Queen Yavara Ch. 37

LEVERIA

"...we're sorry, Your Highness, but the emperor will not trade on credit." The liaison from Terondia said on my mirror. He was a strange breed of elf, with golden skin, auburn hair and amber eyes. The elven empire that resided on the continent of Balamora was ancient, and the bloodlines had been warped over the millennia.

"And why not?" I asked, "The Highland Kingdom has always paid its debts."

"It takes us a full year to do a round-trip voyage." The liaison smiled pitiably, "We do not know if there will even be a Highland Kingdom when we come back."

I disguised a grimace as a smile. "There will be one if you help us now."

He shook his head. "I am sorry, You Highness, but I must return to my emperor with goods, not with promises." And he palmed the mirror. I sat back in my chair, grabbed a cushion, and screamed into it. The dwarven princedoms and the human kingdoms of Balamora had all given me the same answer, and the ships that were bound for the Highlands had decided to brave the southern coast instead, and go to Ardeni and Alkandra. There would be no more ships. The winter storms would ravage the seas, and it would take six months for intercontinental commerce to recommence. I collected myself, drew a sigil on the mirror, and palmed it.

"Your Highness." Field Marshal Shordian said.

"Give me good news."

He looked up at the sky. "The weather's nice."

"Peter..." I growled.

"That's all I have to report on the 'good news' front. Now, do you want the bad news?"

I waved my hand.

"Supplies are dwindling, engines are falling into disrepair, and morale is low. The enemy summits the rift along dozens of sectors a day, and they don't take prisoners. Reinforcements arrive slower with the rising number of breaches, sometimes getting there thirty minutes afterward. It won't be long before the enemy can establish themselves in one of the sectors and begin funneling troops over the wall."

I rubbed my temples. "But at least the weather's nice, huh?"

"I was being glib. It's actually a bit cold." Shordian regarded the landscape, "Winter will soon be upon us, my queen, and this army was equipped to be a fast-strike unit. We are ill-supplied for an extended entrenchment. We need furs, and food."

I didn't answer right away. It was harvest season in the Highlands, and the crops were bountiful as they always were. The only problem was that there was no one there to harvest them. Tens of thousands of farmers lined the Highland Rift, holding swords instead of plowshares. I'd gambled that we would crush Yavara a month before the harvest season, and I'd lost.

"Furs and food," I said, "you will have them, Field Marshal."

He nodded solemnly, and palmed the mirror. I was sure it was hell on the Highland Rift, but in that moment, it was obvious that Shordian was glad he was there, and not in my seat. Condemning the populace to starvation so that we could feed the army was a decision I'd hoped I wouldn't have to make, but there was no doubt about who I would choose if the choice came. Still, the choice itself was a failure. I felt like a bird with its flight feathers plucked, squawking manically before an amused cat. What dance would I do next? What jest would keep me alive for a few more precious seconds?

I took two quick breaths through my nose, and drew another sigil on the mirror.

"Lord Davin." I smiled to the dwarven emissary, "Do you have a moment?"

"The deal hasn't changed, Your Highness. We don't take credit; we take gold."

"I'll give you the Ternianas province!"

He raised his brows. "And Lord Ternias promised me the Tiadoanas province, which is much more valuable, but I'm not taking land that might belong to the Dark Queen in a matter of weeks."

"She won't invade!"

"That's not what you said when you were trying to justify your invasion to me."

"Her ambassador assures me that she's had a change of heart."

"If you believed that, then I might."

"Lord Davin, please."

The emissary stroked his large red beard. "Our caravans have had to go through the Willows to get goods from the Lowlands and Alkandra. We lose a third of our imports before they even get to the mountain pass. Remove your blockade at the South Trade Fort, and I will consider negotiating a short-term deal."

"That blockade is my only leverage, Lord Davin. If you want it removed, then you will honor my first deal."

"Our people need to eat too, Your Highness. The mountains don't lend much room for pasture, and so every morsel is accounted for before the winter snows close us in. Should our children starve so that yours can have full bellies?"

"Send your farmers down here then! We have millions of acres!"

He shook his head. "We do not have enough time. The passes will close. I am sorry, Your Highness, but there is nothing we can do here. Lift the blockade, and we will give you the coin you need to trade metal for meals with the Lowlands."

"I can't trade with the Lowlands, you dumb fucking midget! There's a hostile country between me and them, and their ships don't go around the southern coast!"

Davin blinked. "Your Highness, how can you—"

I slammed my palm on the mirror, and screamed. The door burst open, and Sir Raftas rushed in.

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" I bellowed, and he rushed out just as quickly. I was nearly to the point of tears when I noticed something on my mirror. There was a small sigil at the very bottom, a shape I hadn't seen for a long time. I drew it on my mirror.

ADRIANNA

I had just gotten out of the bath when the red light on my mirror illuminated. I stumbled over to it, each footfall threatening to turn into a pirouette. The vampires drank copious amounts of wine, and my stupid pride had made me try to keep up with them. At a certain level of intoxication, I ceased to be a responsible adult, and instead became a toddler in the body of a full-grown woman. It was why my lips never touched liquor when I was a commander at Castle Thorum, but being governess of Alkandra practically made drinking part of my job. I giggled like an idiot to myself as I procured a bottle of ink, drew two eyes on either side of my bald pussy, and squatted over the mirror. I palmed the glass, spread my pussy lips, and, mimicking the voice I associated with my anthropomorphized vagina, I squeaked, "How can I help you, Your Highness?"

"Um... Commander?"

I slowly sat back. In my drunkenness, I hadn't noticed that were a score of sigils around the edge of the mirror, and most of them came from Bentius. Yavara had connected our relay to the Highland's, and calling from the heart of Bentius, was Private Elena Straltaira. "Hey there, Tiger." I said.

"You uh... you expecting a call from Yavara?"

"Yep."

"And uh... that's how you were gonna answer her?"

"Yep."

She nodded. "Well... nice pussy."

"Thanks."

She cleared her throat, and rubbed at her neck. "You got some tattoos, huh?"

"Yep."

She forced a laugh. "Of all the people in the world..."

"The others have more than me. Furia has a face tattoo if you can believe that."

"Furia Augustinia? She was more of an introvert than me!"

"Not anymore." I chuckled, "She even has a dick tattoo."

Elena winced. "Ow!"

"Yeah, and there was a lot of skin to cover."

She raised her brows. "Good for her."

"Good for me." I snickered.

Elena smirked. "I thought the lady between your legs had loose lips. Furia's doing?"

"More like everyone's doing." I laughed, lounging on the bed, "Governments all over the world fuck their people, but here in Alkandra, we do things differently. I'm sure Yavara told you about Trenok."

"I thought Yavara was exaggerating when she told me about you." She gave me an appraising look, "I guess she was underselling you somewhat. What do your tattoos mean?"

"The pot leaf is for Kiera, the shackles are for Soraya, the whip is for Eva, the hammer is for Alexa, the smiley face is for Brianna, the sword is for Faltia, the heart is for Furia—yes, I know, it's basic as hell—and the tiger is... well, that's for you, Tiger. I got a few others, but you don't need to hear all those stories."

"You got one for me?"

"One for every hybrid." I shifted uncomfortably, "We're like a family over here, and I figured you'd join us eventually. You were the first of us, after all."

"You told me we were a family back at Castle Thorum. Very first day of ranger school."

"I guess we've had our ups and downs since then."

"Ups and downs." She said flatly.

"Every family has ups and downs."

She just laughed to herself.

"Why did you call?" I asked.

"No reason. Just curious, I guess. Goodbye, Adrianna."

"You can trust me." I said quickly.

Her hand paused over the mirror. "You're Governess Adrianna now. I need Commander Adarian."

"I didn't tell Yavara about you and Leveria. I trusted you to be able to keep the full truth of it secret."

"To save your own ass."

"To save my country!" I snapped, "If Yavara knew you loved her sister, wouldn't she do everything in her power to hurt her?"

"Yavara isn't like that."

"You know better."

Elena took two breaths through her nose, then eased them out. "I'm doing everything I can to get the nobles to vote for peace, but you know them; they'd sell their own children for better quarterly gains. There's no capital to be raised in the Highlands, our international ports are empty, the Beaded Peaks won't capitulate, and the Lowlands can't trade through the Midlands. That leaves only one option."

"How much do you need?"

She took a deep breath, then said, "A million."

"Ok."

She looked at me incredulously. "Just... 'Ok?'"

"It'll take Soraya a fortnight to sequester that much; most of our treasury goes to the war effort, but we can slow some domestic projects and skim off the top. Getting it to you will be another issue entirely. Arbor will be curious if a caravan is sent through her forest from Alkandra to Castle Thorum, and she's not your slave anymore. Not to mention Zander's spies."

"It can't be through Castle Thorum. Ternias made sure one of his regiments secured it so that he could funnel money in from Ardeni."

"South Trade Fort?"

"Leveria has it blockaded."

"Try convincing her to un-blockade it."

"What, with my dick? It's her only leverage against the dwarves."

I pinched my brow, trying to think through my drunkenness. If there was a person alive who knew the Great Forest as well as Arbor, it was me. There was a thousand years of inherited knowledge in my head, learned from countless hours of pouring over ancient maps, scouting notes and surveyor logs. I wracked my mind, and found the answer. "The copper mines," I said, "they tunnel for hundreds of miles. They even go beneath the Knife River, though it's caved-in on the Highland side. You'll have to get someone to clear that out."

"The copper mines, as in the vampire-infested underbelly of the Great Forest?"

"Arbor can't see it, and Zander's spies sure as shit won't be there."

"I feel like that's beside the point."

"I just so happen to have a surplus of vampires here."

"Titus would never in a million years betray Yavara for the Highlands."

I touched the healed bite marks on my throat. "Who said anything about him?"

Elena opened her mouth as though to object, then closed it, and nodded. "I'll tell Huntiata that his money's on its way." She said.

I snorted. "Look at us, rangers on a mission again."

"Only this time we're actually saving the Highlands instead of just pretending to."

"Yeah..." I trailed off. Most of Adarian's wounds had faded within Adrianna, but that was one of the few that was still open. "Well," I said, "see you later, Tiger."

"Goodbye, Commander."

No sooner had my hand left the glass, then the red light illuminated once more, and another sigil flashed. This one was also from Bentius, and it was a symbol I recognized immediately. I stared at it for minutes, hoping it would go away, but it just stayed there. Somewhere, across forests, fields, hills, towns and cities, there was a woman with her finger on the glass, waiting for me to answer the call—no, expecting me to. It was my duty, after all, to answer that call. And it was that part of Adarian, that goddamn festered wound of misplaced honor and fealty that compelled my hand. I touched the glass. Her face came into view. She didn't even flinch when she saw the woman staring back at her. She looked at me like she always had, and it felt like home. "Thomas Adarian," she said, "your country needs you."

LEVERIA

It had taken all my emotive skills not to let my jaw drop when I first saw her. The angle of her nose, the line of her jaw, the particular hue and shape of her blue eyes all bespoke Thomas Adarian, but the naked beauty watching me through the glass was something far greater than the ranger she had been. Like Elena, a great intelligence played behind her eyes, a gorgeous expressiveness moved across her face, and the motions of her body were unconsciously fluid, a grace that could not be taught. I had thought that Elena was special, and indeed, she was, but she was no longer unique. When I looked at the woman who had been Thomas Adarian, it occurred to me that I was staring at evolution, and it terrified me.

"I'm in my country." She said after some time.

"I never discharged you, Ranger."

"Ranger?" She laughed easily, and my eyes were drawn to the way her elegant throat contracted with her mirth. There were bite marks there, each surrounded by suction prints. When I looked closer, I saw that they were everywhere; her nipples, her belly, her wrists, her thighs. She caught my eyes, and a knowing glint shone in hers.

"Vampires," she smiled with impossibly-lush lips, "a ranger's greatest fear; now my pleasure." She lounged in her bed, displaying her tattooed flesh without shame, "There is no ranger here, Leveria."

"You will call me by my title!" I snapped at her.

She giggled, licked her fingers, and languorously drew her hand between her breasts, down her belly, through her trimmed blonde fur, and between her legs. She sighed as she penetrated herself, and her almond-shaped eyes lidded heavily with lazy lust. "In case you're not getting the message," she moaned, "I'm telling you to go fuck yourself."

I could feel my face burning, and I could tell by the smirk on Adrianna's face that it satisfied her in more ways than one. She curled her fingers inside herself, and spread her thick bronze legs to show me the film of lust that coated her sucking netherlips. "If you could hold that facial expression for a little longer..." she groaned, "...that would be... oh... that would be fantastic."

My face burned even hotter.

"That's it!" She hissed around a lip-biting smile, "That's the look I need to see from you. Just... hold it a little... longer..." Her adventurous right hand appeared between her legs from behind her, and extended two exploratory fingers that snaked through her delicious crack, and penetrated her pink anus. She rested her head on the pillow, and moaned splendidly as each knuckle disappeared into her gripping aperture, and began to twist.

My face felt like it was on fire. With a hand shaking in fury, I splayed my fingers to palm the glass. I stopped myself. I took two deep breaths, and let them out through my nose. Then I sat back in the chair, hoisted up my dress, and pulled the skirt up to my belly. Adrianna's eyes widened a fraction. I hooked my thumbs into my panties, and scooched the fabric from my crotch, down my legs, and off my ankles. Her eyes widened more. I planted my heels into the cushions, spread my alabaster legs wide open, and revealed the bejeweled plug I kept inside me. Adrianna's eyes nearly bulged. Now it was my turn to smirk. I forked my pinky and forefinger about my bald slit to spread it, and plunged my middle and ring fingers inside. I moaned luxuriantly as my thumb played with my clit, and my other hand came around to grasp the bejeweled end of the plug, and slowly extract it. The anal suction pulled my rim from my pelvic floor until the plug finally popped free, then I pressed the smooth metal point back against my coiling aperture, and began to sodomize myself with it.

"I'm sorry for my lack of manners, Governess." I grinned through breathy moans, "I should've known the proper customs for an Alkandran diplomatic meeting."

The shock left her face, and was replaced with a sneer. "I see Elena's rubbed off on you."

"Many times!" I laughed through a gasp.

She tittered, her face falling back into an easy expression of lust, her fingers recommencing their filthy exploration. "I've had fantasies about you, you know." She sighed splendidly, "When I was a man, I quite enjoyed the idea of bending you over your throne, stuffing your panties in your mouth, and fucking you into a coma."

"Funny," I groaned, "my fantasies about you were quite the same."

"You fantasized about me?" She raised her blonde brows.

"Every noble girl in the court did!" I giggled, "The tall, brave, stoic Thomas Adarian. So chivalrous, so dignified. You'd bow before my throne like a proper knight, and eat my pussy like a gentleman."

Her lips twisted. "So, not quite the same."

"Oh, after a few flicks of the bean I'd get bored with that gay shit, and you'd grab me by the hair, drive me into the back of the throne and fuck me brainless."

"What could have been."

"I would've had you in chains if you'd taken one untoward step."

"I like where this is going." She chuckled, her eyes traversing me with an appraising gleam, "I always imagined you to be a skinny bitch under all that royal garb. It irritates me a little that you're so fucking hot."

"The feeling's quite mutual." I groaned, exploring myself to the sight of her.

She twisted her hips in pleasure, her athletic belly stretching to reveal its striations, her proud breasts protruding in defiance of gravity as she arched her back. Her toned legs bent to reveal the shadows of soft muscle, her wide hips angling to display the globular bulges of her perfect bronze ass. She flattered me with her words, but I could tell by her expression that my attractiveness was merely a surprise to her, and not a revelation. For Alkandra harbored beings of unparalleled beauty, and she was one of the foremost. Even now, she looked upon me like I was a lesser, a mere sexual curiosity that she would enjoy and then discard before seeking a more worthy partner. I knew then that I had to keep Elena away from that place, or I would lose her to it forever.

"Well, Leveria?" Adrianna growled splendidly, "Why did you interrupt my morning?"

"Your duty to the Highlands has not been fulfilled."

"A ranger's duty is fulfilled with his death. Thomas Adarian is dead."

"Is he?" I queried behind a moan.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "What do you want?"

"To save the Highlands."

"You're the reason they need saving. Why should I listen to you?" She moaned, her legs slamming together as a spasm wracked her loins.

"Whatever Yavara promised you to keep you on her side was misguided foolishness on her part. You must know this war will not end well, or you would not still be talking to me."

"Seeing the queen of the Highlands debase herself for my amusement isn't reason enough to talk to you?"

"For your amusement?" I twisted the plug in my ass, greasing my sodomy with the fluid that leaked from my pleasured slit, "Like you, I am a patriot. I will do whatever it takes to save my people."

"Then perhaps you should abdicate, and give yourself up to your sister."

I groaned as my thumb turned my clit into a pulsating bead, each brush sending delightful tingles deep into my nethers. "If the Highlands bends even a fraction, it will never rise again. You know this. Long after I'm dead, you will watch the nation you were born to crumble. We stand at the fulcrum of history. There can be nothing less than victory."