A Harem Fantasy Ch. 16

"And a man?"

"Give it to me."

"No. Not if it will kill you."

"I swear, my queen, it will not."

I looked into his eyes, so calm and full of wisdom. I gave into my urge and gabbed his face, drawing it near, to kiss him deeply. There was still a slight twinge of lust but nothing of the infatuation I had borne for him just short time ago. There was love, however, a form of love not quite what I bore for my father, not what I bore for Lucius, and increasingly Marxim. It was entirely Cassipe's only.

"Thank you, my queen," he said with a smile, pulling back.

"You raised me, taught me, and spanked me when I w as bad. I insist you call me Virtal."

"Very well, but only when we are alone. Now give me the sword."

Shaking slightly I passed it to him. In his hand I felt the magic leave it, bleeding out. It became a soft bronze sword, a blunt instrument that couldn't piece paper effectively. "No!" I cried reaching for it.

He dropped the hilt into my hand and when my skin touched it the power sang back into it, a burst of light reflecting off it. With a sigh of relief I drew my sword and replaced it with the enchanted sword.

"Take my former blade. I know not where Antal placed yours, and after the melee in the armory I doubt we can find it. War is coming. I have little doubt of her powers. Julint killed the male children for magic, great magic from the death of innocence, but surely a gift of death freely given brings more power."

"What are you saying?"

"No one has seen the priestesses since Antal's escape. None even attend the eternal flame."

He paled and dropped the bowl of fruit. "There are over three hundred of them!"

"That works in our favor at least one way. Killing so many will take time. Julint killed the male children by her own hand, surely Fisine will do the same. I believe we have until nightfall."

"If we are lucky. You go, return to them, keep going as you were. I will start a fire her, we must work to mix as many ashes of the old queens as possible. If Fisine has natural power, all those deaths...there is no telling what she can do."

I swallowed another bite of bread and cheese. "You're a good man."

He stood with me and smiled. "I know."

I left him there to devise a way to start on the hundreds of jars of ashes and returned to the bonework. Into the afternoon we worked, and the twins were tiring more easily than the men. I sent them for more food as we took a break, drenched in sweat.

Morganna made the suggestion of relaxing one another, and despite tired hands the others made a circle, sitting. Each one massaged the shoulders of the one in front and I could see the communal touching was more relaxing than the actual release of knots in the shoulders and neck.

I could have no such rest. I walked back to Cassipe who had a fire going, a small one. He moved slowly, carefully opening each jar and dumping the ashes into the fire before relaxing it on the shelf. The ashes would dampen the fire so he had to feed it with the strips of linen from the bodies that Morganna had been running back.

He was drenched in sweat, his white robes darkened by smoke which was filling the chamber. "There are no damn windows here, I'm not sure how much longer I can do this safely."

"Come," I said simply, grabbing his arm and dragging him back with me.

The twins had returned with food and everyone was partaking. "We need a boon from the goddess and god," I said. "This is why the queen keeps a harem. True magic is in love, the act of it, the physical joining."

Tired eyes watched me and nodded. I began to peel off the sweat-drenched clothes from my body. "Missiply and Markal. Annist, Uloga, and Lucius. Morganna, Markal, and Cassipe." I said simply.

It took a long moment but they took my meaning. I unbuckled the sword and set it on the end of a bench by a pillar, choosing that for my throne. There I sat naked, to watch. This was nothing Cassipe had taught me, nothing I had read in my studies. It was something I felt, the goddess like a soft wind in my hair, the god sunshine on my skin, the work of old in the sword by my side.

I watched them all, pale and dark, blonde and brunette, muscular and lithe, softly curved and harshly lined. They became a tangle of bodies on the floor, writhing in passionate embraces. Fingers stroked and sank in, tongues traced and tasted, cocks swelled and cunts glistened.

When the passion took them and bodies joined I moved at last. Closest to me were Cassipe, Markal, and Morganna. I touched them all lightly, willing the goddess and god into them, feeling the deities fill their bodies. Morganna crested first and I kissed her, swallowing her cry and the power that rose on her sweet lips. Beneath her Markal plunged into her ass, and I swallowed his climax as well. Cassipe pumped her cunt hard and our kiss was long, the god rising hard in him against the goddess in me until he cried out, biting my lip with it.

I left them in a tangle of passion and moved along to Uloga who pumped Annist mouth with his cock. At my touch he flared to life, and when I kissed him I let my fingertips trace over Annist's nipples. His pleasure roared into me as he filled her, and I s aw Lucius finger slip into her cunt even as his cock speared between her soft buttocks.

I pulled her from Uloga who fell back replete, and in her kiss I tasted his seed with the power she gave me. I brought that taste as a spice to Lucius's kiss, and my first consort did not fail me. His kiss was brutal, consuming. He clutched my head to his, bruising me with intensity, slamming into her ferociously. I tasted the power in him but also that unique, rebellious flavor that was pure Lucius, and I knew in his mind it was my body rocked with his thrusts. He came, wailing into me, and when it passed her collapsed along Annist's back, the blonde sagging with a fulfilled sigh.

Missiply and Marxim were beautiful together. Her slight pale body crowned with golden hair complimented his honeyed skin and dark curls. The passion was there between them but his blue eyes had watched my progress. When I crawled to them, drenched in my own lust, I hared her gasp and knew his erection had hardened inside her.

I straddled his chest, his hands cupping my ass, forcing me to rub my wetness against the ridges of his stomach. I took Missiply's face in my hands, letting my breasts rub against hers, delighting in her whimper as I slowly took her mouth. She clutched my arms, riding him hard and fast like a horse, slamming his body into the hard stone. When our lips touched she gasped, and I slid my tongue along hers. The goddess filled me so rapidly I nearly swooned, trembling along with her as she came, gasping into our kiss.

Marxim was all that was left. I gently helped Missply lift off him and went to take her place. Marxim's gaze cleared and he moved. I found myself under him, for the first time experiencing the power he had sublimated so far in our joining.

"Yes," I said, and he drove into me with great force.

It was all it took and his lips barely caught mine as we both peaked together. The god filled me too, and the bliss was physical, sexual, and spiritual. It lasted forever, my body shivering, solid and ethereal, tightening and loosening.

It passed after long moments and then we too lay gasping and panting on the now-warm stone with the others. I struggled to stand, guided by a sense of purpose and a growing sense of danger.

"Grab your things, quickly, and make for the exit. It is coming."

"What is coming?" Uloga asked sleepily.

I crossed to grab my sword. "Fisine. Hurry!"

They stood and grabbed their clothes, slowly putting them on. I felt the evil whisper through the air as I tugged my own dress down over my head. I froze. "It has come."

The ground began to shake. They gasped and grabbed for one another. "Run!" I cried and urged them along. I would be the last to leave, I as the only one who could survive what was happening.

Towards the outer wall jars rolled with the tremors, breaking open on the stone floor. A dark wind passed and then an inhuman roar stole the very air.

I drew the enchanted sword. "Run!"

This time they moved, and when they passed me, I followed, my sword shining bright in the scant torches. They were behind us, I could feel them, old and powerful and fueled by foul magic. We made the doors with them on our heels and I turned just as the men were closing the doors.

It had begun, they were coming. Hundreds of them, long-dead queens, priestess, knights, women of power, now soulless shells filled with magic fueled by death, bonding with that within each one. Borne of dust they shambled quickly like burnt corpses. In the back of the horde were ones with linens attached to them, wiry red hair smoking. They had even risen from the fire.

The mummies had come.