A Dream of Empire

Author's Note: 'Dame' is an honorific similar to 'Sir', but for women. In contrast, a 'Lady' is a woman either married to a 'Sir' or a 'Lord', a daughter or sibling of a high lord, or a woman holding a lordship herself, while a 'Dame' is a female knight.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Dame Kaisa

Citadel of Fire, Imperial Demesne

18

th

of Sunfall, 1282

D.f.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Fuck me harder, you brute!" a woman on her hands and knees screamed to the muscular man behind her. She wore only a thin white dress, currently bunched up at her hips, while the man's strong hands gripped her waist. Her platinum-blonde hair, tied in a ponytail, swayed violently about as she was vigorously hammered, and her blue eyes fluttered shut in ecstasy.

The man, to his credit, attempted to comply with her ask. The woman currently being railed was none other than Dame Kaisa of the Imperial Inquisition, after all, and the man, Jirolin, had been her loyal thrall for the greater part of a decade. While Kaisa had seen three different Emperors assume the throne in her lifetime, she appeared no older than twenty-five due to the use of extensive magics. Only she knew her true age.

"My-my dame! I'm close," Jirolin warned as he fucked her with a heart-pounding intensity. Kaisa clenched herself around his throbbing cock, coaxing his seed from him.

"Then come, you idiot!" Kaisa moaned with eyes clenched shut. She felt his brutish hands grip her waist tighter. She enjoyed the sensations of his twitching cock buried deep within her. She gasped in pleasure when she felt him erupt, flooding her pussy with his hot, virile seed. They groaned together, and appreciated a still, intimate moment.

But Kaisa would only offer him that one moment for respite. She crawled away from him, slipping out of Jirolin's strong grasp as his cock slipped from her slit. She then turned on her hands and knees to face him. His cock was already deflating, as if finished with it's task.

They shared a satisfied smirk with one another, as Kaisa cupped Jirolin's orbs in her hand to prepare him for a second round. A jolt of magicka stirred the man's cock to attention once more.

"You're insatiable, my dame," Jirolin groaned. Kaisa's lip curled deviously.

"Do I hear complaints, Jirolin? Perhaps I should lay in a different bed than you for a time, and get you to appreciate me again," the alluring inquisitor mused, falling backwards onto the bed. The hem of her dress remained at her hips, keeping her dripping pussy on display. She pulled him towards her with arms outstreched, and arched her knees skyward.

"Can't see how you would survive without me, my dame," Jirolin joked, gazing into her eyes as he settled atop her. Kaisa laughed, wrapping her legs around his waist as he neared. He was right, of course. She was a demanding employer, and wouldn't want to go longer than a day without his cock if she could help it.

"Gods, just shut up and enter me again," Kaisa exhorted with eager, wiggling hips. He pressed into her, and she sighed, satisfied. Just as he began to thrust, they heard a hurried knock at the door. Kaisa groaned, rolling her eyes.

"I suppose it was too much to ask to have the

entire

morning to ourselves," she complained, rolling her head towards the door. Jirolin slipped out of her, and scurried off to retrieve his pants as Kaisa fixed her dress.

Jirolin opened the door a minute later, once Kaisa's modesty was secured, and found a young acolyte of the order holding a note. She stiffly thrust the paper towards Jirolin, who took it.

"F-from Annabelle, regarding the green moon event," the sorceress nervously stammered.

Kaisa snatched the papyrus from Jirolin, and glared at the acolyte to let her know her further presence was unwanted. The young sorceress stepped out of the room after a quick bow, shutting the door behind her. Kaisa unrolled the note, a smile starting to form on her lips as she read her new marching orders.

--

Kaisa,

The Emerald Moon, as the peasantry calls the event, is now confirmed to have originated from a magical eruption on the fortress isle of Dun Aysla. A destroyed soul crystal is present there, ten times larger than any previously encountered. No known catalyst. Possible Remillan weapon.

Proceed to Catriona. Question the Collegiate Council, the Castle, and the citizenry, and root out all hostile sympathizers.

The Empire endures.

Grand Matriarch Annabelle

--

Kaisa chuckled to herself as she tossed the note into the air, incinerating it into dust with a quick jet of flame. With orders this vague, Anna must have no idea how to proceed with the investigation. Track down hostile sympathizers in Catriona of all places? What absurdity. There hadn't been a single traitor in the western Empire for fifty years.

Yet, orders were orders. After ordering her thrall Jirolin to prepare himself for travel, Kaisa donned her own armor in preparation of traveling to Catriona. Her gear was quite the complex piece, really; a full dress of chainmail, layered on top with a dark leather cuirass, greaves, and finger-less gauntlets, followed by a plate chestpiece which covered her breasts, and steel pauldrons which made her appear as intimidating as possible. The scar over her left eye would help in that regard, but it was important to appear as frightening as your words suggest. Once all said was equipped, only her fingers and face would be uncovered by armor; to allow herself to speak, and allow herself to more simply cast magic. Lastly, she grabbed her Imperial seal from Jirolin, who was offering it to her with a hand outstreched. An important accessory, really; with that seal, Kaisa's word stood above all others, save the Emperor himself. She fastened it to her chestplate.

Kaisa and Jirolin made haste towards the teleportation room once prepared, downstairs beside the main hall of the citadel. There, Kaisa and Jirolin encountered Elizabeth, the newest full-recruit into the Inquisition. She would be providing them teleportation services this day, as was the likely reason for her initiation.

"Greetings, Elizabeth," Kaisa said flatly, stepping towards her.

"Good morning. Where to, Kaisa?" Elizabeth asked with a smile. She might be the friendliest member of their order, but, being the newest inquisitor, that was to be expected. One deployment to the hinterlands would wipe that smile from her face. At least she had gotten straight to business, rather than offer small talk which Kaisa did not care to afford her.

"Castle Catriona. Going to pay the ol' Count a visit," Kaisa smirked.

"Affirmative... one moment."

Kaisa rolled her eyes and folded her arms as she waited for the fellow inquisitor to triangulate the destination. She briefly wondered if she had teleported anyone else today.

"Anyone else deployed?" Kaisa asked with only a hint of curiosity.

"Ported Siren to see the Count of Hypatia this morning, and Camilla to Redstone yesterday evening. No one else since Annabelle."

Kaisa casually nodded, although the transmuter wasn't watching. If Anna was devoting a quarter of their order to investigate the event, she must have quite the marching orders herself.

"Hm. You hear of the soul crystal?" Kaisa asked.

"I did. Exciting, isn't it?" Elizabeth replied with eyes shut.

"

Exciting

?"

"Well... judging from how powerful the eruption was claimed to be, hundreds could have been trapped inside of that crystal. Who knows what its purpose was?"

Kaisa chuckled. Leave it to Elizabeth to be fascinated by the Emperor's enemies. "Anna says it could have been a weapon."

The transmuter giggled, finally opening her eyes. "A weapon? Pointed at the moon?"

Kaisa shrugged. She stepped forward onto the teleportation square, then rolled her head to command her brutish thrall to join her. "Gods only know what those elves are up to. The Empire endures."

"The Empire endures. Gods guide you, Kaisa," Elizabeth nodded. "And you, Jirolin."

"My lady," he replied flawlessly, just as Kaisa had taught him. He bowed chastely towards her, before they were teleported five-hundred miles in a flash of light.

They arrived on the steps of Castle Catriona, just as predicted. The morning was new, here, rather than it being two hours after sunrise as it was back at the Citadel. Far too early for the Count to be holding court, a truth which mattered little to Kaisa.

The Count would be woken to meet her, after all. All feared the inquisition, lest the weight of Imperia fall upon their shoulders. She strode up the stairs towards Castle Catriona undeterred, with her brutish thrall right on her heels.

-=-=-

Dame Kaisa of the Imperial Inquisition was no stranger to commanding a room. No matter which door she stepped through, her position in life now left her above all others; Counts descended from families of a thousand years of history included.

She was an avatar of the Emperor of Man, after all. A direct extension of his divine will. Power had been entrusted to her to annihilate the enemies of man for decades now, and the nobility and citizenry alike feared her retribution.

Well, not

hers,

specifically, but the retribution of the whispered Inquisition itself. The guards and castellan of Castle Catriona at least feared of such, as they had let her into the castle with little questioning.

Kaisa was smirking as she strode down the carpeted throne room of Castle Catriona, watching a nervous herald running up the marbled steps before her. He was but a boy, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, and stole glances at her as he ran towards the throne at the end of the hall, occupied by an aging man wearing a fine red coat and white furs. A man beneath her.

The herald leaned in to whisper in the Count's ear, and was hastily swatted away. The boy then introduced his liege lord with a shaky voice when Kaisa and Jirolin arrived.

"Y-you're in the presence of the C-Count of Catriona, Lord of Farport, and the Destroyer of Mermaids, Count A-Arthur the Second." Kaisa was now grinning, both at the ridiculous title that was '

Destroyer of Mermaids

', and at the audible sigh the Count had given of the herald's anxiety. "M-my liege, this is Dame Kaisa, Imperial in-investigator."

"My lord," Kaisa greeted with her fist on her heart and a slight tilt of her head. Arthur leaned forward on his throne, resting an elbow on the arm rest.

"Inquisitor," the Count replied, his voice gravelly and worn with time. "I cannot say it's a surprise to see you, judging from recent events. Come, let's break our fasts with bread and wine."

"I would, lord, if I weren't acting in haste," Kaisa graciously declined. She would never break meal with a potential suspect, even one so unlikely.

"Very well. And what brings you to my fair city with such haste?" Arthur asked with a jaded sigh.

Kaisa's interrogation began. She focused her empathy on the Count and entered his mind, reading every little strand of thought that crossed him. She rolled her head to her right and nodded towards Jirolin, who unfurled an oft-read scroll and cleared his throat, even though he had memorized the scroll years ago. He recited it's written words with booming voice.

"For hundreds of years, humanity has fought a just and relentless war against the elven kingdoms who once roamed these lands. Even in such peaceful times as these, as the Emperor provides, that war continues on. All men must do their part to assure victory in the toils of our race, and strive towards humanity's gods-given right in securing their superiority over all else. Those men who befriend elves are to be seen as suspicious, and, Emperor be praised, be convinced to shun those elves instead. Those men who assist elves who had once aggressed against the Empire of Man are to be seen as traitors, and most elves aggress against the Empire just by being so."

A nonchalant indifference. Kaisa knew instantly that Count Arthur was cleared of all heresy, although he could certainly do with more patriotism. Such were the times, Kaisa knew, that the nobility cared not of the elvish threat. It meant that she was doing her job correctly.

"There are no elves here, Inquisitor. Green moons be damned," the Count said seriously after a moment of silence. Kaisa did not skip a beat, and paced before him with her hands clasped behind her back.

"To your knowledge, my lord. I'm only here to verify that claim, and ensure nothing slipped under your guard's noses which could have led to the Emerald Moon event. My visit will be short. With your permission, I would unintrusively question a sample of the Catrionan citizenry, and then depart in a few day's time."

"My permission, huh?" Count Arthur snorted through his hoarse laughter. He waved her away dismissively. "Permission granted, although I dare to say we both know it wasn't needed. Emperor be praised, and all of that. And with my unnecessary authorization you may leave, now, Inquisitor Kaisa, unless you intend to begin your questioning in my home."

Kaisa gritted her teeth, and attempted a smile as she glanced towards Jirolin, who was already rolling up his scroll.

"No... I do

not

," she seethed through her teeth. She nodded towards the insolent Count. "My questioning

here

is already finished, Count Arthur. The Empire endures."

"Mhm. By the grace of the gods," Arthur replied gruffly.

For just a moment, Kaisa stopped herself from leaving. She had much to tell this pompous, ignorant noble; that his lands were only kept protected by the Will of the Emperor, and that the day would come where such a simple dismissal of his glorious power would be deemed heresy.

She let it go. Kaisa knew to pick her own battles, and allowing an insolent count to flout his power in the only way he could was not an imminent threat to the Empire.

"Farewell, Count Arthur. May I never see you again," Kaisa snarled before spinning on her heel to depart the hall in peace.

She would question the populace of Catriona for only an hour this day, before her building rage required the strong, gentle hands of her thrall to calm her.

-=-=-

Kaisa rose early the following day. She equipped her armor quietly to avoid waking Jirolin, who had been sleeping beside her like he did every night. Her next targets of interrogation would be the Collegiate Council, and to get to them she had to venture to the College of Catriona this morning.

The sorceresses of the College wouldn't allow Jirolin to accompany her there. He was of the lesser sex, after all. She wrote him a quick note before leaving their rented room at the inn, letting him know to expect her in the eve.

Her teeth chattered for a moment when her face met the chill air of a Catrionan morning. An icy breeze blew in from the endless ocean to the west, buffeting into her violently as she walked towards the bay. Not many citizens were awake at this early hour, other than those merchants preparing their stalls before the morning rush could come in. Kaisa didn't bother scanning the minds of those around her as she made her way down the cobblestone streets of Catriona. Mornings, to her, were for silent, inward meditation, to prepare herself for the day.

She decided to step off the road, then, to enjoy her walk towards the College by navigating along the winding shoreline of the city. There would be even less citizens milling about here; the port was on the other side of the city, after all, and the streets by the western shore were more for gardens and art than for trade. And yet, as she drew closer to the College bridge, she was drawn by the glinting blade of a man training his own art.

He thrust his blade. He spun. He struck at the wind itself, as if it were his most vile opponent. Kaisa could barely follow his swift strikes. Reviewing him closer, she found him to be tall, handsome, and have long brown hair. His toned muscles were all too evident under the light leather and cloth he wore this day. She decided to pierce his mental veil as he practiced his fatal art, only to be rebuked by a natural ward. Kaisa found herself growing all the more intrigued by this nameless swordsman.

She strode towards him, as if to receive the man's attention, only to be completely ignored within his dreadful dance. Kaisa decided then on a more invasive method of greeting the man.

She unsheathed her sword, swiftly swinging it to flatly meet the man's blade as he performed a spinning strike. Twin smirks met the high-pitched clang of battle, but the man instantly retreated, sheathing his sword gracefully and bowing towards her.

"Apologies, my lady. I did not see you there," the man said warmly. He was tall of build, several inches over Kaisa's five-foot-nine stature, and his bright green eyes pierced into her soul at first glance. She felt a quick pang of nervousness, which was quickly dissolved in her confidence.

"None needed, for I came at you," she replied with a smirk, stepping away from him. She lifted her sword, rather than sheathe it. "You fight well, warrior. More honor to you, if you grant me a spar on this fine day."

He turned away, at first; to hide his smirk, or perhaps his eyes. Kaisa cleared her throat when his gaze was removed from her. "I would never turn down a spar, swordmistress. No honor needed," he said gruffly with back turned. "Are you ready?"

"Come at me, warrior," Kaisa husked, assuming a two-handed stance with her longsword.

The man's eyes never betrayed his undeclared strike as he turned and strode towards her, a middling horizontal blow aimed at Kaisa's chestplate. She blocked it simply; his swing had come weakly. Pushing off from the blade, Kaisa stepped left and counterattacked, a sweeping blow aimed for the knees. The man stepped back, out of range, and thrust towards her chest once more. Kaisa moved to block it, only to be met with air as the man pirouetted to the side; a feinting blow. The man only smirked as he swung his blade in a lazy vertical circle, two sword-lengths away.

He tests me,

Kaisa mused, returning his smirk.

He reads me like a tome.

If this were a fight to the death, Kaisa would be casting both hex and spell at this moment to even the odds. Here, however, on the shores of an Imperial city and under a chill morning sun, she strode towards the swordmaster gleefully, only seeing a challenge yet unmet. She struck horizontally towards his head as she neared, then again towards his thigh when the first was rebuked, only to be met by another glancing parry.

He spun away from her blade and replied with two overhead strikes, making an '

X

', both blocked simply by her blade. She thrust in riposte, only for her steel to strike thin air as he once again avoided her attack. Kaisa noted the man's footwork was far faster than his swings; she would need to taunt him to see the man's full capability.

"You go easy on me," Kaisa declared, grinning from the pleasing exercise. She shifted to an overhead stance, then charged him with a swift downward strike. He side-stepped it effortlessly, pirouetting away from her with sword raised.

"I wouldn't dare strike a lady, even one so martial," he replied with a smirk.

"Don't spare the sword on my account," she teased in turn, walking in a circle two sword-lengths from the blademaster. She thrust her blade towards his legs then stepped away, feinting, all the while keeping her eyes fixed on his, reading his unreadable gaze.

She didn't see the man's next strike until it was inches from her face, glancing off of her blade. She didn't expect the man to spin towards her in that same instant, either, and soon felt his steel strike her knee. Another spin from the opposite direction forced Kaisa's sword from her hand, and only an instant had passed before the swordmaster was holding his steel flatly against her neck. He was gripping the tip of the blade with a unprotected hand, likely to prevent it from actually striking her skin.