Empire

Dear reader,

This story, and those that may follow, involve a place, time and people that never were. There will be a healthy dose of lesbian erotica; plus some BD/SM, non-consensual, adult-youth and possibly some (gasp) hetero as the plot progresses. Any comments -- good and especially bad -- are very welcome and encouraged via the e-mail address at the bottom. One cannot progress without feedback.

THE LEGAL THING: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any similarities to characters in other fictional works, other than those pulled from classical mythology (and therefore within the public domain), are also coincidental. If individuals feel that this story impinges on their person or work should take no offense, as none is meant or was intended. They should also relax and obsess less.

Remember, if we stopped writing when we ran out of original themes, literature would have died with the Greeks.

Enjoy,

The Author

Chapter 5

Yassine followed the page through the halls of the palace of Donai toward the Great Hall. The howling of the crowds outside had not died any since the last of the army returned to the city and the echoes of their ecstatic cries bounced off the high ceilings loud enough to drown out the conversations she heard on the way. The palace was gripped in hive-like activity. Maids and servants scurried along the corridors carrying loads of bedding alongside carts overflowing with extra furniture and serving platters. Pages, running as if the infernal forces were on their very heels, worked feverishly to hang new standards beneath the wyvvern standard of the Empress. The new banners they hung in their places was a black on green image of a winged wolf; the Emperor's sign, she thought. She turned along the main corridor that connected the wing of the palace where she was staying to the main body of the building. Choura was there, she too had decided to turn out in full battle gear. The larger woman flipped up her faceplate to greet her. "Princess," her bow was slight but correct. "I hear that the army has returned from the northlands." Yassine didn't break stride, "I understand that everyone was taken off guard by this. I was told that they were to be in the field for another three months." "But we were to meet with them north of the barbarian lands," Choura said, peevishly. "How are we to gauge their strength now?" "Their strength is lined up in columns below us as we speak. Were you aware that they ride hippogriffs in battle?" Choura didn't bother to hide her amazement, "All of them?" "Just a portion of them, fewer than a full battalion. I saw some interesting things," Yassine said. "You had a better view than I did," Choura said. "All I heard was the noise." Yassine slowed a bit, "They did not hide the fact that a number of their force did not return. In fact, they made a show of presenting the belongings of the deceased." "Perhaps they need the arms and armor for future battles. Perhaps they aren't as rich as they seem." "Horseshit," Yassine said. "The statuary in my chambers could pay to put armor on ten horses." Choura got a sly smile on her face, "What else did you find in your room last night?" Yassine didn't answer, she thought of Pari and the scent of her dense hair pattered through her mind like a melody that couldn't be shaken off. Choura went on without noticing, "I'll give these people one thing, they know how to entertain a guest. They sent me this little Eastlander who just didn't quit." Yassine knew her lieutenant, "That's saying something." "I hear there's more, I'm looking forward to seeing what else is on the menu." As they reached the high vaulted doors of the Great Hall, tall armored guards hauled them open with great effort. Yassine's eyes were distant, "I hadn't given that any thought."

Luxia stepped out of her bath and stood for a second in the cold morning air. She stretched her long body, feeling the final kinks work their way out from the night's exertions. She flipped her head from side to side and looked back onto the pool. The two girls there clung to the sides, panting for breath as they tried to rise out of the bubbly pit. Both looked worse for the wear. She decided to be kind, "That was a good effort," she said. "But you've got a lot to learn. The Empress is a harder mistress than I, and doesn't brook weakness. Both of you need a lot more time in the Gymnasium." The taller, pale-skinned girl began to weep abjectly. Her soaking brown hair covered her face like a shroud, "It's not fair," she sobbed. "I've worked so hard." Her companion lifted herself out of the pool and sat with her feet in the water, her tanned, wide face was impassive. "I don't understand. You had the rains and thunders, I felt them. How did we fail?" Luxia wrung the water out of her braids, then whisked the moisture off her torso before picking up a towel, "You've both missed the point. If I need to tell you, I've got nothing to say to either of you." She pulled on her leather harness, arranging the front straps so that her breasts jutted out at right angles to her body. "It's not about what I felt. Come here, Glayen, tighten the back." The weeping girl pulled herself out of the bath and laced the strap connecting the bottom of the neck of her mistress' harness to the top of the leather thong at her waist. She connected the strap to the buckle and set her knee against the small of Luxia's back to cinch it tight. She pulled until the buckle fit into the final notch, holding the woman's spine in a tight arch. Luxia ran her hands along her chest, taking a second to toy with the steel rings run through her nipples. She turned and pinched Glayen's labia fiercely, eliciting a sharp cry from the girl. "You've failed because you merely participated," she said with a voice full of menace. "You have to be involved! You have to be committed!"

As before, the herald announced the two Amazons entrance into the hall with all of the titles and fanfare that, Yassine thought, made her feel smaller rather than exalted her. It was enough for her to be recognized as an Amazon emissary and the representative of her nation. Being singled out as the future of every Amazon on the island and the future of her people hung around her shoulders like a burden. She'd rather be herself, not the avatar of an entire way of life. The hall was different now. Before it was conspicuous because of its emptiness. Now, the room thronged with people. All of the courtiers, the useless and plumed population of the palace were arrayed around the room in bright colors; dripping with gold and jewels. They hissed and gossiped amongst themselves, giddy with the atmosphere of the Great Hall. Some of them leered at the two Amazons. Whether it was avarice or lust, Yassine couldn't tell. But there were others. The room was now lined with very serious looking soldiers in sparkling green armor. They were all tall, obviously powerful and hideously armed. Their eyes, staring blankly outward through their helmets, carried the quiet, implied threat of those who meant deadly business. Kaleda was perched on the Amber Throne. She wore a dress of pure white decked with diamonds and pearls that fanned out at the bottom to cover most of the steps leading up to that famous seat. She was listening intently to Roquan, still dressed in his insanely garish motley, who was whispering into her ear. She saw Yassine and waved the Mage away. "Good morning, Amazonia," she said with a smile. "It seems that events have gone differently than planned. Our armies have returned, albeit joyously, earlier than we expected." Yassine wanted to wince at the royal attachment to her person and successfully suppressed it, "I hope nothing is amiss, Empress." "We don't believe so," she said smoothly. "The Emperor shall be amongst us presently. Please, attend us." Kaleda gestured to a spot on her right. Yassine and Choura walked to the foot of the throne dais and came to a stop when a page across from them made an almost imperceptible nod of his head. Both removed their helmets and placed them under the crooks of their elbows. The Empress made a few quick orders to her herald and turned to Yassine, "I trust you had a pleasant rest in our home?" "Yes, your majesty," Yassine said with a slight bow. "Everything was perfect." Choura knew better to address the monarch, especially after her behavior the day before. She nodded her agreement. "Splendid," Kaleda said. "We knew that Pari would be a good choice for you. She's such a happy creature." Yassine's eyebrows raised in a moment of unguarded surprise. The Empress made an offhand gesture, "There were others who were considered but she seemed best. We are glad that we've chosen correctly again. We have made the corrections to the translation spell that caused you consternation last night, that can be such an inconvenience. Really, we've been assured that...Oh, it's my husband." All eyes turned to the end of the Great Hall as a column of soldiers streamed in quickly. At the front of the column was a man who could only be their leader. He was tall with long arms and legs. His head was covered with a brutally-trimmed mane of thick, black hair circled by a leather band. His face was different than what Yassine was expecting. She had seen men before, what Amazon hadn't, and this wasn't the best looking one she had seen. The mouth was a bit too wide and his cheeks bore scars from battle. The nose had obviously been broken more than once. His eyes were small and dark, almost hiding beneath a brow that hung over them like a tombstone. In a very pedestrian way, the Emperor of Donai was a homily man. Immediately apparent was the palpable aura of command. His lieutenants followed him as if they were connected by an invisible tether, they even affected his gait as they entered the hall. Even in their unconscious moments they were following his lead with exactitude. Her mother has it, Yassine knew she was developing it -- the unspoken authority of leadership. The herald had begun to intone the proper words, "Presenting his most Imperial Majesty, Lord Commander of the Royal Army of Donai, the Emperor Atraeon I." The column of soldiers came to a smart halt at an invisible line even as the Emperor continued toward the throne. Kaleda rose, stepped off the dais and stood before her husband, her smile was subdued. "You've returned early, My lord." Atraeon nodded, and his face changed as if the bones beneath it reshuffled themselves to a new configuration. His eyes glittered as the wide mouth opened into an expansive smile. He took Kaleda's hands in his and guided her into a long, warm embrace. The two kissed openly, softly, then broke to beam into each others' eyes. The Emperor's voice was gravelly and deep, as if worn from years of shouting commands, "I bring strange news from the Northlands." Kaleda made a moue, "Strange news?" "Yes," he said as he led her back to the throne. Sometime during his approach a page had placed a simple, cloth and wood chair at the right side of the magnificent Amber Throne which Atraeon sat in. He pulled the leather circlet off his head and riffled his fingers through his hair, "We ran out of Northlands." Kaleda sat on her throne and thought hard for a few seconds, "We thought the stories about the edge of the world were disproven. Our brother will be so disheartened when he finds out about this." Atraeon shook his head as he took a flagon of wine from a waiting handmaiden, "Not like that, Yevtana!" One of the soldiers who walked into the hall with the Emperor came forward and doffed his helmet, revealing to Yassine and Choura's surprise that the soldier was a woman with tightly braided white hair and equally white skin. She knelt before the Amber Throne. "Rise, Vice Commander," the Empress said. "Your Majesty," she said as a pair of boys in leather armor ran to her side and hastily erected an easel. She reached into a pack at her side and removed a scroll which she spread across the frame. Yassine noticed that the woman had blood-red eyes: An albino, "After traveling some three thousand five hundred miles across the northern continent we encountered a chain of high mountains at the far border of the Dilexian territories. After assaying the range our scouts discovered an icefield stretching for several hundred miles." "An icefield?" Kaleda rested her chin on her fist. "Whatever is an icefield?" "An unbroken expanse of ice," Yevtana said without emotion. "Hippogriff reconnaissance patrols report that the field goes on for several hundred miles." "Ahh, We understand," she said. "How much territory has Our army covered?" Yevtana stretched a second scroll across the easel that indicated outposts with the wyvvern standard in green, "All major Dilexian, Claima and K'Thuh capitals from the Archipelago to the icefield are under your control. Pockets of resistance remain but they are hamstrung by their isolation from their bases of resupply. Garrisons have been placed in the centers and reinforcements are en route to meet with them." Kaleda nodded her approval and patted Atraeon's hand, "We are most pleased. Convey our heartfelt gratitude to the armies." Atraeon's face shifted, once again hard and cold. "Many of my soldiers are injured, they must be attended to immediately." "Of course," the Empress said. "Before you leave, you must meet Our newest friends." She stood and gestured to Yassine and Choura as she led the Emperor toward the two Amazons. "This is Our Royal Niece Princess Yassine of Amazonia and her second, Choura. They've come to form a fellowship with Us." Yassine bowed her head to the royal couple, "Congratulations on your successful campaign." Atraeon held out his hand. Yassine grasped it at the elbow, familiar with the custom of the Donai. The Emperor's face was somewhere between the two aspects he had shown before, "I've met your mother, her feint at Marn Lavis was masterful." The Amazon was surprised. Marn Lavis was an obscure conflict between an Amazonian landing party and a group of armed raiders on an outpost island. Hippolyta had convinced a party of pirates that a full company of Amazon warriors were just twenty soldiers. The action was chapter and verse subterfuge in the war college on Amazonia, but Yassine was sure that no one else knew what happened there. She decided not to make much of the mention, "Thank you. This is Choura, my chief aid de camp." Atraeon grasped her arm and looked upward at the Amazon, "I'm interested to hear your assessment of our forces." He nodded to them and kissed Kaleda's hand, "Forgive me, I have to see to my troops. Commander Yevtana!" Immediately, the pale woman appeared behind Atraeon. She regarded the Amazon's coolly, "My lord?" "Princess Yassine and her aid will be wanting an overview of the army," Atraeon said. "You will provide them with whatever they need and answer any questions they have." "Understood, my lord." With that, the Emperor of Donai walked swiftly from the Great Hall, his lieutenants following closely behind him. Kaleda left the three with a smile, taking their hasty bows as a matter of course. When she was gone, Yevtana stood at rest before the Amazons, "We can begin the tour at your pleasure."

Luxia stalked through the corridors of the Gymnasium like a feral thing. As the headmistress of the palace's special servants, she wielded near-absolute power over everything that went on within those walls. The only ones who could contradict her orders were the Empress and Emperor themselves, and they trusted her judgment implicitly. The two trainees, Glayen and Rouelle, followed a few short paces behind her. Her body was toned to near distraction. Every muscle in her long limbs crawled against each other as she moved down the hall. When she came to a stop, a clear triangle of light could be seen between the tops of her inner thighs. Her tanned skin was flawless, the product of healthy living and regular treatments by the palace's royal physician. When angered, the smooth, taut planes of her perfect form rippled with powerful, wiry muscles. Some had remarked, far behind her back, that she could teach human musculature to medical students merely by posing nude for classes. Her eyes, like her hair, were dark and framed by sculpted eyebrows. Long fingers topped in short nails hung idly at her sides. "The point is not your subservience," she said in her soft contralto. "We have that already. The point is not your expertise. Anyone can be given the training you have. The point is to transcend service and become the pure expression of your talents. It is the key to everything we do here." "We don't understand," Rouelle said. "Tell us what that means." Luxia shook her head, "That's not the way we do it here. The pure lesson is taught every day, if you're not learning it you aren't paying attention." She crossed the threshold into the main servants' quarters. She surveyed the scores of nude and semi-nude women lounging about on couches, pillows and benches. Some were engaged in conversations, others read from bundles of scrolls. Some slept, some bathed. Slowly, the attention of the entire room turned on her and conversations came to a slithering halt. "Pay no mind," she said to the throng. "This is an instructional visit." Immediately, all of the women went back to their own business, as if nothing at all had happened. Luxia turned to the two trainees, "These fine examples understand what you merely parrot. If you're ever going to join this elite group you had better start thinking correctly." Glayen's eyes began to stray toward the floor when a quiet creak from Luxia's harness told her she had turned her way. She kept her eyes forward, carefully. The headmistress was watchful, she demanded the same from her students. "D'Anya!" she called out to the crowd. "I need you here." >From the side of one of the many pools in the room the redhead rose and came to her side. The long mane of her hair lay flat against her back, still wet from the bath. She wore a simple red wrap around her hips and nothing else, "Yes, mistress?" "A kiss, D'Anya." The girl laced her fingers together behind her back and stood on her toes to reach Luxia's mouth. The headmistress turned her head away, "Not me, child. Glayen." With a tilt of her head she turned away from Luxia and approached the pale girl. She was slightly taller than the student and bent her head to connect with the girl's lips. Slowly, she pushed her tongue between her lips and worked it around her mouth. Glayen, not wanting to disappoint twice in the same day, returned the kiss ardently. Rouelle looked on carefully. If there was a lesson here, she would learn it as quickly as possible. Luxia tapped her foot, "Hmm, interesting. D'Anya, use your fingers on her. I want to see how quickly you can bring her about." Not breaking the kiss, the girl's hands drifted down Glayen's torso and nestled between her thighs front and back. One hand started rolling the girl's clit in slow circles while the other pushed inward to slip into her sex. Glayen's eyes bulged and she let out a muffled squeak. Several of the women in the room turned to watch the display with interest. Glayen's hands settled on D'Anya's shoulders for stability as she began to rock back and forth under the onslaught. The hand in front quickened as the one behind pushed in deeper, tickling the ridge of her pelvic bone. Glayen's pulled her right leg upward to give D'Anya better access to her. Her moans rose as the room let out a collective giggle. Luxia glared at the servants, but her eyes held a mischievous glint that carried no anger. She wrapped an arm around Rouelle's shoulders and rolled the girl's nipple around idly as she watched, "You seem a bit smarter than she does," Luxia said quietly. "I hope you'll understand this lesson. I know she won't." D'Anya tried to keep her mouth clamped around Glayen's, but the girl's moans turned to cries and the kiss was hard to hold. She bucked her hips back and forth against the redhead's hands; her orgasm imminent. "D'Anya," Luxia said. "Teach the lesson." With that, D'Anya broke the kiss and stepped away from Glayen. As the surprised girl fell to the floor with a slap, the redhead returned to Luxia's side. Dazed, the girl cried out in disappointment and started to crawl over to them. The headmistress' voice came sharply, "Stay where you are!" The girl stopped, eyes wide with disbelief as her yearning sex ached for release. She knew better than to finish the job herself and parted her thighs to remove the suspicion that she might try to accomplish her orgasm through friction. Luxia stroked D'Anya's hair and smiled, "How well you serve me." "I don't serve you," D'Anya said. There was no defiance, no insubordination in her voice. "Do what I would want you to," she said. D'Anya knelt at the headmistress' feet and laid kisses up and down her firm thighs. Lightly, carefully avoiding the woman's exposed and livid nether lips, she ran her tongue up and down the flawless skin of her abdomen and hips. Luxia's eyes fluttered and she pinched Rouelle's nipple slightly, eliciting a cry. "Child," Luxia stroked D'Anya's head as she started to shiver, "teach the lesson." Again, the redhead stopped immediately what she was doing and stood before the headmistress. Luxia shuddered and pecked the girl lightly on the forehead, "Excellent. Accompany me. These two need a lot of help." D'Anya smiled, "Shall I change?" Luxia let go of Rouelle and hauled the delirious Glayen to her feet, "Yes, get rid of that. I hate that color on you." D'Anya removed the wrap and let it flutter to the floor.

Yevtana slapped the flank of the Hippogriff, just behind the right wing, causing the strange animal to shake the newly-set saddle into place. She cinched up the bottom belt a little tighter, "We lost a few brave souls in the early days before we figured out that they knew best how to settle the extra weight." Yassine walked around the fantastic beast and patted its muscled rear haunches. The fanned tail slapped her back reflexively, but not hard. She shook her head, "How long have you taken them into battle?" "Only the past few years," the albino said. "It's taken that long to find the best riders and integrate them into assault plans." Choura looked dubiously at the creature's eagle head, the Hippogriff returned the same expression. "Did the Mage summon these from another plane?" "No, they live in the Coral Mountains west of here," Yevtana said. "Lord Roquan made the arrangements with their rulers to bring some of them to us for a set time." "What was the arrangement?" "To stay out of the Coral Mountains," she said. "So far it's been an amicable relationship. If you'd like, I could arrange to take you up later." Yassine wanted to ride one of the magnificent beasts so much she wasn't able to put the desire into words before Choura changed the subject, "How many soldiers are under your command?" "Currently, none," Yevtana said. "The army of the Northlands has been all but disbanded, the only ones still carrying that distinction are being sent to the garrison points. At this time there are no other expeditionary forces on the move other than the Great Mapping Expedition, but there's no way to know when they will return." "Where are they," Yassine asked. "No one knows. The charter of that expedition isn't satisfied until there is no more of the world to map. The instructions were quite explicit." "Map the world?" Choura was aghast, "Who would order such a campaign?" "The previous Emperor, Magda III." "But the Empress' father was Magda II," Yassine said. "Who was Magda III?" Yevtana started to walk along toward the palace's staging area, the Amazons followed behind, "That was Kaleda I's elder brother. He assumed the Amber Throne upon his father's death. Shortly afterward he commissioned the building of a great fleet of warships and exploration vessels for the express purpose of mapping the entire globe." She crossed into the large courtyard where thousands of soldiers were milling about; yelling, pushing, shoving, enjoying each other's company for the last time for a while. Yassine surveyed the area, "So what happened to him?" "He appointed a man, Silas Verik II, to be the leader of the voyage and gave him absolute imperial authority to lead the mission," Yevtana said. "He then changed his name to Silas Verik II and abdicated the throne to his sister, the Empress Kaleda I." She could see that neither Amazon made the connection with the name, she shook her head. "Silas Verik was the first man to give Donai a working seagoing fleet 600 years ago. Quite a revolutionary in the naval field." "He gave up the throne, willingly?" Choura couldn't understand how anyone could give up such a position, at least not without being at knifepoint. "Magda II hated the idea of being Emperor, absolutely dreaded it," Yevtana said. "He wore black for six months after his father's death." "More than a suitable period of mourning," Yassine said. "That's what everyone thought, the traditionalists were very touched. But now, I think it was more his mourning of his life," the albino said. "Magda III saw the Amber Throne as a prison, not a position of power. By taking another name, Silas Verik II, and renouncing his formal name, he released himself from that position. Magda III was a sad and lonely man, but when Silas Verik II left for the shipyards his feet barely touched the ground." "So he abdicated the throne and left it to his sister," Choura said. "And no one questioned a female ruler?" Yevtana laughed, "How could they? Magda I cleared out the major noble families early in his reign and a succession fight would have split the country. Besides, no one who knew Kaleda I could honestly say that she wasn't perfectly suited for the throne, she is every bit her father's daughter. And her ascension couldn't be challenged anyway because she had already married Atraeon; there was a ready made royal couple." Choura chewed on the facts, this was more information than she and Yassine were given in the entire six months they prepared for their voyage to Donai. "So the Emperor is the true ruler of Donai?" Yevtana laughed, "I have no troops to command because there is no army. The Emperor has only one soldier now, me." A voice rang out from the far end of the courtyard, "Pale one! Since I love you I must kill you." The three women turned to see the ocean of soldiers part before one of the rangers. The man raised his bow, knocked an arrow and sent it screaming toward the albino. Before Yassine and Choura could get over their shock, Yevtana yanked the missile out of the air. She repeated the feat three more times before the man stopped firing and bowed, the crowd erupted in cheers. The man ran halfway across the courtyard, jumped through the fountain at the center and stood on the back of one of the horses drinking there. He doffed his cap, releasing long blond strands that cascaded down his back. His accent was thick, from a region Yassine couldn't recognize, "You shame me, mistress. I was aiming for your heart and missed." Yevtana looked critically at the handful of arrows she held, "They were awfully thin, quite disappointing." The man vaulted off the horse and walked swiftly toward her, "You would have felt me." They met in the center and embraced. As they kissed, a loud howl arose from the crowds as they turned in each other's arms. They broke the embrace and Yevtana led the man back toward the Amazons. "This is Manolo, one of the Emperor's rangers," she said. "Manolo, this is Princess Yassine of Amazonia and her lieutenant, Choura." The ranger bowed before the two warriors and extended his hand to Yassine. She was quite surprised when he kissed it, "Honored am I to make your royal acquaintance." He attempted the same with Choura and veered away after seeing the look on her face, his expression was stilted, but he rolled with it. "I regret that my love and commander has not introduced me properly; I am the Emperor's only true ranger, there are others that follow me and hope to live in my expansive shadow. I hope that someday I might have companions." "That's an interesting way of greeting a loved one," Yassine said. "Is that the accepted way where you come from?" "No," he said with a smile. "Which is why I had to come to Donai to find someone worthy of my love. Is that why you came too?" Yassine blanched, before she could say anything a piercing whistle came from the crowd. A soldier took off helmet and infantry breastplate to reveal an ample woman with her hair set in ornate braids, "Lucky for you commander, I had to travel all the way to the fucking frozen plains of Dilexia to find him!" The throngs howled again with lust and laughter. Manolo made a dismissive wave, "Don't be vain, I waited in line like the rest of them." Laughter filled the courtyard and the troops went back to congratulating themselves. Yevtana ruffled Manolo's hair, "I must ask the two of you to come to my home tonight for supper. It's not the palace, but I've a wonderful cook and fine wines to pass the evening with." "That would be wonderful," Yassine said. "Can I bring a guest?"

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