Preparations were being made for my birthday celebration. I was turning nineteen in two weeks. Queen Matilde was making a big deal over my birthday.
I knew she had something big up her sleeves. Unknown to me, invitations to my Debutante Ball had gone out months ago to every one of the Thirteen nations, and the other Five Greater Races. Every nation was sending a representative, and in many cases a hopeful suitor for me, or perhaps, one of my currently eight children. Some were coming only to see if, in fact, one of my husbands was a Darkling.
Once upon a time the Darkling race was a highly respected race for their knowledge and wisdom. But times change, and they came to be feared for their dark magik, and some conspired to label them dangerous and evil, along with demon kind. Fear, rumors, and intolerance for those who are different won out. War came, and wiped out most of the Darklings. The demons fled to their own continent. At least until the fervor subsided, and relative peace came. The Dragons fled also, to their islands, out in Far Sea. The Darklings were still the vision of evil, and the Church was sure to raise the call against them.
My list of enemies had perhaps not grown to its full measure yet. We had picked up bits and pieces of information from the spy golems that we placed with the Sinestelosans. It seems we were in their sights, and the Church was also probably coming to a point where they were going to make a move against us as well.
I had made slight headway with Maleficia, but her handlers held a tight grip. We would often meet in the mornings, and I would help her study. I would mind-speak to her, and showed her how to learn it herself. Since we couldn’t actively train that in front of her handlers. So we had come up with our own secret communication. She was ecstatic over that. If she was fooling me, she was a master of the art. Only time would tell. She was assigned by her nation to attend my Debutante Ball. It would be interesting to see how her handlers would handle the occasion. We were all surprised when the response came in as we all expected the eldest daughter, the heir apparent to attend, or a son, as many nations chose.
Excitement on campus was building as the days ticked away. It seemed that everyone thought I was going to perform some crazy, ridiculous stunt at my Debutante Ball. It was rather insulting. It’s not like I was always pulling some weird stunt. It was more that other people were always doing spectacularly crazy things to get at me. Then, my birthday came, and nothing crazy happened. I was brought to the palace and the Queen’s staff put me in a dress the Queen had made for me. It was gorgeous, and some kind of torture device binding up my waist, stomach, and chest. Someone called it a corseted dress. I called it an Iron Maiden. I thought my ribs were going to crack. It would be a minor miracle if my breasts didn’t pop out halfway into the ball. How I wasn’t leaking all over the top of the dress must have been some kind of magik.
My escort for the ball was Alexander. Fergus would be my only other husband attending the ball. All of my companions were also attending the ball, and the Queen had dressed them all up as well. The first squad of the Queen’s Elite Knights were all very eligible marriage partners. She threw them all onto the sacrificial altar along with me. Male and female alike. Fergus had lost none of his appeal as first husband to the White Dragon Queen. In fact, it may have made all the maidens even more ravenous for him. The one mate, everyone knew I had chosen of my own desire. Yes, my First Husband was probably the most desired male on the Continent. Not sure how I feel about that.
Then the ball began, and Queen Matilde announced our entrance,
“Salutations, Ladies and Gentlemen. The coming of age of a young woman is a special time. A time of joy for all she has undertaken on her journey to womanhood. Her debutante ball, an announcement of her journey into the greater world. It is my privilege and great honor, to host this ball for one who is like another daughter to me. Sadly her mother cannot be here to celebrate this wonderful day. I know she would be so, so proud of all she has become.
Comes now Deirdre Ní Qin, born the First Princess of the Red Dragons, Queen of the White Dragon Queendom Vassal of Dargon, Queen of Wallachia of the Rhonel Empire, Marquise of Dargon who is entering her twentieth year. Escorting Queen Deirdre is our son Alexander Mac Matilde, Second Prince of the Dargon Realm. Whom we are pleased to announce was engaged to Queen Deirdre in June of this year. Betrothed to be wed at his graduation. Of course, the nature of young romance is a never ending mystery, and the flames of love burn hot. Just this past month, Deirdre and Alexander eloped and were married in a quiet ceremony in Shin Shirochi, and their bond consummated. So, we are pleased to announce that a formal wedding for the happy couple will take place at Yule and a Grand Bedding will be held on the Royal Parade Grounds, for the purpose of producing a possible heir for the future of the Dargon Realm!”
I smiled broadly, although I’m sure my eyebrows were twitching like lightning. I will not react. I will not react. I will not react!
“Mother! We…” I grabbed Alexander, and pulled him into a deep kiss.
Now is not the time, I privately mindspoke to Alex.
Then we made our way down the stairs, with the fakest smiles ever, plastered on our faces, to the applause of a very amused audience. Then the music began, and Alex, and I danced the first dance. After which the dance floor opened for everyone.
“Oh, my! What wonderful news! Congratulations! How exciting for you! I can’t wait for the Yule, and the union of your two Houses!” Marquise Morgana said.
“Thank you, ever so much, Marquise Morgana,” I said.
“The union of our two Houses, but that would require a child, my Queen,” Alexander said.
“Yes, precisely, my dear husband,” I said.
Then the Queen’s comment finally sunk in fully, and a true smile rose on his face. Then shock. Then fear. Then confusion. He looked at me.
We’ll talk later, my dear, I mindspoke. Then he smiled.
“Greetings and Salutations, your majesties. Congratulations on your birthday, Queen Deirdre. I am Ferdiad, First Prince of Terranon. It is my greatest honor to finally meet the famous White Queen. Your fame is renown throughout the Thirteen Realms and beyond. Your heroic feats are legend and your military prowess unrivaled. Word has it even a Hero has arisen to serve you. I would be honored if you would dance with me,” Prince Ferdiad said.
“It is an honor to meet you, Prince Ferdiad. I would be honored to dance with you,” I said.
So it begins.
“Is it true, your majesty, has a new hero risen? How powerful is he?” Ferdiad asked.
“The Hero, has always been a woman. I do not know if a hero has risen. It is true, my First Knight wields the Gáe Bulga, the Divine Spear. It was awoken from its long slumber in the arms of the last hero,” I said.
“I’m confused, though. The tale I’ve heard said you personally had retrieved the spear and fought in single battle against the Darklings for the right to keep the Divine Spear. The tale says you have wielded the spear. It is said that the true spear can only be wielded by the true hero. How can it be that two living people have wielded the spear? It is the True Spear? Or some glorified fake?” Ferdiad asked.
“It is true that I retrieved the spear from the hands of the last hero. That should be proof enough, it is the True Spear. While the spear has allowed my to retrieve and carry it. I have not wielded it in battle. Nor did it fully wake in my hands. It has now fully woken, but it has yet to be tried in battle. It is the True Spear. I have held it and sensed its immense power. The power of the Goddess of War lies within. I have never felt such power before. It was terrifying. I would have let it lie for eternity, had I not been commanded to retrieve it,” I said.
“You sound as if you are afraid of the Spear? Is it not a most wondrous weapon?” Ferdiad asked.
“It is undoubtedly the ultimate weapon. A weapon that has seen death, and brought death to countless lives. It remembers. It hungers. Its bloodlust is insatiable, perhaps. It is as a living thing. Having held it, I have seen its history. You cannot know the horror it shared with me. It is an utterly terrifying thing. I wish my knight had never held it, or woken it,” I said.
“Ah, but the glory of such battle!” Ferdiad said.
“Glory of battle? What glory is there in the wholesale death of armies? There is no glory in battle, only death,” I said.
“Well, thank you, my lady for this wonderful dance. Did you know that the men of Terranon, are trained from childhood, in all the arts of pleasing, and pleasuring women? Our realm seeks a union with your White Realm. I offer myself as a candidate for said union. I am very skilled in the art of pleasing females. You would never want for satisfaction with me, your majesty,” Ferdiad said.
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“Thank you, your majesty for this lovely dance. You are quite the capable dancer. I doubt not your skill in … other arts. We will consider your kind and generous offer,” I said, and we parted.
Only for the next wolf to descend upon me. Thus did my birthday party continue. On and on, my Debut went, far into the early morning hours. I had proposals from every realm, except those I was already paired with. Even the Demon Realm sent a prince. Granted he was seriously delicious looking, and hot. Literally, hot. He gave new meaning to hot-blooded. The Empress again sent her sons to offer themselves to me.
“Did we learn anything tonight?” Celes asked.
“Every realm wants to literally fuck me. Some of them want to fuck me ‘over and over and over’, until I can’t squirt anymore. Or move. All night long. And into the morning light. And every cliché indelicate, licentious, or indiscriminate interlude you can imagine. I even had numerous propositions to take a stroll in the gardens and satisfy my hunger under the starlight. A few offering me mating stimulants, certain to ensure fertility, along with their precious, valuable, and noble, or royal seed,” I said.
Celes laughed.
“Oh, yes, I can remember my own Debutante Ball. My delicate ears were totally unprepared for the, ahem, colorful language of young, and old, wannabe lovers,” Celes said.
“As for learning anything useful politically? No, not really. It was mostly me giving out useful information. While I gave out truthful information, I have no idea if they will take it as such. Time will tell, how they distort it. If they do,” I said.
“Find anything you liked?” Celes giggled.
“If I were in season, I might have jumped the Demon Prince on the dance floor. He’s seriously sexy,” I said.
“Really? I didn’t find him any sexier than any of the others,” Celes said.
“Pheromones. It was his scent, more than anything,” I said.
“Ah, chemistry. Your dragon is showing,” Celes said.
“So was his,” I said.
“Oh. You were checking them out like that were you?”
“It’s hard not to. Especially when they press it up against you. Everyone one of my dance partners found one opportunity, or more, to announce their readiness to please me, but the Demon Prince actually had his prodigious, erect, and throbbing organ out on display, as part of his wardrobe design,” I said.
“Oh, my Goddess! I totally missed that display! My, what a boring night I had. I need a good hard body to rub up against me,” Celes said.
“Oh, is the Virgin Ice Princess, finally melting? I know several suitable bodies for you to ruin,” I said.
“Virgin Ice Princess? That’s kind of mean,” Celes said.
“That’s what they call you, you know,” I said.
“They do not!” Celes said.
“They definitely do. Especially the guys,” I said.
“And you never thought to tell me?”
“You’re literally the best spy I know. How do you not already know this?”
“Fine. Point taken. You should have still told me.
It’s not like that you know. I’m not cold and icy to guys. I’m just uncomfortable and lack confidence,” Celes said.
“Much as I’d like to offer you help. I’m exhausted. Let’s continue this later. Maybe I’ll even hook you up with a few dates,” I said.
“Yes, I’d like that. Goodnight, Dee,” Celes said.
“Good morning, Celes,” I said, and laughed.
We all slept in, since it was the weekend. Monday morning came too quickly. We were relaxing Monday evening when we got a message from our operatives in Shin Shirochi.
“What does the missive say, Kiera?” I asked.
“Our field agents are detecting troop movements in Sinestelos. Forces are being deployed in strategic positions to attack our Southern border of the White Realm. We have transports and gates ready to go. They want to know whether to wait, or to attack,” Kiera said.
“Under no circumstance are we to attack. Defend and repel only,” I said.
“Why did we attack first in Crispenwell, but not our own territory?” Kanae asked.
“Crispenwell was special, we could claim we were reclaiming stolen land. That’s not the case here,” I said.
“So will we pursue them over the border?” Aoi asked.
“We will not pursue over the border,” I said.
“What if they attack again?” Kiera asked.
“Then we will wipe them out, and take over the country,” I said.
“Alright, but why? We went in and took over Wallachia when they first attacked. We went in and attacked Crispenwell before they even launched their offensive. Why are we being so different with Sinestelos?” Kanae asked.
“Well in the first instance, the new queen and likely her entire support structure were regicide participants, and such an evil and criminal element couldn’t be allowed to rule a country. Who knows what evil they would do with such vast power. Secondly, with Crispenwell, those lands were entirely stolen from Dargon eighty-three years ago, but then they attacked again, and we added just enough territory that they would have a hard time ever retaking those ill-gotten lands,” I began.
“However, Sinestelos, has not previously attacked Dargon, and while the Queen is an evil and vile person, she is not truly any worse than her mother was. It seems the entire ruling line there going back many generations has been of like discipline. If they attack us, we will fight them off. That should give them, and any others pause to attack us, or attack us again. It shows, we are not the aggressors they are trying to make us out to be. If they attack us again, it will show they are indeed the party at fault, and likely also show they have schemed with another country, and that even with an alliance, they cannot win,” I continued.
“Lastly, once Sinestelos is destroyed, only three nations remain with shared borders. One of them, Hrematia, has no land based forces capable of attacking us as most of their population live on the lush, rich volcanic islands off of their coast and live simple primitive and peaceful lives, and thus the remaining two will be very hesitant to join forces and attack, especially considering their vast gulf of political ideologies between Terranon and Prittoni. The Wildwomen of the frozen north of Svalbad won’t be attacking us, unless they attack port cities we may capture in the future. The forest folk of Caorthann in the North do not leave their sacred rowan forest, but defend it so ruthlessly, that none have been stupid enough to attack since Henry the Addlebrained over a thousand years ago. The Dwarves, in Khazarkan, are too busy selling arms to every side of any conflict to waste their time on war. They are profiteers who know the true value of war is to be in the business of making the weapons, and then live inside mazes in the mountains. Ha! Good luck attacking the Dwarven strongholds to conquer their nation. That leaves only the Venozians’ Rhonel Empire,” I concluded.
“You’ve really thought about all this, haven’t you? But what of the Elves and the Demons? Didn’t the Elves just have a war with humans recently?” Aoi asked.
“Yes, of course, but you know why the Elves and humans were at war. So there is nothing to worry about on that front, as the Elves are perfectly happy with the entire continent of Silmara. Especially considering the current Hero is an elf of noble birth. The demons are not the warmongering people that so many have assumed. They love to fight, but they only fight for the sport of it. Conquering lands means handling all the affairs of a nation, and they can’t be bothered with all that. That is why they raid ships and villages, to kidnap people. To make them civil servants. Now of course they don’t have that need with the independent cities of humans within the demon continent of Magijima. Those cities are filled with people, mostly human, who are attracted to demons. So Magijima is self-sustaining,” I said.
“Yeah, I can never wrap my head around all the politics of this world,” Darby said.
“Then, you are hoping that Sinestelos will attack, and that they’ve joined forces with Crispenwell, so that you can take out both of them in one blow, and pretty much ensure peace within the thirteen nations?”
“Partly. There is more to my hope than that. The Venozian Empire is still one piece that can alter the balance. Once Crispenwell falls, the Empire may attack. That is another thing the other nations are waiting on. I have an ace, I’m holding to play against the Empress to prevent that,” I said with my best evil mastermind face. Which only cracked everyone up.
“Well, interesting times are ahead then I guess,” Kanae said.
So, we monitored the movement and actions of Sinestelos, and also of Crispenwell. While there was no proof of conspiracy between the two nations, we were certain there was.
“My Queen, a message from Talshin,” from an agent of Kiera.
A coded message.Unusual cargo from Crispenwell arrived today. Ten large crates. The cargo, a battalion’s worth of suspended soldiers. Four more ships from Crispenwell waiting to unload. Port is being closed for three days to deal with a quarantined ship.“Crispenwell has sent at least a brigade of soldiers to Sinestelos, in the guise of cargo. Kiera, send a missive to Crispenwell to monitor closely the movements of the Knight Commanders and General Staff. They may be moving a Legion or more of forces in stealth.”
“Kanae, it’s time to erect the walls. Are your forces ready?”
“We are ready. I am unsure how to deal with the gap at the Shelobian Forest. It’s not safe to send any forces in there. But if a legion of forces is coming, they might very well force their way through that accursed forest, and chase a stampede of those damn monstrous spiders in front of them. That is not something I planned for,” Kanae said.
“Aoi, how are you doing with those mana shield wall artifacts?”
“I have had great success with them. I’m not sure if they will hold back a stampede of spider monsters,” Aoi said.
“What about combining the shield artifacts with electric field artifacts?”
“That’s brilliant! Then the walls themselves are weapons. We could do that with all our shields!” Aoi said.
“That might be a fortress too far. An electrically charged shield would be a double-edged sword, cutting down both sides. You’d want a normal shield blocking the charged shield, on the side our forces are,” I said.
“Oh right! Duh! Thanks! I’ll get right on that,” Aoi said.
“Just, uh, be careful not to electrocute yourself, or your team, in the process,” I said.
“Absolutely! I’ll be careful!” Aoi said, and she blinked away.
“She won’t be careful,” Rosie said.
“Darby, You might want to keep an eye on her, and take precautions,” I said.
“Right, Boss! I’m on it,” Darby said, and he blinked out right behind Aoi.
“Well, never a dull moment,” I said.
So we kicked in to high gear to prepare to defend against the oncoming war. So we sat, prepared, and waited. I hated my plan. I just wanted to go in and wipe them out. But that was my old undisciplined carefree instinct. I had too much to protect now, for my old instinctive survival mode life’s way of dealing with attacks and plots. I think I’ll spend the night cuddling with my children.
As I was laying cuddled with my children, a thought occurred to me. Oh, Great Goddess! That wicked Matilde! She was going to trick me somehow into getting Alexander to impregnate me, and I’d have a repeat of my last episode where my eggs and my inner growing child, or children, would speed up the incubation. I need a foolproof plan to outwit that witchy Queen. She acted so sweet and innocent on the outside, but there was a crafty, conniving, monster inside.