In a way not even my father managed.
Leaving my kingdom for the first time since taking the crown also left me feeling a bit anxious. The rebellions stirring left much to be desired, and my plotting siblings needed to be controlled. Vissy needed to be watched as well.
So many things to do.
I’d set my spies to task, and Emmie was surprisingly proving her worth beyond a warm cunt. Her gossipy nature meant plenty of rumors reached my ears, whispered in them while she lay fucked out on my mattress. At least on the nights Zerlina wasn’t there. Though, I preferred Zerlina of the two. At least when she was on her knees, I could see her darker hair and pretend she was the one I truly wanted.
Once I brought Asteria to heel, I would have no need for either of them, really. She would fulfill my needs; she’d more than proven that. The memory of her throat taking my cock all the way down still fueled many of my orgasms while in bed with the others. As did the memory of the night she all but rode my cock in the brothel.
Those memories kept me going. Kept mefurious.
Knowing what she ran from… she would be punished extensively. Starting with making her watch Zerlina wear the crown once I’d ripped the one Asteria now wore off her head.
The news had come not long before we’d left, and it only proved how needed this was. Asteria needed to be shown where she belonged.And it wasn’t on a throne.
This next move would cement all of my plans.
I finally spied our target in the distance. We’d crossed into Sunrise and marched across it toward the Damaculous Ocean. But the ocean wasn’t our goal.No. My goal became clear as we approached.
The vineyard stretched out before my eyes.
The tiny village surrounded it, resting in the shadow of the mountain.
Sonmathion.
It was here she’d grown up. Here she’d lived with her parents in what I could see now was a run-down hut. That’s all there really was here. There was the vineyard, of course. A small lake I could just make out. And a bunch of rickety huts.
This? This is where she came from? And she dared to turn down everything I offered her? Luxuries the people of this village couldn’t evendreamof.
My lightning sparked again, and I ground my teeth. I pulled up the chain around my neck until the vial attached to it came free of my nickel-plated armor. I unscrewed the top and swirled the sparkling red mixture before I shot it back quickly. As soon as the blood magic was down my throat, I could feel the control over my magic coming back to me.
I’d have to keep up a steady supply to ensure this didn’t keep happening.
Meaning I needed more humans.
Luckily, I had a whole village full of themright here.
I smirked, looking at my commander. I gave him the nod, and he raised the signal. In a wave, soldiers surged forward. They crested over the small village like a wave, and they would wipe it out just the same.
The sound of screaming humans as they were rounded up was like music to my ears. The flames were already beginning to catch as the men set fire to their pathetic huts. I would not leave until this entire village was ash.
The vineyard fields caught fire next, and I watched with amusement as humans surged out of the fields in a panic, right into our hands. Their loose cotton and linen clothing did little to protect them from the flames. The edges of dresses were singed and roughly put out with frantic hands. While the bottom of the men’s pant legs caught here and there.
The pandemonium was wonderful. The screams and cries, paired with the cracking and burning, were a beautiful symphony. I stood in the middle of the chaos, arms out, as I laughed in triumph.
I grabbed a torch out of a passing soldier's hand, nodding at him to continue on. I brought the torch to the little schoolhouse, watching in pleasure as the flame caught, the wood beginning to smoke before the flames rose higher, until they engulfed the building entirely. The joy I felt as it went up in flames was a kind I hadn’t felt in far too long.
But I had to reel myself in. This wasn’t about the satisfaction I got from the village’s destruction.
It was about getting what I wanted and getting themwhereI wanted them.
“My King.” I turned to find my commander, who was standing grimly, gruffly serious as always. “We found them. They’re barricaded in their…house.”He sneered with distaste over the word.
To be fair, these things hardly qualified as houses.
An unfamiliar ecstasy rang through me. My plan hinged on this moment, and it was all coming together.
“Show me,” I smirked gleefully, unable to contain it.
