Casus Belli: Prelude to War

This is the first part of a fantasy story about a young Pryoness’ harsh road to a rather unusual love.

Cautionary (for series): harshness, non-consent, reluctant, violence, straight sex, inter species sex, anal sex.

Setting: Nigawa, planet Mundea (Galeon III), year 3647 (local).

Characters:

Pryoness Cassandra Abbadon, human female, 21 years old, heir to the Nigawan throne, female lead

Kang Nichos Abbadon III, human male, 53 years old, current ruler of Nigawa

Sir Brando Boruga, human male, 27 years old, Cassandra’s betrothed

Sir Tregan Mordian, Drak of Valdon, human male, 47 years old, commander Nigawan army

Sir Marvon Marecomb, human male, 46 years old, Nigawan general/diplomat

Burgon Magwick, human male, 62 years old, Nigawan foreign affairs

Burgon Goban, human male, 49 years old, Nigawan internal security

Sir Blooker, human male, 61 years old, head finance department

Sir Gatness, human male, 55 years old, head economy department

Captain Agnious, human male, 33 years old, commander of Bragstone castle

Sir Fidion, human male, 44 years old, Nigawan diplomat

Sir Korbanak, human male, 48 years old, Nigawan diplomat

Major Gadrian, human male, 36 years old, army interpreter

Denora, human female, 24 years old, Cassandra’s servant

Vala, human female, 22 years old, Cassandra’s servant

Syldan, human female, 19 years old, Cassandra’s servant

Leavy, human female, 21 years old, Cassandra’s servant

Moiga, human female, 23 years old, Cassandra’s servant

Polly, human female, 18 years old, Cassandra’s servant

Bashuk, male orc, 32 years old, Green Vale Orcs Warlord

 

Casus Belli 1: Prelude to War

 

 

The Border

 

It had been a beautiful spring day, but once the sun had disappeared behind the mountains the cold came rushing down into the Weeping Valley, shrouding everything in warmth-leeching mists. Robar shivered as the padded shirt he was wearing beneath his leather jerkin proved inadequate to keep out the chill. The Nigawan army wasn’t well equipped for the climate at the most northern edge of the country. That seemed an oversight, but it was really just a logical consequence of a border that hadn’t been threatened in centuries.

He looked up at the forbidding peaks of the Leviathans, the huge mountain range that separated Nigawa from the orcish lands to its north. The endless chain of jagged stone seemed to float in the sea of mist, the western faces glowing a menacing blood red in the last rays of the recently set sun. For over a dozen generations no tangible threat had emerged from them, leading to neglect of the country’s northern defenses as Nigawa’s other borders had faced the real threat of invasion from its human neighbors to the south on numerous occasions.

Early last summer that false feeling of security had come to a sudden and devastating end as an orcish army had descended from Baelok pass into the Weeping Valley without any warning, and from there swept through Nigawa’s northern shires, murdering and plundering, leaving nothing but death and devastation in its wake. It had taken many days for the news to reach the capital, and then it had taken many more days for the Nigawan army to march north to stop the orc rampage, by which time the invaders had already retreated to the north again.

The army had found nothing but dead and devastated people, and burned and looted towns and villages, and had thus set itself onto the orcish army’s trail, baying for blood. But the Leviathans had proven difficult and time consuming to cross, and the orcs had proven to be an elusive enemy. They had denied them battle, and just kept retreating north as fast as the Nigawans could advance. After having chased the orcish war-bands for days through the sparsely wooded lands to the north of the Leviathans the army’s commander had started to worry about exposed flanks in strange and unknown lands and had halted the pursuit.

With the offending orcs staying out of reach, the army had turned south again, back towards the mountains, and the Nigawan homeland. They hadn’t left without extracting revenge though. They had set an example by burning every orc settlement they found on their way, and killing everything that walked or crawled. After the army returned from its punitive expedition it had been hoped that the carnage inflicted on the orcs would prove to be enough payback to keep them from raiding Nigawa ever again. To make sure another surprise attack didn’t happen, if the orcs didn’t relent after all, they had started to rebuild and man Nigawa’s long neglected northern defenses.

The mist started to lift as darkness fell, slowly clearing the air towards the north of the valley and the densely wooded slopes leading up to Baelok pass. The night before yesterday a lone campfire had been lit near its entrance, resulting in excitement among the guards. Last night their number had grown to three, and excitement had been replaced by anxiety. The first thing he noticed were faint flickers of orange and red; Robar tried vainly to focus his eyes on them. A couple of minutes passed, then a soft breeze rushed past him, chilling him to the bone, before the fog cleared entirely for a moment.

Robar swallowed as his eyes registered the multitude of campfires, there were at least a dozen of them now. Then his ears picked up faint whispers that slowly increased in clarity. It took him a couple of seconds to realize what he was hearing; the faraway beat of drums, of orcish war-drums. “Oh fuck,” he whispered, then turned towards the soldier on guard next to him, “You better go get the captain Erim; he’ll want to see this himself.

 

Heir to the Throne

 

Filtered by sheer curtains, the light of a watery afternoon sun cast the interior of the large opulent bedchamber in soft light. Cassandra moaned, the sound muffled with her lips sealed to her lover’s as his hands caressed the creamy skin of her breast and the soft inside of her thigh. Her own hands slid down Brando’s belly, reached for his cock beneath the covers, and found him hard as steel. She cupped his balls with one hand while stroking him softly with the other. He returned the favor by dragging his fingers up her thigh and placing them on top of her pussy, before spreading her labia with the tips and softly caressing around her clit. She pushed her ample breasts against him, rubbing her pebbled nipples against his chiseled chest, then lifted her upper leg and draped it over his hip.

He accepted her unspoken invitation and his fingers slipped down between her wet folds, opening her before delving carefully inside her dripping pussy. He groaned loudly as she proved to him that she trusted him with her virginity. His fingers caressed her insides, taking care not to deflower her. She mewled as he stroked her hymen, then the fingers moved out, collecting her fluids and spreading them upwards between her labia. He coated her clit, then massaged the little hood out of the way and started to softly rub the hardened little button beneath it.

Cassandra lifted her lips from his and gasped loudly as pleasure surged through her belly, up to her breasts. “Oh Brando,” she moaned, “I want you so much.”

Her betrothed groaned loudly in response, his other hand sliding behind her back and pulling her close against him, “Less than three months until the fest,” he whispered into her ear.

She groaned frustrated, cursing tradition; a Nigawan Pryoness was bound to wed at the summer solstice fest. That on its own wouldn’t have been such a pain in the behind if it hadn’t been for that other tradition: like all Nigawan girls she was supposed to be a virgin on her wedding night. While the latter tradition wasn’t really adhered to anymore by the general population, it was within nobility, especially when the girl in question was a royal Pryoness destined for the throne. “Oh dang,” she moaned, “why couldn’t I have been born a farmer’s daughter, then you could just pluck my flower and fuck me senseless.”

Brando softly kissed her cheek while slowly strumming her clit, then his lips nibbled their way to the nape of her neck, then further down along her collarbone, to end up on top of a breast. His lips found a puckered nipple, and his tongue wetly lapped at it, while the fingers working her clit sped up. It sent pleasure up her spine and she felt the climax build rapidly inside her. She rolled onto her back trembling, lifting and spreading her thighs wantonly in the process. He followed her, then softly bit down on the tender nipple while his hand covered her mouth. The fingers of the other kept rubbing, while her fingers clamped down on the sheets. She arched as the wave crested, her screaming muffled as it washed over her, taking her sanity with it.

As she regained her faculties, Brando was leaning over her, his face hovering just inches above hers, and his fingers caressing her long blonde tresses. “I love you,” he breathed.

Cassandra groaned loud, reached up and crossed her hands behind his neck, then pulled his lips down on hers. They kissed deeply, their tongues twirling and dancing. She let go with one of her hands, used it to roll them over, ending up on top of him. Once she was straddling him she moved the hand down between them, and resumed stroking his now throbbing cock. He groaned into her mouth; she disengaged, gasping for breath as she slowly slid down his body beneath the covers. She submerged into a heavy smell of sex, moving the hand wrapped around his cock down to pull him taut, then her eager tongue found his bulbous head and she tasted sex too.

She opened wide and her lover trembled and whimpered as she took him inside the warm wet cavity of her mouth. She swirled her tongue around him and started to suck softly, moaning loudly as his pre-cum spread until it covered everything. She slowly took him deeper until her lips met the hand wrapped around him, resting on his base, then she started to slowly bob up and down on him. His hands closed on her head, caressing her softly while she fellated him. Soon his breathing became labored and she could feel his cock starting to swell.

“I’m going to cum,” he groaned.

She pulled back, let him slip from between her lips, then started to stroke him, moving her other hand to his balls and cupping them gently. She got up on her knees, shrugging the covers back, welcoming the coolness of the air on her sweaty skin. Her hand sped up, and his groaning became louder as a result. Then his hips bucked and she could feel his balls jolt in her hand as he came. She watched in fascination as his sperm jetted out of the small hole in the head, to splatter all over his flat stomach and chiseled chest. Closing her hand on his jolting balls every time he ejaculated audibly increased his pleasure. He jetted half a dozen times, covering his entire torso in a web of glistening threads.

He sank back on the mattress, small amounts of semen still welling up from the head with the rhythm of her administrations. He relaxed and she could feel him start to soften in her hand. She let go of his cock and slid the tips of her fingers through the mess he made, then she lifted them slowly and studied the resulting stretching strands of semen. Soon he would be pumping his seed inside her fertile belly, and then a child would start to grow inside her womb. One of his hands came up and gently cradled her face. Their eyes locked and she realized he knew what she was thinking about.

His other hand found her waist and he slowly pulled her down towards him, and then their lips met once again. They kissed deeply for what felt like an eternity; when he finally disengaged she snuggled up against him, and moaned softly as he pulled the covers back over them. They lay basking in each other’s love for what felt like an eternity, until soft knocking on the bedchamber doors drew her attention. She smiled at Brando and he dropped beneath the covers, once he was out of sight she sat up, careful to cover herself, “Yes?”

The door opened slightly and the head of Denora, one of her maidens, appeared from behind it. “Your father sends word that the council will gather in an emergency meeting just short of an hour from now, milady.”

Cassandra frowned, then nodded slowly, “Just give me ten minutes Denora.”

The pretty brunette nodded back, “As you wish, milady.”

She watched Denora’s head disappear, and then the door closed softly again. Brando came up from beneath the covers, looking at her questioningly, “An emergency meeting? What’s that going to be about?”

She shrugged, “I haven’t a clue, but it doesn’t sound good.”

 

***

 

After smuggling Brando out of her chambers, three of her six chamber maidens accompanied her to the bathroom for a thorough cleansing, and then escorted her back to her bedchamber to get her dressed. She chose a stylish, short-sleeved burgundy-red dress that hugged her body down to her hips and then fanned out all the way down to her calves. With her dress laced up Vala and Leavy moved her over to the stool in front of the dressing table, and started doing her face and hair and putting on her jewelry. She decided to keep that stylish and simple too, going for very light make-up, a pony tail, and a simple, yet beautiful necklace.

She looked amazing in the mirror, her flawless light creamy skin flattered by the dark red of the dress, and her sparkling eyes by the matching blue-gray gemstones of her necklace. It was a style Cassandra loved: clean aesthetics, free from too much distracting clutter. She got up after the two girls moved back a bit, turning and smiling at them, “Thanks for a job well done!”

Vala and Leavy giggled, “We could have put a potato sack on you, and rubbed your face in mud, and you would still have looked beautiful milady,” the latter remarked, with the former nodding her agreement.

Cassandra cast a glance at the wall mounted chronometer, “Time to go ladies, we mustn’t make my father wait.” She moved out of the bedchamber, through her chambers’ entry hall, and stepped out into the hallway past the two burly soldiers guarding the entrance. Both men saluted as she headed towards the east side of the keep and the spiral staircase to her father’s conference chambers one floor below. Vala and Leavy stepped out into the hallway behind her, then moved up to her sides and escorted her down it. Their footsteps sounded hollow on the smooth tiled flooring, and more guards saluted her as she passed them, but she heard and saw nothing, her mind busy.

By tradition the Kang’s oldest son was destined to become his successor, and it was thus the oldest son that normally got groomed to rule. But Cassandra had been the Kang’s first born, and with her mother dying when she was still very young she had remained an only child. So her education had been far from what was normal for a young noble girl; no embroidery and learning how to play the harp for Pryoness Cassandra: economics, diplomacy, strategy, and some martial arts, had been her subjects of study. That was also why she was now on her way to her father’s conference chambers; to experience the practice of ruling Nigawa.

The guards outside the conference chambers stepped aside respectfully to allow her and her servants entrance to the conference chamber’s ante-room. The ante-room was equipped with ample seating and she instructed Vala and Leavy to sit themselves down and wait for her return. When she entered the conference room itself her father greeted her warmly, and rather informally, as usual. “Hello sweetheart, you’re the last to arrive, so please seat yourself so we can start the meeting.”

After sitting down at the large rectangular table next to her father she greeted the other attendees, starting with Sir Mordian, the Drak of Valdon, who was sitting at her father’s right hand. Sir Mordian was the Nigawan armies’ Commander-in-Chief. Next to him sat Brando, her betrothed, and the Drak’s nephew. Brando had been promoted as the Drak’s second in command after he became engaged to her, to prepare him for his future role as Kangess’ consort. Seated next to Brando was General Marecomb, the Drak’s chief of staff, who also often doubled as a diplomatic envoy.

The other four council members attending were civilian advisors. The Burgons Magwick and Goban seated to her left were responsible for foreign affairs and internal security respectively. Also present were sir Blooker and sir Gatness, responsible for finance and economy respectively. There were many council members missing, but that wasn’t unusual for an emergency meeting. After the usual pleasantries were exchanged her father opened the meeting. “A good hour ago a courier arrived with a message from the commander of Bragstone, the castle watching over the Weeping Valley, and Baelok pass. It wasn’t good news I’m afraid,” he announced.

That sure got everyone’s attention, and she watched faces drop, “Four days ago, after dark, a lone campfire was lit at the base of the pass, the next night there were three of them, and the night after that over a dozen were observed; the unmistakable sound of orc war-drums was also heard. That’s when Captain Agnious, the castle’s commander, decided to raise the alarm, after which it took his courier one and a half days of hard riding to reach Iriskan and deliver his message to me.”

The Drak was the first one to react, “So they’re back…the deterrence didn’t work,” a hint of disappointment in his voice.

Marecomb shrugged, “After a good beating they either cower down or come back for more, you never know for sure with savages.”

The Drak frowned, then addressed her father, “Did the message include information on the orcish army’s strength?”

Her father shook his head, “Our army’s engineers managed to partly block Baelok pass when they withdrew through it last summer, so it’ll take time to move an army across the Leviathans. Captain Agnious suspects that they might continue building up their strength further for days, if not weeks.”

The Drak nodded, “That’s to be expected. I’ll gather the army and move it north as soon as possible.”

Marecomb agreed with him, “Yes, and we should also get a diplomatic envoy to Bragstone as soon as possible, to find out what these orcs are up to.”

Burgon Magwick chuckled at that, “They’re orcs, I think it’s pretty clear what they’re up to…”

Sir Blooker chimed in next, “War is expensive, both in men and in money. Maybe we can buy them off somehow…”

The Kang shook his head, “Even if we could buy them off somehow, they would only be back for more next year. That’s how blackmail works.”

The Drak frowned, then shook his head, “Not as a permanent solution, no, but it could buy us a year my Kang… As things are the defenses in the north are still weak. We have started rebuilding all the local castles and strong-points, but after centuries of neglect… That year would buy us the time to get the defenses in order, and as we’re aware of the danger now, adequate forces will be in place too by the time they come knocking at our door again. Next year we will be in a position to beat them off with minimal losses.”

There was a lot of nodding around the table, and the discussion shifted to the, rather boring, financial side of the affair. Once the available funding had been determined the discussion shifted again, towards the composition of the small delegation that would be send to Bragstone this time. It was the Kang who decided that Marecomb was going to head the delegation, and that he was going to be accompanied by two diplomats and an interpreter. That’s when Cassandra decided to chime in, “I want to go with them father.”

The Kang frowned at her, “That’s out of the question sweetheart, it’s way too dangerous for a young woman.”

Brando’s eyes had grown big after her statement, and now he nodded in agreement, “Your father is right my love.”

Her eyes locked with his. She was torn, feeling happy about his desire to keep her safe, and feeling sad at his desire to restrict her freedom at the same time. She moved her gaze to her father and shook her head, “How am I supposed to learn about diplomacy, and about the dangers of the world, if you keep me in a golden cage? Do you want a sheltered girl as your heir? How am I supposed to rule Nigawa after you are gone? You can send an entire battalion as my escort; if that’s not safe nothing ever will be.”

The Kang looked down, clearly thinking, then slowly looked up again and locked eyes with her. “Alright, I get your point. You can go.” She almost jumped, he grinned, “But General Marecomb leads the delegation…, and you’ll listen to him. No adventures. Is that clear?” She swallowed, then nodded slowly. He shook his head, “I need to hear you say it…”

She grinned, “Yes daddy, I’ll do as General Marecomb says, I promise.”

With that the meeting was concluded, and she said her goodbyes to Brando, who was going to leave with the Drak immediately, to lead the army up north. He pulled her close and kissed her passionately, “You stay safe you hear,” he said, “I have plans with you.”

She smiled at him lovingly, “You take care too, don’t make me a widow before I’ve even married you.”

After Brando and the Drak had left, her father ordered the courier back to Bragstone, to inform the castle’s commander that a diplomatic mission would be coming his way soon, and to instruct him to try and arrange a parley with the leader of the gathering orc army. After the courier left they discussed the exact composition of the delegation. The civilian counselors putting forward Sir Korbanak and Sir Fidion, two diplomats all of them held in high regard. Marecomb recommended a Major Gadrian, who apparently was fluent in the orcish language, as an interpreter.

Next it was decided that Cassandra would be allowed to take two of her maidens with her at most, mainly because it would be hard to arrange sleeping accommodation for more than half a dozen people on the route they would have to take. With that, the meeting was wrapped up. She walked back to her chambers deep in thought, then gathered and informed her maidens about the upcoming voyage. That led to some commotion, with all the girls eager to accompany her. In the end she decided to take Moiga and Polly with her. This would leave Denora, her most senior maiden, at home and in charge of her remaining three maidens.

They spent the remainder of the day packing and preparing, with everyone turning in early, because the delegation would be departing at sunrise. Unfortunately though, she proved much too excited to sleep well, and spent most of the night tossing and turning in her large bed. After a very early breakfast the delegation assembled in the courtyard, where three unmarked coaches were waiting for them. After saying her goodbyes to her father she and her maidens climbed inside one of them while the two military men and the two diplomats climbed into the other two. And then they waited for all the luggage to be loaded, which took about ten minutes.

The coach with Marecomb and Gadrian led the small convoy leaving the castle, with her own coach following behind it and the coach with the two diplomats bringing up the rear. Once outside the castle gates a company of Royal Guards on horseback joined and started escorting them. They crossed the Amunda River that split Iriskan in two and once they left the city’s northern gate behind, two more cavalry companies joined them, including a number of supply carriages that inserted themselves behind the coaches. And then the voyage north truly began.

 

On the Road

 

The first part of the journey led them through the Amunda plain, the flat land created by the meandering river through the eons, and largely covered in blooming orchards. Carpets of pink, yellow, orange and blue, for as far as the eye could see, and all the flowery perfumes that go with it. One of the escorting companies of elite soldiers was leading the small convoy while another had positioned itself as rear guard while the third was scouting the road ahead for trouble.

After an hour or two the cobbled road led into the wooded hills of Beldaine forest, which was a new experience for Polly who had never ventured far beyond the walls of Iriskan before. The explosion of color of the orchards was replaced by endless shades of green, and the flowery smells were replaced by the smells of earth and greenery, with a slight hint of decay. It took them an hour or two to reach the town of Everglade and then a further two hours to get past the hills, at which point the land became open and flat again, though this time primarily filled with fields and meadows.

As soon as they left the forest behind them they made their first real stop for the day. By this time everyone was happy to be able to stretch their legs a bit, within the perimeter set out by the soldiers. Within half an hour or so the cooks served lunch from the back of one of the wagons. It was simple food, but rather welcome nevertheless. By the time they had finished eating one of the companies mounted up again, and headed out to scout the road ahead. After they left everyone else started climbing inside the coaches and mounting horses again too, and some ten minutes later they were on their way again.

Some six hours and a short break later the sun started to set, and the convoy stopped for the night at a cozy looking Inn. The soldiers immediately started setting up camp around it while Sir Marecomb led the delegation inside ‘The Tasty Boar’ to arrange for food and sleeping accommodation. As it turned out there were five rooms available, and with Major Gadrian volunteering to sleep with the soldiers outside, and Moiga and Polly sharing, this was just enough for the delegation.

After inspecting their rooms, and refreshing themselves a bit, they gathered in the large common room for dinner. The food turned out to be simple but excellent, the boar indeed proving tasty. It was also the first time Cassandra had had the opportunity to get to know a little about the new faces in the delegation. The major turned out to be a jovial and funny character, a sharp contrast with the ever overbearing and dull General Marecomb. The two diplomats proved not to her taste though; Sir Fidion was rather obnoxious to talk with and while Sir Korbanak behaved very amicably, the way in which his little piggy eyes followed anything in a skirt made her skin creep.

After dinner she really wanted to retreat to her room, but Major Gadrian had offered them all a drink, and she hadn’t wanted to turn the friendly man down. But after finishing her glass of red wine she told them she was tired and excused herself, and so did Moiga and Polly, to the clear disappointment of the men around the table. The girls followed her up to her room, and after talking a bit about everything that had happened that day assisted her with getting ready for bed.

Cassandra wasn’t used to sleeping outside the protective walls of a castle, with the luxury such a castle usually provided, but the mattress wasn’t bad, the sheets were clean, and the soldiers standing guard in the hallway outside as well as around the Inn made her feel safe enough. Soon tiredness and the effects of the wine she drank during and after dinner negated the soft murmur originating from the common room below and sleep claimed her. The young Pryoness slept well that night, so when Moiga and Polly came to wake her at sunrise she was well rested.

The same didn’t go for her two maidens though, who appeared tired and skittish. She first blamed it on the strange sleeping quarters and the wine, and thought breakfast might improve their condition, but it didn’t. So once they were on their way again, and with their interest for their surroundings of the day before being replaced by disinterest and dreariness, she decided to find out what ailed them. “What’s the matter with the two of you? You were so happy yesterday!”

She noticed Polly glancing at Moiga, who looked back at her in warning, before answering, “I guess the food didn’t agree with us, milady.”

Polly looked down, and Cassandra decided to have none of it, so she addressed her, “Well, Polly, are you going to tell me what’s really the matter?”

Polly shifted uneasily, then she spoke up, with Moiga looking daggers at her, “Last night, about half an hour after we all went to bed, Sir Marecomb came by our room. He ordered Moiga to go with him…”

Cassandra’s eyes darted back to Moiga, who looked down, evading her eyes. She noticed the girl’s eyes moistening, and her heart fell, “What happened Moiga? What did Marecomb make you do?”

The pretty brunette whimpered softly, “I had to go to bed with him.”

She felt it coming, but it still hit her like a ton of bricks. She swallowed, “But why…, how…”

Moiga whimpered again, “He’s a powerful man milady, you don’t want to upset someone like him.”

She didn’t really understand, “You’re one of my maidens Moiga, he has no power over you.”

The girl looked up, her cheeks wet, “I have family milady, and they don’t work for the Pryoness…”

She slowly shook her head, “He wouldn’t… would he?”

Both girls nodded in confirmation, Cassandra swallowed hard, “I…, I never knew. How common is this vile practice?”

Moiga wiped her face, then shrugged, “As your maidens we have our rooms inside your chambers, which places us out of reach of men like Marecomb, but in general, if you are a resident servant at the castle, and if you’re young and pretty, you won’t remain a virgin for too long. There are always a lot of powerful men at the castle…”

Polly whimpered too, she looked at her, “He’ll be back tonight,” the petite blonde whispered, “Order Moiga to sleep with Sir Korbanak. I saw it in that pig’s face during breakfast. And then Marecomb will order me to come and sleep with him himself.” A loud sob escaped the girl, “And I’m still a virgin.”

She felt rage now, “I’m going to stop this! First here, and later at the castle.” Then another thought arose, “My father, is he involved in this too?”

Moiga shook her head, “No, he isn’t, your father is a fine man. But please, say nothing. Marecomb will know it came from me, and my family will suffer.”

She frowned, “I’ll take care to not make it look that way. And should he try to take it out on your family anyway, I promise I will protect them.” It seemed to calm both girls, she swallowed as another thought occurred and she felt her face redden, “Brando…, did he ever…”

Both girls reached out and locked eyes with her simultaneously, then Moiga spoke up, “No milady, not as far as I know…”

Polly nodded her agreement, and a relieved sigh escaped her. Then she looked at Moiga again, “Do I need to arrange for some Korkumun tea for you?”

The brunette shook her head, “No, there’s no need for that.”

She frowned, “Aren’t you worried about getting with child?”

Moiga blushed, “Marecomb didn’t…, he took his pleasure in my backside…” Tears started running down her face again, “I had never… It was my first time that way… It hurt.”

She watched Polly snuggle up to Moiga, hug the softly crying girl close, and barely managed to keep herself from following her example. As a Pryoness she was supposed to keep a certain distance from her servants; it had never felt as difficult before as it did now. She reached out and placed her hand on Moiga’s knee, “I can’t undo what has been done, but I promise you it will never happen again.”

Moiga looked up at her, “Thank you for your kindness milady, I’ll never forget it.”

 

***

 

They sat silently for a while, concentrating on the ever changing views from the windows of the coach. They were traveling through farmland again, alternated with some woods now and then. When they passed a small farm next to the road they were treated to the scene of a mud covered man trying to catch a pig inside a corral without success. When he went down face first in the mud the three of them couldn’t help but burst into laughter. From that point on they tried to keep their spirits up again, and it worked to some degree, but the carefree feeling of the day before didn’t return.

Shortly after noon the convoy stopped for lunch-break again, just like it had the day before. After dismounting she walked around the coaches again, together with her maidens, stretching her legs. When the signal that food was ready sounded she led her small group to the carriage with the inbuilt kitchen, where they were provided with a bowl of soup and some bread. Once they had sat down on a spot with soft grass the other members of the delegation sat themselves down close to them.

Marecomb looked at her, “You seem subdued Pryoness, did breakfast not agree with you?”

She looked back at him, and seized the opportunity, “No, breakfast was fine. But I didn’t sleep well, and I missed being able to summon my maidens without getting out of bed, and out of my room.” She sipped a spoon of soup, and took a bite of bread, slowly munching it down, “I think I’ll have my maidens sleep inside my room tonight, to keep them at hand.”

His face showed nothing, but she almost felt his suspicion. “There won’t be rooms with more than one bed, so where would they sleep?” he said, sounding slightly annoyed.

She shrugged, “They are just servants, sleeping on the floor for a night will do them no harm.”

Both Moiga and Polly only showed interest in their chunk of bread and their half empty bowls of soup, their faces giving away nothing. She barely managed to keep a straight face herself too.

Marecomb shrugged, his face expressionless, but there was still that slight hint of annoyance in his voice, “It is, of course, your choice your highness, and it saves us the rent for a room, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you change your mind when your maidens’ mood turns sour.”

She noticed Korbanak’s face drop when she told Marecomb the girls would be sleeping in her room, which proved Polly right. It made her feel good, and it also strengthened her intention to put an end to such practices once they returned to Bromodin castle. She was the heir to the throne after all, and she wasn’t going to stand for such vile things occurring inside her home. After they finished lunch, and got on their way again, she addressed Moiga, “Should Marecomb try something against your family, you tell me. If he does I’ll take it up with my father, and see him buried.”

That afternoon they passed through Windagon, a small walled city on the river Rodian, a tributary of the Amunda. They made a short stop, to take on water and supplies, and then they crossed the river and resumed following the road further north. Soon the terrain became slightly hilly, and more wooded, and it stayed that way for the remainder of the day. Shortly before nightfall they stopped at what had first looked like a small walled village located at the top of a large barren hill maybe half a mile from the main road. Only after entering through the gate did they discover a large Inn was the only building inside the walls.

The Inn was named ‘Shandra’s Haven’, and the open space inside the walls was large enough for the three cavalry companies escorting them to put up their bivouacs. Shandra, the Inn’s keeper was a middle aged tall and muscular woman who clearly ran a tight ship. The rooms were clean and well furnished, and the food might not have been on par with what she was used to but it was excellent nevertheless. What had also been excellent had been the wine, but it still hadn’t kept her from turning in early. The faces Marecomb and Korbanak pulled when she took Moiga and Polly upstairs with her were priceless.

Once arrived at their room Moiga and Polly helped her prepare for bed, and once she was tucked in beneath the covers the two girls started looking around the floor for a place to sleep. She let them for a moment, watching amused as they discussed which floor mat was going to be used by whom. After a minute or so she addressed them, “Do you really think I’m going to let the two of you sleep on the floor?” They looked back at her confused, and she patted the bed on both sides next to her. “Let’s just forget about ranks for tonight, shall we?” Watching their eyes grow big was amusing too, she winked at them, “Come on, I’m not going to rat on my maidens…”

Polly was the first to overcome her doubts, and slide beneath the covers besides her, but Moiga wasn’t far behind. The bed was easily big enough for three slender girls, but that didn’t prevent Polly from snuggling up to her once the lamps were out. She hadn’t expected it, and reacted surprised, “Polly? What are you doing?”

The accusing reply came immediately, “But you said we should forget about ranks for tonight!”

She couldn’t help chuckling, and then Moiga snuggled up to her too. It felt wrong for a moment, she wasn’t supposed to be this informal with her servants, but at the same time it felt good. The warmth of their bodies felt pleasant against her, and the court was far far away anyway. So she just turned on her right side, her favorite sleeping position, facing Polly, who turned too in response, backing up against her. And then she felt Moiga snuggling up closer too, spooning her from behind like she herself was spooning Polly. Sleep came quickly that way.

 

***

 

Casandra woke when the body pressed against her back moved, it was an unfamiliar feeling because Brando had never spend the night before, and she had never woken up with him. She slowly opened her eyes, to discover Polly’s angelic face only a hand’s wide in front of her. She started, and Moiga chuckled softly behind her, “Wakey-wakey milady.”

Polly opened one eye, and locked it onto her, “Oooh, must we get up already?”

She grinned at her, “Yes, unless you won’t mind missing breakfast of course…”

The petite blonde’s eyes flew open at that, “I smell bacon and eggs!”

She sniffed, and indeed, the smell was there, “You have a good nose Polly!”

They got up quickly, washed up at the simple basin, then got themselves dressed and headed down to the common room. When they entered they were welcomed by Major Gadrian who was already sitting at one of the many set tables. She sat herself down next to him, with Moiga and Polly taking the seats next to hers, and the four of them chatted a bit. The Major had been abroad quite often and they all hung on his words as he told them about his adventures in foreign lands. It was a bit of a disappointment when the rest of the delegation arrived not that much later, cutting the Major’s interesting tales short.

With the delegation complete breakfast was served, and it turned out that bacon and eggs were just a small part of it. There were also sausages, and baked beans, and potatoes, and mushrooms, and thick slices of fresh bread. She discretely observed the others while eating, noticing the sour looks Marecomb and Korbanak were giving Moiga and Polly with glee. And she also noticed the much more discrete looks the Major was giving the latter, which managed to put a small smile on her face. Polly was a lovely girl, and she didn’t think the Major was looking at her for just a night’s pleasure.

Soon they were on the road again, heading up into the now quickly steepening hills, with the light and medium greens of the loaf trees that had dominated the woods up to now being replaced by the dark green of needle trees. And with the needle trees came the soft delicious smell of resin. Moiga was in good spirits, and repeatedly looked at Polly, smiling. “You noticed it too…” Cassandra said to her.

Moiga smiled, “I already noticed yesterday, but this morning it was even more obvious.”

Polly looked at the both of them questioningly, “What are you talking about? Did I miss something?”

Moiga smiled at her, “Nothing important, just that someone has an eye for you.” Polly blanched, and Moiga chuckled, “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure the major isn’t going to force you into anything.”

Polly blushed, “The major? But he’s old enough to be my father!”

She watched Moiga shake her head before answering, “He’s also rather well off, and he isn’t a noble, so it wouldn’t be too far below his standing to marry a servant girl…”

She decided to chime in, “Moiga’s right, and you aren’t just a servant girl Polly, you’re a maiden to the future Kangess.” She swallowed, “I have been lucky that Brando happens to be a noble of good standing, and that my father didn’t feel the need to use my hand in marriage for diplomatic gains. I could easily have ended up being given away to some Loras or, god forbid, Mercandon noble, old enough to be my grandfather.” She watched two pairs of eyebrows rise in front of her. “Yes, being a royal Pryoness can have drawbacks too,” she grinned.

With that the discussion turned to the major’s actual age, and the advantages of marrying a man of considerable means, for a while. She informed her fellow travelers that, if memory served her well, the major was thirty six years of age. Which they all agreed upon was still ‘acceptable’ in the right circumstances. Polly looked uncertain, “But why would he be interested in me?” It got her two pairs of rising eyebrows, and she cupped her small breasts in response, “My chest is way too small to be attractive…”

Cassandra chuckled, “You have the face of an angel, and your breasts are perfect for that small and slender frame of yours. You’re what men call ‘a hot piece of ass’ when they think there are no women around to overhear them.”

Polly blushed, and Moiga nodded her agreement, “Not all men prefer large breasts Polly, there are many who prefer to have just a handful. The major has good taste, you’re gorgeous.”

Cassandra nodded, “I didn’t select my maidens based on looks Polly, but the people doing the pre-selections surely saw good looks as a basic requirement. You’re gorgeous indeed, all of my maidens are.”

Her remark resulted in a slightly uneasy silence descending for a while, until a surprised gasp from Polly drew their attention. Following her eyes, they both gasped too. The coach was just clearing the saddle between two hills, granting them a first look at the majestic ochre flanks and snow-capped peaks of the Leviathans as they emerged out of the morning haze. It was a rich ochre which flared with brilliant oranges in the rays of the rising sun. It was also a color they were well familiar with, as it was the color of Brag, the smaller of Mundea’s two moons.

The three of them took in the sight in awe, until the coach descended into the next valley, blocking the mountains from view again. She soon realized the descents were getting shorter and the ascents longer, indicating the hills were starting to rise up to the foot of the mountains. What she also noticed was a slow drop in temperature as the road reached higher altitudes, and a thickening of the coniferous forest surrounding it. The scenery took all their attention now, with the prime attraction being the views of the snow-capped ochre mountains rising from the lush deep green carpet at their feet.

It was close to noon when Moiga suddenly pointed at something she saw, “Look, there’s a castle there!”

Cassandra leaned forward, following Moiga’s finger, and got her first look at their destination. “That’s Bragstone castle,” she exclaimed, recognizing the building from an old illustration she had seen of it, “We’re almost there!” It took another half an hour, and a rather steep climb, before their coach finally rolled through the castle gate, and came to a stop in the courtyard. Dismounting from the coach they were welcomed by the castle’s commander, Captain Agnious. Looking around she saw that the castle was still in the process of being rebuilt.

The most obvious deficiency was with the keep’s huge central tower, which had half collapsed, and hadn’t been rebuilt yet. A very high wooden watchtower had been built against it, no doubt to serve as a temporary replacement. Next to the ruined tower was the castle’s central keep, which in contrast to the tower looked fully restored. That was to be expected of course, winters were harsh at the foot of the Leviathans, and the first priority of the castle’s defenders would have been warm and dry accommodation.

After the entire delegation had dismounted the captain led them inside the central keep while servants appeared to handle their luggage. Once inside he took them up the stairs personally, to show them to their rooms. Unlike the inns where they had slept the previous nights, the large rooms at the top floor of the central keep had been designed with noble guests in mind. They came with adjoining rooms for servants. She almost felt sorry that Moiga and Polly would not have to share her bed again; the experience had proven nicely warm and cozy after all. It had also helped her with not missing Brando so much.

It took a while for all their luggage to be hauled up to the top floor, after which Captain Agnious invited them to join him for lunch in half an hour. They used the time to freshen up, and then took the stairs down to the keep’s main hall, where they found a table set for them. Once lunch was served the captain brought them up to speed with developments on the gathering orcish army. He told them that it had increased in strength dramatically, and that there were still no signs of its buildup nearing completion.

After that had sunk in, the captain told them he had some good news too; he had contacted the orcs as instructed, and had succeeded into getting their leader to agree to a parley. This announcement was received with enthusiasm, because one of the main concerns had been that the orcs might not be willing to talk at all.

After the captain was finished Marecomb took the floor, “We’ll have to make him commit to talks as soon as possible, to keep him from attacking. And it’s also in our interest to keep him talking for as long as possible, to give the army more time to move up north and properly deploy.” He frowned, locked eyes with Captain Agnious, “Have you already discussed a time and location?”

The captain nodded, then smiled, “Believe it or not, but he agreed to meet here, at Bragstone, at our earliest convenience.” He looked to the side, at the large wall mounted chronometer, “It’s almost one now, and a messenger would need about an hour to get to their main camp, so I could probably get him to agree to be here for a parley at four o’clock or so…”

Marecomb sat back stunned, “So he expects us to respect a flag of truce. How remarkable, for an orc.” He frowned, “And he sure doesn’t lack confidence either.” He thought for a moment, his eyes focusing on infinity, then they locked with the captain’s again, “Alright, set it up, the sooner the better, and that still gives us plenty of time to prepare. But don’t agree to him bringing a large retinue with him.”

Captain Agnious chuckled, “Of course, I’m no fool…” Then he rose and left, to instruct the small party of men that had contacted the orcs the day before, and send them on their way.

They finished their rather excellent lunch in high spirits, with Marecomb telling everybody how they were either going to convince the orcs to go home, or stall them long enough for the Nigawan army to get into position. Casandra listened in silence, wondering if it would all turn out to be as easy as Marecomb said it would be. She had never doubted the man’s capabilities before, but neither had she doubted his decency, up to recently.

While sitting at the table, and on returning to their chambers, she had kept quiet about her doubts, but once they were in the privacy of her room she vented to her maidens. The girls couldn’t really help her with advice, but it felt good talking to someone about it anyway. After she got it off her chest she decided to take a rest, to make sure she would be fit for the coming talks. Her father might have instructed her to do Marecomb’s bidding, and do nothing but observe the talks, but she sure wasn’t going to just stand by if things got out of hand.

 

The Ultimatum

 

Cassandra rested for about an hour, and then got herself dressed for the coming parley. She chose a simple but elegant dress as usual, this time in a deep emerald green, which she combined with a matching necklace and bracelets, made from silver and clear deep golden amber. Once clothed her maidens took care of her hair, just giving it a good brush. By the time they were finished it was close to three, the earliest time the group that went to contact the orcs was expected back, and thus the time the delegation members had agreed upon to gather in the keep’s main hall again.

When she entered the main hall she found it emptied of all furniture except for a single massive rectangular table. On one side there was a row of five chairs facing the main entrance; four of them were already occupied by the other delegation members. General Marecomb was sitting in the center, with Major Gadrian, the interpreter, at his right hand. Both men were in full dress uniform, the familiar green on gray of the Nigawan army, in Marecomb’s case decorated with more medals then you could shake a stick at.

The two diplomats were sitting at both ends, primarily dressed in dark blue. To her relief she found Sir Korbanak was sitting beside the major, leaving her a place between Marecomb and Sir Fidion. Walking over towards the table she noticed the heavy bench positioned at the other side of the table, a furniture choice she found curious to say the least. Was Marecomb aiming to humiliate the orcs even before the negotiations started?

There was also a protective detail standing in front of the wall some six yards behind where the delegation was sitting. It consisted of a dozen Royal Guards, all men with familiar faces as they were the same ones that normally guarded her quarters. She had already recognized them during their stay at the first inn. Her father had provided her with protection he knew would take her commands over Marecomb’s… When she arrived at the table it was Major Gadrian who got up and pulled out her chair for her.

Once seated she thanked Gadrian and then addressed Marecomb, “No chairs for the orcs, general?”

Marecomb shrugged, “Their leaders are huge, and we simply have no chairs that would be safe for them to sit on. Better offer them a bench that can take their weight than risk them falling through their seats…”

She hadn’t thought of that, and concluded he was right, “I see, good thinking, general…”

Marecomb nodded and she leaned forward to pick up one of the clear crystal carafes with water positioned near the center of the table in front of her. She filled her glass and took a sip, then put it back down on the table in front of her. Movement drew her eyes and looking up she watched the large entrance doors in the opposite wall swing open. Captain Agnious strode inside with three slightly weary looking men in tow. He stopped in front of the table and locked eyes with Marecomb, “The orcs have agreed. Bashuk, their warlord, will be here within the hour. He will be accompanied by two of his chieftains, and the six males of his personal guard.”

Marecomb nodded, then focused his attention on the leader of the three men who had just come back from the orc camp. “Did they blindfold you when they led you to that warlord of theirs lieutenant?” The man shook his head, and Marecomb continued, “Can you give me an estimate of their current strength?”

The lieutenant nodded, “Yes sir. I estimate they have about seven to eight thousand warriors assembled at the moment. But they are still building up, there was still a continuous stream of warriors emerging from Baelok pass.” He hesitated for a moment, then continued, “Don’t underestimate their leader, general, he’s far more intelligent than his heritage would suggest…” Marecomb looked at him questioningly, and the lieutenant cleared his throat, “It’s the way in which they are deployed, and the way everything is organized in their camp. This very definitely isn’t the undisciplined mob that history would lead us to expect, sir.”

Marecomb nodded slowly, “I see, thank you for sharing your insights lieutenant. You and your men are dismissed.”

The three men saluted, then turned and marched out of the main hall, leaving Captain Agnious behind. The captain seemed in thought for a moment, then looked up and addressed Marecomb, “When you and your delegation are busy dealing with that warlord I’m going to keep an eye on the situation outside the castle. They might sneak in a small army and try to take the castle, with this negotiation group functioning as gate openers… I’ll give you a heads-up when Bashuk and his merry orcs arrive.” With that he turned and walked out of the main hall, the two castle guards posted in the hallway outside closing the large doors behind him.

As soon as he had left Marecomb addressed the delegation, “If the estimate is right, and I see no reason to doubt the lieutenant, the situation is reasonably stable at the moment. They shouldn’t be able to take Bragstone with the forces they have in place, and even if this Bashuk manages to double his army in size in the coming week or so, by that time the Drak should have deployed the army, more than compensating for the orcish reinforcements.”

Major Gadrian frowned at that, “I agree with you on the current situation regarding our defenses, but I wouldn’t be so sure about the balance of power a week from now… orcs come in many flavors, and going by what that lieutenant just told us this particular flavor might have some nasty surprises up its sleeves.”

Marecomb then started this lecture about the advantages a modern disciplined army had over barbaric hordes, and Cassandra quickly lost interest. Her thoughts drifted away, to how the swiftness of the recent developments had taken her by surprise. First with the arrival of that courier at Bromodin castle just three days ago, turning her peaceful little world upside down from one moment to the other, and now it had happened again. She had never seen an orc in the flesh before, and arriving at Bragstone, barely three hours ago, she had expected for that to remain the case for at least a day longer. Now she found herself about an hour away from meeting her first real live orcs!

Conflicts far in the past had turned orcs into unwelcome guests in the lands of men. As a result the creatures had always been almost mythical to her, savages from faraway lands she was unlikely to ever cross paths with in her lifetime. Even last year’s invasion hadn’t really changed that, as it was generally seen as a one time thing, as an anomaly highly unlikely to ever repeat itself. Now she found herself thinking, ruminating what she actually knew about orcs; big green skinned humanoids with ugly beast like faces, uncivilized savages controlled by their basic instincts. Major Gadrian apparently didn’t agree with that picture though.

Her thoughts got interrupted as she realized someone was calling her name. Looking around her eyes met Marecomb’s, who smiled at her, “Are you still with us Pryoness?” She nodded apologizing. “I was reminding you I’m leading this delegation. And advising you on how to behave during the negotiations.”

She swallowed, “Sorry general, I got distracted for a moment.”

He nodded at her, “Alright, just remember that you’re here as an observer, your highness. And that you’re strongly advised not to reveal your true identity, and not to interfere with the negotiations.” She had no trouble remembering her father’s instructions, and nodded her understanding. Marecomb nodded again, then turned his attention to the diplomats, “Alright gentlemen, any fresh thoughts about the financial and economic aspects of these negotiations?” Cassandra’s attention soon drifted away again.

 

***

 

Over half an hour passed with the men discussing the most boring of details. Finance and economics had been compulsory fields of study for her, and she had tackled them both with ease, but had never really liked them. Now she found herself wondering what the problem was exactly. They had a limited amount of money and produce available to buy the orcs off with, and that was it. She noticed her throat was feeling dry and picked up her glass, as she took a sip a soldier came in through one of the large doors, and addressed Marecomb, “The orcs, they are here Sir.”

A couple of minutes later heavy footsteps announced their arrival, the large doors swung open and she watched six orcs in leather armor come in and quickly check out the hall. She had thought that the stories and illustrations had provided her with a solid image about what to expect, but meeting the notorious orcs for the first time in the flesh made her realize that nothing could have really prepared her for their brutish real live appearance. They were built broader than men, and all of them were easily as tall as the tallest men she had ever met. The one at their center walked back into the hallway, gave a hand sign, and then he came back inside again. She watched the six of them position themselves against the opposite wall, mimicking their own protective detail behind her.

“God they are big,” she whispered at General Marecomb. The gray haired general grinned, “These are special troops, but even the normal soldiers are bigger than a well-built man. Their chieftains are even bigger, and their warlords…” He stopped talking as the orc delegation entered the room, there were three of them.

These orcs were wearing leather armor too, but it was much more elaborate. Going by the size difference two of them had to be chieftains, and the third one had to be their warlord. The latter was simply huge, maybe 7’6″ tall, and built like a mountain. He had to weigh some four hundred pounds, and it was all muscle by the looks of it. She knew orcs and humans were sexually compatible, could even produce mixed-race offspring, but confronted with them she found it difficult to understand how such a thing would be practically possible.

And that was without taking their bestial features, their tribal tattoos, and their long black braided hair into account. Which human female would want to have sex with beastly creatures like these? The three walked up to the table, and looked down at the bench. The leader placed a leather booted foot on top of it, clearly testing its strength. The wood creaked, he shrugged and sat himself down on it, his chieftains following suit to both sides of him. The bench creaked, but didn’t collapse.

Once the orcs were seated general Marecomb welcomed them. He started by apologizing for the bench and explaining they just didn’t have chairs big and strong enough for orcs. After he finished speaking Major Gadrian started to translate his words into Orcish. Their leader interrupted him, “There’s no need for that, we speak common.”

His accent was heavy, and his voice sounded dark, but he was perfectly understandable. “Your common is excellent,” Marecomb reacted.

The big orc nodded, then he spoke again, “I’m Bashuk, leader of the Green Vale Orcs. Did you invite us to this parley to offer your surrender?”

Marecomb visually stiffened, “So your army does gather with hostile intent,” it clearly wasn’t a question.

The big orc shrugged, “Yes, so you now have to choose between surrender or death.” Marecomb swallowed. “Resistance will get you total war,” the orc added without showing any emotion. “Your lands will be burned, your towns and cities will be sacked, and the entire nobility will be put to the sword. If you surrender though, we will spare the land and the people. And the nobles will be allowed to keep their lives and personal freedom, but nothing else.”

She had, up to that point, just been sitting next to general Marecomb, observing the proceedings, as he had told her to, but now anger made her speak up. “You’re nothing but cruel barbarians,” she stated, “we will defend ourselves, destroy your army should it invade our lands.”

The huge orc warlord shifted his attention to her, took her in, his face not disguising his animalistic lust for her, then he addressed general Marecomb. “You let your bed-wench speak for you?” he said with clear amusement in his voice.

She blushed. “I’m..,” she started, but the general interrupted her.

“She’s a noble observer of high status, my lord. Her words carry weight,” he said.

The big orc chuckled, “You have two weeks to surrender, but you apparently won’t, which is fine by me.” His tone was harsh, he looked at her again, “And don’t you worry, noble bed-wench, my army is always short of whores. The attractive female nobles will be offered the opportunity to escape death, by spreading their legs for my men, in my army’s brothels.” She felt her face turn crimson. “Noble wenches always make for the best whores,” he added condescendingly.

“You’re a filthy pig,” she snapped, “you orcs are nothing but animals.”

He grinned at her, “You’re amusing. I might consider paying you a visit myself when you’re in the brothels – grant you the honor to spread your legs for me too.”

His openly vented intention to violate her made it very personal, “In Nigawa dangerous animals are gelded,” she returned the threat, “and that’s what you are, nothing but a dangerous stinking animal.”

He grinned, then his face darkened, “We may be ‘stinking animals’, but we didn’t come and burn your lands and homes, and kill your females and cubs.”

His answer surprised her, and she didn’t know what to answer. Marecomb answered in her place, “What do you mean? You invaded our lands last year, burning and looting the northern shires. Are you denying this?”

The big orc shook his head, “Last spring an ogre army invaded our realm from the east. The great counsel called on all the tribes to gather to defeat them. While we were on campaign, fighting the ogres, black orcs from the north, profiting from our absence, crossed our lands and invaded yours. Your army followed them while they were retreating to their realm, then turned about and destroyed my lands and my people. When we finally returned to our lands in autumn, after the final defeat of the ogres, we found our possessions burned and most of our kin killed. Now we are here for revenge, now we are here to collect a debt.”

Something told her he wasn’t lying, she felt a chill run down her spine, looked at Marecomb besides her. The general’s face had gone pale, his voice sounded rattled, “We must investigate this. If this is true you will be compensated!”

The face of the huge orc revealed nothing, but his amber colored eyes spat fire. “Compensated?” his voice sounded dangerously, “Your army killed my mate, killed my cubs. It annihilated my people. Most of us have nothing left. So I’m actually looking forward to you ‘animals’ not surrendering.” With that he abruptly stood, his chieftains following suit, “Two weeks,” he said, then he simply turned and left, his chieftains and guard detail following him.

She looked at Marecomb, “His allegations, can they be true?” she asked, fearing the answer.

Marecomb shrugged, his face showed determination, “I don’t know, it could be, but what difference does it make?” She felt bile rising, “His intentions are clear,” the general added, “No matter if he’s lying or not. He has left us no choice but to fight and destroy him, and maybe feel sorry afterwards.”

She shook her head, “This is awful, if we did as he said how can we…”

The general interrupted her, “In matters like this, in matters of state, there is no right or wrong, Pryoness, there’s just us and them, anything else is moot.”

 

***

 

The delegation just sat at the table for a short while, everyone immersed in his or her own thoughts, until Captain Agnious reappeared. “The orc delegation has left the castle,” he reported, then, after taking in the faces around the table, he continued, “I guess things didn’t go to plan?”

Marecomb chuckled dryly, “You could say that…” Then he turned his head and addressed the major next to him, “As the man with the most experience with orcs here, do you gather Bashuk could have been speaking the truth?”

Major Gadrian nodded resolutely, “Yes, absolutely. I think it highly unlikely he lied to us.”

Sir Fidion started cursing loudly next to her, then caught himself, throwing her a guilty look, “I’m sorry Pryoness, please forgive me.” She just shrugged. He addressed the entire delegation next, “How the fuck could this have happened? Does anyone have an explanation?” No one reacted, and after a minute or so Sir Fidion continued, “Well, there’s no saving this one. There’s nothing left here for us to do. We must return to the capital as soon as possible.” With that everyone realized the whole diplomatic mission was effectively over before it had really begun.

She addressed Marecomb, “I’m sorry I interrupted you general, I just couldn’t hold my tongue.”

The general shrugged, “No harm done Pryoness, this parley was already doomed before it began. You only sped things up a notch.” He looked over the rest of the delegation, “The sun will be setting in less than two hours from now, so it’s really no sense departing in a hurry. We stay at Bragstone for the night, and leave for Iriskan at dawn.”

No one objected, “Alright,” Captain Agnious said, “dinner will be served at seven. I’ll see you all then.”

With that he left them again. Cassandra pushed her chair back and got up, then simply left too, heading up the stairs to her room. After getting there she barely managed to close the door behind her before Moiga and Polly fell over her.

“How did it go?” Moiga asked.

“I saw them out of the window,” Polly exclaimed, “God they were big, and they seemed ugly too! And they rode on these big mean looking lizard beasts!”

Cassandra put her hands up, “Relax, just one at a time please!” Both her maidens looked down embarrassed, She looked at Moiga and grinned, “To answer your question first, Moiga; it was a disaster.” She looked at Polly next, “And they were very big indeed, their leader probably weighs close to four hundred pounds or so. But ugly? Ugly isn’t the right word I think. They looked beastly, saying they are ugly is like saying a bear is ugly.” She shrugged, “But by human standards you’re right.”

Moiga looked subdued, “What went wrong milady?”

She swallowed, “It appears our army burned their lands and slaughtered their kin, without reason…”

Her maiden looked confused, “Didn’t they burn our lands and slaughter our people too?”

She shook her head, her face sad, “No, apparently there exist different kinds of orcs, and our army took revenge on the wrong kind. And now they’ve come to even the score. Their leader, Bashuk, told us that our army killed his wife and children. I could just feel he was telling the truth. It was terrible… And the same thing happened to most of his warriors apparently. It’s a terrible terrible business.”

The pretty brunette’s eyes had grown big by now. Polly’s voice sounded meek, “So, what happens now?”

She shrugged, “There’s nothing left here for us to do. At dawn we’ll be leaving for home. And we’ll be in a hurry, so we’d better turn in shortly after dinner again, to try and get a good night’s sleep. The coming days are going to be tiring again.”

Dinner proved to be excellent, with clearly no cost or effort spared, but no one was really in the mood for it. After dinner she wasted no time getting herself and her maidens back to her room again. With the servants room only accessible through the main room there was no danger of Marecomb or Korbanak harassing her maidens during the night, ensuring all three of them would remain undisturbed. They quickly prepared for bed, and after tucking her in Moiga and Polly retreated to their own room to turn in too.

Sleep didn’t come easy for Cassandra though. The whole situation with the orcs kept her mind turning. She knew there was little to no chance her father would give in to the orc’s demands, so there was going to be war, and that meant Brando was going to go to war. Brando was big and strong, but compared to the orc warriors she just met he was like a child compared to a man. Somewhere deep inside she just felt it was going to end badly. With that thought the tears came, and those tears soon turned into soft sobbing. Not that much later she felt the bed move, and two warm bodies snuggling up against her.

“You’re worried about Brando, aren’t you,” Moiga’s voice sounded softly from behind her.

“Yes, I’m afraid for him,” she sobbed.

“Don’t worry too much,” Polly’s voice sounded in front of her, “He’s smart, and big, and strong. He’ll be okay.”

The girls’ affection relaxed her, helped her stop crying. This must be what it’s like to have sisters, she thought. “I love you girls,” she whispered, “You’re the best maidens ever.” That got her two soft kisses, one on the back of her shoulder, and the other one on her forehead. With her nerves calmed sleep did come after all.

 

Power and Accountability

 

They left Bragstone at sunrise, and with the extra speed provided by descending from the foot of the mountains, by pushing the horses a little bit harder, and with the silvery light of a full Lurcan, Mundea’s larger moon, in a clear sky aiding them after sundown, they reached ‘The Tasty Boar’ late in the evening. Their late dinner was simple, and afterwards she shared her bed with Moiga and Polly again, and not just to thwart Marecomb and Korbanak again. The following day they left at dawn again, for the last leg home. Having been traveling for four days already, with only half a day’s rest at Bragstone for the parley the day before yesterday, both beasts and men were clearly tiring.

Still they made good progress, and when late in the afternoon the familiar silhouette of Iriskan appeared on the southern horizon for the first time a wave of re-found energy coursed through man and beast. They reached the city at dusk, noticing the signals announcing their return going up at the northern main gate. So by the time the coaches finally came to a stop at Bromodin castle’s vast courtyard a large party had already assembled there to welcome them back.

Dismounting from the coach she had expected to find her father rushing up to her, but to her surprise someone else beat him getting to her. “Brando!” she gasped excited, “I thought you were with the army!”

Her betrothed hugged her, kissed her tenderly, almost crushing her in his strong arms. She melted into him. When he finally lifted his lips from hers he smiled at her, “After we did the planning for the march north, and got the army on the move, the Drak decided to send me back to Iriskan, to act as his liaison at court.”

Her father was standing next to them, opened his arms with a grin when she looked at him, “Do I come second place already?” She let go of Brando and rushed into his arms. Her father hugged her close, “Just five days, and I missed you already Cassy.”

She kissed his cheek, then leaned back from him, her face saddening, “I’m afraid we bring bad news father.”

Her father nodded, “Yes, I noticed Marecomb’s face, so I already expected it.” He sighed, “I’m going to call for another emergency meeting, to start half an hour from now. So you better get your stuff inside and get freshened up a bit because I expect you to attend.”

She nodded, then let go of him, and locked eyes with Brando again, “See you at the meeting?”

He nodded, then followed her father, who was approaching Marecomb. She looked around, looking for Moiga and Polly, and finding them besieged by her other four maidens. She walked over to them, and they curtsied as they noticed her, in a deluge of “Welcome back milady.”

She smiled, “I’m glad to find you all safe and sound too ladies,” then gestured at the main entrance, “I’ll have to be ready for a council meeting within half an hour…” Her maidens immediately escorted her inside, and she couldn’t help studying them one by one while moving to her chambers, wondering how many of them had been the victim of men like Marecomb. She again promised herself to end that kind of vile practice within the castle walls, but also realized it would have to wait. There were more urgent matters needing her attention at the moment.

Once inside the privacy of her chambers again decorum fell away and Denora, Vala, Syldan and Leavy all took turns hugging her. After the last one let go they started to get her out of her dirty clothes. By the time she was naked two of them had organized a washing bowl filled with warm soapy water and a stack of washing cloths and towels. After five days of sponge cleaning she was really longing for a proper bath, but unfortunately there really was no time, so she let her maidens freshen her up a bit and get her ready for a set of fresh clothes.

“You sure were glad to see Brando again,” Polly said looking up while cleaning her nether regions. She couldn’t help but blush fiercely, and Polly’s eyes went wide, “I’m sorry milady! Was I out of line?”

She reached down with her right hand and caressed her soft blonde curls, smiling softly, “Just a little bit, Polly.” The other maidens giggled softly. “But it doesn’t really matter when we’re in private,” she reassured her youngest maiden.

With the seriousness of the situation in mind she chose a charcoal dress, added a matching diamond pendant suspended from a wrought silver choker, and finished her ensemble with an umber colored pair of heeled sandals. Fully clothed again she let Vala style her hair into a thick single braid beneath a wrought silver clasp matching her choker. After checking herself in the large floor to ceiling mirrors doubling as doors for the wardrobe covering one of the walls of the bedchamber she looked up at the wall mounted chronograph and saw she had just five minutes left before the meeting.

 

***

 

Escorted by Denora and Syldan she walked quickly down the vaulted sandstone hallways leading to her father’s conference chambers, noticing that some of the guards that had escorted her to Bragstone were back on guard duty already. Entering the main conference room after leaving her maidens in the ante-chamber, she saw that, this time, except for the Drak, the entire council was present. She greeted the gathered nobles and notables with a courteous nod, then sat herself down at her father’s left hand, noticing Marecomb was seated at his right hand.

Her father opened the meeting without any pleasantries, cutting to the chase immediately, “As you can all see, the delegation I send to parley with the leader of the orc army gathering in the north has returned. I’m afraid they weren’t bearers of good news, but I leave it to General Marecomb, who led the delegation, to fill you all in personally.”

On that cue Marecomb took the floor, “We had set ourselves the goal to bribe the orcs into retreating to their lands, but unfortunately the situation proved to be beyond mending.” He looked around the table, “The orcs blamed us for burning their lands and killing their people, and simply demanded our unconditional surrender as repayment. As part of that surrender they demand for the entire nobility to give up their titles and all their belongings. If these demands aren’t met they will attack, and if they succeed they will put the entire nobility to the sword, except for the young women, who will be offered positions in their army brothels as a means to escape death. They gave us two weeks to comply with their demands, of which two days have already passed.”

Mayhem resulted, with many council members trying to be heard above the others, until her father put his fist down on the table with a loud ‘bang’ and restored order. With everyone silent again he nodded towards Sir Gatness, “You have the floor, Hardin.”

Sir Gatness cleared his throat, “What’s this about them blaming our army? I was under the impression that it was them who started this with that bloody raid last summer.”

Her father looked at General Marecomb, who shrugged, “Their leader, a warlord named Bashuk, claimed they were ‘green orcs’, and that it was ‘black orcs’ who raided Nigawa. Apparently his own army was on campaign at the time, fighting a war against ogres somewhere else, and these black orcs simply took advantage of their absence. They crossed their lands and attacked ours. When our army failed to bring these black orcs to battle, and took its revenge, we apparently burned the wrong lands and massacred the wrong orcs.”

The room turned silent for a moment, then Sir Blooker spoke up, “Aren’t all orcs green?”

It was Burgon Magwick who answered his question, “Yes, they are, but ‘black’ orcs are a darker shade of green, and ‘green’ orcs are actually a sort of brown tinged green. To the average human observer though, they all look the same.”

Burgon Goban then spoke out what everyone was thinking, “What a fucking mess.” He glanced in her direction, “Pardon my Lorasian Pryoness…” She shrugged in response, and the Burgon addressed the room again, “We seem to be in the wrong here, but the people this Bashuk wants to punish aren’t the people who killed his people. He deserves compensation, as much from these black orcs as from us, but just demanding to be handed Nigawa, and everything the nobility possesses? That’s just preposterous, and it isn’t feasible either. The nobility will never agree to it.”

A counselor who’s name escaped her spoke up next, “Not that it’ll make much difference, but who was responsible for this ‘little’ mistake?”

General Marecomb sighed, “With the Drak of Valdon recovering from a nasty wound resulting from sword training, the army was temporarily under the command of General Worrington. As you all might or might not know, Sir Worrington had an unfortunate riding accident last winter. So I’m afraid your proposed scapegoat has already died ”

It was Sir Blooker that raised the next important question, “How big is that army of theirs anyway? Do they represent a real threat? Or are they something our own army can handle between lunch and afternoon tea so to say?”

Marecomb took the question again, “Bashuk built up an army some seven to eight thousand strong in about a week. That was two days ago though, so if the buildup continued we might be talking about close to ten thousand already. And when does this buildup come to an end? Who knows? He did give us two weeks to respond though, and I don’t think he would plan to attack us before he had his entire army available. So that would mean another twelve days of reinforcements arriving at most, which would indicate a total strength of somewhere between twenty to thirty thousand orcs. Our own army has more than double the latter number, but orcs aren’t men, they are much stronger. And on top of that, nothing is ever certain in war anyway.”

Sir Booker nodded his understanding, “So we basically just don’t know. At least not until we have faced them in actual battle.”

She cleared her throat, “There’s one other thing… Their leader told us they lost everything, all of them. So they won’t have anything to fall back on, no homelands to sustain them, but they also won’t have anything to lose.” She swallowed, “Warriors with nothing to lose are dangerous warriors, regardless of their race…”

Her father looked at her approvingly, then focused on the assembled counselors again, “I basically agree with Burgon Goban. We probably owe these orcs, but not what they demand. And with them having turned down other ways of compensation, that just leaves us war. This places the lives of all the nobles at risk though, and we haven’t a clue about how big this risk actually is. So I’m going to call for a grand gathering of the nobles a week from now, and get them all involved in the decision process. That should leave us enough time to contact the orcs again before they attack, should that become necessary.”

With that her father looked at the wall mounted chronograph, “You’re all invited to stay for dinner, which will be served in the dining room next door, half an hour from now. This meeting is now adjourned.”

 

***

 

Cassandra met up with Brando on the way out, then led him past the dining room, and out of her father’s quarters, to have some privacy. “I missed you, and I’m looking forward to having you around for the time being,” she told him once they were out of earshot of the other council members.

Brando sighed, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you my love. I’ll be leaving again in the morning. I have to get back to the army, to pass the Drak the news regarding the orcs.” She pouted, and he pulled her against him, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back for the grand gathering.”

She looked around, checking if there was no one in sight, then pulled Brando with her into the entrance to the spiral staircase and kissed him deeply. He returned her kiss, and they made out for a couple of minutes, until the sound of nearing footsteps on the tiled floor stopped them. Leaving the staircase they ran into a male servant, who smiled surprised at them. They slowly headed back towards her father’s dining room, and once the servant had disappeared inside the staircase Brando reached out and pulled her close again, “I’m going to come by your chambers after dinner; I want Pryoness for dessert…”

She normally only allowed him to visit her chambers during the daytime, to avoid gossip, and protect her reputation. But she had missed him terribly, and after tonight he would be gone for up to a week again. “Okay, but not too long,” she answered, “and you’ll have to make sure you’re seen in public after you leave.”

They were nearing the dining room by now, and nearby voices could be heard through the closed hallway doors in front of them. Brando kissed her cheek, then let go of her, and they passed the doors just holding hands. Three of the councilors were gathered in the hallway in front of the dining room, discussing something related to the issue with the orcs. Brando led her inside the dining room past them, and then over to the large dining table. Most of the councilors were seated already, as was her father, who waved at her, and then pointed at two still unoccupied chairs to his right.

Brando pulled out the chair next to her father for her, and then sat himself down next to her. Dinner was excellent, to the highest standards, as usual. While the atmosphere was far from jubilant, it wasn’t as bad as it had been during the dinner she had in Bragstone. The main reason for that was her father leading the conversation away from the dire situation with the orcs, and towards more pleasant topics. But even if it had been all pleasant, she was longing to be alone with Brando, and just for that dinner couldn’t be over fast enough.

 

***

 

She left the dining room at the first opportunity, leaving Brando behind with a glass of Lorasian Brandy, to handle the rearguard fight. He had thanked the servers for dessert, then winked at her, and gotten her unbelievably wet. She hurried along the sandstone hallways towards her chambers, knowing Brando wouldn’t be far behind. Entering the reception room she found Denora waiting for her. “I’m expecting a visitor,” she smiled at her.

“Should I arrange for tea in the living room then milady?” Cassandra shook her head. “Wine then, or something stronger?” Denora added.

She felt herself blush. Denora chuckled. “You’re teasing me!” she exclaimed.

Denora winked, “I’ll make sure no one disturbs the two of you milady. But isn’t it dangerous to have him over at this late an hour?”

She shrugged, “Yes, but I missed him, and he is supposed to leave again in the morning. So I won’t see him for a week at least. And with this war looming, you never know. The orcs might not keep their word after all. In which case I might not see Brando ever again…”

Her senior maiden nodded her understanding, at which point she heard voices outside in the hallway, and recognized one of them as Brando’s. She stepped out of view of the doors, and watched Brando come in. “Good evening sir,” Denora welcomed him, “the Pryoness is waiting for you in the living room. She asked me to fetch the wedding checklist, so she could look it over with you.”

Nobody would ever accuse Brando of being slow on the uptake, “Great, I already feared she had forgotten.” And with that he closed the door behind him, whispering at Denora, “You think they’ll buy that?”

Denora shrugged, “We at least gave them something plausible to remember should someone ask them why you were here.”

Cassandra chuckled, “The two of you should start giving acting classes…” She moved up to Brando and hugged him close, kissing his cheek, then whispered into his ear, “Let’s go to bed, I have that dessert you were gagging for.” Brando kissed her on the lips, then pulled her with him towards the private hallway that led to, among other things, her bedchamber. She looked over her shoulder before entering, Denora was sitting herself down behind the small desk, facing the hallway doors, taking up ‘guard’ duty. She smiled when the pretty auburn haired girl winked at her.

Brando dragged her through the hallway into the living room, and then into the bedchamber, before turning and closing the doors behind them. When he turned towards her again his hands reached out, grabbed her waist and pulled her against him. Next he swirled her around and pushed her against the doors, pressing up against her. His lips found hers and they kissed deeply. She moaned softly in his mouth, as their tongues danced, tasting the sweet smell of brandy on him. His hand slipped up over the soft fabric of her dress, cupped her ample breasts. She felt her nipples harden under his caress. He kneaded her firm flesh through the covering layers of fabric, forcing even louder moans out of her.

His lips let go of hers, “I love you,” he breathed in her face, “and I want you.”

She just moaned her own need in response. He swept her up in his arms, carried her over to the large opulent bed and dropped her unceremoniously on top of it, then followed her down. His fingers pulled at her tight dress, without getting anywhere. He groaned frustrated, and she rolled over on her belly, chuckling, and offering him access to the laces on her back.

She felt him start to loosen them, “Modern women’s fashion is in serious need of upgrading,” he groaned frustrated.

“It’s to separate the boys from the men,” she chuckled, “this way the boys will have already emptied themselves by the time they can actually get their hands on the objects of their heated desire. Sparing the lady in question an unsatisfying coupling.” The laces gave way and he started to pull her dress down, rather roughly in his enthusiasm. “Careful,” she exclaimed laughing, “I want to be able to wear it again!” She rolled herself on her back and started to help him getting her undressed, then moving her attention to undressing him when he had her down to her underwear. She was naked by the time he was down to his army issue long johns. “Talking about fashion in need of an upgrade,” she grinned.

“Those are manly, and quite fashionable,” he replied with mock indignity.

She laughed, “Yeah right…”

He moved on top of her, looking down at her, “I never got complaints from the ladies before…”

She stilled, locking eyes with him. She knew he had been with other women before, whores even, albeit expensive ones. He was twenty seven, six years her senior, and it was normal for young Nigawan noble men to ‘get experienced’ before marriage.

He swallowed, “I have never been unfaithful Cassy. I haven’t been with another woman from the moment I started to have feelings for you. We weren’t even dating then.”

She smiled softly, “I know. And I never doubted you. It just feels a bit…, unfair. But that’s not your fault.” She reached up and pulled him down, kissing him tenderly for a moment. She let go, dropped her head back on the bed, locking eyes with him again, “And you’re right, those long johns are very masculine…”

He looked surprised for a moment, then he grinned, and started tickling her. “You’re mocking me!”

She squirmed beneath him, “I’m sorreeee…”

He stopped, looking down at her heaving chest, “God you have beautiful tits.”

“Brando!” she exclaimed playfully.

He grinned, “I beg your pardon your highness; I meant beautiful breasts of course!” He winked, “And you have a nice round ass too!”

She slapped his chest in mock anger, “You foul mouthed brute, where are your manners?”

He started tickling her again, and they rolled about on the bed for a minute, with her protesting loudly. And then he stopped, positioned between her legs, with his chin on her belly, and her breasts in his hands. She was on her back, with her head up, and their eyes locked. His thumbs started rubbing her stiff nipples, and she let her head drop back again, moaning softly as pleasure found its way from her nipples to her pussy. He lifted his head from her belly, and his hands let go of her breasts, sliding down her torso, to where his chin had rested only moments before. He circled her navel, and then his fingers moved further down, and ruffled the soft blonde hair on her pubis.

He moved his body a bit further down too, and she felt his breath on her most private parts. She groomed herself down there, or more correctly, had her maidens groom her down there. So her pubis sported this neatly manicured little triangle, but her pussy was cleanly shaven, and thus fully exposed to his hot breath. She knew how wet she was, and spread her trembling legs wide before pulling her thighs up, knowing she was exposing herself to him entirely.

She heard him inhaling through his nose. “So wet for me,” he whispered, “such a horny little Pryoness.”

She moaned slightly put out. His fingers were still ruffling her small blond patch, and she could feel his mouth just inches away from her pussy. “Don’t be so mean to me,” she whimpered, “It’s only because I missed you so much.”

That’s when his tongue touched the bottom of her slightly spread labia, and slowly slid up, the tip tracking the pink cleft. She trembled in anticipation as he neared the top and her still covered little nub. She shuddered slightly as he ran the tip around the core of her pleasure. His tongue retreated, and his voice sounded softly, “I know Cassy, and I’m just teasing you a bit.”

With that the tongue returned, circling her clit again, then pushing up from beneath against the little hood still covering it, before making contact. She bucked, and almost came. “Not yet my love,” he said, and she moaned frustratedly, as his tongue retreated yet again. She felt him move his fingers down, to the crease of her thighs, then up the tender insides. He stroked her gently for a moment, and then his fingers moved down again, to the underside of her buttocks. “Pull your legs back for me, honey,” he said.

Cassandra let go of the sheets, then reached behind her knees, grabbed them and pulled back until her thighs were bent as far back as they would go. She felt his hands slide beneath her butt, each one cupping a firm cheek, and then he lifted her nether regions up to his face. She moaned in anticipation, and a little scream escaped as he placed his mouth on top of her wet opening. His tongue pried her labia open, and he started lapping up her juices, groaning his satisfaction. He slowly delved deeper, probing the entrance to her sheath.

“Oh Brando,” she moaned, “I so want to feel you slide inside me, to feel your cock ripping through my hymen, to feel my sheath take all of you.” Brando moaned his frustration, and she so wanted to offer him that pleasure. She hesitated for a moment, and then, thinking about Moiga’s earlier misfortune, whispered hesitatingly, “My other opening, it doesn’t have a hymen…, if you want…”

His head came up, his eyes locking with hers, and she didn’t end her sentence, “No,” he said, “I’ve never done that before, but I’ve been told that, without the proper preparations, it can hurt the girl terribly.” He blinked a couple of times, “I love you and I’m not going to do that to you.” With that his head dropped, then came up again. He started a sentence, and then thought the better of it apparently.

His head started to drop again, but she stopped him, “What did you want to say?” He blushed, but said nothing. “Come on,” she grinned, “Out with it.”

He hesitated, then whispered softly, “When you’re sucking me, it would be nice if you took me deeper. Maybe even…” he stopped at that, blushing even more fiercely.

“Maybe even what?” she asked gently, already having an idea regarding what he wanted to say.

“Maybe even let me come inside your mouth?”

She almost started telling him that was not something decent girls were supposed to allow for, but stopped as she noticed the glistening wetness covering the bottom half of his face. He fills his mouth with your juices every time he’s going down on you, and he lets you cum in his mouth, she thought. And then yet another realization hit, And you never noticed him spitting anything out afterwards…

He seemed to have guessed what she was thinking, “I love you Cassy,” he said, “I’m not turned off by what your body offers me.”

She blushed from shame, “I’m sorry Bran…, I just never thought of it that way…” She swallowed, “I have been an inconsiderate lover… I’m so sorry.”

He smiled softly, “I know it wasn’t your intention to be inconsiderate Cassy – it’s not a worry. You’re just inexperienced. Please don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with yet. I like what you’ve been doing up to now too, you know.”

With that he dropped his head again, and really went to town on her, making her groan and gasp loudly. His tongue delved into her dripping wet sheath, then slid up between her labia to her clit again, and started to lap at it in frenzy. She trembled as the pleasure built. With her body on fire he closed his lips on her erect clit, sucked and then rubbed his tongue over the captured little nub. Pleasure exploded, and she arched and came hard, moaning his name. He didn’t let her off, his tongue driving her orgasm on.

She let go of her knees and moved her hands on top of his head, pushing against it, “Please! Brando! I can’t take anymore…”

He let go of her clit, and started lapping softly at her dripping labia. She came down shuddering, ruffling his hair tenderly. Her feet dropped back on the mattress, and he slowly moved up between her still spread thighs, kissing her nipples. He moved up even further, supporting his weight on his elbows, until his face hovered above hers, his lips glistening wetly. She swallowed, then lifted her head and placed her lips on his. As they touched his tongue gently probed, and she opened up for him, tasting her pussy on him for the first time.

He kissed her gently but deeply, then came up and locked eyes with her, “You taste nice Cassy: musky and sweet. I love how you taste.”

She licked her lips, agreeing with him. Her hands moved to his waist, then slid down until her fingers met the waistband of his long johns. “Your turn,” she whispered at the face just inches above her. She slipped her thumbs beneath the waistband, then pushed down, baring his butt and freeing his cock. He felt hot and hard on her belly, “Turn over,” she whispered, “get on your back for me.” He did as asked, and she sat herself up, then leaned over him. His cock was fully erect, with the head uncovered and throbbing eagerly.

She got up on her knees, placed a hand on both sides of his hips, and moved her face down towards his straining erection. She parted her lips and caught the tip of the wet glistening head between them, then opened wide and sucked him inside over her tongue. Suppressing the impulse to put a hand around its base to restrict his penetration, she sucked him in all the way to the back of her throat. He moaned, and she moved her tongue around him, paying attention to the taste of his pre-cum for the first time. Except for a slight saltiness there actually wasn’t much taste at all.

She started to slowly bob up and down on him, but she couldn’t take much more than about two thirds of his length before her gag reflex kicked in. That didn’t mean he didn’t sound happy though. Going by how loudly he was moaning, he hugely appreciated her efforts, which pleased her no end. She felt wanton, sucking him like this, and decided to let him cum in her mouth too, to really blow his mind. His breathing became more erratic, and she felt him starting to swell much sooner than normal.

“Almost there,” he groaned.

She brought a hand up to his balls, cupped them, then started to softly massage them. The effect was almost immediate; he arched, lifting his hips up towards her mouth, and then he came with a loud guttural roar. She had moved up a bit when he bucked, keeping just the head inside her mouth, then felt his balls jolt in her hand. The head swelled, and a first rope of hot seed blasted inside her mouth, covering everything. She sucked, swirling her tongue around him, and a second blast filled her mouth. His balls jolted rhythmically, and another four blasts filled her mouth to capacity before he sank back into the mattress, looking spent.

She let his softening cock slip out from between her lips, and felt a bit of spilled semen drip down her chin. She hadn’t really thought about what to do once he had cum inside her mouth, and looked around for a solution. She caught her own reflection in the large mirror, her cheeks were bulging; she looked like a greedy squirrel. She turned her head towards Brando, his eyes were as big as saucers. His semen tasted much stronger than his pre-cum had, both salty and sweet, and the solution to her little problem was really easy now she thought about it. She swallowed, and swallowed again, and then swallowed a last time to empty her mouth entirely.

His warm seed felt strange sliding down her throat. But her attention was fixed on Brando, whose eyes had almost popped out of his skull. It looked rather comical. She opened her mouth and licked her lips clean, then wiped her chin with her fingers and licked those clean too. “Hmm, that didn’t taste halfway bad,” she grinned, “and I already had dessert…” Brando said nothing, he just reached out and grabbed her, then pulled her down and rolled on top of her. He pushed his arms beneath her shoulders, holding her head in his hands. “Brando?” she whispered, as her eyes searched his.

His face was hovering above her, his eyes burning into hers, “God I love you,” he groaned. Then his mouth came down on hers, their lips meshing. His tongue was not to be denied, she opened up and he kissed her with a ferocity he had never shown before in the half year or so that they had been intimate. He kissed her for what felt like an eternity, then came up and locked eyes with her again, “Can I stay the night?” he almost begged.

She slowly shook her head, “You know I would love that, Bran, but you can’t.

He blinked a couple of times, “I’m not going to…, we’ll just sleep. I only want to sleep with you in my arms.”

She wavered for a moment, then spoke softly again, “You have no idea how much I want to, but we can’t.” She swallowed, “The keep has eyes and ears. Having sex with you during the evening is risky already. If you were to stay the night, it would get out for sure, and my reputation would be shot. That’s why you’ll have to make sure you are seen somewhere public after leaving here, so nobody can claim you spend the night with me.”

Sadness filled his eyes, “I’m not going to dump you Cassy! As far as I’m concerned we’re married already. For me the wedding at the solstice is just a formality.”

She slowly shook her head, “You think this is about me not trusting you? I’d trust you with my life Brando. This is about something happening to you before the wedding. If you were to…” She whimpered softly. “And now, with war coming, and you fighting in it…” Tears started to run down her cheeks, “I have to still be a virgin of untarnished reputation the day I marry. My position simply demands it. And I hope with whole my heart that it’s going to be you marrying me this summer. I can’t even think about ending up having to marry someone else. I would be completely devastated if I lost you. But I’m an only child, and the heir to the Nigawan throne. I have to secure the succession.”

Brando closed his eyes and hung his head, “I always thought you not wanting to lose your virginity before marriage had its roots in you, deep down, not trusting me entirely, but I was so wrong. I now understand you’ll need your virginity to still be intact, and your reputation unblemished, in order to still be able to acquire a suitable mate, should something happen to me.” His eyes opened, and locked with hers, “I’m so sorry I questioned your trust in me Cassy. Please forgive me?”

She hugged him, melted into him, and kissed him gently, “I already have, you big dork.”

The next morning Brando joined her and her father for breakfast, and then they had to say their goodbyes. They kissed one last time on the steps in front of the main entrance to the keep, and then she watched him mount his horse and ride out of the castle gate, his two personal guards joining up with him. Her father put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She leaned in to him, gathering strength from him. “Don’t worry sweetheart,” he said, “he’ll be back before you know it.”

 

***

 

Her father had been right. Notifying all the nobles and preparing the keep to host them, and at the same time preparing the country for war, proved a lot of work, and time simply flew by. Then, two days before the grand gathering, the first noble families started to arrive. Bromodin was a huge castle, and it came with a central keep to fit. But now an entire floor that hadn’t seen use in years was filling with over five hundred guests. And with her father having delegated welcoming and lodging the nobles to her, she and her maidens found themselves short of hands.

The last two days before the gathering had passed even more quickly, and she soon found herself watching out for Brando to arrive on the day itself. The southeast facing windows of her chambers looked out over the castle’s courtyard and main gate, and she was never far away from them if she could help it, getting her playful comments from her maidens. With the gathering set for two o’clock that afternoon, and noon getting close, she started to get worried, and then the trumpets sounded, announcing the arrival of someone important.

She was at the window in a flash, just in time to watch Brando riding in through the gate, with Sir Tregan Mordian, the Drak of Valdon, riding beside him. The keep’s hallways were busier than ever, and many nobles watched amused as their future Kangess sped by on her way down to the main entrance, flouting decorum. Brando was just leaving the stables, busy talking with the Drak, when she came bursting out of the keep’s main entrance. She hurtled down the stairs, and he noticed her as she crossed the courtyard in a run. He opened his arms and laughed as she threw herself into them, “Cassy!” She kissed his lips enthusiastically. “Hi honey, I missed you too,” he grinned.

The Drak had watched bemused, and greeted her with a slight bow, “I can vow for that, your highness. He has acted like a homesick puppy for days.”

Cassandra pouted, “Only days? He has been away for a whole week!” Then she smiled at the Drak, “Thanks for bringing him back to me safe and sound, Sir Tregan.”

She showed the Drak to the quarters she had reserved for him, with Brando in tow, and then accompanied her betrothed to his permanent residence within the keep. On the way they talked about his, and the Drak’s, efforts to get the army into a blocking position opposite the orcs. When they reached his quarters she looked around and noticed there were way too many people around for her to go inside with him. “You smell of horse and sweat, and you’re covered in road dust. Better get yourself cleaned up before the gathering, so you don’t embarrass me too much,” she smiled at him.

Brando grinned and whispered, “I thought you liked your men all sweaty…”

She silenced him with a kiss, “Yes, so you better get yourself cleaned up, before I lose control…”

He had pulled her close, and now let go of her, “See you at the gathering, honey.”

She watched him enter his quarters, then turned around and walked back to her chambers, to get ready for the gathering herself.

 

***

 

When Cassandra arrived back at her chambers she found her maidens waiting for her. Denora, Sylda, and Polly accompanied her to the bathroom. Her maidens gave her a thorough scrubbing and grooming in the huge tub and then hurried her back to her bedchamber, where a beautiful regal dress in a deep cobalt blue was waiting for her. It was a bit more elaborate than her usual style, with long fanning sleeves, but it fitted the occasion well. And what it also fitted well was the amazing sapphire & silver jewelry set her mother left her.

Once they had her dress laced up she got parked in front of her dressing table and Leavy started to do her make up. Her maiden used heavier effects than usual, to fit with the more regal look of her dress. When she was finished Vala started styling her long blonde hair in a braided updo, to clear her neck and ears, for highlighting her jewelry. With her hair done Moiga helped her putting it on. The collier went first, creating this sea of gleaming silver and sparkling blue on her creamy skin just above her rather conservative décolleté.

The collier was pretty conventional, but the accompanying earrings were not. They were ear cuffs actually, with the main body covering her earlobes and a slender sapphire-encrusted stalk curving up along the ear’s rim, to spiral back from the top along its inside. When Moiga was finished she turned her head from side to side and studied the result in the mirror. It was the first time she was actually wearing the set and Denora said what everyone, including her herself, thought, “Those look awesome, milady!” Seven smiling girls’ faces couldn’t be wrong, and she felt elated while Polly got her into her matching blue ankle boots.

After Polly finished lacing her boots up she stood and walked over to the large floor to ceiling mirror and took in her reflection. She was of average height at five foot four, but her boots added two inches to that, and her updo added another two, so she looked quite tall in the mirror. She twirled around, taking herself in; the dress clung to her body, revealing an ample bust atop a tiny waist, flaring into very feminine hips supporting a rather curvaceous behind. The dress hid the slender shape of her long legs to just below the knees, beneath which shapely calves disappeared into the blue suede leather of her stylish ankle boots.

Cassandra was pleased with herself, she had hit the exact balance between regal and feminine she had been aiming for. It was an outfit worthy of a future Kangess, and fitting for the coming gathering where, she hadn’t any doubts at all, the assembled female nobility would be judging her. She looked up at the wall mounted chronometer, and decided there was still time for a cup of tea before Brando would be picking her up, to escort her to the gathering. She turned towards her maidens, who were all looking at her with pride in their eyes, “I think we deserved a nice cup of tea, what do you think ladies?”

They had their tea with some cinnamon and apple cake, and had just finished their second cup when Brando and, to her surprise, her father arrived. Both men stopped in their tracks when she got up and turned towards them, their eyes almost popping taking her in. Brando was the first one to speak up, “Who is this goddess? And where is my Cassy?”

She stepped up to him, smiling, “Who’s this lickspittle? And where’s my Brando?”

He took her in his arms and kissed her gently, “You look absolutely stunning, honey.”

That was when she noticed her father’s eyes were moistening, “Daddy?”

Kang Nichos swallowed, “Oh sweetheart, you look so much like your mother. And the Tears of Lurcan look as absolutely stunning on you as they did on her.” She looked at him questioningly, and he smiled softly, “Yes, that nice set of trinkets has a name. The Kangess’ of Nigawa have worn them since the beginning of time. That’s why I made them find their way to your jewelry chest, after…”

She let go of Brando and flew into her father’s arms, “Oh daddy, I only knew they used to be mom’s.” She locked eyes with him, “Is it okay for me to wear them now?”

Her father pecked her cheek, “Very appropriate for the occasion my dear. All the noble matriarchs will recognize them, and know they are looking at a future Nigawan Kangess. It’s the strongest message of confidence you could put across.” He sighs, “You just took me by surprise, and made me realize how much I still miss your mother.”

She melted into her father, nestling her head against his chest, “I didn’t want to hurt you, I’m sorry.”

He kissed her forehead, “She would be so proud of you if she could see you now. And it is, and has always been, having you that makes her absence bearable for me. You’re my everything Cassy.”

The gathering was to be held in the keep’s great hall, and all of Nigawa’s nobles of age were expected to be present. They left her chambers exactly at two o’clock, ensuring all the nobles would be there for their arrival. She walked along the grand sandstone hallways between her father and Brando, guards in splendid attire saluting them as they went by. They could hear the hubbub created by the gathered nobles through the massive doors while they were still a hundred paces away. When the guards opened the doors for them the volume first rose, and then dropped dramatically as they entered the great hall.

Her father led them in, with her and Brando following close behind. The sun flowed in through the large windows on the southwest side, and they followed the thick twelve feet wide dark red carpet leading up to the throne in its warmth. By the time they were halfway the hall a stunned silence had descended and you could have heard a pin drop. And it wasn’t her father that caused it, everyone was clearly gaping at her. She felt her confidence slip away, but then Brando’s hand closed around hers, restoring it. That was when she first noticed the podium held two thrones instead of one.

She knew that, before her mother died, the podium had always held two thrones, but that her father, after a year of mourning, had the second throne removed. But now it was back, and the realization who it was for made her nervous. Before taking the steps up the podium, her father turned around and took her hand, then led her up and sat her down on the slightly smaller of the two thrones. Brando had followed them up and stood himself to her right while her father sat himself down on his own throne, placing a hand protectively on her shoulder. She looked up at him and thanked him with a smile.

Her father spoke, welcoming the nobles to the gathering, and thanking them all for showing up at such short notice. And then he told them about the reason behind the gathering. He told them how an orc army had started gathering at the entrance of Baelok pass now seventeen days ago. He explained how he had sent a diplomatic mission to parley with the orcs, to find out what they were up too, and try to persuade them to return to their own lands in peace if they indeed had plans for war.

Most of the nobles had already known there was some trouble brewing with the orcs, so the general reaction to this announcement wasn’t that surprised. Next he told them about the results of the parley, about how the orcs had claimed to be the victims of unprovoked Nigawan aggression. That did produce surprised reactions. Astonishment and disbelief was all over their faces. So her father explained to them that the orc’s claim was, in all probability, true. That had taken a bit to sink in. And then he came to the ‘pièce the résistance’, the orcish ultimatum…

When he finished speaking a shocked silence descended, but it didn’t stay silent for long. It began as a soft rumble fed by consternation, then it swelled into this wave of indignation, to crest into a deluge of anger. Her father let these emotions run their course for a couple of minutes before he spoke up again. “Although the orcs may have legitimate reasons to demand compensation from Nigawa, both your Kang and his council have determined the actual orcish demands to be completely beyond reason, and as such not acceptable.”

His words met with agreement among the nobles. Kang Nichos smiled at his audience, and then continued, “But as the possible consequences of rejecting the orcish surrender demands potentially affect all your lives very directly, I have decided to give you all a voice in this decision. Before deciding this matter, however, I think you should all be informed about the actual threat the orcs represent.” He looked at Sir Mordian, who was waiting beside the podium, and gestured to the man to join him. After the Drak had ascended the podium, and stood to the left of him, he addressed the gathered nobles again, “I give you the Drak of Valdon, supreme commander of the Nigawan army.”

The Drak bowed his head towards her father, “Thank you my Kang.” Next he turned to the attentive nobles and cleared his throat, “Twelve days ago I started withdrawing all troops that could be spared from guarding the borders with our more southern neighbors to encampments near Iriskan, to join the main army. This operation concluded five days ago, after which I ordered the army north to Bragstone. The army made good progress, and should be in position by now. That means there are now close to fifty thousand men, and Bragstone castle, sealing off the Weeping Valley, and bottling up an orc army roughly half its size inside it.”

The tension among the nobles clearly lifted as he let that sink in. He raised his hands, “As is, the situation should be firmly under control, but please remember the only certainty in war is that soldiers are going to die, and that the outcome is never a certainty. Add to that the fact that we have no recent experience fighting orcs. So while the odds seem favorable, we should take nothing for granted.”

With that the Drak turned his head and looked at the Kang questioningly. Her father nodded at him, then addressed the gathered nobles again, “And now you know as much as the counsel and I myself know. Feel free to discuss the matter; I’ll be calling for a vote an hour from now.”

Her father turned his head to the majordomo, who had been waiting patiently beside the podium, and nodded. The majordomo turned and gestured to the servants who had gathered at the doors to the service corridor. It resulted in a flurry of action, with servants swarming among the guests, offering them refreshments from the huge trays they were carrying. The Drak left the podium, to mingle with the other guests, and Brando leaned down towards her, “Can I get you something to drink honey?”

She looked up at him, smiling, “Yes, a glass of sparkling white please.”

He turned towards her father, “Can I get you something too Sir?”

The Kang grinned, “I would like a cold pint my boy, but I’m afraid our present company won’t allow for it…”

She watched Brando descend from the podium, her thoughts with the upcoming vote. Cassandra felt torn; yes, the orcish demands were harsh, but were they really beyond reasonable? How would they have reacted if the roles had been reversed, what would their army have done if it had come back from the orcish lands to find Nigawa raised to the ground, and everyone killed, by the Mercandons for instance? She remembered the orcish leader’s harsh words, ‘Your army killed my mate, killed my cubs.’ She had felt the oh-so-human hurt behind those words.

These orcs weren’t the primitive beasts history depicted them as. And while she understood why the Nigawan nobles didn’t want to pay the price for what the Nigawan army did, she also understood why the orcs had demanded what they did. She felt relieved that she wasn’t the Kangess yet, and that it wasn’t her responsibility to decide. Brando returned and handed her the glass of wine she had asked for. Then he walked over to stand next to her father and both of them started discussing his experiences working with the Drak’s staff.

Cassandra nursed her glass of wine for most of the hour, making small talk while nervously awaiting the vote. When the hour had finally passed her father called for everyone’s attention, and then asked for them to vote, “Everyone in favor of conceding to the orcish demands please raise your hand.” She watched with held breath; there were some anxious looks, but no hands. Her father nodded, “Alright, everyone in favor of rejecting the orcish demands, which means war, please raise your hands.” A sea of hands rose up, those not voting few and far between.

Her father stood, looked over his gathered nobles, then nodded slowly, his face stern, “War it is then, and may the gods be with us.”

 

***

 

Cassandra left the great hall a bit in turmoil, Brando looked at her questioningly, “Are you afraid we’ll lose? The military situation is heavily in our favor Cassy. We have twice their number, and we’re in a great defensive position. Even without the massive advantage Bragstone provides for. In all likelihood, these orcs don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.”

She didn’t answer at first, just walked along with him, until there was no one around anymore, then she looked up and locked eyes with him, “You haven’t met them, Brando. I did, and that warlord, Bashuk, he didn’t make empty threats. He was very assured of himself, and so were his chieftains. Now maybe they didn’t know how big our army is, but I doubt that. Which would mean the Drak and you seriously underestimate them somehow.” Brando shrugged, she continued, “And then there’s the issue of us, as in our army, seriously wronging them. They have genuine grievances: our army destroyed everything they had, killed all their loved ones, for no reason.”

Her voice took on a slight tremble. “They are furious, Brando, and they have nothing left in the world to lose. They’ll come for your throats like a pack of blood-crazed wulfen. Which makes me fear for your life.” She suppressed her anxiety, “And then there’s still the morals issue. I know they have left us not much choice but to fight them, but we enter this war with dirty hands.” She felt her eyes moisten, “I hope we can end this war with minimal loss of life, on both sides. And then we’ll have to somehow make up with them. Compensate them for what we did to them.”

Brando stopped and pulled her against him, “If there’s a chance for another parley, I’ll make sure the Drak takes it Cassy. See if we can still end this without bloodshed somehow.”

She melted into him, and he kissed the front of her head, hugging her close. After a minute she looked up, locked eyes with him, “Let’s go to my chambers, I need you.”

His face dropped, and he slowly shook his head, “I’m sorry Cassy, but the Drak will be looking for me. We agreed to return to the army as soon as possible should the nobles vote for war. There’s still a lot for us to do up north; the defenses have largely been fixed, but still need attention. We have to be as ready as we can be.”

She felt disappointment, “I understand. I hate to see you go already, but I understand.” Then she swallowed, “Please promise me you’ll be careful?”

He smiled, “I will, cross my heart and hope to die…”

It made her laugh, and she felt herself relax, “Okay, now promise me we are going to win this war…”

Movement at the end of the hallway drew their attention, it was the Drak. He grinned, “I should have known what kept you. Oh to be young and in love again…”

Brando nodded at the Drak, then locked eyes with her again, “I’ll have to go now honey, to win that war for you…”

She melted into him, and their lips met with unbridled passion. They kissed deeply, desperately, for what felt like an eternity. It probably was an eternity, because the Drak cleared his throat at some point, making Brando disengage. Her need for him was excruciating now, and she knew it was to be denied. Her eyes moistened, and tears started to run down her cheeks, as she cried softly. Brando pulled her close for a last time, “I’ll be back soon, honey. We still have a wedding to plan for the solstice, remember? I can’t miss out on that…”

She wiped her cheeks, then let go of him, and locked eyes with the Drak, “You take care of him for me, you hear. Bring him back to me with all pieces still attached. Or else…”

The Drak grinned, “You wish is my command, your highness.”

She watched Brando walk over to him, her betrothed winked at her, “Don’t worry honey, no one has as much to live for as I have. I’ll come back for you…”

With that both men turned and walked away, their footsteps reverberating through the stone hallway. Once they had moved out of sight Cassandra turned and ran towards her chambers, to that private sanctum where no one but her maidens would witness her cry.

 

*** To be Continued ***