Looking at the lady next to him, Darius sat up in bed.
"I never dreamed I'd be sleeping with the king," the lady remarked. Then, she kissed him on the lips, putting her hands into his hair.
"In the beginning, you were apprehensive," Darius replied, glancing across at her. "Because of your parents, they had to force you out of the house. That day, I saw you in the throng and thought, 'Wow, what a lovely lady you would make to spend time with.' I'm under a lot of pressure as I begin my new role as king."
"Master, I hope I pleased you enough. Please spare my family and lower our taxes during this time. We can't run our restaurant these days without your support."
"You have my word as the king," Darius said, chuckling. "But you're going to have to come back and ravish me another night. Running a kingdom is stressful; then in return, I would make sure that your restaurant never goes under. I will reduce your taxes by 10%. Your establishment will be the most respected and all of our kingdom. You will always serve me. I will ensure no thieves nor beasts will destroy your establishment. If they do, they have to answer to me. I will serve their heads on a platter."
The woman leaned over and kissed Darius on the cheek. "Thank you, my dear king. I'll be back in two days for round two."
Darius grabbed the woman firmly on the wrist before she left the bed. "You and your family's heads will be on a plate within an hour if you betray me. You certainly don't want to enrage me."
"I would not even dare to linger on that thought," she said, slipping on her robe and starting towards the door.
The door swung open as Sora walked through. "I see that the king is having his fun," she bellowed, trying not to see amused.
"You want to join me? I've already stripped down." Darius laughed hysterically.
"I have more pressing matters than fulfilling your menial sexual desires. Plus, I don't think you could please me. You forest dwellers are not as stout as the men in the desert." Looking at the velvet blanketed king, Sora twirls again.
"I would like to try at least," Darius said, chuckling. "But I guess we can save that for another time,'' he said, winking at the dark skinned woman.
"Don't think too highly of yourself, Darius. It is only with our help that you were able to overthrow your father. It would do you well to remember that as we move forward. You are but a piece in the puzzle." Sora approached the curtain and pulled it open, displaying the early light. "You should put this on and get ready. Breakfast is ready, and we've got important business to take care of."
"Well, yes ma'am," Darius said, sitting up practically exposing himself. "You sure you don't want to romp in the hay."
Sora turned around and exited the room, her figure undulating seductively as she vanished around the corner.
"One day, one day," Darius said. The new king then changed into his robe, leaving his pajamas on. Today was the first day of their training, and he wanted to be as relaxed as possible. My father was so uptight. A king should be able to do what he wants. If I want to eat at the royal table with just a robe and crown, I will do as I please.
Darius went out of the room, his gaze drawn to the long purple drapes in the corridor. He observed thieves sharpening their weapons and beasts standing ready around the royal chamber, as though ready to attack any passers-by who tried to enter. Sora has them on a tight leash, I see. Walking down the massive staircase he took a left turn by the main doors, he arrived at the main dining room, which was open before him.
"If your father saw you behaving like this, he would be appalled." An elderly lady glanced up at him, her eyes filled with venom.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," he said to the woman. "You've been here longer than I have, and you've seen me in my adolescence. But don't believe you're better than me. I am merciful, but I can only take so much lip," Darius said. He grabbed the woman's neck and threw her against a wall. "If you continue to insult your king, I shall execute your whole family. It makes no difference how old or young they are. They will perish at the hands of the sword. Get with the times, or you'll end up encountering the Goddess Emelia sooner rather than later.
The kitchen team stared in fear as the lead chef struggled to breathe.
"Do you understand me!" Darius screamed. Seeing the lady struggling for oxygen, he let go of her. Turning around, he looked at the other women who were to frightened looking at him. "This is a new regime and I demand my eggs hot and my coffee black."
The women rushed to the head chef as Darius walked up to the table where Sora was drinking her coffee.
Sora clapped as she turned to face him and exclaimed, "Quite an entrance!"
"They need to know who their king is. I am not my father's son. I am so much more than him. I told him that I will be ruling with dominance and fear. But I'm still their king, and a king must think through each situation thoroughly. But to prevent uprising certain boundaries had to be put in place."
"I agree with you," Sora said. She took a bite of her biscuit, chewing it softly. "You cook biscuits differently here in your kingdom. We prefer ours with jam and you eat yours with syrup. Syrup is a little too sugary for my taste, but in tiny amounts, it's great." Sora smirked as she licked her lips, revealing a faint grin.
"Many of these families have been cooking for my family for generations. So, the recipes are near perfect." Darius took a seat at the head of the table right next to Sora, who was sitting to the right of him. "We'll have to get down to the business end of things, I suppose. Taking out those who would attempt to topple me is the next phase, followed by the construction of an army."
"You have an army, Sora said. You have the basement and all the thieves we hired. Aren't they an acceptable supply?" she said with a perplexed expression on her face.
"You seem to strike fear in them as if they are under some sort of spell or lack of free will. That is concerning to me," Darius said, sipping his coffee slowly.
Sora put her biscuit down, her elbows lightly striking the table as she looked across at Darius. "Rest assured, King Darius, that they are not only on loan to you but also under your authority. They were given to Queen Nia as a gift. They are aware of the consequences of disappointing our queen. As a result, you may put them to use."
"We'll see," Darius snickered faintly. "For the time being, I'll take your word for it. I want something to differentiate between those who are loyal and those who should be placed on a watch list."
"I'm delighted my response was satisfactory to you. What were your thoughts about your citizens? Would he do anything as heinous as brand them? It would make them seem as though they were livestock beneath your feet. That would solidify your reign as a dominating king who would murder anybody who approaches his throne. You want to instill dread across the country," Sora murmured this while licking her lips. "Powerful males pique my interest more than anything else."
"You are quite a seductive woman. But I can't read you quite yet. I am powerful, so maybe you will take me up on what I asked earlier. But no nothing is as barbaric as branding our citizens. I'm thinking more like armbands and then having the thieves and the wolf men patrol the streets. Certain armbands will signify what days of the week you can do business and when. It will keep everything in order, and people can work up their status and their service to me based on the color of their armband. But how to implement it?" He thought, crossing his arms.
Sora took some milk and poured it into her coffee, looking over at Darius' eyes that had a wicked glint in them. "Why not have an open ballot of those who support the king and those who do not?"
"Do you think they would actually believe that?" Darius asked. "Most of them will probably fake the answer."
"You may simply rank them by status, with the poor having the least access and the wealthy having the most." Sora twisted her hair, her gaze fixed on the golden chandeliers above them.
"My fear is that the rich may try to overthrow me. They have their own guards and may solicit the help of other dukes and nobles to organize a coup. I need to find a way to ascertain their loyalty. I could take one of their oldest daughters of every house and make them my whores. In doing so, I have a trump card to play in case they try to attack me. They will know that their precious daughters will be killed on the spot." Darius sat back in his chair, inhaling deeply.
Sora tapped the table swirling her index finger in a circle. "My suggestion is the upcoming festival. It could be a tribute to yourself, the new king, and a turning point of a new regime. You can even build up a type of vote system or just kidnap each of the nobles' daughters by force at the end."
"All of those are fantastic ideas." Darius made a snapping motion with his fingers. "A grand spectacle of sorts. Oh, what a grand festival it will be," the young king said, laughing loudly. "Are you ready to see what I have in store Sora? And when will I meet Queen Nia? would like to hear from her mouth what the final plan is."
"All will be revealed in due time, but first you must concentrate your energies on capturing the remaining towns in your kingdom." Sora took one last sip of her coffee while staring at the king with eerie eyes.
"I'm quite full. Shall we head to the planning room? There are too many ears around here, and I don't want information to get leaked. Many of these women have known me since I was a young lad. I'd rather not spill their blood, but I won't hesitate if my plans get leaked."
Sora nodded, taking one last drink of her coffee before standing up and following the king out of the chamber.
Many of the sculptures of King Matthew were being taken down by thieves and beast men as they walked out of the chamber and down the corridor.
An elderly guy stood at the walkway's edge, staring up at the sculptures. The man said, "What will I prepare for you, king?"
"You are the master sculptor, are you not? I leave it in your hands, but make me powerful and mighty. I want you to sculpt as many statues as possible with the resources you have. Melt down this material and rebuild it in my image. Spare no expense on a detail. I am not my father." Darius walked towards the age man lay his hand on the shoulder of the master sculptor.
In Darius's presence, the master sculptor knelt, shivering.
"You'd be wise not to cross me. By dusk, I want all my father's sculptures out of the castle. Find whatever labor you need and make it happen. You, beast man, help this elderly man with his tasks."
Sora looked back at the beast man, and Darius heard a snarl from their mouths.
"There are far too many of these beast guys roaming the streets. Are you certain they won't turn on me? They didn't seem to be pleased with the order you gave them. Do I have your word that nothing bad will happen to me?"
As she gazed at the king, Sora sighed. "Why do you trust me if you doubted me so much? Why did you dispatch a messenger to assassinate your father? There must be some level of confidence. You really want to be the dictator of the whole continent, correct? Then a little faith may go a long way. We can both obtain what we desire if you believe me. You know how these things play, and I don't know what the queen has in store for you, but believe me, you're a part of it." Sora shut the door behind her and looked at the old man, who was attempting to assemble the beast men to lower the statues.
Darius took a left turn away from the front of the castle. Both Sora and him walked down a long corridor with a variety of armor displayed in glass cases.
"Your father loved his armor," Sora said leaning her head on Darius shoulder.
"Cut that out woman!" Darius turned to the left opening a wooden door with the lion's crest hoovering above the door way.
"Now onto the planning." Darius spoke as he sat down in a lush velvet chair. "Please take a seat."
Sora sat down, staring at the enormous board in front of her and a wall covered with various pins and figurines of all kinds.
"Is this your first time in our planning room or any planning room of any sort?" Darius put his feet up on the table, thinking of his father and how he was never allowed in this room. "There were many times where I would ask my father to let me plan for the next invasion or to break up a skirmish of bandits. He told me to keep to my books and to study my magic, but I knew that I had the mind of a warrior."
"Here you sit," Sora said, looking at him, putting her fingers in between each other. Our war room is a bit more barbaric, would you say, or you may paint it as such because that is how you see us desert people?"
"I used to think of your country as little, but now I see that you are actually a civilization of conquerors. The rumors are true." Darius surveyed the map of Asteria's settlements.
"We have already taken care of Havens Ville which didn't have much of anything for us to gain. What would be the next largest town you would like to conquer?" Sora traced her finger to the north of the map.
"Interesting choice," Darius echoed. The kingdom's magical weapons are mostly made in the village of Fire Horn. Swordsmen and magicians of the highest caliber have retired there. However, it would be a great feat."
"Trying to take a town like that, you could lose most of your army, but I could always get more from Queen Nia and aid the advance of the Kingdom of Valencia. Our ambitions and yours are inseparably linked. All the kingdoms should be run by a single, unified government, and not by each one's own self-described democracy."
"There's little doubt that Fire Horn is the strongest town in Asteria, and it's located in the north." Darius looked down at the map in front of them as he moved a tiny figure towards the town. "As soon as possible, we need to seize control of the town, which will provide us with the resources we need to continue our campaign."
Sora nodded as she heard two knocks at the door. "I need to go take care of something dealing with the beast men. I had some plans for later today. It came a bit earlier. I will be back, and we can close our discussion of where you want to go."
Darius nodded keeping his is eyes focused on the figurines in front of him.
Opening the door, Sora saw a slender beast man with a sword at his hip. "Walk with me," she whispered.
The beast man nodded as Sora closed the door so as to not show Darius who was there. Taking a quick left turn, she led the creature up a flight of stairs near the back side of the castle. "In here quickly," she said. Opening the door, she rushed in with the beast man with a cloak on.
"I don't have much time," the creature said.
Sora rushed towards the creature, putting her lips to the neck sucking intensly. "Now, there, General Sardius, you know how to keep a woman waiting." Sora started to strip off the top layer of her tunic.
"I don't have time to have relations. I came here bearing news. The queen is still in a coma. How much longer do you believe you need to gather the items for the resurrection? I'm still trying to ascertain his location."
"Our spies said it is somewhere in the Kingdom of Valencia. We had the lead witch doctor poison the queen for you to take charge. The people are starting to doubt me as their leader. I must head back with something to tell the people. Currently the witch doctor and your sister are keeping all those away from the chamber because the queen fell into a deep sickness. That is news amongst the people."
"My love, do you trust me? Everything is going according to plan, and this naive son of King Matthew is smack in the midst of it." Sora rubbed his chest with her finger.
"You better cause if not, we're going to have some serious issues on our hands. My preference is to avoid being mistakenly put to death. I believe in you and will do all I can to buy you some more time, but just don't keep me waiting for something that no amount of love can erase.
"What is it?" Sora walked back towards the general and wrapped her arms around his furry mane, covering his neck with kisses.
General Sardis sighed. "Our seers saw an arrow trying to meet its mark."
Sora's gaze was fixed on the face of General Sardius, who expressed genuine anxiety. Sora took a deep breath as she let her lips leave his neck. "It would seem the wheels of time are moving faster than we thought. I'll send a squad of beast men with news within the week. Till then, keep Queen Nia in a coma."
"I will follow your orders, ambassador. I love you." The general ran towards the window and jumped out towards the branch, disappearing from her sight.
"I'm betting it all." Sora put her fist towards her heart. "Hopefully it will turn out for the best." Sora moved towards the entrance, pausing to glance back at the window through which her lover had leapt.