Chapter 21 #2
Abby appeared next to me and bent to whisper in my ear, making my guests jump in surprise.
Technically, she could have spoken to me with her telepathy and never shown herself, but I wanted people to see what I had, to put on a show.
They had already understood that I was something different, but Sanctuary South and everything in it revealed the scale of that difference.
The guy who not long ago whored himself out to a rich businesswoman for a free apartment now had his own city.
That was difficult to fathom for human minds.
Seeing Abby’s void black naked body, whipping tails, and darling horns helped that along.
“Mistress Mammoni is here to speak with you,” she said softly.
I thought for a moment and addressed my guests. “I have another business partner who requests my attention, but it occurs to me that introducing you all to her could be helpful to everyone. Would you be okay with that?”
They looked at one another, shrugging and nodding.
To Abby, I said, “Please ask Mistress Mammoni if she would like to meet friends from this plane or meet with me in private.”
Abby nodded and disappeared. A moment later, she stepped into the room and held the door.
“I present Mistress Mammoni,” she proclaimed.
The demon merchant strolled proudly into the room on legs fashioned from her magic clay and seemed to enjoy the expression on my guests’ faces as much as I did.
“Lord Byron didn’t tell you what I was, did he?” she asked playfully. “Such a scoundrel.”
I smiled. “Mistress Mammoni was instrumental in making trade between our planes possible,” I explained. “Everyone in this room has a taste for the rare and unique, so there could be opportunities for trades, as you all have access to different inventories.”
“I would be very excited to have a conversation like that,” Lyle said, making him the first of the trio to compose himself.
I had expected him to recover more quickly than anyone else. He was too good a capitalist to let a little shock sour an opportunity.
“Are you worried that humans might be hesitant to trade with you?” Horpus asked. “Most of us were taught to fear demons.”
“Oh, sweety, that’s so cute,” Mammoni teased. “The conniving deception often attributed to my kind is a falsehood. We simply have minds for business. Besides, Lord Byron has forbidden the forging of soul contracts in his city. The greatest of business follies is not possible here.”
I sat up and clapped my hands. “I’m pleased you all have gotten to meet. Mistress Mammoni, please pardon me for a moment as I see my other guests out.”
She dipped her head.
In the hallway, Lyle patted me on the shoulder and shook his head in disbelief. “Whenever I think Byron of Zaglis can’t top something, he not only proves me wrong, but he does so with an achievement that makes the first look piddly. Bravo. Bravo.”
“Congratulations, Byron,” Trina said as she passed. “Quite remarkable.”
Horpus, however, lingered.
When the Flowst thieves were out of earshot, Horpus handed me an envelope. “Someone is giving a lot of money to paladin orders all of a sudden.”
I broke the seal and skimmed the notes.
“Vista Trade and Loans,” I read aloud. “Should I know them?”
“That business is owned by a Lord Ulric.”
This is what I get for not killing him. When would I finally learn my lesson?
“I’m listening for more details,” Horpus added. “I’ll let you know if I learn of more specific intentions.”
“Thank you for sharing this with me.”
Horpus nodded in response, and I returned to my other guest.
“Apologies for the delay,” I said to Mammoni as I stepped back into my office.
“I do not fault a businessman for seeing to business.”
“I appreciate that, but you are a valued partner. I never want to give you a reason to doubt that, not even small ones.”
Mammoni grinned.
“I reached out to you because I have some business questions to run by you. If you have time.”
“Go on.”
“Hypothetically, would demons buy real estate in the heavens if they could?”
Sanctuary South was a masterpiece. The glittering silver buildings with green fields and a lake of glacial water beyond the walls were new wonders of the world.
More days than not, the weather in the northern lands was nonstop blizzards, giving the city a sort of coziness I hadn’t expected.
On all sides, we were reminded of the harsh world outside our barrier, and that ever-present reminder added a depth to the warmth inside, like how a cabin with a fire feels in the midst of brutal winter.
That warmth was less apparent in the dark of night when the city was lit only by glowstones, but that transformed my kingdom into an oasis of a different kind.
The depth of the black on a cloudy night made Sanctuary South feel like the only bastion of humanity in all the universe.
When the skies were clear, it was as though the city existed on a different plane entirely.
The harshness of the tundra and the mountains looming in the distance seeming more alien than material.
For the learned citizens and visitors, Abby’s location-cloaking wards not only confused compasses and navigation spells, but they also scrambled the stars in the sky.
Otherwise, the true location of Sanctuary South would inevitably be discovered.
Skilled navigators would be able to figure out exactly where we were based on what constellations were visible.
So for the people who knew how to read stars, they looked up at constellations they had seen nowhere else before. Come tomorrow night, the sky would be totally different.
Bringing my gaze down from the heavens to the glowstones in the city made it look like its own sea of stars. This new world was mine. I was its god.
“May we join you?” Invia asked, appearing in the room with Ashley at her side.
They both wore pale blue gowns like they were ice princesses. That seemed appropriate for the grand opening of a kingdom built on a glacier.
“I'd love the company.”
They stood on either side of me and hung from my shoulders, looking down on the city.
“You should be proud of this,” Invia said.
“How does it feel to be the king of two kingdoms?” Ashley asked.
I squeezed them both close. “Good, but we have a great deal of work to do.”
“Ambition is best fed by the spoils of success,” Invia said, with Ashley nodding that she agreed as well. “You should eat what you’ve harvested so that you have the strength to plant more.”
“That’s good advice,” I replied. “The spoils in my arms are worth pausing to enjoy.”
My two treasures pulled me to bed and threw themselves on the mattress first, looking up at me expectantly.
“As soon as we kiss, I won’t be able to stop,” Ashley said, propping herself up on her elbow.
I can’t quite explain why, but there was something about the combination of the short straight hair of her bob cut and the small gap in her teeth. She had a beauty that made sharp lines especially fetching. A little bit of winged eyeliner on her light skin was enough to drive me mad.
Ashley held up a rose petal. “I’d like to say the oath, if you’ll have me.”
“You know I want you.”
She smiled sheepishly and slid her leg across my hips, pushing herself up to straddle me.
Invia did the same so that she was behind Ashley.
Invia reached around to hike up Ashley’s dress and to help guide my shaft into the Queen’s slit.
While Ashley rocked her hips back and forth with the slow rhythm of water dripping from a faucet.
Invia’s fingernails grazed the base of my penis as she rubbed Ashley’s clit with one hand and squeezed her breast with the other.
Ashley held my gaze and spoke. “I kneel so he may step higher. I obey so he may prosper. I worship so he may use my strength. In service of his power, I bind myself to his oath. If my devotion is found wanting. May the silk noose strangle me and may my soul leave with the Spirit of Death.”
She put the petal in her mouth and swallowed. The silk around her throat formed to her skin and turned gold.
“Congratulations,” Invia said with a grin and sank her teeth into Ashley’s neck.
The Queen’s quivering tightened her grip on my chest and gave our shared friction a vibration we both enjoyed.
Invia smiled down at me deviously from behind Ashley, her hands still working the Queen. Invia ran her long, abyssal tongue up the Queen and bit her again just to watch my reaction when Ashley repeated her shudder.
I loved that woman.
Invia’s fingers rubbed harder. Ashley put her hands over Invia’s and cooed, her hips rocking more quickly, with a steady downward pressure to ensure that I stayed as deep as possible, my tip never separating from her G-spot as she worked.
Her long body flowed like wind-blown fabric, and her moans were soft and reserved.
The moment was so simple, yet so beautiful.
Other than the presence of a third, this was no act of hedonism or depravity like our usual orgies of lust produced.
Instead of ravenously chasing pleasure, we wallowed in the details of what we shared.
Savored the sensations. Allowed the full profile of the flavor to settle before taking the next taste.
When Ashley started to cum, she slowed her hips and pressed down as hard as she could, filling herself with every bit of every inch I had. Invia took Ashley’s lips into hers, kissing the Queen deeply as the satisfaction of a climax flooded her senses.
Ashley flopped off to the side, drenched in sweat. Short of breath, she said, “Invia, it’s your turn. What would you like?”
The Queen tugged on Invia’s thigh, trying to get her to straddle me next.
A flash of inspiration crossed Invia’s eyes.
“What is it?” I asked.
She blushed, an extreme rarity for Invia.
“You told me a story a while ago about your night with Grettie when you got her home. Not her sucking you off in the closet, but the one a couple of days after the bugbears.”
I raised an eyebrow.