The Emperor

"I think you need a moment," Eila called softly through the room.

Blomst flinched and closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek. The rest of my loved ones filed out, with the flock sailing out the open window into the afternoon sunlight. My child, wrapped in a cloth, suckling at Blomst's teat, made soft noises while it fed. I felt a light touch and turned to see Nimue silently thank me as the naiads carried her back out to the bathing room.

"Hey now," I cooed, moving over to sit by my faun. "What on earth could be wrong?"

"Please let me watch her grow up?" She choked softly.

I blinked, before chuckling. "Blomst. I don't know how to tell you this, but I don't actually plan to eat you."

She blinked, before looking at me like I'd grown a second head. "Really?"

"Really," I chuckled, before shifting over to lie beside her. "What would I do without my little milk-maid?"

Blomst chuckled, stirring the baby, who unlatched to let out a cry. I watched on as she settled the child and got her feeding again.

"I just..."

"I'm not eating you. At least not for many years yet, though I think I saw Etnasa thinking about it."

Blomst giggled, holding the child tighter at the same time. Then she turned to face me and smiled as tears started rolling down her cheeks. "If... If you're not going to eat me, then..."

"As soon as Ita says I can. I'm going to put Marala's leash on you, take you downstairs and hold court with you impaled on my cock. How's that sound?"

She shuddered softly, and I watched the blankets shift as she squirmed from side to side. But I could see the furious blush, alongside her delirious smile.

"I'd like that."

"Good. Because if you didn't like being publicly humiliated, I might get bored enough to see how you'd go in a nice soup."

"Soup?!" Blomst slapped my arm. "I'm worth at least a nice roast!"

"Maybe now," I nodded. "But think about ten years from now, when you've birthed me a dozen children and you're all tough and gristly."

Blomst turned her head and refused to look at me, even as she squirmed again. "You're a bad man."

"Your bad man," I agreed, leaning over to kiss her horn. "Now, what are we naming her?"

"My grandmother," Blomst gave me a small smile. "Her name was Shala."

"Shala?" I let the name roll off my tongue, before the child unlatched once more. I watched as Blomst checked her over, before lifting her towards me. I blinked in confusion, before remembering that this child wasn't a drarskk. That little demon was apparently quite sedate from what Sessa told me. And even then, it was rare for me to go into the nest and not come out bleeding. Though according to Sessa it was all excitement and love for her father that set her off. I questioned that at times, since she was always the one to call my visits short. But here now, as this tiny bundle was deposited into my arms.

Blomst was rather small in stature. But Shala was positively tiny. I held her in the palm of my hand, before looking over at my faun, who smiled at me as tears rolled down her cheeks. I felt a few tears of my own escape, before I looked back at her. Her face was all scrunched up, and she frowned when I jostled her. I could see the start of two little horns jutting out above her ears.

"So, what do you think?"

The door flung open as Eila burst into the room.

"Sorry, there's been an attack," she said.

I growled, before Shala made a noise, and I cut it off. She squirmed, and I looked back at Blomst, before leaning over her. I lifted her face and cupped her chin so I could kiss her. She bleated softly and her legs squirmed, before I pulled away and placed our precious bundle back in her lap.

"A dozen," I smiled.

Blomst was swinging from smiling and crying as I followed Eila downstairs. We quickly descended, before stepping out into the throne room. This place had mixed feelings for me. It was where I confronted King Phaslo, for Chit's death. It was also where I took over this part of the Elfin lands and watched as abused women killed their abusers. Then, I had brutalised slavers, threatened the equivalent of kings and ultimately, it was where Blomst liked to be fucked in full view of the closer members of my court, who understood her needs.

Which had turned into more than one orgy that I wasn't proud of admitting. Granted, it was gratifying to see which of the Elfin men treated their women appropriately. Poor Raulum and his wives, was left practically catatonic during the celebrations after Sessa's egg hatched. He blamed it on the alcohol, but his wives still shot me looks that told me they were proud of him.

But that was neither the subject of discussion, nor the reason for my being here. Before me was a handful of people. The representatives of their group. It had been like this for months. Before me were all men. Which is how it usually was. A pair of elfs, one looked noble, the other was almost nude. They eyed each other with open hostility despite the fact both were filthy and injured. Beside them was to my surprise, the only other faun I'd ever seen before, along with a fetz who looked like he was about to collapse.

"Get them something to eat and drink," I called softly. "Ita, take a look at him."

"Certainly, my lord," she smiled as she lifted off the floor. The dirty group froze as she hovered towards them. The fetz gave me a look of utter betrayal, as she raised her hand. And that look shifted dramatically as she washed him with her power. It only took a few moments, before he straightened up and took a few deep breaths. But she didn't offer it to the others. They were all upright, and we knew from experience that when these elfs showed up on our doorsteps, it didn't mean they were our friends.

"My lord," the nicer dressed of the two elfs stepped closer. "Might I introduce myself?"

"I'd rather you didn't," I shot back. "How far has the conflict spread?"

The elf looked gobsmacked for a moment, before the almost nude one cleared his throat. "The entire nation, my lord. I came from Sørbukt and our lord was conscripting for a conflict."

I glanced over at Eila. I didn't know these lands, but she certainly did. Despite her father treating her like a political tool, she was educated and experienced at running a nation. And from the look on her face, she was troubled. The almost nude elf, followed my gaze and made a small bow, which piked my interest even further, while the better dressed barely hid a scowl.

"My lady. I brought-"

"I have my household, some staff and some supplies, that I would be happy to trade in return for safety," the smarmy elf cut him off.

I looked at the faun, while I thought about how I was probably going to cause another incident. "What about you?"

He shuffled nervously as his hooves clopped on the stone floor. "M-my lord. My name is Stetai. And the sl-non-elfs sent me in their stead. In the hope you would allow us to stay on your land."

I nodded slowly, noting the fact I was pretty sure he meant to call himself a slave. The smarmy elf gave him a look of utter disgust, while the other just looked sad. Admittedly, most of my experience with elfs was with the nobles and soldiers. They had little in the way of industry when I arrived as they relied on trade from nearby towns. Something I improved rather quickly with support from Hjem.

"Let's take a walk?" I grinned.

Chapter Three

This was... not good. Just about everyone was sporting an injury. But there was a vast disparity on how they were dealing with it. It was like there were three distinct groups. The wealthy elfs were in front. They had food, wagons and medical supplies. They hadn't escaped unscathed from whatever they fled from. But they looked far more comfortable than the rest. Especially as they eyed me, and in particular, Eila, with varying levels of contempt. That is, the men did. The women were far more likely to stare at their own feet, only glancing up when they thought nobody was paying attention.

The second group comprised the poorer elfs. They looked working class. Most wore tattered clothing, some didn't have any. One thing I did notice was the amount of women wearing mismatched items to cover themselves. The men in comparison were sometimes, almost nude. The few that carried supplies, did so in packs or dragged behind on frames made of tied together sticks. This group, in general, didn't look beyond about waist level. Though a few of the larger, stronger looking men met my eyes. I had to figure they did something rough for work and felt they needed to prove themselves.

But it was the last group that had most of my attention. Many races I recognised. Others I did not. There were fetz, faun and even a few orcs. But there were others too. Beings with wings for arms, who looked dead tired from walking. Hulking figures that reminded me of myself, if Henry the Just's experiments went awry. One thing I noticed weren't present in the group, was any naiads or mermaids. The mermaids I understood, but there were enough rivers that I knew naiads could travel if pushed. And as I looked over them, several got to their knees, while others raised their chin's showing scars around their necks. I wondered for all of a minute, before realising they were offering themselves to be collared.

"Who owns the slaves?" I asked.

The party who greeted me shuffled around. The fetz and the faun suddenly looked very uncomfortable, before the smarmy elf cleared his throat.

"We made a compromise while we travelled. They are no longer slaves, but they owe us their lives for the provisions we supplied them for the trip."

I looked over the masses and shook my head slowly. It wasn't lost on me, that I loved my elfs with all my heart. And yet hated most of their entire race. But realistically, there were hundreds of people here. Literally hundreds, and I didn't like the idea of fighting them all. I was certain in a conflict, I would win. Probably with minimal casualties. But innocents would die as well. I thought about Raulum's wives that day and knew there were always going to be the odd ones in the bunch.

"Right," I nodded, before turning to the greeting party. "I'll have supplies brought out to house you for the evening. You can camp by the walls for now while we sort out where we'll settle you."

The smarmy elf looked shocked at the casual dismissal. But the rest of the group gave me a small bow, accepting the decision immediately.

"My lord, as I have already mentioned. I have supplies-"

"Then you would do well to share them," I shrugged. "You offered them to me, anyway. All I'd do is hand them out to make sure everyone has enough to eat."

The elf looked like I'd slapped him as he stood there, slightly apart from the others. I just left them behind as I walked towards the entrance. There were a fair number of people coming through and I paused with Eila still at my side.

"So?"

I nodded and turned to head into the orc camp.

***

The moon was low in the sky as the force I led, moved towards the refugee camp. While I would have loved to welcome everyone into the walls of Elfin Vakt, there were a couple reasons I couldn't. First, room. There was little of it. They built elfin Vakt as a stage post more than a walled city. Other than the keep, there was little else inside the walls and what space we had spare was occupied already.

The second, was the attacks. Whoever was out there, still hated me. Human, elf or otherwise. After the first few assassination attempts, I outright refused more than a delegation to have access to the keep. And those who came inside were watched closely. We'd found a few people trying to sneak off into the dungeons or into the holding pens where they kept the slaves. Ironically for them, that ended up being the case. What better place to put someone sneaking into a dungeon, than to put them in the dungeon. It was simple brilliance.

Of course, at that point, some wanted to talk, and others did not. But between Ita and Chit, we could easily work out who was the desperate, hungry refugee willing to take a risk. And those who had hidden weapons, poisons or magical abilities well suited to cause death and destruction.

Which led to this evening. I held up my hand and the forces with me drew to a halt. With me was Mareridt, who crouched down beside me. I had just about every orc spread out around the camp. They had only a few torches burning, and no sentries. Most of the camp was relatively quiet. Just the occasional pained groan, or whimper from an injured person.

But the wealthier group was far more active. They had tents, and from within those tents came other sounds. Some of which, resembled the pained groans from the injured. And others resembled flesh meeting flesh. But one in particular. It sounded far more familiar. It took my memories back to the sound of Daryl's whip on Eila's skin. My anger flared just thinking about it, and I made it my personal mission to check that tent first.

The rule was simple. Storm in as one. Separate the men from the women, then keep them in their racial groups. From there, we'd set interviews and settle them in for the long haul. We would recruit those who gained our approval to positions we needed here. Or far more likely, be sent to Hjem, who in all this, was a burgeoning trade town. Whatever conflict was going on throughout the continent, people needed supplies. And as a neutral party, Hjem supplied them all. It worked fantastically, because neither side of any conflict wanted to attack the barges. If we lost one, we refused to send another until they paid reparations, which meant all sides lost out.

While that didn't sound like much, the need for food and water was rather low. The land was good and fertile with plenty of rivers. But the dwarves held the mountains that supplied most of the ores used in weapon crafting. And with the conflict on their borders, the dwarves weren't all that interested in getting drawn into the conflict. Which left me as the middleman. Or at least, my new kingdom. I wasn't haughty enough to think we controlled most of the trade. But we were the most diverse and didn't discriminate.

"Let's go," I growled.

As I made the order, I saw a flash of fire from my side. Either Ita, Pet or one of my other military wives had followed me and the flash was the signal to strike. As one, I knew my forces were closing in. The heavily armoured orc were first in line beside myself. Behind them were the elfs who had proved their loyalty. They made up the second largest portion of our fighters. Decently armoured, most of them had some ability in magic and were versatile in most conflicts that didn't involve me.

The clean-up crew came after. The rest of our forces that had stayed rather than return to Hjem. Mostly humans and fetz, with a few of the dwarves and orcs who preferred to remain with their original units. This group lacked magic for the most part and came in variations of light to heavy armour as needed.

I rushed ahead, the urge to shout a battle cry was only beneath the surface. I had to remind myself that this wasn't an attack. We were trying to minimise casualties. I figured most groups would roll over without a fight. I just hoped the wealthier group didn't have too many spellcasters. They were a force multiplier that could turn the tide of any fight and most of my people weren't resistant to magical attacks. Which is why I led the charge.

With my target in sight, I drew my sword as Mareridt hefted her hammer. The weapon was a gruesome thing, but she adored it. The rest of my wives knew not to engage with the main force. With their various stages of pregnancy, I had left strict orders for them to remain behind and out of harm's way.

With one exception.

"ARRRRRR!"

Gul burst out beside me, swinging a massive cleaver. She charged ahead, faster than even myself in a complete lack of armour. While her fellow orcs wore their dark, hammered plate, she wore simple leathers. And I realised immediately she probably did so in order to keep up as she left her fellow orcs behind.

From her position at the head of the charge, she hacked through the tent I had targeted and charged inside. A scream echoed into the night as the camp erupted in shouts. I burst in a moment later and skidded to a halt. There were several elfs inside the tent. The first, on his knees, was the grimy elf. Staring at us in horror, the smarmy elf was busy tucking himself away, while several females lounged around in the confines of the tent. They ranged in ages, but when I looked closer at each of them, I made a slow realisation as one dropped a wooden cane onto a piece of leather left out.

"You aren't women, are you?"

"We'll leave," the smarmy elf straightened his spine. "There's no need for further bloodshed. Just let me take my staff and leave."

"Staff?" I frowned, glancing at the dirty elf who was now staring at the ground between us.

"Solee," the dirty elf pleaded softly, but was cut off with a swift glare.

As the elfs around the room shuffled, I realised that while they seemed terribly embarrassed about their situation. They weren't behaving like the women of Elfin Vakt had when I first took charge. They just looked nervous in the presence of armed intruders. And all things considered that seemed a fair response.

Nodding slowly I made eye contact with the smarmy elf, Solee. "How did you really get here?"

He chewed the inside of his lip for a moment, before the dirty elf shifted. His eyes betrayed his concern as he glanced down. If I hadn't stormed into the middle of it, I'd hardly have believed the situation was happening at all.

"They're slaves," he sighed. "All of them."

"Why did you bring slaves to my lands?" I narrowed my eyes.

"I didn't know how you would deal with me otherwise. I could give them to you if you accepted slaves, or I could pretend they were others I'd picked up. When the conflict began, I bought all of them. Half of the injured were already injured by the time I purchased them. Then..."

"Then?" I prodded.

Solee grit his teeth and shook his head. "I've been a fool."

"Solee, no," the elf on his knees scrambled towards him.

Solee dropped to his knees and pulled the other elf into a firm kiss. I wondered at that for a moment, before dismissing it. Eila and Ally were frequent lovers, more now they were heavily pregnant. Two men loving each other wasn't something I was interested in at all, but objectively it was the same thing.

"Alright," I nodded slowly. "Solee, if you'll come with me peacefully. Ev-"

"Of course," Solee nodded, pushing his lover away.

"Solee, no!"

He sighed and stroked the other elf's face. "I love you."

Honestly, this entire situation was beyond me. Elf men were bastards, women were political tools and slaves. Seeing a male elf show such caring to another elf like this was just... strange. But Solee moved around to face me and offered his hands as if I was to cuff him.

"Solee!"

"If you'd like a companion, you can bring one," I offered.

The dirty elf shot off the ground, while the others looked on with a mix of emotions. I had to figure that some of them were here voluntarily, others were not. And I was not the person to find out which was which.

Pulling back out of the tent with Solee and his lover behind us, I looked around at the organised chaos. My people were swarming everywhere. Injuries were few and most of those looked like blunt trauma. The orcs were getting people into groups, separating the men from the women. I would not spend a single moment thinking that these were all innocents. Even if Solee was a bit weird.

"My lord?"

I paused and turned to face the smarmy elf, who was looking over to one side. "Something you want to say?"

"That woman, with the pale hair," he pointed.

I turned to see, and she looked our way the moment he lifted his arm. She looked terrified, but unharmed as my soldiers separated her from a rather large male who looked part orc, part... something else.