Interlude: The waves we make

Astrola paused outside the door to her mistress' chambers, sighing. Recently, making her reports was anxiety inducing enough without there being such worrying news as she now bore. Leraje had never been particularly kind or patient, and with the workload she was now shouldering her temper was shorter than ever. But she knew perfectly well that waiting would not make things any easier, so with a little squaring of her shoulders the devil reached up and knocked.

"Come in."

The words were clipped, terse. Astrola wasted no time in obeying. Stepping within, her eyes briefly traveled over the familiar disorder of the room to stop on the desk centered on the opposite wall. It was a big affair; Astrola could have stretched herself across the middle of its polished surface and been unable to touch any of the edges despite her significantly greater than average height, but despite that, the desk was almost groaning under mountains of paperwork. Books, ledgers, scrolls, loose papers and other paraphernalia entirely covered its polished surface and almost completely hid the form of the person who was supposed to make sense of it all.

This person was seated behind the desk, writing something on a scroll. Her quill raced across the paper at such a speed Astrola almost expected ink to go flying, but long practice on the part of her mistress saw her rolling up the scroll without so much as a drop of ink out of place. She placed it on a small but complex rune circle drawn on a small table beside her chair, then a breath and a flash of light later the scroll was gone, no doubt already in the hands of the messenger who would bear it to its destination.

This business finished, Leraje turned her attention to Astrola. The devil stepped up to the desk, noticing the deep bags under her mistress' eyes, her gaunt body, and her unkempt hair. But alongside these signs and more expressive than any of them was the bone-deep exhaustion in her posture that her mistress could not help but betray with every movement, the kind of exhaustion which came only with weeks or months of handling far too much and working for far too many hours.

Astrola halted in front of the desk, gave a quick bow, and immediately launched into her report, anxious not to rouse her mistress' ire by wasting a second more of her time than necessary. "There are strange movements in the Mavenian capital, Mistress. A little over two weeks ago there was a fuss in the citadel well after midnight, resulting in the guard being doubled throughout the city. A little less than a week later there was a disturbance at the Cathedral of Marstolle, again in the middle of the night. Only a few days after that, an oni approached the citadel, claiming to have news for Princess America, and strangely, she was not killed or imprisoned. Instead, we believe the princess began working with her. It's most likely her information pertained to the smuggling ring that we've been trying to infiltrate, because about a week later the princess along with her bodyguard and certain members of the city guard attacked most of the smuggling ring's safehouses. They've almost entirely dismantled the ring in the capital, though we have reason to believe they didn't get the ringleaders. The other branches will learn about the collapse of the Mavenian branch soon if they haven't already, but the princess isn't done; she's chartered a riverboat for Eldfall and is likely nearing that city now."

Leraje's expression did not change aside from a slight narrowing of her eyes. "Anything else?"

"Well, we have heard several rumors that the Archbishop has disappeared, but we can't verify them. And there was one rumor of a strange Dark-race being involved as well."

"And that's seriously all you could find out?" Her mistress' biting tone made Astrola flinch and she nodded apologetically, dropping her gaze to the desktop. "Hmm." Leraje thought for a few moments, her hands almost automatically reaching out and organizing a stack of reports. "Find out what you can about this oni who's working with the princess. See if you can find out more about the situation with the Saintess as well. We have more spies in Eldfall than the capital, whatever the princess does there I'll know about before long. If-"

Whatever she intended to say was cut short as the door crashed open. In the threshold stood Reala, arms crossed across her chest with a pout on her face. "Ley-Ray, the harpy queen refuses to come for my birthday party! Make her come!"

Astrola swiftly retreated to one side as Leraje rubbed the bridge of her nose in weary exasperation. "Of course, my Queen. I'll make sure she sees the error of her ways. She'll be here for your birthday, don't worry."

"Good! And another thing! I need you to..."

Realizing that the Demon King would not be done with her court mage anytime soon, Leraje shot Astrola a look of dismissal which her subordinate was not at all sorry to receive. As clever as she could be when necessary, Reala the Demon King was much less common than Reala the spoiled child. Not for the first time Astrola wondered why Leraje put up with her, but it wasn't her business. Her business was following her mistress' orders and she set out to do so, dispatching some of those under her command to the oni tribes with which they were on friendly terms before spreading her wings and taking to the air in preparation for a long flight south. She needed to handle anything done in proximity to a Saintess personally.

"You're what?" America sat wide-eyed, staring at Kira in unbounded shock.

"I'm pregnant," Kira repeated. "And before you ask, no, I can't talk about it, but now that you've noticed there's no point in trying to hide it any longer."

"But you said succubi can't get pregnant."

"I said usually we can't get pregnant. Mine's a special case, but like I said, I'm not going to talk about it, so don't ask."

"Okay..." America said slowly. "But isn't it dangerous for you to be fighting and everything with a baby?"

Kira shrugged. "Dark-races are tough. It's not slowing me down yet."

"But are you sure you don't wanna sit this out? It'll be dangerous enough for you already without considering your baby."

The busty succubus shook her head. "No chance. You're not leaving me behind for this one."

America was about to say something more when a bell rang somewhere outside their cabin. "Dinnertime already?" she murmured in surprise.

"Already nothing, I'm starving," Kira groaned, leaping to her feet and making for the door.

She dearly missed Fenrir, not only for his guidance and protection but also for the sex he provided. It had begun several days after he had disappeared, with Kira finding herself feeling more and more hungry, soon eating enough for three large men at every meal. The cause for this was easy enough to discover; after all, her belly was growing at a pace that would leave any human midwife flabbergasted. Kira had no frame of reference for how long succubus pregnancies were supposed to take, but she couldn't help but feel that this wasn't entirely normal.

'Course, since when has anything involving the boss been normal? But I really wish he was here to fuck me again. No matter how much I eat, it never really seems to fill me up. I bet his cum would do the trick.' She had become aware of a strange craving for his semen not long after his disappearance, and comparing notes with Chellise revealed that she was feeling it as well, though not as strongly.

She shook her head slightly, putting her thoughts aside as she turned into the galley where their meal awaited them. They were nearly at Eldfall now, and putting the final touches on their plan. They hoped to reach the city before the knowledge of their actions in the capital did, but Brandis was doubtful that they could outrun all the rumors. She hoped they would, since that would make it easier to find and rescue Safara, but there was no way to tell until they actually reached the city.

Lilli paused by one of the great stained-glass windows which lined the corridor, looking out at the trees which swayed gently in the breeze. Two of her younger children ran past, giggling; she watched them out of sight fondly before turning her gaze back to the window. They were in his summer palace, high up in the mountains where it stayed cool even in the height of summer, and the view was a thing to marvel at.

Before long she continued her walk, finally turning in at a door which opened easily at her touch. Within she found him reading aloud in the midst of a sprawl of youngsters, his once black fur now shot through with gray. He looked up and smiled at her approach, laying a gentle kiss on her lips when she bent her face to his. She caressed his muzzle with one hand, her fingers stroking along the fine fur there which had now become almost entirely white. But when she broke the kiss and straightened again, the eyes which followed her had lost none of their keen intelligence.

"What is it?" he asked, the familiar lifting of one eyebrow accompanying his words. His eyes shone with a fondness which she knew hers must be answering in kind.

"The delegation from Ellevandra has arrived," she answered. "We've made them comfortable in the guest wing, but it seems the queen herself chose to accompany this party."

His smile broadened. "Ah, finally, she accepted one of my invitations." He looked about him for a moment at the faces turned attentively to him before saying, "I'm sure she can wait until I've finished my story." A cheer rose from the assembled children, and he began once more to speak.

Lilli watched him for a moment. The story he was telling was a very old one, of his defeat of a great dragon which had challenged his rule. Though he held a book before him, his eyes roamed his audience instead, retelling the events from memory rather than the written account. She thought back to those early days, finding herself marveling at all that had changed, and all that had not. She was only pulled from her thoughts by the rising of her lord and master, and had to chuckle at her own lapse of awareness. He tilted his head inquisitively as they left the room together, ignoring the sharp upswing in noise that occurred just before the door closed behind them.

"I'm afraid I'm growing nostalgic in my old age," she said with a little smile.

"What makes you say that?"

"You mean aside from the fact that I become lost in thought at the drop of a hat these days?"

This time he joined in on her quiet chuckle. "Well, I will say you wear the age well. You don't look a day over eight hundred."

Lilli purred. "Flattery will get you everywhere, sir."

At that he gave a deeper laugh. "You say flattery, but I say it's true." He took her hand in his. "I still remember what you looked like on that day you first pledged yourself to me, and believe me when I say you have only grown more beautiful in the centuries since. Looking at you, it seems hard to believe you approach your twilight years."

She squeezed his hand. "Don't feel sad about it. I've lived a good life, one much better than I could ever have asked for, and I've still got a few good years left in me. And..." She hesitated, then continued, "It seems selfish to say it, but I'm glad it's me who will die first. I don't know if I could bear to lose you, even to time."

He swept her up into a hug, warm, tender, and full of the love they shared. It was interrupted by a stirring from below, something hard pressing into Lilli's stomach.

She laughed, immediately aware of what it was. "Aimi didn't drain you dry?"

"She tried," he grinned back, "but I've always got a round or two in me for you."

"Poor Queen Cennelle, she'll be waiting for hours at this rate," Lilli laughed.

His rich warm laughter melded with hers as he carried her into a nearby room, already beginning to disrobe her. His hands, both rough and gentle at once, fanned the flames of her arousal and made her gasp and moan with their movements over her body. She ground her hips against him, moistening quickly at the feeling of his shaft against her stomach. He reached to pull her skirt aside, his fingers stroking her-

A thud awoke her. Involuntarily she groaned, rolling onto her side as she tried to recall the dream, but it was no use. She was awake now whether she wanted to be or not. With a sigh she sat up.

"Sorry!" A voice hissed. Koreen carefully righted the pot she had accidentally knocked over then stole out of the room, but not without another apologetic look towards Lilli.

Of course Koreen had knocked over a pot just when it was beginning to become exciting. The motherly succubus glanced towards the small window which pierced the south-eastern wall and saw the first gray light beginning to show in the courtyard beyond. With another sigh she extricated herself from the tangle of succubi, gently brushing a lock of hair from Violetta's face and trying to ignore the wetness between her thighs.

As she coaxed the fire back to life her thoughts turned towards her dream. But had it really been a dream? It had seemed so vivid. Even now she could recall every detail with perfect clarity. Could it possibly have been a vision of her future, a little gift from Carnachias, perhaps? She remembered the children running about and laid a hand on her stomach. It was getting big now, and just yesterday she had been sure she had felt a kick from within. It would not be long now before she gave birth. She hoped Fenrir would make it back before she did.

He had looked old in her dream (if it really had been a dream), but not bent or diminished in strength. Indeed, Lilli thought the silver in his fur and on his muzzle had lent him a sage majesty. They had talked of her ****, a **** by old age. Lilli had not even known such was possible for a succubus, but if she had to die, it did not seem such a bad way to go. She hoped it had been a vision given her by Carnachias.

That future had seemed a very happy one.

A little interlude for you, including a glimpse into what's happening at the Demon King headquarters and a strange dream(?) had by Lilli back at the castle. I still need to read through a fair chunk of my story and I'm fairly sure I'm going to edit In the Between as well as Elmeria's Choice, since both have sections where I think I could have done better. I've also been tightening up the flow of my writing as I read through it, but again, if I make any drastic changes I'll let you know.
Today, however, is a special day, because a year ago today I posted my first four chapters of this story. Now we have fifty-six chapters and a little over one hundred and seventy thousand words, and all of it (if I may flatter myself) is well worth the read. It really doesn't seem like a full year since I started writing, and I certainly never imagined that my story would grow this much. Thanks for sticking with me, and here's to another year!

Also, do you think I'll finish this story inside the next year, or no?