Nenandil flew out of my soul and used her magic to calm down the ocean. Marlowe’s “last spell” created a rent in the magical lattice of the world, a distortion that would either disappear naturally or, more likely, become a self-sufficient anomaly like the Black Dragon King’s Dungeon.
I had no interest to know what kind of monsters a spell such as {Disintegrate} would create with its aspected mana. I triggered my {Cleansing Manastorm} and set it to ignore all living creatures. The white noise created by my own magic distortion would erase that, over time.
Detection told me where the people were, and more precisely, the humans. I needed more {Favored Enemies} to find the other species but I never had Perks lying around that I could spend on that. A quick check showed me I had eight species Perks to pick and my Classes and Professions to put in order. No time for that now.
I flicked my fins and put myself to work. Find someone, cast {Water Breathing} on them, go to the next person. The more capable among them were boarding the other three vessels. The one that capsized was upside down but still floating, for now.
Many Souls loitered around the place. I gathered them and stopped their departure by feeding them some SP from my meager reserves. They directed me to their bodies and I retrieved those too. Fortunately, the magical cataclysm scared away the fishes, monsters, and sensible mermaids. We were drastically in short supply of the former.
As I worked, I sensed some mermaids approaching. “Help me rescue the land people, sisters, but don’t attack them,” I sent in our high-pitched speech.
I shifted into my ice elemental form to create an iceberg that locked the ship the prince and nobles boarded in place. Going around, I instructed the mermaids to bring the rescued people there. With that underway, I surfaced to check the location of the other two ships. Nenandil flew above me.
She giggled.
More sailors climbed on the ice platform. I still had two vessels unaccounted for. While one of the ships was floating nearby, the last one had its sails unfolded and it had caught a good wind (or had a wind mage onboard). It was sailing away like the fourth Demon Lord was on their heels. With their lights off like that, they might even escape.
I checked my reserves. In the time since the end of Marlowe’s final spell, I’d recovered around thirty thousand MP. I fired a new {Siege Light} spell high up above the iceberg, illuminating the whole scene. The one from before was too far away.
Now visible, some sailors on the ice platform started to cheer for the last ship. I checked the situation and everyone’s position as I sent a mental message to our secret weapon. With my best Liam Neeson impression, I shouted so everyone could hear.
"RELEASE THE KRAKEN!"
'They chose their own fate, Arista,' I told myself. Most of them would die. It was inevitable. A show of force was necessary to make the survivors submit. There’s no such thing as war without death. Worse, I had a deal with Kraken and the Herald needed her due.
The tentacles erupted from the water and wrapped around the galley's hull. The rowers abandoned their posts and jumped into the water. Wood creaked and broke as a few of the soldiers on board attempted to fight the demigod. Kraken's answer was to bring more tentacles to swat away those impudent fools.
Shouts of horror and encouragement came from the sailors on the iceberg. I kept my eyes peeled on the scene, forcing my heart to keep still. This was war. I had to break their spirit and show who was the boss. Over and over until it got through their thick medieval skulls.
Those that jumped were quickly subdued by the mermaids. After a few minutes, the ship broke in half and the Kraken surfaced its toothed maw to greedily devour the sailors and knights trapped in the tentacles. The crunching sounds and gormandizing groans the monster made caused half of the captured sailors to shift from encouragement to disgust. Some of them even vomited or fainted.
Time to make my entry. I expelled the water around me with a Force bubble and put on one of the many dresses I’d plundered from noble ladies. I think this one is from the queen of Lonid, the one I killed but spared the two child princelings. They say the dress is a lady’s armor. Let’s put that to the test. Ready, I moved the bubble out of the ocean and gently dropped myself on the iceberg.
I let the full power of my aura pressure them down. Once I had their attention, I said my victory speech.
"Heed my words, invaders. Out of greed and misguided pride, you decided to invade us! What were you expecting? Savages with bone spears? Think again. Your prince is only alive because I chose to be merciful. Your archmagister betrayed life itself!" I said using my abilities to project my voice. "We offered you the chance to turn around and return home, but you refused. So be it. You are enemy combatants and now prisoners of war. Unless your weregeld is paid, you are not escaping this place. There's no land for hundreds of kilometers. Even if you try, you’ll only become food for the Kraken!"
I made a high-pitched squeal and hundreds of female heads popped out of the water. The horny mermaids were expecting their dues too. They were promised a bratwurst banquet.
“And if the peasants rebel, the blame will fall upon the nobility. You are the ones I'm going to punish, lords and lady.” I said resting my eyes on Callisto. Some of the female knights might have a title but I didn’t care.
The nobles quickly set on pacifying my prisoners. The first rule of jail, be in control of the pecking order. Two hundred and sixty people, give or take. About half the original invasion force. I made an effort to count them using my {Detection}. There were a dozen more arriving from the ones that jumped ship to evade the Kraken.
Some sailors helped them climb aboard the slab of ice. Checking on them, I noticed the newcomers were bleeding, probably from the wreckage of the ship. The priest of Galbarar healed them.
I raised ice walls enclosing an empty space on the ice.
“The ladies, please go inside. For your privacy. Unless you want to undress in front of the men.”
Callisto looked hurt, her pride in tatters. She went inside with the female soldiers, sailors, and knights. I counted them. Twenty. Once they were inside, I gave the next command.
“Everyone, start to strip down to your undergarments. I want every single piece of equipment, weapon, jewelry, armor, anything on a pile over there.”
They didn’t seem happy but complied nonetheless.
“ Lord Gaelin, father priest, you stay with me. Someone remove the items from the prince.”
The elf and priest approached while the nobles complained in hushed voices about having to bare themselves.
“Excuse me, father, I didn’t ask for your name.”
He bowed.
The priest of Galbarar smiled. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. It was an emergency and you were in combat. These formalities can wait for their proper moment. I’m Edan, bishop of Galbarar.”
I smiled and nodded at the priest.
“Well met, father Edan. I think I have the items from your cabin. I’ll return them shortly. I have a favor to ask. Would you stay with prince Rhenius and make sure he stays safe? Someone might attempt to assassinate him and pin the blame on us.”
The priest bowed again. “It’ll be my pleasure. Thank you for your mercy.”
“Think nothing of it. Keeping him alive suits my interests.”
The priest left. I sighed and looked at Gaelin with pleading eyes.
“I know what you want, Old Soul. The nobles won’t trust me,” the elf said. “But I can work with them, under your authority. I might need your help to protect our lands later. They won’t forget my actions here so easily.”
It confirmed my suspicions that Gaelin was forced to bend the knee to protect the other elves. This wasn’t over. The conflict would surely escalate and I had to pay the King of Virturia a visit soon.
“I’ll gladly help the People, lord Gaelin. Be my liaison then. Make sure they know they will be ransomed soon. Their safety is guaranteed if they behave. Make sure they know that they’ll die by my hands if they so much as pluck a hair from your head.”
“I hope violence won’t be necessary,” he vented with a sigh.
I gently held him by the wrist and pulled him to face me, “Me too. But hey, I’m changed. I’m no longer the cold-blooded murderer you heard tales of. At least I’m trying to, you know? I’m trying to avoid killing this time, Gaelin. I’ve caused too much death in my previous lives. It was destroying my mind.” I had a few tears at the end.
He gave me a reassuring smile, “A sensible decision, my queen. And don’t fight it. Alloralla’s demise at the hand of the dragons and the truce that was forced upon us left a bitter taste on the People all over the world.”
I grimaced at the ‘my queen’. “Don’t remind me. But they didn’t kill me, I sacrificed myself to lift a curse before they did. If it serves as a silver lining, they didn’t get a single Exp out of me.”
“That’s for the best. It still doesn’t erase the fact they pushed you to do so.”
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“No, it doesn’t. But their just deserts will come, even if it is a dragon’s age from now. Now, go. Keep my prisoners from rebelling. I’m going to check if the ladies are alright”
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The few female sailors, knights, and lady Callisto, Anjou’s spiritual successor, were anxiously whispering to each other, huddled on a corner of the ice rectangle. They quickly became mute once they saw me coming.
“Ladies, be at ease,” I said out loud as I approached. “You’ll all be well-treated until we can return you home. That’s on the condition you behave. We won’t force you to do any chores but maintain yourselves. I need all of you to remove any and all jewelry, armor, weapons, and enchanted items now. Don’t try to hide anything from me, please.”
While the knights and Callisto just stared at me, the sailors and foot soldiers started to strip.”No, you girls get to keep your clothes. Just jewelry and weapons.”
They were shivering. “Don’t worry about the cold, you’ll get out of the ice tomorrow. I have pelts and blankets.”
I found myself staring at Callisto. No matter how bitchy she got, I was endeared by how similar she was to my niece. A feeling of loss and nostalgia, a longing for a time buried in the past. Faces lost forever.
Although Anjou was conceived in a brothel while my sister was still a debt slave forced to whore herself, by the time she grew old enough to hold memories she already lived in the mansion The Master gave (sold, I had to hand over the gold from the magistrate) to us. As far as she knew, she grew up with a silver spoon. I don’t think Mirabelle ever talked about that dark chapter of her life.
She was groomed for the high society life by her mother, my sister Mirabelle. The two never learned of Apricot’s secret life as an assassin and later as the First Hero. As Lord Ackerton (AKA The Master) rose in the ranks of nobility to become a Duke and even a King after I died, they were married off to a noble house in the neighbor kingdom. After that, our contact became sparse.
I wanted to believe with all my being that Virturia’s royal family was related to Anjou. I would still crush and erase their claim to be descendants of the First Hero. But I knew my anger and wrath would be muted if she was indeed their ancestor. Maybe I wouldn’t slaughter them all if they were.
I would even go as far as to call a divine favor or two to find out. Written records were rubbish and I had no way to take a DNA test.
“What?” She said as she caught me staring at her. “Do I have something on my face?”
In a complete breach of protocol and my conqueror’s mask, I giggled, “No. Did you finish removing the objects I asked for, Callisto?”
She hadn’t. “Let me aid you, milady,” one of the female knights offered her.
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Hours passed before Rhenius recovered consciousness. Luckily, I was nearby, keeping watch over the prisoners when he did. The first thing he asked was to see me. He approached but stopped to stare at my lavish gown.
“What do you want, Virturian prince?” I asked. “Yes, I have clothes worthy of my station. I usually don’t wear them for combat, should I change?” I said, challenging him. Without his enchanted gear, he was nothing.
That’s one of the reasons I didn’t go around decked to the nines in enchanted gear. You learn to rely on that boost and when it is gone, you’re toast. Better to rely only on the power from within. Although I might change that policy now that my living silk gear is almost a part of me.
“No, I am not looking for a fight. I don’t dare tempt fate like that,” he answered my challenge in a rather humble way. “I want to know, what happened to archmagister Marlowe?”
I waved my hand and summoned his naked body. “Here he is. I’m sorry he’s damaged but that’s the best I’m willing to do. No use bringing him back to life.”
He raised an eyebrow, “You can revive people? Not even the gods…”
“I’m the one whose fame your family usurped, princeling. And many, many others. I am a witness to the changes in this world throughout the centuries. And your gods cower in fear of me. I am the one who killed Bundeus. You mind your words or I’ll show you firsthand how I do it.”
I stored Marlowe’s body back. No use letting them have it, what would they do with a rotting corpse?
“I have the other sailors and warriors that died as well. Once your ransom is paid, I’ll give them back to you. Out here they’ll only rot.”
“Thanks for your kindness, princess Arista,” he bowed.
It surprised me. How did he know my name? Rhenus laughed and answered.
“Your mermaids have loose tongues and a taste for men. It wasn’t hard to pry some information from them.”
Too friendly, too fast. This guy was trying to worm himself into my good graces.
“Enough. Make sure the prisoners behave, their lives are in your hands. I’ll prepare a place for you to stay. This ice is expensive to maintain.
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Despite what captain Gunther told me a century ago, Gaelin and I used the elven {Spell-Song} to bind the four galleys I captured two by two, side-by-side, prow-to-prow. We made a barge out of them. The capsized one was dried and restored to the upright position.
That would be the start of a floating city inside the lagoon. We’d let the prisoners do as they pleased on the ships. I had to put a {Geas} on them. If they spent more than a thousand MP or SP, they would die. I geased only the spellcasters because a mass mutiny could quickly drain my SP and break the geas.
I had to believe that the purely martial Classes wouldn't rebel without weapons or armor.
The mermaids that could shift legs strip-searched the people on the male side. They were very diligent when they searched if they didn’t have anything hidden in their loincloths. I had to step in and curb their hornyness. They'd get all the dick they want, in due time.
I sent the most handsy of them running back to the depths of the lagoon. No sex for anyone tonight. Goodness gracious, they’ve been without it for almost a decade. With the floating barge secure and anchored inside the lagoon, the prisoners moved in. Those with low Endurance were already getting frostbite.
I had plans for the prisoners. I had to seize this opportunity to ensure the future of the mermaids. And to have a future, we needed to replenish our population and ensure the reproductive future of the kingdom. Well, I had a lot of men doing nothing on a boat and hundreds of glass vials. Given that I could inseminate the mermaids using collected sperm that would never go bad in my item box, it stood to reason that I should demand the men to surrender their seed. Not a big deal for most of them. I doubt they'll refuse.
My plan was to ask them to breed with the mermaids. Ask, not demand. The mermaids would pick the sailor or soldier they fancy, take them to the sandbank during low tide, and do the deed there. The male would then be returned to the floating barge unharmed.
I gathered the mermaids and explained to them how it would work. I set a goal to impregnate seventy percent of our population. They couldn't force the males to have sex with them, which some of the girls protested against, but I was adamant. Even if most males didn't bat an eye to that, it was still rape if it was forced. But the prisoners had a big incentive. They would only go home once we confirmed we'd reached our quota. I thought seventy percent was too much but almost all the mermaids wanted to have a go.
I think our would-be conquerors were about to be sentenced to death by Snu Snu.
The next day, I went to the floating barge to tell our prisoners their sentences. The sailors and soldiers were quiet.
I gathered everyone to give them my speech. I visited them wearing another dress. I think it was from the first princess of the coastal nation Sadian but don't quote me on that. The important thing here was to drive home the notion the mermaids weren’t barbarians.
Which reminded me I had to get Mom some clothes worthy of a queen. An enchanted living silk armor that can change color and pattern would be enough.
As I took my place on the poop deck of a ship, with all our prisoners down below, I delivered my message.
"Listen up, everyone. You have no tools, no clothing but what you are wearing now, and no food. We’ll give you water, that’s my promise. I’d rather behead all of you than let you feel thirst. That’s the worst kind of torture. However, if you try to escape, the mermaids will do anything they want to you.
“We'll bring half the day's rations to you every morning. You are forbidden to give your rations to others or bully the peasants into surrendering their food. In a moment I’ll tell you how you’ll earn the other half of your rations. But you’ll only be fed if you comply with two of my following demands:
“Every male will have to offer their seed twice a day. The prince and father Edan are the only ones exempted. I’ll not force a priest of Galbarar…” I stopped because the ecclesiastic raised his hand.
“Even though I’m a priest, I’m still a loyal citizen of Virturia. I’ll submit myself to anything you demand of us along with my fellow countrymen.”
Prince Rhenius stepped forward. “I’m one with my nation!” He proudly boasted. “I stand with my people.”
I had talked to Gaelin previously and he agreed that I should not single him out.
“Very well. I'll supply some glass vials, and the females will help collect and cork them. I'll pick them up as they are filled. I don't have to explain to you how to put it in the vial. You’ll do it for two months. Those that don’t supply their seed will go without food even if they fulfill the next request.”
I took a long table from my item box and filled it with sturdy glass vials I made with {Glassify} from [Alchemist]. One thing that we didn't lack in this reef is pearly white quartz sand. The vials were wide and short with a cork made of hardened sponge.
“These are the vials. You’ll only use them during high tide.”
I would have to come and collect the semen samples fresh but I saw no problem doing that. With these, I could guarantee the mermaid's future even if we had no males around.
Crude insemination by just dumping the semen inside their vaginas would have a lowered chance of success but until we got to that point, I think I could make some enchanted tool to assist them. Some sort of ejaculating dildo with inner storage, maybe. Quite doable now that I thought of it...
The rowdiest sailors quickly made a demonstration on how to collect sperm in the vials. One of them held the thing in front of me and asked with a smirk, “What do I do with this, Your Highness mermaid princess?”
It was easy to keep my poker face, dicks didn’t impress me no matter how huge they were. All they did was to give me a little of that envy Freud wrote so much about. “Put the sample back on the table. Someone should cork it right after the seed is delivered”
They did as instructed and I sent the vial to the item box.
One trait of the item box was that it couldn’t hold fluids or particulate matter outside a container. A box full of sand would go to storage even without a lid. Sand by itself was impossible to add. Compacted dirt was fair game, loose dirt was not. For the case in point, the excess fluid on the outside of the vials was left behind. It made a little mess but a simple House magic cantrip made it disappear. Upon retrieval from the item box, the exterior of the vial would be sterile.
“If there's any mutiny or riot, you'll go a day without food. Do it enough, and you'll all starve. Behave, and you'll be sent back home once the ransom is paid. For the commoners, you’ll be sent back with the Lord of the region you hail from. We won’t ransom you.
“Now, for the gentlemen only. You are prisoners of the mermaid Kingdom until your wergeld is paid. The second requirement is this. If you want full rations you’ll have to be picked by a mermaid to go with her to the sandbank during the low tide. I hope I don’t need to explain what kind of service you’ll need to provide the lady.”
The rowdy sailors were split into a cheering camp and one filled with dread. I knew what they were afraid of.
“Rest assured, the mermaids won’t eat, drown, or mutilate you. We have a lot of mermaids and only… two hundred men. So you’ll need to be available as much as they demand you. I won’t force any of you to do so. However, you’ll have to do with half rations even if you supply the vials.”
Rhenius said, “What if someone isn’t picked by any mermaids?”
“The odds of that happening are abysmal, prince Rhenius. We have hundreds of mermaids ready to take you. I had to put my fins down to keep them from doing so right after you were captured. If there’s a man there that can’t convince at least one mermaid to take him, I say he needs to up his game. Maybe he has to lose some fat!”
That elicited some laughter from the sailors.
One nobleman dared ask a question, “I’m married! You cannot force me to be unfaithful!”
“Oh, I definitely can but won’t. I’m not forcing you. You won’t die from eating half rations during your stay. And since you won’t be doing the extra exercise you won’t need the food anyway.”
“Starting the day after tomorrow, one hour before low tide, the mermaids will come and pick one of you gentlemen to be their partner on the sandbank. After you are done entertaining each other, she’ll bring you back here.
“Last, the ones that manage to impregnate at least twenty mermaids will receive a boon at the end of their time here with us. I expect you to work hard.”
By the time my proposal sank in their thick skulls, the sailors were already catcalling and hooting at the mermaids leaning by the edge of the iceberg. Some of the fish girls were even flaunting their fins in some kind of impromptu beauty pageant. If I let them have their way, there would be a massive orgy going on right then.
Some noblemen were pondering their options.
“So, I’ll make it clear. This is a {Royal Geas} I place upon you, prisoners. You are forbidden to take any female by force. You are forbidden from giving or stealing food from each other. I sentence you to the mermaid Rite of Snu Snu.”