Casus Belli Ch. 11: A New Reality

"The kitchen servants will be delivering breakfast to the reception room soon," Denora then said to no one especially, "so at least a couple of us should prepare to receive them."

The pack's leader nodded, "We've spend enough time in the bathroom anyway, so let's get on with the day." With that he cradled Cassandra, and headed for the edge of the tub. Once he had stepped out he lowered her on her feet, and pointed at the rack with towels. She didn't need more guidance, picked up a large towel from the rack and started toweling her master off. To her surprise the other girls followed her example, and the males sure weren't complaining. Vala finished first, and handed her towel to Bolar who then returned the favor. Once Bashuk was dry he just took the towel from her and set to work toweling her off.

She grumbled when he started with her head, drying her hair rather roughly. Bashuk chuckled at her protesting, but he did become more gentle when toweling off her face, and then he draped the towel around her shoulders, hugged her close and kissed the top of her head. "Someone seems really pleased with his prize...," Denora's voice sounded nearby, and Cassandra felt herself blush.

Bashuk pushed her away a little, so he could lock eyes with her. "I am," he confirmed, sounding happy, before resuming toweling her off.

He was very thorough, as usual, and as a result he was last to finish, which meant all eyes were on her. They were all watching her, smiling, except for Leavy, who was looking a bit envious. She wasn't the only one who noticed though, and the platinum blonde yelped as Kurgan picked her up, took the two steps to the huge tub, and simply tossed her in. The girl came up spluttering, and by the time she had wiped the water from her eyes Kurgan was waiting for her, holding a fresh towel open for her. "Come here you," he chuckled, "so I can give you the sort of toweling off you so clearly desire."

Leavy climbed out of the tub once more, pouting, and moved into the welcoming hands of Kurgan, who then proceeded with drying her hair in the same rough way Bashuk had Cassandra's before. Leavy grumbled just like Bashuk's prize had. "Don't complain," Kurgan chuckled, once he had finished drying her hair, "this is exactly what you wanted."

Leavy blushed as he draped the towel around her shoulders, and when he pulled her close she lifted on tiptoe and kissed him on the lips. The big orc looked surprised, "That's for last night," the blushing girl said, "you were awesome, thank you."

They all left the bathroom, as naked as on the day they were born, and headed towards the private hallway. Bashuk then led Cassandra into the living room, while the other males led the girls towards their bedchambers. Once inside the living room Bashuk steered for the bedchamber, and when she had followed him inside he picked a pair of thick cotton britches, a soft flannel shirt, and some woolen socks, from his bags. She helped him dress, noticing the ochre colored britches and dark red shirt looked good on him. Once she had laced up his britches he sat himself down on the bed, and she buttoned up his shirt for him too.

His socks were next, and then she helped him into his leather boots, and laced those up also. "Excellent," he said, once she had finished, and then he patted his lap. Cassandra noticed how normal he looked when he wasn't wearing his armor. He was looking almost..., homely? She sat down across his lap, as she was used to by now, leaning in against his broad chest. A big arm closed around her, gently holding her. "Well," he said, "satisfied?"

She looked up at him shyly, she wasn't going to lie. "Yes, you were awesome too last night...," she said softly.

Bashuk chuckled, "Well thank you, but that wasn't what I meant Cassy." She blushed, the huge orc was simply impossible to hate. She wasn't getting what he was on about though, so she looked back at him questioningly. "Are you finally convinced everything is going to turn out okay for your girls?" Bashuk added. She swallowed, and then she nodded slowly, while soft tinkling noises emanating from the room next door told her said girls had started setting the table. "They're part of the pack now," Bashuk continued, "and the pack takes care of its own." He ruffled her hair, "You're part of that pack too, pleasure slave..."

"The pack's resident set of warm holes to satisfy cocks with, and the pack's fertile belly to breed..." she reacted, sounding hurt.

"That's what a prize starts as," Bashuk replied softly, "it doesn't mean a prize can't become more than that..." He caressed her face, "You're already more than that..." Cassandra felt herself relax, and she snuggled up against her master. He just cuddled her for a couple of minutes, and then she felt his muscles move beneath her, indicating he was going to get up. She slipped from his lap, and then she followed him back into the living room. Entering behind him she noticed her maidens were already sitting at the dinner table, and that they were all sitting next to the male they spent the night with.

Cassandra glanced towards her comfy chair, which was Bashuk's comfy chair now; her clothing was still were she had left it the night before. "Go on," Bashuk said, "get dressed, I don't want you to catch a cold." She darted over, and put on the cardigan first, before slipping both leg warmers up her slender legs. By the time she was 'dressed' Bashuk had already sat himself down at the big table. She moved over to him across the mattresses, and then hopped onto his lap as usual. Bashuk cut off four thick slices of bread, buttered them, and then placed thick slices of cheese between them. She was hungry, and her mouth watered, while her stomach grumbled in anticipation.

Everyone had dug in by now, except for Denora and Polly, who got up and walked away towards the private hallway doors. Cassandra picked up one of the sandwiches Bashuk had made and started feeding him, and herself, and after the first couple of bites she noticed Denora and Polly return, carrying a large kettle each. The pair split up and started filling tea cups from the opposite head of the table, working their way towards were she was sitting on Bashuk's lap. Denora was approaching from the right, filling the males' tea cups, and Polly was approaching from the left, filling those of the girls.

The former Kangess knew what was inside the latter's kettle before she smelled it; korkumun tea. She whimpered, and then she noticed there were two cups next to Bashuk's plate, a large one, and a small one. She looked up and checked the table; the males had all been provided with larger cups than the usual ones. Denora arrived at their side of the table first, and filled the larger one of the two cups, and then Polly arrived and, without asking, filled the second smaller one. Cassandra froze, and then she swallowed, and looked up at Bashuk, while her mind rebelled. The huge Warlord locked eyes with her, and after studying her face for a moment he produced this sad grimace, "Carrying my seed and baring my young disgusts you this much?"

He had barely whispered it, but the equally sad tone in his voice made her heart cringe. She hadn't wanted to hurt him, and now she clearly had, and she felt her eyes moisten as a result. "Someone told me you preferred a happy slave," a familiar voice suddenly sounded, and then Denora's face appeared next to Bashuk's from behind him. The auburn haired beauty placed her hands on his broad shoulders, and gently kneaded them. "Give it time, and the wood will bend, but bend it too quickly, and it will break, never to be whole again," she then added. The huge orc frowned, and Denora moved her head next to his, "She just isn't ready for this yet," she whispered.

One of the Warlord's big hands lifted, and he cupped Cassandra's face, while she became aware Polly hadn't moved away either, and was looking at Bashuk pleadingly. That was when she noticed, from the corner of her eye, that all the girls were looking at their pack's leader pleadingly, while the males were making a show of looking somewhere else. Bashuk's big calloused thumb gently rubbed her cheek, and then, after a long moment, his features softened, and he almost unnoticeably nodded, just like Brando had done the day before. Cassandra felt herself relax, and when he let go of her face she gingerly put the half-eaten sandwich down on the plate again.

She then eagerly reached out for the steaming cup she had longed for almost from the moment she had felt Bashuk pump her fertile belly full with orc semen for the first time, now almost an entire day earlier. She was still just within the tea's 'safe window', but as she lifted the cup off its saucer guilt hit her squarely. Your army killed his offspring, you have no right to deny him this. Tears started running down her face. "I'm so sorry," she cried, as she lowered the cup back on its plate again, her fingers trembling. She let go of the cup, and turned herself towards him, closing her arms around him, and snuggling up against him.

His large arms closed around her too, and Cassandra felt him nuzzle her hair. "Hush girl," he then whispered, "it's okay, you're not ready for it yet, and I don't want to break you. Just be careful not to burn your mouth, because that tea is steaming hot." She swallowed, and when his hold relaxed she reached up and wiped the tears from her face before looking up at him. She still couldn't read the complex emotions on his strange orcish face, but he hadn't had the same problems with her human face apparently. While she couldn't read his face his voice was another matter entirely though.

She had recognized disappointment, and sadness, but no anger or resentment, when he just spoke. Her master really seemed to be okay with this, and then he produced this soft smile, "You can have korkumun tea for breakfast whenever you want girl, I promise," he whispered. There were sighs to be heard everywhere, and as she checked, the faces of her maidens were all beaming, proving they had heard everything. She locked eyes with her master again, and cleared her throat, "I..., I'm sorry..., I..., I just need some time."

He nodded, "Yes, you do..., so now drink your tea."

Cassandra had breakfast like in a dream, she just couldn't believe what had just happened, and what a huge impact on her life it was going to have, and already had. She looked at the girls around the table, who were all having a jolly breakfast by the looks of it, engaged with the males in animated conversation as they were. She had never before felt so indebted to them. She glanced up to Bashuk, who was busy observing his pack, and chewing down the last mouthful she had served him. She felt indebted to him too, he might have 'lured' her girls into becoming his pack's harem, she was pretty sure about that, but what would the alternative have been?

Returning home to the lives of commoners, and risk ending up suffering, like Moiga and Denora clearly had been before they found their way to the royal court? The orcs were going to be the new aristocracy, and her former maidens, and their offspring, were going to be part of that. There also wasn't a real downside, as they got on with the males rather well to say the least. Bashuk looked down at her, and after a moment he opened his mouth demonstratively. She blushed, and fed her master another bite of the big sandwich she was holding, before taking another much more modest bite herself.

The hard, but not too hard, orange-yellow cheese was rich of taste, and together with the butter it combined rather nicely with the coarse brown bread. It was another example of 'commoners' food' she liked a lot. She snuggled up against her master, who was even more turning into a safe harbor in her freshly disintegrated life. As she did her eyes locked onto Denora; accepting the girl as her senior maiden was the best decision she ever made she decided. The girl in question noticed her looking, and locked eyes with her, and then she winked. Cassandra sent her the warmest smile she could muster, and Denora immediately reciprocated.

"She's very special," Bashuk whispered into her ear, "a female much wiser than her age implies." Cassandra could only agree with him, and as she looked up at him he opened his mouth once more, and she blushed, as she offered him another bite. They finished the sandwich together, and then Bashuk downed another one on his own, as she felt pretty stuffed already. The cheese sandwiches were delicious, but they also filled the tummy rather quickly, especially after you already swallowed a huge load of orc cum... Polly and Denora served another round of tea, and she drank her cup while feeding her master, and observing the pack. When everyone had finished eating, Bashuk cleared his throat.

"Considering the recent changes in the pack's composition, I call for a kavor-maku, for a pack meeting." He gestured behind him, "So I suggest for the males to relocate to the couches, and for the females to join us once they have finished clearing the table." The males all nodded, and got up, with the surprised looking girls following their example. Bashuk got up too, cradling his prize, and started moving towards the south-west side of the room, with the males following, while the girls started clearing the table. "We aren't going to need these mattresses anymore, or at least not this many," he then said to the males, as they arrived at the couches, "so you'd better move most of them out of the way for now, and rearrange these couches a little."

Kurgan nodded, "Where would you like us to put them?"

Bashuk thought for a moment, "Take four of them into the room leading to the bathroom." He looked at Cassandra, "What's the name of that room?"

"It's the connecting room, she answered, "it's considered part of the private hallway."

Her master nodded, and then he sat himself down, and she snuggled up against him once more, while the males set to work. She watched them remove the four furthest away mattresses, and then they turned the remaining two, so as to make more of a square. When they started moving the couches Bashuk told them to move the other comfy chair into the bedchamber, because they wouldn't be needing it anymore. The chair got carried away, and the couches got rearranged around the mattresses, with two abreast opposite where she was sitting, and the other two to the left and right respectively.

The girls had finished clearing breakfast away by now, and were arriving at the couches, but before they could sit down the males intercepted them. They plucked them off their feet, and then they sat down on the rearranged couches, placing their catches next to them. It was the same male to girl distribution as before, Cassandra noticed with a small smile. Once everyone was comfortable Bashuk addressed them. "Alright," he said, "whenever matters concerning the entire pack occur a kavor-maku is called. This is normally done by the pack's leader, but in principle all pack members can call for one, if he or she thinks there is need for it."

The huge orc ruffled her hair, "Except for pleasure slaves that is, of course." He moved his attention back to the pack girls, "During such a meeting everyone, except for prizes, is free to speak his or her mind, and taking offense is considered rude behavior, because everyone is assumed to speak with the pack's best interests in mind."

"But the final decisions are always yours...," Denora said.

Bashuk nodded, "Yes, they are, but I would be a bad pack leader if I didn't listen to my pack's members, and didn't tailor my decisions to their best interest. And before you ask, a female's concerns have the same weight as a male's. Opinions are weighted on their owner's competence concerning the matter at hand alone, and not on their gender or, in this case, their race. So in matters concerning humans, and human females especially, for instance, your opinion would outweigh those of my males." Denora nodded, looking pleased. "Good," he said, that brings me to the matter of pack bonding..."

"Whenever a new pack-girl, or a new pack-mate, joins the pack, and the ceremony has taken place, she's obliged to spend a night with each of the pack's males." He sure had the girl's attention now, and none of them were smiling. "We didn't change this," he continued, "even when we did change the general rules about a pack-mates' obligations towards guests and the other males of the pack. The reason being that it was considered too important for the bonding of the pack. Now normally the new pack-girl or pack-mate just spends the night with the pack's males in order of seniority, but with six new females joining simultaneously that would create a bit of a problem."

"To solve this we are going to switch bed-partners in order of seniority. That means the oldest male will share a bed with the oldest female, the next oldest male will share a bed with the next oldest female, and so on. The following nights the girls will move down the male seniority ladder, one male at a time." Most of the girls looked, apart from a little shocked, questioningly. "So Denora starts with the most senior male, which happens to be me, and then moves on to the next younger one, which would be Kurgan, and Kasho after him." He ruffled Cassandra's hair, "And as there will be plenty of females to warm my bed my prize will be part of the schedule too."

"So as the fourth most senior female she will start with the fourth most senior male, which happens to be Yakha, and then move on to Batul, and so on. Once a girl has spent the night with Bolar, our youngest one, she starts at the top again, with me." The girls all seemed to grab the principle now, but still didn't look any happier "Once seven days have passed, and every male has spent a night with each of the girls, it is time to claim mates." That last remark clearly caused some easing of the girls' tensions, and Bashuk smiled softly, "A pack-girl may then submit to a male, and if he accepts her they are going to be considered mated."

"Should not all the pack-girls become mated on the occasion, the schedule then resumes, but excluding the now mated couples. Once every not yet mated male has been with every not yet mated female once more, the remaining pack-girls will have another chance at submitting to a male. We'll then simply repeat the process, until all the pack-girls have become pack-mates." His eyes connected with those of the two virgins, "The virginity of the two of you will remain protected, until you submit of course, as having your pussies fucked is part of the submission ceremony."

It stayed silent for a moment, and then Denora spoke up. "Why do we have to 'submit' to the males anyway," she said, "because someone just told me males and females are considered equals..."

Bashuk chuckled, "That's just so we males can convince ourselves we're the ones in charge," he winked, "clever girl..." Denora blushed. "We male orcs do have a habit of being a little bossy between the sheets," Bashuk then added, "which is something most orc females like, and I hope human females can at least get used to."

"I don't mind!" Leavy blurted out, and then her eyes widened, and she looked down at the table, while turning beet red.

"Well, there's a surprise!" Denora replied smiling, sounding amused, and then everyone started laughing.

Vala was sitting next to Leavy, and she reached out and pulled the embarrassed girl close. "Don't be ashamed," she told her, "I like it that way too, once in a while."

"I can testify to that," Bolar chimed in. Vala's head swiveled around, and the youngest orc froze, his eyes widening, when the redhead looked daggers at him.

He was clearly trying to come up with an excuse, but Denora preempted him, "You'd better shut up now," she chuckled, "or risk having your head taken off." She then switched her attention to the redhead. "They aren't used to kissing and not telling Vala, or at least not within the privacy of the pack." Denora's eyes locked with Bashuk's, "Right?"