A Kingdom for Slimes Ch. 03

Elaine was unique among the knights of the realm in that she wasn't required to stay in the shared living quarters of the barracks with the other soldiers. Even though she herself technically wasn't of noble heritage, her station as Prince Stathis' personal champion had garnered her a few privileges that made her the envy of the rest of the palace guard, most notably the fact that she had her own bedchamber. This room was a dour, square chamber of cold stone walls and a floor covered in reed mats that still held the scent of late summer. Normally, the knight didn't think much of the fact that she was allowed this much privacy, but over the past two days, she had come to cherish it.

The sky visible beyond the high-set window showed stars and a sliver of moon as Elaine entered the room, his face still flushed from the drills she had been engaged in all afternoon and well into the evening. With a sigh of exhaustion, she slid out of her yellow tabard and unbuckled her arming belt, tossing the heavy garments onto the floor before collapsing onto the bed set against one wall.

"The captain's been drilling us even more mercilessly than before," she said.

In response to her voice, a large vase set in the corner wiggled, then fell onto its side. From within the furnishing came a flow of viscous, magenta ooze that smelled pleasantly of berries and was pulsing with a dull pink glow at its core. Quickly, the slime formed itself into the shape of a bubbly, buxom woman, who slid at once over to the bed and sat on the floor in front of the knight. "Sounds like a lot of work," Stathis said. The former prince's face didn't look especially concerned, however.

"It was! And what's worse, the captain is going to be performing a thorough inspection of every room in the palace starting tomorrow morning. Apparently, there were a couple of soldiers spreading rumors of a demon or something roaming the grounds a couple nights ago. That wasn't you, was it?"

"Oh, no, not me. I only travel through the pipes and waterways. They must have seen Xera."

"Xera?"

"You remember, the lady I summoned. She's the one who gave me this wonderful new body."

"Oh, right. You did mention her. Anyway, who they saw isn't the point. The captain's going to be searching everywhere, my bedchamber included."

"What?" Stathis exclaimed, her face bubbling into a look of dismay. "Why would he ever do such a thing? Doesn't he respect the best knight in the realm's privacy?"

Elaine gave the slime a pointed look. "I believe his newfound concern for searching the grounds stems from a certain prince going missing."

"Oh, is that all?"

"That isn't an appropriate answer, Stathis. You got me into this mess, and if they find you, they'll expel you from the palace at best. More likely, some guard will slay you on the spot, and then I really will be a failure as a knight." Elaine's frown deepened and her foot began to tap against a particularly large piece of reed at the end of her bed. "Now that I think about it, they'll likely punish me, too."

"What?" Stathis exclaimed, her pliable body stretching higher in alarm. "That's unfair! We'll have to hide me better than a vase can allow, if that's the case."

"But how are we going to hide you? You could go into the waterways again, but I wouldn't want to be parted from you for so long." Elaine twirled a strand of her blonde hair around her fingers as she continued to speak. "You can change your shape, though, and fit in some pretty tight places. Maybe we could use that somehow..."

Stathis suddenly jumped up, the light in her breast flashing brilliantly. "I know! I'll be your clothes!"

"Wh-Wh-What?" Elaine stammered in shock and disbelief, her face immediately turning as red as the apples still unpicked in the palace orchards. "That would be... We couldn't... I can't possibly..."

"Calm down, Elaine," Stathis giggled. "It would be easy, and what place is safer than under your armor? You'd always know where I am and I'd never be found. I doubt the captain would make you strip, after all."

Elaine closed her eyes and forced herself to take a slow, deep breath and wait a few seconds before responding. "T-True. But don't you remember the effect your new body has on mine when we touch? Don't you think that would be a problem at all?"

"Not really. You're tough, aren't you? You can just ignore it until the captain's search is concluded. It can't possibly take longer than an afternoon."

Elaine nodded wordlessly.

Grinning, Stathis patted the knight on her thigh. The touch brightened the slime's light slightly and elicited a squirm of arousal from Elaine. "That's the way! When does the inspection start?"

"First light tomorrow."

"Then you'd better get some sleep, you look exhausted."

Elaine nodded in agreement. While she didn't like to always agree with the slime, she had to admit she was right about her being tired.

The sun hadn't even appeared beyond the rumpled line of hills to the east when Elaine roused herself. Grumbling and bleary-eyed, she stumbled out of bed and shed shed her nightshirt, shivering as her bare body was swaddled by the chilly autumn air. "Alright, Stathis," she mumbled, "I'm ready. Get out here quick so I can warm up."

There was no answer.

"Stathis," she said, louder this time. "Wake up and get over here. I want to get dressed." When there was no response again, the knight stomped over to the vase, upended it, and shook violently. "Get up, you worthless pile of swamp gunk! I'll toss you out with the bathwater if you don't get out here right now!"

With a helpless squeak, Stathis plopped out of her hiding place and grinned sheepishly up at Elaine. "Sorry, I was asleep. I'm not used to waking up this early."

The knight sighed, but let it go for now. After all, Stathis was a former prince. She would be used to waking up well past sunrise. "Okay, let's do this," she said as she paced back to the center of the room and held her arms out, her legs spread as if she was preparing to enter a sparring match.

Stathis slithered her way across the floor and up Elaine's calves. The more of the knight's body she covered, the brighter her glow became.

"Can't you turn that off?" Elaine asked, her voice trembling with an involuntary note of desire. Already, she could feel heat rising in her body.

"Oh, I suppose," Stathis said. After another moment, the light flickered and faded until it was nothing more than a dull glow.

Elaine turned and looked at herself in a floor-length mirror. The sight was bizarre, to say the least. Her naked body was still visible as a hazy outline, a thin layer of magenta slime covering her from the neck down. She bit her lower lip in an effort to silence a moan that had risen in her unbidden and only after she had gotten herself more or less under control did she turn away and start donning her clothing for the day.

Fortunately, the knight's uniform was concealing enough to hide the stowaway slime completely. The first layer consisted of a white cotton shirt and trousers of a similar color. Over that went a mail hauberk and pair of sturdy leather boots that almost reached to her knees. Finally, she buckled on her arming belt, slipped the bright tabard over her head, and tugged a pair of gloves on. "Okay, let's get this over with," she said, her voice a degree or two more breathless than normal.

There was already a line of soldiers in the training grounds when Elaine arrived. The sky was still too dark for anyone to make out Elaine's face properly, but she wasn't about to take any chances. She took up position at the far end of the line, being sure to keep at least an arm's length between her and the nearest soldier.

The sun crested the horizon at long last, spilling a golden wash of light across the dirt ground of the training grounds, when the captain arrived.

"Alright, you lot. We have a missing prince and if you ask me, something supernatural's afoot. We're going to search this place top to bottom."

The captain was a stern man inside and out. His face was as rugged as a block of granite, framed with close-cut hair and a mustache that cast his mouth in a perpetual scowl. His uniform was the same yellow-and-black motif as all the rest of the guards, but with the addition of a bright red sash and line of badges on his tabard. An unadorned longsword rested across his back and a pair of daggers lined his belt.

"Sir," one soldier asked. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"There's been rumors of a blue devil lurking around. That's as good a place to start as any."

A second soldier raised her hand. "Sir, do you suppose that blue devil might have been an accident from a misguided attempt at summoning by the prince?"

"What makes you think that?" the captain asked.

"Well, it's known among us tower guards that the prince always had an unhealthy fascination with macabre things."

From under her armor, Stathis writhed in indignation. "I am not fascinated with macabre things! Misguided, indeed!"

"Quiet," Elaine hissed. "We'll be found out if you keep that up."

The captain strode slowly down the line, his gaze fixed on Elaine. "Do you have something to add to our conversation, knight? You were the prince's champion, perhaps you have some extra insights you could lend us. Did the prince show an interest in the occult?"

Stathis writhed again, her ooze setting Elaine's womanhood tingling. She fought against the feeling as she replied, "Yes, Sir. I never approved of it, but Stathis was very fond of supernatural oddities. The last time I saw him, he was haggling over a supposedly magic quill pen in town."

"And where is that pen now?"

Elaine's breasts felt as though they were being massaged. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to shrug. "I'm afraid I can't say for sure, Sir. Stathis would have taken it back to her - I mean his chambers. I'd imagine it would still be there."

The captain cast a wary glare at Elaine. For a few heart-stopping moments, she thought for sure he could see the slime she was smuggling under her uniform. Perhaps it would be easier on her to confess now, she thought. Maybe if she did that, she would be given a lenient sentence.

Before she could confess anything, the captain gave a curt nod and stepped away. "Very well, we'll start there. I want you all to divide yourselves up and start searching right away."

"I'll search the prince's chambers," Elaine blurted, her hand shooting up as if she had been hit by a jolt of electricity. "He's my responsibility, so it only makes sense." The sensation of arousal was growing more and more intense with each passing second. Her womanhood felt like it almost certainly was growing wet, but the slime rubbing against it made being sure impossible.

"Very good. I'll send someone to join you shortly."

Elaine ran off for the prince's tower without waiting for the captain to dismiss the rest of the soldiers. "Th-That won't be necessary!" she shouted over her shoulder.

"Wait, I'm not done explaining the situation!"

"I've heard it all already, thank you! I'll report as soon as I find something."

The captain called after her again, joined by a few of the soldiers who were more awake, but she wasn't about to stop for anything. If she kept standing around doing nothing, she feared she might reach a climax in front of everyone. That, she decided, was definitely worse than being stripped of her title and rank.

Elaine sprinted through the door at the tower's base and took the spiraling stairs two at a time. When she at last made it to the top floor, she slammed Stathis' bedchamber door behind her and leaned against its rugged wooden surface, her chest heaving with a mixture of embarrassment, exhaustion, and insatiable arousal.

"Th-This... This was a... a mistake," she panted, her voice high and breathy. "Y-You need to get out of my clothes, St-Stathis..." The knight trailed off into a moan, her face turning a shade redder at the sound of her own desire. She should have known this wouldn't work. She knew best of all how the slime girl's touch did this to her.

The front of Elaine's tabard ruffled as if someone was running their hands up her stomach. The knight watched helplessly as a slight bulge around her breasts signaled a shift in Stathis' positioning. "Oh, it's not so bad," the slime girl said, giving Elaine's breasts a playful squeeze.

Elaine jumped at the touch. "D-D-Don't do that!" she stammered. Her body flushed with a fresh wave of desire and she had to use all the willpower available to keep her knees from buckling.

"Aw, I'm only playing with you, Elaine. Don't you like it?"

"A-Another time, Stathis..." she mumbled through tightly pressed lips. "W-We can play another time. N-Now isn't... appropriate... You need to get out of m-my armor now."

"But if I leave your armor, you won't be able to protect me. You wouldn't want that, would you?" The slime girl playfully gave Elaine another squeeze under her clothes, this time on the firm curve of her rear.

Elaine jumped at the squeeze and attempted to swat Stathis away. Of course, this only resulted in her swatting her own rear, drawing more of a blush from her. "This needs to stop!" she shouted, thoroughly flustered.

"Aw, you're no fun," Stathis said. There was the distinct impression of a pout in her voice.

"Just get out of my armor already."

A hint of magenta ooze started to spread out of Elaine's boots as Stathis reluctantly obeyed.

The sound of a door closing echoed up from the bottom of the stairwell. Elaine's heart leaped into her throat as the sound was followed by a voice calling up, "Elaine, are you still here? The captain sent me to help you."

"Quick, quick, get back in!" she hissed at Stathis. "Someone's coming! Hurry, I can see you on my boots! You need to hide!"

"I'm going, I'm going," Stathis grumbled. "First you say get out of the clothes, then you say get in deeper. You need to stop being so wishy-washy."

"This is serious, Stathis!"

The door to the bed chamber swung open and a timid face poked through to look around. "Oh, there you are, Lady Elaine," the woman said with a sigh of relief. "I thought I heard arguing and so I was worried the blue devil might be up here."

The woman was a head shorter and a bit younger than Elaine, her brown hair pulled back into a bun and her athletic body draped in the solid yellow tabard of a squire. The look on her face was one of slight confusion, but also genuine helpfulness. Elaine was able to relax. This, at least, was something she could deal with successfully.

"No, only me," Elaine said, sounding a bit too nervous. To cover the fact, she quickly added, "I haven't found any clues yet. Could you look around the prince's bed for me? I'll check the fireplace."

"Shouldn't you check nearest the bed? You were his champion, after all. It would be impolite for me to invade his space in such a way."

Elaine rolled her eyes. Had she been this obstinate as a squire? "It will be quite alright, I assure you. This is an emergency, remember."

"But what if he comes back?"

"She- I mean he will understand, I'm sure. If you aren't going to help, you can go back to the captain and explain to him why you weren't of use to the prince's own champion."

At that, the squire dropped her cares and hurried across the room toward the bed. "Of course, I'll start searching right away! Let me know if you find any suspicious clues around the fireplace. If it was the blue devil that stole our prince, it might have come in through the chimney."

Elaine made herself busy pretending to look for clues around the fireplace. She already knew there would be no hints to his disappearance here, of course, but she had to keep up appearances of caring. She couldn't have her unwelcome assistant reporting suspicious behavior to the captain. If she kept her cool and everything went well, she might be able to slip out of the castle completely. There would be plenty of places to hide Stathis in the nearby forest or swamp.

"Lady Elaine, I believe I've found something," the squire said.

"What would that be?" the knight asked, hoping she hadn't found anything at all.

The squire held a quill pen in one hand. Elaine had to suppress a groan at the sight. She recognized it as the pen the imp had sold the prince back in town so long ago. She couldn't say why Stathis had been careless enough to leave such a potent device lying on the floor, but then again, she had never known the prince to be careful with his possessions.

"Do you think this could be a clue?" the squire asked.

Elaine thought for a moment. She could play dumb and tell the squire it was just a pen. After all, there was nothing signifying the pen was anything special. She herself had been convinced it was nothing more than a ruse to cheat a member of the royal family out of as much money as possible. She tossed that option aside almost as quickly as it had come to her, however. She was sure the squire had heard her telling the captain about a magic pen back in the training grounds. Hiding it now might be seen as suspicious. "Yes, that's the pen the prince bought," she said. "You should probably bring that to the captain right away. He said he wanted to see it."

"Did he?" the squire asked, frowning uncertainly.

Elaine gave an emphatic nod. "Yes, he did. He told me so right before I ran off. That's why I left in such a hurry. I knew where to look for the pen."

"I don't know if-"

Elaine took the squire by the shoulders and pushed her across the room toward the door. "Enough questioning me! I'm your superior and you have something important to deliver. Now get to it, squire! Don't let me catch you questioning orders again!"

"Y-Yes, Lady Elaine!" the squire squeaked, clearly frightened of being disciplined.

When at last she had disappeared from sight beyond the turn of the staircase, Elaine closed the door and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Okay, she's gone. Now you need to get out, too," she mumbled. By this point, her body was growing numb from pleasure and the bottled-up orgasm she'd been clamping down on for the past five minutes.

"Fine..." Stathis mumbled as the slime girl oozed completely out of Elaine's armor, reforming into her usual shape a few feet away. "But how do you plan to get me out of the tower without anyone seeing me if I'm not in your clothes?"

Now that she was free of the slime's grip, Elaine was finally able to think clearly. "I'll put you in a bottle. No one will suspect that. If I'm asked, I'll say you're jam from the kitchen."

"I am not jam!" Stathis said, puffing up in indignation. The movement caused her breasts to shake like a holiday gelatin.

Elaine tried her best to ignore the tempting sight before her, pacing furiously to keep herself on track. "I don't care about your pride right now, Stathis. You got us into this mess and you're leaving it up to me to get us out safely. As your champion, I'll do what I need to do to see you remain unharmed."

The slime girl was about to respond when a shout from outside drew both of their attention away from the present conversation.

"Quiver in fear, mortals! I, the demoness Xera, have come to claim your throne as my own!"

"Oh, that would be Xera," Stathis said, sticking her head out the window in an effort to locate the demoness.

Elaine tried to pull the former prince away from the window, but her arms just went through her head and torso, sending a fresh wave of pleasure pulsing through her body. "Yes, I heard her say so. Get away from the window before someone sees you!"

"But I want to see what Xera's going to do."

Elaine caught sight of the demoness standing atop the roof of the gatehouse. In the midmorning sun, she shone like a cerulean beacon against the red and yellow of the trees beyond. "Send your best knight or demon hunter, I dare you! You mortals are all the same pathetic little bugs to me!"