Elise forced her legs to remain steady instead of trembling. Prior to coming to this world, the biggest events she'd been required to speak at were school ceremonies.
But I have to do this. It's something I helped develop. And many lives hang in the balance.
"Your Graces? I—our family is working on something that may help with your dilemma."
The eyes of the court, of everyone ranging from the king and queen to the lowliest servants, focused on her. Elise grasped her mother's hand for reassurance and tried to remember the rest of the speech she'd prepared.
"My half-sister and I… one of projects is improving the crops you grow. Most crops still need more work, but one that we've nearly completed is a variety of wheat that grows several times faster than normal."
That caused the humans to chatter excitedly. The three dragons in the audience hall didn't seem to understand the significance.
"This is excellent news," Queen Daenerys said. "Just how much faster?"
"We haven't followed its growth for the entire life of the wheat, only for a few days—this is why it needs some more work," Elise replied. More specifically, she and Colette had watched the growths of seeds into young plants and young plants into mature plants, running two parallel experiments over a few days. "But from what we've seen so far, it should take at most a month from seed to when it can be harvested. Possibly less, in good growing conditions."
"One month!?" Hizdahr exclaimed. "Wait… I seem to recall that the normal period is closer to four… who here is an expert on agriculture!?"
One middle-aged man with a sun-burned face raised his hand. "Your Magnificence, I am! And I can tell you, tell everyone that it's four months, and that's with good growin' conditions! It can also take longer than that, normally!"
"I should also add, this wheat variety is improved in other ways," Elise said. "It is less affected by heat, cold, drought, insects, disease or weeds. There are limits to its hardiness, however—it couldn't grow in fire or with no water at all, for example. But it should be able to grow in most of the lands surrounding Meereen, judging from the maps we've seen."
The crowd got even more excited. Elise didn't understand all of their words, but she recognised "miracle" and "like a dream".
This impresses them… and it's something that would only be sufficient for a first-year botany project back home. Possibly second-year. It's nothing compared to the crop varieties actually grown in monster realms, some of which can regrow so rapidly as to allow daily harvests.
But we don't have anyone here who's a proper botanist. Also, the best varieties wouldn't even be able to grow here due to insufficient mana in the environment. They can only grow in monster realms…
Elise eyed some of the younger men standing on the opposite side of the hall. Things would be so much easier if we made Meereen into a monster realm…
"This is a truly wonderful gift, Lady Elise," the queen said. "When will it be complete?"
"A few more days, a week a most. And the other crops that I mentioned earlier, they should be complete in a week or two."
"Then this alone has solved our dilemma with the Volantene freedmen."
At noon today, the fleet from Volantis had surrendered to Meereen. More accurately, the survivors of that fleet had surrendered. Many had been killed by the dragons, others had been killed by their own men who then went on to surrender. There were over sixty thousand in all, most of them formerly slaves. The current court session was debating what to do with them, a topic that had taken so long it had lasted until evening.
"We can put them in empty land, perhaps to the south of Meereen," the king said. "With this magical wheat, and eventually other crops, they'll have their first harvest before the provisions they brought on their fleet run out."
"And it solves our own issues with food supply," Queen Daenerys said. "Our farms had been burned by the armies once at our walls, and it would normally take months to get another harvest. Were it not for your help, we would be subsisting largely on our granaries and root cellars for months, with most of the people having little fresh food."
Elise breathed a sigh of relief. Colette had initially been working on fruit and vegetable crops, since those were what were grown on the Great Pyramid's terraces. Only later, after talking with their Unsullied guards, had she thought to prioritise a staple crop instead.
They haven't even asked if it's safe to eat… granted, we did test it extensively using animal and human subjects, and none showed adverse reactions yet… It just shows how much these humans trust us.
And she just mentioned granaries and root cellars… we were hoping to also help their food issues by introducing the airtight pots. But after learning more about Meereen's situation, it turns out our current stock wouldn't be enough to preserve even one percent of the perishable foods. We just can't enchant the pots fast enough.
"That settles domestic issues, so we may now turn our attention outward again," Queen Daenerys said. "These recent attacks on our city cannot go unanswered. I trust that no one has any objections to this?"
Elise suspected this question was meant for the king, who had many connections with people in other cities, but Hizdahr showed no response. As for the rest of the court, they began shouting fervently.
"Burn those bastards to the ground!"
"No, we should take their treasures first!"
"Let's conquer them, create a second empire of dragons!"
All this was horrifying to the young succubus, who'd hadn't so much as injured another person before. She wanted to speak up, to use her now-considerable influence to calm things down, but her tongue would not move.
A warm tail coiled around her own. For as long as Elise could remember, this gesture had felt soothing.
"I would like to speak," said Elise's mother.
The entire court fell silent within three—actually, it felt closer to two seconds.
"I agree that you must respond to these attacks," Wilmarina continued. "However, I believe there is no benefit to reducing entire cities to ashes."
Several people now looked terrified. Perhaps they feared that they might be killed for their suggestion.
"They attacked first!" Viserion said, not looking afraid at all.
"We could burn them without any danger!" Rhaegal added. "Just like today, and last night!"
The dragons, from what Elise had been told, used to be diurnal beings. Being infused with succubus mana had given them the night vision possessed by succubi, making last night's raid on the Volantene fleet possible.
"If enemy attacks, kill them," Drogon growled. She hadn't taken part in the recent raids, having only returned to Meereen a few hours ago. "Common sense."
"Yes, but there is more benefit in conquest," Wilmarina retorted. "Kill the leaders—the alphas of the enemy packs, if that makes more sense—and have the rest serve you. The common citizens did not necessarily agree to what their leaders decided."
"That would certainly be ideal," Hizdahr said, a hint of gratitude in his voice. "What do you suggest to achieve this, Royal Sorceress Wilmarina?"
"Well, the less damage you inflict while conquering them, the less rebuilding is necessary afterwards…"
Wilmarina spent several minutes talking, phrasing everything as mere suggestions. Though Elise suspected that the humans would aim to implement every suggestion as perfectly as possible.
But even then… so many people would be killed. I can see that it's the best that can be achieved with their capabilities… but if their capabilities were improved…
"The main issue is Volantis," Wilmarina said. "I have been told it is the most populous of the Free Cities."
"Indeed, the city alone holds slightly over one million people," Hizdahr said. "It also holds authority over three towns and hundreds of villages, whose collective population—at last count, it would be over three million."
That cooled the mood in the audience hall somewhat. Elise knew that Meereen's population, even including its associated towns and villages, did not come close to one million.
"Thus, it is infeasible to try conquering Volantis now," Wilmarina said. "It would be best to build up strength by conquering the closer and smaller city-states first. During this time, we could also take measures to gradually weaken Volantis. Does anyone have suggestions for that?"
There were quite a few suggestions. To Elise's disgust, one of them was to try spreading plague to the city. Fortunately, her mother shot that one down.
We want to help the people in this world, not sicken them indiscriminately!
"I have a suggestion," said the dwarf advisor, Tyrion. He became the focus of attention, much of it disdainful. "I was in Volantis some time ago, and met a lovely lady known as the widow of the waterfront."
"Vogarro's widow?" Hizdahr said, raising an eyebrow. Seeing that not everyone recognised the woman in question, he added, "The widow of a now-deceased triarch of Volantis. After his death, she took over his businesses and ran them extremely well. Now, she is the wealthiest and most influential merchant in Volantis—some say the most influential Volantene who is not of the Old Blood."
"And before being a triarch's wife, she was a mere pleasure slave," Tyrion said. "I saw scars on one of her cheeks—no doubt from removing the slave brand she once had."
That was something that made Elise tremble in anger. Sexual intercourse was meant to be an act of mutual pleasure, of mutual love, not something to be forced into. She was even more angry than usual since it reminded her of a recent incident.
"And she told me the following words, on behalf of all the slaves in Volantis," Tyrion said. "I already mentioned them to the queen and king earlier, but here I repeat them for you all: 'Tell her we are waiting. Tell her to come soon.'"
The audience hall was silent again. Even when people resumed speaking, they did so in hushed whispers.
"…Thank you for conveying those words," Queen Daenerys said softly. "I do not plan to disappoint her… something everyone present should hear and commit to memory. At the same time, the Royal Sorceress raises a good point of the difficulty of conquering Volantis."
"The hour is late, so perhaps we should adjourn for the day," Hizdahr suggested. "We can all think on this matter carefully, and continue the discussion tomorrow."
Elise felt relief as the court session ended. She and her mother walked to the nearest window and then flew out of the Great Pyramid. Wilmarina had recently recovered her magic to the point of being able to fly again, though it would take some more days to fully recover.
Under the light of the setting sun, the two succubi made their way back to their manse at ground level. They landed outside the front door, which had two Unsullied standing outside.
Elise smiled at them. The Unsullied awkwardly smiled back, which sent the young succubus' heart a-flutter.
They went inside. The entrance hall to the manse was filled with tapestries, paintings, marble busts and other decorations. Most of these were recent, being gifts that clients of Amelia had brought in recent days.
They found Amelia and Colette in one of the guest rooms on the ground floor, talking with four young men and teenage boys. Colette wasn't hiding in her petals for once.
"Oh, they're back!" Amelia said. She sounded much less energetic than usual. "Did everything go fine?"
"Yes, they appreciated the new variety of wheat quite a lot," Wilmarina replied. "Elise, Colette, you've done well."
"I didn't contribute that much…" Elise said. "I only worked on the associated soil fungi, it's Colette who had the larger role."
"Th-Thank you…" Colette said. She too sounded tired.
The four former bed slaves sat patiently as this conversation was happening. They'd been trained not to speak unless spoken to, something that made Elise furious.
"What about you four?" Wilmarina asked. "What did you do today?"
Alatto, a twenty-one-year-old Lyseni and the oldest of the former bed slaves, replied, "We told your daughters more stories from our cultures, Royal Sorceress." He had a musical voice, one that Elise had found arousing at first… much less after hearing about his situation.
"And we were told some remarkable stories from your culture," said Osaren, a nineteen-year-old and originally from Naath. "Is it… is it true that you used to be human, Royal Sorceress Wilmarina?"
Elise instantly felt the atmosphere cool. Not in a literal sense, although that would have been quite plausible, given her mother's specialty.
"…Girls, please come up with me for a conversation," Wilmarina said. Seemingly because the four humans looked terrified by these words, she told them, "This is not your fault in the slightest. You have nothing to worry about. Please stay here, and help yourselves to refreshments if you want."
The younger monsters followed Wilmarina out of the guest room, up a flight of stairs and to the master bedroom. Wilmarina closed the bedroom's door and cast a spell on it, one that Elise recognised as a soundproofing spell.
"You told them that!?" Wilmarina said thunderously.
The three younger monsters flinched, even Elise who hadn't revealed this information. However, Amelia quickly recovered. She returned their mother's glare with one of her own.
"Yeah, that's right! And just to clear things up, I told them, it wasn't Colette's fault!"
Colette now looked guilty. Elise suspected that the alraune had initially hinted at the possibility of making humans into monsters, and Amelia had merely elaborated on this.
Wilmarina narrowed her eyes. "I figured as much. Still, you should not have—"
"I wouldn't have done it, if you actually kept your promise!" Amelia shot back. "Remember the first night we came here, while we were in the bath? You said you'd discuss it with the queen when you got her back! Well? She's been back for days, and I haven't heard anything from her about it!"
Now it was Wilmarina's turn to look guilty. It was a sight Elise couldn't recall ever seeing before.
"…Mother?" Elise said. "Did you never tell Queen Daenerys about this, about how we can convert others?"
Colette looked shocked and even slightly angered, another unprecedented expression. "Auntie Mary?"
"I have not," Wilmarina admitted. "I could say I was busy with other things, and that would even be true, but… that wasn't, isn't, the only reason."
"WHAT THE HELL, MOM!?"
Amelia's shout was so loud, Elise feared it might be heard by people outside this room despite the soundproofing spell. And Amelia didn't limit herself to words, also grabbing the older succubus by the collar.
"YOU'RE LITERALLY SOMEONE WHO—SOMEONE WHO FOUND HAPPINESS AFTER GETTING MONSTERISED! WHY AREN'T YOU LETTING OTHERS HAVE IT!?"
"Do not talk about things you don't understand!"
"WHAT DON'T I UNDERSTAND!?" Amelia took a breath and continued in a less ear-splitting tone, "I get it, it'd be bad to turn everyone into monsters and incubi, but we don't have to do that! Even just turning a few here would give us a lot more energy to work with! We could help a lot more people, and a lot faster!"
Elise found herself silently agreeing with every word. Being the dutiful daughter, she hadn't spoken up until now, but that didn't mean she had no dissatisfaction. Rather, dissatisfaction had been growing steadily in her heart, like mycelium growing invisibly in a substrate, just waiting for the time to burst free.
"Mother, I agree with her," Elise said. However, she did pull Amelia's hands away from their mother's collar. "Before, you said that just converting a few wouldn't work as it would soon spread. But after spending time in this society, we've seen that it's a very hierarchical one, people simply take it for granted that others have more than them. We can't change that without years of effort… but in the meantime, we could make use of it. If we made just a few incubi, we could portray them as special, men who'd received our favour, and nobody would demand that they receive the same."
Colette reached out nervously and grasped Wilmarina by one hand. "Auntie Mary… obviously you and Amelia wouldn't have to feed off the incubi. But if Elise and I…" the alraune blushed, "made some, then the mana emitted by them, and by us two, would fill up this house. You and Amelia would be able to do so much more without getting tired."
Elise waited with bated breath for Wilmarina's reaction. She expected her mother to give in, there was nothing wrong with the arguments she and her sisters had presented.
If we do this, we can probably finish solving all of Meereen's domestic problems within weeks. We can probably settle affairs with other cities without so much violence.
She thought of the oldest of the former bed slaves downstairs, as well as the Unsullied who guarded the manse. Her legs trembled.
A-And… it would mean… I could achieve that dream of mine, which everyone called impossible…
Elise felt just a little shame. Her half-sister and even more so her twin sister were in this argument mainly for principled reasons. While Elise was also partly driven by principles, another motivation for her was to see the smiles of the men here, hear them praise her for her good deeds.
"You make good points," Wilmarina said eventually. "For my first counterpoint… I'll say that I found happiness from being reunited, for good, with Elt and Fran. Becoming a succubus wasn't necessary for that."
"Okay… but lots of other people in Lescatie were happier from being turned," Amelia said. "I remember Sasha talking about it, how there's no starving orphans anymore, or filthy slums!"
"True for most, but not for all."
Elise blinked in surprise. Everything she'd learned about the Rebirth of Lescatie portrayed it as an exceedingly positive event, changing Lescatie from a corrupt den of inequality and bigotry into the utopian paradise it was now.
"This is something we—your parents—never planned to tell you," Wilmarina continued. "But you three have seen many horrors now, and shown yourselves strong enough to endure, so I think you are now ready."
The three younger monsters, even Amelia, looked at her with trepidation.
"First of all, just what do you know about that event?" Wilmarina asked. "Especially about our family's involvement."
Elise hesitated, unsure just what her mother was getting at. Amelia ended up being first to respond.
"Well… we know that Dad, Auntie Sasha and Auntie Primera—oh, and Louis, were living in Lescatie's slums. Which, apparently, were like some parts of Meereen we saw today, the really run-down parts. Auntie Fran was stuck in her bed in the palace all day. Oh, and wasn't Alia about to get her head cut off?"
That reminded Elise of the numerous bodies in pieces she'd seen last week. She suppressed a shudder. The idea that Alameria Crescentria, a vivacious dhampir who was a friend of the family, had almost suffered such a fate… it was horrifying.
"Shortening Alameria's name to 'Alia' is… confusing, so please don't do that again," Auntie Mary muttered. "Well, that doesn't really matter. What happened next, according to your knowledge?"
"Then Druella and her friends came in!" Amelia said. "They approached Dad, got him to approach you—" she pulled a face, "—and that's how you and Auntie Fran got brought over to the cause! The others got brought over too, with the help of Dad and also some of the others—it was Kuroferu for Auntie Mimil, and—"
"…It wasn't actually that simple," Colette said quietly. "Right, Auntie Mary?"
Wilmarina shook her head sadly.
"Wait, how would you know that, Colette?" Elise asked.
The alraune looked down at the floor. "A few years ago—about four or five—I asked my mother what it was like turning into a monster," she said. "I was curious, since I'd never experience that myself. She… made a strange expression, and told me 'Took a while to adjust… but I'm enjoying it nowadays.' But even I could figure out… there was a time she didn't enjoy it."
"And now, I'll tell you all why," Wilmarina said. "It was… well, this is what happened from my perspective. One night, I was in my room, worried sick over Alameria and her impending execution. I wondered just how the situation could have become so horrific. Then I sensed monstrous mana, but before I could even draw my sword, I was pulled via teleportation into a very different place, a church."
Elise saw Colette bit her lip. The her of a few days ago would be listening intently, wanting to hear all the details about this rare use of spatial magic, which might be helpful for her own research. Now, it probably brought back the memory of a bloody summoning.
"I drew my sword and swung it towards the lilim who'd brought me there. She caught it effortlessly, with just two fingers. Then I heard those words: 'Mary, stop!' and 'Mary!' Words from both of the people I'd been missing for years…"
Elise recalled a picture from a textbook, one depicting a blue-haired hero pointing her sword at a white-haired lilim.
"We did hear about this in school," Elise said. "Although, not details like what Father and Aunt Fran said at that moment…"
Auntie Mary smiled. "Well, you've already learned something new, then. To continue, I froze in shock. I thought it was an illusion, something Druella had conjured up to distract me. That made me furious, furious that she'd dare play with my heart so, but then Elt hurried over and grasped my shoulders." That caused the succubus to blush, but she cleared her throat. "I was eventually convinced to sheath my sword, for the moment. Then I realised what had happened to those two that I loved: Elt was now an incubus, while Fran now had numerous tentacles—she'd become a queen roper. It was hard to believe, seeing her standing freely without needing any support as she used to."
Elise recalled the present-day Francisca, a bright and energetic woman who could do a dozen chores at once with her many tentacles. In the past, she found it hard to imagine her stepmother ever being so weak. That said, recently seeing hundreds of bed-ridden victims of the bloody flux made it much easier to imagine.
"Weren't Aunties Sasha and Primera there too?" Colette said. "I was taught they'd been monsterised as well, by this point."
"Yes… which only added to my shock, seeing two heroes of Lescatie now with wings and tail, fur and claws" Auntie Mary said. "I demanded an explanation. Druella remained calm, maddeningly so, and eventually she pointed to the door and said these words."
Elise had read about these words in school. She, her sisters and her mother said them in unison:
"Why don't we go for a walk outside?"
What happened next was also something Elise knew, and Wilmarina's next few sentences did not contradict it. Wilmarina and the others had all gone out of the church for a walk around the slums. Seeing the run-down buildings there had challenged Auntie Mary's resolve to keep defending the traditions of Lescatie. So too had seeing the now-monsterised slum-dwellers, and hearing from their lips how they appreciated their new bodies.
For a few days prior to bringing Wilmarina into the slums, Druella and other monsters had made an initial visit where they'd helped the people of the slums, handing out food, clothing and monsterisation freely. At that time, Sasha and Primera had been away on hero work, leaving Father to watch over the church. Father had noticed the change to the slums and confronted Druella. He had thus been the first to see the truth of monsters, and he'd helped convince Sasha and Primera when they later returned.
And now I've seen similar things, here in Meereen… The more I think about it, the more making this city like Lescatie sounds like a good idea. But why would Mother tell us this story, then?
"…Between that, Alameria's unjust sentencing, and also hearing how Fran had been neglected for years," Wilmarina said, her eyes hard with remembered fury, "I broke. I agreed to switch sides. And Druella said this to me: 'It would be easier to convince the rest of Lescatie if they saw their beloved heroes becoming monsters as well'… This, of course, is why Sasha and Primera had already agreed to it, after seeing the slum-dwellers appreciate their conversions. So I…" she looked away, "agreed as well."
"…Did you just not want to lose to them?" Amelia asked. "Were you afraid they'd… what, steal Dad away if they were monsters and you stayed human?"
Wilmarina averted her eyes and said nothing. That was enough to confirm to Elise that this was the truth.
"…So I was converted as well," Wilmarina said bluntly. "I should mention that this was all happening in one room of the church. Druella then left, putting up a soundproofing enchantment on the room, and told me to enjoy my new form…"
"Yeah, we all get it, so you don't have to tell us the details!" Amelia cut in.
Elise chuckled. It was always funny seeing her sister be so prudish, despite what her appearance might suggest to strangers.
"Then I won't," Wilmarina said. "After that, we all set out to sway others to the cause, as quickly as possible—Druella was quite insistent on that, saying that every hour of delay meant that more people would suffer. None of us pushed back on her, for she was in fact correct. Your mother—" she looked at Colette, "and Mimil were swayed as well, by Elt. And roughly one week later, we brought about the Fall, making Lescatie into a realm of monsters."
"And then?" Elise asked, raising a hand like the dutiful student she'd always been. "Mother, you mentioned 'what happened immediately afterwards'. So just what happened next?"
Wilmarina looked down. She touched the purple rune on her right cheek, just one of several that adorned her body.
"…After a few days of celebration, throwing aside all the restrictions of the past… one morning, I woke up to find Elt not there. I slipped out of bed, looked around until I found him in the basement of our new home, looking desperately at various books. When I opened the door, he turned and… wept."
"W-What!?" Amelia said. "Why would Dad be crying? Everyone was happy now, and—"
"Because of what he said next," Auntie Mary said grimly. "'I'm sorry… I'm sorry… It's all my fault…' When I tried to embrace him, to calm him down, he pulled away, saying, 'All of you are like this… because of me. I'll…'" Wilmarina's voice trembled. "'I'll find a way to free you all…'"
"Free you all… from what?" Elise asked, though she sounded scared of the answer.
"Elt… he couldn't accept that the six of us could love him like that," Auntie Mary said. "He thought it could only happen because he'd been made an incubus and now… could control us, as monsters."
"But… But you loved him ever since you were both little!" Colette said. "My mother… she didn't know him as long, but she also truly loved him!"
"We all know that now, including Elt," Wilmarina said. "But at the time, Elt found it impossible to believe. You have to understand, at the time, a commoner being romantically involved with one hero or royal was unthinkable. A commoner being involved with five heroes and a princess? …It was only natural for Elt to reject that."
Elise felt devastated. She'd been taught for years of the power of love. Love was what had driven people to overturn the rotten order of Lescatie. Love was what allowed society to function. Love was literally the main source of mana for monsters and incubi!
"If we had proceeded more slowly, Elt might not have reacted this way," Wilmarina said. "But because Druella insisted on the quick approach, he found himself with six wives in a matter of days, and he thought it had to be his fault." The elder succubus looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Soon enough, the other five also woke and discovered what was happening. Elt recoiled from us all, even as he kept apologising, apologising for raping us."
"…We… never heard of any of this," Elise murmured.
"Naturally," Wilmarina said. "It's a painful topic, not one to simply share with children…"
Wilmarina fell silent. Colette now saw her in a rather different light: someone who had not just physical scars, but mental scars as well.
"Auntie Mary…" Colette said. "If… If you're okay with saying it… how did you all recover from… from that?"
"It wasn't easy, to say the least," Wilmarina replied. "What we immediately realised was that we couldn't… couldn't have intercourse with Elt while he was like this. If we so much as tried to touch his hand, he would jump back and apologise again for forcing us to be with him. We six had just been awakened to monstrous lusts, and now we had to stay away from our shared husband."
"That… must have been frustrating beyond belief," Elise said with wide eyes.
"Indeed," Wilmarina said through gritted teeth. "Amelia, Colette, you wouldn't have any idea of what it's like, but a monster being bonded to a man and then being forced to abstain… it's a burning, all-consuming desire, one that leaves you unable to think of anything else."
Elise gulped. Despite being in a warm room and with family, she felt a chill go down her spine.
"Wait, will you be okay now?" Amelia asked. "Because now, Dad is nowhere to be seen."
"I've learned to control myself, thanks to that experience," Wilmarina replied. "But at the time… I was tearing myself apart in denial. I knew, intellectually, that it would be wrong to lay with Elt. Yet I constantly wanted to tear off his clothes and push him down… I constantly wanted to rape him."
Elise covered her mouth with her hands. Monsters forcing themselves on men was a terrible crime, as her parents had frequently reminded her—far more frequently than teachers at school did, come to think of it.
"The others felt the same way," Wilmarina said. "At the time, one of the best ways for us to calm down was to fight each other. Beating each other bloody was fairly effective, pain overriding lust. Fran and I had it slightly easier, since we could satisfy ourselves with each other, but the rest only had violence as an outlet… well, violence and rebellion."
"Rebellion?" Amelia said. "We never learned a thing about you doing that!"
Wilmarina laughed bitterly. "I imagine not… Lescatie's new leadership would never admit that some of their once-greatest supporters had later tried undermining them. Their takeover of Lescatie had caused other problems, not just the one affecting our family." She let out a sigh just as bitter as her laugh. "Though our secret rebellion failed in the end…"
Elise thought of how Wilmarina had saved Meereen from several different crises. She recalled speaking to her stepmother Mersé once, who described Wilmarina was "ridiculously" talented, able to learn almost any skill with a fraction of the effort that others needed. She wondered just how she and the other mothers could possibly fail…
…and then she remembered just who they'd been up against.
"Auntie Mary," Colette said. "Just what did you do to… to rebel?"
"Many things. Never anything like what the Sons of the Harpy have been doing in Meereen, but… what we did, would rarely be seen as ethical nowadays…"
Elise could tell her mother was being evasive. It must have been a momentous decision to even reveal her and the other mothers' rebellion.
"Mother, it's alright if you don't want to say any more," Elise said.
Wilmarina looked grateful for the verbal lifeline, but she shook her head. "After coming this far, I ought to tell you one example at least. At school, you would have learned that the Order lost all influence immediately. That wasn't true, something I know quite well since we helped the last remnants of the Order in Lescatie."
"You helped those assholes!?" Amelia exclaimed.
That caused Wilmarina to flinch—and no wonder, since she'd spent the first seventeen years of her life as a follower of the Order. Amelia quickly realised this as well, and she looked ashamed of herself.
"Y-You said your rebellion was nothing like the Sons of the Harpy," Colette said, obviously trying to defuse the tension.
"It wasn't—I should explain that these Order remnants weren't trying to kill anyone," Wilmarina said. "They didn't have the power to even try. They mainly acted by scrawling graffiti on walls—messages like 'Do not forget the Chief God' and 'There is no sin in remaining human'—as well as sabotaging monster projects. And our assistance to them took the form of warning them whenever they were almost discovered, and preparing new refuges for them to hide in."
"Did they know you were the ones helping them?" Elise asked. "Given that this took place after you'd all become monsters…"
"At first, no, since we interacted with them secretly," Wilmarina said. "For example, we warned them by disguising as ordinary civilians and then walking near their refuges, just close enough for them to hear our footsteps. But after a few months…" She closed her eyes in reminiscence. "One member of one Order group sought us out, in our new home. He had figured out the truth, that it had to be monsters helping his group stay hidden."
Wilmarina remained silent for a while. Elise almost wondered if that was the end of the story, but then she resumed.
"A few others realised after him, and reacted in various ways. Members of two groups assumed that we actually meant them ill, that we were leading them into a trap. So they did the logical thing, they completely changed how they were acting to avoid being 'tricked'…" Wilmarina covered her face with her hands. "And that led to them being caught."
Elise gulped. She'd been taught that Druella's faction had brought all of Lescatie to the cause of monsterkind by making them consent to it. But based on her mother's current tale, the truth was likely to be far murkier.
"How… or rather, what happened to them next?"
"I didn't see what happened at the time, none of us had the opportunity," Wilmarina replied. She picked up an iron poker from a table and began twisting it in her hands. "But we did see those former Order adherents afterwards… just a few days afterwards. Each and every one now smiled blissfully, and either had a new monster wife or had become a monster."
Elise was liking this less and less. These Order adherents that her mother was describing would be even more faithful on average, to cling to their faith as their own society rejected it. Persuading just one person in a few days might be possible, but multiple?
"…How did that happen?" Colette asked, now trembling.
"Well, put it this way: you must have heard of torturers by now," Wilmarina said grimly. "Many of the cultures in this world look down on causing pain for the sake of it, yet also consider it necessary in certain cases. So they keep torturers in their service, to do this 'necessary' work."
That had also been the case in Meereen. "Had" being the important word, because Elise's mother had recently been working behind the scenes to phase out such horrors.
"Monsterkind is not so different. Of course, there are no literal torturers, but… as I learned after some investigation, there are individuals whose role is to… deal with resistant targets."
Elise wanted to protest that it was impossible, that it went against the basic principles of monsterkind. It was something that might happen in the old era of murderous monsters, not now. She'd listened to public speeches of Druella's, heard her say loudly and clearly that no one should be forced into love.
But to do that would mean calling her mother a liar. To do that to the woman who'd brought her into this world, showed her how to cast her first ice spell, attended every one of her school ceremonies without fail… and who'd consistently protected her, and her sisters, in this strange new world.
That… would be truly impossible.
"Uh… hold on," Amelia said. "You, just now, said the ones who got caught, they—or at least some of them—figured out you were helping them. Did they figure out it was you specifically, or just that it was monsters, in general?"
"In at least one case, the former," Wilmarina replied. "Because the next time we came face-to-face with Druella… she was slightly different from before, in the way she looked at us. Just different enough for us to realise she knew the truth."
"But I've never heard of her punishing you at all," Elise said. "You're still respected figures in Lescatie to this day."
"Well, one of the lilim hardly needed to do anything as crass as punishing us. We continued trying to undermine her in other ways, but we ultimately failed, achieving nothing of note…" Wilmarina set down the poker, which she'd shaped into a ball and back again during the conversation. "That is all I'll share with you today."
One part of Elise wanted desperately to know more. The rest of her was deeply reluctant, as if it was the kind of knowledge found in forbidden tomes, the kind that drove all who knew it into madness.
"Th-Thank you for sharing this with us…" Elise said. "I… we're sorry for being too open with the humans. We won't do it again."
"That's not actually what I was aiming for," Wilmarina said. "I told you this story to explain my reluctance to convert others… and it was also for my own sake." She clasped her hands together and looked down at them. "After hearing it again, from my own lips… I understand how irrational I've been. Meereen is not like Lescatie at any point in the latter's history. The culture—well, there is a blend of various cultures here, but that blend is also different.
"So… you've changed your mind?" Amelia asked timidly.
"Not just yet, this… is something that would have to be done carefully, to avoid too many people knowing," Wilmarina said. "But I won't punish you for what you've revealed today."
Amelia and even more so Colette looked relieved—the latter wasn't as used to defying a parent as the former.
"I must admit, I feared you might confront me about this sooner," Wilmarina said. "Did you put it off because of my condition?"
"Yes," Colette admitted. "We know you've been working the hardest out of any of us, and… suffered because of it. So we assumed you knew best…"
"Well, I'm as just as fallible as everyone else. It's one of the reasons why I not only don't want to be a leader here, but in our own world as well…" Wilmarina looked distant, apparently recalling the past. "Moving on. I didn't hear much of it before, so tell me, Amelia, just how much did you reveal to those men? Not just to the former bed slaves, to any and all of the men now living with us."
Amelia maintained a poker face while Colette looked guilty again. Wilmarina had to have figured it out by this point.
"I told them that we were born a succubus and alraune—oh, right, also explained what races of monsters we are—but you used to be human, Mom. Then I told them you got turned into a succubus, but I didn't explain how. And those guys were too afraid to ask how."
Wilmarina narrowed her eyes. "I suppose it is safe to tell them the potential methods… we've already decided to keep them in the manse."
When the bed slaves had arrived on their doorstep two nights ago, Wilmarina had wanted to refuse them entry, and only the protests of the other monsters had made her relent. She'd allowed them in on the conditions that they not leave until permitted—the bed slaves had been disturbingly fine with this—and tell her everything they knew of their employer.
Which wasn't much, as it turned out. The bed slaves had been hired by a middle-aged man who seemed of low birth, and he'd been just an intermediary. The one behind it all was likely to be a noble, but there were no leads as to which one. Almost everyone in Meereen with enough money was a potential suspect.
"I told them basics about monsters, like how we can't have sons," Amelia continued. "Before you complain, Mom, I'm sure the humans are figuring it out already."
"…That much is true. It would have been less obvious if your father had happened to come along, or Louis. But with all of us and the dragons being female, that secret is difficult to keep."
"And I also told them the reason why I'm not into them at all," Amelia continued. "Because I'm not into guys at all. It made them say I could ask for girls to be sent here if I want, but I said no."
That was one of the main differences between Elise and her twin sister. While many of the younger generation of monsterkind had a free attitude towards sex, Amelia was more old-fashioned in only wanting to do so with someone she truly loved. So much so that she was still a virgin at twenty, when there were plenty of other monsters who'd readily take care of that.
"Hmm… thinking about it, I don't mind even if you reveal that information publicly," Wilmarina said. "The only consequence it might have is causing others to now approach you with females instead of males." She made a face. "And I say that instead of 'women instead of men' because this society sees no issue with prepubescents being forced into prostitution. Something I plan to address soon."
That caused all the monsters to grimace. Of the four bed slaves sent here, the youngest was just fourteen years old, but he'd still received years of training like the others.
"They're trying that already—the females bit, I mean," Amelia said. "A few of the girls who've been coming for my magic have been—how to put it?—flirting with me, in a subtle way, seeing if I'd react. I haven't so far."
"I see… is there anything else of note?"
"Um, I told those four, the ones downstairs right now, something," Colette said. "Told them how there's no such thing as prostitution in our—er, it exists in some places, but not in Lescatie. I told them that people have… have…" She blushed, also being a virgin. "Sleep with each other because they want to, and nobody has to do it just to make a living."
"That's good, it will help them to be more independent…"
The conversation continued in this vein for a few minutes. Eventually, they went back to the guest room.
The former bed slaves were standing and, upon the entry of Elise's group, they bowed deeply.
"We are sorry for the trouble we caused."
"Please do not blame your daughters for this."
"All punishment should fall on us."
"W-We'll accept any punishment."
The servile nature of these four males was as unsettling as always. It was a reminder that they'd been through "education" that took in children and processed them into useful tools—in this particular case, tools for the sexual relief of others.
"It's not your fault!" Amelia said. "Seriously, haven't we been over this a hundred times? Even if our mother got mad at us, she wouldn't blame you one bit."
"But…" said Grembarro, a sixteen-year-old and another Lyseni. "It was I who asked about your world, originally…"
"And we've been telling you to do that! None of this is your fault!"
"My thoughts exactly," Wilmarina said. "More importantly, it doesn't seem like you've been eating or drinking. Have you had dinner yet?"
The four said they had not. It soon turned out that most of the manse's residents hadn't had dinner yet, the only exceptions being the Unsullied who had the afternoon shift. Elise and her mother hadn't either, due to being at the royal court for hours.
Thus, ten minutes later, Elise and over ten others met in the dining room to have dinner. There was no official chef, as Wilmarina had steadfastly refused to take in anyone unnecessary. Since Wilmarina was also reluctant to leave food preparation to outsiders, the food here was prepared by some of the more culinary-minded Unsullied—they might have been trained to be soldiers and nothing else, but that meant having to cook their own meals as well. It wasn't like they had chefs to do that for them.
Elise still recalled how the Unsullied had initially protested this duty, saying things like "We've only cooked simple meals" and "My bloody hands aren't fit to feed you". They'd only given in when Wilmarina declared that she—despite her blindness and insensitivity—would do the cooking otherwise.
And they're surprisingly good at it, Elise thought as she began carving her meat, which was nice and tender. Mother taught them most of the recipes, and they've been determined to master those recipes as well as possible.
Though there had been an issue yesterday. To satisfy Amelia's liking for fried foods, the Unsullied had been taught the technique of deep frying. A couple, during a moment when no one else was watching, had been splashed with hot oil. They hadn't mentioned their burns until later, considering the injuries too minor to care about.
They still have a way to go to regain their sense of self. Though it's also partly because of how magic is perceived in this world, as rare and valuable. Even though it just took a few seconds for us to heal their burns…
Bringing herself back to the present, Elise felt the awkwardness in the air. Everyone here knew the former bed slaves were meant to be servicing the monsters sexually. Also, they, the Unsullied and the one clerk weren't meant to eat at the same table as their masters.
After dinner, Wilmarina cleared her throat and all turned towards her.
"To summarise the situation, we still do not know who your employer is. And you now know information that cannot be made public."
The former bed slaves tensed.
"At the same time, you four are innocents in all this… so here is what I've decided. I will have you learn additional skills to serve as members of this temporary household. In fact, I will have all of the Unsullied learn these as well. Miklaz."
The dark-haired clerk started in his chair. "Yes, Royal Sorceress?"
"Please teach them all basic literacy, finances, history and other knowledge you possess. For any that show a particular affinity, you can teach them more advanced knowledge. Will this be too much of a burden for you?"
Miklaz shook his head. "No, Royal Sorceress. You have not been doing many transactions, so I have plenty of time to spare."
Alatto, the eldest of the former bed slaves, raised a hand nervously. "We will learn whatever you ask of us, but I should point out: you could instead hire servants who have been learning such things for years. They would be more useful."
"Yes, but that would mean having to vet more strangers for trustworthiness," Wilmarina said irritably. "I would prefer to spend less time on doing that and more on other tasks."
One of the Unsullied, the Summer Islander known as Quhuru, raised a hand. "How much time would you like us to spend on this? The more time we spend learning, the less effective we will be in guarding your family."
"At least four hours a day. You may do so during your shifts. The walls and defensive enchantments provide most of the protection in any case, so I am content with you simply being awake and in the manse to be 'on guard duty'."
The two groups of former slaves muttered excitedly. Elise knew that in this world, a proper education was limited to those born into nobility. Even those who were born free but in the lower classes did not receive education.
"Do you have any further questions?"
"J-Just one, Royal Sorceress!"
This came from Errol, the youngest of the former bed slaves and a fourteen-year-old from Lhazar. Compared to his three colleagues, he was less composed, probably due to having less experience.
"You want us… to be part of your household," Errol said. His dark, almond-shaped eyes were filled with uncertainty. "Will that mean coming out of this manse in future? And talking to others, outsiders? What… What should we say to them?"
"Well, for you four, that won't be happening for some time. I can say now that you will not be revealing what my daughters told you tonight… unless permitted. As for what you can say freely, you can simply tell them the truth: that you are being educated to better serve us."
Alatto spoke again. "Pardon my rudeness, but many people will assume that we are serving your family as we were intended, even if that is not the truth. Will that be a problem? For example, Royal Sorceress, people may assume you are being unfaithful to your husband."
Elise saw her mother shift in her chair.
"…As I said, you four won't be leaving for some time. By that time, hopefully we will be trusted to the point that outsiders won't come to such assumptions. And in any case, my family will not be staying here permanently, so the opinions of those here matter little."
That caused a stir among the humans. They all knew this would happen eventually, and they all knew it was in Meereen's best interests for it to happen as late as possible.
Wilmarina then looked up at the white ceiling of the dining room. She was clearly uncomfortable about what she would say next.
"…When that happens, we may bring a few with us," she said through gritted teeth. "You've already heard about how our kind are all female, and need… husbands from other races."
"Me, not so much," Amelia chimed in. "But like I said before, I've got ten sisters, and most of 'em are at the age where they're thirsty for men."
The humans reacted in various ways. Many protested that they didn't deserve such a thing, while also looking like they were flattered by the offer.
Elise was confused by Miklaz' reaction, and not for the first time. She'd been eyeing the young clerk for a while, and he didn't show much romantic interest in any of the monsters. Right now, he looked nervous at the possibility of being brought to their home.
Is it that none of us are his type? Or does he already have someone he loves?
"R-Royal Sorceress Wilmarina," said Grembarro. "We are grateful for such an offer, but… women of your calibre, you could easily find husbands from royalty."
"That doesn't matter to us!" Elise said. "We only care about… about…"
Elise made eye contact with the handsome young man, and words failed her. She began imagining what it would be like to be embraced by his strong arms, to have his smooth hands caressing her everywhere, to feel his soft lips on hers…
"Human status, wealth, influence, these things are irrelevant to our kind," Wilmarina elaborated. "As you've already seen, we can do as much or more with our own power. And…" She gritted her teeth again. "I wasn't planning to reveal this, but since my daughters already opened the floodgates… my own husband, and their father, is a man of common birth."
"WHAT!?" "Common… with the likes of you!?" "But wait—doesn't he have five other wives as well!?"
The humans reacted predictably. This struck a nerve with Wilmarina—Elise saw her mother clench her fists at below the level of the table.
"And we're a happy family still!" Elise said quickly, fear overriding her earlier lust. "So… none of you need to feel inadequate!"
Wilmarina took a deep breath. "Yes… that's right. And, just to clear any confusion, this… possible outcome… would only happen with men who agree to it."
Miklaz breathed a sigh of relief. Elise still wasn't sure why.
"But still… we are not whole men," said the Unsullied Rego.
"Also irrelevant, that sort of injury can be healed through… certain means." Wilmarina looked out the dark windows of the dining room. "It is quite late now, so perhaps we should all retire for the night. We may spend the night thinking on this, much as others in Meereen are thinking on more serious matters."
They cleaned up the dining room and then split up. As they left, many of the men glanced furtively at Elise and her family.
To try to distract herself, Elise went to the stable of the manse. Formerly intended for draft animals, this was currently populated by pigs, goats and chickens. As it was night, most of them were sprawled out over the straw that covered the floor.
Elise placed a hand on many of the animals, one at a time. She found nothing unusual in the flow of essence through their bodies. She recorded this result in a book in the stable, coming after several days' worth of similar results.
The feeding trial is going well… and not only are they healthy in terms of essence, but the pigs and goats have been producing above-average amounts of milk, while the hens are laying eggs at the normal rate of one a day.
Elise inspected the feeding troughs. No traces remained of the fungal feed which she'd put here earlier today, nor of the plant feed that Colette had put in. The animals had diligently licked up every trace.
Shouldn't be too long before our work is ready for distribution…
Then Elise glanced at one of the animals she hadn't examined tonight, due to it not being part of her experiment. It was a pig with a large patch of discoloured skin on her back.
Elise pursed her lips at the sight. Her and Colette's feeding trial had a low chance of harming the animals. But her mother's experiment… it had to harm the test animals, as a necessary first step.
I wish it didn't have to happen… but a human's life hangs in the balance. I just hope Mother gets all the data she needs soon.
Having finished in the stable, Elise went off to her bedroom—lately, her family had relaxed enough that they could sleep separately again.
And it was quite fortunate that Elise had a room to herself tonight. Without even changing out of her day clothes, she dropped into bed and covered her face with a pillow.
I've been trying so, so hard… focusing on my research, being with family, all to distract myself…
But when the topic is brought up like that…
Elise remembered the faces of each and every man she'd met today, every man not visibly attached to a woman already. She wriggled around in bed.
I'm… reaching… my limit…
Some of those men, the ones she knew the most about, were sleeping downstairs right now. Or perhaps some were having a bath prior to sleep—Wilmarina had permitted the servants to use the manse's bathhouse. The latter category would be naked, scrubbing their bodies… and thinking. Some might be thinking about her sisters, but at least one ought to be thinking about her.
Mother thinks it's still too early… and it's true… we haven't known anyone here longer than a week…
Elise felt like emulating the succubi of old: sneaking into a man's room to take her pleasure from him. If it wasn't for the knowledge her mother would stop her, she might seriously go through with it.
How much longer… can I wait… like this?
AN: Now you see why I mentioned, at the very start of this fanfic, that the MGE side is an AU. You'll see more of the AU aspects in future chapters.
And Wilmarina's story is what I originally planned to reveal back in Chapter 5. In hindsight, that would have been a bad idea so early in the story.
The next chapter will switch back to the ASOIAF side and have a major character as the POV.
