The Longest Road, Part 33

You ponder Khaytala's question, even as Kelissa takes your cock deep in her throat. Feeling that it's time, you pull her head away and then unload, coating her face with rope after rope of cum, in a volume no mortal could match. She accepts the facial blissfully, then once it's done she curls her naked body around your leg as you set there, her chin on your knee, gazing up at you.

"I think Verika should be next," you answer Khaytala. "She's seen you with me. And when your friends learn that you're with Kovora now, she might make the connection. Even if I can change my appearance, I'd still prefer to keep my approach a secret for as long as possible."

Then you give the fallen heroine a nudge. "Besides... I don't want to keep you separated from your friend, either."

Khaytala does blush a little as she thinks of what that will entail... but she doesn't protest. Instead, she brings up strategy. "We could go to her village together, if you wanted," she muses. "She taught me the way there. That might make it easier to gain her trust at first... though it could make it harder to actually seduce her. Since she'd think she was betraying me."

"Or I could just go disguised as someone different, and contrive to meet her on the road," you say. "Doing it that way might make it harder to get my foot in the door. But at least there wouldn't be any history complicating things once I did. Is there anything you can tell me about her, as a person?"

"She can sometimes act aloof," Khaytala says. "But don't believe it for a second. She really cares about people, especially if they're in trouble. Even before the pact of heroines started, she was looking out for me when she could. And she'd give anything to keep her village safe."

"How did she end up as the protector of that village, anyway?" you ask. "On most worlds, elves and drow aren't exactly..."

Khaytala shrugs. "I never asked," she says. "Everyone's got things in their past they don't enjoy talking about, and I didn't want to pry. But... there was one time a few years back when she let something slip. I'd just finished a job, and I thought I'd take some time to visit her. So I came back through the forest alone, no caravan or anything. We spent the night in this beautiful little glade, looking up at the stars. Just... talking."

"But then I said something in passing about how the last caravan I'd worked with tried to stiff me on my pay. Verika got really quiet. Then she told me it wasn't fair. She said it wasn't fair that I had to put up with so much hate and fear that I didn't deserve... while she got so much love and acceptance that she didn't deserve."

Interesting. It's clear that Khaytala herself doesn't agree with Verika's assessment. But the fact that the ranger views herself like that suggests all manner of possibilities. It also explains some of the unique bond between the two women. Similar in so many ways... and yet opposites in so many others.

Still mulling over what you've learned, you clean up and get dressed again, the two women doing likewise. It seems that despite her heritage, Verika didn't receive the same kind of distrust that Khaytala did. So what in her past has caused her to think of herself that way?

Everyone spends the next few days in a flurry of activity, preparing for the official announcement that the first of the heroines has fallen. You talk through the event over and over again with Khaytala and Lily, hashing out exactly what you need to accomplish and how best to strengthen the queen's position.

You also spend more time talking over how to claim Verika. You suss as many details out of Khaytala as she can recall, though none of them seem as pertinent as your first conversation. Still, a plan for how to proceed starts to take form as you consider your options.

Soon enough, the day arrives. Lily stands on the fortress's largest outer balcony, looking across the field outside. The area is packed with all manner of beings. Orcs predominate, both from the army and the more civilian walks of life. There are more humans than you expected as well, and not all of them slaves, along with handful of other, more exotic beings. All of them are looking up toward their Witch Queen.

"People of Kovora!" she calls out, her voice amplified by magic as she speaks the words that you helped her prepare. "You know full well the dangers we face. You know full well the threat to our nation from these so-called 'heroines'! They were responsible for the death of my predecessor. They were responsible for our defeat ten years ago. And their numbers have only grown since!"

Then the Witch Queen slams her staff down, the amplified impact echoing across the crowd with a force that makes them shake. "But we will not be defeated this time!" she shouts, her voice rising in passion... just as you coached her. "I will protect this realm, as none before me could! I will twist and corrupt those so-called heroines, turning their own strength against each other! And Kovora will emerge from this trial mightier than it ever was before!"

Lily makes a sweeping gesture with her arm. "And as proof of this, I give you the first success of my campaign! The heroine Khaytala, now a servant of our cause! The first of many to fall beneath our banner!"

On cue, Khaytala walks forward. She's wearing the black armor Kelissa put together for her, with a few extra accoutrements that the maid was able to work up since then. She stands where all can see... then kneels before the Queen, bowing her head in subservience.

The crowd erupts into a roar. There's nothing like a good bit of pageantry, especially when your audience is facing near-certain defeat and starving for any scrap of hope. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Varthurg gnashing his teeth in impotent rage, but there's not much he can say in the face of success like this, not when you've already cut him down to size so badly in his previous attempt.

There is one other figure, however, who catches your eye. An elderly human, so tall and gaunt that he seems almost withered, dressed in dark, flowing vestments. He watches intently as the queen continues to speak. Outwardly he seems the very image of composure... but there's a manic gleam lurking deep in his eyes that you don't like.

At one point, his gaze does meet with Lily's, and for a moment you see her face twist in an emotion you've never seen from her before. Raw, aching fury, so intense that her hand trembles as it grips her staff. It's enough for you to make a pretty good guess who the man is. You know a cleric when you see one... and you recall your mistress talking about a certain 'High Priest' that was instrumental in killing the Mother Superior at the convent where Lily was raised.

He has a good poker face... but thanks to your vastly increased perception, you can read the tiny fluctuations in his demeanor, even at this distance. He's suspicious, disdainful of the queen... but also not entirely sure what to make of this new development, or what it could portend against the enemies he hates even more. He waits until Lily has finished her speech, then steps forward, all eyes turning to him.

"I applaud you for this victory, your majesty," he calls out. You can detect his insincerity, though, and the venom he's hiding. "Let us hope that this is only the beginning of a newfound commitment to abandon your prior weakness, and crush the enemies of Melca through whatever means necessary."

A muscle strains in Lily's jaw, but she does not otherwise show her anger. "Thank you, High Priest Nergan," she says, her voice clipped and precise. "Your guidance is as appreciated as always."

The High Priest gives a small nod. Then his eyes track over to where you stand next to the queen, and you match gazes for a few moments. He's trying to read you like you read him, but your poker face is immeasurably better than his was. You give him nothing. For now, let him speculate what the queen's new demonic minion really means.

Eventually the proclamation ends, and the crowd is dismissed. Lily is drained and shaken after the experience, but you, Kelissa and Khaytala commend her on how well she handled it. Public speaking definitely isn't something that comes naturally to her as it does to you. Still, she took your instructions to heart as best she could, combining it with sheer determination to make this work.

Nor are her efforts without fruit. Later that evening, Rysanial approaches you with a wide grin on her face. "Come with me," she says eagerly. "There's someone who wants to talk to you."

She takes you to a corner of the fortress courtyard, where you see about a dozen orcs gathered. They're soldiers, each of them armed, but you detect a sterner, more disciplined air about them than the ordinary grunts. Their leader is wiry—for an orc, at least—with several scars criss-crossing his face. He turns to regard you as you approach. "Name's Ghazar," he says, without much preamble. "Heard you've got the ear of the queen."

"She's listened to me on occasion," you reply. "You have something you want to convey to her?"

"Our service," is Ghazar's blunt reply. "And not by way of that traitor Varthurg. It's obvious the old fool doesn't have a prayer of stopping what's coming our way. I didn't know what to make of you at first, when you took him down the way you did... but after what I saw today, I can't deny that you and the queen are our best bet."

He gestures to the other orcs. "So... me an' my squad want to pitch in. With the queen's permission, we'd like to serve in the Royal Guard. There ain't a lot of us, but you won't find better fighters anywhere in our army, nor better scouts at getting through terrain without being seen."

Interesting indeed. The army might be commanded by the Warchief, but from what he's saying the Royal Guard seems to answer directly to the queen herself. A private, loyal force might be extremely useful in the days to come. Their numbers are small at present, and even as a group you doubt they'd give a heroine much trouble. Short of such impossible odds, however, they seem highly skilled and capable.

It's a start.

Still, if you're going to trust them to participate in your operations, you'd like to guarantee their reliability. "I can put in a good word for you," you say. "But you'll need to swear loyalty to the queen. You'll need to swear that you won't disobey your orders, whether they come from her or from one of her agents."

Then you raise your right hand, and it starts to glow with the power of your Corruptive Boon. "It's a binding promise. But you'll also get some very nice gifts in return."

The orcs glance at each other, before Ghazar finally steps forward. "I swear," he says. "Hell, I already swore it when I joined the army. And I'm swearing it again."

One by one, the others step forward as well. You grant the Corruptive Boon to each of them, giving them as much as you can in the way of added sexual prowess, stamina and simple aphrodisiac in the bargain. You can't get them to true incubus levels, of course. But then again... it's not like incubi usually need to go all-out against ordinary mortals anyway.

The orcs' eyes light up as the surge of power and raw lust runs through them. "Now, there's one thing I need to make very clear, if you're going to serve under the queen," you say. "I saw your army's approach to sex when Varthurg had his idiot son tried to take on Rysanial. Barely even deserved to be called 'sex', in my opinion. All brute violence, with no concern at all for pleasure."

You pause for effect, looking them in the eye by turns. "Any stupid oaf that's strong enough can grab a girl and force himself on her," you continue. "But how many of them can convince that girl to sell him her soul thirty seconds in... just so long as he doesn't stop?"

The orcs aren't quite sure what to make of that. But you've certainly got their attention. And between the sexual gifts granted by the Boon and your own instruction, you're confident that you can make something respectable out of them. Something that will be a bit more focused on genuine lust than just the simple violence that has been the only example they've seen until now.

It could also be one avenue for expanding the numbers of this little force. If you happen to seduce women during your travels that aren't as... long-term... as the heroines, you might be able to persuade some of them to serve as camp attendants. With enough training, you're sure that these orcs will be able to show such women a very good time. And a supply of new girls might help convince even more orcs to join. It could also serve as a way of dealing with any opponents you manage to capture along the way.

In fact... isn't that assassin girl due to arrive any day now?

At any rate, you now have Rysanial, Khaytala, and a small commando force, all of which can be deployed to your advantage. The question is how best to allocate them? Any of them could accompany you on your own venture, providing aid and, in the case of the women, a sexual partner available from the beginning.

But Khaytala's expertise as a guard could also be applied to your security around Kovora, both keeping watch herself and ensuring the other guards are operating at their best. This could help you hunt down and defend against internal threats—assassins, spies, saboteurs and the like—giving you options for dealing with them.

Alternatively, she could spend that time setting herself up to challenge Varthurg for the position of Warchief, virtually eliminating him as a threat. Granted, you've already largely neutered him—for the moment—with how devastating your humiliation of him was. But this would secure that victory. And having a loyal Warchief might give you other options for directly boosting the army's loyalty and morale.

On the other hand, once she has taken that position, having Khaytala leave Kovora for long stretches of time to join you on a mission might have a negative impact on morale. So you'll have to consider the tradeoffs.

Your squad of orcs could also be used to increase security around Kovora, either on their own or in conjunction with Khaytala. The higher the security is, the more advantageous a position you would likely be in when dealing with the fallout of whatever you discover. On the other hand, the orcs could also spend the time recruiting, attempting to increase their numbers that way.

Or you could try to think up other unique tasks in line with their respective skillsets. In the end, you'll have to figure out the best division of effort, both in terms of making your attempt on Verika a success... as well as preparing for what comes next.