The Lady of Death
Finally, after days in horseback and camping on forests, the Death Keep reveals itself. A massive fortress built in red volcanic rock and black obsidian, towering over the land
Magnicifent The bards sang, telling the story of how the Mori house built the fortress using magic and masonry
Impenetrable The men described it, mentioning the deep pit, the tall walls and the solid doors
An arid Shithole your father said from behind his desk before you departed Usefull, but a shithole nonetheless
You signal with your head to your scort, the horses neighing as the small retinue approaches the fortress. Lo and behold, the lands leading to the fortress are...well.. not great. You see some olives and lots and lots of vineyards, but the alarming lack of corn, wheat and even barley makes itself apparent. The Mori house built a small fortune in the wine, metal and luxury market, but you could clearly see in the people that a rich house didnt make for a rich land.
The peasants that you rode past didnt look malnourished, but they looked hardened, tired. The type of people that works hard, and gets well fed and taken care of in return, a far cry from the more...round and lazy farmers in your lands.
They need our grain and livestock, we need their money and metal. Simple as Your father's voice echoes once more, as the doors of the keep open, your scort announcing your presence with a trumpet. They have a daughter and we have you, make yourself useful
You breath in, relax and breath out, before dismounting. The stable workers already taking care of your horses.
''This is it'' you think ''Time to meet my future wife''
The sound of marching boots snap you out of your thoughts, as a small and disciplined unit of six soldiers, with an orange haired captain at the front, meet you in the yard
''Lord Anon'' says the woman,a small bow that you and your knights nod to. ''Im Lady Kiara, Im Lady Mori's retainer and captain of the guards,'' Her accent is thick, and you can feel her subtly measuring your worth.
''Captain Kiara'' You straighten your back, triying to look as presentable as you can ''Im delighted to meet you and your fine soldiers''
She nods, before raising her hand, her man split files and form a small corridor, in direction of the door
''Please follow me, Lady Mori is awaiting you'' You nod, and let her guide you into the fortress.
The fortress is warm, and you feel yourself sweating a bit as you walk the halls, wondering if the materials it was built on influences the temperature. Regardless, you walk behind the captain without missing a beat, taking in the exquisite windows and architecture as you walk to the throne room, where the master of the keep and your future wife awaits.
And there, standing next to the throne, is Lady Calliope Mori. Captain Kiara calls for her, and she turns around
You stand there, astonished, at the sight
Her pale yet fair skin, showing not a single imperfection
Her Brilliant pink hair and mezmerising eyes, looking at you, peering into your soul
Her breathtaking red dress, huggin her figure in almost a scandalous way, blood rushing at your face as you look at how round those curves are
She takes a sip of her cup,filled with wine, before slowly moving to meet you. As she approaches, you remember your etiquette classes and drop to one knee
''Lady Mori'' you manage to sound professional and avoid stuttering. Her march stops in front of you, as she takes another look and gives you a polite smile.
''Lord Anon'' she offers you her hand, which you kiss. The warmth of it lingering in your lips as you stand up.
Is there, face to face, where you realize how tall she is. Sure you are not tall, but your wife being almost a head taller than you sure puts things in perspective.
Surprisingly, you dont feel like that's a problem for you. She's so beatiful in every single way that you feel like her being taller is just normal.
''I, huh, hope we can get along'' you manage to stutter, as she delivers another polite smile before taking another sip. Up close, you can tell its expensive wine.
''Cheers to that'' she says, raising her almost empty cup. The tension of the first meeting evaporating.
Lady calliope looks past you and into her retainer
''Kiara, please show our guests their rooms'' The captain nods, ''Me and lord Anon need to talk over a few things''
Before your scort can talk, you lift a hand, knowing that you are safe without guards ''It would be my honor my lady''
As Kiara takes your guards elsewhere, Mori walks to the throne, and you follow at a prudent distance. As the doors close, Lady Mori lets herself fall on her throne, taking a generous gulp of her cup before looking at you
''Alright...Lets get this over with, buddy'' before you can open your mouth, she raises a finger ''Listen,you can drop the act if you want, i wont get mad''
She takes another sip and clicks her tongue in annoyance as she finds out her cup is empty.
''You probably heard the rumors and they are all true. I really dont care about the etiquette thing, my mom arranged this, yadda yadda''
''Ummm lady Mori I-'' she silences you once with a finger, as she stands up and makes her way to the table, taking the cork out of a wine bottle and taking a swing from it
''And cut that lady crap'' she takes another swing and burps, before walking up to you and blowing in your face. ''Im no lady and you know it, probably heard all of that 'the manners of a cheap whore and the body of a cortesan' and decided that it was a lie'' she looks down on you ''Well it was all true''
''So buddy'' She says, taking another swing of the bottle and burping once more ''What do you think about your new piggy wife?''
You stand there, astonished, surprised, dumfounded
''I...you...'' she flashes a cheeky smile
''How are you so cute?''
Mori's smile drops
''huh?''
You take her hands, eyes shining
''You are so cute! you tried really hard to look undesirable but you are just the cutest maiden in the world!''
Mori's face turns as red as her dress as she sputters
''wh-wha?''
''You really tried to play up the scene but we came here before you were sitting on the throne, so you froze and played it cool! So cute!''
''W-wait''
''And then you offered your hand despite not wearing any rings...because you forgot to put them on, probably because you spent so much time choosing the dress! Cute cute cute!''
''I-I-I DID NOT!''
''And when i stood up, you saw i was shorter than you and that made you feel giddy because you think its cute! You are lovely!
Mori takes a step back, covering her red face with her hands, before she whimpers in a soft voice
''Th-that's not true... i dont like short guys, not even cute ones like you!''
''Your slip ups are cute! like when you thought you had wine in your cup but you had none!''
Mori whines, her face as red as a tomato as she covers her ears
''And then you tried to be gross and crass! but you tried so hard despite getting too embarassed to say whore two times! I love you!''
''Stoooooooop'' Mori whines, small tears threathening to exit her eyes as she weakly punches your shoulder.
''And then you got a bit concious about your weight! I love you so much!
''ENOUGH'' Mori half-yells, half-Whines, her face and ears steaming ''IM NOT A CUTE MAIDEN! IM A BAD BITCH AND NO ONE WOULD DARE PUT A HAND ON ME!''
She then points a finger at you
''And you will never get me with your weird tricks! you hear me?! i will never lose to you!''
Knock Knock
Captain Kiara yawned, as she stood up and opened the door to her room. Outside, Owl looked at her
''Status report'' barked Kiara, tired after a day of drills.
''Yes captain'' Owl nodded, before she pulled a diary ''Lady calliope spent the entire evening in her room with her husband, who apparently is determined to put a third child inside of her'' she flipped the page ''he kept calling her 'attempts of seducing him' cute, as he took her in a mating press''
Kiara rolled her eyes
''Too much Info owl, but nice work anyway. Sorry its such a...huh...messy job''
''Its okay Captain'' Owl gave her a smile ''Mumei likes to watch''