We went to the tent and sat at the table, with Samantha beside me. As the other party is a cross from us, I give one of my knights a folder with paper and tell it to provide them to the Linch Queen. It walks over and hands it to her as she opens it and begins to read the contents of the documents. As she dives deep into what is written on the paper, she passes the one she finishes to Gabriela and reads it. After a few minutes, she waited for her right hand to finish the paper and began talking to me.
"Is what's in the treaty all that you what? Why did you ask for so little as someone who knows about war and what your army can do? It doesn't sound right to me as if you win and we lose, you can rule this land. Why be so light on us by only leaving your battleship at the gate for our protection? Why only ask the zombies to be pulled back twenty miles from your sanctum and let Samantha come with you? Why so little when you can take so much more?"
"I have more pressing matters, as I don't even know conquering this land would be worth it. If I need something from this land, I'm trading with you as I don't have the human resources to rule it yet, so it's more of a problem trying to rule a land without the human resources needed. Plus, I can't talk to the zombies, so it would be highly trying as I would have to wipe them all out and then send out knights every week to kill them. It's not worth the problems, and it's not like I have any issues with you or the other people here. I fell in love with Samantha, and we have bonded physically already. She will be my Empress and the first of my wives."
Lily looks over at Samantha and begins to ponder what I said. This was my honest feeling; she knew what I said was true, or at least mostly true. She then asked if I could let her and her right hand talk privately as she wished to ask for her opinion; I told her Samantha, and I wanted to talk to her family. So we will go to the tent, and I will leave my knight halfway between the two places. She can take all the time she needs; I won't hate taking time. Ruling land is about making the right choices, and I won't rush her; she smiles and nods.
"Thank you for understanding, Sir LeBlue. I will try not to take too much time."
"It's nothing to thank me for, Queen Lily; I am not in such a rush that I can't take an hour or two out of my day just to chill."
I stand up and give my Hand to Samantha. As she grabs it, I help her up. She calls for her mother, sisters, and maid to follow her as we turn around to walk. They look at the Lich Queen, and she nods as they follow us to the tent, as we enter it.
"Gabriela, what do you think of Sir Leblue? And the treaty that he wishes to make with us?"
"My Queen, he has shown you more respect than any enemy we have faced before, and I think he doesn't wish to rule this land. From what I found out, Samantha tried to stop him from meeting you because you tend not to like to meet people, and they made a deal that the side that lost would belong to the other party. Sir LeBlue won, and he took Samantha for himself. I don't see a problem with the treaty as it's a dual defense and trade treaty, which could be more in favor; I don't like that you look lustful at you and us. But he is a man, and we are beautiful, so I would question his sexuality if he didn't. So, my honest opinion is we should agree to the terms."
"What if I asked you to marry him and be my spy from the other side of the gate? Would you be ok with that, Gabriela?"
Gabriela fell into deep thought before finally speaking.
"I don't see a problem with that choice as I am willing to serve you with all my abilities, and it's not like he would be a bad partner for this Queen."
They begin to talk to the other three while in the tent.
"Mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, it's an honor to meet you. Samantha has told me much about you ladies."
They look at Samantha and then back to me, trying to figure out what to say as they haven't met a Human ever, and some were so willing to be around Vampires like it was nothing. There is no fear or hate, just admiration of their looks as they can tell that I am lustful for them with the desire in my eyes, but they don't hate it as that is part of being a male—the drive to have children.
"My name is Amanda. I am the mother of Samantha; these two are Elizabeth and Kimberly, with our trusted maid Jamie. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Leblue; I want to thank you for treating my daughter kindly as she doesn't seem to be hurt, and as her mother, I thank you."
"You don't have to thank me; a man doesn't hurt a woman unless he has to. I don't go around tormenting the fairer sex for pleasure as long as they do as I say. I will treat them with some form of human empathy."
One of my knights enters, and I tell the girls to talk as Samantha, as she has something to ask them. I returned to the treaty meeting and wished to finish this formality immediately. I want to know how much my worker drones have done.
I leave the tent and make my way back to the meeting.
"Samantha, has he treated you with kindness?"
Asked Kimberly.
She began to tell them about her time with me and the passion and kindness I showered her with. She told them I was a ruler she had only ever seen from the Lich Queen, as they had much in common. She told them that I was destined to rule the world.
"Mother and sister, there is something I wish to ask of you, and I hope you will agree to do it."
"My dear daughter, Mother will do anything to help you; just ask."
Her sisters nod their heads in agreement.
"I wish for you to join his harem as I know more women will join, and I need people on my side in the harem to keep my Empress title."
The three had their mouths drop.
Meanwhile, I returned to my meeting as Lily and her generals waited for me. Lily and her generals stood up, and we all sat, beginning the meeting again.
"I agree with the treaty's terms, but I wish to add one thing: I want you to take Banshee Queen Gabriela as a wife."
She wants someone on the inside, and I don't have a problem with that, as that's how governments work; plus, she is just looking out for her people, and I see no issues with that. As long as I don't have any bad ideas for the Lich Queen and this land, it will not be a problem to take her as one of my wives. I plan to make the Lich Queen my wife in time. This will help me by giving me first-hand knowledge of what I can do.
"If the Lich Queen is willing to send a beautiful woman my way, why should I refuse? I have no problem making this an Alliance through marriage; I mean all of you, no harm. I see this as a win for me, Queen Lily, but I wish it were you that I was marrying too. After all, it would have made the Alliance even stronger as I wouldn't hurt my wife's people."
She laughed, and her generals looked at her in shock. They hadn't seen their majesty show emotions like this before.
"Sir LeBlue, if you show me what you can do, it's not out of the realm of possibility that I shall marry you. After all, out of all the rulers I have gone toe-to-toe with, you are one that I find the most amazing, one that I wouldn't mind standing by his side. Show me what kind of man you truly are, and my heart and body will be yours."
We signed the treaty and shook hands. I stole a kiss from the back of her hand, leaving her stunned. She smirked and walked away, telling me the wedding would be held in one month. I return them to their carriages, and they mount and return to the capital. As I turn around and head back to my tent, the women and Samantha exit as I get there. As they look at me and look away, Samantha nods to me, signaling that they have agreed to be part of my harem.
I walked the ladies back to the city with my knights as my guards; I finally could enter the city. As I plan to take her mother tonight, I must prepare for this evening. But I didn't know that, at this moment, the Emperor had returned to the Astra Empire. The welcome-back parade for their ruler's return was grand, and all his wives, children, and women were there. Along with the nobility of the Empire, four cardinals follow him as he makes his way into the throne room. As he takes his throne, he calls for Duke Lockard to bring Johnathan forward.
The throne room became quiet, as even a pin drop could be heard echoing. This did not sit well with him, as the Pope told him he had to bring Johnathan Lockard back no matter what. This had to do with the world's fate, and if he failed, it could hurt his Empire dearly, as the church controls a considerable part of the world. His Empire won't be able to handle their rage.
"Duke Lockard, did you not hear me!!"
The Emperor looked at him, and the Duke looked at the Crown Prince, making the Emperor look at his son. Then he noticed Isiballea; this gave him chills as he could guess what had happened. His son looked at him confused, as he didn't know why his father wanted the failure.
"Duke Lockard, explain to me what happened to your son. If not, I will kill all the Lockards right now!!!"
The Duke fell back; he had never seen the Emperor this angry. He bit his lip and looked at the crown prince with deep hatred. He began to explain how the crown prince desired his son's wife. As Johnathan wouldn't give her up to the crown prince, they made a deal to lead his son to his death so that Isiballea could re-marry the crown prince.
"Very good; my son thought he was already the ruler of this land and wanted to play with its people. Arthur, get your ass out here!!!"
The crown prince steps forward and bows to his father.
"Father, what angers you? Johnathan wasn't someone of ability or power."
A Cardinal laughed at this prideful crown prince, making him look at the Cardinal.
"Crown Prince, the Saitness has got word from the Goddesses that two people, one being Johnathan and another called Adam LeBlue, will change the fate of this world for good or bad. And here we find out one of them may be dead. Can you show us Johnathan's body? So, we can take it back to the Pope. He wants us to bring him back no matter what; if not, then we don't know if he is dead or both. But we do know that he now hates this Empire."
Everyone stopped breathing at this information and looked at the Crown Prince. It isn't a small matter if the Pope wants Johnathan and he is dead; this will bring trouble they don't know they can bear.
"From this day on, Arthur isn't stripped of the Crown Prince title; Alex shall take his place as the Crown Prince. Alex finds Johnathan's body; he may not be dead. We must make amends before this spirals out of control."
Another taller and more muscular man stepped out as he bowed and spoke.
"Father, I shall look for Johnathan and bring him back alive or dead, brother. Where did you harm him? Tell me."
Arthur looked at his brother with hate, as this wasn't how things would be, and he was destined to be the Emperor. Now, he lost it because of the useless Johnathan, which makes no sense.
"Father, reconsider. I shall look for him. My brother doesn't have to; it's my mistake. Let me fix it."
The Emperor laughs at him.
"Do you think I should send the guy that fucked his wife and tried to kill him to make amends with him? Are you that much of a fool? The only reason I haven't killed you is you are my son. Now step back, or I will reconsider my stans on keeping you alive."
"Alex, take the duke with you. He knows where it should have happened, right?"
The duke nods to the Emperor. He sighs. He regrets taking the deal from the Crown Prince; he doesn't even know if he can keep his dukedom now. Who knew the fate of his household was in the hands of the son he looked down on?
"Court dismissed!!!!"