Back On The Road

Back at the castle it didn't take long to explain to Eric and his father that one of the daughters of the merfolk King had developed a dangerous obsession with the Prince, and that the Queen of Germonia had foretold what was going to happen during the celebration. They both expressed heartfelt gratitude at my intervention, convinced that I'd saved the Prince's life. I told them if they were approached by an emissary from the King, to let them know what happened, that the Queen thought the obsession was the result of a curse placed on the young mermaid by a troublemaker named Ursula, and that I'd taken her to see the Queen who thought she could break the curse.

I was rather glad it didn't take long, as I had zero intentions of staying anywhere close to the ocean while holding Triton's daughter captive. Very soon, reprovisioned by a very thankful pair of nobles, we were back on the road to Corona with a still bound and gagged Ariel wrapped in oilcloth to keep her hidden. Hilde had smeared some lotion on her first, which she said would keep her moist and protect her skin while out of the water until the bracelet fixed the problem permanently.

I'd also removed the clamshell bra, because I could. Besides, it didn't look very comfortable anyways.

The King had wanted to give me some kind of reward, but I honestly couldn't think of anything he could give me, so I just told him if he'd accept favorable terms on a trade agreement when my father sent a representative I would consider that reward enough and he agreed. With Henry showing up here unexpectedly it felt like a good idea to plant more seeds of my backstory in case word got around even more.

All told we weren't back on the road until after noon, and a lunch where I, my bride, and the Queen were liberally toasted. Hilde seemed quite pleased I attributed the warning to her. More tales of the Witch Queen about were good for her ego.

Cassandra seemed plenty happy herself, getting to take part in saving the life of a Prince was quite an adventure, she told me, and that she couldn't wait to tell her father about it. My whole party had been included in the festive lunch, which was quite an honor for Ruby and the maids. Though Ruby didn't seem to care much.

On the ride she told me she actually didn't care much for cities and preferred the wilderness. Not really shocking considering her nature.

We arrived fairly late at the trade campsite, which didn't bother me much. We weren't in any kind of hurry now in the woods away from the ocean. I'd hoped by snatching Ariel early, before she'd made her bargain with Ursula, I wouldn't have to worry about her, and with the seagull downed, hopefully couldn't be tracked. Triton was sure to have magical ways to find Ariel normally but Trace Defense should prevent that, I hoped.

If agents of the King did show up they'd at least probably be a whole lot weaker out of the water and my team could probably handle them. And we'd be even stronger by morning.

.

Cassandra didn't think it was at all odd that the maids joined Hilde and me in my tent for the night, it was perfectly normal to her in fact. I could have had Ruby in here too, but I thought it better she stay with Cass. The two of them were bonding and I've always found that strong interpersonal connections make for a more stable harem. Which is also part of why I encouraged Snow and Ella to team up.

The four of us had a great deal of fun in the tent that night, thanks to Sexual Calibration. There was a good chance the three of them were already pregnant though, so I didn't bother with the protections to prevent it. I didn't expect The Gauntlet to take long enough for that to become a problem, and I've always found women looked damn sexy when pregnant.

My dreams of a big titty Goth Snow White, with an equally big belly, were interrupted sometime in the early morning as Cassandra, followed by Ruby, barged into the tent.

She was pretty easy to make out as her hair was now a glowing blueish-white. "Something just happened!" She said loudly, clearly upset. "My hair just changed!"

I sat up from the furs where I'd been sleeping. "More than that. How do you feel about me?"

She looked at me, startled, as if seeing me for the first time. "I love you? That's so strange. You're a nice guy, don't get me wrong, but you're a guy." She looked back at Ruby, then turned back to me. "I like women, yet I love you. And you own me? Where did that come from?"

"The bracelet I gave you just attuned, which both unlocked your potential and made you mine. The emotional connection is to make things easier, though it can work in reverse." I mussed Ella's hair as she smiled up at me, still cuddling Snow's naked body. "Ella here declared her love for me which made her mine. Anyways you are part of my crew now and I'll be keeping you. As a bonus, you and Ruby can stop sneaking looks at each other now and just have some fun."

"What? But I..." She looked back at Ruby again, blushing.

Ruby, for her part, just smiled. "I like girls as well as guys, and you haven't been nearly as covert as you think, checking me out." She gave Cassandra a wink.

Cassandra looked back at me when I started talking again, still blushing fiercely. "The bracelet will gradually cause you to be attracted to me as well, but I want you to know I have no intentions of forcing myself on you until you are ready." I smiled down at the girls in my camp bed. "I have plenty of company as is. We have a more pressing problem though. Your hair isn't your only change. You now, or will soon, have the powers and skills of the ultimate version of you. Which in your case means manipulating entropy and others' emotions. Something you're going to need to get a hang of so you don't accidentally harm others."

"What? How?"

I shrugged. "Apparently, some time in the future, you get a hold of something called the moonstone, which imbues you with its powers; it also turns you evil, I think, but thankfully, we don't have to deal with that."

"And that's why my hair now glows like moonlight?" I nodded. "This is a lot to get used to. Certainly more of an adventure than I was expecting."

Hilde was now sitting up as well, and gloriously naked, of course. "You should address our Lord as Master. I'll make allowances as you're new, but I expect proper respect be shown to him in the future."

Cassandra blinked at the Queen, who managed to look imperious while stark naked quite well really, then turned back to me. "Sorry, Master."

The glowing-haired woman was potentially quite dangerous so I understood Hilde wanting to establish a pecking order, but this really wasn't the time. "Don't worry about it. This is a big adjustment. Why don't you go cuddle up with Ruby for the rest of the night and we'll talk more in the morning."

She nodded and the dark-haired woman led her out, after giving me a knowing wink. Ruby would get her settled down.

"Think you can help her train her abilities?" I asked Hilde.

She nodded. "Sounds like a power imbued by a magical artifact. It should be mostly instinctive, what she'll really need is to learn focus and restraint. That I can do." She pulled me back down into the furs with her and wrapped herself about me. "I'll teach her to serve you well, too." She purred in a husky voice. "When I'm done with her she'll be begging for your dick, no matter if she likes girls."

I laughed, holding her close and closed my eyes. "Just remember what I said, no breaking my toys."

Ella and Snow cuddled up with me on the other side and the busty Goth squeaked as I pulled her on top of me. I settled back to sleep just as I liked, covered in naked women.

Checking what Cassandra and Gothel got me from The Company could wait till morning.