Chapter 16
Solara and her familiar, Sarah, were the first of our party to move into their Sanctuary South penthouse full-time.
She still had her suite in Zaglis for whenever she wanted to enjoy the beach, but for her studies and projects, she very much preferred the otherworldly environment of a city surrounded on all sides by brutal tundra and fierce monsters. To her, that felt more magical.
And I had to agree. No other place on the material plane had a view like the one I now enjoyed, looking out her floor-to-ceiling windows on my kingdom.
Wherever Solara was, typically, I would find Purity also, but my archpriestess was busy at present making appearances as the Silk Goddess to calm and inspire the citizens of the kingdom with her enrapturing presence.
I turned away from the window to face Solara at her desk. It was covered in books, papers, and parchment.
“I know you’ve only had a day to look at the book, but I’m curious to learn whether or not Alexi bullshitted me,” I said.
“From what I’ve skimmed,” Solara began as Sarah looked at me and licked the air, “the source seems legitimate. There are over 1,000 pages here, so attach an asterisk to ‘seems’ for now.”
“Our enemy is mentioned, then?”
Solara nodded. “Several times. He is something of a main character amongst a cast of lesser Demon Lords.”
“That sounds promising.”
“It could be. What I’ve seen so far drifts strangely close to gossip for a text that aims to be scholarly.
For example, one of his invasions of the material plane was a result of internal conflict within his harem.
A few of the wives were jealous, and they invaded our world to get his attention and approval. ”
“Wow,” I said, unable to keep myself from chuckling at the absurdity of that scenario.
Grinning, Solara added, “Oh, it gets better. This text suggests that his harem used to be larger–11 instead of the 9 we read about in the other book–but 2 of the wives fell in love with a celestial and ran away. One of his attacks on the celestial planes was specifically motivated by that offense.”
How could a being with Abaddon’s power have discord within his own harem?
I couldn’t imagine any of my women betraying me like that, but no, that wasn’t true.
I could see Invia stabbing me in the back, and a few hundred years of polyamorous marriage was a lot of time for grievances to fester.
The Oath of the Silk Noose guarded me against such traitorous behavior, in theory, but I knew so very little about how the universe actually worked.
I couldn’t be certain that a workaround, a fix, or a cheat didn’t exist somewhere out there.
“I have a lot left to read,” Solara continued. “Is any of this sounding useful so far?”
“Potentially. I’ve been thinking about his inner circle ever since we learned that he had a harem. We broke Valice by exploiting the people she kept around her, like her uncle, her brother, and even friends like Grettie.”
That was a pair of names I hadn’t thought of in a while. I owned Valice’s soul. The husk of her body lived in the Capital palace. As for Grettie, maybe I could get her and her mother in bed at the same time? When I had more availability hobbies, yes, I would do that.
“So, perhaps, such an opportunity could exist here,” Solara added, freeing me from a very nice daydream.
“Yes, but sometimes I can’t tell what’s brilliant scheming and what’s wishful thinking,” I admitted. “A history of conflict among his top people sounds good for us, though.”
“I can see why you’d want to fuck your enemy’s wives, but…”
I laughed. “No, that’s not the strategy here. I wouldn’t want him coming at me with his full wrath like that. I don’t like how an all-out war could go for us for all kinds of reasons.”
“Like?”
“I’ve never managed a military,” I said.
“Our enemy has way more experience and knowledge on that front, and I think we’re better off assuming he has more war-ready resources than we do.
If we did win such a war, it would be a long and painful journey.
I’d much rather spend the next 100 years getting laid and getting high than agonizing over troop movements and supply lines. ”
I paused to think.
“Now that I say those words out loud, I realize that he also has me beat on patience. He’s accustomed to long timelines, whereas that’s entirely new to me.”
“All of your logic seems sound,” Solara replied. “I should have the rest of the text read in the next 6 or 7 days. Well, no, maybe 8 or 9. I forgot about the family dinner.”
A weighty dread hung from her last few words.
“You’re not excited about an evening with Ithaca and Penny’s families?” I asked.
Where Invia was Ashley’s partner for this affair, Solara was Purity’s.
I was attending as a security escort for those four, but I knew that Godfried, Purity’s father, was wise to my role in recent events being much larger than most people suspected.
Invia’s father wasn’t an idiot either, so he likely had similar suspicions.
Despite what their families believed they knew, they didn’t think I was anything more than a gold digger, manipulating rich women. My grander ambitions were invisible to them. As long as that’s what they believed, my women were still my front, and that was still intact.
I owned them, so I owned their achievements.
Wearing a crown didn’t matter to me, so I was happy to have Ashley and Invia be the public faces of the kingdom.
If someone made a play for the throne, I preferred them to kill Ashley or Invia over killing me.
Even if people suspected differently, admitting to my true level of influence brought more risk than benefit.
“Penny doesn’t speak fondly of her home life," Solara answered. “I don’t want to smile and play nice with people who I know for a fact treated her poorly.”
“When I told her she didn’t have to do this, she said she had put it off for too long. I hope she gets the closure she’s looking for.”
“When has a shitty family ever given the kid they hurt closure?”
I didn’t have an answer for that.
“She doesn’t owe them anything,” Solara said. “If she’s doing this for herself, I support it. I’m just worried about her.”
“How do you feel about Ithaca and her family?”
“Ithaca has been punching back at them her whole life. She understands what she’s getting into now when she punches again. Penny hasn’t done this before, so she has no idea what the water is really like.”
“And won’t until she’s jumped in.”
“Right. She’s strong enough to do whatever she wants, but her being strong has nothing to do with how much her family could make this suck.”
“Did you tell her these things too?” I asked.
Solara shook her head. “I didn’t want to create a problem if there wasn’t one already there.
These are just concerns I have, but the only moment I really have to go on is how her siblings reacted to you when we were new to Grubiit.
Charity was all about slinging her righteous anger around. Do you think this will go smoothly?”
“Absolutely not,” I said, laughing. “The family conflicts will probably play a part, but I think the bigger issue will be all the hurt egos in the room. Ithaca and Penny were told there were limits on how much they could accomplish because of their gender and because of their natural potential. Ithaca’s parents believed she should find a good man and stand in his shadow.
Penny’s family believed she wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the world and make a difference. ”
“And now one is a queen and the other is a goddess.”
“Yep. They have achieved more than anyone in their families. In my experience, when a person who was previously above you in standing has to admit that they are now beneath you, emotions can run hot. Not only did they both prove their parents wrong, which people also don’t like–Ithaca and Penny found more success than their parents ever did. ”
“Sounds like it will be a fun evening all around,” Solara joked.
“Should I leave Sarah at home for the sake of keeping the peace? I’m not sure a family from the Church would appreciate an abyssal familiar, but I’m also walking in the room with horns.
” She indicated the white spikes that extended from her skull.
I reached out with a finger and scratched Sarah’s head. She closed her eyes and pressed upward to show she enjoyed it.
“Sarah’s a part of the party, and she’s an extension of you,” I answered. “I see no reason to leave her behind. Did Penny say something?”
“No, she didn’t. I knew she would tell me to bring Sarah no matter what.”
“Good, so bring her. The more the merrier.”
Solara giggled. “Sure. This dinner will be full of merriment.”
Queen Ashley hosted the multi-family dinner in one of the Capital castle’s dining rooms, selecting this one specifically because the table was round instead of long and rectangular.
If no one was at the head or foot of the table, egos were slightly less likely to come to blows.
Both Invia's and Purity’s parents were present, as were Invia’s sister, Esita, and Purity’s twin siblings, Justice and Charity.
Esita had the same dark hair as her sister, but she was shorter. When we first met, she was in priestess robes, and I was enamored with how the cloth hung from her chest. Only the shadow of their shape was visible, and the suggestion of what was beneath was its own kind of erotic.
On this night, she wore a low-cut top with a high-cut midriff, revealing her gentle and full curves from above and below. She looked at me with the same fuck-me eyes she gave me way back then in Borja.
Esita not bringing a date along was interesting. I often thought about how she thanked me for saving her in the Borja dungeon, and I often lamented how many things I didn’t get to do to her body. If she were dateless for this evening of couples, perhaps that door wasn’t closed completely.