Blood & Fur

Chapter One-Hundred and Four: Fit for an Emperor

When you made an actor the king, the whole palace turned into a stage.

After my demonstration of divine power, I had Ayar Manco and his wife hold an audience in their abode. They sat on thrones of gold in a gilded hall whose wealth was only rivaled by that of my own imperial seat of power, gave orders to their generals, ordered the distribution of emergency supplies, and proclaimed martial law… in short, I had these two go through the motions of restoring order and a sense of stability to a capital that direly needed both.

However, I shadowed their steps at every turn in my Tlacatecolotl form, looming behind them the same way Inkarri’s condor once ‘advised’ Ayar Manco. I hardly had to say a word. My mere otherworldly presence sent a message to this country’s elites; the state would continue to run as it always did, but the owl had displaced the condor on its perch.

I encountered little to no resistance. The Sapa generals were too divided and stretched thin to mount a proper coalition, and in the absence of a replacement heir for Manco, attempting to free him by force could cause a chaotic struggle for power guaranteed to collapse the state when it was already besieged from all sides. I knew this quietness would only last until the Sapa Empire managed to repel the Yohuachancan invasion and contain the plague, but both of these events were far away into the future and Empress Killa should have sidelined any opposition by then.

Moreover, I had more pressing concerns than the Sapa Empire’s political transition, the least of which being the ghostly apparitions that now appeared at my demand.

The Sapa generals and nobility were usually wise enough not to address me directly when in Manco’s presence, as it would have been disrespectful to the latter, but a few did break that tradition to petition me to reunite them with their dead. Each time I would wave my hand and summon a silent shade to greet them.

I had no idea how I was doing it. I cast no spell nor wove any illusions. I simply willed it, and it happened.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this. Was my burgeoning divine power expressing itself in a new way when fueled by the Sapa’s faith? Or a sign I’d begun to channel another deity’s grace than that of the First Emperor? I couldn’t help but think of Queen Mictecacihuatl, to whom I had promised I would organize a Day of the Dead for. I feared my recent actions might have alienated her, but perhaps this was her way of telling me that I was finally back on the right track.

The Sapa Empire worshiped their ancestors enough to keep a few among the living as Mallquis. The fact that I could compel them to appear at my command looked nothing short of miraculous to them. I might as well be the god of death rising from the Underworld to walk among them.

It was an appropriate comparison, I supposed; one that strengthened my influence enough to call for much-needed reforms.

One of which was long in the making.

I knew for a fact that the Sapa Emperor had a harem of his own—having caught Ayar Manco while in the company of his concubines—but I didn’t know how many of them had golden skin. I contained my disdain as dozens of gilded women were introduced into the throne room like a set of statues put on exposition.

I saw Aclla screaming as her captors put burned gold onto her skin in each of them. All of them had been virgins taken by the Mallquis and transformed into living treasures for the purpose of serving their emperor or being used as relays for their magic.

I observed each of them with the Gaze, and a few looked back with unblinking stares. How many Mallquis watched through their senses right now, assessing me from their sanctuary hidden in the mountains? Many of these women showed varied facial features that marked them as belonging to tributary communities, though a few shared a familial resemblance with Manco himself. Not even an emperor’s kin was safe from enslavement.

For all of their posturing, the Sapa Empire never failed to remind me of how closely it echoed my own cursed nation.

“What are these women to you, Ayar Manco?” I whispered in my puppet emperor’s ear.

“They are valuable daughters of the mountains and treasures of the imperial harem,” he replied politely, without warmth nor emotion. “They are the symbol of our empire’s unity and the future mothers of the imperial bloodline.”

I might not have been clear enough with my wording. “What are they truly to you? Answer.”

My Word forced his tongue to tell the truth of his mind. “They are furniture.”

It took all of my willpower and restraint not to strangle Manco on the spot. Even so, I couldn’t suppress a biting remark in return.

“So are you, Manco,” I whispered back in his ear.

Although the Sapa Emperor’s face showed no hint of discontent, his hands gripped his throne with quiet frustration. His empress, who had heard everything, glanced at the both of us without a word. I didn’t care for her opinion.

The Sapa Emperor’s crimes paled before those of my tormentors; he had no women raped to teach me a lesson nor casually ordered the murder of thousands, and he lacked the power to do much damage beyond holding despicable opinions… yet he inspired much loathing from me.

It took me a moment to realize why; namely, I related to Manco more than most. I too had been a figurehead in a golden cage, albeit with stronger bars and a grimmer end than what the Mallquis inflicted on their chosen emperor. We had both been given the opportunity to indulge in luxury and pleasure so long as we did what we were told, and I too had been saddled with a harem like this one.

However, unlike Manco, I never forgot that the women in my harem were fellow prisoners. I never forgot we were all in the same boat, and that our lives meant nothing to our captors. I never forgot where I came from.

Manco did. He was what I could have become, and it was that reflection which I couldn’t stand.

Mothers of the imperial bloodline… That remark sickened me to my core. Can these living treasures be cured? Surely there has to be a spell to allow them to wash the gold off their skin.

“I was told that these women were trained in the arts of weaving and chicha brewing,” I whispered into Empress Killa’s ear upon recalling my discussions with Aclla.

“They are,” the empress confirmed. “In doing so, they contribute to the wealth of the royal household.”

So they had skills to live off from should they leave the harem. Good. Many of them came from noble families that could take care of them too.

“How many of you wish to be part of the imperial harem?” I suddenly asked the crowd of concubines, forgoing the proper protocol of going through Manco. “Raise your hands if you wish to stay.”

A short silence followed, with the concubines—golden or otherwise—raising their hands one after the other. I could read the hesitation on their faces, the fear that they were passing a test of some kind and that failing might spell disaster for them.

“Which of you truly wish to serve in the emperor’s harem?” I said and followed with a Word of power. “Answer.”

The forest of hands dropped into a handful of trees.

Ayar Manco’s jaw tightened at the humiliation. A good fourth of the assembly kept their arms up, likely because of the perks their station provided, genuine belief in the Sapa cause, or other motives that escaped me, but most would indeed rather enjoy a life beyond these walls.

“Thank them for their candor,” I whispered in Manco’s ear. “Tell them that their honesty shall be rewarded, and those who wish to leave will be let go of with a pension from the state to ensure they live good and happy lives in the comfort they deserve.”

“I shall be no man’s puppet,” he muttered back, his teeth clenching.

“I am a man no longer, and your strings are strong,” I retorted. “Obey.”

I didn’t need to use a Word this time. Ayar Manco thanked his concubines for their honesty—clenching his jaw as he uttered each word—and promised they would be taken care of even as they were released from his service. Once again, his empress remained silent.

I would have Mother study the gold-skinned women in order to both ensure the Mallquis couldn’t use them against us and see if we could cure them of their gilded curse.

I am tired of this, I thought once the audience came to an end. Night once again threatened to encroach on the horizon early, with the sunset visible through the throne room’s windows. I had been up for around two days and now needed rest. The Underworld awaits me.

“Show me where an emperor rests,” I told the imperial couple once we closed the audience. “I wish to see if your golden cage has bars.”

The Mallquis kept their puppet emperor’s leash tight, but Ayar Cachi’s failed coup attempt had the advantage of disrupting the magical wards around the palace. The palace was filled with stone tablets similar to the one Inkarri used to observe me in the early days of my emperorship, alongside gemstone-eyes decorations and statues of pumas whose gaze was sharper than their teeth. All had been smashed to pieces and the wards woven into their frame were broken.

Such thoroughness betrayed a certain level of preparation and sorcerous collusion. Ayar Cachi didn’t strike me as a magician himself, which meant he either received information from a soothsayer or a few rebel Mallquis themselves. Maybe both.

Whatever the case, Ayar Manco and his wife guided me to their personal solar while under heavy escort. The Sapa Emperor’s bedroom on the upper floors proved to be a splendid boudoir matching my own in luxury. The thickly carpeted floor was further strewn with expensive rugs and exotic furs. A mosaic ceiling representing the constellations and supported by gemstone-encrusted gilded pillars rose over twenty feet above our heads. A golden bed adorned with exotic furs and smooth sheets occupied the center of the room under a canopy of veils that gave it a certain mystique. A splendid balcony offered an incredible view of the capital and the sun setting beyond the mountains.

I immediately sensed the magic in the air. The room alone had been left relatively untouched during the takeover, either because Cachi’s supporters failed to access it or because he wanted to keep it as it was once he assumed the throne. I felt powerful pressure in the air and used the Gaze to assess the ancient magic woven through the walls for hundreds of years…

“Clear,” I ordered.

It took centuries for the Sapa’s sorcerers to raise these wards, and a second for my divine Word to shatter them all. I simply snuffed them out like candlelight.

“Your bars weren’t so strong, Manco,” I said as I observed the balcony. I had to admit the view was to kill for. “It is a beautiful birdcage though.”

While Manco remained deathly quiet, his empress joined her hands. “Your Majesty is welcome to rest in our palace, if he wishes.”

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I cracked a smile at that. I sensed the hidden challenge behind her words.

It would be safer to rest in my roaming palace, in case the Mallquis had left any traps, secret passages for assassins to use, or delayed spells to attack my soul with. Resting in the Sapa palace only brought risks.

However, resting here would send a message that I didn’t fear them; it would reassure my allies among the Sapa, like the empress, that they had bet on the right ally; and most importantly… a god did not cower from his enemies. Hiding would weaken my divine image among the Sapa, and I had the intuition this would cost me greatly. Their perception of my weakness risked turning into reality.

Thankfully, no corpse should rise within the capital to bother us. The Sapa had followed my advice and began to burn their dead to release their souls into the afterlife. I could smell the smoke and burned flesh from the balcony.

“I think I will stay here,” I decided. “You may rest in the guest wing, Lord Manco. This is an emperor’s bedroom, and thus unfit for furniture.”

If glares could kill, then Ayar Manco’s own would have slain me many times over. His hands clenched so tightly that blood began to drip from his nails. I would have smiled at his anger and humiliation once, but I didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Take him away,” I told my guards. “My dear Necahual will see to it that he spends a safe night at home.”

Manco wanted nothing more than to argue and fight, but he mustered what little dignity he had left and stoically stormed out with my guards. Tellingly, his wife did not follow. She remained in the bedroom, and I did not send her away.

“Are you not afraid that my husband will run away?” she asked me.

“No,” I replied calmly as I shifted from my Tlacatecolotl form to my human one. Besides the fact that he would be carefully guarded, I had placed a Curse upon Ayar Manco to ensure he would fail in any attempt to flee. If the Mallquis’ spells couldn’t survive my Word, I doubted they would be able to circumvent that spell.

“He will not forget this humiliation.”

“Good.” I wanted Manco to feel the same helplessness the likes of Aclla had suffered from. At best, he would finally grow to sympathize with the oppressed like I did. At worst, it would put him in his place. “Neither will his generals. They will not respect a ruler incapable of sleeping in his own bed… while they will fight over the attention of the one who has my ear.”

Empress Killa joined me on the balcony and looked at the capital. “My political situation depends on that of my husband.”

“Then why haven’t you followed him? Or better yet, demanded that I treat your husband with dignity?” I snorted and looked up to the sky, where I didn’t see any signs of a bat or a condor. “You have a vested interest in seeing him shamed and diminished, so that you may subvert him in turn.”

She did not deny it. “I will do what I must to see my people prosper. I aligned with my husband when it helped preserve the Taycanamos, but his sun will wane no matter which power prevails in this struggle.”

I studied her for a moment. “You do not think I will move on and lose interest in this empire.”

“No, I do not. The system which you seek to unravel will require more than a night to change, at least without rivers of bloodshed. With the Nightlords being what they are and the Sapa Mallquis on the decline, you are the best option for me to ally with in the long term.”

At least she was honest about her motives. They were purer than Zyanya’s and reminded me of Chikal’s own dedication to her home city. I wondered about the depth of her principles.

“When you looked at these living treasures in the throne room, what did you see?” I asked and followed with a Word of power. “Answer.”

She did not resist my spell, nor tried to. “Sisters, I suppose. Had I been less well-born, I would count among their numbers as a concubine rather than an empress. I pity them and wish them well.”

That compassion would already make her a much better ruler than Manco, and peaked my interest. “On which date were you born?”

“On the first day of the Deer Month, according to your Yohuachancan calendar.” She met my gaze. “I am told it is a day of mystical significance. Is it of importance to a living god such as yourself?”

She was sharp. Her birthdate indeed made her eligible to become a Mometzcopinque, though I wondered if I should make her one. Empress Killa was intelligent, and Ingrid had a point that having her join the coven would grant me influence over the Sapa Empire. I would be able to maintain a peaceful transition into a fairer system through her; one which fit my values.

However, the fact remained that while our interests aligned, she remained dedicated to her people first rather than loyal to me. She knew enough about the Nightlords not to trust them, but I could see her coming to an agreement with the Sapa Mallquis should they somehow manage to regain the initiative and offer her better terms. Empress Killa played a good game of fence-sitting out of political survival, but I needed commitment.

“It might be,” I replied. “If I could trust you more.”

Empress Killa matched my gaze in silence for a long moment. “I am already burning bridges by leading you to Paititi.”

“And you will be rewarded for that,” I promised her. “It shouldn’t take us long to stabilize the city on our terms, after which we immediately shall move to Paititi. I’m sure you have already begun appointing loyalists in key positions of power here.”

“But Your Majesty wishes me to commit more thoroughly if I am to earn his favor.” Empress Killa glanced at the imperial bed. Surely the thought had crossed her mind when she didn’t follow her husband outside that there was a way for her to betray Manco’s regime. “And if I refuse?”

“Then you may go, and I will call another mistress of mine.” I had no shortage of companions. “This will not affect our current alliance in the slightest, but we will find another arrangement. My word is my bond.”

Empress Killa pondered my offer for a very long moment, calculating the risks and benefits with the same political sharpness I’d seen in Ingrid. In a way, she reminded me of Sigrun.

“What of my husband?” she asked.

“He will reign as a figurehead, but we will rule.” One day, he would become superfluous and we could safely put him under indefinite house arrest. However repulsive I found his opinions, I didn’t wish to kill Manco if I could avoid it.

I had already murdered too many people for so little reason. I had to learn restraint on that front, and seeing his power crippled and the state he adored so much reformed would be punishment enough for the Sapa Emperor.

Cuckolding him would almost feel like an afterthought. Manco would never admit to his wife having an affair in public because it would destroy what little respect he might have enjoyed from his elite… but he would know. He would know, and he would never trust his wife again. He would never take her back if he and the Sapa Mallquis ever regained their power, which guaranteed that Killa would have to pull all of her efforts into supporting my cause.

On the other hand, as Zyanya said… it was better to be a god’s mistress than a man’s wife. Empress Killa understood that well. The divine power I’d shown in the capital was unlike anything their emperor had shown, and earned me greater respect from them than anything Manco could achieve. As much as she needed her husband in the short term, I was simply the much better bet.

“I was named after the moon,” Empress Killa said solemnly. “It was always my destiny to dance with the sun.”

I locked eyes with her, then raised my hand to caress her smooth hair. Empress Killa grabbed my fingers, but did not push them away.

“I will not be your whore,” she warned me. “I want you to trust me as much as you trust Lady Ingrid.”

“That trust was forged through many months of shared hardship.”

“Then we ought to be faster with ours.” Empress Killa faced me with a resolute will. She was no opportunist with something to prove, and she knew exactly what she wanted out of an arrangement. “I will not be a wallflower. If your word is your bond, then swear you will treat me as your wife, take me into your confidence in all things, and listen to my advice. This price I demand.”

That was quite a tall demand, but then again, so was mine. “I swear it,” I replied, albeit with a caveat. “I swear I will treat you as my wife, so long as you return the same loyalty to me.”

I sensed my own magic binding my essence to my oath and forming a covenant I could no longer break. From the way Killa tensed, she must have sensed it in the air too. She had signed on a vow neither of us could back down from.

I kissed her neck in the fading sunlight.

I felt shivers under my lips, and the softness of smooth skin as I worked my way down. My arms reflexively enveloped her waist as I continued, her body tensing and her breath growing heavier. Yet she did not stop me this time, even as I led her away from the balcony and into the room.

— NSFW scene starts

I felt no craving for blood, no thirst for death even as her hand moved to her clothes and freed her left breast for me to kiss. The darkness of the First Emperor’s grasp felt so loose, so distant. The hunger coursing through me was a much different kind.

This is victory. The thought rang in my mind the moment my lips pressed against her breast and began to suckle, slowly, intimately, while her hand moved behind my head and pressed it forward to invite me to bury my face deeper into her flesh. Every squeeze and nibble earned me a faint moan of pleasure. This is conquest…

Necahual was right. Taking what belonged to others had always been my guilty pleasure.

I pressed my lips against her own and tasted it whole. It wasn’t a kiss of love—though we might one day share one—but one of lust. I felt her freeze at my contact at first, then slightly relax and give in to the moment. Her fear of consequences was gone when I broke the kiss, replaced with cautious excitement.

I kissed her again more forcefully, my tongue touching her own. A jolt traveled across my body and seized me with a surge of violent passion. I suddenly grabbed her ass with my hands, split her legs to accommodate my waist until only our clothes separated my manhood from her womanhood, then began to fondle her. My raw passion surprised her at first, but she quickly welcomed me into a lover’s embrace. My divine blood boiled with pleasure when I sensed her hand moving inside my loincloth, grabbing my manhood, and seizing my shaft. I gazed into her eyes, seeing the blush on her cheeks and feeling the warmth of her heavy breath on my lips when she began to stroke my shaft.

Her touch was slow, hesitant, and clumsy. Either this was her first time pleasing a man this way, which I doubted, or Manco never worked her up enough to make her try this. The mere thought of that man being in the guest wing downstairs while I claimed his wife for myself caused heat to build up in my groin and quickened my desire. My own hands worked their way below the empress’ skirt and pulled up her robes. Her womanhood was moist, tight, warm… and welcoming. My manhood throbbed with desire and hardened into a spear.

I couldn’t wait, so I cast the Doll and had talons of darkness undo both of our clothes. Empress Killa let out a gasp of surprise upon seeing them, but it paled compared to her cry when I tightened my grip on her ass, lifted her above the floor, and pressed her back against the wall. I lined my manhood in front of her entrance, saw her chest rise with a deep breath, and then I pushed.

A stroke of lightning coursed through my back as I slid into her like a dagger into a wound. the empress cried as I sheathed myself into her, while a jolt of ultimate pleasure coursed through my flesh.

“Oh gods…” I heard her gasp as I pressed her against the wall, my hips caught between her legs. I buried my face into her shoulder as I pushed and grunted in animalistic pleasure. Her arms coiled around my shoulders as she shifted to accommodate me, while her breasts rubbed against my chest.

I immediately felt the Seidr connection building up between us on its own, raw and primal. My first thrust was swift like a stab and drew a cry from her. I faced her, the breath of my arousal on her lips. Before I knew what hit me, her legs coiled around mine to pull me closer. My next thrust caused the wall to shake and drew a grunt of pain and pleasure from her.

“This…” she exhaled as we settled into a frenetic rhythm.

“This better?” I asked after adjusting my position slightly. “Better than your husband?”

“Yes…” she clicked her tongue while her insides tightened their grip on my manhood. “Yes, this is better…”

This only heightened my arousal.

Empress Killa pressed her lips against mine with hunger. I welcomed them, pushing and pulling as we kissed and played with each other’s tongues. A wild animalistic madness had seized us. Each of our thrusts reverberated across the room like a stab wound in Manco’s back.

Our souls began to meld together in a wild union. Our senses of self blurred without the separation of flesh, and each thrust of mine heightened our pleasure until the inevitable orgasm. Our bodies tensed at once, her insides contracting while I gave her my seed. For a brief instant, our souls and bodies were one. I saw myself through her eyes and she through my own, our mutual pleasure magnified while her back trembled beneath my fingers and her chest pushed against mine.

Our bodies gently relaxed afterwards, her lips leaving mine, her feet touching the ground, and my grip on her lessening. The orgasm was as brief as it was satisfying, but when I pulled out I quickly realized one thing.

I was still hard, and she was still willing

It was quite the pleasant distraction after staring into the First Emperor’s corpse-like face. However, the highs of our embrace hadn’t reached their peak, and I could only think of one fitting finale. So I freed myself, then carried her away from the wall and laid her on the imperial bed. It was warm, soft, and worthy of an emperor. I moved above the empress, casting a shadow on her sweating skin. I wanted to cuckold Manco in his own bed.

I put my left hand on the side of her face, and used the right to grab my throbbing manhood. I lined myself up above the empress’ thighs and waited for an answer. Empress Killa hesitantly bit her lips as I rubbed it against her entrance, slowly, intimately, temptingly.

She knew that this was the point of no return. There would be no going back afterwards. We would commit a crime that would shake the Sapa Empire down to its foundations. Her political existence would depend on keeping this secret, and she would gain permanent leverage over me in return. Most importantly, I saw a gleam of spite pass through her eyes; a buried desire for revenge for the state that conquered her people and forced her to marry their master. It echoed my own in many ways.

She moved her chin slightly, and I pushed.

My manhood slid inside lips softer than linen. I encountered no resistance and felt welcomed. I took my sweet time accommodating myself, with her cry of pleasure encouraging me to push and thrust and kiss and grunt. Her feeble knees trembled around my hips while her hands gripped my sweating back with all her strength. We kissed, on the mouth, on the neck, on the shoulders, and everywhere. Torrents of sweat fell onto the sheet as I buried myself in my new wife.

I soon erupted inside her. Our Teyolias burned with the strength of our union, our flames merging alongside our blood. I sensed my seed taking root through the magic. A pleasure greater than anything coursed through the both of us as we basked in this sacred act and the orgasm that followed.

— NSFW scene ends

Our bodies spasmed and gasped with each twitch of our flesh; and when I finished with a grunt, I finally lay upon her satisfied. We slowly recovered our breaths, locking eyes as the enormity of our shared sin dawned upon us; a promise which I sealed with a kiss.

“It is done,” was all I could say in between gasps. “It is… done.”

“I know, husband,” she replied, the word a delight to my ear. “I know.”

Our pact was sealed. I would delve into the Underworld, collect my third set of embers, and then bless her with the crown of the Mometzcopinque. She would join my coven as a witch and wife until the day our progeny ruled the mountains like the sun over the earth. I untied myself from her flesh and rolled to the side to fade away into a slumber of hard-won exhaustion.

Another of my children awaited me on the other side.