Royal Duel Short Story

It was a sunny, windy, day in the royal manor. Farth and Jania, the two select heirs from the twin realms of Theravia and Caland. They were both dressed lightly for the warm weather. Farth wore a thin white vest that revealed the dark hair of his chest, and blue tied pant with subtly embroidered insignia of the key historical events of his house. Jania wore a knee length red skirt and a thin airy blouse that showed off her modest cleavage. Her head only came up to his nose, but she had piercing eyes and a commanding presence that no one would deny.

Farth was laid back, but had a quiet intensity to him, always wore a slight smile, and had been groomed to rule just as much as she had. They both knew what awaited them that night.

"Jania, it's been a while. Care to tour the museum before sunset?" asked Farth, offering her his hand.

Jania took his hand and allowed him to lead her along. "Sure, though I'd like to eat something afterwards."

"I already checked, there will be dinner in the antechamber. You ordered lobster?"

"It's hard to come by far from the coast where I live. What did you order?"

"Potatoes with a heaping fruit salad," said Farth with a grin.

"So you pick a traditional dish from my land and I picked a traditional dish from yours... without prior planning. I do believe we are going to make a good team."

"I hope so. It'll be interesting to pick your brain later tonight and see how we both think when under pressure.

"Whoever wins, we'll need to work together," agreed Farth. They walked together into the first room of the museum, it displayed several relics of the first age, the trunk of the necromancer, ceremonial scythes, and other orbs associated with the old magic. Above it all was a mural showing a mythical, god-like figure who supposedly taught the ways of magic to their ancestors.

"Do you think he was ever real?" asked Farth.

"What he taught was real enough," said Jania. "The knowledge had to come from somewhere. I think he was real, but probably not anything like the way history remembers him."

They moved onto the next room. Here were the surviving artifacts from the age of darkness, where much of the knowledge was lost in wars of various necromancers fighting each other for control over what was left. Most of it was pens and papers, and remains of the dead.

"No more necromancy after that. Funny to think back on it now," said Farth.

"Only because it's illegal," said Jania.

"Plenty of things are illegal that people still do. There's no more necromancy because it was replaced by shadow magic. It's more efficient, more effective, and a lot less messy. You've studied it, I know."

"You may have a point there," smiled Jania. "What about you? Did you study any magic? If I recall you never showed much interest in it."

"Just balance," said Farth. "It can't do much yet, but I think it's the future."

"Ideals are nice, but the don't get the job done. Study philosophy and you'll spend all your time debating things you can't even see while roaches multiply in the shadows." They passed through several more displays until they came to hall of the Spider Queen, who rose to power in the fifth era.

They both stood in solemn silence here, wondering what the other was thinking. The Spider Queen had discovered how to enslave men with her sex-based magic, and had nearly conquered the world with it. Their nations both had quite a bit of her legacy. Finally Farth broke the silence.

"I know you admire her. What do you think she did wrong?"

"Respect more than admire. She was good at what she did, but she was too arrogant, trusted too much in her absolute power. She used fear too much without considering the power that other individuals held. Only a deity can control a nation alone. And she was mortal just like the rest of us. No king or queen can rule without advisers, councilors, and without helping people create power for themselves. Fear can't rule without food."

"A good saying, and I think its true too, but an ideal ruler would help people govern themselves. Make themselves obsolete."

Jania smiled. "An anarchist king? Bold of you. Bold and dangerous. Give people food, but don't give them power, not if you don't want them to use it against you. Make them need you, or they will destroy you." They walked into the next hall showing the succession of kings and queens, the tradition that their nations had held for generations now.

The noble houses of Theravia and Caland selected their best candidates, tested them against each other, then sent them in this ritual, a prince from Caland and a princess from Theravia. This was a wedding ritual, one to determine who was best suited to rule. They would enter a chamber enchanted to share their thoughts and blur their souls but also enhance their libidos. In the room was an enchanted collar, similar to those the Spider Queen had used to enthrall her followers. Of of them would would have to put on the collar, willingly, before dawn. Once the collar was in place, their mutual orgasms would complete the ceremony. One of them would be king or queen, and the other would be slave to the other's will.

The hall of kings and queens contained twenty one pairs. They would be the twenty second. Nine kings, twelve queens. There almost seemed to be a pattern to the alternation. They almost always seemed to come in clusters. And they had just had a queen. Couples from across both nations used this room to resolve disputes and enjoy wedding nights, especially from the noble houses: KQQKQQKQQQKKQKKQQQKKQ

"A battle of the sexes, every fifteen years," mused Farth. "It beats war."

"You aren't looking forward to it?" smiled Jania.

"It is exciting, but a bit distasteful. Either I enslave you, or I let you enslave me? What if I don't like either of those options?"

"And you got to this far with that attitude? How?"

"I have charisma, and I'm terribly stubborn."

"What I heard is that you are terrifyingly aggressive. Unstoppable, when you set your mind to something. A good trait to have in a ruler."

"And I balance it with diplomacy. An even better trait to have. What else did they tell you about me?"

"Nothing that you need to know right now," smiled Jania. "We can talk all night about it after dinner."

The antechamber was set up as a dining hall, overlooking the rocky coast. The sun was low in the sky and would probably set just as they finished dinner. The ocean breeze blew in past them as they sat down to eat.

"I'd like to make sure that we're friends before we start tonight," said Farth. "I think it's important that we at least like each other first."

"Really? Why? We both go in as rivals, and when I make you my slave it won't matter any differences we have. I'll make you love me, and it won't matter if I like you." Jania worked open another section of her lobster as she spoke.

"I think it will matter," said Farth. "The ceremony won't erase who we are, and whoever loses will still have autonomy and contribute to ruling the kingdom. It helps to like each other. Forcing you to like me won't work as well as if it happens naturally."

"The whole point of the ceremony is that it doesn't happen naturally. We've learned that, as nations, as rulers. There must be one will, power struggles are inevitable otherwise. And men and women are too different. If women don't control men they always make a mess of things."

"And if women control men for too long, then there is stagnation and frustration. You can't deny that. There needs to be balance. I think if we start with balance, then keeping it will be easier for whoever wins."

"I think queens have done a much better job than kings. The people are happier and safer under queens."

"Wouldn't it be funny if the collar actually reverses things, and the person we think is the slave is actually in control," muses Farth, seeming to change the topic.

"That would be interesting, but there are ways we can tell that's not true. And your reaching because you know I'm right."

"Not at all. I've seen plenty of tyrannical queens, and beloved kings through history. I think both kings and queens have become better. A part of the other inside them, balancing me. This ceremony doesn't just determine who controls the other, it joins us together, merges our minds," Farth insisted.

"I look forward to squeezing those silly ideas of yours out of that head and leading you around by your cock. You're afraid of being my slave, I get it. You know I'm the best Theravia has to offer, and you're not sure if you can beat me. That's fine. We should have another queen now anyway, according to the pattern." Jania sounded confident, but Farth knew and expected her game.

"Overconfidence is traditionally the man's flaw. Interesting that you try to take on that role. The queens of the past were always more feminine than the men they controlled. Women who imitate men lack confidence in their own feminine power." He doubted it would have an effect, but Farth would try in any case.

"And here you were just saying that our realms are better because they combined masculine and feminine traits in their rulers."

"They have, but in order to do so, men must become more masculine, to enhance our natural traits."

"It's a nice sentiment, but it's wrong. It's all about control and distractions, and women have all the advantage there. Not all women, of course. We're made to control, made to command."

"I know a lot of women who would disagree with that," countered Farth.

"Oh, I know. Women love to let men take care of everything for them. Serve them. And the best of men are super productive and smart. That male drive is designed to serve women. In fact, I'd say that all of the past royal couples have served the woman. Either with her as a pampered "slave" or as a commanding queen. So how would you like to serve me? By working hard as ruler, and pampering me, or as my pampered pet?"

Farth sighed. "A fair point. Royal slaves are certainly pampered, but they're also quite autonomous. They work as diplomats, public negotiators, and representatives of the crown in lieu of the sovereign. They are hardly living pure leisure."

This time Jania nods. "The price of power is you have to keep it, and that takes work. True for any ruler. Well, we'll just have to find out what it's like to be in each other's head."

"I hear that it changes people. That the slave will of course be consumed by the will of the master, but the master will also change to think more like slave."

"Pointless speculation. We're about to find out. I look forward to seeing you naked and on your knees."

Farth smiled at Jania's posturing. "And I look forward to feeling your soft skin in my hands as I pound you into submission."

Together they stood up from dinner and walked into the marriage chamber. The instant the door closed behind them they could feel it, the presence of the other in their minds.

For a moment they just stood there, staring into each others eyes, letting the new sensations feel them. He could see himself from her eyes. She could sense how he felt, his arousal versus hers. She could see herself as he saw her. He could feel how large and intimidating he was, though she was well trained to hide her intimidation. She could feel his desire to be inside her, together with his suspicion of her. She could feel him feeling her, and he could feel her feeling him.

They could both feel her desire to dominate and control him, and for a moment it seemed the contest would be decided right there. She wanted to make him her slave, and he did not feel the same way about her.

Then there was something else, and Jania suddenly knew why Farth had been chosen. There was deep in his mind an unyielding conviction. He knew what was right, and he would not compromise on that... even if it meant sacrificing himself, becoming her slave for it.

And he knew that she knew it.

The bedroom itself was ornate. The windows gave an excellent view of the setting sun over the ocean, but were high enough to hide them and the bed. Not that anyone would be close enough to see them. There were several pictures, each scenes of how this ceremony had ended, scenes of men wearing collars and women sitting triumphant on them. Scenes of men holding collared women close in the pangs of orgasm. The bed was the main feature of course, wide and with tall intricate posts and soft azure and crimson sheets. On one post was hung a golden collar, the one that one of them would soon wear.

"This isn't going to work," said Jania, still recovering from the sensation of having him in her head.

"What, you just realize that you won't be able to trick or deceive me? We knew that the ceremony had to be voluntary, that one of us would have to willingly submit to the other."

"And it's going to be you, we both saw it. There is some possibility in your mind where you end up submitting to me, and there isn't in mine."

Farth smiled and shook his head. "Not that simple, and you know it. Everyone who entered this chamber did it with the intention of becoming sovereign, not slave. Only half of them were right."

Jania frowned and began to disrobe, carefully feeling Farth's reaction as she did so. He did the same, and she couldn't hide her reaction from him either. She couldn't help but imagine all the things he could do to her body, or she to his. The sun has just set outside and now they are both naked, standing in front of each other, letting their minds mix, testing each other's strength of will.

"Ready to be my slave?" asked Farth with a grin, his cock was larger than Jania expected, and she couldn't hide her surprise from him.

"Ready to be relieved of the burden of leadership?" Jania asked in reply. She avoided answering his question, as that would represent accepting his will over hers, a step toward obedience. They had both trained for this game of mental control.

Each second seemed to draw on, each of them could feel the other taking in their nakedness and all it represented. She could feel his desire for her, which in turn increased her desire for him.

"Go ahead, look at my breasts. Stare at them. Feel them controlling your cock. Calling you to come inside me." Jania didn't dare stop speaking, she could feel him planning a response, but he was waiting for her to stop. Too polite for his own good. "Deep inside you feel that women are superior. I can feel it inside you. You know it doesn't make sense, but you know it's true. You want to kneel, you want to worship my curves. You want to submit inside me and cum away your freedom." She could feel him starting to believe her words as she didn't give him room to speak. "You want to be mine, want to be my slave. You can feel my desire stronger than yours. You can--"

Suddenly Farth dove on her, pulling her close, and silencing her with a deep kiss that lifted her off her feet. He carried her to the bed and easily pinned her smaller frame, still keeping her locked into a kiss. At first her legs were clamped shut, but then she shifted her perspective to opening up, inviting him in, as a sign of submission to her feminine authority.

He slid between her legs but did not try to get inside her just yet. His eyes locked with hers, pinning her hands above her head.

"You're just angry that I'm winning," she smirked up at him.

He couldn't think of anything to say, which only marked another submission to her will, and they both knew it. Then Farth quieted his thoughts and pushed hers out. It was incredible, how did he do that? Could she do that? She was annoyed that she couldn't hide her shock. A point to him, if they were keeping score. The game was hardly formal enough for the score to matter.

"I think you'd like me to spread you open and pound you so hard that you feel it in your throat," said Farth, correctly reading Jania.

"And you would like to serve me that way?" She asked, countering him.

"I want to be your friend and lover, not just your owner," he countered her back, keeping the answer from being a sign of submission to her.

"Stare at my breasts, I know you want to."

"Stare at my cock, I know you want to."

"Following me already? Copying me just means you can't think of anything original," said Jania as she spread her legs further, inviting Farth inside. He didn't take her up on it just yet, but instead started waving his cock from side to side over her labia.

"It's true all the same. You want to hold it, to touch it, to kneel before it."

"Those are all your own thoughts toward my breasts. Go ahead, touch them, hold them. Submit to them." The back and forth between them each balanced responding to the other with asking them to submit in various ways, teasing, asking questions, making assertions... Jania knew she had the upper hand. She enjoyed making assertions about him, and he disliked directly contradicting her.

Yet he was firm in his own way, and he did not deviate from that point, regardless how much she tempted him with his desires.

"This isn't about our personal desires, it's about who is best to rule," asserted Farth.

"But you're not sure that you're best. I know I'm better as queen. And I can feel the idea of being my slave tempting you, you can't deny it."

"I don't need to deny it. We can do whatever we like with each other after determining who is the best ruler. I know there are queens who used their slave husband to dominate them as that was their pleasure. If I want you to dominate me, I can have you do that as my slave just as well as my queen, perhaps even better. If you're queen, you only dominate me when you want to. If you're my slave, you will dominate me whenever I want you to."

Jania paused, processing his logic. "But you said this isn't about our desires."

"It isn't, but if you want to make it about them, it's not the advantage you think it is." He'd turned the tables on her. Time to change tactics...

"I have the will to rule, to guide the people with vision and clarity. The crown has the resources to help people, to further unite the realm. There are so many people we could help, so much we could do. I have plans for all of it."

"I want to minimize everything the crown does directly, and help people help themselves, keep them from depending on us," countered Farth, now toying with entering Jania.

"Sounds lazy to me, what good is being queen if you can't make the world a better place?"

"Helping people solve their own problems is making the world a better place. The best thing a ruler can do is rule himself, and show others how to do the same. Of course, we must be there to stop those who refuse to govern themselves, just as a parent corrects and protects a child from their own immature actions. Just like men need women to guide and control them."

"And past kings were guided by the slave wives?" quipped Farth, still holding down Jania.

"I think they were," agreed Jania. "Women control men from beneath all the time." She smirked up at him, well aware of her position.

"And the queens were influenced by their husbands. You can't have one without the other."

"Not true. Women always control, above or below."

"Then why care about..."

"...winning this night?" Jania, pushed up her breasts and wiggled under Farth. "There's no reason to hide things. Our nation has this tradition. There's no reason I shouldn't take the lead, especially when I can see that you don't have what it takes to rule."

"I am better suited to rule, because I understand that the only rule is self rule. When people fail to do that, tyranny springs up, and requires more and more control until everything collapses and it has to start all over again."

"What a starry eyed idealist... you'll just let the people walk all over you. It's my duty to enslave you, for the good of the nation."

"Just as it is my duty to make you submit, then. I can't let the country fall into hands of a tyrant, especially one who thinks she's doing it for the good of the people."