rys said matter-of-factly.
“Oh, so you do want to do it.” Mina tilted her head. “So why not bend them all over and fuck them? Don’t pretend they’re not interested. Alsia’s so happy you’re about to knock her up that she’s started walking into walls.”
He had noticed that. His Kinadain duchess had been a little distracted lately, while he prepared a spell to grant him fertility.
Mina continued, ticking off fingers, “I don’t need to mention Fara or Maria. And I talk to Vallis often enough to know that she wants you bad. You just have to ask, and you’ll have five naked, squirming women anywhere and anytime.”
“Yes, but what if I want you to voluntarily turn into that naked, squirming woman without me asking,” Rys said bluntly.
The fox blinked, and her tails and ears flattened again. “Um, is that a request?”
“I think you misunderstood what I just said.”
Rys took a step back, then circled around Mina. He pinned her against the wall, and her tails wrapped around his legs. Her breathing quickened, turning into short, hot breaths. Redness filled her face. Her eyes turned into raw desire.
“I’m saying that I don’t feel the need to ask others to fuck me,” Rys said, placing a hand under her chin.
Mina gulped.
Continuing, he whispered, “I don’t need random servants to beg for my cock. I won’t even remember their names. But when it comes to those I choose and trust, I like the idea that I will walk into my bedroom one night and find them nearly naked, oozing lust, and covering my bed with their pussy juices because they’ve been waiting for hours.” He smirked at Mina. “Does that sound familiar?”
“Fara,” she mumbled. “I…”
He placed a finger against her lips. “We have a work meeting to hold. But remember that just because I’m not asking you to ride my cock, it doesn’t mean I don’t plan for you to ride it one day. But there won’t be any going back once it happens.”
“Fuck,” Mina said, eyes wide.
That was perhaps a little too on the nose for the little fox, but he didn’t want this situation to end up like Vallis. Both women had been granted positions out of a mixture of expedience and their future potential, rather than their current ability.
Rys didn’t want to be unraveling a second woman’s insecurities while she tackled her attraction to him. Mina had tried sleeping with him multiple times, but had never been too serious about it. When she finally did make a real move and he took her up on it, he wanted it to be final.
“Uh, I think breakfast is a good idea,” Mina gasped out, refusing to meet his gaze. He continued to pin her against the wall. “I think I need a little more experience before I ride any demonic stallions.”
He leaned back, then stepped over to the door. Mina caught her breath as she turned away.
After a few seconds, she faced him and gestured for them to enter.
Inside, they found three of the female servants who catered to Rys’s needs. They puttered about the room, busying themselves with trays of food and a large pot of coffee. Normally, the imps prepared the coffee, given it was one of their few talents.
And yes, the servants wore maid outfits. He still didn’t know who had come up with that idea. Everyone denied responsibility, but no one changed the damn things. His preferences were closer to what the Lilim wore than these frilly black and white uniforms.
“Your Majesty!” one of the servants greeted, trotting over to him.
She had horns sticking through her hair, marking her as a horned demihuman. The other two were wolfkin. Horned demihumans were by far the most common demihumans on Kavolara, but he had seen his fair share of wolfkin by now.
“If you take a seat, we’ll bring you your food and coffee,” she chirped, smiling brightly at him. She tried to lead him to the table and chairs nearby without touching him.
Rys grunted and scanned the food. The other servants were plating everything up now, for both him and Mina.
“Once you clean up, I’d like to be left alone. I need privacy,” he told the servant next to him, but spoke loudly enough so the others could hear.
Then he took a seat, and Mina sat in the closest chair. She shuffled closer to him. The movement produced noisy clattering sounds as she lifted her chair and shifted it next to him. Dirty looks were thrown her way by the servants, but they said nothing.
Before Mina could settle her tails against Rys, the food arrived. It was a fairly standard breakfast. Smoked and spiced sausages, poached eggs, thick slices of warmed and browned rye bread, and a side of beans and mushrooms. Mina’s plate was similar to his—in fact, he’d argue that she had more food than he did.
Two steaming mugs of coffee were served alongside the food. He eyed them and the food, as he unfolded his cutlery from the silken napkin. Somebody had embroidered the three emblems of his kingdom along the edges—both those of the duchies and the kingdom itself.
“Given how much you and Fara eat, I have to ask something,” Rys said, as he began to cut into a sausage. “Do foxes get fat?”
Mina snorted as he poked and prodded at her food. “Only when they get old. I was warned that overeating could prevent a fox from receiving additional tails, but I heard the opposite as well.”
“I’m guessing the excess energy goes into your tails,” he said. He took a bite of the sausage, then pushed it off to the side of the plate. Mina pointedly ignored her sausage after watching his action.
“You seem really interested in how our tails work,” she said. “But yeah, there’s a connection between our tails and bodies. Once a fox stops receiving new tails, they rapidly age. A lot of us don’t reach 300. Foxes with lots of tails tend to be pretty lonely, I noticed. Maybe it’s why the higher-ups in the clans always seem so distant.”
“I doubt that,” Rys replied. “No other race has that sort of disparity in lifespans within their kind, and the powerful rarely care about the powerless.”
Mina grimaced at this description of the gap between those who ran her clan and its members.
The rest of the plate posed no issues to Rys as he poked about. Looking over, he saw that the servants were still cleaning up. The horned demihuman appeared frustrated with the slowness of the others.
“Out of curiosity, have you been making good use of Leth, Hyrie, and your new subordinates?” he asked.
Mina raised an eyebrow. “I thought we would leave that conversation until after the maids left the room.”
“Fair point.” He took a noisy slurp of his coffee, which drew attention from everyone in the room.
Then he made a face. It had been far too bitter.
He held up his mug and gestured for one of the servants to approach. The wolfkin hesitated, and the same horned servant from earlier dashed over.
“Your Majesty, is there something wrong?” Her eyes darted from the coffee to the sausage shoved to the side of his plate. “I’ll cook up something fresh if there’s anything wrong.”
“No need. Just get me a new coffee,” Rys said. Coffee splashed against the sides of the mug as he waved it around. “Preferably one that isn’t filled with poison.”
All movement stopped. The wolfkin stopped pretending to clean up and simply stared at the wall in front of them. A half-smile rose on Mina’s face. The horned demihuman’s face turned deathly white, and he thought she was going to faint.
“Oh, sorry, I just noticed there aren’t any spare mugs,” he said, looking over at the poorly prepared spread. “Give me a moment.”
Then he slugged back the entire coffee.
The horned demihuman let out a strangled scream and nearly leaped at him, her hands clawing at the air as if to knock the mug out of his hand.
“Rys!” Mina shouted, shooting to her feet.
He finished off the shitty, muddy sludge and shoved the mug into the servant’s hands. “There. I’m sure you can find some coffee. Oh, and throw away the sausages. If you or the others ate any, you’ll need to see the Lilim to be healed. The poison in them is far subtler and magical in nature.”
Once he finished talking, the wolfkin tried to make a break for it. Mina’s tails drew a pattern behind her, and both servants collapsed. The remaining demihuman quivered in front of Rys, tears welling up in her eyes. She quivered, unable to process what was happening as she held the empty coffee mug in her shaking hands.
He looked over at Mina. “Don’t tell me this was your idea?”
The fox’s face paled, but she mustered up a smirk and shook her head. “Do I look that stupid? I found out they were up to something almost the moment they came here. But everyone kept saying you were immune to poison and you’ve been so lax about personal security and poison testing it’s frustrating. I can’t believe you drank that fucking coffee.”
“It’s a good party trick,” he said. He gestured at the terrified servant in front of him. “Her?”
“She’s fine. Mary’s next door, so I’ll have her come in and take care of things,” Mina said.
Rys beat Mina to it and told Mary to join them via mindspeak. The head of the Lilim laughed over the mental link.
“She’s coming,” he said. “I guess we should change rooms.”
“Y-your Majesty, let me get you some new food!” the last servant nearly screamed, tears running down her face.
He frowned at her. “Help Mary with the cleanup.” Then he thought a little harder. “And get me a coffee. You know who to ask.”
Honestly, it would be easier to ask the imps. But he felt like he was kicking a puppy.
Rys would kick a puppy all day long if he had something to gain from it, but this particular puppy belonged to him. Hurting her wasn’t his intention.
The servant nodded rapidly as Mary wandered in. The Lilim let out a whistle at the state of the room.
“Nobody tried to stab him?” she asked, bending over to look at the floor. Presumably for discarded knives.
“Not this time,” he said lightly as he walked to the door with Mina. He leaned close to Mary as he left and whispered, “Take care of the bare minimum, but focus on her.” He jabbed a thumb at the crying servant. “The imps can clean up the rest.”
Mary winked at him. “Amelia always said you were a softie when you weren’t in bed or the battlefield.”
He grunted at her, preferring not to be reminded of the unique Lilim he knew all too well. “Let’s go, Mina.”
They ducked into the receiving room next door. Not long after they settled in, the servant ducked in with a tray of cups and a fresh pot of coffee. She quickly served them, curtsied several times, then fled.
“You absolutely terrify them, but they still feel possessive of you,” Mina observed as she sniffed her coffee.
Rys sipped it. “It’s the good stuff. Don’t worry.”
Mina relaxed and drank her coffee. Her tails rubbed against Rys’s side, despite sitting in different chairs. “When did you notice? You acted strangely when you ate your food.”
“I suspected something when you said you didn’t enter due to the servants. If they’re in the dining room, that means everything is ready. They don’t prepare breakfast in the room.” He shrugged at her look of annoyance. “The second was the coffee—the imps always prepare it, and the servants were clearly making their own. Third, both you and the wolfkin acted strangely. You didn’t eat or drink anything until after I did, and avoided the sausage, and the wolfkin were far too amateur about the whole thing.”
“So you drank and ate the poison as some sort of power move?” Mina asked. “Should I let them return to their master to make it clear just how strong you are?”
“Depends who sent them and what they know. I did it for fun, and because I didn’t know if you were involved. A show of strength would help put you in your place if you had tried to kill me,” he said. “But if they know nothing of importance, then we can send them back. Otherwise, do whatever you want with them.”
Mina licked her lips nervously. “You’re talking as if I could have remained your spymaster after trying to kill you.”
He looked at her seriously, and she swallowed.
“You’re working with both the succubi and the Haunts now. That means you have a better idea of how things work with infernals, than the fairly clean impression Grigor and Fred give off. I don’t think I’ve had a noble devil subordinate who hasn’t tried to kill me at least once, even if unintentionally,” he explained. “So, yes, I would forgive you after some punishment.”
“Sexy punishment?” she asked.
He kept looking at her. This time, she looked away entirely.
“Uh, is this an Incubus King thing? Sex that hurts?” she asked.
“No. But I know a lot of ways to set somebody straight without cutting off their fingers or ramming my dick into them.” He sighed. “I don’t expect to have to use them, and you would have been significantly less useful to me if I needed to forcefully maintain your loyalty. So this is better in every way.”
“Yeah, I think understand some of Fara’s comments about you more now,” Mina muttered. “You’re giving me everything I asked for, Rys. My loyalty is guaranteed. But I just… wanted a bit of fun.”
He laughed as he realized the problem. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Mina. Have your fun. I’m used to stupid pranks and tests. You can expect to receive them in turn. My only requirement is to know the limits of what is acceptable in your position.”
She nodded. “I’ll interrogate our would-be assassins later. Not that I really need to. Everything I have on them makes it clear they’re from Avolar. If they’re getting this bold, I’ll need to talk to Grigor about increasing security for Maria and Vallis.”
“Smart.” Rys ran a hand through Mina’s tail appreciatively, causing her to gasp and moan.
“F-fuck,” she breathed out, eyes glazing over. Her hands grasped his when he tried to pull away. “I feel like you just fingered me. That was intense.”
He raised an eyebrow. Fara enjoyed it when he touched her tails, but she had never reacted like this.
“More?” Mina asked, eyes wide and tone begging.
Given her reaction, he pulled away instead. She whined, but didn’t badger him further.
“I need everything you have on Avolar,” Rys said as he nursed his caffeine. “The war is inevitable, but I don’t want them to get the jump on us over winter. Without intel, I’ll be making my strategic decisions blind. Grigor is a demon of many talents, but seeing the future is not one of them.”
“Fortunately, I have enough to help,” Mina said. “I’ve deployed the succubi to Avolar and the Haunts to the League, and they’ve given me plenty to work with. Some of it raises questions I don’t have answers to yet.”
“Why did you split them up like that?” Rys asked.
“The League is packed full of mages who know that you’re an infernalist. Plus, everybody knows about succubi and I don’t trust Hyrie not to try to switch summoners,” Mina said.
“I doubt she’d be that stupid.” He laughed.
“Maybe. Nobody knows anything about Haunts, however. Leth has been able to settle in without any problems. He’s been less trouble than I expected, given how many centuries he has on me.” The fox grimaced.
“Fair point. So, what are Avolar up to?”
“Working with every possible enemy you have in order to save their own skin.” Her grimace remained plastered on her face. “The city is ruled by a council of important locals from the region—both Ariadain and Kinadain. Hyrie has taken control of one of the middling members. He’s a wolfkin demihuman who regained his Kinadain heritage and acts as a merchant liaison between the dains of the city. We’ve confirmed that the League are directly working with the council using him.”
Damn. Beaten to the punch.
“Maliah Jyarvic knows his subterfuge. First Compagnon, and now Avolar. In any other situation, I’d be impressed that he was able to corrupt the Kinadain. Alsia made it pretty clear that their culture despises everything about him,” Rys said.
“I don’t think he is responsible for the corruption.” Mina hesitated, then sighed. “You remember how I mentioned that there is a Gold Clan handler in the city? I think they’re greasing the wheels somehow. But I don’t understand why. Everything about this smacks of Alliance politics.”
“You used your aunt to find out more the first time. Why not again?” he suggested.
She shook her head, her ears flattening. “It’s complicated. Nia knows there’s a handler in the city, but not what they’re up to. Officially, the Alliance aren’t interfering in politics in the archipelago. I have proof otherwise, but there’s a catch: the village is still in convalescence.”
“Because of how they treated you,” Rys recalled.
“Yeah,” Mina said softly, looking away. “If Nia interferes, it will look like the village is active again. For all we know, the Gold Clan have cut the village out of the intelligence loop as punishment for halting work. The entire village might be drafted against us if they step in.”
“Shit,” Rys cursed. Although his succubi were talented, he didn’t want to put them against an entire village full of mystic fox spies and assassins. “I assume Nia is against that?”
“She’s aware of what you’re up to and wants the village to relocate to avoid being caught up in war. It’s difficult, as you might imagine. Even beyond the attachment many have, the only suitable locations to move to are under your control. You control most of the mountains on Kavolara, and we can’t change islands without approval from the alliance and possibly even the Imperial Court itself,” she explained. “And nobody wants to drag them into this.”
“Do you really think the Gold Clan themselves are actively supporting the League? If so, where are the fox assassins?” Rys gestured to the room where he had been poisoned.
“Anything that overt would be a political disaster for the Gold Clan.” Mina shook her head. “Pharos has a non-interference policy outside the continent. The Alliance has special permission to operate here, and nobody is sure why. The only person with permission from Pharos’s Imperial Court to authorize international operations is Imira, one of the Court’s Archons.”
“Archon?”
“Generals appointed by the Imperial Court over specific portfolios. Defending the Imperial Court; keeping Hellgate safe; preventing the dark elves from rebelling.” Mina shrugged at his look. “Imira is… was a mystic fox. She became clanless and is now the Archon responsible for all affairs outside of Pharos. The Court would need to directly overrule her through law, and that could take years.”
“Was a fox?” he asked.
“Supposedly, she forsook everything that makes us what we are in exchange for power.” Mina looked to one side. “You, uh, probably should talk to Fara about that. I think she’s playing with fire and it’s related to Imira.”
“So the Gold Clan can’t attract too much attention from Pharos, because they’re probably in breach of their official orders?” he summarized.
“Most likely. If this was authorized, then they would have moved more openly. The Gold Clan have tried this sort of thing before. The alliance nearly collapsed to civil war due to them, and only Imira’s direct interference stopped it,” Mina explained.
“She can involve herself in domestic affairs as well?” he asked, surprised.
“There were probably like five people on the continent who could stop her, and one of them wanted her to stop the civil war,” Mina said. “Rys, Imira is genuinely one of the most powerful and dangerous beings on Pharos. She’s a seven-tailed fox, but can do things we can’t. Her powers go far beyond the spiritualism we have.”
That sounded like astral power again.
Rys now had two powerful women invested in the archipelago, both of whom used astral power and whose motivations were a mystery. At least Imira was on a different continent.
Shifting the conversation back to the primary topic, he said, “If your village wants to relocate here, it can be organized. Until something official is organized with the Alliance, I’m happy to grant them land.”
“Really? You want a village of mystic foxes next door?” Mina stared at him.
“I have two in my palace, don’t I? If they can live with the infernals, I think I have more to gain than lose by working with them. Especially if this is political—I can’t imagine that the Gold Clan will stop once I defeat them in Avolar.”
Mina blushed. “Got it. I’ll talk with Auntie Nia.” Coughing, she regained her composure. “The other big thing we’ve discovered is that this all relates to Avolar’s economy. They’ve wanted to expand their power for some time, but you’re forcing their hand. They produce less food than they eat, and don’t export enough to cover the costs now that we’re leaning on them. Their port expansion is running behind as well, so they’re restricted in how much they can trade.”
“Why not buy from somebody else? We sell directly through Tarmouth, and I imagine that must be the most expensive option with all the middlemen,” Rys said.
“Because everybody wants them to fall. The Federation wants them to join, so they’re doing the same thing we are. That leaves the League and their artifact trade.” Mina frowned and sipped her cold coffee. She made a face, then warmed it up with magic. “If they launder the League’s artifacts, Tarmouth is unlikely to stop them. Banning a Kinadain-heavy nation from the artifact trade would be bad politics.”
“How do they plan to get those artifacts up north?” Rys asked, bemused. “Surely others will notice if the League just sends ships along the coastline.”
“That I don’t know. But it all comes back to food and money. That’s why I think they’re going to move on Lapisloch soon. I’ve started spreading rumors there that Avolar is going to invade them, in order to soften them up once we move in,” Mina said.
“Smart. I’ll need to talk to Vallis and Grigor about that, then.” He paused. “There is one more matter. Did you ever find out who was behind the earlier letter?”
The fox rolled her eyes. “Don’t pretend you don’t know. Chief Enforcer Mave is definitely behind it. I should have known, given he has a reputation as a spymaster. Or more accurately, of having connections to a spymaster.” Mina grinned toothily. “Turns out, Mave’s network is actually the spy network of the Royal Gorgrian Kingdom. Somehow, he has the connections or money to buy information and favors from them. Maybe they think Mave is a Gorgrian plant.”
Maybe he was a Gorgrian plant. Hadn’t he appeared in the League right after a war with them?
“See what you can find on him,” Rys ordered. “I suspect he’s an ally. If I’m right, then we can work with him against the League or possible attract capable mages. Both are extremely valuable to us.”
Mina nodded, then rose. “Got it. I’ll give Vallis an update, then head off to contact Auntie Nia. There’s no other option than going in person for something this important.”
“Take care,” he said. “And think about what I said earlier.”
She tilted her head in confusion. Then her face reddened and her eyes glued themselves to his crotch. “Riding. Got it. Thanks, Rys. Now I get to think about that the entire time I’m away.”
“It worked on Fara,” he said.
Mina batted him in the head with her tails. Such a familiar sensation.