FF3 -CH1- (Patreon)

Alex groaned and sat down in the chair that’d been put out for him.

His leg felt considerably better, but it didn’t feel like it was completely healed either.

“Are you alright, Count?” asked king Harold.

“Leg still hurts,” Alex grumbled, getting comfortable in the chair. At least it was padded and he could shift around in it. Finally, he gave up, and just extended his recently broken leg out to one side.

Instantly it felt better.

“Ah, yes. Can you talk about that at all?” the king asked.

Alex shook his head, and sighed, settling back into his chair.

It’d been about four months since he’d gotten home from captivity. The bad weather was starting to clear up and it seemed the war of Tannulf and Gaelis would continue another year.

Soldiers were being moved to the front lines, new equipment being brought up, and money was flowing.

It was also why Alex was up here at the capital of the kingdom giving a first hand report to the king.

The roads were clearing. 

“Fine, let’s start from the top then,” king Harold said.

Nodding his head, Alex looked up to the man who ran their part of the Empire.

The king was a young man in his early twenties.

When Alex had laid eyes on him the first time, he’d thought the young man looked to be holding a position given him that he wasn’t ready for. That opinion seemed ever more apparent as of late with how the king seemed to be running his kingdom.

Which was to say quite terribly.

The man had gray eyes, brown hair, and was nondescript. There was nothing that stood out about him, other than the fact that he was the king. He could have been a peasant for the lack of majestic aura about the man.

Regina projects a better aura.

“The Princess of the Xer came to you for help,” Harold said.

“Queen Quinn, yes. She needed an army to reclaim her throne. So I marched south, and did just that,” Alex said, simplifying everything down to a single statement.

“And… she’s your vassal now, but not publicly?” the king asked.

“Correct. She’s functioning as a Baroness, and the territory is called the Barony of Xer on the official vassalage contract,” Alex said, offering very little to the king in the way of information.

King Harold the third looked annoyed.

“Thats it?” he prompted.

“Yes,” Alex said. He wasn’t about to tell the man that he’d turned Quinn into a concubine for himself personally.

“Fine. Alright,” Harold said, his face looking extremely grumpy. “Then… then it was…-”

“Gaelis invaded Regina Tannulf,” Alex prompted.

“Yes, the invasion. And you ended up in a siege?” Harold asked.

“That’s right. I was sent to try and repel Duke Gaelis with a force of mercenaries,” Alex said. “I ended up arriving in the city of Terk just as as besieging army landed on it’s doorstep.”

“And the Earle?” Harold prompted.

“I cannot confirm this, but I believe he fled, attempting to give the city over to Duke Gaelis,” Alex said.

It was the truth as he knew it. He wasn’t going to shy away from that disposition either. Regina was playing it with far more diplomacy and was using the entire thing as a baton to beat her vassals with.

Alex just ran around telling everyone what he thought of the Earle, letting Regina play her game.

“And you held out for months before you finally surrendered to the Duke,” Harold said.

“That’s right. After we left, the Duke didn’t control his men and apparently turned the city into a firestorm,” Alex said.

Only he, Rebekah, Eleanor, and the soldiers and citizens left over with him, escape the city. Almost every Gaelis soldier perished, and the Duke himself was maimed in the inferno Alex had caused.

“After that he… held you for ransom… and then released you once the payment was made,” Harold said.

There was a lot left out in that the king knew about. Knew that Alex had been held almost unlawfully in a way that broke custom and their oaths.

Alex was under an oath himself not to speak of any of it though.

“That’s right,” Alex said.

“But only after Gaelis the younger died at Winterveil,” the king said.

And after I took his step-mother and him for over six-hundred thousand gold.

With the interest they’re under, there’s no way they’ll ever pay it back.

That land is as good as ours.

“And during that time you… facilitated all these loans,” the king said, looking to the fat stack of papers next to him. It was full of contracts, land grants, and a number of financial balance sheets showing the debt and how it was being tracked.

“That’s right. Through my father-in-law,” Alex said with a wolfish grin.

Charles Ulles had taken the time to not only prepare Alex for this meeting, and how to make the king grant the land to them, but had even told him what to say, and what not to say about it.

“Knowing Charles, he’s already coached you. So I’ll not bother with any of that,” the king said, shaking his head. “I suddenly find myself regretting turning your vassalage over to old man Tannulf.”

Alex blinked once, then shrugged his shoulders. Regina and he had long made amends for the way they’d met one another. He’d found that she had a sharp mind, could understand most anything he explained to her, and was quick to leverage anything she could.

She was also pregnant and just starting to show.

Going to have three kids in the same year almost

He’d had a daughter with Mary, a son with Anna, and Regina was around seven months out.

Weird that Riley isn’t pregnant though. I’ll ask her about it.

“Alright,” the king said. “Now for the real reason I asked to see you in person for this. Please put your hand to your pin and swear everything is just as you said, and that your written report is accurate and true.”

Alex immediately pressed his fingers to the pin on his lapel.

“I swear to the veracity of my statement, and that my written report is lawful, truthful, and accurate,” he said.

“Wonderful,” the king said, nodding his head. “That’ll be all. If there’s anything else I need, I’ll let you know before the end of the day.”

Grunting, Alex let his hand fall from his lapel.

“Course,” Alex said, levering himself up out of the chair. Walking out of the room, he did his best to hide the small limp he’d developed.

It didn’t impede him much, but he was self conscious about it. He was hoping that it’d go away in another month or two. But he wasn’t sure.

A guard opened the door for him, and Alex walked out into the ante-chamber he’d been waiting in for the king.

The door clacked shut behind him, and Alex let out a breath.

“It went well?”

Looking over, Alex found Eleanor, Rebekah, and Sylvia. Two were sitting engaged in a game of cards, while the third stood nearby.

It was Eleanor who was standing of course. His eternal and diligent defender. She was was wearing a chain mail hauberk, a full helmet, and leather armor everywhere else. Her steel mace was belted at her waist.

She’d been forced to wear much less than she normally did. The simple fact that she was a trained weapon made others nervous to let her walk around fully armed and armored.

Sylvia was watching him with interest, though she said nothing. She’d dressed herself in his house colors, but had worn a noble-woman’s dress. Considering she was still the head of her household, that wasn’t out of character for her, despite being what essentially was a concubine.

Her dark-blonde hair was pulled behind her head in a braid. Her blue eyes were curious, and her sharp beauty seemed to match the question she hadn’t asked. Demanding he explain how it went.

Looking to the speaker, he smiled at Rebekah.

She was dressed in a similar way to Sylvia, though she’d clearly gone out of her way to look like a noble-woman become concubine. The outfit she was wearing pulled at her well endowed chest and hips and accentuated everything that she wanted to be for Alex.

With curves that could give even his wife pause, Rebekah was beautifully put together woman with long light-brown hair and eyes so lightly colored they were almost gray.

“Exactly as expected. Though he didn’t approve the land exchange as of yet,” Alex said.

“I thought he wasn’t going to rule on that until tomorrow,” Sylvia said.

Nodding his head Alex couldn’t disagree with that statement.

Valeria had warned him that the deadline the king had set for Gaelis, husband and wife both, to respond was today. Which meant he wasn’t going to respond until tomorrow at the earliest.

Rebekah got out of her seat and walked over to him with a wide smile. In the time since he’d brought her into his Numbered ranks, she’d somehow maneuvered her way into becoming Anna’s confidant.

She also shared a bed with Riley, and brought her along every time she joined Alex in his bed. As far as he could tell though, they weren’t interested in each other sexually, but they treated one another oddly.

Now that I think about it. Isn’t Anna doing the same thing to Mary and Regina?

Pretty sure Anna has Mary and Regina tied up in knots, over and over. Or so it appears from outside in. But as far as I can tell, it stops with kisses and cuddles.

I should ask Anna about it directly.

Wrapping herself around Alex, Rebekah hugged him tightly.

“Can we go back to our room now? I’d really like some attention,” Rebekah said. “I’d also like to show you something I bought this morning.”

Unfortunately, Alex was still addicted to the drug known as Rebekah.

Worst of all, it seemed like she was gaining ground on the others as well, quickly supplanting everyone as his go-to for comfort and care.

Even Riley deferred to Rebekah when it came to Alex’s personal needs.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Alex said.

***

Rolling out of Sylvia’s bed, Alex ran a hand over his face.

He’d spent the evening with her as her reward for all the time she’d spent checking over everything from Anna’s dad.

Alex trusted the man, but that just meant he had to have someone else check things for him when it came to Anna’s dad.

Don’t go back to your room. Rebekah is in your bed, and will wake up the instant you go in there.

She’ll also try to talk you into romp.

Really?

Yes. Her sex drive is abnormally large. It’s also increasing. It’s impressive really.

Great. You coming around for a chat? Or just warning me.

A chat. Come to the shared living space.

Nodding his head, Alex gathered up his clothes and started left Sylvia’s room.

Stepping into the communal space between the three rooms, Alex started getting into his clothes.

By the time he reached the central area with it’s sofas and chairs, Alex was dressed.

Contemplating taking a seat, Alex decided against it. He didn’t want to have to get up as soon as he sat down.

His leg was hurting right now and he didn’t want to have to make it worse if he didn’t have to. His leg hurt more after sex. He was actually starting to dislike sex simply because of that.

Otherwise he might be tempted to go wake Rebekah up himself.

Leah appeared out of nowhere, and was seated directly across from where he stood.

The pretty goddess waved a hand at him with a wide smile.

Her tawny-colored hair now came down past her shoulders. Her dark emerald eyes were mischievous and looked rather happy.

“No Mikki today?” Alex asked.

Leah tended to show up with her daughter more often than not. She’d even let him hold her several times.

Alex didn’t bother to question how she’d gone through pregnancy at a rate that was abnormal. He’d already long ago suspected that the rate of time for his world was dependent on her whims.

“Lovey has her. He said he didn’t mind. He’s messing around with that other world we talked about right now,” Leah said with a hand wave.

Moving over to Leah, he bent down over her and hugged her tightly.

“Stop it,” Leah muttered, smacking his shoulder gently. Then she hugged him back. “I’m a death-goddess from hell that deals in souls, you’re not supposed to make me happy. Especially just to see my champion.”

“You like it,” Alex said, releasing the woman, and then limping over to the sofa. “Besides, I’m your friend.”

Leah clicked her tongue but didn’t argue with him.

Settling down into the cushions, Alex sighed, pushing his leg out in front of himself.

“Oooh, I’m tired of this. I know you’re not asking, and I’m not offering, but this is just stupid. I can’t even tell if you’re playing me anymore since I promised to not read your mind,” Leah said. Then she pointed a finger at Alex’s leg, and the pain instantly went away. “There, it’s fixed. Stupid idiot. I hate you. Should kill you.”

Alex chuckled softly and bent his knee, testing his leg out. It felt perfect. “Thank you, my goddess Leah, and my friend Leah. If it makes you feel better, you’re welcome to deduct the power it would cost to have done that as a favor.”

“No, shut up. I hate you,” Leah groused, folding her arms across her chest. “I did it because I wanted to. You’re awful. You know that?”

“No I’m not. And your husband likes me,” Alex said, looking back to the goddess.

He’d yet to meet the man, but Leah didn’t hide the fact that her husband seemed to think her interactions with Alex was benefiting her.

Leah grit her teeth and bared them at him in a grimace.

“How are you? Anything interesting going on?” Alex asked.

Leah shook her head, clearly still angry.

“My unwed sister that I’d like you to meet got her first follower. A paladin,” Leah said.

“Ah. She’s the one who you were ‘fixing’, right?”

“Yeah. She’s fixed now… and Brunhild said it’d be good for her to go back into the world. So she did. She has a small church and a growing following,” Leah said.

“Brunhild’s the oldest?” Alex asked

“Mmhmm. She’d like to meet you sometime. Probably after I smuggle you out of this world,” Leah said. “Then you can meet Rike, too. I think you’ll get along well.”

Not for the first time, Alex wondered about her commentary. It made him feel like he was somehow behind enemy lines or something.

“Stop trying to set me up with your sister,” Alex grumbled.

“But why? You two will do so well together,” Leah said, smiling now. She waved a hand at him. “She’ll just love you once she meets you and reads your mind. You’ve redeemed so many broken and mangled souls that I think she’ll try to talk you into bed immediately.”

“Anyways,” Alex said, trying to change the subject.

“Anyways. Not a whole lot going on. I have a warning or two for you though,” Leah said.

“Oh? Alright, hit me, my goddess,” Alex said.

“A few of your Numbered are trying to contact me directly,” Leah said. “I’m going to have to start responding soon.”

“Really? Huh. I mean… I guess it isn’t that surprising. I’m sure a few have figured out I basically work for you.”

“They have. Carla, Valeria, and Rebekah,” Leah said.

“Well, I can probably guess what Rebekah wants,” Alex said. It was weird to use their names rather than numbers. “Let me guess. Wants to tie her soul to mine?”

“And then some,” Leah said. “I can’t see a reason to disallow it though. Would you mind if she jumped from life to life with you and Anna?

“And before you ask, Anna doesn’t care.”

Chuckling, Alex rubbed a hand against his jaw. He should have figured Leah had already asked Anna.

He secretly suspected Leah and Anna talked more than he and Leah did anymore.

“Doesn’t care, or thought it was a good idea?” Alex asked

“Honestly? Hard to tell with Anna sometimes. Her mind… works differently,” Leah said. “She’d make Rebekah retain the same role she did today, and would believe that’s good. I think.”

“I mean… alright, fine. If Seven wants to be Seven for all eternity and be little more than a bound concubine, fine,” Alex said and sighed.

“Okay. What about Valeria and Carla?” Leah asked.

“Huh?” Alex mumbled, looking to the goddess.

“I think they’re going to ask for the same thing. Same conditions?” Leah asked.

“Uh… I mean-”

“Anna had the same response for them that she did Rebekah,” Leah said.

Closing his eyes, Alex gave up, and held his hands up.

“Fine, whatever. Guess I’m going to have some of my Numbered traveling with me for eternity,” Alex said.

“Just the really broken ones. Riley, Sylvia, Eleanor, and Nannie will probably all remain here and move to their destined afterlife. Which by the way, is a much better place now since you got a hold of them,” Leah said.

“Any other warnings?” Alex said, feeling rather annoyed now. He hadn’t planned on having to be with those three for the rest of all time.

He’d have to change his approach with them to a degree.

“Gaelis is going to fight to the death. He isn’t going to give up any time soon. And when he dies, his wife might carry it on,” Leah said.

“Great. Suppose that answers that then,” Alex said and sighed.

“Just keep hold of that young lady you got from her. It’ll keep her in check. She was grooming her to be a personal bed-toy, blood relation or not,” Leah said.

Ew.

Speaking of bed-toy though.

“Leah, can I ask you a question about Anna?” Alex asked. “I’m going to ask her when I get home but that’s days away and I’m uh… well, I’m feeling a touch insecure all of a sudden.”

“Anna has twisted Mary and Regina both. They’d do whatever she asked in a heartbeat and are in a strange version of love with her,” Leah said. “Honestly, she could probably talk them into anything she wanted. She settles for kisses, hugs, and cuddling though. It’s also all she wants from them as far as I can tell. She’s not interested in women, she just wants to dominate them because they’re your wives.”

“Oh. Huh,” Alex said, frowning.

“Anna is… Anna is different. Be thankful she loves you for exactly who you are,” Leah said. “She’s you but… far more ruthless, devoid of morality, and thinks other people are just walking bags of meat.”

Alex grinned at that and nodded his head, looking to the ground.

Leah said it like it was all bad things. Alex heard it all, and only thought of how Anna was so perfect for him.

“Did you put her in my path by the way?” Alex asked, looking to Leah again. “Shes absolutely perfect.”

“No. I had someone else in mind for you but… no. Anna isn’t my doing at all.”

Chuckling at that, Alex shrugged his shoulders.

“She’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” Alex said. “Anyways. Anything else going on that’s interesting?”

“Well… I checked in on your old world. Care to hear the latest from it?” Leah asked.

Grinning, Alex nodded his head.

Leah liked to gossip in the small hours of the morning about anything and everything. She always zapped him with energy when the sun rose so he’d get through the day easily.

This had become a fairly common thing though.

Leah was his friend. And from what he could tell of her interactions with him, she didn’t have that many herself.