New Developments

Kirasiel looked up from the handful of pages she was reading. "Do you understand just how much discontent this will cause among the major religions?" she almost snarled.

Ahsch gazed back steadily. "Is anything within Enochiel's teachings against the laws governing the establishment of religions within the Kingdom of Starlight?" he asked.

The royal bitch's expression twisted, and rather than respond with a lie or defeat, she stubbornly returned her attention to the papers. Ahsch wanted to sigh, but settled for taking a slow, deep breath. Sometimes, I think you should make Phashak happy and just mount the cunt and make her your toy, Mahat said. The familiar glared at Kirasiel from her position beside Ahsch, though the effect was slightly diminished as she barely saw the girl's head from her perspective near Ahsch's hips, in her fox form as she was.

You know why we can't do that, Ahsch chided. And it's not just because it goes against my morals. Though he hated to admit that the temptation sometimes looked rather appealing.

Mahat yawned boredly. Well, whenever you do end up claiming her, I suppose you'll be able to have her make up for her past and ongoing transgressions.

The hrafthi squinted at her out of the corner of his eye. Who said anything about ever actually claiming her? The plan is to either free her or leave her be.

Because both of those plans are working spectacularly.

Ahsch stifled a growl. Loathe though he was to admit it, his familiar was right. As he continued to clarify what Enochiel's religion would look like, he had come into much more frequent contact with the royal brat. A necessity due to the overall process of establishing a new religion within the Kingdom. He had permission to do so, but needed oversight from a high royal house, at least for a while. Likely a matter of months or years. Given that he was literally creating a new religion from the ground up, it only made sense to include Kirasiel from the beginning - better to adjust Enochiel's teachings before he started preaching them.

And in the vein of freeing Kirasiel from being his Thrall, there was - as there had ever been - no developments. Dominant's Tithe, while more complex than the System Description said, didn't give him any inherent understanding of the full Thralling process, nor any hint of how to undo it. Or if undoing it was even possible. Not to mention the involvement of a god.

"Nothing you've written here breaks any laws, but a number of the other religions will likely go out of your way to make trouble for you," Kirasiel finally said. "Orror's Church will likely try to prevent marriages among your followers, or even dissolve marriages they officiated if your worshipers don't turn their backs on you. And the Irztonites..." she shook her head. "Expect them to dig up every depreciated law, ruling, and precedent they can to make things hard for you."

"I expect as much. Though, I'm willing to bet they won't start right away, so I'll have time to consolidate some power before they act." Ahsch gave a small, scheming smile. "Not to mention I'll have a royal house's backing."

"Odestag's backing, to be clear," Kirasiel stressed. "For numerous reasons, I can't publicly support you."

The hrafthi waved a dismissive hand. "I don't expect much from you beyond getting me in the door. You don't like me anyways, so it'd be more surprising if you did literally anything beyond the bare minimum as far as Enochiel is concerned."

There was a flash of some emotion on the royal brat's face that was quickly masked by her usual expression of disdain. Lucky for Ahsch, he had Threefold Senses and Heart Sight. Not that what he saw there made much sense. Expected was the anger and... 'hate' was maybe a bit strong, but certainly dislike. There was also a low hum of arousal, same as every other time he saw Kirasiel - he wondered absently how long she went between 'sessions.' She'd only sent for a new booklet once, and that was a few weeks ago, the day after he affirmed Enochiel's domains and commandments.

But what really surprised him was some kind of hurt. Or... guilt? He couldn't really tell, the emotion was so wrapped up with all the others. He doubted even Kirasiel herself truly knew what it was. Still, he wondered what could be causing it. Maybe helping him was some kind of betrayal of someone else? Ahsch hadn't had the time or inclination to pry too deeply into the brat's life - public or otherwise - but rumors traveled quickly, and he was aware of her uncle's near-constant presence around her at court. Byrdrek Fel'len had married Bryn Celes, Kirasiel's late aunt, but the Fel'len House was a reclusive and quiet one, and by all accounts Byrdrek barely interacted with them and had instead involved himself in the Celes house for most of his life. Some wondered if he'd been aiming to become Lord of the House - which was silly, as he wasn't a Celes by blood, and therefore wasn't even in the line of succession - and the conspiracy theorists suggested that he had his eye on remarriage - to Kirasiel. Certainly, all his other wives were from middling or low houses, so his ties to Celes were his greatest asset. And given how he seemed to hover around his niece...

But the idea was silly. Even if he did marry Kirasiel - and aside from the conspiracies, there was no indication that was anything close to reality - the head of a high house could only be someone of that blood. Byrdrek was not, and could never be, in consideration for the role.

Regardless of the politics, he certainly seemed to advise the royal bitch a lot, so Ahsch couldn't help but wonder if he would disapprove of her helping the hrafthi in this way. He didn't know enough about Kirasiel's uncle to make a good guess.

"As long as that's clear," Kirasiel said, dragging Ahsch from his thoughts. "And as long as you are willing to take on the responsibility of dealing with the Orrorists and Irztonites, I'll give my approval. Your little cult can begin preaching whenever you want."

Ahsch nodded. "It will still be at least three weeks before the temple is ready, possibly more, before any sermons are given. But we'll start proselytizing soon."

"Just don't cause a disturbance," Kirasiel warned, waving dismissively. With as shallow a bow as he dared, Ahsch left, Mahat on his heels and Dorin falling into step behind and to his left once the Lord Odestag left Kirasiel's study.

"I hate dealing with that bitch," the hrafthi growled softly once they were safely in the lift and on their way down to the Odestag suite.

And yet you plan to help her, eventually, Mahat responded dryly, including Dorin in the conversation.

"Just because I feel responsible doesn't mean I have to like it," the Dominant Mage snapped back. "Things will be a lot more bearable once the issue of her enThrallment is taken care of."

"I hesitate to suggest this... Ahsch," Dorin's face twisted in slight annoyance as the influence of Dominant's Tithe encouraged him to address the hrafthi casually, "but perhaps you're approaching this the wrong way?"

Ahsch raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"Well, you're including domination as one of your domains. I'm not suggesting that you make good on Phashak's hopes and simply claim Lady Celes, but... perhaps there are ways to establish authority over her?"

The hrafthi sighed. "I've entertained such ideas, but my question is if there's any _moral _way to do that. I'm not going to leverage my control over her like that, and she doesn't strike me as the submissive type." She might be a brat, but that's more due to childishness and pettiness than wanting to be spanked or anything, he thought to himself, making Mahat snort in his head.

Dorin nodded slowly. "Perhaps. But - and correct me if I'm wrong - you haven't exactly spoken to her on that subject, have you?"

Ahsch frowned. "Well, of course not, I think that's a good way to just make her more pissed at me than she is usually." He looked at his servant searchingly. "What are you suggesting."

"Lady Celes was never raised to be the Head of a House," Dorin said. "At least, not that anyone's aware of. Which means that she's likely floundering in her new duties, unprepared and adrift. Add to that no - or very few - allies or friends, and I imagine she's feeling rather overwhelmed. And while I haven't been much help in establishing any of Enochiel's teachings, I do recall you once saying that those in positions of public power and authority often enjoyed submitting to another's authority in private."

Ahsch stared. "That's... true..." He thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "But also moot. She holds no fondness for me, that much is clear. Any attempt on my part to become intimate with her, let alone dominant over her, would be an exercise of **** and manipulation. That's off the table."

Dorin bowed his head. "Very well. I simply thought it worth mentioning."

"It is - I don't want to overlook something useful just because I initially dislike the idea. But I can't think of a way to do what you're suggesting without crossing a line that I don't ever want to cross."

The lift reached its destination then, and the trio were soon back in the Odestag suite. Ahsch wandered into the 'main' living room - not the largest or nicest, but the one that his inner circle always tended to use - and found his wife glaring at a report, one leg over the arm of a chair, and a glass of some kind of **** - beer? - dangling in one hand behind the other arm.

"How was the cunt?" Avery asked, bending backwards to look at her husband upside down.

"Still a bitch," Ahsch said with an amused smile. "She approved the proposed teachings, so now it's time to finalize some sermons and start handing out invitations."

"Have fun with that," she said, taking a sip of her drink and going back to the report. Ahsch caught a glimpse of something about profit margins or productivity and shivered. He hated dealing with the business end of things.

There was a tentative presence, directed solely at him, in Daydreamweave. Master... would you please come to my quarters?

Ahsch frowned at his sister's almost timid mental voice. I'll be right there, he replied, quickly heading to the indicated room. He wrestled down concern - Ariin hadn't sounded worried so much as nervous - but hurried his steps as much as he could without actually jogging there. At the closed door to his sister's room, he paused, knocked, and entered at her soft permission.

"Little Bird, what's wr..." he trailed off when he saw Ariin.

For all of their lives, his sister had dressed casually - even after coming to live in the Odestag suite. Simple, loose pants and tunics, the occasional shin- or knee-length skirt if she was feeling especially feminine. Almost always in simple, earthy colors.

Which made the sight that greeted him all the more shocking. While her usual garb had never been especially conservative, and she'd never shied away from revealing generous swathes of skin, the outfit she was wearing now was... 'scandalous' would be a decent word. 'Lewd' probably more accurate.

A network of thin, obsidian-like chains adorned her body in an almost rune-like pattern, leaving a noticeable space around her lower belly for the womb-tattoo mark of Mystic Fluids to be clearly visible. The chains were asymmetric, and she had more around her left shoulder, right hip, and on her right arm and left leg, though every square foot of her body seemed to house at least one loop of the chains. Ahsch could clearly see that the chains went on or near her nipples and between her legs, but thin, not-quite-sheer pieces of dark violet cloth were draped over her breasts and over her crotch; though the former was only held in place by the chain it was woven into, which was fastened at only two points near her armpits, and the latter may as well have been the world's smallest thong. Additional strips, this time actually sheer, were draped in hand-width bands connected from her upper arms to her wrists, making something like slit sleeves, and wider bolts were anchored at her hips, hung down to her upper shins, and looped behind her back to fasten on the back of the opposite hip, hanging low enough to reveal most of her upper thigh.

With a brilliant blush, Ariin bit her lip, then slowly turned in a full circle to reveal that the complicated mess of chains was heavy across her lower back but left her shoulder blades mostly bare. When she was facing Ahsch again, she took a deep breath, then concentrated, and the Dominant Mage could feel her Mana move, before the hip-mounted cloth faded from sight. With an anxious smile, Ariin turned, bent over...

"Fuck," Ahsch hissed. The cloth between her legs wasn't a thong - it only reached near her perineum before it attached to a bit of metal - which then was sunk into her ass, a buttplug holding her panties in place, as it were. Even as her brother's breathing became noticeably ragged, Ariin turned again, and another pulse of her Mana caused the meager cloth between her legs and the curtain over her tits to also vanish, and Ahsch's mouth went dry. Ariin's nipples and clitoris were pierced, the chains on her body hooked to or looped through the rings mounted there, and some of the chains at her crotch ran between her legs to connect to the plug in her ass.

Flushed deeply, Ariin quietly stepped to the side, her feet bare aside from the toe rings that connected to yet more chains, which linked to anklets, up to thighlets - an effect mirrored by rings around each finger, linked to bracelets, then up to armlets. From her desk, she lifted up one more object - a collar, made of a shining, dark violet metal, with a black ring on the front. "I..." she swallowed, unable to meet her brother's gaze. "I had this enchanted. All of this," she gestured to the chains still adorning her body, and with a pulse of Mana, the cloth returned, "is linked into it... and to my Arsenal of Ecstasy. You can give me permission to wear certain parts of it, or make me nude with just a bit of your Mana - and without your allowance, I can't override it." With that proclamation, she held out the collar, and lifted her chin, exposing her neck while her eyes remained lowered.

Ahsch just stared at his sister for a long moment. "Wh-what is all this?" he finally asked.

Ariin's flush somehow deepened. "Your tenth commandment... to be honest with your body and feel no shame in it. This is my honesty: I am your Thrall, your ****, your toy, your worshiper. I belong to you, mind, body, and soul. And I..." with a nervous swallow, she finally met his awed gaze. "And I feel no shame in being utterly owned by my brother, Master, and God."

A shiver ran through Ahsch, something in her words affecting... he was pretty sure something happened to Object of Worship, but he pushed the thought aside. "Are you..."

"If you don't collar me right now I will sic Mahat and Avery on you," Ariin growled.

Ahsch chuckled, nervous and awkward, but took the collar. It was only about two fingers tall, and surprisingly light for how large it was. Looking at the back revealed no clasp or lock, only a pair of enchantments, the purpose of which was easily spotted - once they touched, the metal would fuse, and the collar would become one uninterrupted loop. Another enchantment, this one a little more complex, resided in the ring, but from what little Ahsch could see on casual inspection, he suspected he would enjoy learning all the uses of it. Stepping closer to his sister, Ahsch raised the collar, stopped just short of closing it, and looked his sister in the eyes. The eager anticipation there convinced him, and he closed the loop, drew his fingers around the edge of the collar, then pushed a hint of Mana into the enchantment on the ring, creating a thin, impossibly strong chain leash, which he pulled taught, yanking his sister's body against his.