The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Final Preparations

It was nearly an hour of getting reacquainted before a naked Fiadh, carefully straddling him, leaned back to pull her hair out of the way and tied it in place with a cord. She then slowly and carefully rotated her hips to make sure she was comfortably situated. That done, she ran her hands caressingly up his torso before reaching out with her left to take Lash's smartphone from his hand. There, with him deep in her most intimate embrace, she tenderly continued to caress him with one hand while using the other to open up the file with Monksblood's list of possible holdings and the m'tada proposal.

"I still can't believe your House actually has a training academy for Blood Guard," she said, scrolling down the information as she gently shifted to continue maximizing their contact.

His hands caressing Fiadh from hip to buttock, Lash nodded as he looked up at her.

"Like everything my House does, we take providing the Night Mistresses with a competent and skilled guard force seriously," he said. "It isn't massive, like the training centers for the House and Clan nestari are, but it currently will train and equip a hundred m'tada per training cycle to the same standard as our most competent soldiers, the Dragon's Own."

Lash's expression grew thoughtful.

"With the Silver Legion showing great interest in improving their overall skill and capability, I think we now have an opportunity here to not only crosstrain Silver Legion legionnaires on Qos Viran skill sets and weaponry to improve their overall capabilities. But to use House Lash's base system as well to create a skill and capability standard for m'tada across our world. So there won't be a difference between a core team serving as bodyguards to a South Pacific lilith with limited resources. And an extended force that's being fielded by liliths who are wealthy, have land, and a great amount of resources."

Fiadh paused in her scrolling to lean down and kiss Lash deeply and passionately for a long moment before gracefully lifting herself back into a seated position.

"So the core will be the core, no matter who the lilith is," she said, nodding. "I like that. They will all have the same skills, experience, and training. No drop-off due to limited resources."

"And we'll put training sites in several locations as part of an academy-style system so queens looking to replenish, or rotate out m'tada won't have to wait for a training cycle at a centralized academy to finish."

"Mm," Fiadh said before pausing to languidly stretch before settling back in. "I also see you're putting the Embraced in and around the House Lash core territories. Makes sense. You'll keep their supply lines short and their perimeters close to reinforcements from House Lash nestari."

She looked down at him, a playful smile touching her lips.

"Although I very much doubt they'll spend much time actually on their estates."

Letting his fingers interlace with hers on her free hand, Lash chuckled.

"Probably not," he conceded. "But they'll want stability, and a place to grow and improve. And a place to retreat to and gather themselves, if they need. It'll be good training for Isla and Cassie both, who have yet to experience the true extent of a night mistress's duties to her people. Inaya, too."

He shook his head.

"I can only imagine what sort of place India is, with vampire hunters roaming the streets and keeping clan Ganges so off balance, they can't get firmly established."

"Don't be surprised to find the second Indian lilith from the first group on your doorstep in the near future," Fiadh cautioned. "During our planning session, I saw Anaya and Zoya with their heads together several times. It's not a big step to conclude they're talking about being Embraced by House Lash."