Greed God chapter 152

March 25th 2016 Gemworld 8:00 PM EDT

We  showered for much longer than expected. Cherry's new and improved ghost  body didn't need to breathe, which led to some fairly enjoyable blowjob  antics, and Zee became unspeakably jealous that the platinum blond was  guzzling all her supercharging cum, which ended with her playing around  with Sindara to catch my attention and get me worked up. I was lucky I'd  decided to shower so early, because I spent much more time getting  clean than I really should have. Still, I had enough self control to  make sure I got washed and get to my audience with Graciel on time.

Shockingly,  when I arrived, I DIDN'T get taken to the court chamber like last time.  I was pretty sure Graciel was trying to be nice, letting me meet her in  private. She'd make sure that the right people got the news of my  humiliation of course, but it was almost sweet that she was worried  about my reputation. It definitely boded well for her blessing to my  relationship with Amy if nothing else.

I admit, my mind  drifted to all kinds of milfy sex antics when I heard we were meeting in  private, but sadly, the private audience chamber still had more than a  few people in it. I saw Amy, looking relieved I was here and not gone or  still in hiding, Emerald, who blushed fetchingly under my gaze, and  Mordiel, who looked curious in that same predatory cougar way I'd  enjoyed when first meeting her. I also saw Roderick, the guard from my  trip with Amy back to Lord Town, and a dozen other powerful male guards  that kind of blew away my royal orgy fantasy.

When I  entered, I approached a small dais, only a step up from the ground, with  a trio of luxurious chairs for the three noble ladies of Amethyst. Amy  gave me a supportive smile as I got close, and I smiled back, winking at  hr and by virtue of it, at Emerald over her head, undoubtedly getting  my pet princess nice and excited for what was to come. Graciel gave a  tolerant smile with more than a tinge of smugness. "Ah. Nicholas.  Welcome to our private audience chambers. It has been some time since  you've been spotted. I trust you aren't having any problems procuring  Amaya's dowry?"

I had considered a ton of ways to do this,  smug, dickish, unassuming, boastful, and I'd decided I kind of wanted  to hit all those notes. So I decided the best way to do it was to just  bluntly spit out the rock. "Nope. Got it right here." I reached into my  pouch and produced the Duke ranked Amethyst, holding it up casually like  retrieving it was no big deal. I had considered tossing it to her, but I  didn't want to get ventilated by hidden archers because I threw a rock  at their Princess, no matter how much she wanted said rock.

Her  smile was beatific. "well, that's certainly disappointing, but after  such a wait I'm sure you gave your best effort. Perhaps a change in  terms would be in order, I know Amaya has her heart set on...wait what?"  She was literally so sure of how this would go she seemed to have  practiced a speech for graciously letting me off the hook, and it took  her a few sentences of it to register what had happened. Her smile  melted into an expression of complete confusion, and Mordiel's sharpened  with interest looking at the rock.

Graciel's confused  face was actually adorable. I literally couldn't have surprised her more  if I'd walked up and cock slapped her. Her jaw hung open in complete  shock as she stared at the powerful gem she'd asked me to retrieve. I  held it out, not getting it close due to the distance but making it  clear I was offering it to her to examine, via transport from her  guards. "Sorry it took so long. I got lost on the way there, had to go  shopping for a new coat, started a war between Carmine and Opal, it was  just generally a bust trip."

Mordiel's eyes were boring  into me like hot pokers, and the slow licking of her lips as she looked  at me gave me the shivers in the best way. I was used to pursuing, but  that woman wanted to mount me like a line pouncing on a gazelle. I was  lucky I had bodily control or I'd have been rock hard from the gaze.  Instead I focused on her sister, who was entranced by the flashed of  energy inside the gem. "H-how?" She asked, sounding dazed. "How could  you possibly have retrieved that? It was in the royal treasury of Dark  Opal's palace. It should have been impossible."

Damn, she  really was confounded. Admitting she gave me an impossible task made her  look petty as hell. If she'd been in her right mind she never would  have let that slip out loud. I mean, everyone KNEW it of course, but  some things just weren't admitted. Mordiel caught it too, and I saw her  lips twist into an evil smirk. "Impossible? Why, sister dear, are you  saying you gave our beloved niece's future husband a task you knew he  could not complete? Why would you do such a thing?"

Graciel  froze, her mouth slamming shut and the color draining from her cheeks.  She had just fucked up. Her gaze snapped over to her sister. "I-that is.  I simply gave him a task whose value was commensurate to the value my  daughter possesses in my heart." She turned to me and stood, sweeping  into a deep, graceful bow. "I do apologize, Nicholas. You have surpassed  my wildest expectations in a son-in-law. My love for Amaya clouded my  judgement and made things harder on you than necessary. If you have any  additional requests, you may impose on us to grant them."

Mordiel's  jaw tightened in annoyance, and I had to fight down a whistle at the  seamless admission of fault. Steering into the skid would cause a hit to  her reputation in the short term, if that, but long run it would be  seen as a magnanimous and honorable thing to do. Graciel was a wily  bitch. It wasn't surprising she'd come up with the strategy, she was an  experienced politician and it was a basic one, but changing gears that  quickly and having the guts to actually commit to it showed a mental  flexibility not many powerful people had.

The offer was  also interesting, but mainly useless. I was taking her daughter and  bailing pretty quickly after the wedding, so it wasn't like she could  give me much. I was also coming back though, and if I could arrange to  keep trade routes open and lucrative to Lord Town, it would make sure my  town would continue to grow in power and prosperity, and that my  private pipeline to another world would remain profitable while I was  gone. In the spirit of that, I decided to play up my victory a bit with a  misleading request.

I bowed in return, though not quite  as low as Graciel had. "Your majesty is too kind. My marriage to Amaya  is the happiest occasion of my life, and any gift I could imagine pales  in comparison to the radiance of her smile," I heard a cute squeak of  embarrassment from the direction of my fiance and suppressed a smug  grin. "With the task completed and Amaya marrying into my bloodline, any  request I might post would simply be icing on the cake. However, I was  hoping that we might live in my town together. I take it from princess  Emerald's presence negotiations have been successful for ownership of  Lord Town?"

Graciel made a noise of acknowledgement,  clearly withholding judgement on my favor until I asked it, though her  expression was a bit sour as I stood up, having been hoping to keep her  daughter in the family. This entire debacle was going to royally fuck  with her life plan (no pun intended). Mordiel would use the loss of  Amaya (who would become a Lord and be removed from Amethyst succession)  as a platform to try to stage a coup, and though it wouldn't be  immediately successful or anything, unless one or both of them had a  child it would be a long hard struggle.

Since she wasn't  asking me anything I chose to continue. "I simply wish that Lord Town  might be made a major trade hub. Aside from trips back to my home to  meet with my family and inform my family of our marriage, I wish to  establish a safe and stable home in Lord Town for our family to thrive."  I put on a tender expression, glancing at Amy. "I hope it can be a  place where our children will grow up happy and well cared for."

My  future wife's face blazed red at the comment, and she glanced shyly  away. Graciel meanwhile, mostly looked annoyed in the brief seconds  before her happy mask reasserted itself. I was taking her daughter away,  which meant the children I'd mentioned would be of MY line, and not  hers, so while she was probably happy for Amy, they served no purpose  for the elder Princess. Meanwhile I was asking her to funnel resources  to a bumfuck town she wanted to actively divert attention from and had  just gotten from a rival kingdom, a kingdom it bordered.

That  was a lot of pointless shit for a monarch to do, but it was pointless  shit that she had a vested interest in accomplishing, at least in the  abstract. Asking for it as a favor after she offered one meant that she  would be almost obligated to accomplish the task, and she knew it. After  a split second of thinking, her smile widened. "Why, of course I can. I  look forward to meeting my future grandchildren as soon as possible.  Perhaps the third child might be fostered in Amethyst. An heir and a  spare as it were?"

I waffled a bit. I didn't care, but Amy  would expect me to fight that, and besides, negotiations for things  that are worthless can't net any real benefits. "Perhaps. I can  certainly speak to Amaya about it in the future. For the moment I'm  overjoyed to be adding to the family. I hope you won't think of this  marriage as losing a daughter, but gaining a son. Amaya and I will  always be a part of house Amethyst, even if we aren't involved in the  succession."

Translation, don't forget that even if I  don't give you one of my kids, I'm powerful and Amaya is a strong member  of your bloodline, so we're politically important and can influence who  ends up where. Her eyes flashed with annoyance, though none of it  showed on her face. "I'm certainly glad to hear that. I do hope you'll  indulge me and call me mother? I've never had a son before, and I hope  we can grow close."

I tried not to envision how 'close' I  wanted to be to her. I didn't mind calling her mother, though I'd much  prefer to make her call me daddy. I'd get there eventually though. In  the meantime I had to play up the lovey dovey angle for Amy, so I gave  an angelic smile and said. "Of course, mother. Amy's family is my  family." My blushing bride was almost glowing with embarrassed joy, and  even my clinical detachment wavered at the sight of it. Or maybe I was  just excited to ruin her in that pretty white dress.

Graciel  turned to the few assembled nobles and servants and guards in the  private chamber. "It seems we have a celebration to plan. Send out the  invitations. In one week, my daughter will wed Nicholas of house Lord  and take his name before they retire to his town on the border." Her eye  twitched. "I insist everyone who can be reached share in this happy  occasion." I snickered at her vindictiveness. She might be losing her  kid, but she was going to rub that shit in Opal's face. I could respect  the pettiness. In the meantime, the rest of me was kind of reeling.  Seemed like I was about to get married. Huh, might be fun.