Chapter 40 - We Meet Again

"He's alive?" I asked in a curious tone. What were the chances that out of everyone he was the one to survive?

"Yes your majesty," she replied. "I've had riders flying over the battlefield to make sure no one survived. He was caught trying to crawl anyway and if it had been a normal person they might not have seen him but our affinity and bond with our mounts give us keen eyes."

I nodded, once again, mentally praising myself for bringing them along and thinking of ways I could increase their numbers. Elite soldiers who were enhanced and had flying mounts were something I definitely needed more of. Yes, I had my summons and would continue to get more, but until the later levels where I got some truly OP summons, I couldn't be everyone at once and I didn't have enough summons to cover an entire kingdom, then again I did have Twice, but he wasn't exactly an expert at tactics or how to run a city or town, though I could use him to bolster numbers, it's wasn't like I'd be wasting anything by doing it.

"Where is he now?" I asked.

"In the dungeons," she replied.

"Good," I said, looking forward to seeing the look on his face when he saw me. I'd told him I'd have him kneeling at my feet and I was going to do so.

"Great job, Asara," I praised her. "You have done exceptionally well. How many of your riders survived?"

She smiled suddenly, looking pleased. "Well... all of them."

I blinked in surprise. "All of them? Really? That seems... odd"

"I'm just as surprised, your majesty," she said. "But while we lost a few hawks, all our riders survived, though many are very badly injured and it will be a few days before they can rider again and we will need to ferry them from here back to the capital since we don't have enough mounts for all of us. It's also best if we give those who lost their mounts some time to mourn. When a bond to a beast is broken it's painful, and we bond to our hawks at a young age."

I felt a pang of sorrow at that, knowing how it felt to lose a pet, though I imagined it was even worse for them since they were tied via kor, which probably made the bond far deeper than a normal emotional bond.

"I must thank you, as well, Commander Asara," Brinehall said, bowing low. "You're riders were extremely helpful."

She glanced at Brinehall and have him a cold look before nodding, not smiling at all, which was something I'd noticed about her and the other riders. They seemed to treat all men but me coldly and with slight disdain. It was odd but I wasn't going to complain as long as it didn't get in the way.

"Asara," I said, standing from my seat. "Is there anything you would ask of me? Any reward you might like?"

She blushed suddenly and bowed her head. "Yes, your majesty, but I would prefer if we spoke of it in private. It's not something us riders often share with others."

I frowned in confusion and nodded. "Ok, that's fine."

I turned to Brinehall. "You are dismissed, return to your post and make sure everything is going as it should. If you have any problems you believe I might want to know about then send for me."

"Of course, your majesty," he said, bowing low before leaving the room.

"Ok," I said, turning back to Asara. "Bring the prisoner up here, wrapped in chains preferably."

She nodded and left the room to do as I'd said.

As the door closed behind her, I let out a breath and slumped in my chair, feeling tired and exhausted. I'd been up for a while and from the sky outside it was going to be morning in a few hours, which meant I'd been up for twenty fours hours, dealing with nonstop problems and with little time to myself. Now that I had a small break all is wanted was to relax.

I closed my eyes but immediately opened them back up when I felt two hands graze each side of my neck and two soft bags of flesh push against my head. I looked up to see Leone smiling down at me. I opened my mouth to ask her what she wanted but was stopped when she leaned down and kissed me. It started off slow and gentle but quickly turned into a passionate kiss, with each of us battling for dominance over the other's mouth. I felt my body begin to react to her ministrations and I reached over and with my enhanced strength granted by Migi, I picked her up and sat her on my lap. She groaned into my mouth and began to grind herself onto me, which caused me to let out a muffled moan.

She broke the kiss and gasped for breath but only for a moment because a few seconds later her mouth was back on mine and our tongues were dueling. Eventually, after a few minutes of this, she broke the kiss and got off me with a smile. I let out a growl when she backed away, and she chuckled in response.

"That's just a teaser," She said. "I'll give you the rest with Domino when we're back at the palace."

"You little minx," I growled, my pants feeling uncomfortably tight now due to my soldier standing at attention. I looked over to see Lilah looking at the two of us, and despite not being able to see her face, I could somehow tell she was intrigued. That's definitely not happening, I thought, not with Lilah, not until I've healed her at least.

"So you and Domino spoke about this?" I asked, turning my attention back to Leone who had a smirk on her face. I let my eyes roam over her body and the curves and unblemished skin she had. Damn, she was beautiful.

"Yep," she replied, arching her back to further emphasize the mountains that were her breasts as if they needed any more emphasis.

Damn, they look... good, I thought, I wonder how they... nope, nope. not now. calm down, Nathan. Bad thoughts go away, shoo, shoo.

"Leone you're killing me here," I groaned.

"Oh," she replied, giving me a big smile. "How about I suffocate you with my-"

"No, no, no," I said. "Just please wait until we get back to the castle. If you keep going then I'm not gonna be able to control myself. I'll take you right here on the table if you don't stop."

"That doesn't sound too bad at all," she said with a hungry look in her eyes. "In fact-"

Her words were cut off as the door opened and Asara marched in with two talon riders who were carrying a chained and gagged man in between them. They dropped him then pushed the table aside slightly then picked him back up and dropped him in front of me. They both bowed then took up positions in corners of the room.

I straightened in my chair and pushed all the thoughts away and focused on the man in front of me. He was covered in blood, dirt and who knew what else. He had several bruised on his face and he was shaking in what I could only guess was terror. He had fearful eyes which only grew more so when his gaze fell onto me.

"We meet again," I said, smiling coldly at him as his eyes widened and he began speaking into his gag.

It was time to get some answers.