It was a sunny, windy, day in the royal manor. Farth and Jania, the two select heirs from the twin realms of Theravia and Caland. They were both dressed lightly for the warm weather. Farth wore a thin white vest that revealed the dark hair of his chest, and blue tied pant with subtly embroidered insignia of the key historical events of his house. Jania wore a knee length red skirt and a thin airy blouse that showed off her modest cleavage. Her head only came up to his nose, but she had piercing eyes and a commanding presence that no one would deny.
Farth was laid back, but had a quiet intensity to him, always wore a slight smile, and had been groomed to rule just as much as she had. They both knew what awaited them that night.
"Jania, it's been a while. Care to tour the museum before sunset?" asked Farth, offering her his hand.
Jania took his hand and allowed him to lead her along. "Sure, though I'd like to eat something afterwards."
"I already checked, there will be dinner in the antechamber. You ordered lobster?"
"It's hard to come by far from the coast where I live. What did you order?"
"Potatoes with a heaping fruit salad," said Farth with a grin.
"So you pick a traditional dish from my land and I picked a traditional dish from yours... without prior planning. I do believe we are going to make a good team."
"I hope so. It'll be interesting to pick your brain later tonight and see how we both think when under pressure.
"Whoever wins, we'll need to work together," agreed Farth. They walked together into the first room of the museum, it displayed several relics of the first age, the trunk of the necromancer, ceremonial scythes, and other orbs associated with the old magic. Above it all was a mural showing a mythical, god-like figure who supposedly taught the ways of magic to their ancestors.
"Do you think he was ever real?" asked Farth.
"What he taught was real enough," said Jania. "The knowledge had to come from somewhere. I think he was real, but probably not anything like the way history remembers him."
They moved onto the next room. Here were the surviving artifacts from the age of darkness, where much of the knowledge was lost in wars of various necromancers fighting each other for control over what was left. Most of it was pens and papers, and remains of the dead.
"No more necromancy after that. Funny to think back on it now," said Farth.
"Only because it's illegal," said Jania.
"Plenty of things are illegal that people still do. There's no more necromancy because it was replaced by shadow magic. It's more efficient, more effective, and a lot less messy. You've studied it, I know."
"You may have a point there," smiled Jania. "What about you? Did you study any magic? If I recall you never showed much interest in it."
"Just balance," said Farth. "It can't do much yet, but I think it's the future."
"Ideals are nice, but the don't get the job done. Study philosophy and you'll spend all your time debating things you can't even see while roaches multiply in the shadows." They passed through several more displays until they came to hall of the Spider Queen, who rose to power in the fifth era.
They both stood in solemn silence here, wondering what the other was thinking. The Spider Queen had discovered how to enslave men with her sex-based magic, and had nearly conquered the world with it. Their nations both had quite a bit of her legacy. Finally Farth broke the silence.
"I know you admire her. What do you think she did wrong?"
"Respect more than admire. She was good at what she did, but she was too arrogant, trusted too much in her absolute power. She used fear too much without considering the power that other individuals held. Only a deity can control a nation alone. And she was mortal just like the rest of us. No king or queen can rule without advisers, councilors, and without helping people create power for themselves. Fear can't rule without food."
"A good saying, and I think its true too, but an ideal ruler would help people govern themselves. Make themselves obsolete."
Jania smiled. "An anarchist king? Bold of you. Bold and dangerous. Give people food, but don't give them power, not if you don't want them to use it against you. Make them need you, or they will destroy you." They walked into the next hall showing the succession of kings and queens, the tradition that their nations had held for generations now.
The noble houses of Theravia and Caland selected their best candidates, tested them against each other, then sent them in this ritual, a prince from Caland and a princess from Theravia. This was a wedding ritual, one to determine who was best suited to rule. They would enter a chamber enchanted to share their thoughts and blur their souls but also enhance their libidos. In the room was an enchanted collar, similar to those the Spider Queen had used to enthrall her followers. Of of them would would have to put on the collar, willingly, before dawn. Once the collar was in place, their mutual orgasms would complete the ceremony. One of them would be king or queen, and the other would be slave to the other's will.
The hall of kings and queens contained twenty one pairs. They would be the twenty second. Nine kings, twelve queens. There almost seemed to be a pattern to the alternation. They almost always seemed to come in clusters. And they had just had a queen. Couples from across both nations used this room to resolve disputes and enjoy wedding nights, especially from the noble houses: KQQKQQKQQQKKQKKQQQKKQ
"A battle of the sexes, every fifteen years," mused Farth. "It beats war."
"You aren't looking forward to it?" smiled Jania.
"It is exciting, but a bit distasteful. Either I enslave you, or I let you enslave me? What if I don't like either of those options?"
"And you got to this far with that attitude? How?"
"I have charisma, and I'm terribly stubborn."
"What I heard is that you are terrifyingly aggressive. Unstoppable, when you set your mind to something. A good trait to have in a ruler."
"And I balance it with diplomacy. An even better trait to have. What else did they tell you about me?"
"Nothing that you need to know right now," smiled Jania. "We can talk all night about it after dinner."
The antechamber was set up as a dining hall, overlooking the rocky coast. The sun was low in the sky and would probably set just as they finished dinner. The ocean breeze blew in past them as they sat down to eat.
"I'd like to make sure that we're friends before we start tonight," said Farth. "I think it's important that we at least like each other first."
"Really? Why? We both go in as rivals, and when I make you my slave it won't matter any differences we have. I'll make you love me, and it won't matter if I like you." Jania worked open another section of her lobster as she spoke.
"I think it will matter," said Farth. "The ceremony won't erase who we are, and whoever loses will still have autonomy and contribute to ruling the kingdom. It helps to like each other. Forcing you to like me won't work as well as if it happens naturally."
"The whole point of the ceremony is that it doesn't happen naturally. We've learned that, as nations, as rulers. There must be one will, power struggles are inevitable otherwise. And men and women are too different. If women don't control men they always make a mess of things."
"And if women control men for too long, then there is stagnation and frustration. You can't deny that. There needs to be balance. I think if we start with balance, then keeping it will be easier for whoever wins."
"I think queens have done a much better job than kings. The people are happier and safer under queens."
"Wouldn't it be funny if the collar actually reverses things, and the person we think is the slave is actually in control," muses Farth, seeming to change the topic.
"That would be interesting, but there are ways we can tell that's not true. And your reaching because you know I'm right."
"Not at all. I've seen plenty of tyrannical queens, and beloved kings through history. I think both kings and queens have become better. A part of the other inside them, balancing me. This ceremony doesn't just determine who controls the other, it joins us together, merges our minds," Farth insisted.
"I look forward to squeezing those silly ideas of yours out of that head and leading you around by your cock. You're afraid of being my slave, I get it. You know I'm the best Theravia has to offer, and you're not sure if you can beat me. That's fine. We should have another queen now anyway, according to the pattern." Jania sounded confident, but Farth knew and expected her game.
"Overconfidence is traditionally the man's flaw. Interesting that you try to take on that role. The queens of the past were always more feminine than the men they controlled. Women who imitate men lack confidence in their own feminine power." He doubted it would have an effect, but Farth would try in any case.
"And here you were just saying that our realms are better because they combined masculine and feminine traits in their rulers."
"They have, but in order to do so, men must become more masculine, to enhance our natural traits."
"It's a nice sentiment, but it's wrong. It's all about control and distractions, and women have all the advantage there. Not all women, of course. We're made to control, made to command."
"I know a lot of women who would disagree with that," countered Farth.
"Oh, I know. Women love to let men take care of everything for them. Serve them. And the best of men are super productive and smart. That male drive is designed to serve women. In fact, I'd say that all of the past royal couples have served the woman. Either with her as a pampered "slave" or as a commanding queen. So how would you like to serve me? By working hard as ruler, and pampering me, or as my pampered pet?"
