Another chat with Silquintis.

Fate emerged into the throne room for a second time from the same corridor that Silquintis had entered through at the end of his fateful battle. He saw the end result of his struggle with the Dark King, the grooves cut in the walls, floor, and columns, the cracked stone tiles, the torn purple regal rug, even scorch-marks from the wizard’s fireball that had no effect on him.

Standing in the center of the room was the Dark Princess herself. Her eyes were closed, and her arms were outstretched, like she was absorbing the very essence of the tattered room. Her nearly bare pale skin glimmered from the moonlight streaming in through the massive arched windows lining the grand hall, and her long black hair flowed out behind her in a messy wave. She was truly gorgeous in a haunting and supernatural way. Fate had to wonder if it was the Dark King’s genetics that gave her those black, spectral wings and horns, or if was the influence of her, as of yet, absent mother. His foe had been clad in full armor, so Fate never got a good look at him.

“You’ve come,” Silquintis said.

“Aye,” Fate nodded.

She turned to face him and opened her eyes, turning her eerie bright red gaze upon him, “You’ve been busy.”

“And I met a lot of people along the way, as you intended.”

“Have you learned anything?”

Fate paused a moment, then nodded again, “A lot. And quite a bit more about myself than I expected to.”

A slight smile crossed her lips, telling the former knight that this was exactly what she wanted, “You have the look of a man who has made a decision, perhaps a difficult one.”

Fate was planning on going into some elaborate speech, one that he tried to practice on his way here but ended up empty-handed. He wasn’t good at that sort of thing, anyway. He decided to just be straightforward and get to the point. No reason to beat around the bush.

“Yes, I have. I will accept the position of the king; I will not run away from this responsibility.” He couldn’t deny that he was also aware of his unique capability to do something different with the Dark Kingdoms, being the first Dark King who was not gripped with the hateful curse of its throne.

“Excellent,” Silquintis replied, then held out her arm to gesture to the throne, “Then, I believe it is time to prove it.”

There was something about that obsidian monolith of a throne; dark, ornate, powerful. It exuded an aura that clearly was intended to strike fear into those who looked upon it and whoever sat upon it. Its presence was enough to make even Fate swallow nervously, and not just because of what he was about to do.

The time for hesitation was over, Fate had made his bed and it was time to lay in it. He crossed the broken flagstone to the seat of power in the northern part of the continent and sat down on the violet and velvet fabric of the throne’s cushion. It was comfortable, but not too comfortable. That was good, it would remind Fate of the difficulty of being a ruler, something he well and truly had no experience with whatsoever.

“Excellent,” Silquintis said, “as the former princess of the Dark Kingdoms, I hereby officially recognize you as this nation’s new ruler, the new Dark King, and Overlord of the North.”

“The ‘former’ princess?” Fate repeated.

“I am not related to you by blood, my status as a princess is no longer applicable. You are not my father.”

“Oh, right.”

“In fact, my current status in general is volatile.”

“How do you figure?” Fate asked, leaning forward with interest.

“I am a member of a royal family you have overthrown, whether intentionally or not, so you need to decide what is to be done with me. In my opinion, this should be your first official item of interest to make a decision on.”

That was certainly true, but Fate had always been a warrior, not well-versed in political or diplomatic matters. That was a job for other people, not him. Now it was his job, though, and he had no idea what to do.

His need for help must have been evident on his face, because Silquintis offered her thoughts, “The way I see it, you have a number of options all grouped into one of a few categories depending on how you feel about me so far. If you should gauge my existence as a threat to your new rulership, your best course of action would be to either have me executed or exiled from the Dark Kingdoms. The former would obviously be the safest option in this regard, to ensure that I will not try to start a revolution to claim the throne, a task that would be relatively easy given my status as royalty under the previous king. The latter would be riskier, but far less morally questionable, especially given that I have, as of yet, done nothing to harm nor impede you in any way. You would have to work with your own paranoia to decide which of these options is preferable.”

When she put it this way, Fate had to admit it made perfect sense. He couldn’t stomach the idea of killing her, and he figured it might anger a fair number of his subjects to do so, in particular those who may have been fans of Silquintis. Every kingdom’s princesses have their fair share of loyal fanatics, ones who would be willing to lay down their lives for them. Or, for instance, certain fanatics who would travel to distant lands and slay the Dark King in order to have even a chance at getting the princess’ hand in marriage. Not that Fate knew anyone like that…

“If,” Silquintis continued, “you do not wish to recognize my royal status, but still believe me to be useful to you for whatever reason, it would be wise to make me one of your concubines or have me serve you in some capacity in the castle as a servant. I have been alive for a long time, and I have acquired many different talents, so I can assure you I’d fit into just about any role you needed me in. Otherwise, if you do not believe me to be useful, you can simply strip me of my noble status and make me join the common class.”

“I’m sorry, did you say ‘concubine’? Like a sex ****?” I couldn’t stop my eyes from glancing down to her large and soft-looking breasts topped with delightfully puffy nipples, not really being concealed at all by her strange, shadowy wings. My mind was alight with the passionate fires of my imagination.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

I blinked and managed to bring my eyes back to hers, “I mean, is there? I should be asking you.”

“How do you figure? Have I not made it clear enough that my future is entirely in your hands?”

“Well, no, I understand that much,” I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out a way to really explain my feelings on this. “But, well, look. If I am going to keep you here in the castle in any capacity, I need to make sure you’re at least content with whatever role I place you in. Otherwise, you’d be an obvious risk. And more to the point, as you said, you’ve done nothing to harm me thus far, if anything you’ve been extremely helpful, so I owe it to you.”

She smiled slightly, “Well, I suppose if that’s where your priorities lie, then you have a point. But in that case, you should have nothing to fear. I am perfectly willing to be your concubine, I have no qualms with the idea.”

“Seriously? You’d be content to go from being the princess of the Dark Kingdoms to being my personal sex ****?”

She sighed, “Think about it from my perspective. What exactly does a concubine have to do? Their only actual duty is to be a willing sexual participant. And what do they get in return? To have all of their needs met and the ability to live in the lap of luxury for the rest of their lives. The ultimate comfort. If you think that is a bad deal, then I would implore you to find a commoner who has it easier out on the streets.

“If you’re going to be the king of this empire, you’ll need to understand how exactly people up here think. We’re not like Syldonites who prudishly and feverishly defend ideas like purity, and we don’t hold chastity or virginity as virtues. A concubine isn’t something to be disgusted with, in this culture. There are many who would be jealous if I became your sex ****, and if anything, it would be seen as recognition of my natural beauty.”

Silquintis leaned forward and pulled away the wings to expose her pendulous breasts completely, then gently placed a hand on Fate’s thigh. Her face was inches away from his as she spoke, “But if you’re really that concerned about my personal feelings on the matter, I wouldn’t be disappointed at all. I could think of one or two local counts that I’d be disappointed by, but you’re not like them. You’re quite handsome.”

“Uh, truly?” Fate asked, blushing slightly, Silquintis smelled nice.

She chuckled softly, “If you weren’t aware of that fact, now would be a good time to start recognizing it. I speak from experience when I say a pretty face can be a very useful tool and an extremely dangerous weapon.”

Then she stood straight up and returned her modesty wings to their original positions. “The final category is simply if you choose to recognize my royal blood and maintain my status as a noble. Your options if you choose this route are simple. You can either grant me land outside the castle and allow me to become a count or you can keep me here as one of your royal consorts.”

“Consort, like, take you as my wife?”

“Indeed. And before you ask, yes, I am just as willing to take that role as being your concubine. Again, you are attractive, and you’re very interesting to me. I could do much worse as far as arranged marriages go.”

Fate placed a hand on his chin and began to stroke it thoughtfully. These were all very interesting choices, and it really boiled down to how he felt about Silquintis and what he thought the best political move was.