A Golden Knight's Duty Vol. 01

Hello Literotica! I am back again. I am glad you all enjoyed my last story, and so even though I only wrote this specifically to help myself worldbuild for a light novel I realized I actually really liked Jasmine and Xavier (and Max and Kathy too). There will be a part two, and after that, I will actually start writing the light novel proper. You are here to masturbate tho, so enough blabbing. I hope you enjoy!

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"Phew!" Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xavier shifted his weight and glanced down the dark hallway he was set to guard. As one of the Gamine Gold, his duty was twofold: protect the ruling family from danger and provide the member he was assigned to a safe way to get their rocks off. In the past, the notoriously high libido of the holy family of L'ird allowed its members to be manipulated through sex, so what was once the Gallant Gold were given the additional duty of working to keep the sex drive of the holy family in check, thus renamed the Gamine Gold. In this knighthood, it was considered an honor to receive opportunities to "support" members of the royal family, with only high-ranking knights being allowed to nominate themselves to become assigned consorts in the first place. After proving himself during an attack on the royal family, Xavier eagerly accepted the role of consort to Jasmine Lird VI, the current next in line for the throne.

Clack, clack, clack,...

Xavier jerked to attention as the footsteps coming down the hall grew louder, until the face of Patricia, Jasmine's head maid, rose from the bottom of the stairs. As she walked past one of the lightstones embedded in the wall, her hair appeared to become a deep shade of red before returning to its normal black color. Xavier blinked, wondering if it was a trick of the light as she finally reached the door. Showing Xavier the contents of the food tray she was carrying, she awaited his approval. He nodded and opened the door behind him, giving her access to the princess' chambers.

Even though he was her official consort now, Xavier had yet to actually meet the princess and only knew what she looked like from paintings and passing glances. Supposedly she was gorgeous, with long, toned legs and silky-smooth light-gray hair that almost reached her waist. Despite being the daughter of a beastkin warrior-scholar the current queen met during a political trip, she appeared completely human with no animal parts to speak of.

With a bang, the door that Patricia had left open suddenly slammed shut as a muffled scream came from inside. Xavier rushed to the door, turning the handle frantically but to no avail. He allowed his training to take over his movements and prepared his body for the pain that would come with kicking down the thick door. Spurred on by the increasingly frantic shrieks coming from Jasmine's room, he shot his right foot out toward the side of the door that connected to the wall and shattered its hinges. He rushed into the room, quickly assessing the situation that lay before him.

First, he noticed the destruction that occurred within the few seconds between Patricia entering the room and the start of the yelling. The lavish king-sized bed had been torn up, with the ornate wooden overhang in splinters, the canopy in shreds, and the ripped-up mattress thrown across the room. As he crossed the room toward the closed bathroom door, Xavier heard a shout from inside as it exploded outward. Before he was able to react, something heavy slammed into him. He tumbled across the floor, feeling splinters from the destroyed furniture dig into his back. Rising from the wreckage, Xavier realized it was not an object that was thrown at him, but a person: Patricia!

Confused, he backed away from the now very banged-up maid slowly rising, but something was off about her. Her nails, which had been well kept before, had elongated into awful talons, and her formerly thin arms and legs now bulged with muscle to the point of seriously tearing her maid uniform. Her hair had become a dark red and her eyes that of a feral beast. With a grunt, she launched herself back into the bathroom she had been blasted from. Xavier leaped and collided with her in midair, tackling her to the ground. The monster that was Patricia screeched and slashed at Xavier's throat, forcing him to release her and roll away, positioning himself between the monster and the bathroom. As he and not-Patricia slowly circled each other, he risked a glance into the bathroom behind him. Just as he feared, a pale gray-haired woman crouched on the floor, breathing heavily and bleeding from several nasty-looking cuts all over her body. Her nightgown was tattered and her face was covered in her own blood, and yet she still managed to stay conscious. From where he stood, Xavier could make out the gleam of one of the princess' eyes as she met his gaze between strands of hair and began to straighten.

Xavier returned his attention to not-Patricia just in time to swat away another lunge with a swift roundhouse to her face. Xavier smirked at the loud crack he heard when his foot connected with not-Patricia's jawbone, sending her careening into the wall to the right of the bathroom door. Now that he had his bearings, Xavier was certain that this monster was no match for...

Thunk. Xavier felt a sudden sharp pain in his left forearm. Looking down, blood had begun oozing from the talon that had somehow embedded itself into him. As he reached for it, he heard a voice:

"It's barbed! Don't try to pull it out, just ignore it for now!" From his peripheral vision, he saw the princess had limped out of the bathroom to stand at his side. "As you probably noticed, brave knight," she said with a smirk, "the bitch shoots barbs. Lucky for you, I can deflect them before your wonderful muscles take any more punishment." Flicking her wrist, another talon Xavier failed to notice was redirected into the ceiling above, quivering slightly as if irritated it was deflected from its target.

Xavier moved in front of the princess and pulled two knives, his weapons of choice, from their sheaths on his back.

"Skyaaaaaaahhhh!" The imposter became a blur as it began a seemingly endless flurry of talons, all aimed directly at Xavier's heart. Despite all his training, determination, and mental preparation, he couldn't help but flinch at the sight of hundreds of onyx barbs almost impaling him, each barely deviating from its path inches from his skin to launch itself at the wall instead.

In the split second in which he flinched, Xavier found himself recalling a lesson he took on magic users. That particular class focused on how wind magic worked, and he was in attendance primarily to learn more about the princess he wanted to be assigned to. "Wind magic requires the creation of rhythmic 'wind' through short breaths. This attunes the mage to the ebb and flow of the air, given the human is capable of attunement. Humans affected by air magic don't sense it like they do with enchantments or curses that directly affect them, though. Only the air is targeted directly, so no ice in your spine. At advanced levels, a wind mage can..."

It was the Princess' controlled rhythmic breathing that snapped him back to reality. The short bursts of breath broke through the irrational panic he felt, and with that newfound calm, Xavier took his first tentative step towards not-Patricia. It looked at the unharmed Xavier and cocked its head in confusion. As he took another step forward, it suddenly stood and began retreating toward the kicked-in door without ceasing its talon onslaught.

"I'm trustin' you, Princess." Xavier quipped as he charged forward, desperately trying to keep his eyes open in the face of so many dreadful talons. With only a few feet left between them, Xavier saw something akin to panic flash through its almost-human face. Not-Patricia suddenly gave up on the barrage and lunged for the exit, throwing the forgotten tray on the floor at Xavier in an attempt to slow him down. Finally seeing his chance, he deftly used one dagger to slice clean through the silver tray, hurling the other as hard as he could muster. It perforated the back of not-Patricia's head with a sickening crunch, burying itself almost completely into the imposter's skull. Not-Patricia stiffened as the momentum it had already built up carried it just out the door but no further as it collapsed with only a single still foot being visible to Xavier.

"That was amazing! Woooooh!" Xavier started at the sudden exclamation from Jasmine and quickly turned to face her.

"Princess, are you ok? You're covered in cuts! Aw shit, I'm gonna lose my job on the first day..." He sat down on what remained of the demolished bedframe with a dejected look appearing between his dark brown curly locks. Feeling a hand cup his cheek, he looked up to meet the princess' pale green eyes.

"Don't worry guy, you did your job. I'm alive! This was incredible!" Jasmine gestured around her, excited at the completely wrecked bedroom. "Papa always told me how exciting it would be but I never thought fighting for your life would feel this GOOD!" Xavier stared up at the princess, stunned. He looked at all the cuts and gashes that covered her mostly naked body, as well as the droplets of blood she was leaving as she began to walk about the room. Using the arm without the barb in it, he reached into a small pouch inside his leather vest and pulled a small jade stone shaped like a heart.

"Princess, please take this. I honestly should have thought of this sooner." Xavier walked in front of Jasmine, who was still taking victory laps around the room, and held the gemstone out to her. She made a face, then pointed to Xavier's wounded arm.

"Last I checked, a poisoned barb may take precedence over some scrapes." Grabbing the barb with both hands, Jasmine quickly ripped it out as green-tinted blood began pouring out of the hole.

"Ghaaah! Son of a bitch! Would it kill you to..." Xavier quickly looked down and muttered an apology, only for Jasmine to begin laughing as she held the stone to the wound.

"And here I was worried you would never talk to me like a human! We will literally be fuckin' at some point, I can't have ya keeping up this formal crap." Jasmine removed the now pale brown stone from Xavier's arm and inspected the small scar where the talon had been just moments ago. "I'm Jasmine, as I'm sure you know already. Didn't have the chance to get your name though."

"Oh, uh, my name's Xavier, Prin... er, I mean Jasmine."

"Well it is very nice to meet you Xavier." He shivered as she gently kissed his scar, grinning mischievously at him as she straightened. "Let's go get some help now Mr. Xavier, I appear to still be bleeding a tad."

"Oh, of course!" Xavier stood hurriedly to follow the princess through the remains of the room's kicked-in door. Glancing at her, Xavier was suddenly reminded of the very shredded state of her nightgown. "Jasmine, um, would you like to take any of my clothes? We will be passing through the public sector of the castle soon..." he asked, eyes glued to her muscular thighs as she strutted ahead of him. Glancing back, Jasmine passingly responded.

"I don't care who sees, worst-case scenario is I happen to raise morale a lil'. Besides, I see that you happen to be enjoying the view after all." Xavier paled and looked away from her pointedly smug grin as they finally reached the stairs. Trying to descend first, Xavier moved to pass Jasmine, only for her to huff and push him backward with an irritated look. She stepped towards him.

"Princess, I must insist that I descend first, there could be more of those things waiting below." said Xavier, trying to ignore the wonderful view of the princess' modest chest their height difference and her tattered clothing awarded him. Jasmine responded by shoving a finger in his face.

"First, I told ya to cut it with that 'princess' crap. It's irritating me and last time I checked, you're not supposed to do that. Second, Papa taught me how to manage myself in a fight and if that scivey hadn't got the drop on me I wouldn't have even needed ya. As you can clearly see, I'm fuckin' ready for a fight now, so stop being a pansy and let me go first" Jasmine turned, smacking Xavier in the face with her hair as she huffed down the stairs, leaving Xavier to catch up.

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In the Kingdom of L'ird, there are many orders of knights that operate independently of each other, such as the Gamine Gold. When it comes to investigation, the Scrutinous Steel sends their knights, called "agents", to gather information. In events that are suspected to involve demons, such as a shapeshifter, the Steel agents are allowed heightened authority even to the point of making demands of the holy family themselves. As soon as Scrutinous Steel HQ became aware of the attack, they assumed full control of both the situation and the princess' room. No one, not even the queen herself, would be allowed in.

It had been several hours since the failed attempt on the princess' life, and Xavier was feeling pretty good about himself. Both he and the princess had sprinted through the castle to reach the nearest security checkpoint to inform the guard and raise the alarm. Even if she didn't mind, Xavier took note of every soldier and castle employee that stole glances or just outright stared at the still almost naked princess as she streaked by. He didn't care how nice her thighs or stomach looked, she was their princess! After they finally reached a station, he tore his eyes away from a small sliver of her toned ass to catch his breath while she raised the alarm.

The hours of interviews and questioning by the Scrutinous Steel capital branch that followed were excruciating, but the congratulatory nods and pats on the back Xavier received from his fellow goldies that happened to be passing by raised his mood out of the gloom he had fallen in. With their scratches and cuts treated by resident medics, Xavier and Jasmine were finally released (with a fresh set of garments) and given several extra guards to accompany them until both were fully healed again.

"Damn Xavier, that was exhausting huh?"

"Yes Pr..., Jasmine, it was a serious pain in the, uh, ass." Xavier responded, trying his very hardest to talk casually to the princess.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, shithead. Anyway, let's go. I know where we can sleep tonight since those Steel-faced pricks declared my beloved room a 'crime scene' and won't even let me near it." Flouncing toward the servant quarters, Xavier followed, leaving the pair of newly assigned bodyguards to catch up. Walking down the unadorned but clean corridor, Xavier caught up to the princess.

"Who's room are we staying in anyway, ma'am?"

"Nah, fuck you. I was gonna tell ya but sadly 'ma'am' is still far too respectful, plus I'm still pissed I have ta move rooms in the first place. Now ya get no help from me with our new roommates while I watch ya squirm." Xavier muttered a curse under his breath as they continued walking. "I heard that, you bitch. Papa was sau'ta and I got his hearing, so don't think you're sneaky."

"Sau'ta... So, a beastkin with bunny ears? Also, sorry."

"Well well, you actually bothered studying pre'nimaux lexicon? I'm impressed you understood any of it. Don't feel bad by the way. I'd rather you call me 'asshole' under your breath than 'ma'am' to my face. Anyway, we're here!"

The door they had stopped in front of was the same as every other door in the hallway, and Xavier couldn't help but feel slightly nervous as the princess knocked. As he heard the footsteps of whoever was inside coming to answer Xavier felt a single drop of nervous sweat ooze down his nape. The door opened, and a woman almost as tall as Jasmine appeared...

"Oh. My. Gods. Jaz! Eeeeee!" Both women quickly devolved into incoherent babbling as Jasmine's calm exterior sharply changed to energetic mania with the woman in the doorframe. Said woman could best be described as petite, with tan skin, light freckles across her button nose, and strawberry blonde hair done up in a bun. Her beastkin ancestry was betrayed by the cat ears she possessed in place of the human ones more common in L'ird. She was slightly shorter than Jasmine and had a petite frame. Her small, pert breasts were barely visible under the silk nightgown, and her pearly thighs and cute round face completed a rather sexy picture. She matched Jasmine's frantic energy while maintaining at least some composure, allowing her excitement to shine from her face but with her eyes and posture staying mostly still. As Jasmine took a breath, her eyes flicked to Xavier awkwardly lurking a few steps behind.

"So, Jaz, who's the weirdo?" Shooting him a glimpse (and a slight grin) over her shoulder, Jasmine quipped.

"Don't mind him, he's just here to make sure I don't die. He did okay the first time so I decided to let him meet my home friends." The woman again looked at Xavier, this time with a much more analytical look in her eye. He felt a chill near the base of his spine as if one of his lumbar vertebrae had been replaced with ice. That woman was using magic on him! His hands flicked to his daggers, but with a very pissed look from the princess and a side glance from both Steel guards he pushed down his instinct and lowered his hands. It seemed this woman had the princess's permission to do whatever it was she was doing, so Xavier had no choice but to endure it. Only a few seconds later, she blinked, and the freezing feeling went away.

"Huh, you have a weird-ass ancestry, don't you? My 'Analyze' labeled you as ninety percent human, ten percent 'other', whatever that means." The woman stuck out her hand toward Xavier. "My name is Kathy; I'm assuming Jaz didn't explain anything about us before dragging you along, she really is a raging bitch sometimes." Xavier accepted the handshake with a nervous glance at the princess, but she didn't react. Kathy continued. "We met her during the years she spent at our teque... err, our hometown. I've lived in this city for years but some human slang words are still weird to me." Xavier looked confused.

"We? Does the princess have another friend here?" Jasmine lightly poked his forearm, scowling at him. "Oh, uh, I mean, does Jasmine have another?"

Kathy chuckled. "That would be my precious wife, of course. I have a feeling you'll like Max. Speak of the devil..." Behind Kathy, a woman even taller than Xavier appeared.

"Kath! Who's at the door?" The new woman was quite tall and was thick with muscle all across her visible body. She was wearing shorts and no top, with both large breasts overshadowing a well-defined six-pack on her slightly tan stomach. Xavier couldn't help but stare at Max's rack. He normally wouldn't consider himself a breasts man, but they were just so impressive he couldn't stop looking. Only when Max cleared her throat did he finally tear his eyes away to meet hers, albeit for only a few seconds before returning to her tits. She had a square face, and two large but well-kept eyebrows over her dark hazel eyes. Her hair was brown like her eyes, and much like her wife, Max also had two cat ears. Max's irritation at Xavier's blatant staring was apparent in both how she glared at him and the way her left ear had begun to twitch. Max crossed her arms under her sizable boobs. "Fuck off. Jaz, who is this asshole?"

"Max, calm down. You have huge tits and you know that. He's my Gamine Consort, and he also just happened ta save my life just hours ago, so quit bein' a prick." Max frowned.

"You're really going to defend this perv?" Xavier finally looked away from Max's chest long enough to respond.

"Max, I..."

"Stuff it, fleshears. Don't talk to me, and in return, I won't beat the shit out of you." Max stalked back into the recesses of the room, but not before throwing a middle finger in his stunned face.