A continuous line of them presses in on us as we slowly make our way over to the nearest wall. By the time we reach our destination, I feel like I’ve received enough gifts to open up my own shop. I don’t know where they’ve all gone though. As soon as I accepted one, one of the guards took it, then passed it off again. Perhaps, like at the market, there’s someone to take them back to my chambers.
But all such wonderings quiet as I peer up at the painted wall before me. I’ve only just started to take it all in when yet another woman begs for my attention.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty,” she says, bowing her shaved head. “I’m Aleka Ream, the new Protectress of Barlow.”
“Talk quickly, Aleka,” Richard says.
“Of course, Your Majesty.” She clears her throat, a blush heating her cheeks. “I run a publishing house called Bookwyrm’s Hoard. It’s small. I just started. The arts aren’t prioritised here –” She glances at my king. “Not that I don’t understand why. The wars take precedence, but –” She swallows. “Ah… um…”
“Time’s almost up, Aleka.”
“Um… Would you like me to publish your books?” she blurts.
“Oh, that would be lovely!” I say, beaming at her. “But I don’t write.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought I heard you say you did.”
“Nope.” I grab Fabia’s arm –
“Arienna, no –”
– and shove her towards Protectress Aleka. “She’s the author I was talking about, and she’dlovefor you to publish her works!” I beam at the two of them.
Marrabel looks at Fabia, a smile pulling at her lips, and my heart melts at the sight of it. I hope I can bring the joy to this world that Richard wants me to.
“Oh?” the protectress asks, her fluster turning into excitement. “What do you write?”
Fabia glares at me as she clears her throat. “Urban fantasy,” she grits out.
I frown at her, not knowing where all this hostility is coming from. “With smut,” I add, wondering why Fabia didn’t. Those were the best bits. Knowing she’s always dreamed of being published, I decide to sell her work for her. “Actually, it’s full on monster porn,” I say, looking Aleka right in the eye. “She writes about zombies that only want to eat pussy or ass and slug dicks that go inside the woman’sabdomen.”
The lady’s eyes widen. “The abdomen?”
Oh yeah, I have her.“I know, right! I thought the same when I first started reading, but I swear to you, it’s soooo good! You know how you have your normal griffin and dragon porn?”
“Uh…”
“Well, she takes it further and mixes a Razian with an Alzan, so you get this really hot guy called Gage. He has the wings and legs of a fairy but the scales and tail of an Alzan. And when he’s given a slug dick in the last round of the tournament for the fairy queen’s hand, while he’s fucking her in the stomach, he uses histail to fuck Khodan’s –that’s one of the other guy’s competing in the tournament– in his ass.”
“Arienna,” Fabia hisses.
I look at her quizzically. “What?”
Lowering her voice, she says, “Alzans and Razians are enemies.”
“I know. That’s why their love is so hot.” My eyes widening, I turn back to Aleka. “Oh my gods,yes! You have to read that book too. You’ll love it. I know you will.”
Fabia groans.
“What uh… book?” Her dark-blue eyes are glazed over, and her voice isn’t as strong as before.
She must be fantasising so much already! I’ll paint her an even better picture!“Romeo and Juliet,” I gush. “Those are Gage’s parents. I had to beg Fabia to write that after readingQueen Persephone and Her Five Warriors– that’s the slug cock gangbang one.”
“Gangbang?”
“Oh yeah, so they all take her at once. So you see, while Gage is fucking her with his dick and Khodan with his tail, Khodan is also fucking her in the belly. Three other men are fucking too, and they’re all competing with each other, going at it real hard. She’s squirming and moaning between all their hot, bloody, muscled bodies. And the first guy to fill her ovaries with cum gets to be king.” I wave my hand.
“But anyway, aboutRomeo and Juliet. Juliet’s this fairy badass warrior, and Romeo is an Alzan warrior, and they’re fighting each other at war. He ends up capturing her, and he tries to sell her as an oddity to his king. But on the way there, he falls in love with her sass. But by that point, they’re in Ezera, so he tries to get her to act out so the king won’t want her but not so much that he will order her executed. But she does the opposite to piss Romeo off and so she ends up getting purchased by theking. Now Romeo has to figure out how to save her without getting himself executed for treason, andugh– It’s sooo good. Fabia, why don’t you tell her the rest?”
