Chapter 18: the Ritual

What must've been hours later, I woke up in my bed.

The sun had set. There were candles lit all around. Gods, how long have I been out? My head was pounding. I sat up, still a little groggy. Shari and Emilia were in the room, playing Dragon Chess, just as she always seemed to be with Lady Carmella.

"You must really like that game," I murmured with a dry throat.

"It takes my mind off things," Shari replied simply, considering her next move. "Like when someone I care for is doing something stupid like challenging two murderers to a fight." She put her piece down more forcefully than I felt was necessary.

"I didn't challenge them; they challenged me," I responded, rolling my eyes. "Would you have preferred me to not defend myself? Seems a little counterproductive to keeping me around."

"I would've preferred you defend yourself competently," the Ipet-Mau muttered bitterly.

"Me too." I flexed the hand of the arm he'd broken. "The guy with the war maul was a lot to deal with." I lifted the blankets over me, finding my arm in one piece again. I ran a finger over the new skin, amazed. "Is Lady Tripand okay?"

"She's still recovering," Emilia responded, putting her own piece down. Shari grimaced. Even from over here, I could tell she wasn't doing well. "Lord Bizzbid is watching over her."

"That's weird," I remarked, shrugging. "He didn't have many nice things to say about the Tripand Family."

"He likes power," Emilia remarked, waiting for Shari to make her move. "She may have less of it than the queen or many lords, but he's just a knight. Barely a noble at all."

"Right..." I didn't particularly care for the man for that exact reason. "And her servants?" I asked, flexing my fingers.

"Have been arrested," Carmella announced, entering the room. She was in her more casual outfit, a tight dress that she could still move in. Notably, her sword was still strapped on her back, ready to be drawn. "You did well. Those weapons were enchanted." That piqued my interest. Wonder if I can get a look at them. I've never seen enchanted weapons before. At least not any that I knew were made that way.

Unfortunately, none of my studies had revealed much about magic itself. I still didn't really have a good grasp on how Emilia or Meryl did any of the things they did. I want to. I need to if I'm going to be with them. And I need to be with them. All of them. This brought me to my second realization. Which I vocalized, ignoring my stomach crawling at the thought. "I think we should probably have me fight against a wider variety of opponents."

"Johann," the First Knight gasped sarcastically. "That's actually a good idea. You're finally accepting your need to train and be proactive about it."

"Yeah," I agreed through gritted teeth. My shoulder rolled unconsciously. "I never want to see my bones sticking out of me again. And since that seems to be some people's goal, I should get better at denying them that opportunity. I've been cursed by the violence, after all."

"None of us want to see that," Meryl muttered exasperatedly, walking into the room after the First Knight. "I'm glad I missed it." She turned to face the Head Maid. "Emilia, how is our boy?"

"He's an idiot," she spat bitterly, placing another piece down and removing one of Shari's pieces. The cat glowered at her. "But he's physically fine. I am getting really tired of having to heal him, though."

"I'm glad you did," I said in a small voice. "Thank you, Emilia."

"You're welcome." She huffed without heat in it, stepping away from the game to check on me more closely. "Just... stop getting hurt."

"I'll try," I promised. I didn't believe it'd work out that way, but I would at least try.

"Shari, I wanted to thank you," my queen said. "Your insight was very worthwhile today." The Ipet-Mau smiled at her and nodded.

"Of course, your highness," she responded deferentially. I watched the two of them. Shari broke her gaze first, shivering. "What those men were doing was cruel. Giving her just enough to weaken her. To make it less obvious. Forcing her to suffer for months. I would not do that to anyone."

"They'll be punished. Killing anyone is a serious offense, but doing it like that... It's much worse." Meryl's back straightened, and her jaw was set. She softened when she looked at me, crossing the room to stroke Emilia's head. Carmella joined us.

"Is he well enough to do it tonight?" Lady Carmella asked, considering me.

"What am I doing tonight?" I asked.

"He should be," Emilia responded cryptically. She wore a devilish grin. They all did.

"What is happening?" I asked again, hoping one of them would take pity on me.

"You're getting up and coming with us," Carmella replied. I knew that was all the answer I'd get from her.

"Uh. That's vaguely threatening," I replied, pulling the blankets off me. I stood up, only to find that I was completely naked. I hadn't realized. My head was still a little foggy from blood loss. And it was how I usually slept. All four women stared at me. "Well, if we're going somewhere, I'll get dressed."

"No need," Meryl said, pulling out the dagger I'd made for it. It glowed with the purple energy I'd began to associate with her. She slashed through the air, and the air split apart, revealing a window to a different room. "You won't need clothes where you're going."

"Is this how you kept getting into my house and the room?" I walked up to the hole in reality and peered through it. I didn't recognize the room on the other side. I walked around the other side of it, only to find a gray mist trapped in less than a finger of... something. It was solid to the touch.

"Don't be ridiculous," Meryl replied, strolling through. "I have a key for the room," The doorway stayed open after she did. Emilia grabbed my arm and pulled me through. Carmella stayed behind for a moment.

"Shari, dinner will be delivered for you in a while," she said in a softer tone than she usually used with me. I wanted to be jealous, but a part of me was just happy they were getting along.

"I understand. It's your bonding time," Shari said. She sounded a little upset about it, but anyone speaking to Carmella knew better than to argue. I couldn't see the cat woman, but I saw the First Knight nod.

"You'll get your chance with him," she promised.

"Not if he has anything to say about it," Shari muttered just loudly enough for me to hear.

"He's always a little shy at first," Carmella replied with a grin. "But you've wormed your way into our good graces. You've always been more-or-less in his. He'll be yours. Soon."

"Just go," the Ipet-Mau said in a bored tone. Carmella smiled and walked through the portal, and it faded away.

It was only now that I looked around the room. My room was huge, relatively speaking. It was about the size of both floors of my house back in the village, with much more space than I thought was necessary for any purpose. This room made it look cramped. It was an entire wing of a building to itself. It had large windows lining the back of it. On the opposite wall was a huge bed that wouldn't have easily fit in my room. It was lavishly decorated with deep purples and golds. I stepped forward, feeling incredibly out of place. The room seemed wider than it was too, because it was much darker here than in my room.

Meryl waved her hand, and candles all around the room lit up. They weren't bright, and the fires were very low, lining the back wall, the bed, and a circle in the middle of the room. Emilia and Carmella flanked me on either side. I glanced at them and didn't exactly fight back when they took my arms and led me to the middle of the circle.

Meryl took a few deep breaths and then stripped the dress off, tugging at each shoulder. She let it fall to her waist, then danced out of it entirely. She stood in front of me nude. The other two women beside me had also stripped down. I stared at all of them in turn, my breathing quickening. I asked, a little quicker than I meant to, "S-so. This is your room, my queen?"

"Yes, Johann," she answered, a characteristic coquettishness crawling into her tone. "Technically, my dear blacksmith, we have yet to share my bed."

"I-I think that since it's your castle, all of the beds are yours," I said, laughing nervously. Meryl grinned at me.

"Em, are we ready?" Carmella asked. The maid nodded and touched her own stomach, and a web of designs appeared, made of blood-red lines. They were shaped in two curving arches that met together in the shape of a heart just below the woman's navel. Other lines spread out, spiking down gently. The entire design pointed toward Emilia's gender. Within the heart, I noticed two dots on either lobe of the heart.

She stepped over to the First Knight and the Queen and pressed a ginger finger to both women in the same place, and similar blood-red designs appeared on their stomachs. Meryl's was much softer and less pointed. It curved out and overtook the tops of her thighs, framing her carefully. Carmella's was much spikier and more angular. It was smaller on her than the other two, more compact, but just as intricate, lines intersecting and all pointing down around the heart to her lust.

I didn't know what they were up to. The three women closed in on me. Carmella pressed in behind me, wrapping her hand around my neck. Emilia squeezed my hand tightly, pressing her chest into me. Meryl, somewhat hesitantly, stepped forward and pressed her body into me. My length pressed into her stomach, and she leaned into it. She whispered something against my lips, "Johann, there are a few more things we must reveal to you."

"Now!?" I demanded breathily. "I'll hear what you have to say, but I'm going to be honest; my concentration is a little strained."

My queen smiled and lifted her arm, and I noticed a bracelet she was wearing. She always wore it, and I had never thought anything of it. She slipped it off of her wrist, and she subtly changed. The shape of her eyes were still the same. All of her features were, really. Her skin didn't change. It was still pale and incredibly soft.

But her pupils had shifted. They were slitted, almost like Shari's but more jagged. The iris was still green but seemed to glow in the low light. The whites of her eyes had shifted to a black that matched her hair and pupil. She held up her hand and revealed long, pointed black nails. They weren't lacquered like Shari's. Her makeup had also darkened a lot. Her lips were as black as her hair and her fingernails. When she licked her lips, I saw that her teeth were sharper. More pointed. Something touched me, and I almost jumped, glancing down. A tail the same color as her flesh stroked my thigh lightly.

My mind was working faster than it ever had before. One thing made more sense now. There was always a smell underneath her sandalwood perfume, one that I couldn't place. But looking at her, I knew what it was. Brimstone. I didn't spend a lot of time around sulfur. Before it had always been a little concerning, but the scent had shifted in my mind entirely. I found it comforting. I managed to whisper, "Y-you're not human."

"I-I'm not." Her voice cracked, and she looked away. Even in the dim light, I could tell she was blushing. But she didn't seem embarrassed, more concerned. Self-conscious, I thought. It was a side of the queen that I never really knew what to do with, other than to try and reassure her. She started to close herself off to me.

I gripped her chin and pulled it to face me, pressing my lips to her black ones. She squeaked softly, and I pushed harder into her, wrapping my arms around her. After a minute or two, we broke the kiss, breathing heavily. I looked at the other two women, who had pressed into each other and were groping one another. They were watching us, expectantly. Meryl tugged on my arm. "I-is this okay? Y-you're not scared?"

"Meryl," I muttered, chuckling softly. "I've been terrified of all of you since I met you. You are all amazing and powerful, and capable. But this? You being what? A Tiefling, I think? It's nothing."

She looked doubtful and didn't stop me when I reached down and gripped her tail. She stiffened and tried to stifle a soft moan. I stroked it softly, and her breathing got shallow again. The tail was as soft and smooth as the rest of her, extending right off of her coccyx. I ran my hand over it and then clutched her ass for a moment. "I-I don't think you're taking this seriously. Don't you know what that means?"

"Yeah, I read about them," I answered absently, still tracing my finger down the unfamiliar appendage. "It explains why you have so many books on them. One of your ancestors slept with a demon or a devil."

"And you're just going to accept that?" She asked, incredulousness invading her tone.

"What's there to accept?" I asked, sobering up some. I grabbed her shoulders and faced her head-on. "What does this change? Do you think a tail and spooky black eyes would stop me from wanting to be with you? After all the time you spent preventing me from running, even I learned the lesson." I tugged on her tail a little, drawing her closer to me. "This must be. Not because of some stupid prophecy. I don't care about any of that. It's much simpler than that. I'm. Already. Yours."

"Well, not yet," Emilia put in, pressing her chest into my back. I leaned into her touch. She wrapped her arms around my waist and ran a finger down my cock. I shuddered. "But that's why we're here. To seal the deal. With all of us."

"There's one more reveal, though," Carmella said, walking around to meet my eye. She put an arm around Meryl's neck. "You've accepted Ryllie, as I knew you would. As is only right." She paused for a moment. "But you also have to accept me."

"Are you secretly a minotaur?" I asked, eyeing her with faux suspicion. "Because that would explain a lot, and I do."

"A minotaur?" She asked, laughing. "No. Nothing like that. But one of my ancestors also had a dalliance with an outsider."

"Am I supposed to guess?" I asked. "It might be a fun game, but there are too many for me to possibly ever get close.

"I think it might be more fun for you to find out during the ritual." She stood straight and dared me to challenge her. "But will you accept me for what I am?"

"You are the First Knight Lady Carmella, wife of my queen and Inya Nute to my Inya Nute. I love you." It was the first time I said it without hesitation. I looked at each of them in turn, repeating my words. "I love you, Meryl. And I love you, Emilia. I still think you could do better than me, but I'm not going to run from you anymore. Any of you."

Meryl gasped softly when she heard it. Carmella nodded, having already heard it before. I couldn't see Emilia, but I felt her press her head into my back. One of her arms clutched me tightly, pressing me into her further. Her other continued to lightly finger my length. From behind me, she spoke, "It's time to take your vows. And to consummate with each of us."

"I haven't prepared vows," I said, looking between the three of them. "I thought I'd have more time."

"We have them for you. These are special. And have to be honored. And you will be bound to us when you finish them," Meryl said. She had relaxed a lot since I had accepted her reveal. Her slitted pupils had even widened a little bit. And I suspected that the relative darkness of the room didn't have all that much to do with it.

Emilia stepped around and took my hand. She held it up to my queen, who leaned in and bit it. I winced but didn't pull away. She gently massaged it with her tongue for a moment, and I shifted as my lust stretched out. When Meryl released it from her mouth, a small bead of blood appeared. Emilia guided it down to the bottommost portion of the heart tattoo, just above where the two lines met at the downward point. She stained her stomach with my blood, then squeezed more up and repeated the action on both Meryl and Carmella. They readily accepted it.

Finally, she pressed the finger to my own stomach. The small hole in my finger felt like someone was stabbing it again, and I winced slightly. My own blood spread out over my stomach in a different heart pattern. Lines were pointing up, coming from the heart, which was upside down. The point where the two lobes met was gesturing up at my chest. I frowned at it but didn't ask anything. Afterward, my First Knight took my finger and kissed it, and a soft white light glowed gently, and what little pain there was faded. I stared at her, considering. She smiled down at me.

"Who should be the first to do the seal?" Meryl asked, whispering. I thought I could see her lick her lips, but it was hard to tell in this lighting.

"You both have had him fully. I have not," Emilia cut in. It was her turn to dare anyone to argue with her.

"Not for lack of trying. On either of our parts," I muttered. I couldn't resist that chance to rib her a little bit. My maid met my eye, raising a brow, smiling. Meryl shifted slightly, and I looked at her. "What's wrong, my queen?"

She shivered at my words but met my eyes. "I just want to have one of your firsts."

"You have taken several," I pointed out.

"No, I haven't," she replied, deflating.

"You have my first sword, my first dagger, and were the first person to ever break into not only my house but my bed, which is a thing that happens a lot, apparently," I said, grinning.

"Wait, you broke into his bed!?" Lady Carmella demanded, grabbing her by the shoulder and turning her. Meryl looked away. "You said that I took him for the first time."

"You did," I clarified quickly. "Meryl just appeared in my bed, properly clothed." I felt that might be an important detail. "Scared the hells out of me. She also made me breakfast once. That was a first."

"None of those are... as intimate," the queen responded with a pout.

"That's a matter of perspective," I countered. Emilia was watching us, considering. I could tell that she was debating letting Meryl have her way. The queen was watching me specifically, considering. Then she looked at Emilia.

"You are right, Johann. And I'm sure there are other firsts we could have. Take him, Millie," Meryl said, schooling her voice.

Emilia waited for a beat or two longer before she tackled me. The First Maid was almost a foot shorter than I was and couldn't have weighed half what I did, but I still fell over. She pinned my hands to the floor, and I gazed up at her. She reached between us and gripped my length, rubbing it against her bare crotch for a few moments.

Quickly, I felt the heat of her body rise. Some of her wetness leaked down onto me, and I groaned. The half-elf adjusted herself, so my head was barely resting against her opening. She straightened her back, puffing out her ample chest. Her hair was down and framing her face, and I could feel her gaze on me.

All of their gazes. Meryl and Carmella were running their hands against each other, watching us. Emilia spoke in a voice straining for normalcy, but I could hear the impatience in it, "Ryllie. You're our officiant."

"Ah, yes," Meryl said, having forgotten herself for a moment under Carmella's fingers. She bent down on her knees and rested next to us. "Johann, is it your wish to create a permanent bond between Emilia and you, something unbreakable even by death. A connection, a vow of loyalty, an acceptance of her inside of you forever?"

"I want nothing more," I managed to whisper. My mouth was dry. I was desperate for more. The First Maid reached down and intertwined our fingers, and squeezed tightly.

"Emilia, do you accept Johann for what he is, his loyalty, his bond, unbreakable even through death?" Our queen asked. Emilia nodded, mouthing something. "I need verbal confirmation, Millie."

"Yes. I accept his bond. I accept a part of his soul. I accept him fully!" She said impatiently, her lust pressing down hard against mine. I was so close to experiencing her. It took all of my restraint not to just thrust into her and take her.