Chapter 16: Unconventional Diplomacy

Cora looked like she could have used a couple minutes to catch her breath but pacing was part of the challenge of these duels. If you used everything you had to win the race you might lose the duel. On the other hand, if you were behind after the archery competition you had to give it your all in the race or lose outright. It was a ruthless but clever way to structure duels and it was quite deliberately structured in that way. I knew that because Electra explained it to us as Anna and Cora got ready to face off.

“There are even some who will deliberately forfeit the race so they are fresher for the duel," Electra told us. “But I doubt that's what the princess did, right?”

“True enough," I said. There was no point denying it. It was clear to everyone that Anna wasn't even winded and hadn't been winded before she'd stopped to let Cora win. “So, how are these duels fought?”

“Right," Electra said and then raised her voice so that Anna and Cora could hear her. “Duels are fought to submission. Magic and other powers are allowed, but no poisons of any kind. We want clean fights, not murders.”

Cora of course knew that already but Anna nodded tersely at that, then watched as her opponent pulled a spear out of her bag of holding. Well, I say spear, but this wasn't just a thrusting weapon. The blade was broad and sharp enough to cut as well as stab, but the tip was still phallic enough to qualify it as a spear rather than a halberd.

“Not gonna draw any weapons?" Cora asked, but this time the tone held no contempt, just curiosity.

“Not yet," Anna said and got into a fighting stance. I smiled when I recognized it as the ready pose I usually adopted with a straight sword, one foot forward, bare left hand forward and sword hand held back. Except she wasn't wielding a sword yet so she just had her fist balled at her side.

“Begin," Electra boomed.

Cora wasted no time rushing at Anna, intending to put the point of her spear in Anna's shoulder and pin her to the ground. Before she could land the attack, though, Anna created a crystal sword far faster even than in her duel against Richard and contemptuously slapped Cora's spear away.

“Not bad at all," the amazon said as her weapon bounced off. Instead of standing her ground she spun with the momentum and away from Anna, repositioning herself. “So that's the magic of the royal family, huh?”

“It is," Anna said.

“Honestly, I leave you alone for just a few minutes and you're already fighting again," Alisha said from right next to me and I almost jumped out of my skin.

“How's Yume?" I asked once I'd caught myself

“Worn out," Alisha said. “I'm not sure how long it'll last but right now she's a panting mess.”

“That was quick," I said. “What did you do?”

“Treated her the way I like to be treated when I'm moon-drunk," she said. I was still watching the duel and so I couldn't see her expression but I heard the smug smile in her voice. “So, what's going on here?”

“Cora called Anna a dainty princess one time too many," I said as the two of them clashed weapons again. “Anna finally took offense.”

“To be fair, I didn't expect her to be a capable fighter given her dress," Electra said from right next to us.

“Funny story," I said. “She hates wearing dresses, but she felt like she was obligated to. So those remarks stung especially hard.”

I saw Electra wince out of the corner of my eye but then she caught herself. “So, you stopped an Outsider cult?”

I shook my head. “We stopped one of their schemes," I said. “We didn't destroy the entire cult. And we have reason to believe they're planning something big.”

Electra considered that. “So you took care of a plant but the root is still buried underground. That explains why the queen still wants to do something about it.” She turned to me. “Are we the only people she decided to approach?”

“No," I said, not turning away from the duel.

Anna was clearly at an advantage but it wasn't as big as I had expected. She was faster and stronger than Cora but the amazon clearly knew how to handle opponents that were faster and stronger than her. However, she didn't know how to handle an opponent that was both faster and stronger as well as smarter than her, so she was being pushed back, bit by bit. I also noticed that Anna hadn't pulled out any of her flashy moves yet. She had a wing out and was using it mostly for defense but she didn't feel pressured enough yet to pull out any of her other tricks.

I continued: “We had only just returned to the capital after striking a similar deal with the Wood Elves in the Northwest. And that was just us. I don't know if the queen sent out other diplomats as well.”

“So she's consolidating power from all over the kingdom," Electra muttered. “She's taking it seriously and it isn't just a whim.”

“No," I said. “I'm not sure if I should tell you this, but the kingdom recently had visitors from the West, from the island of Albion, a nation the followers of the Tuatha Dè Danann had considered mere myths up until then.” I paused to let that sink in, then continued: “They wanted to forge an alliance because they, too, fear something big coming from the Outsiders.”

Electra considered that. “Alright, let's leave aside your relationship with the princess for a moment. Do you think what she wants to ask of us is a reasonable request?”

“Yes," I said. “If your cult is even half as dedicated to eradicating Outsiders as I believe then I'm certain your interests align with the queen's.”

She nodded. “You're surprisingly reasonable about all this.”

“The only one I'm upset with is your wife, and Anna can handle her just fine," I said.

“I'm not so sure about that," Electra said. “The princess' magic is impressive, but Cora is a lot more resourceful than she seems.” Then she nodded over at the duel.

Cora had figured out that Anna's sapphire wing was just opaque enough to hide her movements so she kept to Anna's left and tried to go for her thighs. Anna's wing kept twitching back and forth to protect her but the amazon still managed to slowly advance on her.

When she got close enough she unleashed a sudden burst of speed and touched something to Anna's ankle before scrambling backwards.

“There," she huffed. “That's enough of that annoying gem magic.”

Anna, as well as all the rest of us, looked down at her ankle and saw what it was. Cora had fastened a magic-restraining bracelet around Anna's ankle. As the name implied it was a bracelet that turned off a mage's ability to touch mana. Even worse, they were enchanted so anyone who wore one couldn't remove it. They were normally used on slaves and prisoners of war but Cora had clearly found a more proactive use for them. I made a mental note of it since it seemed much more effective than my dispelling stilettos. But on Anna it had precisely no effect since her powers didn't require mana. They were certainly supernatural but the stuff Alisha and Yume could use to summon air, fire and illusions wasn't involved in it.

Cora seemed to realize something was off as well when she noticed that Anna's sapphire wing wasn't dropping. The sword was one thing. It was obviously conjured and wouldn't have disappeared even if it had been created with magic but if the wing had been a magical construct then the individual pieces should have clattered to the ground already.

“How...?" Cora breathed.

Anna shrugged. “Well, cat's out of the bag," she said, stroking her wing with one hand. “This isn't magecraft. That was some quick thinking though, I'll give you that.”

“What do you mean this isn't magecraft?" Cora demanded. “Are you a cleric or something?”

Anna chuckled. “Everyone assumes the royal family has a unique type of magic. We do have something unique but it runs far deeper than magic.” Then, to demonstrate, she created another sapphire sword in her left hand despite the bracelet.

At that Cora tossed her spear to the ground.

“You're giving up?" Anna asked.

“I can't get past that wing," she said matter-of-factly. “That bracelet was my last trump card and it failed, so I give up. I know when to fold 'em.”

Anna didn't exactly look happy about that. She'd clearly been looking forward to clobbering Cora into proper submission.

Cora seemed to realize it as well because she hastened to add: “And yes, I apologize for the way I acted. You are the better fighter and I shouldn't have presumed based on your attire.”

Anna still didn't look happy and I couldn't really blame her. The conclusion had been less than satisfying. Or at least it would have been until Electra crossed her arms and said: “I don't think she's the only person you owe an apology, love.”

“Right," Cora muttered then turned to us and said loud and clear: “I apologize for what I demanded. It wasn't hers to give and it certainly wasn't mine to demand.”

I was still furious that she would even think of asking for one of my women, even if only for one night. Part of me felt like I should leave the anger to Selene but the rest of me felt personally offended that she would even try.

But then again, wasn't this a golden opportunity to once again use someone's slight against us as leverage in the coming negotiations?

I decided not to say anything in response and Selene took one look at me, then one at Anna, and then she, too, stayed quiet.

**

“Now that the pecking order has been established," Electra said dryly with a look at a suddenly very meek Cora, “I believe it would be best to get back to the topic at hand, yes?”

“I think that would be for the best," Anna said. She was still in her adventuring clothes and there was no sign of recent exertion about her. She wasn't breathing hard and she wasn't sweaty either.

“Great," Electra said. “So, how did you expect this... alliance to work out?” There was a great deal of respect for Anna in her voice now but she still clearly doubted this alliance would have any sort of benefit for her side.

“Right," Anna said. “As you might know, the kingdom employs an extensive system of messengers and clerics capable of casting Homeward in order to move messages and troops back and forth at incredible speeds. So far territories like yours are exempt from this practice. We now wish to change that. We want to create a way for us to move troops to your aid if you need them and vice versa. Without this impacting your right to self-govern, of course.”

Electra nodded thoughtfully. “The logic being that no matter where a group of Outsider cultists is starting something big, the queen would be able to send troops there quickly. It's a sound idea. How would you go about accomplishing it?”

“We'd set up a barracks of the royal guard in your territory and a barracks for your troops in the capital. We would periodically cycle out the stationed troops so there wouldn't be a chance for their Homeward link to deteriorate.”

Electra chewed her lip. “It sounds like it would work. It would tax clerics capable of casting Homeward quite a bit but in a crisis we'd be able to move troops very quickly.”

“I'm glad you agree," Anna said.

“So I suppose we should discuss payment then," Electra said.

Anna shook her head. “Your territory would gain as much from our defense as ours would from yours.”

Electra snorted. “The chance for Outsiders and their cultists to show up here in large enough numbers to require outside assistance is much lower than for such numbers to show up in the territories you control.” She paused. “The attack on the capital more than proves this.”

Anna pressed her lips together. “While I agree that the likelihood of it happening here is much lower, if it should happen you can expect far more support from us than we would from you.”

Electra chuckled. “Listen, Princess Annabella, let's stop bullshitting. You are asking for help, except you're trying to frame it as an alliance in order to drive down the price your mom needs to pay for our assistance. So, let's hear your offer and we can start dickering like normal people.”

Anna finally cracked a smile at that. “Fair enough. We considered granting you the normal liege levy reimbursements, but with a 20% bonus added in since we know the warriors of your cult are a cut above what other territories are able to offer.”

Electra considered that, then said: “I would prefer a tax reduction. Nothing too dramatic, just one percent, down from five to four percent.”

Anna scowled. “Absolutely not. That'd slash twenty percent off our earnings from your territory.”

“If this Outsider threat is as bad as you assume it will be you'd lose much more reimbursing us for a liege levy," Electra countered. “Unless of course the crown doesn't think this threat as dire as it would like us to believe.”

Anna's scowl deepened. “A tax reduction would likely stay in effect indefinitely. It wouldn't just cut a massive chunk out of our earnings, it would also destabilize trade in the east as merchants would flood your territory in droves in order to take advantage of the lowered taxes.”

Electra smiled. “That's the whole point. Our territory is rather barren. We need the trade. And lowered taxes are the best way to draw money-grubbing merchants into our territory. We have money, we're just too isolated for many of them to bother coming here.”

“It sounds like lowered taxes are the last thing you need," I said. “A small army of earth and water mages to do some landscaping sounds much more beneficial.”

Electra and Anna both looked at me. Electra bit her lower lip and her brow creased in thought and finally she said: “That would actually be quite helpful. Irrigation would solve our problems much more handily.”

“Are there such groups of mages in the kingdom?" I asked Anna.

“There are," she said. “For this kind of large scale project we'd probably need to hire some freelance mages on top of the ones the crown employs. It would be expensive and I'm sure other territories would be upset about us monopolizing them all, but it would be possible.” She turned to Electra. “Are you aware of how big a favor this would be?”

“Quite," she said. “But between that and the increased reimbursements...” She trailed off as she saw Anna shaking her head.

“No, this is too much. You get either the increased reimbursement or the terraforming squad. We're talking several hundreds of thousands of mun for the mages here, not to mention the political unrest that monopolizing them will cause.”

“I'm pretty sure our territory makes you many times those hundreds of thousands of mun each year, so...”

“Don't even start. You're not just costing us a lot here, you're also monopolizing a precious commodity. Your territory isn't the only one that has a use for them.”

“And yet you're willing to give them to us," Electra said.

“True," Anna said. “If your lands are more fruitful you can produce more, which would be beneficial for both you and us. So of course I'll prefer the option that ends up benefiting both of us.”

“I still think you're being a little stingy," Cora said and Anna gave her a wolfish smile.

“Fine. The terraforming squadron and forgiveness for your insolence.”

Cora looked down in embarrassment while Electra snorted. “Yeah, we deserved that one.”

“Let me sweeten the deal for you," I said and rummaged in my bag of holding until I found one of the Tiphereth wings, then pulled it out and put it on the desk.

The thing was twice as wide and six times as long as the Desk, as absurdly big as that thing was. The wings were shimmering in all the colors of the rainbow, constantly rippling in hue.

They weren't just gorgeous to look at, a quick look with my appraiser's loupe had also revealed that they were extremely powerful when used as fletching, enhancing an arrow's flight, speed, and penetration and giving them a slight light magic affinity, allowing them to strike harder against anything weak to light magic, such as vampires and Outsiders, which were weak to any type of magic and miracle as the powers of our world were the antithesis to their existence.

Electra stared open-mouthed at the wing, then pulled out a monocle that I was sure had the same effect as my loupe, and finally she started cussing under her breath when she read what I'd just given her. “Where did you get this and how hard would it be to get more?" she finally demanded.

“A dungeon boss we encountered dropped it," I said, not quite lying. I mean sure, we hadn't been the ones to kill it, but we had come across the corpse.

“A wing a month," Electra said. It was supposed to be a demand but it only just managed to not sound like a plea.

I looked over at Anna. I still had a bunch of them but honestly I didn't want to hand over our private fortune to help the kingdom out. The queen could damn well buy them off me if she wanted to hand them out.

But Anna seemed perfectly fine with it. “Done. One of these wings a month and a squadron of terraforming mages to help irrigate your territory.” Later she'd tell me that using the royal family's duplicator on one of these wings once a month would be a perfectly acceptable price to pay for the cult to assist the kingdom.

“Done," Electra said, a little too quickly.

I wondered just how valuable she actually found these wings and just how much I could get by selling them very slowly, so as not to expose the fact that we had over a hundred of them left.

**

Anyway, after that came the boring part, setting quotas and dealing with the logistics of suddenly opening barracks in both territories. I will spare you the details, mostly because after a while I just bailed and checked up on Yume, who all but mauled me once I'd made it to our room. Judging by the smell lingering in the room and the state I'd found Yume in she must have been pleasuring herself for quite some time before I arrived. Athena's bush, it'd only been two or three hours since Alisha had left her alone.

It was at that moment, when Yume had tackled me and was all but humping my leg, that I realized I still hadn't asked Anna for her the way she'd found for me not getting Yume pregnant.

“You're so cruel, leaving me alone like this," the little fox whined. “I need you so bad.”

“Do you?" I asked with a smirk. “Then how about you show me.”

Under normal circumstances Yume would at least have put up a token amount of resistance at such a command but right now she was either too desperate to bother or too horny to care. Either way she dropped to her knees so fast I heard a *thunk* and then she was already busy pulling down my pants.

She really was horny beyond belief. She'd placed her face so that my cock would drop down on top of it as it came out of my pants and, I admit, my length covering half her face as she gazed up at it adoringly was quickly getting me rock hard.

But before I could do anything she pulled back, opened wide, and then swallowed my entire length down to the base.

“Holy fuck," I hissed as I felt her grabbing hold of my ass cheeks so that she could hold me inside her as deeply as she wanted.

She kept going until I was worried she would fall unconscious from lack of air but then she pulled out, thick strands of slimy saliva connecting her mouth to my cock. “Stuff my throat. Use me for your pleasure, fill me up, anywhere you want, cum down my throat, in my ass, in my pussy. Fill my womb, give me a litter. Anything, whatever you want, I just need you inside me, I need your seed inside me.” Her voice had started like a muttered prayer but had steadily increased in pitch and volume until she was practically screaming. “Please!”

“Gods above," I groaned, then leaned down and pulled her up into a hug. “I'm sorry for leaving you alone for so long.” And then I tossed her onto the bed like a sack of potatoes. “On your back, head off the mattress. I'm going to fuck your face.”

“Oh gods yes," she sobbed and got herself into position. She opened her mouth and let her tongue stick out lasciviously as both her hands shot between her thighs, one roughly pinching her clit while the other played with the artificial cock inside her, fucking her pussy with it.

The sight spurred me on and I got into position before shoving my cock inside her.

Whoever had designed the bed had clearly done so with acts like this in mind because the bed was precisely at the perfect height for it. I didn't have to bend my knees at all, I could just work my cock inside Yume's wet, tight, squirming hole.

I decided to be a little rougher than usual with her, using her amazing breasts as handholds as I plowed myself into her, only pulling out when I could feel her struggling to breathe.

Good gods but she felt amazing, hot and tight and slick, but what was really driving me wild was the ecstatic way she was writhing on the bed, far more than could be explained by the way she was working herself. Even just having my cock down her throat was driving her crazy and that knowledge, more than anything, drove me over the edge.

I came down her throat, holding it with one hand to feel the contractions as she swallowed everything I was giving her. Only when I had nothing more to pump inside her did I pull out, almost falling on my ass as my knees wobbled.

It was at that moment, exhausted and with my head swimming in bliss, that the door opened. For just a moment I was worried some servant was going to enter but then I saw the girls coming back.

Anna took one look at the scene in front of her and asked: “Really? You couldn't even wait until we were back?”

“Sorry," I said, breathing hard. “She was a little desperate for it.”

“Well, at least you only worked her mouth," she said. “I realized as I saw you leave that we haven't talked about contraception yet.”

“Right," I said, my breathing evening out. “I was going to ask you about that.”

“I'm not sure you'll like it," she admitted, “but I have something that'll work.”

“Go on," I said. “Is it some potion that makes me infertile for a while?”

“Gods no," Anna said. “There is such a thing but the chance of the effect becoming permanent is way too high. No, have you ever heard of condoms?”

I groaned. They were tied-off pieces of goat intestine for a guy to put over his cock that should, theoretically, catch the cum. Except everything I'd heard about them so far had suggested they would rip and tear very quickly, to the point of uselessness. Also there was something weird about shoving your cock into a goat's intestines, even if they were no longer attached to the goat. “I'd rather not rely on that garbage, thank you very much.”

She chuckled. “I see you've heard of the peasant's variant.”

I blinked.

“The kind the peasants use is basically pointless but in the noble circles there is a different version. They're much more expensive and I absolutely wouldn't recommend using them all the time, but they do their job. They're made out of a material found in a dungeon and they're enchanted for durability. They're still single use but they actually work for that one time.”

“Then I suppose I should pick some of them up once we're back in the capital," I said.

She smiled. “Actually, I already bought a few.”

I scowled at her. “How much?”

“Can't I just treat my boyfriend?" she asked.

“How. Much.”

“... A hundred mun for twenty," she admitted.

“Athena's bush," I muttered and dug through my bag of holding before handing her the mun. A hundred mun could feed a family for most of a month. It was even worse because I was pretty sure with the way Yume was right now twenty of these things wouldn't last me all that long.

“So he can finally put it in my pussy?" Yume asked, only half following what was happening around her.

“I can," I said. “But if I have to wear one of these things you're going to drink the contents in front of me when I'm done.” None of my women had any problems with drinking my cum, but this, I felt, went a step beyond that. It wasn't just something that happened in the heat of the moment. It would be a deliberate decision to drink it rather than something that just happened.

In response Yume licked her lips and I looked back to see Alisha doing the same. Well, I would say I hadn't expected that but considering how lust-drunk Yume currently was and with the way Alisha acted all the time that would have been a lie.

I sighed and reached out to the package Anna had given me, then picked out one of the accursed things. The texture reminded me very much of the artificial cock Anna owned and which was currently still jammed up Yume's pussy and I wondered idly if it was in fact the same material. Both were apparently made out of material from dungeons so it wasn't out of the question that it was the same material for both of them.

I looked down at my cock to see that it was currently at half mast and when Yume noticed it she immediately reached out and started pumping it, sucking on her lower lip as she did. In just a few pumps she had me hard again and I quickly unrolled the contraceptive over my cock. It felt rather tight around my cock and I worried it would deaden the sensation but then again, this wasn't really for my pleasure but for Yume's. Speaking of...

“On your back, pull your legs in. I'm going to breed you like the bitch in heat you are," I told her and she scrambled to get into position.

I pulled the toy out of her pussy and handed it over to Alisha, who dutifully licked it clean as I got into position. I grabbed Yume by the backs of the knees and bent her over, then lined myself up at her entrance.

“Breed me, lover," she whined. “I need you inside me. I need you to fill me.”

And I obliged her.