The light was gone from Zero's eyes, and all the evil with it. Instead, when he looked in Hilma's direction, she saw the dull listlessness that came with a dominated mind. All doubts were erased from the Madam of the prostitutes of the Re-Estize Kingdom. 'That Demoness is a succubus…'
"Now, what to do with this one… heel, boy, heel." Albedo said and Zero pranced behind her as the pair approached Hilma.
All the beautiful madam could do was scramble back, kicking her way through puddles of blood and viscera until her wet hands slapped the unforgiving stone wall and her back flattened against it.
The stone was cold against the back of her head, her lip quivered and heart raced, it was all she could do not to wet herself as well. "Please… please… Not that…" Hilma begged while watching Zero pant at the heels of the demons.
"What do we do with it, Demiurge?" Albedo asked and allowed her arm to be linked with that of her colleague.
Hilma shivered, her own past being initiated into the life of a prostitute came up to the surface again, the first time she was examined, like livestock by her first client… all her old anxiety, long laughed off by the jading of years while she rose through the ranks from a street whore, to a madam in a house, to the procuress of the finest flesh, to the mistress of the flesh trade across two domains… and now it was like her first time all over again, their eyes looking her over, searching for some defect, her jaw set as her mind raced into overdrive.
The wet slap of her bloody fingers against the unyielding stone brought her a sudden inspiration.
"I'm one of only two left! I can be useful! I will be useful! You came here for profit! For power! I can handle it all for you! Surely my Lord! Surely, My Lady! Surely you need someone who can serve, who will serve!" Hilma flung herself face forward with her head against a bloody spot on the floor, shaking, trembling, the demons only seemed to tower more above her quivering frame.
"The way you say that, you have something in mind?" Demiurge prompted, and Albedo put her foot under the lips of the quivering beast.
When the whimpering creature placed those lips against Albedo's shoe, the demoness answered.
"I'd give her to Shalltear. She did mention wanting a pet. And after this creature is well trained, we can let it handle other things here for us. And it might help settle some of the bad blood over our recent spat over who can bear Lord Momonga's first child. She is a subordinate after all, and I should make sure she is at ease working with me."
"A truly inspirational leader." Demiurge said and then reached down to grab the sheep by its golden hair.
"No, let me. I'll take her back, you go visit the Princess. I will join you after I've dropped off the present." Albedo said and Hilma gasped as the sudden tug was relaxed, only to be immediately replaced.
"If you like." Demiurge answered, "I'll make sure there is some tea ready and waiting on your arrival."
"Always the charmer, thank you, my friend." Albedo said with the sincerest of reverence, ignoring the wiggling of the new animal, "You too boy, come along!" She said and Zero pranced behind her, letting out excited yips beside the wiggling and whimpering Hilma.
Seeing the gate open in the air did nothing to calm the madam's nerves, no more than the sharp pain in her skull where her hair was used to drag her along. 'No… no… why?! What did I do to deserve this?!' She wanted to wail, but the pain lodged like a stone in her throat and would not let her speak any more than the spell or skill or whatever it had been, allowed Zero to remember he was once a man… and then the world she knew was gone behind her…
Princess Renner sipped quietly from her cup, a vapid maid stood by, and across from the Princess sat Lakyus, they each wore the battle attire of their station.
Renner, the Golden Princess, clad in white with a golden strand around her forehead from which hung a single white pearl. Her radiant smile hid the contempt for those who could never truly understand her.
Lakyus was clad in a more vibrant red dress with golden swirling patterns, her hair bound in a braid that hung down her back, a stark contrast to Renner's freefalling gold.
"We burned several more of the dust plant fields, but so many nobles are involved… we just can't stop them all. Even if we started targeting the nobles directly the way Tia and Tina want, it's pointless." Lakyus explained, and Renner nodded in quiet understanding.
"I know." She said and put her ivory cheek against her equally pale hand, "There is just so much corruption, even removing the corrupt wouldn't do any good. It will just make trouble for father if the nobles start dying mysteriously. They'll never admit that their faction was making this stuff, especially not with brother Barbro involved."
Lakyus's eyes widened, "What?" She gasped and looked toward the maid.
"She can be trusted. She is one of mine." Renner said sweetly, of course the truth was, she was Marquis Raeven's, but in the mind of the Princess, it was all the same, none of them wanted Barbro on the throne, and his 'spy' was a useful way to get information to him without direct interaction.
"You can't be serious!" Lakyus controlled her voice, reducing her words to a hiss, "He's the eldest son of the King! Why would he… how do you even know?!"
"My brother was never satisfied with his allowance, then he stopped complaining a few months ago, and his spending went up too. Then he started getting angry after every report about the burning fields, and today he was angry before you even reported to me." Renner explained and took a long sip of her gold rimmed porcelain cup, "He's been getting his money from them, and this cuts into his bribes. As to why? My eldest brother is an idiot. Idiots are unpredictable, short sighted, and just… not prone to making good decisions."
Lakyus said nothing. Her feud with Prince Barbro was no secret to her, but agreeing that a member of the Royal Family was trash was close to treason and a profound breach of etiquette, even if it was both uttered by another member of the family and completely true. So she held her tongue and sipped from her cup while the moment passed and she internalized the horrifying realization that Barbro was even worse than she thought.
"What about Prince Zanac?" Lakyus asked, if one were involved, why not both?
"No. My other older brother might not seem like much, but whatever his faults, he is not corrupt. As far as I know, nobody has even approached him yet." Renner answered, it was hardly praise, his mind after all was slightly more than mediocre, and in her estimation he would make a merely mediocre monarch, which meant he would likely never get to be one.
'The Kingdom will fall in three years if nothing changes… and for all my efforts, what will my end be?' Renner wondered, it wasn't hard to guess. In slightly different circumstances she could have imagined being forced to marry Emperor Jircniv, but she had the distinct feeling he was unwilling to do that. 'Though whether he's the sort that would let that stop him from making sure I had an heir for him or not… even I can't say.'
Other ends ran through her mind, playing out as if they were real and not just her own grim imaginings. Most involved her spending her nights in the arms of some loathsome creature just to keep Climb alive until she could destroy her captor and escape. Others involved running early, and seemed the most probable outcome. To that end, Renner carefully cultivated strong relationships with the more powerful adventurers.
'They will be essential if I want to escape with Climb when the Kingdom falls. Father will not force me to remain in the capital, and I've carefully hoarded my allowance. If everything goes just so, then we should be able to live out our days somewhere comfortable in isolation…'
It wasn't the full dream of her night time caresses, of having him bound and chained, secured beneath her where he could stare up at her with adoration. And objectively speaking she knew it would be a life closer to that of a common well-to-do peasant… but it would be theirs. 'A child on my hip, watching him swing an ax into logs to make a fire to keep us warm… lying with him… every night. Climb! Climb! Climb! I want my Climb!' She very nearly broke character, and covered the brief break in her smile by dabbing her lips with her white cotton napkin.
'I could give anything… just… anything… to have it all… all of him, even if I had nothing else, that would be enough!' Renner told herself while Lakyus chattered on, all unaware of the invisible eyes that watched them both from within the room.