Mutual Manipulations

Vel was deep in thought as a crewman rowed him towards his aunt’s ship. His mind wasn't dwelling on the meeting though, at least not under the pretense that it had been arranged. He was confident he knew how that would play out and that it would hold no surprises.

No, he was thinking about how he could work on his aunt during and after. He had far less insight into her personality and what motivated and drove her than any of the women he had previously done extensive work on.

He hadn't grown up with her always around, they’d never even lived in the same household, and her mind was quite well defended from what he could tell.

His mother had been able to give him a little bit to go on, but it had mostly been about how she behaved and operated rather than why. Useful information by all means, but he knew from both instinct and experience that knowledge about motivations and reasons was more useful for deep manipulation.

Knowing why a person did what they did or behaved a certain way was better than knowing what they did or how they behaved. Vel knew his aunt used, manipulated, and discarded men, but why? He knew she'd rejected the traditional role and life of a noble lady, but again he didn't know why.

Had she sought to spite and anger her family, which she certainly had, or had she simply craved freedom? Perhaps both? Were there some other reasons he couldn’t fathom?

Vel didn’t doubt that he could coax some of that knowledge from her mind, but considering her training he would probably have to be careful in order to go unnoticed. Did he have time for that?

The heir remained lost in his thoughts as he climbed the ship's ladder and made his way to his aunt's quarters, where they had arranged to meet.

As such the sight that greeted him upon entering caught him completely by surprise

His aunt was wearing nothing but a shocked expression, her pale and naked body looking glorious in the morning light coming in through her window.

“Nephew! Don’t you know how to knock?”

She sounded more amused than angry and made no move to cover herself. Vel was pretty sure he had knocked, but had there been a reply? He had no idea; he’d been too absorbed in his own thoughts.

But now, thanks to the sight of Fionne’s naked flesh, he had been firmly brought back to the present.

His mind raced. She knew when he'd be arriving, and Vel was exactly on time. This was no accident. It was a calculated move from his aunt. A miscalculated one, but she didn't know that yet.

He had only briefly glanced at her nakedness when he entered, his eyes quickly locking onto her face and maintaining eye contact.

“Apologies, Aunt Fione, I knocked and thought I heard you telling me to enter. I’ll quickly step outside while you get ready.”

The expression of surprise on her face was short lived as she quickly put on a mask of feigned amusement, but it had been there. She had not expected Vel to be so composed, no doubt anticipating a flustered and embarrassed young man who’d be unable to keep from ogling her. And not too long ago she would have been at least partially right, but extremely attractive naked family members were nothing new for him anymore.

“Oh, don’t bother, you’ve seen all there is to see now anyway. Besides, we’re family.”

Vel accepted with a nod and went over to seat himself in one of the two chairs present in Fionne’s quarters while his aunt dressed herself. She made sure to take her time, languidly rolling on her stockings while still completely nude, giving Vel an excellent view of her backside. It looked nice, round yet firm, with barely a hint of sag. Her back was flawless, not a single blemish on the pale and freckled skins. Unless one counted freckles as blemishes, and Vel would have words for anyone that did.

Having already surprised and perhaps impressed his aunt with his composure, Vel made no effort to pretend he wasn’t drinking in the sight of her as she continued to get dressed at a leisurely pace.

By the time she finally sat down across from him, Vel found himself half-hard in trousers. Dina was going to get it good later.

“I am sorry to have to call you in for another pointless meeting, dear Velas, but we must keep up the pretense that we are doing something, or else morale will deteriorate.”

She sighed, and to Vel it seemed like genuine frustration.

“I have nothing new for you, and I assume you likewise have nothing new to report to me.”

Vel couldn’t stop a self-satisfied smile from spreading across his face.

“Actually, Admiral, I do have something to report. I know where our quarry is located, and I will be receiving steady updates about their whereabouts and course from now on.”

The shocked disbelief on Fionne’s face was not short-lived at all.

“What? How?”

It was fun to see his usually composed and in control aunt so flabbergasted.

“The merfolk I uh, bonded with, will be scouting for us from now. Nothing moves in or on these waters that they do not know about.”

It occurred to Vel that, with his aunt in this shocked state, it was a good time to use fracture.

Immediately her cloudy membrane cleared, and cracks formed, giving him some insight into her mind. Without delving into it and just reading what he could through the surface and the cracks, Vel got a pretty good picture of how she was feeling.

His aunt was wrong-footed, and probably had been since her attempt to discomfort him with her nudity had failed. That was good. She was also, despite herself, impressed with him. Fionne clearly still underestimated him but had once again been **** to rethink how she saw him at least a little.

He also read both eagerness and ambition in her. That initially surprised Vel, but in truth it made sense. He might have risen in her estimation again, but she still saw him as barely more than a boy, easy to manipulate and use for her own ends. And he had just revealed to her his access to an asset that would be invaluable to any ambitious admiral. The merfolk.

Fionne didn’t know the full extent of what Vel had done and how he had gained the loyalty of Nerea and her kin, and thus she didn’t realize that it would not be something she could replicate or wrest from Vel. Perhaps letting her think she could ferret how he had done it out of him would be beneficial. Let her think she was manipulating him, all while she kept giving him opportunities to bind her to him.

After first reinforcing his previous suggestions to her, Vel formed the first new one. Velas is even more useful than I thought, I must make winning him over an even higher priority. It sank in without issue, as he had expected.

Simply showing my body is clearly not enough, I need to attempt more daring measures. Vel felt his dick twitch as that too sank in easily.

Another way to stoke the fire in his aunt occurred to him. She and his mother were on bad terms and Vel had picked up on a degree of competitiveness between the two of them, especially from Fionne. I can’t let my sister have an asset as useful as Velas to herself, I need to get him wrapped around my finger by any means.

As useful as it was proving to be, the degree to which his aunt underestimated him grated on Velas’ nerves. He was The Heir, The Chosen, The Promised One, and so on. He was the most powerful being in this world. He decided to begin helping Fionne to see the error of her ways, even if it was perhaps a bit early for that.

Velas has proven far more capable than I thought possible, I must have misjudged him. It took the most power out of all his suggestions so far, but it sank in, and his ego was assuaged for now.