Reunited
"The Queen will see you now."
Zalen nodded. He was already muttering the words for the stronger form of dispel, but was doing his best to mask them as nervousness. He walked inside, followed by the pirate who was now disguised as a merchant.
The Queen was sitting on her throne, waiting.
"Do you have the ring?"
Now that Zalen knew about the control spell, the signs were easy enough to spot. She was sitting a little too still, her voice too monotone. She wasn't even blinking!
He raised his staff, unleashing the spell.
"Noo!"
The yell had come from a side room. The door burst open, and a man wearing a vest adorned with gold pointed a finger at them.
"Guards! They are attacking the Queen! Kill them all!"
As the guards began moving towards them, the pirate queen stepped forward.
"
Dove! Remove your amulet now!
"
Her tone had been so commanding that even Zalen's hand made an involuntary gesture towards his neck. It definitely worked on the Queen who quickly pulled off the amulet like a kid caught trying on mom's necklace.
The Queen blinked, then turned to stare at the pirate. "Mai? Is that you?"
The guards' halberds struck the shield Zalen had quickly cast around them. It wavered. Damn, of course the guard here would have enchanted weapons!"
"Dove, your advisor used that amulet to enslave you!
Call off the guards!
"
"No, it's not really her! She's an impostor," the advisor shouted. "Put the amulet back on, it's the only thing that will protect you!"
The Queen looked at the amulet in his hands, then at the advisor.
"Protect me? That's not what you claimed then..."
The Queen stood up.
"Guards! Arrest my treacherous advisor! And leave those two alone!"
The advisor's face fell and he backed away in horror.
"Your majesty! I... I..."
He suddenly turned to flee but crashed right against another guard's chest as a new group of them entered the room from the side door.
Later, with the advisor now in jail, Zalen and the two women were in a different room, the Queen and the pirate sitting on luxurious chairs, Zalen still standing.
"He had told me the amulet wasn't magical at all but just a gift from the small village I loved spending time in as a kid," the Queen explained. "I can't believe I fell for that and let him steal the country like this!"
"There was only one thing missing that was keeping him away from complete control. This." Mai dug out the leather string on her neck, the ring having again buried itself in her considerable bosom.
"With this he could have 'married' you, become the King and then arranged a little accident or just let you live like a statue for the rest of your life. But I foiled his plans by stealing it when he tried to have me killed."
"And that's why he had hired me to bring back your ring," Zalen added. "A fiendish plan."
"And he promised you... umm,
land
?"
The Queen frowned, as if struggling to remember the events.
"By the Two Hills, your Majesty. We wish to build a temple for Vivariel there."
"Just call me Senja, no need for formality. Vivariel? Wasn't she the goddess that has been trapped for centuries?"
"Yes. We managed to free her and I'm now one of her Heart Veils."
"Well, you also saved me, my love and the whole country. So you can certainly have that land. I will have my new advisor handle the paperwork."
Mai had stood up, walking behind the Queen.
"Dove. I think he deserves a better reward than that for all he's done.
Stand up!
"
The pirate queen's voice had suddenly regained the same commanding tone she had used before. Senja stood up as if by reflex, her eyes widening slightly.
Mai smiled.
"Of course I couldn't let that usurper have you, Dove. You're already mine. But I don't need magic to command you and I don't give a rat's ass about other kinds of power.
Now remove your gown. Slowly.
"
The Queen smiled at her initial words and then looked slightly shocked upon hearing her command. "Here? Umm, yes."
The pirate smiled as Senja began unbuttoning her gown. Zalen admired the sight as the gown fell, leaving the Queen wearing nothing but silk stockings and gloves. Her body might not have the curves her pirate lover definitely had but she still looked highly attractive and now that her face was no longer so expressionless she definitely looked beautiful.
"The land was the reward for saving our country from that twerp," Mai explained. "But for bringing us together again we'll both give you a special reward.
Now crawl to Zalen and pleasure his cock!
