Demon's Throne 3 - Ch1 - 3

Chapter 1

A half-dozen gargantuan sailing ships floated offshore Port Mayfield, close enough to be intimidating for such a small port but far enough away not to disrupt regular trade. Sailors and soldiers mustered on the decks of the vessels. On one ship, a being composed entirely of water twisted tendrils into the sky and appeared to be summoning a storm.

Standing in the port itself, Rys watched with bemusement. He towered over the four women beside him, three of whom had voluminous fluffy tails sticking out of their asses. Many of the citizens and dockworkers stared at him in a mixture of fear and wonder.

Although he was their king, seeing him was a rare event. Normally he remained in his palace.

“When I was told to come greet the envoy from Pharos, I expected diplomatic niceties and empty gestures,” Rys said. “Why is there a naval battle breaking out? And whose ships are those? I recognize the imperial emblem on the larger ones.”

Of the six ships, three had furled black sails and painted white emblems of Pharos’s Imperial Court. Pharos was the northern continent home to the mystic foxes, among other races. They’d taken a political interest in Rys’s kingdom recently.

The other ships were somewhat smaller, and designed much differently. The water elemental summoning the storm was on these vessels.

One of the foxes rubbed the bridge of her nose. She was the eldest of the three, but normally unfamiliar to Rys. Her name was Nia, had four fine white tails, and favored tight-fitting but conservative clothing suitable for combat.

She was also the sister of Fara, one of Rys’s lovers.

“Somebody is trying to show off,” Nia said, frustration evident in her tone. “Tarmouth controls almost all trade in and out of the archipelago, and they dislike it when warships sail up to ports. Marin should have docked at Tarmouth and sailed here in smaller boats.”

“Yes, but then she wouldn’t get to wave her dick at us,” Mina said with a smirk. She was a younger fox, although she also had four tails.

“Her borrowed dick,” the third fox, Sarae, corrected. She looked nearly identical to Mina, because she was her twin sister.

The difference between the sisters lay primarily in chest size. Mina could effortlessly smother a man with her chest, while Sarae would be better off relying on the thick thighs the sisters shared. Both possessed the charming beauty that every mystic fox appeared to inherit.

Also, they were Nia’s nieces.

“Those are Imperial Treasure Galleons. Archon Imira controls the entire fleet of them,” Sarae added.

Rys frowned. “Can I expect a surprise visit?”

The ears and tails of all three foxes flattened instantly.

“Creator below, I hope not,” Nia muttered. “I’ve never dealt with her, but everything I’ve heard suggests that Imira is hell.”

“She is the Archon,” Sarae complained.

“Yeah, yeah, save the sucking up for when your boss can hear you,” Mina said. “Wouldn’t we sense her if she was here? She’s obscenely strong.”

“Did you ever sense her in the capital?” Nia asked.

Mina shook her head.

“Then there’s your answer.”

The fourth woman in the group chose this moment to speak up. She wore a black silk one-piece dress that attempted to hide her excessively busty figure and hips. Curly silver hair framed her face, a pair of black goat-like horns protruded from her head, and large amber eyes peered up at Rys. Her name was Maria, and she was the duchess of the region and ruled this port on his behalf.

“Shouldn’t you intervene?” she prodded. “Surely placing a diplomatic envoy in your debt is to your advantage.”

“Diplomats, spies, and politicians don’t like being in debt,” Rys said drily, shielding his eyes from the overhead sun as he stared at the ships. “If I step in, I’ll embarrass Marin before she even introduces herself. If she’s as much of a conniving bitch as everyone says she is, she’ll try to sabotage me the first chance she gets.”

“Sounds good to me. Fara would love an excuse to gut her,” Mina chirped.

The other foxes glared at her.

“Where is Fara, anyway?” Maria asked.

“She’s feeling unwell,” Rys said.

“Unwell? I didn’t know foxes could feel ill.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine soon enough,” Nia said smoothly. “I’ll stop by your palace to see how she’s feeling.”

Rys shot the fox a warning look, and her tails lowered submissively.

Of the three foxes, only one directly served him. Mina was his spymaster, and therefore trustworthy.

But both Nia and Sarae served Pharos. Nia was a spy for the Garrote Clan, who were one half of the reason a naval battle was about to take place. Sarae worked for the Imperial Court, but stayed with Rys while ostensibly acting as a “neutral party.”

Suffice it to say, fox politics was overly complicated. Rys hoped that the meeting with Marin resolved some of the complexity. The family ties that Mina and Fara had with the foxes on the island made it difficult to simply crush them, but they were becoming a rapidly increasing danger. A tinderbox that could be easily lit by an intelligent foe.

And Rys had no shortage of foes, particularly intelligent ones.

Nearly an hour passed before the situation resolved itself. Despite Rys’s reluctance to become involved, Tarmouth’s warships contacted him using sendings. These instantaneous magical messages made long-distance communication easy, but weren’t used in Pharos.

Once he confirmed that he wanted to meet with Pharos’s envoy, not cause an international incident, the warships stopped posturing.

“Now, how long before they realize our port is too small to accommodate ships over 300 feet long,” Rys mused.

Several minutes, as it turned out. Multiple smaller boats lowered from one side of the largest galleon. They approached the docks and their passengers disembarked.

Finally, the time had come to meet Marin, the diplomatic envoy of Pharos and the Six-Star Alliance of mystic foxes.

Uniformed soldiers assembled by the pier the Pharosians had docked at. Aboard the vessels, Imperial soldiers clad in black armor and wearing masks undertook docking procedures with the help of dockworkers.

“Um, is it usually this boring?” Mina asked. Her sister and aunt glared at her.

“Really, Mina?” Nia ran a hand down her face. “I thought we raised you better than this.”

Rys chuckled while Mina and Sarae fought each other with their tails and exchanged glares.

“It’s fine,” he said. “While I know you and Fara have developed the patience for this, it takes some time.”

Nia gave him an uneasy look. “Fara’s said little about you. I can see why. Are you even human?”

“I was once. These days it’s a complicated matter,” Rys said.

Her mouth transformed into a thin line and her eyes narrowed. She looked at Mina, who rolled her eyes in return.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Nia snapped. “You and Fara… What a mess you’ve caused. Dragging the entire Alliance into an alliance with an inhuman sorcerer king like this.”

“Yeah, yeah. So, this is always boring?” Mina said, returning to the original topic of conversation.

“Was there or was there not nearly a naval battle?” Sarae drawled. “Just asking, Sis.”

“Nearly doesn’t count. All I saw were some storm clouds and a puddle of water shaking her tendrils.”

Rys coughed and interrupted their fiftieth catfight of the day. “Yes, diplomacy tends to be slow and interminably boring. Pharos holds a vastly superior position to us in the world, so we need to stand around waiting for them. In return, Marin just wasted months sailing across the ocean for this. For all we know, she’ll be hopping back on the ship in an hour.”

“I doubt it,” Nia said. “Maybe in the morning. Her plans will undoubtedly involve your bed tonight.”

“Then she’ll be sharing,” Maria said haughtily. “It’s my turn tonight.”

Nia raised an eyebrow, and her nieces smirked.

“You aren’t part of that, right?” Nia asked them.

“Not yet,” Mina chirped, making her future desires clear.

The elder fox’s eyes turned to Sarae, who ignored her aunt.

Their antics were interrupted by the clattering of boots and armors. The nearby soldiers snapped to attention and everyone straightened up to face the pier.

Then all three foxes stiffened, their tails and ears shooting bolt upright.

“What is he doing here?” Nia hissed, eyes wide.

“He” turned out to be a black-tailed mystic fox with seven tails and an almost lethal beauty. Apparently male foxes were as beautiful as the women, which greatly amused Rys. No bulging muscles or rugged physique.

Or maybe it was just this fox in particular. Rys’s experience with foxes so far came primarily from one extended family, after all. Small sample sizes were a potential issue.

Then again, Sarae had apparently been interested in him precisely because he had been muscular and foxes weren’t.

Whatever the case, this man appeared to be important. Seven tails was the maximum that any fox received ordinarily—only two living foxes had more, apparently. He wore simple black robes engraved with the silver crossed wires of the Garrote Clan. No weapons adorned his body, save his tails and fists.

Mina saw Rys’s questioning look and gulped. “He’s Liorne, the Chief Enforcer of the Garrote Clan. He’s the second-most powerful fox in the entire clan and once trained under Imira herself.”

“The most powerful fox,” Nia corrected. “Our clan head, Tirara, is a political puppet and Liorne has a whole tail on her.”

More fox politics. Rys didn’t really care about this Tirara. He did care about the very dangerous fox turning up without warning, however.

And about the luscious piece of fluffy goodness walking in front of him.

At a glance, he knew exactly why so many men sampled Marin’s offered treats. She could sleep her way to the top because her body commanded attention, and she knew how to amplify the affect.

Marin’s proportions adhered to perfection, with flared hips, a hefty bust that threatened to overflow from her figure-hugging black robes, and was short little package with only an inch on Mina. Her heart-shaped face used only the lightest touch-up from makeup in the right places to become a visage of beauty that could easily convince men to give her what she wanted—at least, once she wrapped herself around their cock.

Long strips of pale flesh slipped through the waist-high slits of her robes with every step, and she had a thick red sash tied around her waist. If Marin had any weapons on her, they were hidden in that sash.

Notably, she had only five white tails. Relatively few for a fox only a little older than Fara and in such an important position.

“King Talarys, it is an esteemed honor to make your acquaintance,” Marin said with a surprisingly light accent and a husky voice. “I am Marin, the joint liaison of the Imperial Court of Pharos and the Six-Star Alliance, and—should you approve of me—the ambassador between our nations.”

Following her words, Marin leaned forward in a half-bow at her waist. Her arms oh-so-conveniently pressed against her breasts, emphasizing their size and causing them to nearly slip out of their confines. Rys notice the pink edges poking along the silver trim of her robes. Apparently, bindings or a bra weren’t on the menu for Marin.

Her words troubled Rys, however. Ambassador? Joint liaison? He’d been led to believe Marin’s presence here was purely to investigate the Garrote Clan’s involvement in Avolar during the recent war. Rys had instigated a war and conquered the northern city-state, but a rogue spymaster from the clan had assisted Avolar with the aid of Pharosian soldiers.

Soldiers assigned by the Imperial Court. Archon Imira had sent Sarae to deal with the rebellion, and the political fallout required the fox Alliance to respond directly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Rys said. “Before we dive into the details, why don’t you introduce your dashing partner. I feel I’m being shown up.”

Rys almost felt the surprise of the foxes around him at his light jab at Liorne’s attractiveness. Most restrained themselves, although Sarae’s face flickered in a dismissive scowl.

Laughing, Liorne himself waved a hand in the air. Marin turned her head between the two men, eyes wavering with uncertainty. At no point did she stop trying to seduce Rys however and shifted an arm beneath her chest in an attempt to keep his focus on her assets.

“If you feel worried about my looks, you should meet Ren, the Seven-Leaf clan head,” Liorne said with a light smile. “But something tells me you don’t worry about women looking at others, Your Majesty. Or, perhaps more accurately, that you’ve never needed to worry.”

“Does a skilled hunter worry if he’ll catch his prey with a trap?” Rys responded.

“Don’t call me prey,” Mina muttered.

Sarae smirked, while Rys simply ruffled tickled one of his spymaster’s tails. Her harsh intake of breath caught the eye of every woman, but Liorne ignored the display. Marin licked her lips, then pointedly straightened her posture.

“I can only imagine what it would be like if you ever met the old Alliance chief,” Liorne mused. “Ah well. I’m Liorne. But you already know that, as I overheard the gossip.”

The ears and tails of Mina and the others flattened.

“Then I’ll cut to the chase. Why are you here?” Rys asked.

“Simple. There are a great many clan matters that need to be resolved as a priority. The Alliance and Court have diplomacy to conduct, but I have my own flock to attend to. A spymaster went rogue, two of our clan members are embroiled in a debate about clanlessness, our headquarters here is currently non-operational out of protest.” Liorne grimaced. “You’ve made some waves.”

“I have?” Rys feigned innocence.

“Given one of those two clan members just admitted to being your prey, yes.”

Fair call.

Marin pouted and stepped between the two men. She turned to face Rys and thrust herself in his face, although her height made it trivial to look over her head at Liorne anyway.

“Liorne is here to act as a liaison between the Garrote Clan and your nation, which means he is strictly my second in this role,” Marin said primly. She reached out and ran a finger along Rys’s chest. “In the long-term, I expect we can enjoy a far deeper relationship.”

“I’m sure we can. First, though, we should retire to my palace and discuss exactly what Pharos wants. This is entirely different to what was relayed to me before your arrival, but I’m sure you can come up with a clear list by the time you reach me,” he said.

Before either fox could interject, Rys stepped back and began casting a teleportation ritual. Liorne’s tails stood on end, but he didn’t begin cast an offensive spell. By contrast, Marin leaped several feet backward and nearly pulled a hiltless dagger from her sash before realizing what was happening.

Mina darted into the circle and winked at the others.

“Hey!” Sarae snapped.

But then Rys finished the teleportation spell. Shadow consumed them and they left Port Mayfield.

Chapter 2

Rys and Mina appeared outside the palace in an eruption of shadow from the ground.

Mina promptly fell to her knees and vomited all over the ground.

While his spymaster spilled her guts, Rys surveyed his surroundings. Nothing appeared amiss. The low wall that surrounded the palace stood only a hundred feet away and the nearby mountains loomed overheard. Given it was mid-spring, relatively little snow remained atop their peaks.

Rys ruled the Kingdom of Kavolara, which was named after the island it controlled the northern two-thirds of. His palace sat close to the center of Kavolara, nested on a plateau in the foothills of a major mountain range that dominated the terrain. To the west lay Anceston, the largest city of the kingdom and the capital of Maria’s duchy. To the north lay Avolar, which was both a duchy and a city.

Soldiers, both human and demon, patrolled the wall. As everything looked normal, he turned his attention to the fox at his feet.

“Fara didn’t tell you what my teleportation spell was lie, did she?”

Mina rested on all fours, spittle and bile drooling from her mouth. She was an absolute mess and looked far worse than Fara had ever been.

“No,” she gurgled. “Fuck. I feel like something crushed my body into a ball then stretched it back out to normal size. Urgh!”

Her eyes and cheeks bulged and she retched again. Nothing came out, as the ground was already a putrid mess. Mina evidently hadn’t eaten much this morning, likely due to nervousness.

Rys didn’t comfort her or help her. A little tough love went a long way, especially as Mina needed to harden up fast.

Also, she could have taken the carriages like everyone else.

“Why did you jump in my teleportation circle?” he asked once she recovered enough to stand, even if uneasily.

“You heard Liorne. He’s here to question me about why I’m working for you. I don’t want to get stuck alone with him,” she said. “Can you help me clean up? I don’t feel up to casting any arrays right now.”

Arrays were what mystic foxes called their magic spells and relied on intense concentration and focus. Right now, Mina lacked that.

Rys flicked his wrist and light flickered around it. Flames and wind licked at Mina’s face and the mess on the ground, converting it into prismatic light. After a moment, she looked good as new, save for her pale face and wavering stance.

They walked toward the palace, Mina openly leaning on Rys.

“Why’d you leave, anyway?” she asked. “I thought the plan was to travel with everyone.”

“That was before Liorne showed up. I burn magical energy for every second I remain outside the palace. If he’s as strong as he looks, then I don’t want to risk being weaker than necessary,” Rys explained. “That, and it was a great chance to test him. He barely reacted. That’s proof that he’s intentionally ignoring what I am, for whatever reason.”

“Good point. I’d wondered if he hadn’t noticed. Marin seemed surprised,” Mina said.

Once inside the palace, they settled into one of the comfy receiving rooms. Activity levels were low here, as most staff were busy elsewhere. There were many matters that drew Rys’s allies away from home, leaving him to his own devices in the palace.

The palace itself was more of a large office complex than a dick-waving symbol of his power. While the time approached for Rys to change tack, he was satisfied with his current strategy.

The building itself was understated, built using wood and stone that matched local materials, and used brass trims rather than gold or silver. The shape of the complex was a hollow box with a square central courtyard, and many exterior gardens and training yards. Many of the interior rooms remained empty, but more staff gradually filtered in over time as excuses were found to hire them. The demons and devils resided in the sub-levels.

“So, are you going to fuck Marin?” Mina asked, once she’d drunk an entire jug of water and kept down some buttered toast.

“Only if she’s still interested after I have what I want from her,” Rys said. He nursed his ever-present mug of coffee, and a pitcher with more was within easy reach with a warming spell on it. “She seems like the sort of woman who loses interest once she gets her way.”

“Ah, yes, and you have zero confidence in your ability to make her beg for you.” Mina giggled. “Did you see the panic flicker on her face when I joked about being prey? And she still went for you afterward. Maybe Liorne’s intentionally feeding her to a wolf.”

“That wouldn’t be the first time. I’ve bumped against plenty of succubi who knew my reputation but thought that they’d be the special one that could tame me or defeat me, unlike everyone else. Lacrissa absolutely delighted in watching me destroy all the upstarts.” He grimaced at the thought of his old mistress, the Succubus Queen of Hell.

Mina grimaced in sympathy but then smiled. “I think you did more than bump against those succubi, Rys.” She giggled. “Also, I’m going to love rubbing Sarae’s face into her ignorance. She works for Imira and she didn’t know Marin was being sent as an ambassador and Liorne as the clan liaison. That’s gotta hurt.”

The utter maliciousness of Mina’s smile gave Rys pause. He chose his next words carefully.

“Are you sure that taunting her over this is the best course of action?” he asked.

“How else is she going to realize that Pharos isn’t on her side? Maybe she hasn’t landed the dream job she thinks she has. The more I needle her, the easier it will be to deliver her to you,” Mina said.

He relaxed. “So that’s your game.”

“Duh. Fara delivered me to you. I figured I’d repay the favor and give you my sister. What better way to repay you for trusting me with this position than to deliver you a young, glistening, bouncy fox as your loyal servant.”

“Just don’t drive her away,” Rys warned, offering no opinion of Mina’s recruitment activity. “Results matter, not effort.”

Mina’s expression turned serious. “I know. I’m not fuck this up, Rys.”

Well, it didn’t matter that much if she did.

What did matter was Mina’s approach to her sister, and how callous it was. Or at least how well Mina hid her true feelings about Sarae.

Fara had recruited Mina for Rys, but her desires had been genuinely positive for her niece, even if she had been somewhat duplicitous in her means.

By contrast, Mina’s desires seemed to be driven by a mixture of anger toward her sister and lust toward Rys. Mina still wanted nothing more than to prove herself to Rys. Divining her true emotions was becoming more difficult over time, rather than the opposite.

Night had fallen by the time Marin and the other carriages arrived. Rys worried they might have been lost, but apparently not.

“Bossbossbossboss, buncha carriages pulling up,” an imp with a bulbous head said, poking out from a duct in the wall.

“Tell them where I’m waiting,” Rys said, making no effort to greet Marin.

Several minutes later, Marin and Sarae entered the room. Given Maria was nowhere to be seen, Rys used a sending to check up on her. She responded instantly, informing him that she had returned to Anceston now that the formalities were dealt with, and would arrive at the palace later that night.

Once again, Marin gave Rys a half-bow while Sarae sauntered over to the refreshments and poured herself some green tea. Marin nearly sat down before she realized nobody was going to serve her, then followed Sarae’s lead with a swiftly hidden scowl.

Sarae and Mina flanked Rys, and even angled their chairs away from his as if to give the appearance of a united front. Pointedly ignoring them, Marin brought a pot of green tea back to them and sat directly opposite of Rys. She crossed one leg over the other in a slow, languorous motion that allow Rys to see her patterned red and black silk panties. Her robes parted along one slit, revealing one bare leg all the way to her waist.

Rys noted the lean muscle along Marin’s calves and thighs. While she might have slept her way to the top, she remained a spy. That dagger from earlier served as a reminder from Rys that Marin would resort to violence if necessary, and as a five-tailed fox, she had the power to do so.

“Did you lose Liorne on the way?” Rys asked.

Marin smiled. “Would you have preferred it that way? Just me and you on the island?”

Mina and Sarae fanned their tails toward Rys. Marin rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes.” Then she muttered under her breath, “Possessive, aren’t we?”

“So?” Rys pressed.

“His business is with the clan, so he chose to go with Nia to visit the nearby village. He was concerned to learn that they had relocated without informing the clan.” Marin shrugged. “I imagine he’ll make his way here once his concerns shift back to you and your very large… presence.” Her eyes lingered on his crotch.

“He swings that way?” Mina asked.

“That’s not what I…” Marin sighed. “Do they need to be here, King Talarys?”

“Call me Rys. We’re in private and you’re doing your best to get in my pants anyway, so let’s not waste time on formalities,” he said, drawing a smirk from her. “And yes, they do. Mina is my spymaster, as I’m sure you’ve already been told. Sarae is an agent of Archon Imira.”

“An agent who appears compromised,” Marin said. “Tell me, little one, how does it feel to be pressed into the bed each night by him? Is it really worth it?”

Sarae feigned a blush and her ears flapped against her face. One of her fingers traced her lips while she poked her tongue out and gave off a look of seductive innocent.

“Oh, absolutely. Rys taught me what men are really like. Every day he doesn’t take me is pure agony,” she moaned.

Mina rolled her eyes and slapped her sister across the head with a force blast. “Neither of us are sleeping with Rys, Marin.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Marin said. She stared at him in confusion. “You… aren’t interested in Liorne that way, are you?”

After several seconds to take in Marin’s words, Mina and Sarae doubled over in unrelenting giggles. Their tails flapped wildly behind them as they did so. Marin had the grace to look embarassed.

“That’s a hard no,” Rys said.

“Then why?” Marin asked. Then she grinned broadly. “Or do you merely have exacting standards? Are these little girls not enough for a man such as yourself?”

The giggling stopped and the sisters shot fierce looks at Marin.

Rys took the opportunity to top up his coffee while the foxes waved their tails at each other. Eventually, Marin seemed to win out. Sarae leaned back and looked at Rys, her curiosity winning out over her pride. Mina merely huffed and stole some of his coffee.

“You have your own cup,” he noted, when Mina swiped it right from his hands.

“It doesn’t taste the same,” she said.

Shrugging, Rys topped up her cup and drank from it instead. “If you have the opportunity to remain here long enough, I’m sure you’ll learn the answer.”

“If?” Marin frowned. “I suppose we should talk about some business, shouldn’t we. Then we can spend the rest of our evening on pleasure. Long, thick, gooey pleasure.”

Subtle.

“Recent actions have caused both the Imperial Court and the Alliance to notice you. While I have multiple lesser tasks to see to for the apparatchiks back home, the true objective is to assess your suitability for a permanent embassy,” Marin explained, her tone surprisingly professional. “The Tolaran Archipelago is of growing important to multiple factions on Pharos. It would be of great benefit to you if the Imperial Court chose you to host its largesse.”

Rys swiftly caught onto Marin’s con, and where this conversation was about to go.

“Is this the part where you tell me how all the odds are stacked against me, but that you’re so in love with me that you’ll make all the problems go away?” he said flatly. “Or are you the forward type, and you’d just slobber all me while telling me what a great team we’d make?”

Sarae’s eyes bulged, while Mina snickered.

“It seems you’re no stranger to these sorts of negotiations,” Marin said. “I can even more forward, if you’d like. Would you like to take me in front of these two? Teach them the birds and the bees with a personal lesson?”

“Actually, I was thinking that I don’t need you as an ambassador at all,” Rys said.

Silence. Even Mina seemed shocked at his statement. The tails of both Sarae and Mina slammed to the ground as they fell quiet, completely ceding the situation to him.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Marin said, a hint of acid leaking into her tone.

“You think this is just another extension of your usual games. I’m not playing your game. I’m playing my game—you’re prey, and I’m the hunter. Come back in a week if you want some,” he said.

“Oh, so I just need to wait a week. Why didn’t you say so?” She leaned back with a broad smile, then crossed her legs in the opposite direction to give him another peek.

“You don’t understand. I’m not waiting a week before I see you, you’re waiting a week before I’ll touch you,” Rys said. “Then we’ll see if you’re worth keeping as an ambassador after willingly walking into my trap.”

It took Marin several seconds to realize what he meant, and her expression turned thunderous. “With only a few words, I can turn all of Pharos against you.”

“Really? Because I doubt you have the pull you think you do. I’m the one with Imira’s agent in my palace.” Rys smirked. “Tell me, what are these other tasks of yours? What sort of grandiose problems were you going to resolve for me while cuddling up to me?”

“You have a fox from the Garrote Clan who betrayed the Emperor’s directives—” Marin began.

“Ah, Aochi. I’ll give you her head and tails when you’re ready to leave. Or when Liorne is, if I decide to keep you,” Rys said. “What’s next?”

She blinked, mouth still open. “No. The Court desires—”

“I don’t care. She was an enemy and has been treated as such. According to an agent of the Court, I’ve preserved the necessary body parts for her clan,” Rys retorted. “What’s next?”

Marin glared at Sarae, who ignored her.

“The Alliance needs to approve the presence of a village within your borders. Given your… unique powers, that might be difficult,” she continued.

“Liorne already knew about them. I doubt that. Even if that were the case, I’m more than happy to sign an infernal contract that assures mutual non-aggression toward any foxes living within my realm,” he said.

“An infernal contract? Really?” Marin asked.

“Would you prefer a spiritual one? Although, in my experience, those are easier to manipulate. I have centuries of experience with them, you see.”

Marin clammed up. Her eyes darted between the other foxes, who pointedly ignored her.

“Centuries?” Marin asked.

Rys laughed. “I won’t bore you with the details.”

She licked her lips. “If you had the backing of the Court, you’d find it easier to work with your existing foxes. Appointments could be made.”

“Tempting. But I feel that’s a matter I can discuss with Liorne. After all, isn’t that a matter for the Garrote Clan?”

“I can—”

“He’s the Chief Enforcer. There’s nothing you can say to convince me that you’re word is more important than his, Marin.”

She stood up, her tails fanned out behind her. “I believe that you’ll find that this is a mistake, Your Majesty. There is much that I can offer you.”

“Oh, I have no doubt about that. But at no point have you ever alluded to how much you have to personally gain from this situation. Becoming the ambassador to a country that has the personal interest of Archon Imira and the Gold Clan? Wouldn’t that be a step up for a five-tailed fox whose ambitions have hit a wall.” Rys’s eyes bore into Marin’s.

She gulped. Her tails wavered and began to lower.

Then she gave him a stiff half-bow. “We shall speak about this in the future, Your Majesty. By then, perhaps you will have realized the difficulties you face and how I can assist you with them.”

Marin turned and opened the door, about to leave.

“A week, Marin. By then, I’ll have resolved everything and you can offer yourself,” Rys called out after her.

The door slammed behind her.

Mina let out a low whistle. “Holy shit, Rys. Fara is going to be pissed she missed that. But, uh, maybe you pushed her too far?”

“I agree. If Marin was assigned as joint liaison, then she has more pull with the Imperial Court and Alliance than expected. Her influence can’t be underestimated,” Sarae warned. “Although it would be wrong of her to turn that on you, it’s not as though I could oppose her.”

“Really? I’m not so sure.” Rys drained his coffee, then wandered over to the window.

He stared at the darkened courtyard for several long seconds, watching the lights along one of the upper story windows go out one-by-one.

“Marin turned up with a surprise guest, but without much to justify him or her appointment,” he explained. “None of the affairs she raised were new or unexpected. What if you haven’t been cut out of the loop, Sarae, and the reason Marin’s ‘appointment’ is a surprise is because it doesn’t exist?”

Sarae’s eyes widened. “That’s… I’ll contact Archon Imira immediately.” She shot up, then paused. “No, I’ll dig around a little first. She definitely knows that Liorne came here. I’ll see what evidence I can find.” She shot Rys a smile, then ducked out of the room.

Mina glared at him once her sister left. “That ruined my plan, Rys.”

“Plans rarely survive contact with the enemy. Besides, if I’m right, I think you’ll find yourself in a vastly more complicated situation with both Marin and Sarae. The ambassador, the Archon’s agent, and the rogue spymaster. Keep an eye on what happens between them. If Imira is involved in this, your sister’s actions might change abruptly,” he said.

“Gotcha.” The fox snapped off a salute, then grinned. “Would you have been that forward with me if I’d been like that?”

“You’re not Marin, Mina. You may as well ask how I’d treat Vallis if she had already been in charge of a highly successful merchant empire,” he said.

“Maybe, but…” She bit her lip. “It’s kind of annoying to know that you’ll claim her before me.”

Rys brushed a hand against Mina’s face and she sighed with pleasure. Her hands cupped his and pressed it against her cheek.

“You called yourself prey earlier, but I think you should remember that there’s a significant difference between you and whatever Marin might become,” he said quietly.

“I know. I can feel it in your hand,” she said. “Fara knows it as well. I wonder if that’s why she’s…”

“She’s?”

“You’ll, uh, find out soon.”

“Uh huh. I hope it’s very soon, given Liorne will visit within a day or two,” Rys said.

As interesting as fox politics were, his interest lay with Fara and the surprise she had in store for him.

Chapter 3

Not much changed by morning. Maria dozed naked in Rys’s bed after a long night of fun in hot spring and much shorter morning session. There was a distinct lack of scurrying in the ducts above his bedroom, which suggested that Mina was busy.

Rys showered and sat at his desk, perusing some notes left by the imps. All of them concerned trivial matters. The most notable was that Queen Faeris of Gorgria had once again requested a meeting with him.

Those requests came every week. Rys ignored them more often than not, until they sounded less like requests and more like demands. Once a queen’s letters were accompanied by statements that implied the next letter would be in the form of a company of royal knights, it became important.

Ordinarily, he wouldn’t be so rude to Faeris. She was amusing enough and certainly pretty enough to spend time with.

But her desires were as shallow as Marin’s, and Faeris wanted him to go to her rather than the other way around. Burning huge amounts of magical energy for the sake of drinking and flirting with a gorgeous woman was the definition of idiocy.

So he filed her request away and moved on.

As he did so, the door opened and a wolfkin maid walked in. She had rusty blonde hair and pricked wolf ears, plus a bushy wolf’s tail that she had been desperately trying to tame for months now. It began wagging wildly the moment she saw Rys sitting at his desk.

“Master!” she squeaked out, nearly dropping the silver tray of food she carried. “I didn’t realize you were still in here.”

“Then why are you carrying a tray of food, Tsarri?” he asked, amused. He reached out and plucked a slice of prosciutto off the tray before gulping it down.

Tsarri watched him, spellbound. She gulped at the same time he did, her ears flattened against her head and face flushed.

When Rys raised an eyebrow, she squeaked again and looked away. “I… brought some food for Lady Maria.”

“The same Maria who dislikes eating heavy roast meats and sauces?” he asked, pointedly staring at the marinated roast pork with a thickened cherry sauce.

Tsarri seemed to grow stiffer by the second, save for her tail, which had puffed out to an almost absurd degree.

“Thank you, Tsarri. It looks like a hearty breakfast,” he said.

She perked back up instantly, then lay the tray on an empty space beside him. Her tail slapped against his back repeatedly. “Thank you, Master! I’ll just quickly clean your room now, if it’s no bother? Is it? I can wait until you’re gone if you’d prefer. That’s no problem. I can just—”

“Tsarri, you can clean the room whenever you feel like it,” he said. Then he quickly added, “So long as it’s not in active use.”

Tsarri’s eyes darted over to Maria and he didn’t miss the envy in the maid’s eyes. “Of course, Master.”

While the wolfkin took her dear sweet time cleaning his room and gathering any used clothing and linen, Rys internally mused how things had come to this.

He knew that he had a personal “maid squad” that two of his administrators, Alsia and Tyrisa, had personally vetted. But they had always been the model of quiet perfection. They stayed out of his way and prided themselves on being as close to invisible as possible.

Yet, somehow, Tsarri had wormed her way into that maid squad despite being the opposite of it. She was clingy, lustful, and utterly obsessed with Rys. While he was used to his shirts going missing due to Mina swiping them, he was certain Tsarri joined in as well.

For reference, Rys objected to the fact they were maids. He still didn’t know who had approved the maid uniforms. By this point, he’d grown used to them and the personal alterations many made to their individual outfits.

He also objected to sleeping with the hired help. His attentions were already occupied by women in the upper echelons of his kingdom, so why waste them on those in the lower rungs? More to the point, involving sex in the employment situation complicated matters. He wanted servants because they maintained his palace, not his body.

Tsarri continued to clean while he watched her, completely ignorant to his gaze. Which was impressive. She appeared to lost in her own world, smiling stupidly as she found a dozen more tasks to remain in his presence.

Eventually, Rys lacked any reason to remain in his bedroom. He rose, and Tsarri startled.

“Are you leaving, Master? Heading to your office?” she asked.

“Mmm, something like that,” he said.

Maria continued to doze on his bed as he left. A quick scan of the palace revealed that Fara remained in her bedroom and that Mina wasn’t even here. That left one destination for Rys.

Vallis’s office was a practical joke that never grew old in his mind. The palace was built using spatial manipulation magic, which meant that rooms could be different sizes and dimensions inside than outside.

Her office exemplified this, as it was built into a tiny closet yet was the largest room in the palace save the throne room and ball room. Right now, it was empty save a young woman sitting behind a desk at the far end.

Vallis was Rys’s right-hand and trusted administrator. Officially, she was his viceroy and he delegated almost all official responsibilities as king to her. Especially those that involved actually running things. He made decisions and plans, but the busywork, treaties, and nitty-gritty fell to those beneath him.

What use was being an overlord if he got bogged down with the details? More to the point, if he didn’t build his world-spanning empire with delegation in mind, the whole thing would collapse once he got sick of doing everything himself.

As always, Vallis was busy. Her brown eyes focused on a stack of documents in front of her while her pen ran back and forth on a page. She absently brushed back her long black hair, which ran well past her shoulders. While she had yet to start wearing dresses, her ruffled black and purple top and lacy skirt went together so well that she might as well be. Her thigh-high black stockings left a thin strip of thigh that was presently hidden beneath her desk.

“This looks new. I thought you were going to be preparing proposals for rebuilding Avolar after the war,” Rys mused as he approached.

“Tarmouth blindsided me with a bunch of requests for updated trade treaties, tariff changes, port allowances, and a whole mess of other nonsense. It only arrived a few days ago, but they had to be preparing this for weeks,” she said with a sigh. “They’re kludging together so much stuff it hurts my head. Now that the Malus League has withdrawn, Tarmouth’s council has decided to seriously focus on us.”

“Are they asking for all those loans to be repaid?” Rys asked, narrowing his eyes.

“The opposite. They’re basically trying to lock in trade deals as if we’re in control of the island, but at a time when we’re nowhere near influential enough to negotiate like we are.” Vallis grimaced. “It’s a smart move. Especially after yesterday. I’ll bet good money our anonymous investor from Pharos tipped off the council that those treasure galleons would show up.”

“No bet. The whole display was far too overdone. You think this is a pincer move? Pharos shows up to put the squeeze on us about the foxes at the same time that Tarmouth is trying to lock in bad trade agreements?”

“We’re stretched thin right now. You don’t need an entire clan of foxes trained from birth as spies and assassins to know that. So, yeah, it’s a fairly obvious play. Mina said that you basically told Marin to go fuck herself, though. Grabbed the slut by the titties, so to speak.” Vallis winked.

Rys blinked. “What?”

“Err, wrong turn of phrase?”

“I’ve never heard anyone say that before in my life.”

“Damn. I thought it’d be a good line. Mina said Marin’s tits were basically pouring out of her dress. How’d they compare to us, anyway? I reckon I barely pip Mina, even if Maria’s still make me envious,” Vallis asked.

“She relies heavily on clothing and posture, but they’re pretty big,” Rys said absently. “Back to our actual subject, I blew Marin off because I think she needs me more than I need her. But I do, unfortunately, need her.”

“Seriously?” Vallis scowled.

Realizing that she’d been pulled away from her work, she packed away her documents and pen. Rys pulled a pair of glasses from a nearby cabinet and poured two glasses of red. A nasty look was fired his way by Vallis, but he ignored her.

Despite her annoyance, she joined him. A delighted hum escaped her once she gulped down some of the wine.

“I hate how much you spend on this stuff, but I love how good it is,” she said. “Mina only pretends to like the same things you do half the time, but I can safely say that I share your tastes in wine, Rys.”

“I’m glad you approve,” he said, thinking wryly that half the reason Vallis didn’t object so hard to importing so much wine from Gauron was precisely because she drank plenty of it herself.

Honestly, she objected too much to the palace expenses. At this point, they paled in comparison to the costs of running an entire kingdom. On the other hand, her miserly ways were ingrained after a life of struggling with debt and did help her manage the budget.

“As I was saying, Marin will be useful. Pharos and the foxes are a thorn in our side,” he said. “They proved as much in Avolar. While Sarae is bending the rules to help us, we can’t expect the same thing from the entire village. If I had a genuine connection with Pharos and goodwill with somebody such as Imira, I could use that.”

“I dunno. Didn’t this whole problem start because the foxes interfered when they shouldn’t?” Vallis asked.

“That’s basically bullshit. If that was truly the case, then there wouldn’t be a village running an archipelago-wide smuggling network in our backyard.”

“Oh. Right.” She frowned. “By the way, are we going to tax that?”

“Ah, yes, let’s tax the village full of assassins, spies, and smugglers. I’m sure they’ll be honest about their earnings.” He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, come on. Surely the Infernal Empire had some way to tax this stuff. You guys did everything based on your stories.”

He grimaced. She had him there.

A grin crossed her face as she realized that was actually the case.

“I fucking knew it. Spill,” she said, leaning forward.

“Infernal contracts,” he admitted. “But they’re obscenely complicated. You’re taxing an industry based on evading the law, so there are so many definitions, appendices, and clauses that every contract is a lethal weapon. The Empire relied on boilerplate ones they updated every few years, and that involved countless knowledge devils poring over every word and apostrophe.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Of course it’s bureaucracy.” Vallis groaned. “Is there a solution the Empire came up with that didn’t involve burying everything in paper? If you found a way to send Tyrisa back in time, she’d probably be so happy that she’d combust the second she knew when she was.”

Rys snorted into his wine. That sounded like a fair assessment of his chief of staff, who was a knowledge devil who enjoyed paperwork a little too much.

“You’ve distracted me again,” he noted. “But this time it’s relevant. There’s another way to tax a village like this. Labor obligations: we don’t ask for money, but for work. The village pays us rent by helping Mina with her intelligence operations.”

For some reason, Vallis didn’t look happy to hear this answer. Instead, she drained her glass and poured another one. Rys stopped her from filling it to the brim.

“Talk to me,” he said.

“I should have known that,” she muttered. “I even brought this up to Alsia when we talked about how to manage the farmland in Avolar that is traditionally Kinadain. It’s so stupid that it slipped my mind.”

“If people thought of every possible solution whenever it was applicable, there’d be no blunders in history,” Rys said. “Live and learn.”

“I feel you’ve said that too often lately.”

“That’s because it’s only been a little over a year, Vallis. Patience.” His voice grew sterner, and she winced.

Vallis raised her hands in surrender.

After a minute of silence, a question occurred to Vallis. It seemed to bubble up on her face, but she chewed on it for a little longer.

“Will the foxes accept a tax like that?” she asked.

“That’s why I need Marin. The stronger my connection with Pharos and the foxes, the easier it is to ask for them to bend rules like this. Even if they dislike my infernalism, they’ll accept a quid-pro-quo trade. That can blossom into something greater, but I need a foot in the door,” he said. “But that’s my problem. Does this trade issue need my attention?”

“Not yet. It’s just a lot of paperwork right now. I’m drafting up queries and letters for Tarmouth and lots of people in the kingdom. So much of what they’re bringing up is so technical that I can’t possibly answer it myself,” she explained.

“Rather than letters, why not just bring everyone together?” Rys asked.

“Merchants don’t like traveling to one place if they’re not going to get a big payout, Rys. Compagnon wiped out a lot of the companies operating here, so I’m talking with individual traders and smaller operations. None of them will waste precious travel time in spring.”

Now it was time for Rys to raise his hands in surrender. Vallis giggled at the shift in their roles.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” she said. “Like, holy shit, the feeling of knowing I corrected you on something is so good. I, uh, might need some alone time later.”

“I don’t think you can ever make fun of Tyrisa again after saying that.”

“Oh, come on. I’ll use one of my recording crystals of you at least. Mina’s given my tons of them.”

Rys stared at Vallis. She resolutely stared back with arms crossed beneath her breasts, although her face reddened.

“I think it’s time to take my leave. Remember to lock the door, Vallis,” he said, rising from his seat.

“Yeah, yeah. Let me know if you need any help with the ambassador stuff.” She waved him off and returned to her desk.

Once outside, Rys noticed that activity levels had increased in the palace. Mina had returned, but she wasn’t the only fox hanging around. Sarae and Nia appeared to be here.

Notably, all three gathered outside Fara’s bedroom. He made a beeline for them. When he passed a window that overlooked the central courtyard, he saw all three of them chatting together. Their tails weaved back and forth casually, suggesting nothing was amiss.

By the time he reached them, their attitudes had shifted. Excited voices drifted across the courtyard as Rys approached from the exterior walkway that ringed the courtyard.

“Can you already control them?” Mina asked.

“Not completely, but it’s much easier than I got my fourth,” Fara’s voice answered.

“Interesting. I’d heard the opposite. Have you attempted any five-tail arrays, yet?” Nia asked.

“Only simple ones, like enhanced barriers. They’re quite simple.”

“Damn, Auntie Fara, you make it sound easy,” Sarae said. “It took me weeks to cast four-tail force barriers and blasts.”

As Rys rounded the corner and came into sight, he saw Mina staring at her sister with a confused expression. Fara and Nia nodded at Sarae’s words.

“It’s never easy,” Nia said. “Fara just makes us look bad. No wonder Liorne wants you back so badly.”

“I do nothing of the sort,” Fara said, rolling her eyes. “And we’ll talk about Mister Seven-Tails later. Right now, I think I have some explaining to do.”

Her eyes locked onto Rys, who stared at her with hands on his hips and a raised eyebrow.

Almost nothing had changed about Fara during her “illness.” She looked as gorgeous as ever, with shoulder-length jet-black hair and striking blue eyes. Her outfit was more casual than usual, consisting of simple white robes done up with a gray sash, and her feet were bare. Rys knew first-hand that she was hiding some luscious, if modest, breasts and muscled, pale-skinned thighs.

Most notably, his favorite four-tailed fox now had five black tails.

“Hi, Rys,” she said, waving a hand and her tails at him in unison.

Silently, he walked up to her. Instinctively, she flattened her tails and ears. She almost began to bow when he didn’t say anything. The other foxes watched him.

“King Talarys, it’s—” Nia began to say.

Mina elbowed her aunt in the side, causing her to splutter and cough. Fara’s attention was solely on Rys and she failed to notice her sister’s pain.

Bending over, Rys physically grabbed the closest tail and gave it a good fluffing. Fara’s voice erupted from her in a high-pitched shriek.

“Rys!” she squeaked. “Don’t do that so suddenly!”

He ignored her, and continued to run his hands through her tail. Her surprise turned to pleasure, and she began to pant and moan.

Then he dropped her tail. Her others had risen to normal positions by now, rubbing against him in the process. Rys grabbed another.

“Fuck,” she gasped out. “Don’t feel my up in front of everyone like this.”

One-by-one, Rys ran his hands through each of her tails. By the end of it, Fara leaned against him, covered in sweat and moaning.

He held up one of her tails. “This one. This is the new one.”

“Fuck you,” she gasped out. “I should kick you in the balls for this.”

“I’ll take the former, not the latter,” he said. “You’ve missed a couple of turns on your schedule. Maria and Alsia promised to let you make up for them once you felt better.”

Not that the schedule meant too much right now. Alsia hadn’t been in the palace for a fortnight, but the thought counted.

“Rys, please don’t talk about having sex in front of my sister,” Fara said.

“I doubt she minds. Do you, Nia?” he asked.

“It’s a complicated feeling,” Nia said, her face torn between fascination and shock.

“I think that means she minds,” Fara said, trying to pull away from Rys.

“No, it means that I’ve never seen you like this. I… think I understand a little better now.” Nia licked her lips, then bowed to Rys. “Please take good care of my elder sister, Your Majesty.”

“Is this where we say congratulations?” Sarae asked. “Auntie Nia is handing over her sister to Rys. Such a touching moment.”

“I will murder all of you,” Fara growled.

“I didn’t say anything,” Mina objected.

“Yet.”

Rys left the foxes to their own devices. Despite how strong Fara acted, she did appear exhausted from the transformation process. He didn’t notice any physical changes other than the extra tail.

However, she felt significantly stronger magically speaking. While Fara would need some practice, the extra tail would make her an immense help in dangerous battles. Which was great, as Rys expected to undertake one in the near future, once Alsia was ready for battle again.

With the sun setting, he entered his office. A warm soup and several sandwiches say beside a pot of coffee. Rys tucked into them while perusing his notes.

Grigor and Alsia needed his assistance in Avolar, and Maria wanted him to make some decisions as well. Combined with Vallis’s trade issues, it sounded as if Rys’s problems for the present were primarily political and governance focused.

The Malus League’s plans for invasion had been thwarted and their pet demon lord banished for several years at minimum. Pharos were investigating Rys, but seemed willing to cooperate. None of the other major powers in the archipelago seemed willing to act against him yet.

Rys had time on his side right now. He needed to use that time to grow in strength, before his enemies realized they were his enemies.

Because, ultimately, he planned to rule this archipelago. And then, who knew?

To do that, he needed some answers on rather mundane matters, however. Now that Pharos were growing as a threat and point of interest, it was time for Rys to learn more about them.

He had access to a knowledge Gift, which granted him access to a huge wealth of information. Every Gift was connected to a particular infernal, and knowledge Gifts relied on what that particular infernal knew about the world. In Rys’s case, his was connected to the Darus Twins, an immensely powerful knowledge devil with two bodies that knew almost too much.

Rys spaced out his information gathering efforts in order to minimize attention from her. Knowledge Gifts were traceable, and overuse of one could easily be noticed even if Darus appeared to be inattentive.

Focusing on Pharos, Rys reached for the knowledge Gift and was drawn into its mental pocket dimension. Lavender curtains shrouded in darkness surrounded him. A small round table with ornate gold trim sat in the center of the space.

Rys immediately noticed something was off. Only a single stool stood around the table, in contrast to the three that had always been here. A soft humming sound filled the air, but it carried a slight edge to it.

A single piece of paper sat on the table. Every fiber of Rys’s being told him to leave immediately, but he also knew that he needed to confirm what was written on that paper.

Dread filled him with every step he took closer to the table. Despite how close it was, it felt as though it was fifty feet away, rather than a few steps.

Nothing erupted from the shadow around him. That concerned him. By now, Darus would have usually ambushed him and rubbed herself against him in desperation.

The humming had a hard edge now and grated against Rys’s ears.

He picked up the paper.

“We know, we know, we know, we know, we know—” the paper went on and on and on, written in Darus’s elegant scrawl in regal purple ink.

Every inch was filled with the words, back and front. Darus’s writing never wavered in its elegance. She was, as always, the perfect knowledge devil.

But just a tad obsessed.

Right as Rys lowered the paper, his blood pounding in his ears, the writing shifted. Words drifted across the paper, neatly condensing and rearranging themselves to make space in the center.

A single large word appeared in the center.

“DARLING!” it read, written just as perfect as ever.

Rys spun, expecting to see Darus.

Nothing. The humming had stopped at some point. Rys replaced the paper.

He straightened his clothes, his mind racing.

How? When?

No, neither mattered for the time being.

What did matter is whether Darus knew where he was. Rys had asked some rather specific questions, and although he had asked about many other areas in the world, the Tolaran Archipelago would definitely stand out from his other requests.

Fuck.

Rys ran a hand through his black hair. Still no sign of Darus. It seemed they didn’t plan on speaking with him. Perhaps they were busy in Hell, but didn’t want to send their simulacrums. No doubt they were jealous of their own illusory copies spending time with him.

Suddenly, an epiphany hit Rys.

Throughout his conversations with Darus, they had expressed violent jealousy toward any woman he brought up. This had included women such as Ferra, who he’d had a complicated adversarial relationship with.

Following this jealousy to its root, Rys had a sinking feeling about what actions Darus might take. Even if she couldn’t reach him in Harrium, she did know many of the devils he might summon in Hell.

And right now, Rys couldn’t summon a pair of devils he badly wanted. Were they in danger?

Slowly, Rys conjured up a pen using magic. When he placed it against the paper, it cleared all the words away.

Then, in an act of raw callousness, he wrote, “Given your absence, I expect to have your assistance on summoning the following devils next time.” After which, he wrote down the names of as many random female devils he could think of that he had slept with, but that weren’t very important to him at the moment.

Although he made sure to favor succubi who served Lacrissa.

His distraction constructed, Rys rose and left the illusion.

Back in the real world, he knew that he needed to accelerate some of his plans. At least until he understood the true threat Darus posed.

Hell knew he was back. It wouldn’t be long before they attempted to reinstate their old employment conditions.

- - - - - - -

Commentary: We're off, a little later than I planned, but hopefully to a decent start.

Act 1 has a lot of moving parts due to being both the "timeskip" portion and needing to establish lots of stuff. It's probably the first real empire-building section of the series, but will have some serious action to break it up.

As the politics and Darus reveal shows, there's going to be plenty to spice up the book.

Also, lots of fluffies.