Killing Kuroinu

by jedi7000nathan

In response to the Kuroinu Rebellion Challenge: the first of three sequels to Darkar Chronicles Empire's End, Killing Kuroinu. Tatsumi thought his days of killing monsters were over and that he could live in peace but when his latest journey takes him to a world in dire need of a hero even though the people there don't know it. Tatsumi x Mass Harem, Erasiel (OC) x harem

9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: In Defense of Feoh

Feoh a week later… Tatsumi and Erasiel took in the city of Feoh from outside, a rather large and imposing bastion that stood tall amid rather open plains surrounding the city. "That city will be a tough nut for the Dogs to try and crack" Tatsumi commented, Erasiel frowned.

"So was the Black Fortress, no fortification is impregnable each bastion has a weakness and we need to find it before our enemies do that way we can fortify and defend there: the first thing we need to do is identify our enemies within though as no doubt Volt already has agents in the city and I think I can deal with that endeavor" Erasiel replied, Esdeath and Aria walked up to the two, Erasiel stepped away allowing the two to be with Tatsumi alone.

"So, my dear Tatsu-bunny what is your plan? There are any number of factors at work and we do not have the largest force with us" Esdeath asked.

"Frankly we'll have to play it by ear, adapt as the situation changes: you once told me that in order to achieve victory to defeat your enemy you must know your enemy, at the moment we don't know what Volt will throw at Feoh or who is at his beck and call to try and take this bastion so we'll need to make it up as we go along, the most we can do is to fortify and defend, break the enemy that threatens us and once they're broken we cut them down to the last men and then use the captives to make an example: we need to set an example so that those who would be tempted to join Volt know what will happen to them if they do and that what Volt offers isn't worth the fate they'll suffer" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath smirked.

"I'll gladly help in helping you set that example, Nancy will too" Aria replied, Tatsumi took in the city and noted Alicia and Prim's retinue along with the two Princess Knights enter the city, at the moment they weren't allowed entry until Alicia discuss the matter with her older sister Iris who was the Queen of Feoh and a former Princess Knight who had given her seat to Alicia when it came time for her to take the throne after the death of their mother. That was fine by Tatsumi he wanted to avoid causing distrust and enmity from the locals; that left them with time to kill so he had dispatched scouts to look for signs of the Black Dog army that was going to be coming while the rest of his people prepared for battle as practice drills were underway and overseen by Spear and Najenda as Tatsumi wanted to make sure all of his soldiers were ready to perform at their best.

An hour passed and Tatsumi looked for riders, the first to return were his scouts who informed him that the Black Dog Army was about 10 miles from Feoh and were ignoring the countryside towns and villages on a forced march the strategy seemed to be focus on the city of Feoh secure it then attack what was weakly defended. Then came a rider from Feoh that rode up to him. "Her majesty Queen Iris Arcadia Artracus has granted permission for your troops to enter the city along with your Imperial highness; she wishes to speak with you personally: Princess Alicia also has requested your best military commanders to speak with her to oversee the defense" the Messenger informed, Tatsumi noted that the messenger was a young woman in plate armor and that didn't surprise him, a large number of the knights and soldiers of the Alliance were female, with the officer corps being about 80% women, the armor was ornate and full plate but overlapped by a tabard depicting the crest of Feoh that of two golden suns overlooking a pair of blue griffons with swords grasped in their talons.

"Good, I'll head there immediately, also inform the garrison commanders that the Black Dogs army is on approach to the city, about ten miles from here according to my scouts" Tatsumi replied, the messenger nodded.

"I'll notify Princess Alicia and Commander Vera: they'll want to start mustering the defenders" the messenger replied and rode off.

It took about five minutes to get everyone to move out, they were allowed entry to the gates which after the last of Tatsumi's company passed thru were shut tight, Tatsumi noted that the gates were made of a reinforced alloy, also he noted that a large number of pike wielding troops were getting ready to set up defensive formations, also that crossbowmen and archers were moving about on the walls bringing up large amounts of ammunition along with boulders and logs to be used as deadfall traps and pots of boiling tar and oil and to his surprise some bombard cannons of the type not used in the Empire for about 1000 years. "Here's hoping their defenses hold" Tatsumi thought then noted the ordinary people of the city barring their doors and readying weapons for a fight.

As they advanced into the city the fortifications grew more secure and Tatsumi noted that trebuchets along with archers and crossbowmen were set up along the rooftops of the taller buildings along with more cannons set up for siege warfare; the city was layered with large amounts of protective measures also Tatsumi noted a large cathedral of grand construction and the fact that the priests were blessing weaponry; Erasiel took a good look at them then frowned. "The High Priest is a traitor; his aura is as rotten as goblin piss" Erasiel commented to Tatsumi in a hushed voice.

"Noted, keep any eye out for more traitors that you can see their auras gives us a huge advantage" Tatsumi replied, Erasiel nodded and kept a tight eye out for troublemakers: there weren't too many of them but there were a sizeable number and Erasiel kept track of each he could see, fortunately, the soldiers that stood in crucial defensive positions weren't among them but as they were largely female in composition it wasn't a surprise at this point.

As they entered the city Luu-Luu stayed close to Tatsumi whom Origa clung to like a child afraid of what lies ahead, the real reason was to keep people looking into her hooded cloak and recognizing her. "You know Tatsumi you and I need to get better acquainted, I got Maia talking about what you two did and- I want in on it: I'm choosing ye to be my husband, no beating about the bush, where I come from if a Princess wishes to marry they get to pick" Luu-Luu replied.

"Are you sure about that, I mean we've only known each other for so long?" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, I mean it ye beat me in a fight, one of my stipulations about a husband was that I'd marry one who'd beat me in a fair fight, secondly he had to be a kind and selfless sort and it don't get more selfless then saving Origa and her ilk from the Dogs I can't even fathom what they had in mind for them the only thing I do know was that it would have been horrible: nothing good comes of those who work with green-skinned monsters in my opinion ain't nothing good at all and not even the Dark Queen of the Dark Elves deserved to fall into the hands of that vile lot and the same goes for the rest of her entourage doubly so for them as they haven't to my knowledge done anything that would warrant such a fate. Lastly yer too damn handsome, with eyes like yours they are gems, and the fact that you have the ladies throwing themselves at ye, its- well a girl's dream to end up with a man like that, much less one with yer standing and importantly age" Luu-Luu explained.

"That's an impressive commitment coming so soon" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed, but if yer wondering I won't fuck ya until after we've kicked the arses of the dogs that are coming for Feoh it'll be a nice reward for ya after saving the city; maybe prissy pants Alicia will warm up to ya too and give you something special and I can certainly see Iris getting the hots for ya" Luu-Luu explained, Origa chuckled. "What's so funny knife-ears?" Luu-Luu asked.

"The fact that you're so willing to throw yourself into a relationship so easily, I never expected that from a shield," Origa remarked.

"Well I'm not like the rest of the shields, not remotely, my folk are blunt and to the point because we are simple at the end of the day and we like things that way which mean no beating about the bush when it comes to matters of love, war and eating" Luu-Luu replied then noted the main castle coming into view as they arrived: Alicia and Prim were waiting out front, with them was another woman with blue eyes and black hair she wore a set of practical plate armor that offered great protection at her side was a longsword with a gem studded hilt, on her back a shield and cape along with a massive Greatsword and on her head a golden engraved winged helmet at her side was a noble rapier and she carried a steel round shield this was Knight Commander Vera the leader of The Queensguard.

"My sister is awaiting you, be courteous and carry yourself with the proper respect" Alicia explained, the party then went inside.

"So, Prim what is you role in all this" Tatsumi asked.

"Plain and simple I'm the princess of and rightful Queen of Ur, I only recently turned of age to rule and I've been here in Feoh as part of my education, now that I'm done with that I intend to return to Ur and take control of my Kingdom" Prim replied. "Also, Alicia was rather insistent on me not taking part in the battle but I'm old enough to fight and more then capable of doing so I'm a good battlemage thanks to Celestine's training, besides without me at her side Alicia would do something foolish" Prim replied.

"Would not" Alicia remarked.

"Trust me you would, and it doesn't take magic to tell me that its written all over your face" Prim replied.

"You tease me! You know Prim I don't appreciate you doing that Prim its rather unbecoming of a shield" Alicia replied.

"As your cousin and surrogate younger sister, it is my obligation in that role to tease you as much as possible, besides, you told me that my first principle as a shield is to be honest with both yourself and others and I'm simply being honest" Prim replied.

"Luu-Luu is this your doing?" Alicia asked, Luu-Luu laughed.

"Nye not my doing at all Alicia, Prim is just being realist, she's not a kid anymore neither are you Alicia so act like it: besides a more important question is how much are you looking forward to slicing of dog heads because I'm sure looking forward to killing those backstabbing cankerous bastards" Luu-Luu replied.

"Not remotely, I don't like the whole thing of killing former allies, you are so eager about it, I'm sure not all of Volt's men are loyal to this insane scheme of his" Alicia replied.

"If there are ones that aren't Princess Alicia they are in the minority and my gut tells me Volt will likely kill them soon enough as he clearly won't allow disloyalty" Erasiel commented.

"And even if there are those who don't see eye to eye with Volt there are the Greenskins and other monsters that serve him now, and they certainly don't have any qualms against mass rape, mass slaughter and mass destruction but be grateful that I still have those that wouldn't serve him, I just need to regain my strength to summon them" Origa added.

"I get the picture, still I'm not looking forward to killing people that were once our friends nor am I eager to work alongside enemies the people of Feoh been fighting for the last five centuries" Alicia replied.

"Were they really your friends Alicia? You should always asked that, especially since they are mercenaries and loyal only to themselves and to money, in my experience unless you give them more than they could ever dream of their loyalty is always dubious and even then you need to keep an eye on them" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm sure you know that from experience, did anything like this happen in your Empire?" Alicia asked.

"Which a mercenary uprising or a demon invasion because in either case both happened though not at the same time" Tatsumi explained.

"I see, well I guess there is nothing for it, but at least we can stick to our way of fighting" Alicia replied as they rounded the corner into the throne room entry hall where portraits of previous rulers occupied the walls.

"Your way of fighting is easily exploited by Volt, if you think he'll abide by your rules of warfare he won't, demons don't ever play fair and mercenaries don't either, they have no honor nor regard for those that do, if you continue to believe as you do Alicia then you'll end up their slave" Tatsumi replied, Alicia restrained herself from a rant, she knew on a deep level that he was right, but her pride just didn't allow her to acknowledge it.

"He's right you know" Nancy added.

"Oh, shut up, the throne room is up ahead" Alicia replied and opened the door for everyone.

On the throne sat Iris Arcadia Artracus, she had long scarlet hair and bright blue eyes her features resembled Alicia's but that was where the similarities ended, Iris was way more endowed then her sister and wore a gown in place of armor but Tatsumi knew she'd likely had it prepared for her to take part, on her head was a golden diadem decorated with sapphires. To the side of her was a small lanky old man with braided white hair and garbed in pompous attire with an equally pompous demeaner, of the two Tatsumi liked and trusted the Queen more.

"Welcome to my halls: I am Queen Iris Artracus, the fifth of my name to sit the throne, former shield and ruler of Feoh, this is my Prime Minister Ernest Beasley" Iris greeted, Erasiel looked to the side at the Prime Minister and saw his aura.

"So, these are the would-be heroes, little do they know that the west gate will fall soon, the explosives will soon be in place and my fellow friends just have to light them then Alicia will be mine and that proud fool Iris will be a cum dumpster for the dogs" Beasley's aura stated, Erasiel smirked knowing the scheme was now out without knowing.

"Your majesty I must take leave to use the privy: I'll return shortly" Erasiel replied to Tatsumi with a wink, Erasiel then left the throne room went down to the hall out of sight and teleported to the gate.

At the west gate Erasiel noted a number of nobles and wealthy merchants along with some of their guards moving a large cart that was full to the brim with barrels of gunpowder. "Gentlemen what do intend on doing with that" Erasiel greeted cheerfully.

"We're-"a Noble began when the cart suddenly vanished after having been lit.

"Going to blow up the gate? I am going to give you traitors a five second head start to begin running before I call the guards" Erasiel remarked, the nobles scampered off bar one that Erasiel grabbed before teleporting back to the throne room. "I'm back" Erasiel remarked dropping the cowering noble in front of Queen Iris.

"Lord Chutney what is the meaning of this?" Iris asked angrily.

"I caught him and a bunch of other nobles trying to blow up the gate; also, if I were you I'd detain Prime Minister Beasley he is a traitor and he has designs on raping Princess Alicia" Erasiel explained, then put his boot on the nobleman who sang like a canary.

"He's telling the truth! It was all Beasley's idea Volt promised him and all of us our pick of all you bitches when this battle was over if we came over to his side" Lord Chutney sang, Beasley drew a dagger and attempted to attack Iris only to be blasted against the wall by a magic spell named Vivoldous a white magic stunning spell case by Prim, Prim then walked over her eyes still glimmering from her recent use of magic and picked him up by the throat.

"TRAITOR!" Prim yelled her face contorted with rage. "You wanted to hurt Alicia? You bastard anybody that conceives of doing harm to my Alicia will be punished severely you're in for it!" Prim yelled as she rammed him against the wall rapidly before delivering a firm beatdown. "Locomotor Mortis!" Prim casted and Beasley's whole body began to move about like he was having a seizure apart from his legs which were frozen in place.

"You'll pay you'll be-"Beasley began only to be kicked by Prim.

"Shove it up your ass you traitor I don't want to hear any of your ranting about how I'll be the slave of some pigs no you're past that point: Iris I don't assume to be the ruler of Feoh, but I think it would be best for this traitor be locked up in the dungeon under heavy guard and restrained to the wall" Prim replied.

"Guards!" Iris shouted and a number of well-armed women stood at attention and moved over to Beasley. "Lock former prime minister Beasley in the dungeon immediately he is to be put under maximum security with extra shackles and take Lord Chutney with him and lock him up under the same conditions now!" Iris ordered and the women took both men away.

"I must commend you on your actions now how did you discover their plan" Iris asked.

"I can see a person's aura and with that their true thoughts and intentions, Beasley's aura was a blabbermouth about his schemes" Erasiel explained.

"Fast work Erasiel" Tatsumi remarked.

"Please Tatsumi it was nothing now I'd recommend preparing for battle immediately and double the guards at the gates in case they have a backup plan" Erasiel explained then both turned to the Queen.

"An interesting ability I assume you are a wizard?" Iris asked.

"Phoenix and I prefer the term Battle-Mage I am Lord Erasiel Nathan Darkar; chief advisor to his majesty Golden Dragon Emperor Tatsumi VII of House Gildenstrom ruler of the Golden Dragon Empire and lord of all Eden" Erasiel explained.

"Thank you for your actions Lord Darkar; now we must see to it that all members of Beasley's band of traitors are rounded up and locked up under heavy guard, Alicia see to readying a detachment of our best household knights to accompany Lord Darkar in rounding up the traitors; I must speak with our new royal guest, Prim see to rallying the troops for a defense order all the gates shut and prepare for a siege, let the people know that an army of traitorous dogs comes for our city and seeks to kill the men and make the women and children slaves to their twisted desires; and to my arms bearer Anastasia fetch my armor and weapons and inform my personal guard to make ready for battle" Iris ordered, the parties left leaving Tatsumi with the Queen.

"A fascinating day, though not one unexpected, unlike my younger sister I was never one to trust the Black Dogs I know what Mercenaries are loyal to at the end of the day and that is not to any household coat of arms or sovereign ruler, they are loyal only to money and themselves and as such I never trusted Volt or his ilk fully, I've told Alicia many times to watch herself around them, but did she listen well- no" Iris greeted Tatsumi.

"Why didn't you trust the dogs?" Tatsumi asked intrigued how he wasn't the only one to distrust Volt.

"My father died fighting a mercenary, a Hedge Knight and a Black Dog, he thought that chivalric honor applied to those in then the employ of coin so when a rogue knight sullied my honor and attempted to rape me when I had come into womanhood my father came to her defense challenging him to a duel; I would have defended myself but my Father was the king and any afront to my honor was an afront to his first and foremost, he died in the duel when his opponent having been disarmed pulled out a rondel dagger and cut my father's throat when he offered to help him back up; I ran the blackguard thru afterward; ever since then I've never trusted those who have no honor or loyalty to anyone but themselves and the Dogs have certainly warranted my distrust for that reason yet Alicia was naïve enough to think that she didn't have to keep one eye on them at all times thank goodness I'm the one in charge of the city because were she in charge of Feoh things would be a lot more tenuous I don't think Alicia would be wise enough to have believed your warning" Iris explained. "Anyway, you have done me a great favor by warning me of the impending attack on my city; I'd like to thank you for it and given that you are a fellow monarch I would as a request of you" Iris explained to Tatsumi.

"And that request is?" Tatsumi asked.

"As the recent betrayal has shown apparently none of the noblemen of suitable status in Feoh can be trusted, that was why I've refrained from any marriages for either myself or for my sister and cousin, there are too many ambitious nobles in Feoh and now they'll all be out in force for the Black Dogs which makes now as good time as any to get rid of those disloyal houses and replace them with middle-class courtiers given titles of nobility, that being said I'm in a bind as Queen I can't refrain from taking a spouse much longer I'm getting on in age, I need to bare children for my house as do Alicia and Prim especially Prim as she is one of the last remaining members of the Fiore dynasty of Ur, that kingdom has lost a great deal to internal intrigue and external battles and with that in mind few women and men remain that bear the names of Artracus or Fiore, my mother was a Fiore and the sister of Prim's father, and the houses of Artracus and Fiore have been allied and tied to each other for two-hundred years, we can't allow either dynasty to die out" Iris explained. "That being said you seem a trustworthy sort and- a handsome sort along with being an Emperor; I offer you my hand and that of my sister in marriage, I'd offer the same with Prim, but it is not my choice as she is now of age and gets to decide herself as Queen of Feoh" Iris explained, Tatsumi blushed.

"That's- well a bit- well- unexpected; we've only just met" Tatsumi replied, at this Iris chuckled.

"And indeed, we have, but I can tell already you are my type and Alicia's type too, I'm getting on in age honestly though how old are you? I'm about 22 and half and you are?" Iris replied.

"23 going on 24 come the winter seasons on Eden, which won't be for another 10 months we're in the spring" Tatsumi explained, Iris grinned.

"Interesting so Eden has more than 12 months, here on Eostia on Selinious anyway our calendars give use about 12 months with all seasons so you have more than 12" Iris explained.

"15 months to orbit Shinara and Solvactus our suns, five seasons: Spring, Summer, Second Summer, Harvest, and Winter; but really I'm guessing our ages aren't to different? But that's beside the point how old is Alicia and more importantly why are you offering your hand in marriage given that we've only just met" Tatsumi replied, at this Iris gave a coy expression.

"First off I'm attracted to you for starters, secondly Feoh as you can see isn't exactly full of trustworthy candidates for marriage granted perhaps if I had married Alicia to Beasley then perhaps he wouldn't have betrayed us I did consider it once but Alicia would have made a self-righteous stink about the age gap and I discarded the thought; my father might have made such an agreement and forced her to go thru with it but given that my father was killed by his own royal stupidity I've always told myself that I should usually do the opposite of what he would do when it comes to matters of real politick, strategy and court so that idea was buried under a mountain. Anyway, you've proven yourself trustworthy and honorable even if you do have more than one wife that isn't out of the ordinary; it would have been a few centuries ago but the orcs have killed so many of the men and young boys that those few that survive to adulthood have to marry many wives to make up the difference for those lost in the fighting; besides its very practical to keep the various nobles from fighting each other thru marrying the many families. Point being at the end of the day I'm offering this to you because I can trust you and importantly your arrival has at least for the moment saved my kingdom and city from falling into the hands of traitorous dogs and monsters of the black fortress; speaking of I'd like to speak to the Dark Elf Queen, I'm quite interested in meeting the woman who killed my grandfather in the Battle on Many Tears when I was five years old: as for Alicia she's 17 and Prim is 16; both of age to marry and in Alicia's case the sooner the better because I'd like ideally to get my sister as far from the court as possible and a marriage to the ruler of an Empire on another planet is about as far as I'm willing to send her" Iris explained.

"Ok- what's your issue with Alicia?" Tatsumi asked, Iris laughed.

"Oh, my issue with Alicia? My issue with her is that she an odious stuck-up self-righteous priss, I know she aspires to be an exemplar of Chivalry but in this day and age Chivalry of the kind she aspires to embody died in Feoh with our father and the flower of Feoh's most chivalrous knights died fighting alongside my Grandfather in the Battle of Many Tears; Feoh must adapt in the way we fight or we will lose everything and that is even more obvious what with the betrayal of the nobles, speaking of I will need to establish new noble houses to claim the lands of the traitors which is another thorn in my side because those not involved in the betrayal are going to make such a big hiss about the whole thing; by the way Alicia is stubborn about weaponry too I had to twist her arm to convince her that I was in my right to purchase the Halfling made bombards which are new to the defenses and I had to beat her in three dueling spars to convince her that Orcs don't fight fair when time came to teach her to swing a sword; I swear if my father hadn't gotten himself killed she'd never have been a shield but so he did and as custom when a Princess Knight must inherit their throne they are to give their position to the next of kin at least that is the law according to Celestine and it has worked well for five-hundred years also I'm inclined to trust a High Elf's word more than that of human from my kingdom any day of the week" Iris explained.

"I agree that Alicia can be stupid, but she is a solid fighter just- naïve" Tatsumi replied, Iris rolled her eyes.

"Naïve is putting it politely; lawfully stupid is what I'd refer to her as lawfully stupid; well I hope in this battle she does her part well and- I'd like you to keep an eye on her just in case she does do something stupid and I'd not be able to live with myself if she were killed or worst taken to be a slave by those monsters I'm even more terrified of what they'd do to Alicia then what they'd do to me" Iris replied and then left Tatsumi with a good amount to think about what Iris had said, comparing the two sisters was like comparing seasons the two were polar opposites when it came to convictions and they looked starkly different too which was a product of genetics and he thought about it for a whole five minutes as his four Rakshasas looked at him with affection. Tatsumi wasn't allowed to think for much longer when Alicia walked into the room followed by two knights both women and whom he recognized from his time in Ken as those two had been at Alicia's side during those talks, Alicia had dawned an Armet helmet that had a crested plum that protruded from the golden carving of Celestine atop the helmet, her visor was up.

"I've seen to introducing your vassal Lord Darkar to my knights, they have taken to following him in search of traitors; I'd- like to apologize" Alicia explained.

"What for?" Tatsumi asked.

"My words about your lack of honor, you actually have a good amount of it as you didn't join with those treacherous dogs and you went out of your way to rescue people who even though they were our enemies from- an evil fate that no one not even Origa deserves; no woman deserves what the Dogs have planned for them I've never heard of something so vile its worse than whatever Origa had planned; after I saw to the garrison I checked the dungeons to see that Beasley was properly secured and well the man was sick if he hadn't been shackled he would have tried to grope and fondle me; that filthy old pervert, and to think I respected him when I was a kid, the man was my father's most trusted advisor for him to betray us like that- its- inconceivable but I can't deny what my eyes see and my ears hear and while I hope this is all just a dream its obviously reality; but I'd like to know why, being infatuated with me is- well gross from an age standpoint but if he had let me know how he felt I may have considered it, but no he had to go and try to stab Feoh in the back. Anyway, thank you for what you've done, even if it means that I have to admit I was wrong about someone I thought I know it's disturbing when someone who has been a loyal subject and friend of my family since my Grandfather ruled Feoh could fall so far in such a quick amount of time; but I accept that it has happened; I'll see to executing Beasley myself after he's tried for this I have to set an example that I'm not an ignoramous" Alicia explained.

"I see. Thanks; so, are you ready for the coming battle?" Tatsumi asked.

"About as ready as I can be short putting down my visor down, my sword is keen, I'd ready my lance and mount my Pegasus if not for the fact that it isn't practical in a siege, it would make my poor Silvermane a target for any ballistae that the dogs have and I'd rather not make the last birthday present my father dear father gave a pincushion: fortunately they don't have cannons the Halflings don't sell them to Mercenaries, they are paranoid that some arrogant captain may think it would be a good idea to conquer a free city and make their own little kingdom; well ordinarily I'd say they were being stingy but given recent events- they had a valid point in keeping those out of the hands of people" Alicia replied. "Personally, I think they cost too much for doing something that a Trebuchet or Catapult can do, the real thing that in my opinion makes them worth it after Iris had insisted on demonstration is the sound they make when they fire, that loud boom made me jump the first time I heard it and that sound has made many greenskin raiders break ranks to run: I just think they aren't the most accurate of weapons and they do take longer to reload" Alicia added.

"Where I'm from cannons like those are antiques and museum pieces" Tatsumi replied, Alicia winced.

"I shudder to think what kind of weapons your world has and the savagery they could make on the battlefields of Eostia I also wish we had access to them as they'd be quite useful in our current predicament; but that's neither here or now; I'd like a rematch in sparring Emperor Tatsumi on your terms I do still have a lot to learn as a fighter and with the battle ahead I'd- well like to learn what I can as one never knows when it may come in handy" Alicia explained, Tatsumi grinned.

"Alright; just a fair bit of advice Alicia always be aware of your surroundings in my experience one needs to be aware of everything happening in close proximity to you, in actual battle don't get sepperated from your troops and importantly don't ever underestimate your enemy ever I have a number of scars including a rather large one from an injury that nearly killed me from learning that lesson the hard way; now let's go to the sparring grounds and I'll educate you in Imperial swordplay; fair warning I've instructed a fair few students and- well don't take losing too hard, I've only had about couple of students that I've taught disarm me on the first try and even then by pure luck as they could not replicate the feat on a second attempt" Tatsumi explained, Alicia nodded.

Shortly… Tatsumi took in Alicia and her posture as the two prepared to cross training blades, for the demonstration they both wore armor, Tatsumi let Alicia strike first to get a sense of her skill this time Alicia actually countered the sudden parry on Tatsumi's part rather effectively and soon from there the spar went to a series of different strikes being made by Alicia while Tatsumi stone-walled this time he wanted to see what her ability was without ending the fight prematurely that way he could see what specifically would help improve her fighting style. The bought ended after he had gotten enough information where upon he disarmed Alicia with a clean parry. "Good swordplay, you're fairly solid with a blade though there are a few amendments that can be made with your style the big one though is you need to adapt to your opponent and not put too much energy into each strike that will tire you out quicker, it can also leave openings that a keen expert with parrying or shield can exploit to disarm you as I've demonstrated; you need to grip your blade tighter and if you are going to use both hands I suggest getting a longer sword for more reach; the more distance you can put between yourself and your opponent the better and also don't be afraid to assume a defensive stance at the start of a fight its always the best to take a measure of your opponent's attacks before countering" Tatsumi explained.

"Thanks; you know you do know a good deal about swordplay who taught you?" Alicia asked, Tatsumi looked at her.

"A fair few people actually though largely myself I study practically every fighting technique I can get my hands on so that I can be prepared for all manner of things; a good portion though comes from self-teaching at first and then later reading every single book on the subject I could find and then practicing; just so you know Swords aren't the only weapon I can use I actually can use a variety of weapons, but swords are my weapon of choice" Tatsumi explained.

"I see; thanks for the spar, I'm going to need your help with something though now that I've taken your full measure" Alicia replied and then pulled a piece of parchment from compartment in her armor, on it was a map of the city. "There are a number of passageways in and out of the city; Beasley knew about them and I'd like to see to closing them up; that way if Volt wants to take Feoh he'll have to either do it the hard way with siege equipment or they'll have to siege us out giving time for Celestine and the others to gather their forces and relieve us: I may seem dense at times and well I tend to let my honor get in the way but in this case since Beasley is a traitor we need to close off any approach by which traitors can get in" Alicia explained.

"I'll help with that; do you have troops?" Tatsumi asked.

"About 200 good reliable soldiers that know about the passageways and can seal them off; all women and all aware of the stakes ahead; all of them would rather die than end up as- well you know" Alicia explained shuddering at the prospect.

"That's enough how many passages, better yet let me see the map" Tatsumi replied, Alicia handed to him and he looked over it rather quickly as cartography was something he was fond of looking at in his spare time considering how much Eden had to offer in terms of locations, he noted the cities layout and noted that a good number of the passages converged at two specific locations, those being the Temple of Celestine and the Palace itself.

"I see a few points that if we were to fortify or block up outright in these tunnels would shut the rest of the ways in altogether, when was the last time any of these tunnels were used" Tatsumi asked.

"About ten years ago when Feoh was last under siege, my Grandfather led a night attack on the orcs as they slumbered, my father wasn't happy one bit with the plan but he followed orders out of love for his father; I miss both of them by the way Tatsumi my mother too though she died when I was born, especially my daddy he never deserved what happened to him though I thought it was rude of Iris to view all Sellswords with the same brush but I guess her view saved her from trusting the Black Dogs, you know Tatsumi I hate people that betray their friends nothing is worst in my opinion then going back on one's word and even more so the longer it's been given" Alicia explained.

"When was the last time someone went down into the tunnels?" Tatsumi asked.

"We have dedicated patrols every weekend, always our most loyal knights, the same troops I've picked out in fact so about three days ago by now" Alicia explained.

"Anyone outside you and Iris that knows about them, besides Beasley?" Tatsumi asked.

"Bishop Claude knows about them" Alicia replied.

"He's the head of the church right?" Tatsumi replied.

"Why yes now that you ask?" Alicia replied, Tatsumi frowned and shook his head not sure how best to tell her it and deciding on the simple answer.

"Did Erasiel tell you he was with the conspirators" Tatsumi replied, Alicia's jaw dropped.

"Oh no; what in Celestine's name have I done!" Alicia stammered out.

"What's wrong?" Tatsumi asked.

"The Nunnery! the sisters of Celestine's Radiance I told the Bishop earlier to get them to safety; I shudder to think what he's done now that you mention that he could be doing horrible things to them right now" Alicia replied, both her and Tatsumi bolted in the direction of the church. As they arrived they rushed inside the chapel which was empty with no signs of either nuns or priest; Alicia ran over towards the organ and an engraved statue of Celestine that held the long pipes for the instrument, both were against the wall and Alicia opened the top of the organ pulling a concealed switch, at this the organ slid aside along with the statue to reveal a passageway.

Tatsumi and Alicia ran down the passage and looked for signs, soon they heard voices, Tatsumi looked and found men of the cloth laughing and drinking, he saw the four of the Nuns tied to the wall, each one was a beauty and each was scared and had dresses that were torn open. "A toast gentlemen before we enjoy our orgy to the victory of our allies and the glorious king of Cuntry King Volt!" The bishop declared and the cheers of long live Volt went up; Tatsumi and Alicia were angry but didn't rush in immediately they first looked and noted about 20 men fortunately none of them were armed and after a clean look for any weapons and the closest things to weapons in reach being their hands and feet both Alicia and Tatsumi rushed into the room.

"FREEZE!" Tatsumi yelled, the debauched priests dropped their glasses two drew daggers which was a mistake as Tatsumi before Alicia could say anything cut both down faster then she could blink, the sudden death caused the rest of the priests raise their hands in surrender to Alicia's shock Tatsumi sliced the hands of each priest off.

"Why did you do that?!" Alicia shouted.

"That was to keep any of them from using any potential weapons; besides traitors don't need hands they can get by with their feet, it's a precaution to keep them from escaping" Tatsumi explained; Alicia winced but understood the logic though it did disturb her that he did so without warning her.

"Please mercy!" The Bishop replied, Tatsumi kicked him then picked him up.

"I've got questions and you are going to answer them: First question why are you betraying your own people specifically those entrusted into your care as a Bishop and secondly why are you betraying your faith?!" Tatsumi replied.

"Why because celibacy is a curse; I was raised as a priest and I- couldn't help it I want to know women and fondle their breasts and- partake of forbidden fruit. But you want to know why I betrayed because Celestine is a false goddess! For centuries, the people of Feoh have worshiped her but what has she given in return nothing but war and suffering; Volt offers something else in return asks us only to worship the true god Lucifer in return and we can do whatever we want! I took that offer with open hands and these nuns well they deserve to be-"The Bishop ranted before being socked in the jaw, the man fell like a bowling pin. Tatsumi then went about cutting the chains binding the nuns, with the woman free to the shock of Alicia the four Nuns each grabbed the nearest deacon and began to strangle them. "Stop! They must stand trial!" Alicia yelled, the Nuns ignored her and one of them grabbed the knife dropped by the two men slain by Tatsumi, this nun who had dark black hair and wore glasses drove the blade repeatedly into the man's liver and dragged it down the lower part of the body disemboweling him; Alicia tried to restrain her but Tatsumi held her back.

"Don't interfere, they are in a mood for vengeance interrupting vengeance seekers against evil people in my opinion isn't a good idea as they aren't in a rational state of mind; they are just as likely to harm you as they are them" Tatsumi replied.

"But they've got to stand trial you can't just kill them outright without a trial" Alicia replied, Tatsumi looked at her.

"I know; but in this case its best if they kill those monsters now; at least the underlings I'll take the bishop though" Tatsumi replied and knocked the old-man out with the flat of his sword; Tatsumi didn't bother tying the man as he was unable to do anything without his hands, soon Alicia's knights arrived having been given directions to secure other passageways, other nuns had been found alive along with a number of other men who were held captive.

Shortly… The ex bishop was brought before Iris who was even more irate to find out he was a traitor then Alicia had been and when he gave her his reasoning for the betrayal Iris drew her dagger and cut out his tongue. "You'll speak no more blasphemies, after the trial this man will be burned at the stake" Iris explained then two guards dragged the man off; Iris took the man's tongue and flung it into the hearth in the middle of the room. "I hope that was the last of the traitors, Darkar has been sending guards back with them from all over the city; I've given orders to make ready for the defense; Darkar also was fortunate to stop that wagon when he did, turned out he had just turned it invisible and in that wagon was a good amount of Feoh's powder stores for the Bombards, I wager many nobles will want to wed their daughters to him after this if we yet live" Iris explained.

"How many troops do you have?" Tatsumi asked.

"As far as for Feoh itself I've 10,000 men and women at arms and 5,000 knights along with about 500 Elven Archers and one of their Archmagis that were sent by Celestine for defense against invasion, We've about 1000 battlemages though about half of them haven't yet finished their training at the academy: other then that I've got about 700 halflings most of them to crew the bombards but there are few of their battle troops and after them whatever people I can get to gather arms at short notice, the rest of my forces are focused on the defense of other positions fortunately to get to them the enemy will have to go thru Feoh first, the terrain makes any other path impossible and even if they could there isn't a village without a stone wall as I made sure every single one was fortified when I first came to the throne 5 years ago" Iris explained. "What have you brought with you?" Iris asked.

"About 2,000 of Eden's finest, two hundred of Erasiel's own household troops and about 5000 angry Halflings courtesy of Luu-Luu on the way here and 60 Dark Elves all women and all eager for revenge two of which are powerful sorceresses, other then that whatever Celestine can spare will come at some point" Tatsumi explained, Iris grinned.

"Well I'll take every one you brought with you, in this time of war I cannot afford to be picky or blinded by old ideals; Selinious and Eostia as a whole are changing and we can't hold to old traditions to survive we need to adapt to fight this threat and we need to make do with what we are given, we need to make every soldier we have be worth a thousand of the enemies, how far do you think Volt will be willing to go?" Iris replied, Tatsumi frowned remembering Volgoth and then noting that Volt was potentially more evil then him and was the son of Valtor the demon that unleashed all manner of evil on Eden just to create Volgoth.

"I don't think there is anything he won't do to win, he is a demon and demons from my experience are pure evil, there is no low they won't stoop to in order to fulfill their goals and Volt's goals are pure evil; he's no better then Volgoth in fact I think he may be worse" Tatsumi replied, Iris was puzzled by the name Volgoth. "I should explain, Volgoth was the name of the most evil creature to ever walk the face of Eden and darken the skies of my homeworld, he was pure evil and there was no limit to his evil and cruelty, he ate human beings, murdered people, defiled men, women and children in the most heinous ways, Volgoth brought more suffering to Eden then anyone else in the history of the world, he murdered my father, raped and ate my aunt alive in front of my uncle before murdering him with his own sword, he forced me to live in exile and ignorance of my rightful rule and planed to do horrible things to my cousins, he also destroyed my nation and made me rebuild it from scratch. No Volt if he's anything like Volgoth will do anything he wants to do no matter how evil it is; if you think you know what evil is take that as the minimum the levels of evil that demons are capable make anything even the worst of humanity can do pale in comparison; Volgoth was so evil that he made the most evil humans on Eden look like angels; that's how evil these monsters are; the Dogs are just evil humans but Volt and Ginyol they are both demons and the sons of the Devil himself there is nothing they won't do if it means they get what they want and whatever that is it cannot be allowed to happen" Tatsumi explained, Iris looked at him a face of pure worry on it; the door opened and Origa walked in.

"I've been informed you wished to speak with me. If its about your Grandfather I had little choice but to kill him it was a matter of self-defense" Origa replied.

"No Queen Origa Discordia that is not what I asked you to come to me for and I can't bother to worry about that now; no what I need you here to discuss is how I'm to be able to have fight in any meaningful capacity; I'm not worried about old scores when my kingdom is on the brink of destruction at the hands of literal demons from Hell itself" Iris explained.

"I understand and its just Origa Discordia now, I'm queen of nothing at the moment and can't call myself Queen without a kingdom to rule or subjects to rule over, my personal entourage aside I don't have any subjects or a nation to lead, at the moment I'm just Origa Discordia, the most powerful Dark Elf Sorceress to ever live and a humbled Sorceress at that; to think there are beings of greater magical power that can break my wards without so much as flinching makes one question their own power" Origa replied. "As to role I'm a sorceress who still had much of her magic but not as much as I'd had before, I'm suspecting it has to do with being far from Garan and my citadel I'll gladly however put my skills with magic to use against those damn vile dogs; for what they did to my home and what they had planned to do to me and my faithful servants I must have full reckoning" Origa replied.

"I'm glad to have you then as sorceress just mind yourself around my subjects until they see your heroics they will not be inclined to trust you, also don't assume because we are now allies against this enemy I've forgotten the centuries of woe you brought on my homeland you will face trial for your crimes, but I'll not cast judgement Celestine will do that when the time comes" Iris replied.

"I understand, anyway if that is all you have need of me I'd like to speak to Tatsumi, in private." Origa replied, Tatsumi nodded.

Shortly… Origa led Tatsumi to an out of the way room where no one was present. Tatsumi quickly found his lips captured in a kiss by Origa, used to this kind of thing Tatsumi returned the kiss before the two broke it. "Good lips" Tatsumi remarked.

"That was my first kiss by the way; I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Now let me explain myself; its rather simple really there is much I owe you Tatsumi; a great deal in fact, you were merciful in my defeat then when Volt revealed his true colors you did not hesitate to not only take me with you but also my subjects, that was very selfless especially considering the state of my race; or rather those loyal to me. Not only that you've shown a good deal of mercy and even offered me a new home on Eden, its something I cannot repay lightly Tatsumi" Origa explained.

"Is this what I think it is?" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed it is; you know I never thought that I'd- find myself in the position of falling in love with a human, not after what happened to my father not after what the humans of Rad did to my people or what the mercenaries did to my mother, not after being betrayed by a man I thought my friend; I- love you Tatsumi, you are the most selfless human being I've ever met and its all the better given that you aren't from Eostia you have no long standing reasons to hate me like many of the people in these lands do you've only treated me with kindness and respect, you've done likewise to my subjects especially Chloe whom you've done a great kindness by taking her with you, she of all my subjects or rather my former subjects and just my friends now because I'm no Queen without a nation to rule and one I cannot rule again not with what I've done, I regret all I've done I- should not have waged that war because of it my people the remaining dark elves of Garan are but myself and those in my care and- now in your care" Origa explained. "Now you may think me rash for rushing into a relationship with someone I've known only for a matter of days, my people are not one to beat about the bush; we Dark Elves aren't known for our chastity by any means like our High Elf cousins or even our Wood Elf Cousins, when we decide on a relationship we don't hold back; I've never done it myself nor have any of my surviving subjects as they would not mate with a human of Eostia and all the Dark Elves of Garan that remain are female; that is perhaps the greatest fault of my conflict my people were nearly driven to extinction only those that live in the land of my former allies were spared and thrive but they view me as a pariah to my own kind; not one of the males of their kind would consider mating with me let alone taking me as a wife; but I want a family I want children; I'm still young by my races standards, we elves live for about on average 7000 years I'm but 700, my subjects are younger and Misery is the youngest less then 70 years of age; I raised her myself but I want children of my own issue so with that in mind I've chosen you to be my mate and should you wish it husband. I thought I'd never trust a human being again let alone love one; I've never been so happy to be wrong about something" Origa explained further she then kissed him again; Tatsumi accepted it.

The kiss was brief but felt like it was long; after Origa broke the kiss Tatsumi smiled. "I think we should head somewhere more comfortable I prefer having a bed and place to guarantee privacy" Tatsumi commented, Origa smirked.

"We're both in agreement; I think we should ask one of Iris's servants where the guest quarters are; we'll have time before battle for each other the dogs will have expected the walls to be shattered by explosions and open gates they will have not brought siege equipment and it will take them a good amount of time to construct ladders and rams perhaps some days so let us enjoy the time before battle commences together" Origa replied.

Shortly… It proved a simple matter to get an escort to the guest quarters in fact Prim herself happened to bump into them soon after they left the room and she was enthusiastic to help and- it was obvious to both Prim had a crush on Tatsumi, as soon as they thought they Prim was out of earshot and they had entered the modest guest quarters Origa cast a spell to relieve Tatsumi of his clothing before doing the same herself but without magic and making a show of it; Tatsumi knew she was new to it but she was trying her best to be as seductive as possible, when the last piece of her purple garb was discarded the two took in eachother, Origa noted immediately the hard on that Tatsumi had- all ten inches stood erect but that was secondary to the scars on his body especially one on his shoulder. "Ouch" Origa commented. "I can use a healing spell to mend those scars if you wish it" Origa remarked.

"No; I'll keep them, they are reminders of what happens when I make mistakes that could have cost me my life" Tatsumi replied then took in her wonderful body; her breasts were immediately the most obvious thing they were bigger then Esdeath's a solid G-Cup, something Tatsumi had never seen in a woman neither human or Dwarf or really any other race, perhaps it was something adherent with Elves that allowed them to have- far more developed bodies then humans or possibly sorcery on Origa's part.

"They are natural; I can tell what you are thinking and I like the fact that you are fixated on my breasts, we elves have- different growth rates then humans, I can assure you no magic is at play other then the magic wards I have to protect my body from abuse; they won't prevent you from enjoying me they are meant to protect against- rape, but not consensual acts" Origa explained, Tatsumi noted the rune on her chest near waist, the rest of Origa's body was extremely developed, though she wasn't muscular though as a caster that was to be expected as facing the enemy in close melee was not her forte in battle or her method of fighting, magic was her weapon and if need be a bow or sword should a foe close in; she kissed him then clasped his length in the palm of one of her soft hands. "It's not as rough as I thought it would be yet it is erect" Origa commented then kissed Tatsumi, this kiss was more passionate their tongues locked but Tatsumi's far more experienced tongue prevailed, they broke the kiss and Origa knelt on the ground. "I think its best if I warm your length in the valley of my breasts I've never done it before but my mother told me that- well it should be divine" Origa replied and wrapped her breasts around his length and moved them slowly up and down then licked the top two inches and tip that barely protruded from the valley of her cleavage. Tatsumi moaned audibly, he had received enough paizuris to be love the feeling.

Unknown to Tatsumi but well known to Origa whose keen ears could pick up noises about a mile and half away Prim was nearby, the room they were in was adjoined via a shared bathroom and Prim was fingering herself and moaning Origa smiled internally. "I think as soon as I've enjoyed myself I'll surprise Prim and bring her in" Origa thought, unknown to both of them Prim was- well a closet pervert and sharp enough to realize the two were going to have sex, it was also obvious to Origa and Tatsumi both that Prim was interested in Tatsumi romantically and possibly Origa herself as Origa had noted the princess taking a good look at her breasts either out of jealousy for her elven body or bisexual lust. "We'll have to see; but I'm going to enjoy Tatsumi myself first" Origa replied moving her breasts up and down before allowing his length freedom so she could blow him, while she was virgin she did know enough about sexual techniques to easily please a human as her education had been meant for an elven spouse and elves could be more- demanding in their enjoyment from such pleasures as their race felt emotions like love more strongly then humans and pleasure more strongly then emotion especially sexual pleasure and the pleasure that came with enjoyment and far more when the two were combined and added to by emotions.

This combination of factors made Origa rather euphoric and determined to make Tatsumi as happy as possible also her stamina was far different from that of a human as an elf she had endurance beyond even Tatsumi and stamina as well, elves needed fewer hours of sleep then humans and a human would never be able to wake up before an elf and especially Dark Elves whom as their names suggested preferred darker biomes to call their homes and as such operated on less sleep then other elves. Origa deepthroated Tatsumi effortlessly her jaw was capable of taking him deeper then any other woman ever had in fact he was balls deep inside her mouth; Origa caressed the length with her tongue and sucked feverishly her hands fondled Tatsumi's rump all the while smiling as she did so, he soon had reach his limit and released, Origa swallowed the whole load before giving the length on last lick; Tatsumi then unexpectedly picked her up and set her on the nearby bed. "Let me show you want I can do with my tongue" Tatsumi remarked.

"I'm looking forward; I'll bet it will be- memorable" Origa replied, Tatsumi kissed her then kissed down her body till he came to her wet vagina; he caressed first the outer folds with practiced easy to Origa moaning rather loudly; she hadn't ever experienced anything like this and her euphoria was extreme, it became all the more rousing when Tatsumi's tongue went inside her folds, he did confirm her virgin status and looked for her pleasure spots, to his surprise she had quite a lot of them more then even Merraid which was a shock given Merraid's habits in fact thinking of Merra was enough to make him wonder how she'd react to him being in this position she'd be green with envy and pink with lust as Origa was well a lesbian's dream to get into bed with. Tatsumi didn't have to spend more then two minutes before the already aroused Origa had her first orgasm, by comparison to human juices the elven juices had more in common with wine then with the salt water; Tatsumi lapped them up, he then was pinned by Origa who eagerly hovered above his length. "Oh this is going to be amazing" Origa remarked then came down, the feeling of Tatsumi going up inside her was too much and she came a second time upon entry she then leaned over and kissed Tatsumi aggressively ravishing him with kisses, her arms wrapped around him as she passionately kissed him Tatsumi moved his hands to grasp Origa's rump and Origa moaned audibly as Tatsumi thrusted into her, she shortly found the roles reversed and in the missionary position, Tatsumi then turned to her breasts and as he loved doing all the time during sex began to drink from them; the milk was- sweeter then anything he'd ever tasted and he'd tasted the finest Eden had to offer given his status as Emperor but Origa's milk was so far the best milk he had ever tasted perhaps Celestine had better though thinking on that made him take a serious pause considering the fact he hadn't even gone anywhere with regards to the Elven goddess in both the figurative and literal sense and thinking about her when doing Origa felt wrong; no he had to enjoy Origa and love her, if Celestine were to come into a relationship of this nature with him he'd cross that bridge if it ever came to it; he hoped that Origa would be with him when that time came and it was needed as Celestine was her friend and Celestine would need some pointers.

Origa moaned louder, fortunately Origa had cast a spell that would prevent her servants from hearing; she'd have to break the news to them and needed to keep Chloe and the more protective elves from doing anything rash; in fact she very much wanted them to experience what she was experiencing, she had a future for them in mind and hopes that aspired, after the war she knew Tatsumi would provide anything she needed and for that matter wanted.

Meanwhile… As Tatsumi and Origa were busy enjoying each other's attention the rest of Tatsumi's harem was busy at work, those most busy were Esdeath, Moegi and Najenda, the three brilliant military minds were doing their best to both instill new resolve into the defenders and improve the defenses to ride out even the most aggressive of assaults. When it came to this sort of troops that were on hand Moegi was the most qualified when it came to military tactics while not remotely comparable to her own Hungry Wolves an elite army of professional soldiers from Moegi's homeland of Tenrou in the Isles of Wakoku on Eden she was familiar enough with the military tactics of the world over and while Esdeath and Najenda were experts in warfare they were used to the Imperial doctrine of fighting which included a good number of more- tools when it came battles then what they had at the moment which was in their minds about 700 years obsolete in terms of technology; granted the Empire for a long time had areas that were just as developed as Eostia's kingdoms but that had changed greatly since Tatsumi had become Emperor and in five years since he had become Emperor the entire Empire had been modernized with advanced technology courtesy of their Dwarven and Atlantean allies whom had provided no shortage of support in rebuilding the war torn Empire.

Moegi's homeland was by contrast now developing but before the conquest of it by the Empire it hadn't changed much in terms of advancements in over 3000 years which was saying something considering the rest of Eden was advancing to some degree, Moegi however was one of those people that saw the writing on the wall of clinging to the old ways in the face of a growing Empire; her former liege lord King Zuou of Tenrou and self-proclaimed Supreme Shogun of all Wakoku had been one of those people that had seen the writing on the wall but he also was a fool that let his pride blind him in his decision making, he declared war on Empire when Tatsumi had accepted a marriage contract that would see him wed to Princess Rinzu of Soukai a rival kingdom to Tenrou that had made the decision to avoid being conquered by Tenrou. Moegi herself had been sent in by Zuou after Tatsumi defeated two of Zuou's other elite generals, one being Yomihime whom had defected and the other was executed for crimes against the people of Soukai and by extension the Empire itself by being drawn and quartered, Moegi saw the writing on the wall and being an insatiable nymphomaniac tried a different tactic that being to try and seduce the Emperor in an endurance contest to see who could outlast the other; Tatsumi had outlasted her and it was rather close too but still he had outlasted her and still had she bet about six rounds left in him. After that experience Moegi became fanatically loyal to Tatsumi and completely so, the prospect of being with any other man would be stupid as only he could keep up with her and any other lover would pale in comparison, so she married him and in the Imperial Conquest of Wakoku she made out like a bandit seizing the majority of Zuou's estates and most of the Treasure fleet, these spoils of war combined with Tatsumi's own wealth as Emperor made it so she could have anything she ever wanted, all she had to give in return was her loyalty and her skills as a military commander.

"Those Dogs are easily the stupidest enemies I've ever had the opportunity to command against, they think with their limp dicks and not their brains; you can see their formations a mile off and the monsters their bringing with them- well they are even worse; so which of us is going to get the most kills in this battle" Moegi replied.

"Esdeath" Najenda remarked, Moegi grinned.

"I know; I know it will hardly be a contest; Susanoo shouldn't be sold short thought my friend" Esdeath remarked slyly.

"Susanoo is impressive but he's his own separate being his kills are his own not mine, you on the other hand Esdeath with the extract and control of ice- you'll wipe out a good number of the enemy before they get to the wall" Najenda replied.

"Fair point, the real question today is how will these troops will fair in the coming battle; our new enemies are not to be taken lightly as we all know the stakes too well" Esdeath replied, the two friends looked somberly at each other; shared memories of the War that Mattered on Eden five years prior were fresh in their minds they knew what they were facing and the stakes when Erasiel explained to them and Tatsumi that Volt was an actual demon and son of Valtor the demon who had created the worst monster in Eden's history and had twisted Eden with his foul influence, something that had since been wiped out but the scars were still there and Volt's plan was about as demented as Volgoth's if not worst as Volgoth had been bent on destruction, Volt was bent on domination and enslavement of the people of Eostia and the death of any man that stood against him. With that in her mind Esdeath took in the troops of the garrison, mostly women but with some men mixed, Esdeath looked in the eyes and at the faces of the men and woman, it had been two years since she last commanded troops in war and that had been a lopsided affair full Imperial might in addition to Imperial technology with the support of the Empire's allies had seen that war last three months and the Empire hadn't used even a tenth of its military power. Here on Eostia however she was in charge of troops using archaic weaponry and armor along with archaic tactics in addition to having completely different styles of warfare, they were human but they were a different sort of human then those of Eden and they were fighting an enemy that Esdeath hoped she would never have to fight again and here they were fighting demons again alongside strangers and against a far more powerful enemy then Volgoth ever was.

"Warriors of Feoh; I am Empress Esdeath Patras Gildenstrom of the Golden Dragon Empire of Eden, I'm the greatest military mind that my nation perhaps my planet has ever produced, I've led many armies to many victories, but I haven't led an army quite like yours as your people are far different from my own. Nevertheless the art of war remains the same regardless of where war is fought. Speaking of we are at war and we are at a war with an enemy that is evil beyond imagining; if we fail to stop them all the women here and across Eostia will become slaves forced into whoredom and to endure all manner of demented abuses at the hands of monster both in human skin and literal monsters and men among you will be either forced to partake and agree or be put to the sword; your sons will be slaughtered and daughters made into bedwarmers for monstrous men, the children won't be spared. But will we allow those demons to take our freedoms to take our livelihood and make us slaves?!" Esdeath began, cries of "NO!" went up from the soldiers. "We will not let them win; we will stand and we will fight and fight to the death if we must; kill as many foes as you can and to the women among you should you face capture take your own life rather then allow yourself to be taken by the monsters and protect those whom need defense against these monsters to them all women are slaves to do whatever they wish to; no evil is beneath them and death is preferable to being enslaved by them!" Esdeath continued; the troops pounded their weapons against their shields and cheered.

"Know that this is not my home but I will fight to defend your people and your homes as if they were my own; I've faced the savagery of monsters, my tribe was reduced to two people by monsters like them and we will not let them take our freedom! Now make ready for battle, make sure your weapons are sharp and your armor has not a chink to be found ready yourselves for battle and remember that this battle decides whether your children will live free and die free or be born and die slaves!" Esdeath spoked and concluded her speech to grand ovation of cheers, Najenda and Moegi looked at her and grinned. "Well my sisters its your turn now" Esdeath whispered, the two grinned and took their turns at speaking before they took the troops aside and planned for battle.

Back with Tatsumi… Tatsumi breathed heavily as Origa moaned, he was enjoying her ample rump, the fact that he'd gone ten rounds with her already and she was still full of energy was impressive soon he came again and Origa looked at him. "Take a breather I'm going to clean my hair out, you came in it and I have to maintain my looks" Origa commented.

"You asked me to do that" Tatsumi replied,

"So I did, just to know how it felt and its starting to itch so I'm going to adjourn to the washroom to clean up" Origa replied, Tatsumi didn't even consider the fact that she could just use magic to do so, which was good for Origa as her it meant that she could deal with the voyeur that had gone into said washroom. As soon as she walked in she noted Prim about to sneak out. "Where are you going?" Origa asked and Prim made a quick EEP and slipped on the marble tile floor, the fact that her clothes were lose and that Origa's keen nose could smell her fluids was a dead giveaway that Prim had been watching and eavesdropping.

"Oh I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Prim apologized, Origa giggled.

"You have nothing to apologize for, its perfect normal at least among my people to have- such tendencies. I'm just surprised you didn't join in considering how- wet you are if I'm honest from one monarch to another or rather a former monarch to another monarch you get the point we're equals in rank so you don't mind if I talk to you as such" Origa replied.

"I've got no problem at all, none at all, just- Ok you caught me, and I'll admit it I may or may not have been making eyes at- you know who since we left Ken and I certainly did overhear my cousin suggesting a marriage proposal to you know who something I'd love to have myself and I admit I was listening to you to do lewd things but I wonder why it is you- didn't wait until you were married to do so" Prim replied, at this Origa laughed, something that caught Tatsumi's attention.

"Marriage? Well we Dark Elves do practice it but we aren't like our High Elven cousins in that we wait to engage in as you put it lewd things before doing so; no if a Dark Elf woman selects a mate well she doesn't wait until marriage to do the deed, it starts right then and there and then marriage comes afterwards: rather strange to you humans but that's how my people have lived for millennia and while I refrained from taking a mate for a long time I just did and as such it was only right take things to the next step in courtship; now why restrain yourself from joining in; its obvious you want to, he'll have no problems if you ask and you certainly are a catch so go ahead" Origa replied, Prim blushed rose red and begin to say "Well-" when Tatsumi walked into the room with a blanket wrapped around himself like a cloak.

"What's going on- Prim what are you doing here?" Tatsumi asked, Prim's blush covered her whole face and she did the only thing she could think of doing in the circumstances and kissed him on the lips full bore without a word before breaking it.

"I was being a naughty girl and doing naughty things; I'm sorry for doing so but- I've been like this since I was twelve and normally its around Ali- I mean in private and I took a look at some books that Alicia wanted to keep hidden from me- ok I'll admit that to I have weird feelings for my cousin I love her and not just in the family way and- I love you too- I- Oh fuck it: at this point I've thrown away my chances of marriage once this whole thing gets out and Alicia will be repulsed by my feelings I might as well go and surrender to the Dogs right now maybe then I'll feel welcome" Prim replied and began to leave but Tatsumi shouted "NO" and Origa blocked the exit.

"Prim take a deep breath and listen" Tatsumi said calmly Prim did so. "I know how you are feeling; at least half of what you are feeling and I'll admit I'm attracted to you to and was going to ask what you thought of a marriage treaty after the battle but since I see you are eager to jump into one I have to make that offer now, I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do and we can do whatever you want to do as long as you promise me NEVER to talk about surrendering yourself to those monsters again trust me I've seen what monster like them do to young innocent woman like you and to girls who are still children they do horrible things that you most certainly don't want to be subject to what they'll do; you've got your whole life ahead of you and a nation to rule its a lot of pressure I should know I've been in your shoes before and trust me when I first became a ruler it was NOT a walk in the park I became Emperor when the exact same thing that is happening to your world right now happened to mine, what happened I didn't give up I pushed on and won and now I have pretty much everything I could want in life and the monsters on Eden were wiped out; you've got a kingdom to rule and if you need my help you are going to get it; I'll do whatever you need me to do Prim just for the love of all things holy never even consider surrendering to those monsters that's a life you DEFINITELY want to have no part in at all; I should know I was faced with that exact same threat" Tatsumi explained calmly Prim then hugged him and he hugged her like he would his sweet Angelica after she had a nightmare; that child-like innocence was there in Prim but she was a woman, an adult by laws of both Eden and Eostia and he wanted that to stay in some form and not have it by snatched violently from her like his cousin Makoto's innocence had been; no that could NOT be allowed to happen, if Prim wanted to marry him and to have sex with him he'd do so; and the latter if she wanted to do it now and then was something neither of them had a problem with, largely because it at least gave Tatsumi the comfort that Prim could not have her virginity stolen by any of the monsters outside the city's walls and whom were now arriving and were rather irate to notice the walls were still intact.

Prim blushed and then kissed Tatsumi on the lips, that kiss became passionate rather quickly and Tatsumi was surprised how eager Prim was with using tongue, Origa smirked as the two kissed then waited patiently when the kiss stopped. "Well are you ready Prim?" Origa asked.

"Yes; so ready for this" Prim replied and ran into the room quickly throwing off all the articles of clothing she wore with the exception of her crown; she grinned and swayed seductively.

"You act like you've done this before" Tatsumi remarked.

"I haven't I've just read my share of literature and- I may know a lot more then Alicia thinks; if she thinks she knows me inside and out she's wrong, I'm not as sweet and innocent as she thinks; I've got my- interests and I've been wanting to do this for a while I'm a queen but my rank keeps me from doing so to just anyone and- well I wanted for a while to have Alicia be that person but you're perfect for the role; handsome, charming, kind, courteous and most importantly you have penis like that of a horse its big and thick" Prim replied then slapped his rump and jumped onto the bed spreading her legs and using her hand to spread her vaginal folds outwards as she smirked seductively. "Ravish me" Prim commanded, Tatsumi smiled then calmly moved onto the bed and with one quick move popped Prim's cherry, Prim then agreesively kissed him, Origa leaned in behind and then pulled them back allow her to straddle Tatsumi's face Tatsumi then worked his magic tongue while Origa received an unexpected kiss from Prim who fondled Origa's breasts which were larger then Prim's making the Pinkette ever the slightly more jealous. Origa was surprised to see Prim being so assertive and well she'd never expected a girl to kiss her in such a manner ever not even Chloe whom Origa knew had a crush on her even though her servant tried to hide it and add to the fact that it was a human doing so and a princess of a kingdom she had previously been at war with for five centuries well- it was likely something out of a crazy dream.

Prim kept kissing Origa and pressed her breasts against Origa's while Prim's impressive F-cups were on Esdeath levels of stacked they were dwarfed by Origa's H-cups and it showed or it would have had Tatsumi been able to see it as at the moment the most he could see was Origa's loins. Of the three Prim came first, Tatsumi did so after and Origa climaxed at the end, Tatsumi then took a breather as he noticed Prim laying on her front wagging her butt seductively. "You know I've always wanted to try it from this end" Prim remarked, Tatsumi smirked and popped her black cherry much to Prim's delight. Prim then started making these rather unique moans that were distinct from the ones she had previously made; Origa placed herself to Tatsumi's side and Tatsumi began to drink from her right breast, Origa moaned loudly, were it not for the spells that Origa had casted on the room to keep in noise and keep out people the whole wing of the palace would have heard them with their racket as it stood not even Erasiel with his keen Phoenix ears could hear them and that meant nobody else could either.

Soon Tatsumi lost himself in the haze of sex, Origa's face as he went thru the forms became less like an elven queen and more like a slut in the brothel and Prim went thru similar expressions though Prim's were even more perverted but also kept the air of authority. When it concluded all three were pilled on each other with the bedding covering them. They then took an hour nap and afterwards Prim was the first out and decided to go out of her way to make sure that nobody least of all Alicia suspected a thing, in the case of Tatsumi and Origa the two didn't care in the least if someone found them abed with each other it was expected at this point the former Queen had eyes for him and would follow up on that affection at some point.

As the afternoon came the army of the Dogs arrived at Feoh shocked to see the walls intact and even more so when the bodies of the priests on Iris's orders were catapulted out at them making it clear that they would have to take the city by conventional means and not by subterfuge. Erasiel and a few of his fellow Phoenixes in his entourage took to the sky and scouted out the exact enemy strength and harassed the efforts of the enemy to build siege equipment.

Speaking off those reports revealed that the Dogs hadn't brought any artillery or any siege equipment with them, apparently they had stacked their success on subterfuge and they were now having to improvise, most of the army were of the abherent variety with large numbers of Orcs, goblins and other former members of Origa's army making up the bulk of the force, and the dogs themselves while numerous seemed to be mostly made up of light infantry, soldiers that at most wore leather or no armor making them perfect arrow fodder for the defenders, the heavy infantry were held in reserve and the enemy was clearly amateur hour all around when it came to the army, Volt's strategy was betting on a quick surrender and it was surprising that the enemy didn't leave on noticing that walls were still standing apparently they were more afraid of returning to Volt empty-handed then dying in battle against an enemy that was ready for them and outclassed them in addition to having the luxury of fortifications.

That later part of the day was spent by Tatsumi doing whatever he could to prepare whether that meant inspecting and inspiring the troops or helping Alicia wherever possible; Prim didn't need his help in fact the Princess Knight of Ur was readying herself for both battle and marriage. An interesting exchange happened soon after she showed up on the practice grounds where Alicia and Tatsumi were drilling militia volunteers both men and women whom had taken up what arms were available (Which Feoh had a large reserve off as the city had a rather large number of smithies and armories) to defend their homes. Prim arrived not in the dress she normally wore but in full plate armor with a burgonet helm atop her head, Prim's armor was made of the finest of Ansur forged steel but forged in the Ur style and decorated with platinum, gold, and gems along with a red alloy that Tatsumi recognized as Red Gold something that he didn't expect to see on Eostia. Over the armor she wore the most colorful surcoat possible with the depiction of Ur's crest a blue and orange checkerboard pattern with the image of chimera in the center along with Prim's own personal crest that of a silver female angel holding a pink sword, her burgonet was topped by the ornate figurehead of a unicorn with the plumed crest running down the back of the helm and her crown was attached to it and attached to her back was winged spine in the style of a hussar with swan feathers pluming it; in one hand she held a spear that was a cross between a mage's staff and a spear with the head topped by a pink gem and enameled with gold, in her other hand she held a saber she also had a elven styled shield on her back. Dressed like this Prim looked like a battlemage and warrior Queen and not a pampered princess.

"Alright anyone up to spar with me" Prim asked leaning putting her staff against the wall and sheathing her rapier she then picked up a practice sword and readied her shield.

"Prim? What are you doing here?" Alicia asked surprised as she hadn't expected her cousin to show up.

"Why the same thing you are doing Alicia, I'm here to get these people into shape to defend Feoh" Prim explained matter of factly as if it were normal.

"Prim I've got this under control, stop playing at war and let me handle things" Alicia replied, Tatsumi frowned.

"I'll take that as you're challenging me to spar Alicia please I could kick your butt easy" Prim replied and flourished the practice sword with ease.

"Come on Prim please be serious, this is my city let me handle defending it" Alicia replied.

"No; no Alicia you need to stop, first off I'm not a kid anymore, secondly I'm sick of not being able to do anything remotely exciting for a change, Iris spent all the time training me as a warrior and Celestine spent a good amount of time tutoring me as a mage I'm not going to just sit back with the nobles in the keep and wait for the battle to be over, I'm going to fight in the battle and you aren't going to stop me" Prim replied.

"Please Prim for me; don't fight this isn't your battle" Alicia replied trying to get her to not fight to go back to the keep and act like she did when she was younger, Prim responded by to Alicia's shock attacking her with the practice blade hitting Alicia hard; Alicia was taking aback and then shocked when Prim continued to attack.

"What's the matter Alicia scared to fight me? Afraid to think that little Prim is all grown up, afraid to admit I'm a better knight then you are?" Prim taunted, Alicia readied to fight back but did so defensively. "Come on Alicia attack me if you aren't going to attack me what would happen in a real fight if you and I were fighting to the death" Prim replied and aggressively struck bypassing Alicia's guard and hitting her hard even in the armor she wore Alicia felt the impacts of Prim's blows and to her shock they hurt, pretty badly. "If you can't fight me Alicia how are you going to fair against a Black Dog that won't hold back" Prim remarked then to Alicia's utter shock her cousin started fighting dirty, disarmed her and proceeded to wail on her. "Fight BACK!" Prim demanded Alicia felt the bruises as the blows hurt, took the blows. "Come on what would Iris think if she saw this, me beating you" Prim mocked and at that Alicia had enough she grabbed Prim's leg and tried to pull her down, Prim kicked her. "Good effort but that's not enough" Prim replied, then continued, her practice blade broke and Prim resulted to using gauntlets fists, Alicia then began wrestling with her, this spar would have gone on longer had Tatsumi not decided he'd had enough and interceded.

"Break it up: Prim you've made your point; Alicia what are you going to do now" Tatsumi replied, Alicia looked at Prim and noted her look of pity mixed with contempt, it was at this point Alicia came to a realization: Prim wasn't a kid any more, she was an adult as far as the laws of Eostia's many nations were concerned and as much as Alicia hated to admit it Prim- had become a Princess Knight in full, a fighter and mage, a force in her own right and she wanted to do her part.

"How Prim? How?" Alicia asked.

"How could you be so blind? How could you be so naïve? How could you be such an over protective and overly mothering woman? Well that's a question I wonder myself, given that Iris is a polar opposite of you and that your line of thinking got your father killed; as to how I became the better fighter then you, well lets be honest Alicia by watching you and by learning from Luu-Luu, Iris, Maia and Claudia and then taking everything they do right and discarding the things they do wrong plus mix in a bit of my own creativity. But let me be even more honest Alicia you could actually fight me to a standstill if you wanted even beat me but your nature doesn't allow you to do so and that is NOT a good thing because it means you're just as liable to make the same mistakes as your father did and you want to know the difference between you and him if you are beaten like him, he got the mercy of death if any of the dogs were to beat you they would take you prisoner and reduce you to being a slave for them to rape and ravage and to breed their spawn and honestly not even being pregnant would stop them from raping you, they'd do so until you either died of grief and exhaustion or they no longer think you worth banging and which case they'd torture you and murder you or leave you to the orcs to do with as they please; its how these monsters think and I don't want you to suffer that fate; and to make sure you don't I'm going to have to break your naiveite and change the way you fight: I love you Alicia, love you dearly and you're kin to me and I don't want to see you suffer the fate the dogs have in store for you, I'd take it myself if it meant keeping you safe but knowing they lack honor they'd take me and you all the same so the only option we have is to fight and kill them and I need you to survive this war and if you are going to do that you're going to have to kill the girl and let the woman be born, I've grown up Alicia have you? Also I've decided Tatsumi and I will wed and you don't get a say in that as I'm Queen of Ur and decide whom I wed; now grow up Alicia and stop playing at being a knight and actually be a knight" Prim lectured, the words cut deep, Alicia wanted to deny them wanted to tell Prim to go to her room or play in the garden then noted how absurd that would be, Prim was an adult and as a matter of fact so was she so why was she acting like a child it- didn't make sense.

"I want a rematch, lets do this again and I'll show you I'm a knight and not playing at being on" Alicia replied and drew her sword, Prim drew her own blade casted a spell to prevent the two from actually drawing blood or dealing any lethal strikes and the bought began. This time Prim and Alicia held nothing back fighting each other like any true great champions fought one-on-one in a great battle or in a melee. This fight was different then the lopsided beat down Alicia has received as this time Alicia was fighting back. However Alicia still wasn't at her best and was holding back, Prim didn't and kept prodding and pushing her to go all out and after enough of it and one cheap trick too many Alicia did go all out and two fought with all the no holds barred of a fight between Tatsumi and a serious fighter, Tatsumi looked at the contest and noted he hadn't seen a fight between two people this serious since Esdeath and Moegi had decided to spar with each other after she had joined Tatsumi's harem. Speaking of Moegi and Esdeath arrived on the scene and stood next to him or in Moegi's case grabbed his arm and barraged him with kisses.

"Fascinating; look at the those two fight each other I've not seen something like that in while and I'm impressed to see Alicia's not holding back like she did when she was fighting you" Esdeath remarked.

"Its all the more impressive when you consider the fact Alicia didn't want to do this in the first place" Tatsumi remarked, then noticed Erasiel and Linzi coming over followed Luu-Luu with her jaw dropped at seeing both Prim and Alicia slug it out as the fight had turned into a slugfest at this point with both giving the other no advantage and trying to get past the other. Eventually with a faint and twist of the wrist Alicia managed to set Prim up for a swift final counter that disarmed her much to her shock; both were covered in sweat and both looked at each other in wonder, then to Alicia surprised Prim kissed her on the cheek and hugged.

"I knew you could do it Alicia" Prim remarked and to Alicia's surprise kissed her on the lips then smiled.

"I was wrong Prim: I'm- oh I don't know what to make of myself anymore" Alicia replied and hugged her, Prim hugged back.

"Make of yourself what you want to be, that's what I did Alicia rather then being what others wanted me to be: now I know you're worried about what your father would think of you, I know what he would think of you he'd be happy to know his little girl grew up to become a Princess Knight you may not be the best but you've got the potential to be and what you should do now Alicia is be what you ultimately want to be not what others want you to be" Prim replied, the militia who had watched the whole thing applauded, Prim then noticed them as did Alicia.

"I think you've all learned an important lesson now lets actually get you all some training there will be dogs to put down soon enough they will be attacking our fair city and we aren't going to let them walk in and make themselves our evil rulers and slave masters, you women will not be slaves neither will I and you men will fight to keep both your lives and your livelihoods. These vile varlets these pernicious pricks these dogs no monsters we will not call them dogs as doing so would be an insult to the noble hounds that many keep as part of their family no these bastards and rapists will be and must be slain, we'll give no quarter save it be take some captive to gain information and from there make a public example of them; the coming battle will not be easy but we will win and the enemies will be corpses to feed the vultures and worms by the siege's end or hang in the gibbet for the sport of the crows! We will fight and we will stand; now Prim lets you and me show these brave souls how to fight and how to fight for our home!" Alicia spoke, the crowd cheered and the two spent the rest of the afternoon training the multitude with Tatsumi and his wives helping.

That evening Iris treated everyone to a feast, it was meant as a welcoming feast for Tatsumi and as a good will gesture. Iris was happy to hear about Alicia's change of perspective and had a spar with her to test her; Luu-Luu did the same, granted Alicia lost to both but she gave both fights her all and was glad to hear the kind words from both winners. At the feast she sat at her sister's right hand and Prim to her left, Tatsumi sat next to the three as the guest of honor and everyone ate. Midway thru the feasting Erasiel stood up raised a glass. "Linzi I think the fine people here are in need of hearing a find tune to set the atmosphere, ready your lute and I've got just the song in mind" Erasiel shouted, then whisper in her ear, his wife blushed and grinned.

"Why that is just the kind of song we need to hear; everyone you are going love this; it's a- rather happy tune and a funny one to so enjoy" Linzi replied and pulled her lute from her back and struck up the tune while Erasiel to everyone's surprise stood up on the table. "OH!" Erasiel started. "There's an Inn, There's an Inn there's a merry old inn beneath old grey hill and there brew bear so brown the man in moon himself down! One night drink his fill!" He began. "Oh the Ostler has a tipsy cat who can play a five-string fiddle and up and down he saws his bow now squeaking high! Now purring low! Now sawing in the middle" at this bit Linzi shifted the tune ever so slightly to mimic the sounds of a fiddle. "The Landlord keeps a little dog who is mighty fond of jokes and when there is good cheer among the guests he cocks an ear at all the jests and laughs until he chokes. They also keep a horned cow as proud as any queen but music turns her head like ale and makes her wag her tufted tail and dance upon the green!" Erasiel continued. "Oh the rows of Silver Dishes and the store of Silver Spoons and for Sunday there's a special pair and these they polish up with care on Saturday afternoons. The Man in the Moon was drinking deep, the cat began to wail, a dish in a spoon on the table danced while a cow in the garden madily pranced and the little dog chased his tail" Erasiel then began slugging about. "The man in the moon took another mug and rolled beneath his chair" Erasiel sung and took a dive before standing back up "And there he dozed and dreamed of ale till in the sky the stars were pale and dawn was in the air. So the Ostler said to his Tipsy cat 'the Whites Horses on the moon!' They neigh and they champ their silver bits but their master's gone and drowned his wits and the sun ill be rising soon" Erasiel sung then Linzi altered the tune to become more rushed. "So the cat on his fiddle played Hey Diddle-Diddle a jig that would wake the dead, and he twitched and sighed as he quickened the tune while the landlord shook the man in the moon 'Its after three he said.' They rolled the man slowly up the hill and bundled him into the moon while his horses galloped up in the rear and the cow came capering like a deer and a dish ran up with the spoon. Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle the dog began to roar; the Cow and the horses stood on their heads while the guests all bounded from their beds and danced upon the floor! With a ping and a pong the fiddle strings broke, the cow jumped over the moon while the little dog laughed to see such fun and the Saturday dish took off with a run with the Silver Sunday spoon!" Erasiel continued and now came for the grand finale. "The round moon rolled behind the hill and the sun raised up her head and she hardly believed her fiery eyes for though it was day to her surprise they'd all went back to bed!" Erasiel concluded and laughter along with applause went up from the people, from there everyone gorged themselves with food and then retired for the evening.

A day later… The following morning the Black Dogs began to move closer to the city and from the keep Erasiel took in the fact that the had managed to get some ladders together along with a ram which was little more then a log that had been chopped down, this assault was made up by goblins and some of the other more numerous foes in the army it was clearly a probing sortie meant to test the defenses while Erasiel noted the actual siege equipment was being built further back. This assault resulted in artillery and the archers on the battlements getting in some target practice along with the battle mages whom casted a number of spells to rain death on the attackers and the goblins soon fell back after taking heavy losses, fortunately the defenders suffered no losses as the enemy hadn't sent forward archers with this attack force, in all honest it appeared that the enemies archers were limited an oversight on the part of the general whom led the force as again they had been expecting melees thru broken fortifications rather then having to barrage the defenders.

After this assault the defenders took to further fortifying their defenses and setting up more counter measures and traps then had already been in place, more ammunition was brought up and the ballista towers were fully manned as the defenders had yet to do so, wall scorpions along with other wall mounted artillery were maned and Tatsumi noted halfling range finders been sent by Luu-Luu to the various artillery bastions; he also noted Luu-Luu herself going back and forth about where she and her troops would set up their position as she wanted to see a great deal of action but at the same time make best use of her troops. With that in mind she had already dispatched her crossbowmen and archers to the walls and Halflings were deadly with those weapons, by the time Tatsumi noted Luu-Luu had finally decided on a spot he decided that he would take some of his soldiers and set up there to support her; Luu-Luu was happy to have him do this; also by the time they had finished setting up another probing attack was sent in this time with more serious troops and better ladders along with a ram that at least this time had a cover for the orcs carrying it.

This attack proved more interesting but also equally disasterous as the orcs hadn't gone to efforts putting soaked hides on top of the ram cover to protected it from fire and when Prim noticed that she gave an order to the nearest fire wizard to send a large fireball in its direction which even more unfortunately for the orcs crewing the ram happened to be Erasiel Darkar whom sent about forty fireballs in their direction setting the ram alight. It was also during this time that the archers held their fire and the Ballistae and Scorpions were in full use along with trebuchets, large rocks and bolts tore apart the tarpits of orcs and goblins, eventually the enemy got the message and withdrew. At this point the general of the enemy army was getting annoyed at how long it was taking the for the siege and even more so at the incompetence of his troops to build proper equipment.

The rest of that day was spent by the defenders further digging in and resupplying the war machines which had enough ammunition to last for months as Iris had been adamant in making Feoh the most defensive bastion possible given its location. Speaking off Iris had gone thru the official measures of informing the court and finalizing the engagement papers for herself and Tatsumi along with those of Prim and Alicia, the latter of whom decided it would be best to marry Tatsumi out of practicality if nothing else and because Prim had decided on marrying him and Alicia saw the writing on the wall that if both her sister and her cousin had decided on marrying him then she'd better do so herself.

This news was good for the morale of the defenders especially when Iris announced the ceremony would be held after the battle along with the victory feast. Tatsumi then had an interesting exchange later that day as Chloe took him aside. Chloe smiled uneasily her expression revealed she was having some conflicts.

"You wanted to speak to me Chloe?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes; about Lady Origa, she informed me and the others that you and her are now- mates and betrothed, ordinarily I'd be shocked but given the circumstances we find ourselves in and that Lady Origa is her own woman whom we follow her choices are her own at the end of the day and- I'm sorry but this is- I'm still trying to process this that not only the fact that Lady Origa is in love and no longer a virgin and likely to marry you as soon as it is expedient to do but is also in love with human- a human a member of a race I despise for what they did to my mother and would have done to me and what they have done to Dark Elves for centuries; its- difficult to process I know you aren't an Eostian Human which makes you a completely different type of human then any on Eostia you're a human that really has no history with regards to Eostia and is selflessly fighting a war because it's the right thing to do, its- well hard for me to admit" Chloe began then sighed, placed her hand above her heart as if to steady it. "Lady Origa informed me of the situation and as part of her household and tradition of Dark Elves we are sworn to your service and- well should you wish it to become your consorts and wives if you desire; as much as it leaves a bad taste in my mouth to consider mating with a human you aren't the same as the people of Eostia and you've done me a great kindness that only Lady Origa has done me before" Chloe explained.

"What exactly have I done?" Tatsumi asked, Chloe sighed an clenched a fist and her face distorted from pain to anger to somber acceptance.

"You've saved me from a life of sexual slavery, from being a toy to be played with by evil monsters; but this isn't the first time I've been spared from such a fate. You see I was born a slave my mother; she's one of Lady Origa's bodyguards her name is Mythranne was taken prisoner during war by an evil man John Mandeville a slaver from Rad; the kingdom allowed the practice back then, they favored taking Dark Elves as slaves out of revenge for the war; anyway my mother- he took her, she was young at the time this was about 40 years ago and- well he took her as his personal breeder slave and that led to me: it wasn't a pleasant childhood, Mandeville at least has some sense of pride that prevented him from selling me as an infant or as a child; eventually when I was about 12 he decided that I was old enough for breeding purposes, my mother wouldn't have any of it and she managed to after a decade of careful planning and ingrating herself to Mandeville escape with me into the wilds, Mandeville sent soldiers after us we managed to cross country for a bit but they soon caught up to us fortunately Lady Origa happened to be leading an offensive against Rad at the time as punitive raid and well she and her warrior guards noticed us and killed our pursuers, she took us in and I pledged myself to her service and trained long and hard, I took my revenge on a fair share of slavers but my- father eluded me I hope that bastard is dead for what he did to my mother but I doubt it; anyway you've saved not only me from such a fate again but saved Lady Origa and every other remaining Dark Elf of Garan from such a fate; I saw what my mother had to endure Mandeville made me watch when he took her and other men did the same I have no desire to go back there and you saved me from it. For that I can only give you my love, begrudgingly, my hand as consort and should you wish it wife, and service as an assassin and commander roles that I served Lady Origa in" Chloe explained.

Tatsumi was well not to surprised by Chloe's story Origa had told him that she had rescued Chloe from slavery but never gave specifics as to how that happened; now that he knew them it made his blood boil that she had been treated in such a way it reminded him of the way that his cousin had been treated by a certain set of monsters whom Tatsumi had given a fate worse then death; for a man like Mandeville death would be too easy at least a conventional death would be and Chloe's unconventional nature that would do him in at least Tatsumi hoped that would be the way it happened. "I- didn't know Chloe and I'll accept your offer, to refuse would be well- an insult to you and Origa, however lets hold off on any relationships of the intimate kind until after Origa and I have wed" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad to here your response I thought for a moment I'd have to go into in-depth detail about my childhood, anyway I'm here if you need me: what role should I play in the coming battle?" Chloe replied.

"Honestly your place is at Origa's side, she may need you if push comes to shove and if she's going to use her magic she'll need someone to watch her back" Tatsumi replied.

"That will be done" Chloe replied, she gave him a kiss on the cheek then left. The rest of that day was spent preparing for the coming battle and it was noted that the besiegers had built proper equipment so an attack would be imminent.

That attack came the following morning, during the night the besiegers had taken the measures to spread out their forces and siege equipment to attack from multiple sides, this scattered nature made it so that the first layer of defensive artillery had too many targets to take out and thus it was guaranteed the enemy would reach the walls this time; the focus for the artillery was on the siege towers that the enemy had spent time building, heavy ballistae shots and rocks lopped by catapults and trebuchets shattered these towering goliaths killing hundreds of orcs and mercs manning them, this was to keep the attention of the main equipment which was a much better battering ram then the previous two and the ladders which were way more abundant.

That being said the hosts of enemies proved obvious and blatant targets for the arbalesters and war bow archers of the defenders. the Elves and Halflings excelled in this role as archers, Tatsumi whom was near a battalion of Elven marksmen, as they had over looked where he, Luu-Luu, Alicia and Prim were leading the infantry formations, noted that fired so quickly and in such abundance that he couldn't see them notch the arrows and they also did this with a graceful rhythm.

Tatsumi turned to note Luu-Luu. "Ready for an actual fight? Tatsumi lets hold a contest whomever kills the most of these bastards wins and the prize well the winner gets to do whatever they want with the other: anyway there is plenty for the both of us may the best Halfling win" Luu-Luu commented.

"I'll keep track just so you know I kind of have some advantages in that department" Tatsumi replied.

"Are you sure, I've been using my axe to slice off heads of greenskins for about 200 years now, yeah my people are long lived, anyway let's kill some dogs lets give these bastards a good slaughtering we'll not have them despoil the people of Feoh and I'll be dead before I let one of their lot put his willy between my legs and of one tries he'll be missing his willy and his head" Luu-Luu replied, the thud of a battering ram was heard and Alicia stood and sharply got the attention of nearby troops.

"Soldiers of Feoh! Know this day is the day we defend our homes from those who'd seek to inflict the greatest of evils upon us, we fight not just monsters of the dark legion but monsters in human skins, men we once thought our friends, they seek to kill all you men that would dare oppose them and make every women and girl slave to their sick perverted desires to turn all the women of Eostia into slaves to their lusts: we cannot allow them to do this, to kill the men of our city, to rape the women of the city and do whatever vile things they'd do to the children. Soldiers and militia standfast, whatever comes thru that gate is nothing that we haven't dealt with before we will hold the line and if need be fight to the last; for Feoh and for the Alliance!" Alicia spoke, her speech inspired the soldiers whom formed up in defensive lines; soon the first crack appeared in the gate and chunk of the portcullis broke off, it wasn't enough to enter but it meant that shortly the gate would give way and soon after three more hits it did and the enemy poured in.

The first wave was of goblins and imps, these fodder soldiers were numerous but died quickly as the shield-wall held against their attacks, the breach was covered while the flanks closed in; the enemy at the same time sent the first waves up the ladders but the defenders knocked loose a number of them sending the mercenaries scaling them falling to their deaths above the rest of the walls in the bastions and towers ballistae and scorpions loosed bolt after bolt mowing down the larger creatures of the army like the Cyclopes, Ogres and Minotaur but also droves of mercenaries and greenskins. Eventually the enemy managed to get a foot hold and Alicia pulled the troops back to allow the enemy to blob up; Prim then casted a spell dropped a large barrage of white magic bolts down on the enemy causing their skin to melt and bones to turn to salt; The Elven Sorceress Lindaya who had been sent by Celestine then cast a spell which summoned a large blue hammer that crushed the remainder into a pulp.

Despite this display of magic the mercenaries blinded by lust and inspired by Volt's words kept going on but making sure to send wave after wave of goblins into the fray first, this had the effect of tiring the defenders out however not as much as they'd like as the Princess Knights, Tatsumi and the elite Halfling honorguard of Luu-Luu were only warmed up by this as were the elite knights of Feoh. Iris then soon arrived with fresh troops and cycled out the more tired defenders in between waves, in addition to Iris some of Origa's dark Elves had been sent in under her sister Ruka and these formidable women elven warriors were needed and killed hundreds upon hundreds of enemies without tiring and with methodical grace and precision of centuries. As a whole the enemy kept attacking, kept trying to break thru the defenses, but found their efforts for not as thousands of their number died trying to reach the walls as the defenders loosed volley upon volley of bolts and arrows along with volleys of artillery fire. This grind greatly wore down the attackers and the defenders took few losses as Prim and Lindaya decided to focus on casting protect magic spells that healed the injuries of the defenders and gave them resolve and fervor, while Origa, Erasiel and Linzi and the other battle mages rained death on the enemy army.

It was after the many assaults that Volt's general charged forwards with the most elite of the troops under his command, this Imp rode on the back of a large barded nightmare and barked orders out as these soldiers charged in; but like the waves before them they found no purchase and Alicia slew the enemy general as Tatsumi and Luu-Luu slaughtered his bodyguards, the death of the enemy general sent horror thru the enemy ranks and they began to break at this Iris gave an order to mount up and the Knights of Feoh mounted up their warhorses and rode out riding down the fleeing enemies, this pursuit lasted many hours and most were slain but some were taken alive for the purpose of setting an example, the remainder were put to the sword, with this last act of carnage the battle was ended.

The evening… "Soldiers of Feoh we have won a great victory today, the first battle of this war is over but we have a long war ahead, examples need to be set to the dogs of what they can expect, tomorrow morning I want many of you to go about the field and gather the bodies of the enemy, cut off as many heads as possible and pile up the rest of the bodies to be burned, the skulls will be stripped of flesh and stacked in piles for the enemy to see, let those mounds of bone serve as a warning to any enemies that dare attack Feoh again, all our captives are to locked up and will be put on trial in the public square along with the traitors that sought to open our city to the enemy; before that however I must see to wedding of myself, my sister Alicia and my cousin Prim Fiore to our new King, Tatsumi Gildenstrom the Emperor of the Golden Dragon Empire; I invite all my subjects to witness this ceremony which will be held outdoors in the grand gardens; in the meantime let us rejoice and spend time with our families whom have been kept safe in the upper citadel for victory is ours this day!" Iris spoke to the gathered crowd.

After this there was much feasting and Tatsumi was soon taken aside by Luu-Luu at the feast to ask how many kills he got, Tatsumi to be honest had killed 150, Luu-Luu laughed and remarked that she had killed that many so they had for the purposes of the contest they had tied, as such both treated each other to extra helpings of food. As much as Luu-Luu disliked courtly proceedings she loved feasts and eating in particular, Feoh's chefs were predominately Halfling gourmets that had gone out to make their fortune and spread good food abroad and thus the meals were masterfully made. As they feasted preparations were made for the wedding ceremony that would happen the following day, Iris took to overseeing everything herself after eating her fill though Prim and Alicia were also insistent on doing their part, Tatsumi himself let them handle it as it would be their special day and he had too much to focus on. After the feasting he retired to his quarters and was abed with his wives and concubines in addition to Origa in a celebratory orgy, after that Tatsumi was exhausted and slept hard.

Erasiel and Linzi however stayed up later and went out to inspect the abandoned enemy encampment for any plans for the next enemy strike, and found them soon enough, the exact strategy entailed two large armies that had been prepared and massed in secret largely composed of mercenaries to attack Feoh and Ur while the first of the main armies would attack Rad and another would go after Ansur, the exact strengths of these forces were not listed nor were the commanders but what was listed were the days of engagements, the army that would attack Ur would do so in three days. With that in mind Erasiel sent a party of his soldiers to attack and damage the enemy baggage trains in a two-fold attack one that would slow the enemy down enough for a vanguard of Feoh's troops to reach Ur and root out any of the Dog's allies in the city and identify the leadership of said force. This attack called later afterwards the Night of Broken Wagons left the enemy army in dire straights and they would take at minimum a week to restock their supplies; this army by comparison was entirely mercenaries, not an abherent in sight and led by a stout and large man by the name of Francesco Giovanni, this brute had ambitions on Ur but also the neighboring neutral Kingdom of Athlon ruled according to Prim by three Queen sisters Beatrice, Vanessa and Kathleen.

The following day Tatsumi was woken up by Origa whom grinned at him. "Its morning and your wedding day; you are quite fortunate that preparations are still under way" Origa greeted, Tatsumi noted she was already dressed for the occasion in very conservative attire, a purple gown that left no skin bar her neck bare the attire was a change of place and Origa noted Tatsumi's expression on this immediately. "Are you admiring my dress? Well it'll let you know its not mine Iris loaned it to me, she was rather insistent that myself and my fellow Dark Elves dress more- what did she call it modestly for the occasion to refrain from distracting the men at the occasion, I personally don't understand the point but as I am a guest here I'll abide by their rules and customs, just so you know though this dress isn't- well comfortable to me I've never worn this much save during winters and even then the clothes were more loose then this, call it taste but I don't understand how humans can stand attire it is so restricting to movement" Origa explained.

"I think it looks good on you" Tatsumi replied. "But I'll give you a heads up in the Empire dress however you feel like even during events like this the Empire isn't so restrictive on attire, my wife Sheele has dresses that leave her right breast bare" Tatsumi added.

"Speaking of attire your clothes are over there Prim took the luxury of choosing the outfit for the ceremony, your crown is near too; don't labor yourself with dressing I'll handle it for you" Origa replied, Tatsumi got out of bed and Origa smirked before speaking something in a language he didn't understand but was clearly a magical spell as he found himself quickly and completely clothed in the rather ornate but still form-fitting clothes that had been laid out for him and his crown and cloak were on too along with his ceremonial golden breastplate; Prim had even gone the extra of making sure the outfit's colors were complementary to the articles Tatsumi normally wore every day regardless of circumstances since being formally crowned Emperor five years earlier, Origa smiled at him and spoke something else and Tatsumi found a mirror float over from a dress to his hands.

"Well I look the part of Emperor though I've got to say they didn't really need to do this for me" Tatsumi replied.

"I personally think you look like the monarch you are and I'll treat you with the respect due to being one, I'll let you know though that you are one lucky human being, few men regardless of race would ever get the chance to marry a Princess Knight much less three two current and one former, let alone be engaged to me of all people; you're luck seems to be as an ocean ever following and never ceasing" Origa commented, Tatsumi chuckled.

"I have more luck then you think I have Origa and not all of it good though I'll credit a good deal of it to the Bracelet of Kings" Tatsumi replied and made sure the bracelet was in plain view.

"I've been meaning to ask you about it, how long have you owned it?" Origa asked.

"Five years likely six soon enough, its been in my family since the First Emperor and was gifted to him by the Dwarven High King whom is still the current High King believe it or not" Tatsumi explained.

"Fascinating, and what was the name of this First Emperor and how long has your dynasty been around as an Elf I find history fascinating given that there is so much I can live thru; my race has an average lifespan of 5000 years, I'm 820 and I'm fairly certain now 700 of those years weren't well spent" Origa commented.

"The Old Empire lasted for 1500 years the Golden Dragon Empire which I rule now is well you could call it a continuation but I consider it a new Empire and its only been around for five years now. As for the name of the first Emperor, he was named Tatsumi too, Tatsumi the Golden Emperor" Tatsumi replied, Origa blushed.

"And you are seventh Tatsumi who also happens to bare a title, how does this work exactly?" Origa asked.

"Well the name had a royal tradition that when a son was born under specific conditions and portents they would be marked for greatness and were bestowed the name Tatsumi after the original Emperor, every Emperor who has shared my name was among the greatest rulers of the Empire: the Golden Emperor, his Grandson the Jade Emperor, the Dragon Emperor whom was both a Gildenstrom and Oarburgh, the Pearl Emperor, Silver Emperor and the Brass Emperor all were named Tatsumi and then you have me the last Emperor of the Old Empire and first of the new: I came up with the title of Golden Dragon Emperor myself and given the world was facing a potential apocalypse at the time I choose the name as a challenge to myself either I lived up to the name or it wouldn't matter and the world would end; and given the fact I'm standing before you and you aren't enslaved by demons you can tell how that went; I did live up to my title and still do" Tatsumi explained, a knock was heard on the door and Tatsumi answered it, to his surprise he recognized one of the Nuns from the church that he and Alicia had rescued only she no longer wore a habit and instead wore a modest gown of a lady-at-waiting, this nun had black hair and wore glasses she was generously endowed and smiling.

"Emperor Tatsumi, Queen Iris sent me to inform you that breakfast is ready and you are expected to be there; by the way my name is Roberta, my fellow sisters and I have left the Nunnery as did a few others after the incident, the priests and the Archbishop had been grooming us for a dark fate and well its for the best that we can no longer serve the vows we swore and must leave, my sisters and I have decided to pledge ourselves to you our messiah and savior, High Priestess Eleanor has taken up the position as head of the church and has made a move to have you canonized as a saint of the church of Lady Celestine she also would like to speak to you" The former Nun explained, Tatsumi nodded and left the room followed by Origa, outside in the hallway he was introduced to four more former nuns: Valarie, Alexis, Irene, and Sarah were their names and each was a beauty whom smiled at Tatsumi.

Tatsumi was then lead to the grand banquet hall where a large breakfast had been laid out, he sat at an open spot and to his utter annoyance Esdeath and Aria took the role of readying his breakfast for him as per norm. One of the things that Tatsumi was surprised by with Eostia was that a good deal of the wildlife native to Eden was also native to its largest moon in addition with a number of the same races native to Eden; the whole thing fealt- artificial as if some power beyond his knowledge had placed these species on both worlds which to him the idea was not preposterous but it did disturb him were humans even originally native to Eden to begin with were they from some far off planet he didn't know about and what about the Elves Eden had Elves as did Eostia, the same could be said of Dwarves, many other creatures besides but there were somethings that Eostia didn't have at least to his knowledge one of them being Lizardmen and they had some races that he hadn't seen on Eden though they may have been as far as he know like the Halflings and Beastkin.

Tatsumi's thoughts on the matter were interrupted by Luu-Luu whom was sitting across from him. "Hey Tatsumi are ye going to eat your food or am I going to" Luu-Luu remarked, Tatsumi returned to eating and cleaned his plate quickly after that not even leaving a crumb of toast. After eating Roberta took him aside to explain to him the customs of marriage in Feoh and found they did very a bit from those in the Empire, the major differences being that a tournament was held with the ceremony which reminded him of Francian customs, in addition to that instead of wedding rings the two spouses to be would exchange amulets that served the role, and that they practiced what was called the first night where the ruling monarch could exercise the right to have the bride or grooms first time, something however that in this case did not apply and hadn't been invoked by Iris at any point during her rule but had been invoked by her father and grandmother during their reigns and by a number of monarchs besides Tatsumi found the practice rather demeaning and infringing but refrained from mentioning his opinions on it out of Imperial tolerance for the practices of other cultures and because it wasn't his place to judge others.

The ceremony itself began that afternoon after a tournament that Tatsumi did not participate due his not being a Knight of Feoh something that Iris would correct soon enough but not until after they married, foreigners weren't allowed to be knights of Feoh without citizenship and the only ways to be citizen of the Kingdom of Feoh were to be born there, to go thru a length application process or marry someone from Feoh. During this competition Prim, Alicia and Iris participated, Prim was knight of Feoh due to her mother being the sister of the previous ruler thus making her both a citizen of Ur and of Feoh, also during the competition the three unhorsed many knights, however Prim eventually proved the victor to the surprise of the audience given that this was Prim's first tournament; Iris and Alicia were surprised that Prim had managed to unhorse both of them. Tatsumi tried asking Prim about her skills and fighting set but she proved rather secretive and told him he'd have to marry her before she told him her secrets something she kept concealed much like her affection for Alicia. When the marriage ceremony began the three royal beauties walked in very ornate and lavish bridal gowns that were certainly worth a thousand words and more, the High Priestess Eleanor presided and began offering a number of sermons before an impatient Prim whom had grown tired of waiting insist on the marriage, Alicia objected to this but Iris whom had groan tired herself sided with Prim and the actual union was proceeded to.

"By the powers invested in me I join in union the royal houses of Artracus, Gildenstrom and Fiore in union, by my powers I pronounce that Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom Seventh of his name Emperor of the Golden Dragon Empire to by the husband of Queen Iris Artracus of Feoh, Princess Alicia Artracus of Feoh and Queen Prim Fiore in the holy named of Celestine incarnation of the High Goddess Kavidii the Goddess of Eostia and of love, family, marriage and harmony, let this union last for all eternity that these souls be bound for all time and that their love may transcend death into their next lives: with this act I declare this ceremony over, the Brides may kiss the groom and their union can now begin" Eleanor decreed, Tatsumi found himself on the receiving end of kisses Iris and Prim gave them to him eagerly but Alicia did so more reluctantly; Tatsumi worried that she may not be happy with being married to him, he'd have to prove her wrong and make her happy; he treated every wife he took with love and while many had been political in nature, in fact the majority had been political in nature Tatsumi didn't let such a thing as not marrying for love get in the way of finding it.

After the kiss the feasting began, Tatsumi noted Erasiel being a rather heavy drinker downing more glasses of wine; Tatsumi knew for a fact as Erasiel had told him that Phoenixes were immune to the negative effects of alcohol as their fiery stomachs burned away all impurities and harmful factors that could cause problems, this meant that Erasiel drank his fill and ate it too as Tatsumi knew also that the Phoenix had four stomachs to fill, why it was that a being of divine power needed to eat was beyond him, but it likely came of the fact that virtually all races that weren't of the three Elder Races, the lesser races as they were called by the Elder Races took after the Phoenixes in many ways with societies based off of them some even revering them as gods; Tatsumi found the whole thing unsurprising when Erasiel told him about it, he also was pleased to hear that the lesser races comment was not out of looking down on other races but more a statement of creation being they were made after the Phoenixes and didn't hold the power they were capable of. Also eagerly eating food was Luu-Luu and her fellow halflings their race was renowned for their cooking but also for the amount of food they ate, Luu-Luu even mentioned that Halflings had two stomachs and they ate seven meals per day which was twice the amount any human would do but was given because they had two stomachs to fill.

After eating his fair share of food and before eating too much he was taken aside by Prim, Iris and Alicia, the time had come for the bedding which came another difference from the Empire, usually the bedding was a raucous occasion with onlookers outside the room speculating and jeering, in Feoh and Eostia at large it was a solemn and respected tradition which left the newly weds undisturbed.

As soon as Tatsumi was shut in with his newly weds Prim cast a spell similar to the one Origa casted only this one removed his clothes and those of her cousins along with her own instead of putting them on, all four of them were left in their birthday suits, Prim smiled and the three of them moved to Tatsumi, Alicia relectuctantly and both Prim and Iris noticed it. "Alicia why don't you go first" Prim remarked, Iris grinned at this and Alicia blushed.

"Me? Wouldn't it be more appropriate for Iris to go first, first night right?" Alicia said evasively, both looked at her with frowns and shook their heads.

"Alicia; you are now Tatsumi's wife as am I and you have responsibilities as a wife, first and foremost to bare children, remember that as it stands there are only two Artracus family members you and me, you can't be shy, there is no backing out; and that's why you will go first, I forego my right of First Night of the groom" Iris remarked.

"Come on Alicia, you need this" Prim replied and pushed Alicia towards Tatsumi, Alicia looked at him.

"Please be gentle, I've heard the first time- hurts." Alicia asked, Tatsumi kissed her on lips.

"Don't worry I'll be gentle, you'll enjoy this; I know how scary it can be for someone's first time, I've had to deal with this a lot" Tatsumi responded, he then led Alicia to the bed, Prim and Iris followed. Tatsumi then picked Alicia up and laid Alicia flat on the bed kissed her chastely, then kissed down her body as he climbed onto the bed, he sucked on her left nipple to Alicia's surprise and- enjoyment, she smiled.

"Don't tease me, take me; make me yours" Alicia commented, Tatsumi obliged he entered her slowly kissing her as he did so, when he came to her hymen he went thru it fast and gentle, Alicia moaned as he did so but it was muffled by the kiss he then rolled over letting her be on top of him raising her up; Alicia bounced and moaned, the sensation was new to her and- she had to admit she enjoyed it even though her chaste nature bellied it but the time for chastity had ended the time for fidelity and faithfulness to her husband had come something she was going to oblidge. Prim then straddled Tatsumi's face and he worked his magic with his tongue, Prim then to Alicia's surprise kissed her on the lips and fondled her breasts.

"Prim what are you doing?" Alicia asked.

"Expressing my true feelings for you Alicia; you know I love you, but not how much I truly do love you and let me show you much I do" Prim replied then kissed her even more passionately inserting her tongue into Alicia's mouth, Alicia didn't reciprocate she was in shock by her cousin's true feelings and lost in pleasure as both Tatsumi and Prim strived to please her, to the side Iris played with herself fondling her own breast before moving over to lick Tatsumi's balls, the queen smiled as her sister moaned. Soon Alicia had her first orgasm and Prim was eager to lick the juices up leaning down to do so, she did so not even noticing her own orgasm, the fluids in turn were lapped up by Tatsumi whom soon came inside Alicia impregnating her in the process after this Alicia lept off.

"Your turn Iris!" Alicia remarked, Prim then tackled her and kissed her, at this Alicia let herself be loved by Prim, Iris looked at Tatsumi and then at her sister and cousin.

"Well this is an interesting turn of events, I knew Prim had some secrets but I never figured she was- well lewdly infatuated with Alicia, anyway my turn, fuck me like I'm a common harlot" Iris remarked, Tatsumi had her bend over then took her black cherry to Iris's surprise. "Wrong hole" Iris commented.

"I know but you asked for me to treat you like a harlot, I always start with anal with harlots" Tatsumi remarked, Iris shrugged and let him thrust into her, the experience was well enjoyable but was completely out her perspective, the fact that Tatsumi did this with gusto meant he really enjoyed doing this.

"Well why not let him enjoy himself, he knows more about this then I do" Iris thought then let Tatsumi pound her rump, she alternated from looking at him and looking Prim and Alicia, she noted it was not surprising Alicia was so submissive; she wished however that Alicia would enjoy this more she was enjoying it and Prim was obviously in her own personal heaven, in fact Prim looked like she had done this before; Iris knew for a fact that Prim had never entered a Brothel she had her monitored outside the castle at all times by Alicia, but it was possible Prim read some books on the subject and- possible she did some of the guards no not possible, Prim's detail was all women and while Prim clearly swung both ways it was clear that affection was reserved for Alicia.

"Iris if you are wondering about Prim I think you should ask her" Tatsumi remarked noting her, he then released and laid Iris flat and took her virginity, Iris smilled and lost herself in Tatsumi's work, eventually he released again, then came Prim's turn, Alicia and Iris were immediately concerned when they saw that Prim didn't bleed both looked at her with surprise.

"Yes I fucked him before you two did, I did so the other day and I have no regrets, I was drawn to him since we first met in Ken, by the way I was with him when he fucked Origa" Prim remarked bluntly and using language the two never expected her to use, the two simply watched as Prim had her turn with Tatsumi, then Prim sat on his face and wrapped her breasts around Tatsumi's length. "Come and join its an amazing feeling" Prim replied, both sisters looked at each other then wrapped her breasts around the length too, Prim then showed them the finer points of preforming fellatio which resulted in all three of them being covered with semen soon after, Tatsumi then took Alicia anally to Alicia's shook, something that was made more shocking when Prim laid in front of her and had her lick her loins, Iris in the meantime kissed Tatsumi as he drank from her left breast.

The four continued for another hour until three woman were exhausted and blacked out, Tatsumi laid back holding a sleeping Alicia. "Sleep well Princess, you've earned it, my new Empress" Tatsumi remarked, then laid back for a well-earned rest.