To Yasir, the world had a pattern. Cultures, people, and customs shifted and changed, but there were always similarities. Orcs would pay homage to the sun, while elves would take care of the plants and build their homes in harmony with the trees and grass. Even humans had their own pattern, one that emphasized being kind to others and being cautious around maidens. At its worst, this caution turned to paranoia and hate, and at its best, it was nothing more than a watchfulness of the maiden’s personal space and behavior.
It was a lesson that humans would learn, sometimes harshly, as a simple unintended gesture could cause serious injury to a man.
In this world of patterns, Rick Cross stood out as a discordant note. He was like a verse made up of the right words, but arranged in the wrong order. Yasir found it fascinating to observe this man as he moved into a woman’s space and claimed it without hesitation.
Just like now.
Rick approached the knight with firm steps, a maiden he did not know, stepping into her sword’s reach and continuing into the reach of her hand with a serene smile.
The maiden hurried to kneel, but the clatter of armor halted with a gesture of the city’s unofficial ruler. “No need for formalities. Call me Rick, I hope we can work well together.” He offered the hand to shake as if he were talking to a fellow man, uncaring for the bone-crushing strength the maiden could wield at a thought.
Yet it was the maiden who was at a disadvantage. Not only was she speaking to the Lord, but to a human. In a kingdom where a maiden’s freedom and standing was inferior, to the point of being deemed property… The knight looked at his hands as if they were wrapped in poisonous barbs, to take the offer could be seen as an offense, but to not do so could be worse.
Before she could decide on whether to take the risk, Rick had already reached down and grasped her hand, giving it a firm shake and a gentle smile.
“Miss Claudia, am I correct in assuming you wish to remain bonded to Sir Whitneye?” Rick waited for a heartbeat, releasing the maiden’s hand but remaining within her striking range.
She fidgeted like a child under the scornful gaze of a teacher, eyes glued to the ground. “If the Lord-”
“I don’t care about polite tones and pretty words.” He dismissed her attempt to placate him with the same ease one would a half-hearted compliment. “If you want to remain with Sir Whitneye, you can, if you don’t want to, then you can leave. The same goes if you want to work as something other than a knight.”
The knight paled, eyes wide, mouth agape, and looking at the prospect of her dismissal with horror. Yasir stepped in before the miscommunication could escalate. “Knight Claudia, would it be correct to assume you wish to continue as a knight under sir Whitneye?”
The maiden nodded emphatically, taking half a step back from Rick and placing her hands behind her back as she nodded a second time. “Yes. Sir Whitneye has been nothing but an exemplary leader.”
“And as a partner?” Kiara coaxed with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Y-yes.” She flustered, coughing a little. “I am happy to be in Sir Whitneye’s service.” Her eyes quickly glanced at Rick, gauging his response. Yasir cringed in sympathy at the Succubus’ teasing. In lands where maidens were property, there was never a shortage of rumors of higher nobility opting to take favors in flesh and pleasure.
Rick, either by choice or ignorance of the game Kiara was playing, pushed the conversation onward. “I want someone who can teach groups of maidens some basic discipline and combat. The goal is to train as many people as possible into a proper militia that can double as a policing force. Your pay would be besides your work as a knight.”
“If you feel you are up to the task, of course.” Yasir provided.
Another little commonality that was shared no matter the place. Positions that were achieved through martial merits had no shortage of maidens with competitive streaks and pride. Usually both. And as the merchant had hoped, the knight jostled, straightening and standing firmer. “Of course. I’ve assisted in training squires into proper knights for a decade now.” She gave a stiff nod. “Though the city has an acute shortage of maiden breeds that might easily take the mantle of knightship. Unless…” A moment of hesitation, swallowing. “The Lord meant… the Orcs?”
With a roll of the eyes and a slump of the shoulders, Rick stepped away a little, enough to remain just within the limits of the knight’s immediate reach. “Let’s just say the Orcs are not much of a prospect in what refers to… training. They’re more hands-on.” Rick’s brow creased a little. “What I want is to train weaker maidens into being able to operate together so that they can tackle larger threats. It’s to my understanding that knights train with similar goals in mind.”
The insult, intentional or not, caused an immediate reaction. The maiden tensed, arms slowly lowering from behind her back and to her sides, gaze sharp. The knight was trying to hide the dangerous edge of her posture as she inched a foot backwards. Yasir slowly eased a step away from the knight, eyes searching for the nearest window.
“I am sure the Lord is aware of how intensive and harsh a knight’s training is.” Claudia spoke with careful words. “Weaker maidens would not survive it.”
Rick stepped towards her, meeting her gaze without flinching, and entering her immediate reach once more. “I am well aware of this.” He declared with a steely edge to his words as he halted a mere meter in front of her. “My goal is to train weaker maidens into being able to work together first and foremost.”
Yasir noticed Kiara twitch and hide a grimace behind her placid smile. The Succubus in disguise’s nails were sharper and longer than seconds prior, the maiden all but ready to leap at her partner and pull him away from the potential threat. Yasir cringed inwardly, her reaction reminded him of when his own children would play too close to a fire.
It was the knight who broke eye contact first, lowering her gaze. “My Lord, is that… wise?”
“You saw the maidens in the plaza as well as I had. The only reason Thorley didn’t slaughter them was because he did not need to make the effort, not because of any real threat.” He pointed out the window. “This city needs a bigger fighting force. We won’t be able to survive otherwise.”
She moved her hands behind her back once more. “Is… that an order, my Lord?”
“No.” Only then did Rick step away from the maiden, turning to meet Kiara’s gaze. They spoke without words, the Succubus widening her eyes and tightening her lips, trying to get him to break the silence to the confused knight who looked entirely unsure on whether she’d just been dismissed or not.
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Yasir chuckled silently, stroking his beard. There was something amusing about how breaking expectations could destabilize someone. Particularly when it is in regard to the man who controls the city. A Lord’s favor was no small gift, and their disdain was no small punishment.
“For now, it’s a position for those interested in it. You may go now.”
The knight let out a small sigh, shoulders relaxing as she stepped out of the repurposed commoner’s house with the hastened step. Yasir could hear how those steps turned into a run once she’d turned the corner and was out of sight.
He could understand why. Decorum and tradition laid down rules, to break these rules would mean risking the ire of those above your station, or from even your fellows. But Rick, while holding the position and power, clearly abided by different rules. And only fools would play games where they didn’t know the rules and their neck was on the line.
“Room’s private again.” Kiara declared after a moment, loosening the neck of her dress, revealing ample flesh and cleavage. It was an expanse of softness that left the merchant feeling parched.
Yasir looked away before her powers could hold further sway on his thoughts. He focused on thoughts of his family, his children, and of his wife. Ahina had made a wonderful job with the protective garments she’d weaved for him, as beautiful and sturdy as they were soft, the silk caressing his body and igniting-.
“Stop it.” Rick’s voice came with a yelp. The unofficial Lord of the city had just yanked Kiara’s tail through her dress, the Succubus spun to glare at him.
Yasir flustered a little, tugging at his beard, enough to hurt a little. “That was… very mean of you, my Lady.”
“Bah, I know the things you and that Spinner get to. You ought to apply some better screening protections, anyone can sense what’s going on if they fly a little too closely overhead.” She replied with a good-natured laugh.
Yasir sputtered, nearly choking on his own tongue. His face was fiery under his beard. “That is not a proper subject!”
“You…?” Rick’s tone was cold, but he cut off his own response before he could finish it. There was a fury about the way he looked away, almost pained.
“Relax.” Kiara purred, coyly pressing her body against the Lord’s, stroking his cheek, drawing his gaze to meet her own. Her arm wrapped around the man’s waist possessively, her hand on his chest apologetic even as her eyes glimmered with amusement.
The ice in Rick’s shoulders was slow to melt, but the Succubus was nothing if patient. It was like a teacher calming down the hot-tempered student, the maiden whispering sweet words into the Lord’s ears until the man finally let out a soft nod. “Later, ok?” He promised, returning her touch.
A man who treated a charmer no different from he would anyone else. The strength was also a weakness. People were not equal in all ways, particularly maidens. A Succubus required more energy than any one human could ever supply, and just as all Orcs would give homage to the sun, for it nourished them, a Succubus would do the same towards sexual desires.
“That… covers the training part of the militia equation.” The new Lord of the city sat down, his lap quickly being occupied by the sole maiden within the room.
“Who do you plan to put in charge of the unit?” Kiara wondered, eyes locked on Rick’s chin, a nail flicking against the stubble.
Yasir had the distinct desire to be the one with such a nubile pretty thing on his lap. Fortune above he loved his wife, but now that the Succubus had relaxed, he could feel her power making him flush and hot. The robes, once meant for protection, were now causing his body to swelter.
“They’re independent.” Rick waved the question off as if being in direct contact with the seductress was nothing out of the ordinary. He idly focused his gaze on the wooden beams above. “Having the people work together to make the streets safer is better than having nothing at all. It’s not like we have the resources to set something up.” He rubbed at the bridge of his nose, urging Kiara’s touch elsewhere, she settled on his neck.
Yasir tugged a little harder at his beard, curling his toes against the little wooden pinprick within his shoe. The pain was a trickle of cold to combat the suffusing warmth. “Safer streets are always better.”
“Yeah, that.” Rick closed his eyes, breathing in. “We then get to check what works best where, and recruit the talent wherever it pops up.”
The merchant realized there was a scent in the air, of incense and tea leaves, his favorite. “What of the crooks? Who will pass judgment?” It was with sweaty fingers that he pulled at the neck of his shirt to allow his body to breathe a little.
“I thought Sir Whitneye would deal with that?”
“A constable enforces the law. His duties do not include judgment.” Kiara chided with a soft boop of Rick’s nose, laughing with the sound of a thousand chimes, her body glowing with the allure of a mythical gemstone.
Yasir gulped the lump in his throat, unable to look away, the maiden’s beauty only grew the more she relaxed against the statue of a man. The merchant could only simmer in where he stood, thoughts of rushing to her side fizzling against the hot iron of desire. No wonder Urtha herself could not find a way to enter the man’s bed when there was someone like this beautiful creature at his side. “There…” His throat was parched, the man took a drink from the nearest mug, it relieved nothing.
“Are you alright?” Rick’s eyes were upon him, entirely ignorant of the impossible attractive force that Kiara supposed. A frown followed as he looked down at Kiara. “You’re doing it again.”
The Goddess of Fortune made flesh perked in shock, her hair, the color of oasis water, shifted from an invisible wind, her immaculate face the proclamation of perfection, her bosom, nurturer of life itself and-.
“What?”
Yasir blinked. The room no longer glowed, Kiara was no longer divinity made flesh but an incredibly beautiful maiden using the Lord like a glorified chair. Her golden eyes scorned the merchant. “Do you have anything else you need?”
“Just… one minute, my Lady.” He spoke, drinking some more, body still too hot, briefs too tight. “The… the city lost its judge… before the rush. Their apprentice…” Thoughts came through flustered breaths and a face that burned.
“Yes, yes, Arietta, formerly the judge’s wife, became the wife of the apprentice. Things went south, the ferals came, the apprentice became plant-feed, and she’s now the property of some merchant called Rollo.”
The mug shattered in Yasir’s grip, eyes widening. There were a thousand curses that failed to leave his clenched jaw, face growing so hot his beard would’ve probably ignited there and then.
“You know him?” Rick asked.
“I do have that misfortune.” Yasir spat, not daring to foul the room with the name of the disease that inhabited this land. “When the rush came and many a maiden lost their partners, that… poison, bought them off of the Lord.” With a shortened breath, his knuckles rapped against the wood on the table. “That man dared to suggest that if my Ezili ever were to threshold, he would pay me handsomely.”
The sound of the slamming door still rung in his ears.
Rick whistled appreciatively. “How about we buy all the maidens he has?”
Yasir shuddered, chills running through his goosebump riddled flesh. He looked at Rick with wide eyes and his mind was full of parchment that ran with red ink. It was a merchant’s worst nightmare: insolvency. The tribe definitely didn’t have enough to cover for-.
“He bought them from the previous human. We can buy them back plus whatever other maiden he has on the block for the same cost.” Kiara huffed, tail lashing impatiently against the ground. She gripped Rick’s face with both hands. “You are the Lord, you could just as well tell him to get bent and take them all from him for free. You. Are. The. Lord.”
Just as the Goddess Fortune, Kiara was a threat that could end kingdoms and destroy armies. “Though she is correct…” Yasir inhaled, organizing his thoughts. “The city might not take it well to… completely crush one of its greatest benefactors.”
Rick was still entirely unperturbed from the teasing presence of the seductress that lay in his arms. “Let’s put a plan together, by tomorrow hopefully.” He gave a quick glance at Yasir, then sighed, turning to look away. “Take some air, Yasir, I think you need a break.”
“I’m sure your wife will be more than happy to help.” Kiara chided in with an enormous grin, waving goodbye as he hurried out of the room after the polite goodbyes.
Working with that damn Succubus was going to be the end of him.