Yes. It’s exactly as it seems.

“Ladies and Gentleman of the court! Vassals of Phebis and His King, and the knights of The King’s Own! We toast! The Princess of Phebis and the King of Itheria are betrothed!”

Claudius did not hesitate to shout at the top of his lungs what he most certainly considered splendid news, and he grabbed the mug of wine in front of you while you held your water. In that instant, several Counts and Barons stood in shock, including Countess Eria herself.

Damn It! You knew you had forgotten something. You acted quick to remember the faces of your enemies, assuming every look of horror or shock were those that allied with Eria. It was all you could do. It was already too late to slap the half chugged mug of wine from Claudius’ face, so you drank your water too. Last thing you needed was delivering a look in front of the whole hall that hinted you new exactly what was going on. This was the result of your actions, Eria! Her next move would be what determined the course of the next few decades as far as foreign affairs with Itheria meant. You could already feel the headache building up. It was not just the jovial speech that King Claudius was spewing, but the implications of what was sure to happen next. He had chugged the whole mug of wine in celebration, and the clock was ticking.

You watched and listened as the charismatic King began to slur his words, which was taken as humorous to a few at first, but then his balance started slipping as well. Then he started ****.

“Father?” It was Gregan who approached the King first, who had broken out in a fit of coughing and regurgitating a few sips of the wine he just drank. His eyes in agony as he observed the mug in his hand and fell to the floor in a twitching heap of flesh. Now Gregan ran to the King and you stopped Clara from doing the same.

“Papa!” You held her by the waist with her tight rump pressed firmly against your cock.

“Clara, you mustn’t,” You held the squirming princess in your arms as Queen Mereen ran around the table to hold the dying king in her arms. “Sir Garret!”

“Here, your majesty!” Garret pulled his fine blade from it’s sheath.

“Knights of Itheria!”

“Here!” Dozens of armored men in the grand hall stood up from their positions, many of them already armed and pulling out their swords at being summoned. These were the well trained King’s Own within the castle, and many more men-at-arms that you had brought with your entourage patrolled the walls of the city as well.

“Escort everyone to their rooms. No one, not even a mouse leaves this castle! And not a rat this city! Secure the perimeter. Have the temples sound their bells. The killer is close, they have to be!” You gave your orders and the Princess was now in your embrace crying into your shoulder. You were thinking to yourself that this had to do for know, and cursed yourself for losing Countess Eria during the commotion.

“Sir Garret”

“Yes, your majesty?” Your Marshal was saluting you in respect.

“Search for Countess Eria, have your best men with you. Even if an entire legion leaves the city make sure she doesn’t.”

“It’ll be as you say, Your Majesty,” With that statement, Garret left, and the entire room was a beehive of activity.

Gregan was standing not too far as the Kinght’s of Itheria ushered the nobles out like sheep and he stared blankly into his palms. He stood out as the only person in the grand room to be absolutely still with the exception of you and the Princess who was still in your arms. You couldn’t help but notice him as a result. To shock him out of his stupor you call to him multiple times, but it was not until the third try that you grabbed his attention. Your shout was loud enough to make Clara flinch a little.

“Gregan!”

Finally hearing his name he looked up to you. You were slightly elevated on the dais and merely observed his dumbfound expression, “W-What do I do, Your Majesty?”

The formality was a little weird coming from him. He had no problem being conversational with you not moments before, but this man, who was older than you was looking to you for leadership. This was common for Phebisians when it came to the relationship it shared with Itheria, but to feel it first hand made you understand why the kings here lacked the prestige necessary to keep the counts in check. You shook your head and responded, “You are king now, Gregan. Tell me what you want to do.”

Gregan’s face grew more pensive and eventually, he spoke, “I can get the levies to help secure the city, and the walls!”

“That will be helpful, King Gregan,” You say, while handing the Princess a handkerchief, “I’ll personally escort your sister to her chambers. I trust you can see to your mother and wife?”

“Of course.”

With the little bit of direction you gave him, you see that his wits were returning a bit and knew what had to be done, at least for the next couple hours. You wait a bit for Princess Clara to clean herself up a little and accept an escort from your knights to her chambers. You were just crossing your own rooms when the Princess stopped, forcing you and your knights to follow suit. She leaned in to whisper in your ear, which probably wasn’t necessary because most of the time she spoke was a whisper anyways. “I don’t wish to be alone tonight.”

“I’ll have my knights posted outside your door...”

“What I mean is I wish to be with you tonight, My King.” The usually quiet princess did what you could probably call ‘raising her voice.’

“It’s quite unlike you to make that sort of request. Wouldn’t it be...improper?”

“If I want to be Queen of Itheria, I must be as bold as a queen...”

As you hear her mutter your words back to you, you stifle a chuckle. So this was her idea of bold? Lady Victoria wouldn’t even have asked for permission. Your mind quickly wandered to the beauty, and it got you wondering how someone like Count Erwin could even spawn such an exquisite example of a woman. Princess Clara was beautiful too though, and if she was as adventurous as Victoria it would’ve been nice to see her long hair wave as she bounced on your dick, or to pull it when taking her from behind. If your going to be cautious about Victoria’s intentions though, perhaps it was safe to question Clara’s too given the events that unfolded tonight. You grabbed her by the arm and continued the way to her chambers, the knights followed without hesitation.

“That was very good, Clara. I’d expect nothing less from an astute intellectual like yourself. I imagine if you had that assertive thought the last time I offered you entry to my room, things would be quite different now.” You guys stood just outside her door now, “If I’m bored after I finish what I have to; maybe I’ll come check on your safety.”

You nod to your knights to assure that they will stay posted at the door and rush quickly to your own chambers shortly after. It was no surprise to see that Sir Garret and Akina were already inside waiting for you, it was part of the reason you rejected Clara’s request=it wasn’t just **** for her rejecting you previously. Clara would’ve had to be willing to let these two join if she wanted you tonight. Crap! That may have been pretty fun. What did surprise you though was that Akina was dressed head to toe in the garments of a maid that worked in the Phebisian Castle. The thought of having an entire staff of of maidservants be beastfolk at your own stronghold back at the Capital was getting your loins to stir a bit. Your servant, Sarah, would have to fill that fantasy somehow when you got back.

The two councilors set up a makeshift throne with the finest chair available in the room and awaited you. Removing some of your garment as you approached the chair you sat down, “Okay. A situational report, and suggestions.”

“As instructed, Your Majesty,” Sir Garret began, “I had my finest look for the Countess named Eria, and to no avail were we able to find her or her conspirators. About a dozen nobles have gone missing, with the gates sealed shut. It’s as if they’ve simply vanished.”

“How do a dozen nobles just vanish!” You slammed your fist hard enough on the arm of the chair to feel it throbbing, “That bitch was all we needed to prevent an all out war!”

“My apologies, your majesty,” Garret bowed, “I suspect magic was at play, but Lady Vessa is the expert in such matters.”

“Can you confirm this, Akina?”

The maid clad feline nodded, “Claudius’ spymaster was under my wage, and as a result any tunnels leading out of Philos Castle are well known. None were used according to my intelligence.”

“Then war it’ll come to, unless one of you sees and alternative.” You looked to your advisers and both shook their head.

“Any alliances with the crown of Phebis would have ceased with King Claudius’ breath. Countess Eria would be **** to act in revolt now while the royal family is weak, even if it wasn’t her original plan.” Garret surmised.

“When’s the soonest we can get word to the Capital to rally troops and come to the aid of Phebis?” You ask.

“You mean to go through with the betrothal still, then? The old King is dead. Maybe you can use that as an excuse to let the Phebisians fight it out.” Akina sounded amused at the thought of a civil war in Phebis.

“It’s clear that pr...King Gregan would lose the war, and I would miss the opportunity to gain a powerful hook on him if I did not come to his aid. However, if Countess Eria claims the title of Queen, I gain nothing. Itheria would lose precious trade, and we’d be **** to invade anyways, but if she already has ties to other kingdoms supporting Phebisian independence it will make the fight that much harder. How long send word?”

“I can have a rider there in a week.”

“Two days. Three, tops.” Akina proclaimed after Sir Garret, who shot her a look bordering rage and disbelief. All it earned him was a smug face from Akina. “The message is already on it’s way.”

“Very well,” you reply, “Then, Sir Garret. I would use your rider to go to Rublia and buy every band of mercenaries available and **** the city’s levies here. Another rider to Duke Magus as well. With word that if he’s finished sorting out his pest problem that I need every available Frost Knight in Philos. I’m not asking this time.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! By your order.” Sir Garret dismissed himself from the room leaving you and the cat maid.

“And you. If we are suspecting magic at play, summon Lady Vessa with the troops the Capital sends.”

“I’m no amateur,” scoffed Akina, “I already have.”

You were sure letting Lady Sera get as close as she did was pretty amateur, but you kept that thought to yourself. Should you call on the other duchies too despite their distance to Philos? You sigh. Tonight had exhausted you, and it was still pretty young by most standards. The temple bells ringing in the distance let you know that a manhunt in the city was ongoing. You needed to blow off some steam, the question was how. There might be some fun consummating before the marriage in Princess Clara’s room. But there was also a sexy catfolk dressed like a submissive maid right in front of you. The only other thing you could think of was torturing Lady Sera to get some real answers out of her [you will gain the trait ‘sadistic’].