ATTENTION ALL READERS: THIS CHAPTER IS VERY, VERY, LONG. IT SPENDS A LOT OF TIME WORLD BUILDING. IF YOU ARE HERE JUST FOR THE SEX, GO TO EDIT > FIND AND SEARCH FOR "~*~" WITHOUT THE QUOTES.
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IMPORTANT NOTE: What Dotan says does not reflect my views nor am I suggesting that he is morally or ethically correct.
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Roshina found herself in a position she would have thought impossible the day before. She was now slinking through the halls of Starminster Castle...looking for something that would help overthrow Zophiel. The small dark elf couldn't fight anymore, however. Her pussy was throbbing painfully, her entire body was burning, and the insides of her canal were practically crawling, begging for attention. It was complete and utter torture, and the elf couldn't live with it.
Roshina was panting heavily as she waddled through the halls. She was doing her best to not have the skin of her nethers rub against her clothing, but it was next to impossible. The friction wasn't enough to please her, it only riled her up even further. Many of the workers and soldiers that were getting ready for the wedding gave her odd looks as she leaned against walls every few steps and panted like a dog. Fortunately, people were too busy to ask her what was wrong. After what seemed like a literal eternity, Roshina finally made it back to Zophiel's room.
The dark elf practically collapsed into the room. She jumped back up, closed the doors behind her, and fell to the floor. She let out what was supposed to a scream, but was only a weak wheeze. Her vocal chords still didn't work. She paused and panted, trying to recover. She had hoped that the burning inside of her would abate, but if anything it had gotten worse. She screamed one more time and desperately looked around the room. She had to find the schedule of events. She had no doubt that Dotan would think nothing of letting her suffer like this for the rest of her life, and he would probably think it was funny. She was at the mercy of a cruel god. She didn't have a choice.
Roshina stumbled over to the large, ornate desk on one side of the room. It was where Zophiel kept her papers organized and signed documents. It was large, made of perfectly sculpted wood, and was completely gaudy. Roshina didn't care about that at all. She began opening drawers and desperately rifling through the papers. They were all useless; crop reports, economic budgets, and university funding statements. Roshina could feel sweat bead down her body and drop onto the desk. Her vision was beginning to narrow as her knees were quivering. Her pants were becoming soaked with both sweat and her juices, as Dotan had torn her underwear apart.
As she made it to the last drawer, Roshina screamed/wheezed again. If it wasn't here...she wasn't sure she could keep going. She couldn't live like this! She couldn't! She rifled halfway through reports on potato crops when she froze. Roshina screamed/wheezed again, this time in relief. She found the itinerary!
The dark elf pulled the schedule out and stuffed it into her soaked shirt. She quickly began closing the drawers. If people knew that someone had been going through Zophiel's things they would investigate. If they found out about Dotan...Roshina had no doubt his wrath would be especially cruel. Roshina wiped the copious amount of sweat off the top of the desk. With energy and will she didn't know she had, the dark elf quickly ran to the door. She opened it wide, took a step out...
And came face-to-face with Zophiel herself.
Dotan had called Zophiel a lot of names. He cursed her with every breath of his being. He hated everything she did and everything she stood for. There was, however, one thing he couldn't say: that she was ugly. Zophiel had perfect golden hair, without a single imperfection or dark strand. She had deep azure eyes, that many would compare with the most beautiful sapphires ever made. She had an amazing body, with excellent proportions; large breasts, wide hips, and long legs, all accentuated with an elegant, white sheer dress. Her face was angelic, no blemishes, no imperfections, with a perfect nose, perfect round cheeks, and perfect eyes.
All the men who had ever seen her wanted to be with her. All the women who had ever seen her wanted to be as beautiful as her. This was Zophiel, the Goddess of Beauty and Femininity, Queen of Altea, and easily the most beautiful woman in all the land...and Roshina was directly in front of her.
"Roshina, are you okay?" Zophiel asked in her melodic voice. The tiny dark elf was in a sorry state. Her clothes were soaked in sweat and were disheveled. Her dark hair was caked to her head and she had a wild look in her eyes. Roshina was completely stuck. Her heart was pounding and there was a ringing in her ears. Zophiel furrowed her brow and stepped up to Roshina. The goddess raised her hand and put it to Roshina's forehead, causing the elf to nearly jump out of her skin. The goddess' soft skin was icy cold on the tan girl's flesh.
"Do you have a fever?" Zophiel asked. Roshina took a step back, finally regaining her wits. She nodded furiously, sweat coming down her face. "Wow it seems pretty bad, what other symptoms do you have?"
Roshina froze again. After a few moments, she attempted to speak, only to discover that her voice was still gone. The dark elf instinctively grabbed her throat.
"Oh, have you lost your voice?" the goddess asked. Roshina's eyes brightened and nodded furiously again. "That could be serious. You could have laryngitis or diphtheria. You should go to the doctor right now."
Roshina nodded furiously yet again. She never thought she would ever feel this way, but the only thing she wanted to do was get away from Zophiel. All she could think about was the painful throbbing between her legs.
"Hurry and find him, and be sure to give me an update. You're one of my favorites."
That hit Roshina directly in the heart. Earlier that day, she would have crawled through fields of glass and nails just on Zophiel's orders. Now she was helping an evil god overthrow her. The dark elf felt a sinking in her heart. She wanted so badly to just show her queen everything, show her the seal on her crotch, show her Dotan under the ground, show her what they had done to her...but Dotan's voice echoed in her head.
"Now you'll have to live your entire life without feeling satisfied ever again."
A god like Zophiel could break the seal and maybe fix her brain...but then Roshina would never feel anything like that pleasure again. All she wanted...was relief. She wanted to have her mind blown. She wanted the stars to explode in her eyes and her toes to curl. She was willing to sacrifice her loyalty to her goddess and queen...solely for pleasure. Roshina squeezed her eyes shut and nodded again. Tears squeezed out of the edges of her eyes. Zophiel didn't seem to notice. Instead she grinned and nodded.
"Good. Now run along to the doctor sweety, quickly." the goddess motioned for the elf to leave. Gratefully, the elf turned and began running down the hall. Zophiel put her hand on her hip and shook her head. In her mind, this was simply a case of a young (in her mind) being overworking herself. She was unaware that the tiny elf dashing down the hall...was carrying the keys to her kingdom.
The entire time she had been gone, Dotan and Seth had not moved from where they were standing when Roshina initially left. Dotan had been questioning the guard about the others in his unit.
"...And then there's Thomas." Seth said, finishing his explanation. "He's brand new and the youngest. He's only doing this to get enough money to move south for a different job."
"By the heavens!" Dotan exclaimed, rolling his eyes. Each and every person Seth explained made Dotan want to pull his hair out. Men with no options, men who were stuck, men who were using it as a temporary job, all filling the position of the royal guard! It was frustrating that someone would treat the people who were supposed to take an arrow for them so badly.
"I can't believe this." Dotan said. "She treats her soldiers badly, she treats her guards badly, and I'm willing to bet she gives preference to women throughout the country. How in the hell has no one tried to assassinate her yet?"
"Because of who would succeed her." Seth stated. Dotan glanced at his high priest, looking briefly confused. Then something clicked in his head and he rolled his eyes again.
"Lyfillia." the god said flatly.
"Yes." Seth said. "There have been a few plots to try to supplant Zophiel, but she foiled all of them. I get the feeling that she thinks she unbeatable since she stopped them all, but I think she's a little delusional."
"Oh?" Dotan asked. Seth hadn't spoken knowledgeably about anything but this. The god was genuinely curious. "Why is that?"
"Those plots were started by male ministers in her court, but they knew that if they killed Zophiel they would just invite someone worse to rule Altea. So they attempted to reach out to Lyfillia's court..."
"Wait," Dotan interrupted. "Lyfillia has her own court?"
"Yeah, I was told that it was because Zophiel and Lyfillia argue a lot." Seth explained. "They agreed to have two separate courts, run independently."
"That is stupid." Dotan said flatly.
"Yes, but it's prevented assassinations and infighting. The plotters reached out for allies in Lyfillia's court to get them both, but..."
"Lyfillia's court is all females." Dotan finished.
"Yes. Some members pretended to be on their side and when the plotters started their move, Lyfillia's female ministers blew the whole thing wide open. I think there were three or four, but there haven't been any in nearly a century."
"That sounds like very specific information for a lowly guard. How do you know all of this?"
"Well..." Seth began, grinding his teeth. He had no doubt that what he was about to say would infuriate his lord...but the god did ask. "You see, in order to become a guard there's um...a...uh...week of training. They just kind of taught us to use a sword and...warned us against sedition with those stories..."
"A week?" Dotan asked. He had leaned forward, his amber eyes looked as if they were on fire, and a vein in his neck was throbbing.
"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir, but I have no control over it sir." Seth said, cringing. Dotan took a deep breath and seemed to relax a little.
"Good heavens, I'm going to inherit an army of amateurs..." he grumbled. "Any other independent courts I need to know about?"
"I think it's legal for all of the goddesses to have their own courts, but only Lyfillia and Zophiel have them."
"All of the goddesses?" Dotan asked. "How many of them are there?"
"Uh...let's see..." Seth held up his hand and began counting. "Ruling this country there's...Zophiel, Lyfillia, Reagyn, Apollonia, Pyrellia, Ralena, and Feradonna."
"I don't know any of those others." Dotan admitted. "Are they new?"
"To you, maybe, but not to mortals." Seth explained. "Most of them were born after the War of the Gods. All of the male gods left when Zophiel and Lyfillia seized all of the power, and their wives and kids usually followed them. The few that stayed behind are the children that decided not to leave. The only exception is Apollonia, who came here on her own."
"Do you know why?" Dotan asked.
"No, I don't think anyone does. She just sort of showed up and Zophiel gave her some territory."
"Right, this country is apparently a bread line now. Show up and get land. I have SO much work to do when Zophiel is finally out of the way."
"On that note my lord, what do you have planned? She may be the goddess of beauty and femininity, but she isn't a pushover. I know women are inherently weaker than men, as you've said, but she is still powerful."
Dotan scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Oh ye of little faith." the god said. There was a smile on his face and a deadly glimmer in his amber eyes again. "Women aren't just physically weaker, but mentally as well. Did you see how quickly that dark elf crumbled? Women are submissive. It's in their blood. They may fight it out of pride or spite, but in the end it's what they all want. I bet there are plenty of man-hating, fiercely independent, it's-all-men's-fault women in this castle, am I right?"
"Yes my lord." Seth said, slouching and looking displeased. "Far too many of them."
"What are they like?" Dotan asked.
"They're always shrieking, screaming, complaining, and insulting all the men around them."
