The Trikingdom Ch. 10

Duke Kalas woke up in his own bed for the first time in months. It was good to be home; he found he missed it more than he could have imagined. He glanced to the side and saw that his wife was still sleeping so he quietly slipped out of bed, his morning erection bouncing as he headed in the direction of the washroom to take a piss. He had only taken a few steps when the door to their chambers opened and the slave Lina entered. She walked quietly, but upon seeing Kalas she quickened her pace and approached him.

"Is there anything I can do for you master?" she questioned, licking her lips as she took in his nude form.

"No Lina, I just need to relieve myself," he answered trying to move around her.

She fell to her knees dramatically and looked up at him expectantly. "Please, master, let me take care of that for you," she said enthusiastically opening her mouth wide. He stared at her speechlessly for several moments as he realized what she was suggesting. "I only wish to serve you as best I can," Lina said after he didn't speak or move.

"Leave him alone Lina," Kalas heard his wife say from behind him. He let out a sigh of relief knowing that she would rescue him. For some reason Lina seemed to obey his wife more than she did him. He wasn't sure if it was because the slave was overawed by an empowered woman, or if it had to do with some sort of slave pecking order that occurred in Remar.

Careena reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and marched over to the kneeling slave. Lina was staring at her nudity which made Careena a bit self conscious but she took a deep breath and calmed herself. She wondered what the slave woman must think, since they insisted she always wear clothes, but at the moment she didn't care.

"Get up off of your knees Lina," Careena said. The young slave slowly got to her feet, but here eyes never left Careena's lower half. Careena looked down at herself to see what had riveted the other woman's attention and saw dried cum on the inside of her thighs. The duchess blushed with embarrassment but quickly recovered. Of course there was cum on her thighs; she and Kalas had made love every night since they had been reunited and the past night had been no different. "Go back to your room and wait for one of us to get you," Careena snapped.

"Yes Duchess," Lina said with her head lowered. She left the room sullenly and Duke Kalas breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm not sure she's ever going to integrate into normal society," he said.

"You can't think like that, my love," Careena replied. "Look how far she's come in such a short time. She wears clothes and even stopped calling you 'master' in public. It's going to take time, but she'll get there."

"Are you sure your way is the right way?" he asked.

Careena frowned for a moment. "No, I'm not, but it makes the most sense." She had asked Cilas how he had managed to get Zella integrated in such a short amount of time and he had explained how it was all a ruse. He had just ordered her to behave in the way she saw other women behaving. He made her study their speech and mannerisms so that she could duplicate it perfectly. He said he hoped that over time she would gradually adopt them as her own. Careena had Kalas do the same with Lina and it seemed to be working. She was wearing clothes, and in public she was indistinguishable from the other servants, but in private she reverted back to her slave mentality.

Kalas grunted, and then headed to take his piss. Careena thought about just dressing but decided she'd regret it later. The dried cum wasn't bothering her now, but when it started to flake off under her clothing it would become an annoyance. She followed her husband into the washroom and looked regretfully at the basin of cold water. They had ordered their servants not to wake them this morning, so no one had brought warm water.

She reluctantly cleaned herself with the cold water and then dressed. As she was putting her clothes on she felt overwhelming gratefulness at being home. It was remarkable how something so small, like being able to wear your own familiar clothes, could invoke an emotional response. She looked around the room and smiled; she felt as if she were a little girl again, wrapped in her mother's loving embrace.

Kalas emerged from the washroom and pulled his own clothes on while she watched. She liked watching him move; the way his muscles seemed to slide under his skin was intoxicating. She was getting wet as she looked at him and had to mentally get her emotions under control; they had a city to run.

They exited their room together and Careena made him go with her to get Lina. He rolled his eyes as the slave joined them, following a few steps behind. The eye rolling was more in mock annoyance but Careena jabbed him in the ribs anyway to inform him to stop.

Their first stop was to the dining hall to for breakfast. Cilas and Zella were already there finishing their meal. Cilas was his usual chipper self, but Careena noted that Zella looked exhausted and when she reached for another roll the duchess spied a large bruise on the former slave's forearm. Anger flared through her and she was sure it showed on her face briefly, but she contained it quickly. She would deal with the assassin later.

Cilas and Zella were soon finished and the first to leave. Careena watched their interaction, trying to see if there was any indication that the little man was abusing her, but she couldn't sense anything from their body language. She was determined to find out what was going on later that night.

After the duke and duchess finished eating Careena convinced Kalas to start receiving the petitioners on his own. "What will you be doing while I enjoy the pleasure of listening to which farmer's cow destroyed which farmer's crops?" he asked playfully.

"I'm going to meet briefly with our new artist," she said. Kalas gave her a sour look. "Don't worry, I only want to avoid an embarrassing situation later," she explained. "Imagine what could happen if we accidentally ran into each other. He doesn't know I'm the duchess and he may let something slip out about what happened on the ship."

"I suppose you're right," Kalas said with a sigh, "but make it quick, and no funny business."

Careena laughed at her husband gently. "I have no intention of having sex with young Jaco ever again, my love," she assured him. "I instructed Cilas to have him waiting in your study for me. I'll bring Lina with me if that will make you feel more comfortable," she said.

"I suppose it would," he said. "Bring her with you, but make sure the young man knows to keep his mouth shut."

"I'll let him know what my big, strong husband will do to him if his tongue wags," she replied with a laugh. "To make it up to you, I'll hear all the petitioners this afternoon. I know you're eager to visit your Paladin temple and see how much progress has been made."

"I knew there was a reason I loved you," he said putting his arm around her.

"Oh, I thought it was because of my large breasts and tight bottom," she responded.

"I really hadn't noticed," he teased, "but now that you mention it, I do rather like that about you."

They went to their separate directions and Kalas ordered Lina to follow the duchess. He tried to think of her as just another servant, but it was hard considering the way she behaved around him. He was glad that the young woman seemed to respond favorably to his wife and he was happy to have her follow the duchess around rather than him. Still, he would rather deal with her than the task he had before him. With a great sigh he opened the door to the audience chamber, and prepared himself to hear the multitude of complaints from petitioners, that had been growing since he and his wife had departed Genoise several weeks before.

***

Careena opened the door to her husband's study with trepidation. She had gone over what she planned on saying to Jaco in her head all morning, but now that the time had arrived she found she was suddenly nervous at facing the young man. Her nervousness abated somewhat when she saw Jaco. He appeared more agitated than she was and hadn't even noticed Lina and her enter the room.

"I'm Duchess Careena DuGuerra-Galin," she said suddenly. Jaco nearly jumped out of his skin as he nervously turned to face her. His eyes went wide as he took her in.

"You...how..." he managed to stammer in confusion.

"I need you to be silent because I am only going to say this once," the Duchess said with authority. "What happened on the ship will never be spoken of, or happen again. I did what I did on that ship for the good of the Trikingdom and that is all you need know. If I ever hear a whisper that you have spoken of those events, or if I see your eyes stray my direction in an untoward manner, you will be punished so severely that you will wish I had cut off your member and fed it to you instead. Is that clear?"

"Yes, milady," Jaco managed to stammer as he averted his eyes to the floor.

"I know you are a sweet boy who would never wish to do me harm Jaco, but I had to make sure you understand the circumstances," she said more kindly.

"I understand perfectly, milady," he said recovering his composure.

"Good! Your first task is to make a bust of my husband," she stated. "He's in the audience chamber. I think that should be a good time to catch his likeness."

"Yes, milady, of course," Jaco said enthusiastically as he started to rush out of the room.

"Jaco," she called after him, "welcome to Genoise."

"Thank you milady," he said over his shoulder as he nearly ran out of the room.

Careena smiled to herself as she watched him go. She had no doubt he would keep her secret, not because of the threat, but because it was the decent thing to do. Jaco was an honest young man; she wouldn't have sponsored him if she wasn't sure of that.

Since she would be handling the petitioners in the afternoon, she decided she had time to spare to check on the estate. She wanted to make sure nothing had been overlooked while they were gone. She toured the entire estate with Lina in tow, and other than a few tapestries that had been neglected, everything looked in top shape. She directed one of the servants to the tapestries and then headed toward the audience chamber and her husband.

When she arrived he was hearing a dispute between two brothel owners, a far cry from the farmer troubles he was worried about earlier. She quickly took her seat next to her husband's and tried her best to catch up on what she had missed.

It seemed the two owned competing brothels and one of them was accusing the other of stealing his clients. A young male employee of one of the establishments had been assaulted outside the other establishment. The young man's life was still in jeopardy, which is what had brought the two brothel owners to the duke's audience chamber. The young man's employer wanted the other man to pay the cost of the healer. The other brothel owner was refusing and saying that the young man was somewhere that he shouldn't have been.

As the two men argued back and forth, Careena could sense her husband getting more and more frustrated. Finally, Kalas had enough and he stood angrily. Careena felt sorry for the two men as she watched her husband get to his feet as if he were moving in slow motion. If he had been wearing his sword she was certain he would have drawn it. The two men were so intent on each other that they didn't even notice him.

"Enough!" Duke Kalas shouted. His voice boomed through the audience chamber like a thunderclap and startled the arguing men. "I grow tired of hearing the two of you argue like children while a man is fighting for his life because of your actions." The two brothel owners were now staring at the large, imposing figure of the duke with open mouths. "Since both of you are partly responsible for the young man's condition, you will share the cost of the healer, and if either one of you ends up back here for a dispute I will shut your brothel down. Is that clear?"

"Yes milord," both men uttered as one. The two men began bowing and stumbling over themselves as they hastened to leave the audience chamber. The duke, still fuming, regained his seat and stared at them as they left.

"Why don't you take a break," the duchess suggested to her husband.

Kalas turned to her, his eyes still burning with fury and grumbled, "I might as well stay until lunch. I can't get any angrier than I am now."

The rest of the mornings petitioners were less aggravating and by the time noon came around the duke's mood had lightened. Careena and Kalas took a quick lunch together and then Careena went back to the audience chamber alone while the duke rode out to inspect the progress of the paladin sanctuary he had commissioned months before.

He had a few guards with him, and his wife had insisted that Lina accompany him as well. She thought it important that the young woman get out and see how men and women interacted in everyday life. Kalas had complained, but his wife had persisted and he had no desire to anger her.

The duke was pleasantly surprised when they reached the construction site to find the central chapel and one of the towers nearly completed. Paladin sanctuaries all followed a basic design: a chapel devoted to the worship of the five gods with five towers radiating off the chapel. Each tower would be dedicated to one of the gods and housed those paladins that considered that god their patron god.

Paladins worshipped all five gods, but each paladin chose one god to be their patron based on what skills they were best at. There was Meklos, god of war, Helas, goddess of love, Infar, god of health, Solas, god of light, and Murnir, god of shadows. Most paladins chose either Meklos or Solas as their patrons, followed by Infar, Helas, and finally Murnir. Very few chose the god of shadows as their patron, but there were some who skulked in the shadows to help dispense justice. Kalas had chosen Meklos as his patron because he excelled at the art of war and battle.

Kalas and his party dismounted and after a brief conversation with the workers entered the empty structure. It was hard to imagine the large empty room as a chapel without the altars or paintings of the gods on the walls, but the structure seemed sound and adhered to the paladins' construction requirements. Kalas ran a hand along one of the walls and was disappointed to find the power and energy he felt in other paladin sanctuaries lacking here. It was to be expected though; the power came from the gods and they would not be present until their altars were present and had been prayed to.

He asked if the tower was safe to climb and was told that it was. Seeing the boredom and weariness in his guards' eyes he told them to remain in the chapel and headed up. He had hoped to go alone but after a few steps realized that Lina was trailing behind him. He sighed in frustration and rolled his eyes.

Physically Lina reminded him of his wife, but now that he was with his beloved wife every day the differences in their personalities was startling. Lina's overeager desire to please and serve him turned him off, and the memory of what the two of them did in Remar didn't help matters. He was trying to like and tolerate the young woman but he was finding it difficult. He wished she had some sort of self worth and self motivation.

He climbed silently and was grateful that Lina remained silent as well. Every ten feet the stairs opened up into a living space for a single paladin. Inside the sanctuary there was little privacy; the rooms had no doors and the paladin who resided at the top had to pass the rooms of all his brothers below. Every room had a hole where a stain-glassed window would eventually be installed depicting a scene from the holy book of the god who this tower would be dedicated to.

When he reached the top he walked into the room and looked out the hole at the surrounding countryside. There was a slight wind and the cool air felt good on his face after such a long climb. The tower had ten rooms which meant it was over one hundred feet tall. He had hoped to draw paladins from all over the Trikingdom and beyond, but with the pledge made to Remar he knew that he would never see all the rooms filled unless there was an incredible surge in recruits.

The thought of the sanctuary sitting empty made him feel melancholy and he wondered if the whole project was a waste of time and money. He started to push away from the window and turn his mind to happier thoughts when he heard a voice carried on the wind. It sounded like a woman or a child in distress.

"Did you hear that?" he questioned Lina as he leaned out the opening again.

"Hear what milord?" Lina asked. He was pleased that she remembered not to call him 'master'.

"It sounded like someone calling for help," he replied. "A woman, I think..." He strained to listen but heard nothing else for several heartbeats. He was about to give up and dismiss it as imagination when he heard it faintly again. He concentrated on it to try to hear it better. Then it was as if the sound located him as it suddenly filled his head with its deafening loudness. It wasn't a call for help, but a laugh tinged with the insanity of one who revels in harming others. It was all around him and inside him all at once.

He raised his hands to his ears to try to keep it out, but he was too late, it was already inside of him. He turned to Lina and he could see her mouth moving, asking him if he was all right but he couldn't hear her. Uncontrollable lust filled him; his suddenly hard cock throbbed painfully in his pants to the beating of his heart. The look on Lina's face turned from concern to fear as he reached out and gripped her by the shoulders, hard.

He didn't know what he was doing; he only knew that he needed relief from the sexual urges boiling within him. Kalas pushed down on Lina's shoulders, forcing her down to her knees. She resisted at first, but her attempts to get away were futile. The duke was much too strong for her to have any real chance of escape.

Once she was down on her knees he began frantically trying to free his cock. When she realized what he was doing and what he wanted she smiled and pushed his hand away so that she could do it herself. She still thought of herself as his slave, and at that moment she wanted this to happen just as much as he did.

Kalas couldn't believe what he was doing, and watched in shock as he sank his aching cock into Lina's hungry mouth. Both of his hands were tightly gripping her head, pulling it towards his crotch so that he could force his entire member down her throat. He had never treated a woman like this before, even when he had been with Lina in Remar, he had always treated her with respect and affection. This was different; there was no caring in what he was doing to her now. He was treating her like an object, like a slave, and he couldn't understand the look of supreme bliss on Lina's face while he fucked his cock roughly in and out of her mouth.

After a few minutes, being inside her mouth and down her throat wasn't enough. He pulled her head off his cock and released her. She took his cock back into her mouth on her own sucked hard on the tip. "No!" he yelled, pulling her head off again. She looked up at him questioningly as he pulled her to her feet and marched her toward the window. Lina briefly had the thought that she had somehow displeased him and that he intended to throw her out the window to her death, but when he forced her to bend and brace herself against the empty frame she realized his true intention.

Kalas lifted his former slave's dress and scowled at the seemingly endless layers of undergarments between him and his goal. His cock was still throbbing painfully and he felt as if he didn't have time to waste removing them. Before he could even think, his hand went to the dagger at his side, and he began crudely cutting a slit in her underclothes.