Chapter 10 #3
I looked over to find Lissa shaking. The lust and violence coming from my akadim were thick in the air. I’d given my command, but they were ready to burst with Aemon’s proclamation.
“Please,” Lissa pleaded suddenly. “Your Majesty, please let me leave.”
I raised my hand, indicating she should stay. I could only imagine what she had experienced with these monsters before she’d become my maid. But I was not having my lady in-waiting run off in fear. Not from my own army. I was their Queen. What did that say about me?
“Please,” Lissa whimpered again, bending down to draw herself into a ball. The scent of urine filled the air.
Fuck.
“Fine. Go,” I waved in dismissal, more than aware her scent had carried to the akadim. They wouldn’t mind that she’d wet herself. They were hungry for her in every way possible. And as predators, the fear only made her smell better to them.
I willed her to walk slowly, to walk far, but not run.
Partly to maintain decorum. But also, because if she did run, they’d give chase.
I had control, I had bound them all to me.
But dozens of akadim in a lust-filled feeding frenzy were something else entirely.
Queen I might be, Guardian of the orange shard, able to call on a Goddess’s strength and power.
But even I’d have to run if caught up in one of their frenzies.
From the look on Parthenay’s face, she knew exactly what I was thinking, and she was triumphant.
I would not have it.
The akadim began to shout. “Maraak! Maraak! ” followed by violent cries of “Feed us! We’re hungry! Starving!”
And finally, one that left me cold. “Give us one. Just one to fuck.” Roars followed that one.
The vorakh were retreating back, heading deeper into the woodlands that surrounded us. Only Andromeny casting a silver binding around them—the kind used to trap soturi in habibellums—kept them from fleeing.
They cried out against the burn of the ring. But Andromeny didn’t care. She was screaming at them now, ordering them to be still, to be silent.
I pushed Parthenay aside, pulled out my stave and conjured a small marble table. I left my shield upon it, a protective dome humming around it, and then I faced my akadim, feeling the brunt of their lust and violence and hunger.
“I know you’re hungry. You will be fed. But we have rules in my court. I gave my command,” I shouted. “To all of you. And you will obey.”
Their growls intensified. And for the first time since I’d collected my army, I could feel their mutiny. Their pushback against their bindings.
You see? Parthenay thought.
In the same moment, Aemon pushed a thought to my mind. Get them under control now!
“I will,” I hissed.
Kitten. They must rape. We’ve already changed them so much. Let it be enough.
But I ignored his words. Instead, I whirled on my heels, my eyes meeting Parthenay’s. I do believe that I warned you. Contradict me again and I will feed you to them.
Her nostrils flared, the challenge clear in her eyes.
Suddenly, Andromeny spoke up—acting like a herald for us—perhaps in an attempt to divert the akadim’s attention.
“Ra Maraak, Ra Maraaka.” Your king. Your queen. “Teka! Bow before their majesties.” She turned in a slow circle, eyeing the akadim. They had formed themselves into two small armies. One collared by me. The other by Aemon. “Moriel and Ereshya have been reborn.”
The vorakh’s eyes widened, their faces stunned.
Several looked at each other with questioning eyes, searching for answers that none of them possessed.
My akadim fell at once. Because Rhyan bent the knee.
He was already the one they looked to for leadership.
It was just my luck that the akadim form tended to amplify certain personality traits of the person they used to be.
It was a kind of compensation for the parts of them that were lost—the parts tied to their soul.
Rhyan had been a soturion with an almost absurd amount of discipline.
Now he was an akadim general with the ability to control hundreds of his kind with a single look.
Aemon’s soturi knelt, and at last, the vorakh sank down in compliance.
I waited a moment, allowing them to spend some time on their knees, to fully embrace their new roles. And ours. And then I lifted my arm. “Rise.”
“Thank you, and welcome,” Aemon said, his voice booming and full of all the authority of a God.
“Your queen and I have liberated you from your oppressors.” He turned to face the chayatim.
“From your masters. No longer shall the Empire abuse your abilities, nor will they be allowed to vilify you for how you were born; for magic and abilities you did not ask for. In the world we will build from Lumeria’s ashes, no one is born illegal.
No one is born taboo. Today we honor you, the sacrifices you’ve made, the injustice you have suffered. ”
Someone clapped, and another mage joined in, and then another. There was a cheer rising through the crowd, and a call of victory. My heart leapt.
We were doing the right thing.
Aemon’s eyes sparkled. “Each one of you was dealt a fate you did not deserve. But today you have the chance to turn things around. To make a new world. Together, we shall break apart the Empire, brick by brick. You shall have your revenge if you seek it. And together, we’ll remake this world into one that honors you and who you are.
For being a part of this at the beginning, you will all be rewarded. ”
More claps followed, more cheers, and several of the chayatim raised their fists.
Behind me, the akadim growled.
I turned, feeling Aemon move beside me.
“You shall also be rewarded,” he said. “You will have the power you’ve been denied. The opportunity to live naturally. To hunt, and feed.” His eyes flashed on me then away. “To give into your natures.”
Their growls turned to roars, and their teeth gnashed, their eyes glowing red.
In the light, their monstrousness became clearer as they revealed their elongated canines.
Fangs dripping with saliva pushed past their lips.
And if they hadn’t already, their natures began to rise—at least it did for those who were male.
Everything was on display, and exposed. Between that and fucking Parthenay, I was about to lose all I’d worked for.
I stepped forward, a plan barely formed in my mind.
“You’re hungry?” I shouted, facing my army. “I know what you want. But I don’t give rewards for disobedience. If you want flesh, if you want pleasure, you’ll prove yourselves to me.” My eyes found Rhyan’s in the crowd. “A demonstration of my benevolence to you. Arkturion Rhyan Hart. Come forward.”
His red eyes flashed, and beneath the loin cloth he wore, I could see his own excitement had been ignited. His bloodlust filled the air, and his muscles flexed as he approached.
He bowed. “What do you want with me?” he growled. “Morgana.”
I stiffened. And he seemed to realize his mistake at that moment as well.
So he remembered. Good. If he remembered me, he remembered everything.
I grabbed Parthenay by the shoulders and pushed her in front of him. “You remember Parthenay, don’t you?” I asked Rhyan sweetly. “Remember when she attacked you on Gryphon’s Mount? Tied you and Lyriana up? Brought you to us against your will?”
A snarl escaped his lips, followed by a vicious growl that made my skin crawl. “I remember.” His red eyes settled on her. “You invaded my mind.”
“She did, didn’t she?” I crooned. “So cruel. You don’t like her, Rhyan, do you?”
“No.” His irises began to glow, brighter than before. His muscles tensed, as his knees bent, preparing to pounce. A small stream of saliva slipped from his mouth, and for a second, his eyes shot with venom toward Aemon. He bared his teeth. Rhyan was no fan of Aemon’s either.
Aemon shook his head, emitting a sudden burst of power from his aura.
Rhyan’s eyes went back to Parthenay, even more lust-filled than before. A lust filled with violence.
“You’re hungry, Rhyan? Aren’t you?” I eyed his loincloth again, my heart thundering. His cock twitched in response, the muscles in his arms flexing. “Very hungry.”
“Maraaka,” he said in confirmation, licking his lips, taking a step forward toward Parthenay.
I watched Aemon, daring him to stop me, to contradict me. A grin spread across my face.
“Take her,” I commanded. “Take her however you want. Feast on her, fuck her, drink her blood.” I shoved her forward without warning, watching as she stumbled, and fell to her knees. Immediately I stepped back.
“No—” Parthenay screamed. “No! Aemon! Help me!”
But Aemon didn’t move to stop things. Rhyan pounced on Parthenay, moving with alarming speed.
He flattened her to the ground, her back hitting it with a thud.
He hissed, baring his fangs, before locking her arms above her head, his knees crushing her legs down, and then apart.
His eyes flashed for a moment, looking up at me, asking permission, and I nodded, as Parthenay shrieked, attempting to free herself.
With a growl, he opened his mouth, his claws digging into her skin, as he bit down on her neck. His teeth sank into her flesh with shocking violence. Parthenay cried out. Her blood filled his mouth, dripping down her to her shoulder and onto the ground.
The akadim began to roar and howl, cheering and demanding their turn next.
“Aemon, please!” she begged.
“Is this how to address me?” he asked cruelly.
Rhyan’s mouth moved, sucking and drawing more blood, before he pulled back, just enough to rip her dress open from her chest to the waist, exposing her breasts.
“Maraak Moriel,” she cried. “Please, I beg you!”
And suddenly, another akadim broke from the crowd, too excited by what he saw. He rushed at Rhyan before I could stop him, hauling him off Parthenay, his claws tearing through his arms.