Jeff circled the flying carpet slowly, gazing down at the city and the gleaming marble palace in its center from high above.
If what he had learned in Kardis was true, this was the end of his long journey of rescue: Bette and Elvira had been bought as slaves by this petty king, hardly more than a pirate and bandit himself.
"Well, Giton- I guess it's showtime." He said. The man-servant sat behind him, atop the heavy wooden chest that Jeff hoped would buy his friends' freedom.
"I hope you know what you're doing master." The scrawny man whined.
Jeff sighed inwardly. Nothing like your friends having faith in you, he thought with some sarcasm. But he had to secretly agree with the nervous sentiment to some extent.
He guided the carpet down in a slow, sweeping arc that brought him into the city from the direction of the sea, only a dozen yards or so above the masts of the galleys and ships- close enough to hear the exclamations from the crowd below as they passed slowly overhead up the main boulevard of the city at a slow, stately rate towards the palace.
This was a hot climate, and the natives- male and female alike- mostly wore only brief white linen kilts. Jeff tried not to ogle at more than one magnificent rack on proud display, and noted that the more affluent women had jewelry or paint accentuating their tits in most delectable ways.
He guided the carpet directly over the wide main street to the gates of the palace, which were open. He debated briefly going over the walls but decided a better message would be sent by gliding through the gates, and brought the carpet to a hovering stop directly in front of the gilded doorway of the main building.
A pair of guards in gleaming bronze breastplates and greaves shifted their spears and shields nervously, and a fat, white headed man in a short white kilt and sandals stepped forward, raising his hand.
"Greetings, great wizard. Welcome to Doria, home city and summer palace of the great Elephesias, King of the Argi and Dori, Prince of the Spear Coast tribes, Lord of the Western Marches. What brings you to this place?"
Jeff stared at the man with his best poker face. He had done his homework: these people were fierce and war-like, respecting strength and prowess in arms and disdaining magic.
"Beware who you insult, fat man." He said with as much arrogance as he could muster. "It is no wizard that comes before you. I am Jeffrey, Prince of Disneyland. I would speak with your King, and ransom a pair of subjects of mine who have come under the protection of your lord."
"Indeed!" the fat man smiled in glee and his greedy eyes swept to the chest. "Pray come inside, mighty prince, and I will arrange your interview with my lord the king."
"Wait here." He said to Giton, and jumped easily to the ground.
Jeff was clad in war-like finery: heavily stylized light armor that showed off his large, muscular physique, with multiple edged items of destruction strapped to his body. But as always, if the shit hit the fan he would rely on the various magical items secreted about him.
He followed the man inside, and was immediately impressed with the splendor of the place. He walked on deep, plush carpets amid polished columns to wait on a finely carven divan while the fat man went into the king's chamber.
After only a few moments, the fat man beckoned him into the room- a large, open chamber full of people.
As he entered the room, a man by the door smacked his staff on the floor twice, producing a curiously musical ring, and shouted out Jeff's name and title for all to hear.
Jeff felt every set of eyes in the room upon him- every set except for those of the rather buxom blonde woman who had her head buried in the lap of the man on the throne.
Her curly hair swept around as she wiggled and bobbed her head on the shaft of the King.
There were probably twenty-five or thirty people in the room- a half-dozen of them guards, a few kilt-wearing types wearing gold and jewels standing close around the throne, and the rest were naked females in a line stretching from an open doorway near the throne to the blonde woman slobbing the knob at the center of the room.
The fat man stepped forward and waived Jeff to follow. As they drew within a dozen paces or so, the king waived a negligent hand and a big, bald black man next to him yelled "Next!'
The blonde rose from her kneeling position and curtsied briefly to the king before moving off through another door behind the throne, and the next woman in line immediately took her place in front of the king's gleaming hard-on, a massive totem that jutted forth, gleaming with saliva. This woman one was a tall, angular, obviously elvish, with cascading black hair.
Jeff looked at the other women in the line. There were all types of races and builds present, but each one was a knock-out. Did this king really sit here getting blown all day long by one hottie after another?
His eyes met the King's and he saw that the man was watching him closely, measuring Jeff's reaction to the scene.
"Poker-face", Jeff reminded himself.
The King smiled, and Jeff was reminded of a the menacing glare of a shark. He was a middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed beard and no mustache. His naked torso bore various scars that attested to his history around sharp steel. "Greetings, my fellow prince." He said, his voice deep and even. "Laerdus tells me you have come with a ransom. I am always interested in visitors who come with gold."
Jeff nodded. "I am told you have two of my subjects in your holdings. Two women- a brown haired lass of some beauty, and a green-skinned goblin. I would refund your purchase price for them, along with a reward for keeping them safe for me."
The king scowled faintly. "A brunette and a green skin?" He glanced over at the fat man. "Laertus, is it possible I have such in my custody?"
Laertus shrugged. "You have two hundred women in your harem, lord. At least five of them are green-skinned, and brunettes number in the dozens.'
"Hmmm." The king mused. He glanced down at the woman in his lap almost distractedly and waived his hand again. The black man boomed out "Next!" and the elvish woman was replaced by an Asiatic looking girl with a shaved head and delicate silver chains and piercings joining her nipples to her ear lobes in a crossing pattern.
He glanced back at Jeff. "Let's say I did have possession of these subjects of yours. They are most likely members of my harem. Almost my wives, if you will. I can hardly sell one of my wives like a common whore, could I? But.....if there were something else you could do for me- as a sort of princely favor, one ruler to another, perhaps I could be convinced to accept a gift for the return of your property."
"A favor?" Jeff asked.
"Yes. Or you could think of it as a sort of test- my way to assure your worthiness to claim not one, but two of my wives. Yes- that might be a better way to think of it."
Jeff nodded, keeping his face perfectly still. "And what would this test be?"
"There is a creature bothering my subjects in the mountain villages to the West. Normally I would enjoy the opportunity for a little hunt myself, but I am expecting an embassy from a neighboring state to arrive any moment now- some business about a war-alliance or some-such. Take care of this small matter for me- by the next full moon- and I shall consider your offer further."
Jeff kept his face schooled to an icy calm, but he was getting pissed off. He knew there was a lot more to this deal, and it wasn't something he should just jump into, but he wasn't going to give this pompous son of a bitch the pleasure of running his mouth any further."No problem. Have your fat man come outside and give me the details and I'll be back in a week." He bowed graciously, then turned on his heel and stalked out.
Twenty minutes later, he was soaring several hundred feet above the earth, cursing aloud for all he was worth. "You've got to be fucking kidding me! A ten-foot tall, fire-breathing monster that weapon's can't touch and is totally impervious to magic. How the hell do I beat that?"
When he calmed down, he turned to face Giton. "OK- here's where you go to work. I'll drop you off a mile or so out of town, and you go in and snoop around. I want all the dirt you can dig up- on the king, on whether Bette and Elvira are even here, and especially on this fucking monster. Where it holes up, how many people it's killed, all that. Find out ab0ut anybody that went up against it- I need to find out what its weakness is, or anything at all about it. Or if will it be easier to just bust the girls out after all. You understand? You'll have plenty of coin on you, so buy whatever you need. Got it?"
Giton nodded eagerly. "Sure, boss. I saw a couple of hostels that looked like promising places to start a conversation, and there was a public bath, too. I'll meet you right here first thing tomorrow morning."
The next morning, closer to noon, Jeff had just about decided to go into town himself and start looking for Giton, wondering if he was now going to have to pay another ransom, when he saw the figure of his man-servant hove into view in the distance.
Jeff winced as he realized the man was walking with a limp, leaning on a staff- had he sent his servant into harm's way?
"Gods above, what did I get him into?" He thought in panic, and jumped on the carpet to zoom over to the tottering figure.
As ne neared, he could see the huge grin on Giton's face, and he realized the man was still at least partly drunk, accounting at least in part for the staff. Jeff had never seen the little git take more than a glass of wine at a time.
"What the hell happened? Where have you been?" Jeff demanded, vaguely aware that he sounded like an over-wrought parent.
Giton squinted up at his master, a dozen feet above on the carpet. "Well- you remember that public bath? It started there, and I don't really know what happened after that. But there was this shiny little black man with the most wonderful prick! My poor asshole might never be the same..."
Jeff groaned aloud. "Great. Just fucking great. Some spy you are."
"Well- about that- I did find out who you need to talk to...."
"Oh, yeah?" Jeff asked skeptically.
