The atmosphere in the carriage was tense as Sophia glared at me from across the cabin. Lyra sat next to her while Asra and my mother sat on either side of me. I really hope this wasn't going to cause problems.

"So when were you going to tell me your mother is the champion of Eluna?" Sophia asked, sounding rather annoyed.

"Probably as soon as I remembered." I answered a little cheekily. "I didn't know about it until we met at the temple, and with everything else that's been going on, I kind of forgot."

Letting out a loud sigh, the princess seemed to relax. "Okay. Well, that changes things. Are you officially sponsoring this one lady champion?" Sophia asked, giving my mother an intense look.

"I most definitely am." My mother replied with a confident smirk.

"Well, that will make things easier if a bit more complicated." Sophia said, slumping in her seat. Seeing my confusion, she continued. "It makes it easier because we have some deals with the followers of Eluna regarding Demon Blades. It makes it more complicated because those deals have a lot of requirements, and it's something that will almost definitely make you more... appealing to my sister."

"Anything you can tell us about the requirements, or are they some kind of secret?" I asked, wanting to completely avoid the last part of what she had said.

Looking a bit embarrassed, Sophia answered. "Um. Sorry. It was one of the things only the heir is fully told about. I was only told the basics."

I looked to my mother to see if she knew anything else. Shaking her head, she spoke. "I've been through a few of these negotiations. At least from my point of view, it seems to mostly be up to the king's decision."

"So we have absolutely no idea what to expect other than Princess Raya hitting on me?" I said, annoyed, slumping against Asra.

"Sounds about right." Sophia answered cheekily, which only annoyed me more.

The others chatted for the rest of the ride, but I wasn't really paying very much attention. I was desperately trying to ready myself for the coming meeting. The only thing breaking my focus was the occasional bursts of regicidal intent coming from Asra.

I looked around the cabin, inspecting it. It looked almost identical to the auto-carriage Lyra had recently acquired, if a bit newer. I guess we know where that came from now.

As we drew closer to the palace, my heart felt like it was pumping faster than a steam engine. I didn't feel ready for this. This meeting would decide my fate, and it would be judged by an overly flirty princess who wanted to collect me. I was still a little scared she might turn me over to the inquisitors if I refused to join her harem.

Sensing my distress, Asra wrapped her arm around me. "Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'll be right next to you the whole time. And if that horny princess tries anything, well, let's just say there's a reason why I brought the sword." Asra said, a severe look on her face, the regicidal intent from earlier spiking.

"That's part of what I'm worried about." I muttered, sinking into Asra's grasp.

Not long after that, the carriage came to a stop. Almost immediately, the door swung open. On the other side of the door was the unwelcome visage of an aging butler.

Norburt's eyes swept the inside of the carriage, first stopping on me, surprise breaking through his composure for a moment, then settling on Asra's sword.

"I'm sorry, miss, but guests are not allowed to bring weapons into the palace." Norburt's voice was full of condescension.

"Well, I guess we'll have to have the meeting outside then." My mother spoke up, her voice full of confidence with a bit of smugness peeking through.

Instead of using words to respond to Norburt's confused looks, Mother shifted her forearm into a whip, followed by Lyra turning the pads of her fingers into blades. His terror was evident for a moment before he tried to compose himself.

"Well, miss..." was as far as Norburt got before Asra interrupted him. "Norburt, how many times do I need to remind you that as captain of the guard, I'm allowed to be armed at all times? On top of that, even if it had needed to be dealt with, that's not your job. You're a butler, not the king's guard." Asra said with a voice full of venom.

"Of course." he said with thinly veiled hatred. "Right this way, ladies." without waiting for us to respond, he left. After sharing a look, the five of us filed out of the carriage, heading for the entrance, completely ignoring Norburt.

The massive redwood doors loomed over us intimidatingly. On either side of the door stood a large man in golden armor holding a silver greatsword. Standing between them was a tall Orkish woman who looked like she could crush someone with her gaze alone.

She was utterly gorgeous. Her muscles emanated strength without taking an ounce from her beauty or femininity. She had short purple hair and eyes that shone with strength and kindness. She had a gold stud in her nose and a golden rune-carved band on each of her short tusks. Finally, my eyes landed on the massive battle axe strapped to her back. Noticing me staring, she winked at me.

My eyes locked onto the ground, not knowing how to deal with the sudden burst of heat in my face. From beside, Asra's arm hooked around my waist, pulling me in until I was pressed against her. Looking up at her, she gave me a confident smile before glaring at the Orkish woman.

I didn't know how I felt about this. A part of me liked it. It tickled some primal part of my brain. But a much larger part of me was just reminded of how weak I felt.

My new body felt so much more fragile, and after yesterday, I realized just how weak I was. I couldn't shift, I didn't know I had to fight, and I could barely wield a sword. A hateful burning ignited in my chest the moment I realized just how much of a burden I'd be in a fight.

I let Asra pull me forward as we continued toward the door. I shook my head, trying to clear it. I had an important meeting to worry about. I shouldn't be thinking about that stuff right now.

"Hello, Beylith. I would say I'm surprised to see the head of Princess Raya's guard here, but I'm not." Asra said with an exasperated sigh.

"It's good to see you too, Asra." The Orkish woman replied cheekily.

"We have a meeting with Princess Raya. Did she send you to greet us?" Asra asked, clearly rushing through the conversation.

"I didn't know you were going to the meeting." Beylith said, sounding a bit surprised before turning her gaze to me. "So that would mean you're... that explains a lot. I was wondering why Raya was dealing with this instead of the king." She finished with a look of acceptance on her face.

"You know who I am?" I asked hesitantly.

"How could I not? You're one of the top 5 things Asra talks about." Beylith answered, much to Asra's embarrassment. "Hell, if I had someone like you back home, I might have refused Raya's offer too."

Her words were like a battering ram to my brain. Apparently, Asra talked about me quite a bit. I had not expected that. The next part of it was what really hit me, though. Asra had refused an offer from Princess Raya. Was it the kind of offer I thought it was?

"Can we not do this right now, Beylith?" Asra asked almost pleadingly.

"Fine. Raya will probably tease you enough anyway." Beylith answered, sounding slightly disappointed. Looking over all 5 of us for what might have been the first time, her eyes stopped on my mother. "I was expecting Sophia and Lyra, but I was not expecting you. Is it really that important of a case?"

"I'd say my daughter's safety is a matter of the utmost importance." Mother replied with a bit of tease in her voice.

Beylith let out a loud sigh before speaking. "You realize what this means, right? As soon as she finds out, it's over."

"I trust that they can handle it." Mother said with a smug smirk. That wasn't ominous at all.

Instead of responding to the confused looks from the rest of us, she Let out a soft laugh, then turned around and pushed open the door. "Come on, let's not keep Raya waiting."

Beylith guided us through the endless hallways of the palace. The others seemed relatively familiar with the palace halls, but to me, it was just a massive opulent maze. After what felt like forever, we stopped in front of a set of double doors.

"Now, past these doors is Raya's inner sanctum. It can be a bit much your first time, so be careful." Beylith announced as she pushed the doors open. I was taken aback at what was revealed as the doors swung open.

Inside the massive chamber were dozens of women of every race under the sun. Only a little over half of them were clothed. The room was filled with different pieces of plush furniture. Large chunks of the floor were cut out and replaced with cushions. In the center of the room sat a massive throne surrounded by at least 20 scantily clad women.

Princess Raya sat in a state of dress I had never expected to see a princess in. From neck to ankle, her body was encased in shiny black latex. That's definitely not something I expected to see today.

Ignoring the more obvious differences, she looked quite a lot like her sister. Same silver hair and golden eyes. She had slightly more color to her skin than her sister, but not by much. In all honesty, they would almost look like twins if Raya wasn't visibly a few years older.

"Asra! Eliza! What are you two doing here? Is it my lucky day? Did both of you finally decide to accept my offer on the same day?" Princess Raya yelled in a melodic, almost hypnotic voice, leaping off the throne and quickly making her way toward us.

When she was about 5 feet away, she stopped, her eyes locking onto me. Her eyes lit with glee, and a mischievous smile crept across her face. "Oh, who might this be? I don't think we've met."

"I-I'm September. Your Highness." I managed to squeak out under her intense gaze.

Raya let out a light giggle as she stepped closer. "Now, what's this cute little bunny doing with my two most resistant bits of prey."

As Raya got closer, she reached out toward me, only for Asra to grab her wrist. The whole room went silent, and it felt like every eye in the room was on us. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Asra with a gaze that could burn a hole in a stone, and Raya with a joyful smile that only seemed to get bigger.

"So this is her then?" Raya asked, glancing back at me. "But that begs the question. Why is Eliza here?" the mischievous smile becoming disturbingly large.

Pulling her hand free from Asra's grasp, she circled around me. "It's rare for us to have representatives from one of the temples in one of these meetings, to say nothing of the champion of Eluna herself participating. Is your temple laying claim to this one?"

"Yes. This one has my direct sponsorship." My mother told her, trying to look as imposing as she could.

"Interesting." Raya said as she continued to circle around Asra and me. "But what could be so special about this one that Eliza decided to finally leave her stronghold and follow her around like a mother hen?" It didn't even take a second for the look of dawning realization to take hold of her face.

"Eliza! I thought we knew each other. When were you going to tell me you had a kid?" Raya said, placing her hand on her chest, feigning hurt.

"I wasn't." my mother replied bluntly.

"You pain me, Eliza. Do you not trust?" The princess exclaimed theatrically.

"The only thing I can trust about you is that you'll hit on anything with tits." My mother answered, sounding more tired than angry.

"Hurtful!! You can trust me about other things too!" Raya pouted.

Within seconds, the mischievous smile had returned to her face. All of her focus returned to me. "What do you think, bunny? Can I be trusted?" Raya asked with an innocence that violently clashed with her outfit.

"I don't think I know you well enough to answer that." I told her. It was as true as it was avoidant.

"Well, it's not what I would have liked, but it's a start." Raya said with her never-ending enthusiasm.

Smiling brightly, Raya continued. "One last thing before we start the meeting." She said, staring directly at Asra and me. "Would the two of you like to join my harem?"

gNatonthewall

Hello, everyone. Sorry, the chapter's a bit shorter than last time. I was having some trouble focusing this past week and wasn't able to get as much writing done as I wanted to. Next week's chapter should be somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 words. I hope you all enjoyed Raya. She's fun to write. I can't wait to show you all how the rest of the meeting players out. On a different note, September Swords is about to hit 600 readers. Thank you all so much. Thank you for reading, commenting, and favoriting. Have a nice day.

 

Sorry, the chapters are a little late. I messed up with the scheduler.