The Battlemage

Prelude to The Storm

   The dancers moved and twirled about, their bodies barely covered in more than a silky piece of pink cloth that wrapped around their bosoms, their genitalia, and their hind ends. They were elegant, beautiful, and captivating.

   King Harold watched the dancers tentatively, trying to decide which he would bed. They were all beautiful and talented, but it was the youngest of the three that had caught his eye. She was barely eighteen winters old and had a soft, firm body that he craved.

  She would be the first he decided, but not the last. He could have all three, could he not? He was the King after all, and they were here to please him. The decision was made then. He would have all three.

  As he imagined the things he would do to them, his mouth watered and his body trembled. His eyes rolled back slightly and his hands moved down his own thighs. He didn't care that the rest of the royal court was here, pleasure was his only goal. It allowed him to escape the dreadfully boring day to day tasks of running the kingdom of Mira.

   The doors to the throne room were opened and their creaking hinges snatched him from his moment of ecstasy. Snapping his head up, he saw that General Palladius and his two bodyguards had entered.

  Harold's blood began to boil.

  "I trust you have a reason for entering my throne room without announcement," said Harold, his voice echoing through the large chamber.

  The General dropped to one knee and brought his fist to his chest. The two body guards did the same. 

     "I do, Your Highness," said Palladius.

  The dancers stepped aside, their performance halted by the intrusion.

   "Spit it out then, so that I may be rid of this intrusion," snapped Harold.

 Was there really anything that could be so crucial that it needed to be said right now? Harold doubted so, and later he would remind the General that he wasn't his father. He couldn't simply barge in when he wanted to, demanding the King's attention. The General served him, not the other way around.

  Or perhaps he didn't serve Harold. General Palladius was old blood. He had served Harold's father for many years, and had been one of the many to advocate that Harold wasn't ready to ascend to the throne when his father had died.

  Harold knew the General would never respect him the way he had respected his father. He thought of him as a child and would always treat him as such. It angered him, and he decided that he would oust the General as quickly as possible. It was something he should have done the day he had taken the crown.

  "Your Highness, a pair of battlemages have discovered evidence of a raid along our northern shore. One of our villages there, a placed called Blackstone, has been completely razed. Along with that, one of the local garrison cavalry units has gone missing. I am requesting that we send..-,"

   Harold held up his hand. "Is that why you have intruded upon my evening, General? Because of a raid? Because one town has been destroyed?"

  "Well, yes, Your highness, I thought that..-,"

  "What you thought was that you could just come in here and start making demands, that you could just undermine me in my own throne room, and that you could goad me into handing over an entire detachment to you for some fools errand that frankly, the garrison commander should have been able to handle. Especially with a pair of battlemages at his disposal. The answer is no, General, you cannot have anything."

  "Furthermore, if you ever feel the need to interrupt me again, for anything except the Firth marching on my castle, I will have you stripped of your rank, your honor, and your wealth. I will have you feathered, tarred, and paraded through the city while tied to the back of a horse. Do I make myself clear, General?"