0 comments/ 5780 views/ 10 favorites Emperor Ch. 01 By: loquere All sexual contact in this story occurs between persons who are eighteen years old or older. ***** For centuries the island nation of Adjani had been the world's commercial center, a position bolstered when it signed the Seal of Peace with its nearest neighboring nations of Bourjon, Casparah, and Sentia. Border skirmishes, raids on merchant vessels, and wars ceased, soon replaced by equitable trade and commerce. All four nations prospered, but Adjani benefited the most. After fifteen years of peace, conflict again arose and so began the War of the Broken Seal. Boulders slammed into the fortified outer walls of Lahoyah, Adjani's, coastal, capital city, while an unrelenting shower of flaming earth fueled a raging blaze that eclipsed the blackened night sky. In Lahoyah's southern quarter, at the edge of the Cataleyan Sea, Bourjon's navy catapulted rotting swine and horses over the walls, pacifying the malnourished, diseased Adjanians with their single source of food: maggot-laden meat. Adjani's king, Daius the Just, his heir, Prince Edwin, and their armies had been slaughtered a year earlier in battles in Adjani's southern provinces, leaving the capital Lahoyah and the entire country defenseless. Months of raining terror had finally culminated in the collapse of Lahoyah's eastern walls. With swords drawn, Bourjon's armored legions dashed through the streets slicing through Adjanian flesh. Streams of blood quickly spilled over the pathways, bedrooms, and hideaways of the eastern sector. Fire roared in the west and plague felled the southern quarter. The resonating echoes of steel penetrating skulls and the sound of thousands of horse hooves on the pathways warned those stupid enough to be outside to hide. Long, soul-ending screams told those indoors to hide, hide well. Bourjon's mounted legions tore into Lahoyah's lusciously decadent north, breaching internal walls to reach Adjani's palace. The surviving members of the Adjani royal family had been trapped in the capital during its siege, there Palace now left strategically defenseless. Under orders from the Queen consort, Queen Nelda, the Palace's royal guards had been posted to the city's outer walls to bolster its weakening fortifications and were also stationed throughout the city to preserve order amongst fearful citizens. All except one royal servant had been reallocated to help stave off disease and tend to defensive fortifications. In the highest tower of the Royal Palace stood Rashiva, the last remaining royal servant, standing watch to give warning of a breach of Lahoyah's defenses. Upon seeing horses with blue Bourjanian banners, Rashiva's mind froze as she attempted to recall her directives. "They're coming. The wall is broken," she whispered, her body shaking. Her eyes widened when she saw the long rope attached to the giant bell high above her head. Moments before Rashiva's discovery, Queen Nelda had huddled amongst her four children, all crying, except Princess Cwen, Nelda's twenty-four-year old daughter. "Kella, I need to stay," Queen Nelda said, breaking the news to her second oldest daughter. "You promised we'd all escape together," rebutted the fourteen-year-old Kella. Queen Nelda patted Kella's weeping cheek comfortingly. "I need to distract the Bourjanians and give you time to escape. It's the only way you, your sisters, and brother will escape unnoticed and make it to your uncle's lands." "You can't, we need you, Mother," challenged eleven-year-old Prince Alexander, the last remaining heir to the Adjani royal line. Queen Nelda kneeled, looking Alexander eye to eye. Beatrix, the baby, began to wail uncontrollably and Cwen was quick in calming her while the Queen responded to Alexander, "You're not a prince anymore, Alexander. You are a king now, so I need you to be strong like your brother, wise like your father, and brave like your big sister, Cwen, and go through those halls without a tear in your eye." Queen Nelda wiped his tears away as Alexander nodded in silence. Before Queen Nelda could say another word, Rashiva's warning bell rang out. Nelda grabbed Cwen's head, whispering in her ear fervently, "You remember where to find the tunnel exit and everything else I told you?" "Yes," Cwen said, fighting the urge to express her fear as her mother's nails dug in her scalp. "In case you can't escape, do you have the pearl? Do you remember how to find the wizard?" "Mother, we'll get to Uncle Gaius. We don't need an emergency plan—" "Don't question this! Do you remember, and do you have it?" "Yes," Cwen confirmed, pulling out a gold necklace with a large pearl orb at its center. "Hide it well... Go now!" Queen Nelda commanded, releasing Cwen's head. "I love you all," she said, straight-faced and determined as her children ran off to safety. Minutes after her children fled, the blue-cloaked enemy poured into the extravagant throne room. Fearless Queen Nelda, with her regal rolls of gray hair, stood determined with a sword in hand, fruitlessly blocking the path to the golden throne. A portly man adorned with a battle fastened crown and blood-stained armor, haughtily brandished a crimson-coated blade at the Queen. His knights pushed her by the shoulders downward, forcing her head nearer to the stained sword. "Kiss the tip of my blade. It's a simple kind gift of your husband and eldest son." The Queen's face turned away from blade. "God will have his vengeance, Naimak!" the Queen shouted. "Cover the witch's mouth," ordered Naimak, beads of sweat rolling down his round face. "Queen Nelda doesn't approve of my gift. I offer her one last moment with the essence of Daius, the Decapitated King, and Edwin, the Disemboweled Prince, and she squanders it with idle threats and fables. I choose who lives. I choose who dies... I—I am the one true God! "Should I have brought the witch a better gift? Ah, yes, the head of Daius but alas, I already gifted it, and his body, to the cannibals of the black forest," Naimak said, raising his arms in jest to his loyal bodyguard knights. His guardian legion laughed lightly. "What say you, General Udolf, commander of all my legions?" All eyes except Nelda's turned toward General Udolf. The general stood tall, his posture unencumbered amidst the burden of heavy medal. His flawlessly polished armor contrasted with his bloody blade. Sweat beaded down Udolf's forehead as his tongue flicked along his dry lips. "You're too kind, sire," uttered Udolf. "The dead need not, such kind offerings, and that she is sure soon to be." He bowed to the Queen. "Queen Nelda deserves nothing but the longest blade." "Udolf, you are right for once," said Naimak. "I am too kind. If you had displayed this kind of wisdom on the battlefield, this war could have been over when you promised me it would be. But no, I had to call in more ships. Forty thousand more men for a city full of women and children!" Naimak raised his blade swiftly, slapping Udolf down with the flat end of it. "You wasted my gold!" Nelda started laughing. "Ha! You broke your seal and its peace. You've lost the protection of God, and the way you treat your men, ha! It's just a matter of time before they kill..." Naimak's attention was diverted. Udolf stood, shaking off the embarrassing attack with a knowing grin. "Silence, witch!" Naimak yelled, kicking Nelda. "Ahh!" Nelda gasped, clutching her side. "You're going to burn in the depths of hell before morning, Naimak." "Me? No, you'll burn if that's your pleasure." The conquering King again kicked the bound woman, then again and again until sweat covered his eyes. Panting and pacing, King Naimak screamed at Nelda. "You arrogant, demonic witch of a whore, you will die like your weak husband." Naimak smirked wickedly as he stroked his bloodied beard. "I will kill every living thing on this island, starting with your four demon spawn. I will wipe this country from existence, leaving brimstone and bones. Anyone that whispers its name will answer to my sword. Oh, except for your gold, I want the gold," Naimak said with a yellow-toothed grin. Nelda lay on the floor heaving in pain and gasping for air. She finally spoke. "I dreamed your death last night, Naimak... It was glorious. By the hand of God's chosen... you will die in this very throne room." She groaned and closed her eyes. Naimak's face exploded in anger as he began to kick the resolute Queen. Naimak quickly grew angrier at her silent strength and thrust his sword through the Queen again and again. Queen Nelda wailed as blood streamed from all over down her gown. "Your husband should have shared more of his riches, not just the scraps," Naimak said as he pulled his sword out and then stabbed Nelda again. "Did you dream that, witch?" The king raised his long sword and plunged it through her neck. With one more rising of his arms, Queen Nelda's head fell in a pool of blood. Unseen, Udolf closed her eyelids and whispered a prayer. "The witch said she liked fire. Burn her to ash. I don't want her bewitched spirit haunting me," Naimak yelled, dictating to Udolf. ***** In another part of the palace, Cwen led her siblings toward safety. For years the Bourjanian positions had made an escape through the tunnel exits to the outside of the city walls impossible. Cwen's soft palms held her baby sister Beatrix against her chest, as her young brother Alexander and sister Kella followed behind, dashing through the Palace halls. They fruitlessly pushed at the stone walls of the grand halls, looking for the tunnel entranceway, but alas it couldn't be found. Queen Nelda's screams echoed through the darkening halls, from the other side of the Palace hitting the ears of her four fleeing children. A fresh stream of tears rolled forth from Princess Beatrix, the resilient, Cwen griped little Beatrix in her arms tighter, pressing Beatrix's head against her bosom in an attempt to safeguard her from the sounds of terror. "I should have stayed with Mother," Alexander whispered, shaking in fright. Cwen wiped Alexander's tears away and lifted his chin. "Mother made me promise to get to Uncle Gaius's lands in the West. I need you to keep your promise to her. Breathe in. Good, and now out. Be a brave king. Can you be brave?" Alexander nodded and they continued their journey, looking for the hidden passageway they once had known very well. "We're all going to be all right, as long as we stay together," Cwen said with certainty to her frightened siblings, calming them for the moment. However, the hope of escape dimmed with the sounds of enemy knights stomping nearer and nearer. Louder and closer came the knights when suddenly Princess Kella spoke. "I found it Cwen!" Kella exclaimed excitedly, as she applied her palm to an average-looking stone. The wall parted to reveal the hidden passageway. Behind the protection of the hidden door, Cwen looked at her siblings. "I promised Mother I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. You believe me, right?" Alexander and Kella said "yes," as Beatrix nestled her head into Cwen's shoulder in a nodding motion. "I heard rumors of sections of the Adjanian army gathering in the West, at Vascal, in Uncle Gaius's fortress," Kella stated. "I'm going to return with the army... and avenge Mother, Father, Edwin, and kill every last one of them!" yelled Alexander. "Kella, Alexander, shhh," Cwen said. She had heard that the Adjanian Orange Army was gone except maybe for Gaius's personal guard. But this was no time for rumors. It was time to run. "Stop walking! Quiet! Quiet now!" Cwen whispered. "What?" Alexander questioned. "Quiet," mouthed Kella, covering Alexander's mouth with her hand. Cwen heard a whisper of a warning. Bending over slightly with Beatrix still in her hands, Cwen whispered in Alexander's ear, "Find somewhere in the tunnel and hide now. Here's some gold. When all is clear, make your way to Uncle Gaius at Vascal." "But‒" "Alexander, go now," his big sister insisted, pushing him. Seconds later he was gone. Torch-light and echoes of clashing armor erupted from the other end of the path, freezing Cwen where she stood. Kella took hold of Cwen's hand and squeezed. Alexander had escaped just before the torch light illuminated the path. The blue-cloaked Bourjanian knights appeared. Blocking the pathway, they gleefully took hold of the three princesses. "Come with us," the knights growled, dragging the three sisters out of the tunnel, through the palace halls, towards the throne room. Near the throne room, Udolf appeared, halting the progress of his knights. "Princess Cwen, King Naimak is waiting. The little ones will stay here under my care." "Do I have a choice?" asked Cwen. Udolf stared into Cwen's steely gray eyes. "It will be fine. I won't let anything happen to them. All will be well soon." With that, Udolf directed his knights to march Cwen into the throne room. Cwen focused straight ahead at the heavy iron throne room doors, blocking out the background murmurs of Beatrix, Kella's tears, and the odd protective fatherly reassurances of Udolf. Cwen prepared for the possibility that she would have to surrender her body to ghastly Naimak in order to save her sisters. 'Alexander, I hope you escaped,' Cwen thought, hoping that he had found his way out of the Palace and was now on his way to their uncle's lands. Arriving at the throne room entranceway, the knights opened the door and shoved Cwen inside, causing her to land flat on the ground in the nearly empty room. Grunts and squeaks resounded through the large room. A naked Naimak, rocked back and forth on the golden throne, his penis jabbing into a bound and gagged naked woman. "Rashiva?" Cwen blurted, recoiling at the sight. Cwen stood frozen. Shock turned into the terrifying reality of what awaited her. Rashiva's face was forced downward, her bound body laying atop the golden armrests of the throne. Alive but helpless, Rashiva's legs fell to the floor while her rosy red cheeks were held propped up in the air. Naimak stood to the side of the throne, his hips ramming forward, slamming into Rashiva's reddened bruised cheeks, his penis striking into her battered flower. Naimak was naked, his flabby body covered over in sweat, his hand gripping a horse whip. He relentlessly whipped Rashiva's tender cheeks. Her eyes widened and her head jerked upward, squealing through the gag in her mouth as tears rolled down her pale face. Naimak looked at Cwen and winked. Cwen looked away and shut her eyes, disgusted. "Open your eyes, Princess, or else you'll be next!" Naimak yelled, saliva rolling down his sweat-covered chin. Cwen obeyed as Naimak turned around with a Cheshire grin. "Good, good," he bellowed, followed by disgusting noises before his body collapsed on the Rashiva's back. His sperm dripped from Rashiva's flower as Naimak bent over, continuing to lazily thrust inward. "God help her," Cwen whispered to herself as Rashiva somehow turned her head toward Cwen. Rashiva's piercing green eyes looked pleading. You have to do something... No, I can't! Cwen thought, arguing with herself before finally stepping forward. "King... King Naimak, please release—stop! I beg you!" Cwen pleaded, walking closer to the woman who had been her friend and servant. "She's a slave. She's doing her duty." Cwen swallowed saliva. "We don't have slaves in Adjani. She's a servant." Naimak paused, still slumped over Rashiva, before jerking his penis out of Rashiva's sperm-coated, misused body. "You Adjanians are so superior, so advanced. You always know best." "I didn't mean that," Cwen pleaded as Naimak strode toward a pile where his armor and blade lay. "Oh? Backtracking now, Princess? You are clearly no better than me," Naimak said, taking up his sword. "God, no!" Cwen blurted as Naimak marched toward Rashiva. Naimak stopped. "Now, that's more like it, but I'd prefer Emperor though... Oh, you weren't speaking to me, were you? You think this God of yours is listening? If he is, he'll make it so that when I throw this sword at the hog-tied whore, it will miss her body." Cwen closed her eyes as Naimak flung the sword across the room. The spiraling noise was followed by a body briefly thrashing against its restraints. Then silence. Cwen opened her eyes. Blood gushed from where the sword pierced the side of Rashiva's ribs and broke through the other side. Rashiva's skewered body now lay lifeless. Naimak walked up to the lifeless body and pulled his sword out with a single jerk, spraying his body with Rashiva's blood. Naimak smiled and walked past Cwen. "Never presume to tell me what to do." Naimak dropped his sword near his armor and then began getting dressed. After putting on his underclothes, he turned to Cwen. "Where's your brother?" he asked fiercely. Frightened, Cwen's mind raced. 'I can't bargain with him. He's a lunatic, He killed Mother and Rashiva!' Before Cwen could answer, Naimak raised his arm and struck Cwen to the floor. "I asked you a question, bitch!" "Take me and leave my family, please... my king," Cwen said, looking up at him with steely eyes. Naimak began to rip her dress from her body. "I will take what I please, when I please. I took your city, your country, your mother, your father, and I'll have you when I'm ready, not when you are. I will take what I want, when I want it, and right now I need to deal with threats: where is the boy, where is this heir, where is Alexander?" "Alexander died during the siege." "You lying whore!" Naimak bellowed. "Slave, I'm only going to ask once more before I get angry." "It is the truth," Cwen said softly. Naimak turned away from her as if he had accepted the fabrication as truth. Then, the King swiftly turned and jabbed his fist into Cwen's face, knocking her to the ground, and dragged her by the hair toward the blood-stained spot where her mother had been executed. "If you tell me where the boy is right now, I'll let you live... as my slave. Your sisters and the boy must die, especially the boy. It's the rule of nature. Lie to me again and I'll kill you where you lay, and when I do find your brother, it won't be a quick death. Oh, I will find him. He's likely running to the west of this shit island, to Uncle Gaius," Naimak said causing a shiver to capture Cwen's body. "How do you think your father and your defenses were so thoroughly defeated? Why do you think I left Gaius and Vascal untouched? Gaius is more of a friend to me than he was ever an uncle to you." That's not true! Uncle Gaius would never betray us. Cwen opened her reddening lips to say so but then thought it best to stay silent. "Speak, girl! Which route did the boy take?" Naimak asked heatedly. Naimak fell atop Cwen. He ruthlessly tore her gown to show her nakedness. His bloody fingers moved swiftly along her soft smooth warmth, squeezing her mounds and pinching her nipples. Frightful cold flashes rocked her core as she prayed for deliverance. "I told you I know it all, and you'd still risk your life just to keep your brother alive for a few more days. You're stupid like your father." Naimak's fingers moved from abusing her breasts to gripping her throat. His large hands squeezed her neck, his entire weight now atop her naked thrashing body. Staring into her eyes, he squeezed her throat. The more he squeezed, the wider he smiled down at her. Cwen's face dripped blood on the exact spot where her mother had bled out earlier. Then her world faded into a black void. Then the iron doors to the throne room opened and loud singular steps resonated in the domed room. Without turning around to see who it was, Naimak released Cwen's throat and reached for the sword he had relinquished earlier. "Leave now or I will end you," Naimak threatened. "Father, would you condemn me to such a fate, after I just secured the treasury and the last of the Adjani provinces?" Emperor Ch. 01 "Ryland, you're early. Months early." King Naimak turned toward his son. Rising from his victim, Naimak began to pace. Cwen slowly returned to reality as a familiar voice swept through her consciousness. She peered up from her position on the floor, her eyes keenly fastened to the dark-haired prince she had known from his time as an ambassador to her late father's court. She regretted her rejections of his past advances and now wished she hadn't judged Prince Ryland for the gashing scar across his face. 'Would he try to save me now had I been kinder?' The Prince frowned. "I rode for two weeks straight. I thought my father would need my expertise of the city since I once was his ambassador, too." "You negotiated a peace with Adjani's middle provinces, didn't you? I warned you when you negotiated Sentia's surrender. I shouldn't have expected better from a bastard born. I should have killed you when you were in that whore's womb. "After penetrating and conquering Zale, Adjani's most fortified city, yes, I was able to negotiate peaceful terms with the others. Taking nine provinces with only forty thousand men would have been a failure." "My one failure was sparing your throat. I thought a scar across your face would be enough to teach you the consequences of disobeying me. It was not! You were not to negotiate anything. You were to exterminate everything, except the gold." "Zale's gold is secure. I also found Adjani's hidden treasury reserves that no one else could," Ryland pleaded. "I'm taking command of all eight of your legions... Leave before I end you." "Wait..." Ryland paused, then bowed. "I'm sorry I displease you, Father, I'll do better." "Tell Udolf to take your legions and ride to Zale. He needs to do what you were supposed to do. I'll deal with you later. Now leave me to finish her." "Yes, Father. I'll tell Udolf, but you should know I'm not weak." "A Bourjonian never spares a life and never compromises or negotiates a peace. We kill and steal. That Seal of Peace you championed outlived its usefulness after I got enough gold from the deal and built one hundred legions. If you weren't my only son..." "Would it please Your Majesty if I killed the princess I once loved? Would that prove me worthy?" "You don't have it in you. Now, go tell Udolf to destroy Zale and leave me to do what you can't. Go now, boy, now!" Naimak roared. "I'm going to kill her first," Ryland said, pulling out a bow and arrows and targeting Cwen. As blood trickled down her face, Cwen took a deep breath, resolved to meet her fate. A yellow-toothed grin sprang up on Naimak's face as Ryland jerked the bowstring back, closed his eyes, and mouthed a silent prayer. 'God protect Alexander and deliver him from evil,' Cwen thought inwardly, praying in preparation for the end. Her eyelids sealed tight, her heart racing, and her lips quivering, Cwen heard the reflexes and swooshes of arrows fly by her. Seconds later, she heard a yelp: "Bastard! You shot me... Guards!" More bellowing followed as six more rapid rounds reverberated. Cwen panicked and ran her slender fingers over her nakedness. She was unharmed! Cwen parted her eyes slowly. She gasped upon seeing Naimak on the ground with seven arrows sticking out of his chest; the downed King began crawling toward his armor and sword on the other side of the room, a crimson trail behind him. Prince Ryland gripped his holstered sword as he walked toward his father's downed body. Hope filled Cwen, only to be dashed when King Naimak's knights filled the throne room and stationed themselves along the walls like ancient statues. "Ki... ll... him... idiots," King Naimak murmured. Then he gasped for air and begged for help. "Udolf... kill him," the King ordered. Not a soul stirred to attention. Cwen's hope rose again as Udolf's earlier words explained the knights' inaction. Still crawling toward his sword, Naimak fumed defiantly, "Udolf!" he bellowed. Naimak grinned bloodily. "Udolf... I'm glad... glad I killed your brother... and his entire family!" Blood shot from his mouth with every word. Ryland removed his armor and watched Naimak crawl toward his own displaced sword. Now evenly void of armor, Ryland grasped his sword. "My prince—I beg you, the legions beg you, the people beg you—finish him now. Don't take off your armor and fight him like equals," pleaded Udolf. "Only you can do this. End him, don't underestimate him." A chant of "End Naimak," echoed from the legion ranks. "I'm not him, Udolf. There has to be some basic fairness in all things. Expeditious wickedness in the name of good doesn't defeat evil, it simply masks it. I wounded him. The rest will be just and equitable." Udolf said nothing more, holding his tongue at bay. He tightly gripped the handle of his sheathed sword, standing on the ready preparing for the worst result. All watched Naimak crawl on his side toward his sword. He eventually reached it with his right hand. He then struggled for minutes to find his footing. Summoning the strength, the wounded King rose to his feet. With the arrows still protruding from his unarmored chest, Naimak began to balance himself. "Bastard!" he yelled." I've never been defeated in battle. I'm going to keep you alive long enough to skin you to death." Ryland charged his father, holding his sword high before slicing Naimak's right shoulder. Naimak stumbled, moaned in pain, and swayed back and forth before attacking with his sword in his left hand. "Weak, idiot. You should have killed me when you could," Naimak taunted as he struck deep into Ryland's rib. Ryland responded with quick stabs to Naimak's belly and groin, forcing Naimak down. Falling, Naimak struck Ryland's gripping fingers, causing the Prince's sword to drop. Udolf jumped to attention. Ryland waved him off. Downed, Naimak smiled, swinging his sword at Ryland's feet. Ryland jumped and pinned Naimak's sword to the ground, his foot crushing Naimak's fingers. Ryland then grasped the arrows he had shot into Naimak's chest and pushed them in deeper. Taking hold of Naimak's neck, Ryland simultaneously choked him while pushing the arrows in deeper, with each inward push the bodkin points ripped through Naimak's vital organs. Naimak's limp body fell further to the ground and laid flat as his frame twitched. Naimak's eyes shuddered and then closed. The King was dead. Finally, Ryland removed his father's sword from his dead hand and slammed it into his heart so hard it exited through his back, breaking into the floor below. Hundreds of knights immediately kneeled to Ryland. "Long live ..." started Udolf before being cut off by the unanimous proclamation of "Emperor Ryland." Udolf looked on hopefully at his knights as they all yelled those same reaffirming words, over and over again. Ryland's frame swayed over the body of his slain father, Ryland's eyes and ears stung with elated shock. "Good," he muttered to himself, his mind now a bubble as everything around him was momentarily inaudible; deaf to the chants of imperial fealty. Crippling, spiraling pain ripped through his rib cage, shocking him back to reality and duty. "Udolf, Adjanians are to not to be enslaved or harmed. They are to be respected. This country will not be purged. A new Seal of Peace is to be enforced. Food is to be brought in from Bourjon and Sentia." As Udolf started to leave, Ryland felt the striking pain in his side, forcing additional orders. "The Adjani gold," Ryland said, gritting his teeth, "the Adjanian Gold I unearthed, distribute one quarter to my new citizens and another to my men, my legions." Looking at Naimak's lifeless body, Ryland made his final pronouncement. "Hang my... Naimak's body in the city square, so Adjani anger can be directed where it appropriately belongs." "Right away, Your Imperial Majesty, immediately," Udolf said. The pain in Ryland's side grew worse, causing him to stumble as he walked. Knights quickly rushed to his side. Looking at Cwen, he ordered her to be covered. In a minute Cwen stood draped in silk, now walking toward Ryland, a knight pulled out a sword stopping her. Ryland waved the sword away and the knights as well as he found his footing again before backing away. "What will happen to my sisters?" Cwen said, avoiding the mention of her brother. "This scar really does misrepresent me," he said. He touched his scarred face. "You and your sisters are free to stay as you were, or go where you please with all necessary coin and protection." "Thank you my—" "Shh," Ryland whispered. "You don't need to appease me. I spent years watching nothing else but you. You don't need to pretend you care for me, either. I like you as you are: strong willed and honest." Ryland clutched his pained bleeding side, while his legs collapsed, causing him to fall onto Cwen's weakened frame, knocking her to the ground, dislodging the necklace she had hidden in the strands of her plentiful blonde hair. The now imperial knights rushed over to aid their new Emperor. The quick move of Cwen to hide the jewel went unnoticed in the moment's panic. Emperor Ch. 02 All sexual contact in this story occurs between persons who are eighteen years old or older. ***** Two weeks later, Cwen watched from the Palace's inner balconies, as Beatrix and Kella played in the lush gardens below. "Be careful," Cwen yelled with lingering thoughts of safety and survival ever-present in her mind, although her protector, Ryland, was coronated Emperor after killing his father. This had resulted in a speedy end of the human slaughter; Lahoyah's carnage had seemingly been transformed by an influx of food and harmony. 'He's most likely dead,' Cwen thought, her mind constantly thinking of her brother, Alexander. As she walked through the Palace halls, she couldn't forget the blood, the sounds and smells of death. The now-imperial, blue cloaked, guardian knights were posted along the sacred corridors where orange ones had once stood, Cwen ever-feeling as if their hawkish eyes harbored deadly intent for her and her sisters. With her fear for her family's safety at the top of her mind, Cwen walked freely to the Royal Apartments to see Ryland. She hadn't seen him since he'd collapsed and had been sequestered by his Bourjonian physicians. Approaching Ryland's apartments, Cwen first saw the usual hoard of Bourjonian blue guards, but then saw that this time Udolf was leaving Ryland's chambers. She hurried and curtsied before Udolf, "My lord, I request an audience with the Kin... my apologies, my lord, the Emperor." "Princess, you don't have to bend a knee in my presence." "I hear the Emperor established a new system of governance, a High Council, with you as Chief Councilor, so I must." "I'm simply the temporary Chief Councilor; I am but a simple servant boy," Udolf said bowing, "it is I, who must bow to you, not you to me." "I did not thank you, for the kind protection you showed my sisters." "Princess, I also inflicted great hardship." "Please my lord, I do not hold any grudges against you or the Emperor. I am as thankful as the Adjani people who are safe and no longer starving." "You did not come here to praise me." "I am here to plead with you, to let me have a moment alone with His Imperial Majesty." "Emperor Ryland has directed me to provide you and your sisters with every courtesy, as I have." "You have said that before my lord, but with all due respect, after all that has happened, for the sake of my sisters, I need to hear it myself from the lips of the new sovereign Emperor." "Princess, the Emperor has been governing from his bed under his physicians' counsel. His Imperial Majesty granted you your freedom and preservation of your name and title before his isolation." "I will get on my knees and beg, if you like. Is that what it will take for me to see the Emperor, my lord?" Udolf held her shoulders as she began to kneel, in an attempt to prevent it, "You can't do that Princess, stand up, the guards are watching." "Exactly Udolf, the guards are watching. I'm half afraid to leave my sisters alone, we still share a bed." "Emperor Ryland has just been given medicine to help continue the healing, which will put him in a deep unbreakable sleep for the next few hours. More importantly, His Imperial Majesty has decreed, through me, that his knights grant you the respect granted to him by God. What more do you need, Princess?" "Since you mentioned God, I will do the same. I need the Emperor to bind his promise in God's law." "Marriage?" Udolf choked. "Yes." "No," Udolf said, letting the "oh" sound hang in the air. "The Emperor courted me five years ago, during peace time." "The Emperor's duties require him to shift priorities. Marriage to you, Princess is unlikely, you overstep." "His Imperial Majesty needs to consolidate power, win favor from the citizens, my sisters gain security from being his family, and he'll no longer be seen as a conqueror." "At the moment, the citizens of Adjani seem to view the Emperor as a protector, the conqueror is hung up in the city square. Your sisters have their security, even if their older sister is too frightened to see it." "Their sister is aware of the nature of man, and the difference between bonds that can be broken and those that can't." "Princess, in a meeting of the new High Council, His Imperial Majesty officially decreed that ending the still-active war between Bourjon and Casparah, through his marriage to Princess Illimani of Casparah, was his top priority." "I need to speak to the Emperor immediately, I beg you." "Hopefully, this will be possible in a few days." "Why does he avoid me?" Udolf grabbed Cwen's arm and pulled her to a private corner, "Whatever his reasoning is, he is Emperor and he has a supreme right to this, endowed to him by a just and fair God. If you need more guards to protect you and your sisters, I'll make it so. You have more than Naimak would have provided." Cwen swallowed her anguish in the face of truth, as she curtsied. "Thank you, my lord" she said, hurrying off, leaving Udolf knowing his every word had been ignored. ***** Two hours later, Cwen was making her way through a secret internal Palace passageway that had yet to be discovered by the Bourjonian guards. Cwen pushed open the door to Emperor Ryland's Chambers and nearly jumped in shock at the sight in front of her. Ryland was very much deep in sleep as Udolf had stated, but he was tied and bound to the bed, while Alexander stood over him with a dagger inches from his throat. "Alexander, you're alive!" Cwen uttered with a whispered urgency, as she hastened herself toward him, knocking away the short blade in his hands, hugging him tightly. "Cwen, you're crushing me," he gasped. She dragged him to the far end of the chamber, near its balcony, before talking. "Thank God you didn't go to Uncle Gaius, you can't go there. But what is this Alexander, what are you doing?" "I got out of the city, but before getting too far I came back to try to help; I've been waiting to kill him." "You should have come to me first; Ryland is a friend to us." "I decided to avenge Mom and Dad; he killed Mom and Dad. He is no friend to me." "It's not that simple. His father did that, not him. He killed his father to save us, he's not our enemy; he's a good man." "It makes no difference, you hate him too remember Cwen, you refused to marry him when father wanted you to, remember?" "Alexander, I was wrong about him, I made a mistake don't you make the same one." Right then, Ryland started to make rustling sounds; Cwen clutched her brother in her arms once more, before giving him directions to go to a safe house her mother had arranged in the city. She forced him through the passageway, making certain he had left. Now alone, Cwen tossed the dagger Alexander had brought, over Ryland's private balcony. Cwen now settled on her goals. She disrobed and climbed atop the sleeping Emperor, who appeared solidly bound to the bed. She began pulling away his silk garments, attempting to massage his cock to life. "Strengthen yourself for me," she whispered alluringly, begging the penis to become rigid. Although still asleep, Ryland's royal shaft started to expand and lengthen in her soft, inviting hand. Cwen began applying her fingers atop her virgin pussy, delicately moving along her mound, enticingly encouraging her own easement. With his cock now sharply rigid, she wasted no time mounting his sword. A slight crimson stain covered his penis head, and a striking pain instantly consumed her, as she attempted to find a comfortable rhythm amongst his girth. Suddenly, his eyes popped open. His cock hardened further, his eyes opened in delight, his lips parted, mouthing: "Ahh," in slight pain, due to Cwen's contact with his still-bruised ribs. Attempting to touch his wound, he quickly realized he had been bound. Cwen bit her luscious lips as she cautiously self-impaled her painfully tight entrance onto his rock hard, imperial length. Slowly, she began riding his cock tip teasingly, her hands washing over her soft, firm breasts as her eyes fixed on his solid, iron-like chest. "Release inside me," Cwen said, as she lowered her body closer to him, while gyrating around him, flexing her pussy muscles around his swelling cock. "Get off," Ryland ordered now fully aware of her intent. "Breed me with your seed," she screamed, declaring her intent, before pressing her lips to his. In his moments of awareness, Ryland's eyes and mind overflowed with an uproar of anger. In one heave, Ryland pulled at his binding ropes and he was easily freed. Cwen was immediately filled with fright looking down at the fierce stare of the angry sovereign beneath her. Ryland's mind filled with a mix of anguish, anger, passion and desire, as his large palms took hold of Cwen's waist, and in a moment of twisted dominance, lifted her up and dropped her back on the bed. Ryland now laid hovering atop Cwen, rapidly hurling his reinvigorated rigidity into her moistening passage. Cwen closed her eyes, with her hands running along her thigh, stomach and breasts slowly, searching for something to hold onto as she bit her lips, bolts of pain ramming through her. She pushed her soft hands onto Ryland's iron chest and clenched her eyelids and bit down tighter on her lips. His pace immediately slowed and Cwen opened her eyes, noticing for the first time how blue and invitingly peaceful his eyes were. "Am I hurting you?" He asked urgently. "No, good—it's good," her lips spoke, leaving a tiny "O" formed on them, as her eyes briefly closed again for a quick second. Raising her eyelids to free her steel-grey eyes once more, in the moment of exhilarated pleasure his scar meant nothing, she felt at ease and enticed under his solidly muscular, glistening frame. Her hands now freely brushed along his muscled, sweaty arms, moving along his rock-solid chest, then accidentally moving to his bruised ribs, causing him to momentarily wince. "Sorry, are you—" Cwen began to ask before Ryland sealed her lips with his, as their mouths rocked over each other, swimming in wetness, just as below, Cwen's pussy began to overflow with wetness. With her lips propped against his ears and her eyes closed, she made a slow, alluringly whispered confession, "You're my... first." The new knowledge provided sent him in a heated spiral as his pace quickened again, his hips drilling forward, his cock rocking into her gripping pink lips without pause or caution. The nuanced pleasure pacified her pain, as her quivering, moistened vice danced along Ryland's pulsing cock. Her eyes now looked at his facial scar with yearning respect, while her heart opened and vagina dripped. The intense build up in Ryland's loins were now reflected in his limitless strides, his hips slammed into her with animalistic urgency, lacking any restraint. Cwen's fingers and piercing nails attempted to pull Ryland closer, nearer and deeper, while she kissed him on the lips and touched his scar. Then, she awakened his sobriety by whispering, "Yes... release inside me." With that said, Ryland sprung up, while suffering through the wakened pain in his side as he broke her entangled embrace. Beginning to stand, he erupted, splattering her belly and breasts with his imperial jelly. Ryland stepped away from the sprawling bed where Cwen remained, while looking at him, blinking away, processing the rejection. He began to dress, but she was quick to follow and seductively embrace him with her nakedness. "Ryland, take me again. I can feel you want to," she said, feeling his iron-hard manhood. Looking into her grey eyes, Ryland released his thoughts, "Cwen, your father was my teacher and Edwin was my friend. I loved your mother and Alexander. I'm sorry about what happened to your family, Cwen, I am, I truly am. I will always wear that guilt, but I have responsibilities beyond myself now, another war to end." "You're going to marry Illimani?" "I have to, promises have been made, the peace has to be sustained." "And my sisters?" Ryland brought his face near to hers as he answered with, "I would never harm Beatrix, Kella or you, there family you're family to me. You should know that by now Cwen!" Cwen paused as her eyes swelled with tears, "What if Alexander was alive with my sisters? Would he be allowed to play in the gardens and live freely alongside us?" Ryland's eyes squinted, looking on quizzically; now opening his mouth to answer before closing it again with more pause and thought. The more he thought, the more his ribs pained him. Cwen's stomach entangled unsettlingly as she witnessed the moral struggle occurring in front of her. "I..." Ryland began to say, as a knock came from the door of his bed chambers. Cwen, still naked, went to hide in the passageway she had originally entered from. She peeked through the cracks, watching Udolf enter the bed chamber. "Your Imperial Majesty, you're not sleeping?" "It appears so. Udolf, is it urgent? I would like a few more minutes alone." "Princess Illimani arrives tomorrow, the wedding will be the day after; our legions and the army of Casparah are both in a state of mutual rest." "Good, Udolf, thank you. Now give me a moment," vocalized Ryland, while pointing his fingers towards the door. "One last point, Lady Cybele of the new Province of Sentia is on route for the wedding and to take her promised position of Chief High Councilor. Lord Gaius will also soon be here from Western Adjani to attend the wedding and to take his seat on the High Council, which will cause some trouble between..." "Problems, it will cause conflict between him and Cwen, I know." "Sire, Gaius, she hates. No, I meant a problem between you and her; Cwen's in a fairly heated state, she'll blame you for breaking bread with her treasonous uncle." "Cwen is smart enough to know I wasn't privy to all the evil actions and plotting my father did. She'll also know that Gaius's lands are strategic to a stable country," Ryland said with Cwen's ears in mind. With that said, Udolf left and Cwen emerged from hiding, naked. "You're giving my uncle that betrayed my family and country, a reward," Cwen said, storming about as she moved to get dressed. "When I was fifteen, with your wise father's guidance, I built a grand peace agreement, with the idea of making sacrifice for the greater good at its core. Gaius has significant sway in maintaining stability in a volatile region. The people need security; it's my duty to preserve peace now." "Is that how you plan to govern, buying loyalty and trading your soul for power? You don't care about me or my family!" Cwen said bitterly. "If you're speaking of your brother I pray he is alive, I only took so long to answer because I was figuring how to keep him safe from others, like your uncle. I would never harm him." "If you were really an Emperor, your so called 'imperial decree' would be all that would be needed to grant safety, not secret barters," Cwen fired off as she completed dressing herself. "Naimak ruled by unilateral fear, is that what you want from me?" Ryland said, moving to exit his bed chambers, while Cwen turned around and prepared to slip out her secret passage in a huff of anger. Ryland exited his chamber to an awaiting phalanx of guardian knights yelling "Emperor" and slamming there closed fists to their armored chests, while loudly clicking there feet together before proceeding to march around him. ***** Under the black of night, the illuminating full moon guided Cwen, who was covered by a ratty, hooded cloak. She slipped through the rubble-covered lower end of Lahoyah's still disease-infected southern quarter, reaching a wooden house that shook and swayed with the wind. She took care to make sure that she wasn't followed, then she slipped through a side door into the house. Upon entry, she was met by pitch-black darkness, frightening silence, and spider webs. She reached into the pockets of her long hooded disguise, her fingers caressing the single pearl-orb and the golden necklace she brought. "I have the payment," Cwen said aloud in the room that appeared empty. "Nobis Solvendum," Cwen yelled and a few seconds later the sound of fingers snapping was heard, as lanterns lighted brightly all through the room, showcasing row upon row of dust covered books. "I am Nobis Solvendum and that is not the payment, Princess; it is the key," said a soft-spoken, wrinkled, pale, bald man, who appeared from a distant corner wearing clothing rattier than Cwen's. Behind him was Alexander, who ran toward Cwen, as she tossed the necklace to the old man. Cwen embraced Alexander while the old man did the same with the bulbous single pearl. "Can I go live with Uncle Gaius now, Cwen?" "Uncle Gaius is dead," Cwen said, plotting, "so you have to go somewhere else." "Where?" Alexander asked. "The wizard will decide," Cwen said, looking at the bald man who was marveling at the pearl-orb necklace that once belonged to Cwen's mother. The wizard seemed bewitched by the large single-pearl necklace as his fingers swam over it. "This pearl is said to be all that remains of the ancient city of Cataleyah," the wizard admitted. "What's he going to do with Mom's necklace, Cwen?" asked Alexander. "This," the man said, tossing the pearl into the air while dashing a vile of white powder unto Alexander. All three people in the room were quickly blinded by a flash of light and deafened by a bang heard through the entire city of Lahoyah. The pearl exploded and a swirling blue vortex opened up from it. Instantly, hands stretched out from the blue vortex grabbing Alexander, pulling him in, kicking and screaming. Cwen's mouth opened wide in shock, this was the plan, but she hadn't expected it to work, and she definitely didn't expect it to happen so suddenly. Cwen was quickly rattled further by the wizard yelling in panic, "We have to close the window, before it goes from blue to black." "Is my brother safe Nobis, is my brother safe?" Cwen asked repeatedly, grabbing hold of the wizard and shaking him. "Yes, of course. He's in the safest place, your mothers' ancestral home, in a distant far off unreachable Elven world. He'll be safe and will return automatically in two cycles, twenty years, but if we don't close this now, the vortex will move to connect with another realm, a dark realm, bringing hell to Earth." "What do you mean by, my Mother's home?" Cwen asked before her eyes widened as the man went to work, whispering under his breath, tossing powders into the air. But then the vortex went black. A female creature with long black hair, large breasts, as well as horns, wings, and a tail, stepped through the vortex, just before it sealed back up and disappeared. Cwen quickly noticed nestled between the creature's giant breasts, an identical pearl like orb attached to a gold necklace, like the one Nobis had just used to conjure the vortex. Her purple eyes stared down at Nobis the wizard, who began to grasp a black bottle. "Succubus burn," Nobis said, but before he could open the bottle, the succubus sliced his throat with a snap of her sharp edged tail. He lay on the floor, clutching his gushing neck as he bled out, while Cwen stood screaming. The succubus smiled at Cwen as she stomped over to her, its demonic hooves echoing as they slammed into the wooden floor. The succubus licked her lips with her long slithering tongue. "Nobis should have known better, you can't send a soul, without paying with a soul. Instead of simply enjoying a full moon, you humans play with magic." With that stated, her tail stretched out towards Cwen. "I took his soul as payment!" The succubus uttered, after which she turned pounced at a cowering Cwen, but was blocked by an invisible force as the pearl orb betwixt her breasts began to shine with an orange glow. Emperor Ch. 02 The succubus attempted to remove the necklace from around her neck, but relented as the necklace shocked her clawing nails each time. Suddenly the succubus's eyes changed from purple to the Pearls same orange hue, she calmed her approach towards Cwen instead kneeling while passively uttering; "Master what is your biding?" Before Cwen could register the shift that had just taken place, a gathering force could be herd amassing outside of the house. Horse hooves came crashing through the door and breaking down one side of the house's wooden walls. A unit of blue cloaked mounted knights led by Udolf, streamed in, shaking off their initial collective shock they aimed at the shrieking succubus but missed the swift creature as her wings flapped gliding her upward, she struck down a few knights with her tail before javelins and bows true to their aim hit the demon. Now under heavy fire, the demon more annoyed than frightened, squealed before leaping into the air, breaking through the roof and flying off. Udolf and his men stood there bewildered. "What the hell was that?" Udolf yelled, asking Cwen, as her knees knocked together in panic. She opened her mouth to speak as her eyes peered across the room at Nobis's bloodied neck, instantly her stomach overflowed as she vomited all over the floor. With her face on the floor she spotted the black bottle Nobis had been about to use on the succubus, she quickly grabbed and hid it while the knights were distracted. "What was that?" another knight and another and another kept asking. "Hell on Earth!" Cwen finally declared, as Udolf rallied his men for the forthcoming hunt.