Chapter 597: Lingering Threats
The Emperor was uneasy, although he didn’t know why. The two maidens lay within his bed, their bodies a mess of bruises and cuts, their breathing shallow and raspy. If they didn’t get some attention soon, they might die, despite being at the level of Lords.
But that was the way the Emperor liked it, breaking them down to nothing before ravaging their bodies. These two were actually lucky in a sense as they had been around him for a while without losing favor. Most maids barely lasted a week before he grew tired of them. But these two were sisters who had husbands and that just made things all the more enjoyable for the Emperor. While it didn’t suit his taste all the time, he would find the itch every so often and these two knew how to deliver. As for who their husbands were, they were local businessmen that were fairly well off. Anything other than that and he couldn’t care less. He was just glad that he could do whatever he wanted to them and they would just smile and go along with it, like willing and obedient puppies. And the one final rule that he had was that they weren’t allowed to have sex with their husbands. They could find whatever excuse they wanted, but if he ever found out they were again sleeping with their husbands, they would be killed and they knew that.
It was the power of control that the Emperor loved more than anything. This entire world was his to do with as he pleased and he couldn’t have been happier. Even his enemies were nothing more than arrangements he had made to give his life some spice. If he had wished to wipe them out one day, that wouldn’t even be an issue. So even though the battles with the lands in the west came in daily, the Emperor could only laugh to himself while enjoying the current game he was playing that involved outsmarting the other side, not just over powering them. As for the broken tribes to the south, he had a lot of fun with that before they finally collapsed, having made their king think he had gone crazy and making incredibly bad decisions on the battle field.
As for the number of people who died as a result?
"What would a man care about an ant?" Would be the Emperor’s response if ever asked.
’Still though. Now that the tribes have been beaten down, I should put a new opponent in place and help them rise to power. They should be able to provide some entertainment in around a hundred years if I do it right. I wonder what I should create this time? A cult rising up from the ashes of the mad king might be fun?’
While the Emperor’s thoughts side tracked, a man came into the room as the Emperor sat their in thought, not caring about the man for the moment.
"My Liege? Shall I arrange care for the women?" The man asked, looking at the two broken bodies that were on their last breathes.
"Oh? Right. Yes. I forgot about them. Yes. Arrange for their treatment and also gift their husbands the records we’ve been making over the last few months."
"Yes my liege. I assume they have run the course of their usefulness?"
"You know me too well Hermes. Yeah. I’ve grown tired of this game and desire a new one. Perhaps leave their husbands alive to deal with them after the recordings have been shown to them. Perhaps the men would like one more go at my sloppy seconds before ending their lives forever. Or maybe not, I do not care either way. Still though, I’m feeling a bit... uneasy for some reason. Would you be aware of a reason why that might be?" The Emperor asked his faithful servant.
"Hmm... Well lord. The shadow poison attached to the bear brings a stirring of the nameless one from all those years back. If this wasn’t some sort of a sealed world, perhaps that would just be a coincidence. However, after thousands of years here there should no longer be surprises. For something like this poison to show up could only indicate that someone came in from the outside?"
"Yes. That... that would be correct. We should investigate every corner of this plane and see if there are any others like it. If there are doors still open to the outside, they need to be destroyed immediately," the Emperor spat, with an iron to his words.
"Of course my Emperor. I have already sent teams of your elite squad to go take a look. They weren’t happy, but they have been idle for too long and need to earn their keep."
As they were speaking, two pale white women wrapped in nothing but a red tunic entered the chamber and proceeded to the bed, lifted up the women, threw them over their shoulders and carried them out without making a sound, almost like their feet never touched the floor. They moved with a sure stride despite their heads being covered by a black leather mask that allowed neither sound, nor light to penetrate. If it wasn’t for a few well placed holes, air wouldn’t be able to get inside either.
Both men ignored the strange sight as they carried on their conversation.
"There... might be something else my Emperor..." Hermes said, although the reluctance was audible in his voice.
"I haven’t heard you sound so unsure since that time I suggested it might be fun to have a fling with those horned she-devils of the Abyss back in the war."
"If you remember correctly, you ended up almost being gored while trying to escape the one that happened to have cock my lord."
"How was I suppose to know their men and women looked almost exactly the same?" The Emperor laughed along with Hermes.
"I did try to warn you, but as you said, and I quote ’I know a bitch when I see a bitch, alright?"
"Anyway... What’s gotten into your mind this time?" The Emperor said, pulling on his pants and pouring himself a drink from a golden pitcher.
"It’s about your lady the Empress," Hermes said, trying to be as careful as possible.
Even with his care, the Emperor seemed to go dark for a moment as he crushed the pitcher in his hands, ripping through it like silly puddy.
"For her to go against me isn’t something new. She has always been a strong willed woman after all."
"I’m aware of that. But she also seemed off after the match yesterday so although I knew it would anger you, I sent someone to follow her just to see where she went."
The Emperor took a few deep breaths before responding.
"And?"
"And she and her maid skipped out on the tail and disappeared. It was only this morning that I found out she visited the prison block for a few moments of time before leaving and heading back home. Although I am unsure why she was there, it wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary had she not made the effort to lose those that were following her."
The Emperor didn’t speak right away, but was lost in thought for a while. He then laughed for a bit before easing himself down on a plush chair and sighing.
"She probably wanted to see the condition of that young cripple who was able to best that bear. He did wear that armor after all so perhaps she was just curious about him and thinking about the past. My wife is a lot of things, but a schemer isn’t one of them. Nor would she ever even dream of doing something indecent. So while I see your worries, I feel as though they are for naught. After all, she was only there for how long?"
"A dozen minutes or so at most according to both the logs and the guards my lord."
"A dozen minutes. Ha. That man probably died within that course of time considering his condition. It was a rousing battle, even to those such as ourselves right?"
"That it was."
"Well, she’s always been a soft one like that. Worry not. She might have a bit of fire in her system, but it’s nothing more than an ember. In this world, not a single soul would dream of defying me Hermes. And that’s just the way I like it."
...
Hera was cleaning Laz’s body gently with a cloth, wiping down every inch of him in delicate detail. Her servant had brought back some fresh water, linens and a towel and now Laz stood there while the mature woman went to work.
"You don’t have to do this you know. I can clean myself," Laz said, not really sure how to feel about this.
"I won’t be able to return for a while master, so please allow me this one request. It is an honor for a woman to wash the body of a warrior such as yourself and I have never really had the pleasure," Hera said as her maid looked on, starting to go numb from shock at the sight of her beautifully strong Empress acting like a love sick young maiden.
"Do as you please I guess." Laz sighed and just relaxed his muscles, enjoying the woman’s soft yet firm touch.
"My husband has probably already sent out men to find the source of the shadow poison, but he probably has no idea that it involved that dragon pet of the nameless god. While you’re here, you should be safe, but I would guess since it was sent here to kill you, it won’t stop until you are dead," The Empress said as she wrung out the towel for the last time, then took another dry, clean cloth and began drying him.
"So it will try for me again?"
"Yes. It’s a smart and cunning beast, as much as a human might be. It will keep trying until you are dead, although it won’t come itself unless it’s left with no other choice."
"Well... now that I’m healed, that won’t be too much of a problem," Laz said, knowing that the essence from the Empress had yet to be used and wondered how much stronger he would grow as a result.
"I’m sure you are more than enough to take care of a few beasts. But what happens when it starts to corrupt humans?"
