Diaries of a Dark Princess Pt. 08

26^th Day of Moonfall, Year 879 of the Age of Shadow.

A good evil scheme- which, of course, is the only sort of scheme that I ever undertake- requires many things. First of all, conspirators.

So I have spent today gathering my core of fellow spotters. I barely had to ask Shadra. I suspect that she already knew what I was thinking- certainly, she has always had a knack for guessing my wishes. She took the news with the quiet stoicism that she always maintained in my presence.

"Whom do I need to kill?" she asked.

I paused. It was strange- very strange- but Shadra had been my lover for a little over a week now. She had spent years in my service, striking down my foes and gathering all manner of dirty secrets for my use. Somehow... somehow I had forgotten this. Did a few (well, more than a few) languid moans and delightful discipline sessions alter my perception of her so utterly? Of course she would have work to do- we all have work to do- but...

"I will have great need of your talents as my shadow," I said. "But you are to spy only. My plan will require weeks of preparation and Sam will be hunted the entire time. My sister has been... neutralized..." An interesting choice of words, considering what we had been doing with her just yesterday. "But there will be others. Sages. Diviners. Bounty hunters and guardsmen all seeking the Hero of Prophecy. I need you to disrupt their efforts."

"Disrupt?"

"Don't kill anyone," I said, unsure as to why I was saying it, "but make some mischief." A smile found my way to my lips. "Be a naughty little kitty."

She blinked and then an answering smile- wicked and playful- met mine. "Will I be rewarded?"

"For being naughty? No. Naughty kitties don't get rewarded. They get punished."

Her smile only grew.

***

Samuel was next.

"Hello Sam. Would you like to help in my cunning plot?"

He paused. "That sounds kind of rude. Are people going to get hurt?"

"Actually, if we do this correctly- no. Maybe just the one, but he's very bad."

"Well." He scratched his chin. "Alright then. Do you need me to do anything?"

"You, my dear? I need you to do quite a lot..."

***

Terra, I thought, would be more difficult. It had been, after all, an entire evening since her jaunt with Sam; plenty of time for her to have second thoughts. I decided, after much care and consideration, that Honesty Was The Best Policy. She listened to me explain my scheme for some time, with Sinistoria hovering next to her like a red-haired guardian. She wore her priestess's robes and- even if her bodice was a touch lower than normal- she certainly seemed a much more forbidding figure than the gasping, moaning girl who cuddled against me yesterday. She gazed at me with dark eyes as I talked. Eventually she said, "You are the last person in all of creation that I would expect to come up with such a scheme."

"Our family has a long and storied history of such acts."

"Our family does. But never in such a way, and never for such a reason."

"Reason? I feel that the opportunity-"

"You're not doing this for opportunity. You're doing this for him."

I blinked.

And then I sneered one of my very best sneers. "That is the most preposterous thing that I have ever heard."

She leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. "Oh? Look into my eyes and tell me, without fear or hesitation, precisely why you are doing this."

I closed my eyes. I opened them again. I smiled at my half-sister; the tall blonde woman who's endless schemes had brought me such misery. And then I said, "I do this for the empire. I do this for the prophecy. I do this because Father has left me with no choice. I do this because it is in our blood to do such things." I paused and then I added, "and I do it because The Hero of Prophecy belongs to me and I have no intention of giving him up."

Terra stirred. Something gleamed in her eye. "You cannot do this without me."

"I... that is a statement that is not entirely false and ill-conceived."

"The smart thing to do would be to take evidence of your plot to father and then sit back, allow him to execute or exile you, and then ride the wave of his conquest as his sole heir."

"And yet?"

"And yet." She paused. "Something I must know... what of me, if this all works out?"

I made a show of considering my options. "Well. As I said... Family Should Share, should they not?"

She laughed. "Well then, how about a demonstration of this philosophy by sending your... boyfriend.. over? We will need him. For the plan."

***

There was one more member of this conspiracy that I needed to talk to. Their part in this was small and yet- oh so vital. And they would most likely be the most difficult person to convince.

"I don't understand," said the Princess Hopestra. "You want me to..."

"I want your help," I said. "It would seem that we are both in great danger from my father. I believe I have a way that will enable us to escape his clutches."

"But he is your father," she said, piece of charcoal in hand. I had arrived with some more books- some simple romance tales- as well as a set of drawing implements. These had excited her to an excessive degree as she was apparently something of an amateur artist. Naturally I offered to pose for her, to which she accepted; naturally I disrobed so better to allow her to capture my pure beauty, which made her squirm delightfully. And so we talked in soft tones as she sketched my body, shyly blushing as her charcoal moved uncertainly across the parchment.

"That is so," I said. "But things are very different here. Every Dark Emperor or Empress knows, with each child that they breed, they are creating potential claimants. Rivals for their power, every bit a threat as they are useful tools."

"Nothing else?" she asked. "Does your family not love one another?"

I pondered the question for a while before saying, "Until recently, the closest I have ever felt to my sister is when she attempted to thwart my plans. Until recently, the closest I ever felt with my father was when I proved myself a useful tool."

"That sounds lonely." Her charcoal stopped and she stared across at me.

"It isn't. Or rather, it wasn't until recently."

"What happened recently?"

I stared into those blue eyes of hers, and once more I pictured her; kneeling naked before me, her body trembling, her lips parted in soft, silent need. I smiled and said, "I have recently been presented with an alternative."

"An alternative..."

I leant forward, enjoying the way her eyes lingered on my breasts. I bit down the urge to push things further; to lean across and steal the kiss that I knew- knew with absolute certainty- that she would allow me to claim. The girl before me was my enemy, and yet- all it took was a few acts of kindness, a few sweet gestures, to capture her heart.

That being said, I needed to be very careful as to how I phrased my next request.

"As I said last time... I met someone. And it has opened my eyes to possibilities. Wonderful possibilities. I have a plan. A desperate plan, one that will not only stop my Father's evil scheme to claim your light but free us both."

"What do I have to do?" she asked, and I saw the glimmer of hope in her eyes.

I hid my wicked, wicked smile as I said, "Firstly, I need you to meet someone. Someone very important."

"Who?"

***

Well, dear diary, the first step of my grand plan is complete. The key players are all in place; each of them know their roles. But there are so very many things that might go wrong, in the coming days. I suppose it will be a matter of luck, of skill...

Or, perhaps- destiny.

***

4^th Day of PaleSong, Year 879 of the Age of Shadow.

Apologies for not writing earlier! It has been an interesting week.

It is an art, you know, to secretly subvert people to your side. Too few, and you will not have enough people when the time comes. Or else you might well achieve your goal only to find yourself overwhelmed with those seeking vengeance- such as the Emperor Murdonicus, who rose to the throne after slaughtering his uncle only to be assassinated in turn by his nine sons and daughters. The man ruled for a total of seven hours, most of it presumably spent in a state of dread. Too many and well... this is a society that thrives- runs- on treachery. On the art of the deal, of the double-cross, on the sudden but inevitable betrayal. So it therefore goes without saying that we need to be judicious with regards to the people that we bring in on our grand scheme.

Of course, it helps that we have a rather impressive means of persuasion.

I took a little time to observe the latest recruitment effort. Terra's guest today was a tall and elegant woman by the name of Pridentria. She is the wife of a rather prominent general, here in the palace to curry favor with my father. Her world is a thing of subtle plans and careful maneuvering as she promotes her husband's agenda- and her own- through the flattery of her betters, the shaming or sabotage of rivals, and the seduction of prominent men. She is ambitious and cunning and more than a little arrogant: all vital traits for a noblewoman. She would have seen the invitation by Terra as an excellent opportunity to forge an alliance- or gain dirt for blackmail on- the High Priestess of the Dark Gods and younger daughter (oh very well, most probably) of the Dark Emperor himself.

She arrived arrayed in her fine silken clothes. Her hair was high, held in place by a number of silver combs and pins. She sat at the table and exchanged pleasantries with Terra. Perhaps she noticed the predatory glint in the girl's eyes as she poured her wine. It did not matter, in the end.

The pretext for what happened next differs from person to person. The lesser priestesses could be simply bullied into submission; they were so desperate to prove their usefulness and loyalties to their mistress that they leapt at the chance to gain her favor. The greater, more senior priestesses... well, they had their own lures. A talk about a strange new phenomenon, a request to have them weigh in with their experience, if they would just look at the odd rune on this bodyguard's body...

In this instance... well, I smiled as Terra- plying the woman with wine and sweet talk- spoke about how her silly elder sister had taken a lover- one that had her completely besotted. She foolishly, in the way of women in love, confided her secrets to him. There was a grand opportunity, Terra whispered in soft, throaty tones, for them to learn said secrets. All they needed was someone to seduce her bodyguard in turn and sway them to their side. Oh, and conveniently, the man was about to arrive in her chambers...

Pridentria accepted the assignment. Of course she did. No doubt she was already making her own, secondary plans; perhaps to manipulate Sir Bruticus to spill my secrets to her alone, all the while feeding Terra false rumors that would only confuse and embarrass her when she attempted to use them to her advantage. It did not matter. When Bruticus showed, silent in his demonic mask, she was already rising and introducing herself. Flirting with him. Flattering him. Perhaps she thought that she would only set the groundwork; some light tempting and teasing to be capitalized on at a later date.

Poor, pathetic fool. Sam's aura of hearty peasant virility worked its way on her, aided by the strong wine and my sister's subtle suggestions. Tongues were loosened first; then clothes, then decency. I watched, one of my hands between my legs, as this intelligent, cunning, conniving woman- a woman who never does anything without considering how it might benefit her or her husband- lost control, until she lay splayed atop the table, her legs spread wide, her eyes rolled back and wanton, slutty moans pouring from her mouth. Once Sam had his way with her, once Terra had- as she always inevitably did- stripped down and joined the proceedings, once she had been reduced to a animalistic rutting beast, worn out from a near constant stream of orgasms... then I emerged from my hiding spot, swept in to kneel by her ear and, in the calm, confident tones of a victor, explain what her real purpose would be.

Afterwards I make sure- through strenuous efforts and the support of my dear sister- to reward my boyfriend for his support in my sinister scheme. The sweet, simple man merely smiles and holds me and tells me that he's just happy to help me with whatever I want. Truly, the Dark Gods have blessed me with such a lover! So virile! So potent! So willing to just do whatever I say!

My ritual work continues. Sinistoria has been helping me, of course. There was a difficult period early on, where she attempted to 'alert me' to the 'catastrophic results of what my plan would do to the Empire.' One discipline session- ably aided by Shadra- ended this pointless nattering. Now that we have come to a deeper appreciation of each other's talents- my brilliance, her willingness to accept my unquestioned leadership and stern discipline- things have been going smoothly. We sit and we make amendments to the ritual, our combined intellects combining in interesting and clever ways. These sessions are fruitful, demanding and often end in spontaneous acts of lesbian congress as our bodies combine in equally interesting and clever ways.

Shadra continues to lurk from the shadows. She comes back to me with information; whom is meeting with whom, what sort of plans are being made and what sort of information is being fed to my father. It helps that everyone is distracted with the upcoming preparations; desperate last minute changes to troop movements thanks to our spate of back luck on the borders. My father spends most of his time in discussions with his generals- especially Morticus- discussing strategy and the finer points of conquest. There are even rumors from our spies of a great gathering of forces under the generalship of Queen Justinia; of a counter-invasion, launched under the pretext of rescuing the imprisoned Princess Hopestra. Such amazing arrogance! Such puerile pointlessness! I have already set into motion events that will render their feeble plans irrelevant!

***

11^th Day of PaleSong, Year 879 of the Age of Shadow.

Luck continues to aid me in my plans; merely, of course, a minor boost to my burning brilliance, but still.

Shadra's reports continue. She returns from evenings spent roaming the castle to kneel before me and-

Alright, she returns from evenings spent roaming the castle to kneel naked before me and-

Very well, fine. She kneels naked before me and pretends to withhold the information from me. I then proceed to tie her to the bed and, with the aid of various implements (my tongue, my fingers, a feather, a small riding crop, that smooth jade cylinder with a cantrip cast on it that makes it vibrate, etc. etc. etc.) proceed to 'torture' the information out of her. Is it efficient? No. Is it necessary? Not really. Is it a great deal of fun? Absolutely. I like to think of it as a nice way to unwind after a night spent plotting.

(Besides, naughty kitties need to be punished, don't they?)

And what she tells me is... that the palace is distracted. By the war, by the preparations for my father's upcoming divinity and... and by what appears to be a strange and mysterious epidemic of... horniness.

It floats in the air, invisible, intangible- but oh so pleasingly potent. Beastman guards swap knowing smiles with maids as they walk along the halls; bureaucrats and nobles meet in dark corners in frantic, panting tangle of limbs and kisses. Everywhere I walk, meaningful glances are exchanged; sighs and stifled moans echo in rooms meant to be empty. It is as though a great and invisible fog of passion rolls and floats through the halls of the castle, soaking into the stone of its walls and the flesh of its inhabitants.

Shadra sees it all. Always lurking in the shadows as guards drop their weapons to embrace each other, always watching as maids slip their hands under each other's skirts, always there as generals bend noblewomen over their great maps... truly, she has a nose for seeking out the slightest scent of erotic play. All reported back to me in breathless, moaning tones as her naked, writhing, sweaty body twists beneath my subtle tortures. Valuable intelligence all; even if it has the unfortunate side effect of reducing my spy into a desperate, horny frenzy long before I get my hands on her.

Something that I very sternly punish her for when she is tied up, of course.

***

13^th Palesong, Year 879 of the Age of Shadow.

We have our co-conspirators assembled. Enough to enact the plan and enough to smooth things over should the plan go well. A dozen in all, each one promising- as much as promises are worth, of course- to aid us. For what it is worth I believe that they are loyal. No, that is not the problem.

No, the problem is they are all such awful sluts.

I have a great deal to do. Sam has a great deal to do. Terra also has a great deal to do. And thus we really do not have the time to deal with the constant arrivals at my door of dangerously desperate women, each one apparently 'needing' to quench the 'awful burning need' that Sam and I are somehow responsible for. Which is frankly incredibly distracting. The worst case was yesterday when I was ambushed- ambushed! By four women- priestesses in the service of Terra, who was apparently too busy performing divinations to deal with her overly amorous oracles. I haughtily replied that they could tend to themselves and they continued to whine and weedle and then I got upset and made them kiss my feet and then one thing led to another and it took three hours later before Sam came along and rescued me from the resulting tangle of sweaty feminine forms.

I must have a word with Terra about her choice of servants. Why is everyone in this Palace a silly slattern other than me?

***

15^th Palesong, Year 879 of the Age of Shadow.

I spent a few hours with Hopestra. Despite the fact that her part in the plan is minimal at best, I want to make sure that she does not harbor any doubts. We spent our time talking- well, flirting, whispering soft erotic promises to each other as we sit, inches apart, on the bed. I have not touched her; indeed, I cannot touch her for the plan to work. She has spent over a week in this cell, waiting; waiting for her freedom, waiting for her return, waiting for another sort of release to come. She will not need to wait for much longer. We are nearly ready.

***

17^th Palesong, Year 879 of the Age of Shadow.

I may have- just possibly- might have miscalculated. Just a little.

The rising tide of arousal- which, to be fair, I am only tangentially involved in- has made people careless. Bold. Moans and gasps are now not so hidden, nor the sight of couples... well... coupling in the shadows. The whispered conversations have shifted away from the upcoming war or the Emperor's ascension into godhood; no, now all anyone does is debate who is with who, and was caught doing what, precisely.

Father has noticed. Father is suspicious. Father has done what Father always does under these circumstances; namely, tighten his control and cast an eye for blame. He has banned- banned! - all erotic acts until the ritual is complete, enforceable by death. His elite guards patrol the halls, seeking out couples in the shadows and secret places. The ritual is but four days away. Four days. Four days for my various conspirators- the hopelessly hungry whores- to resist temptation and secure our victory.

Four damn days. Not nearly enough time.

He summoned me again. This time in front of the entire court, where he- in cold, dread tones punctuated with sharp lashes of invisible lines of pain- made it clear that he was disappointed in my failure to perform my duties concerning the Hero of Prophecy. I lay there, doing my best not to tremble or weep, while he called me worthless. Useless. He got angrier and angrier and then...