| Duke Drederigo D'Honaire sat upon the thrown of the former king of
Aqualaria. He leers at the scantily clad amazonian Captain of the Guard,
who is dressed in a leopard printed....shift that barely covered her private
parts. After catching his eye in the prisoner train, he had his pet mage's
work their.....artistry on the still defiant bitch until her demeanor was
more......pleasant. The woman could no longer count past ten, and hardly
remembered her life before having been renamed Bambi......but she was happy
and eager to please her master. Drederigo smiles and the barely clad bimbo
shivers in delight.
Thus I balance the scales, the duke chuckles to himself. These
pagan holdouts from the time of the Greeks shall no longer be an affront
to what must be! Woman was placed to serve man, and now my new mistress
will serve me....and be serviced by me until I tire of her! Then I'll give
her to the boys.....they deserve something for their faithful service to
the new King!
The kings dark train of thought is interrupted as a figure storms into
the throne room. Dred sighs at yet another interruption from Duke Zular!
"Your 'majesty,'" the young man scolds, with a trace of sneer in his
voice. "Playing with the local trash? And so soon after your wife's death?
Most unseeming!"
The young duke stops when he suddenly finds Dred's sword at his throat!
One thing that he failed to remember was......Dred still was a warrior
to not take lightly.....and had recently dropped the 'knight of virtue'
cloak he had worn for years. The young man begins to sweat.
"I shall decide what is 'seeming' and what is not!" the angered D'Honaire
whispers in an icy tone. "And no young pup....no matter how much of a 'friend'
he has in our ally....that rid me of my annoying son, Fred.....I will not
tolerate that tone of voice!
"Remember," hisses the king. "Allies we may be, and allies to that wyrm,
but.....if you try anything foolish, I will withhold the Product......that
you like to have......AND my alchemists are the only ones who make that
particular with the.....unfortunate demise of your supplier......" The
king smiles, and Zular grinds his teeth in frustration!
Zular had developed a taste for Oberon's Ambrosa. A powder that was
more potent than cocaine and magical in nature, it brought bliss to the
consumer. A rare product that had only come from Malbacton, it also turned
out to be more addictive than the arrogant duke had believed. Without it,
Zular would die in agony as his body suffered withdrawl pains. How this
old fart had acquired his secret....and then arranged the death of his
point of contact in Malbacton.....Zular still hadn't figured out! Another
thing he hadn't figured out was how Drederigo had fooled him with his "good
knight" act. Only when Dred had arrived in person after killing his agent
(who had delivered a message that had threatened some type of blackmail
for the indisrections of Lady Fredrina....who was now deceased due to the
Plague....along with her mother.....) had the young duke not only found
Dred was another secret ally to Minestus.....but even more adept at intrigue
than he! Now the man had Zular's life in his hands.....and Zular dared
NOT even try in the slightest to disobey him!
"I apologize, my liege." Zular says, almost choking on the words. Dred
chuckles and gestures to Bambi. She scampers up onto his lap and giggles
as Drederigo pets, pinchs, and touches various parts of her body.
"Any word yet from our fiery friend?" Dred asks as he pinches Bambi
in a particulary sensitive area (which brings yet another gale of empty
headed laughter from her). "Before all this madness had started he had
said he was almost finished with that pet project. The one which would
make the conquest of the surrounding area much easier?"
"Nary a peep," Zular mutters. "'Tis a shame, too. The thought of having
a soldier who could recover from any nonfatal wound....even regenerate
lost limbs.....was an exciting one. A new race entirely, the dragon had
bragged. A man/beast with all the positive parts of lycanthropy, but with
none of the negatives.....including the ability to generate more through
bites! I shudder to think how a package like would come back to haunt us.....after
we had thought we'd cleared out all threats......"
"Well," sighs Dred. "I know through....sources that he's alive. I know
that he is asleep right at this moment....in his lair! As soon as he gives
us the last bit, we shall no longer need him. An unseen knife until too
late....especially coated with a special blend of mercury powdered with
ground dragonbane......"
"And that way in," smiles Zular, suddenly admiring the practicality
of this guy. Perhaps being under Drederigo shan't be so bad after all!
His ways of doing things met with Zular's approval!
A black garbed figure lowers the parabolic microphone that had listened
in to the conversation the two humans had in the room across from the roof
the Golem was hiding on. The figure shakes his head in wonder.
This world is definitely not a fairy tale! thinks Probe. Their
dark sides are just as black....and murky as back Home! The AI, curiosity
part and parcel to it's breed and design, tucks this piece of information
for latter use.....if needed. Probe's Avatar turns quietly to leave to
start some mayhem when, something happens.
The AI almost falls out of orbit when his Communication circuits click
on. Somebody from the Alliance was calling him and his buddies in orbit!
-
 <Alliance ship "Saratoga"
to all Intel robot ships,> a female voice says. <Stand by for communications
from Captain Sterndeck.>
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