When Nadia returned, she was told the king had left the city.
She left the young dark elf in the care of the others, and went to her room. A quiet kind of bliss, the like that only comes after long absence, washed over her when she stepped inside and laid on the familiar bed. She let herself melt into the stillness, eyes closed, her heart humming with the warmth of being back where she belonged.
But the peace was short lived.
She tossed, turned, stared at the ceiling. The stillness stretched too long, too loud. The rhythm of her breath no longer lulled—it echoed. Her mind began to pick at itself.
She squeezed her eyes shut again, but the unease crept in and kept mounting. Her hands clenched the sheets.
A quiet sigh escaped her.
She felt better when she was busy on errands for the king. She felt secured. Laying here made her feel useless. She felt exposed. A very familiar fear overwhelming her.
She stood and crossed to the window. She pushed it open, and loved the first contact with the cool breeze that came with it. It calmed her, a little. The night was largely quiet. She stared into the star-dotted sky, her fingers tightening on the sill, breath shallow, a subtle tremor in her stance.
She remained there for a few moments before turning away from the window and walked out of the room. The slave quarters weren't far—tucked behind a quiet archway and down a narrow hall that always carried faint scent of soft lamplight and lavender oil.
Chatter ceased as soon as she pushed the heavy, small wooden door open.
Heads turned. Thin-beddings lined the walls, most empty. The girls were gathered near the center in small groups. At the heart of the largest one sat the young dark elf, nestled between the thighs of a bovine-kin female who tend to the little elf's matted hair.
Nadia stepped inside. Her eyes swept the room—quiet, measured. The air carried a foul odor—overfull baskets in the corner, stuffed with brushes, combs, and soiled garments.
No one spoke.
They treat her like an outsider. It doesn't trouble her much, but surely, they were not foolish enough to be speaking ill or gossips about their hosts in a way that might complicate their stay.
Her gaze caught a surprise addition—her sister. Kaitlin sat apart, but not far. Close enough to hear, far enough to be left alone. She hadn't been there when Nadia first arrived.
She walked over and lowered herself beside her. Kaitlin didn't look at her. Nadia didn't mind.
A long pause passed.
"Trouble?" Nadia asked, watching the firelight flicker on the far wall.
"...No" Kaitlin replied, without humor.
Nadia glanced at her. "The king permitted you to be here?" Her eyes scanned the room quickly. "What about the others?"
"No. It was just me." Kaitlin's voice didn't shift. "The king doesn't know I'm here."
A moment stretched, tense and brittle.
"…Do you think it'll cause trouble?" Nadia asked.
"I don't know."
"Sister—"
"I still haven't forgiven you" Kaitlin cut in quietly.
"...I know"
No one said anything. Silence pooled around them again, and the room slowly drifted back to life. Chatter returned—soft at first, like rain on old stone.
For lack of nothing else to do, Nadia was listening to the conversation. She felt more and more like a stranger, especially when the groups would laugh at something that made no sense. Their stories were deliberately opaque too. Engineered in such a way to keep outsiders, like herself out.
It went on for the rest of the hours. Most of them went to sleep, including the little dark elf, who slept within the legs of the bovine-kin woman. She was the one doing most of the talking.
"...sometimes days without eating anything and then—boom—milk again."
The remainder of the people laughed. From bits of her stories, that she seem to enjoy telling, it was obvious she was talking about her time with the king, even though she tried to stay subtle.
Suddenly, loud, rude banging on the door jolted the room awake. It burst open, and a maid poked her head in.
"Washing!" she shouted, slamming the door shut.
"Washing?" a hare-kin female mumbled, her voice groggy and weak from sleep. "Is it time already?"
"No," a rabbit-kin answered, getting up. "Heard the king came back, and he asked for meals, so they had to start early."
The hare-kin yanked the blanket over her head in a flash and let out a long, guttural whine, her limbs flailing in protest like a sulky child.
A few others joined in with sleepy grumbles and dramatic sighs, some curling up tighter as if sheer stubbornness could stop the morning from coming.
Nadia just watched quietly, and soon they were all getting up one after the other, and the room was thrown into a bit of a commotion.
She approached the dark-elf, who had woken up because of the movement.
"Come," she told the little one. "It's time to meet the king"
Dread came over the little girl's face, too much for her young face to hide. She hadn't being this scared when she was told about the king before so she must have gotten new information within the time he left her here and now. For her face to be this animated the stories must have being quite detailed and graphic.
Nadia didn't try to console her about the stories, whatever they may be, or tell her it would be alright, because she didn't see what good a lie would do now.
"Come" she repeated, and leaned in. Her fingers closed gently around the girl's arm. She gently dragged her up from the bed.
The little girl didn't put much of a struggle but she was looking around frantically for help from the grown-ups but none of them said anything. Some even found it amusing.
Then something came to Nadia's mind immediately. She turned, and searched the crowd.
"Where is the mother fox?" she asked.
The story telling bovine-kin laughed. "Hiding" she said, her back to the group as she gathered her things. "It's that time of the year for foxes, and she has being hiding from the king ever since."
She let out another chuckle. "I remember finding her one ti—"
She must have realized the unusual silence and turned to see most of them giving her frowns. She tried to laugh it off quietly, but they were not amused. She had said something she shouldn't have. She is known for it, but doing it in front of Nadia felt different.
Nadia didn't really care, she just wanted to know what became of her. Soon as she got that, she left with the kid to meet the king.
┌─────── ♕ ───────┐
King Cedric really did a number on me.
A lot of citizens were butchered, and he also killed my Chief Administrator. I don't even have a full knowledge of all he does, but he was really important, and there was no one trained to replace him. This is the kind of headaches I try to avoid in ruling this kingdom. I don't care about the inner workings, it is too much work. Just bring me the finished product at best for a finishing touch, and now King Cedric have made that insanely difficult. And with two separate and very public massacre of random citizens it creates the impression that my kingdom is not safe and that will affect things greatly.
I glanced down.
The young maid was still on her knees, mouth around my cock, moving without a trace of desire. Her face was streaked with tears, as She bobbed slowly, barely taking in half of the length.
I dropped the parchment on my right hand and grabbed a fistful of her hair, forcing her head all the way down until her lips touched the base. She gagged, hands clawing weakly at my thighs, and I held her there a moment before letting her go. She collapsed, coughing and gasping, trembling between my legs as she sucked in air. Moments later I put it back in and began moving her head in and out, well past half of the length.
"That would be the last time I would correct you" I told her, letting go of her head and she broke down crying.
The doors to the room opened immediately and mother stepped in.
"Leave" I said to the maid, and she scrambled out of underneath the table.
I stood up as she was running towards the door, clutching her dress to her chest, stifled sobs trailing her as she fled.
I walked over to mother, and grabbed her cheeks, kissing her deeply.
"I missed you," I murmured.
She offered a weak smile.
"What's wrong?" I asked, eyes scanning her face.
"Nothing" she said, but she looked me in the eyes.
I felt a sudden fear that we were back to the days of suspicion, but she kissed me, and I returned it.
I gripped her ass tight as we feasted, fierce and hungry, as if to drown the doubt. My hands held tighter, pulling her close, her body arching against mine.
A knock shattered the moment. We froze, lips still brushing, then a second knock came, insistent. I groaned, pulling away reluctantly as we realized we'd nearly collapsed onto the bed.
Few moments later the doors opened, and the young elf ran to me. The powerful one. She rushed into my arms and hugged me desperately tight, and I returned it. We held on for a long moment, before I gently pulled her from me, staring into her eyes. I kissed her forehead.
"You look good" I told her, with a smile of which she smiled. "Have you being eating well?"
She nodded, with the smile still on her face, and hugged me again.
I was running a soothing hand on her hair, and looked at mother. Her face was cool, but I knew better than that. I've looked at them long enough to know that she's shocked, and had questions that she didn't want to ask. I gave her a smile, and then turned to the girl.
I gently pulled her from me to look at her face. "We will play big time later, okay?"
She gave me a smile with a soft glow in her eyes, and she rushed out the room.
Mother watched her until the doors shut after her then looked at me.
"What?" I asked, chuckling.
"It's like I never knew you at all" she said, as I approached her.
She lowered herself onto the bed, more like leaning into it than sitting, her hands curling into the sheets lightly as if she needed something to hold on to.
I leaned in and kissing her, with a playful smile. "When you meet her true self you will understand perfectly"
"It is not just her" she said at the end of the kiss.
I kissed her again, hands sliding to her breasts. They felt heavier. Fuller. I noticed it—but dismissed it. I was too excited to get back in.
A knock came to the door. A second follow.
"Ophelia," I called, voice thick with irritation, "deal with it."
I heard Ophelia get up, but I was more occupied. My fingers were already thrusting into her moist hole, eliciting sweet, hungry moans from her.