Chapter 271 – Planning and Searching

*** Elora ***

I launch my new Skill, hoping to see the fire snake burst down the door. I wish I could call it a dragon, but it seems like an insult to say that Alzi is related to something as pitiful-looking as my Skill. Though the snake does at least shimmer with a hint of what my Mother showed at the birthday party.

A barrier appears between it and the gate, only slowing down my Skill, but the gate handles my spell. All it manages to do is shake it with a loud clang, leaving a small circle of red hot metal that quickly cools in the freezing winter.

"Fine," I say. "Bring forward the siege engine. That should get their brains working when the gate starts to fall."

The drums beat out a march as the wooden machine rolls forward, runes engraved on every available inch. The only option I would have left if I broke or lost this machine would be to slit my own throat. The few our Queendom has have been built up over thousands of years. Some of the runes aren't even known anymore, gifts from the Goddesses when they would still grace the lower realms with their bodies. It has a massive rod, the sole purpose of which is to break open metal gates. Vines work as the ropes that let it swing.

Geta, Elyne, and Syro move with it; their only job is to defend it. A battalion surrounds them while our archers fire at the walls to aid them in the defense.

The city lacks nobles, so there is little chance that anything will damage the battering ram. Likely just a few arrows that will bounce off a Skill or be blown away by Elyne. But I can't risk it, not after my repeated failures with Alzi.

The walls remain empty, the women too scared to poke their heads out. The arrows we've been firing feel like a waste, but I'm happy to lower the risk for the women and our machine.

And that massive machine moves slowly, the runes almost entirely dedicated to power and durability, taking a week for all of the maids to fill them with mana. The mayor better be ready to lose her head for making me pull it out when I didn't have the time to fill it completely.

I raise my hand to call off the archers, our women now too close to the wall. Just a few seconds later, a few women dare to peak out over the edge, forgetting I have nobles near their walls.

Those brave women lose their heads and fall off the side, which should keep any more of them from getting ideas of being a hero. Yet they still aren't surrendering.

"Any ideas about what they are hoping for?" I ask. "This can't be blind faith or loyalty. They shouldn't have that anymore after the last war. My sister got her opponent to surrender, correct? I know the Queen fled, but she wasn't coming this way, and Mother is following her anyways."

"I don't know, Elora," Vanya says. "They may be hoping that they did something to warrant a Goddess's intervention. Trust Geta to catch on if they have a plan."

"I do," I say. "But this still feels wrong."

"We've just had too many plans fail," Ioelena says. "Just a minute more, and the gate will open. Geta will take control, and we'll defend the battering ram."

Maybe it is just that this will prove whether they were right. That I'm too late to get any glory. That I just tried to borrow Alzi's glory as a Champion. Running around killing relatively weak monsters for commoners hardly means much, and maybe that's all I'm good for.

The machine stops, and the massive log draws back. Silence fills the air for a second before it swings forward. A woosh of air comes and is followed by a bang that shakes us all to our cores.

The gate is no more, and yet they still aren't surrendering.

The vanguard surges forward into the city as we rush to take over caring for the machine. On the other side of the gate just sits ruined buildings and chunks of metal. No defenders are in sight or even above us on the walls.

Nobody meets my women.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR LEADER?!" I shout. "Find that bitch."

*** Alzi ***

I wake up to both of my breasts being sucked. One with a head of golden hair suckling, the other black.

"Sorry," Sarania says. "I got hungry, and this works for me. Did I wake you?"

"No," I say. "I can only see that whip come at me so many times."

"I see," Sarania says. "Sorry, my Mistress. You do look better than you did when you woke up last time. A small win. Are you hungry?"

"Not really," I say. "Are the other two asleep?"

"Yes, I think Luck here is just being greedy, my Mistress. But you need to eat. You are feeding four. I feed off lust, which is coming from you right now."

"I'm used to forcing food down," I say. A decade of that mana trash made me get used to eating when I didn't care to eat. Who knew that would be an important skill?

Sarania gets up, taking Luck? Why is her name Luck? Isn't that something I get to choose?

"Why is her name Luck?"

"She's a Goddess, and that is her domain," Sarania says. She sets Luck down in a crib with her sisters. The succubus is naked, her dark, smooth skin on display for me. Her tits are perky, defying gravity. They're just a tad smaller than mine, but does that mean she is keeping them smaller than mine on purpose? Her thin tail bounces around behind her, a little heart at the end, and her belly doesn't dominate her form, but it isn't small either. Clearly, she's getting ready to add to my children.

Will she ask for a better standing like Shyla and Aurora when she gives birth? What is her title?

"Your tits can grow a lot bigger, can't they?" I ask. "And what are you to me?"

"I am your servant, my Mistress, and yes, my tits are much bigger if I don't hold them back."

"Then how do you know she is Luck?" I ask. I couldn't tell with Contract, and now, it's the same with Luck. Is the other another Goddess I don't know the domain of?

"Your tattoo. Your children seem to like giving back," Sarania says, pointing to just above my left breast. "The other side will give you an idea of what the twin's domain is about. But I'm not sure what that is meant to represent."

Just over my left tit is a tattoo of two cards, an ace and a Queen. Over the right is a poorly drawn mushroom or cloud. I'm sure I just don't understand the meaning of it. How could a Goddess not draw correctly?

"Also, check your sternum," Sarania says, pulling out a sandwich and some fruit. She puts the food and glass of water on the table and sits on the bed. "Contracts, I believe, is that one."

I have to push my tits to the sides to find this other tattoo, my hands shaking. Am I a canvas for the Goddesses now? They lost their toy, so they turned it into a canvas. Do these give me power like the space and womb tattoos?

"Now, my Mistress, please eat. You have gone through so much to get here. Don't throw it away through neglect." She pushes the plate in front of me with a stern eye.

The babies are sleeping, so this is the best time to eat. Has Isda given birth yet?

"You're thinking instead of eating."

"Sorry," I say.

"Apologize by eating," Sarania says, and I finally grab the sandwich. It isn't bland mana food, so maybe I won't have to choke it down.

It's challenging to describe exactly what the sandwich tastes like. It isn't bland, difficult-to-stomach mana food, but it lacks the flavors I remember from the mansion. Of course, just as I finish the sandwich, little mouths scream for their own food.

"Let me handle them," Sarania says.

"No," I say. "I want to feed my children."

"Then you must let me feed you, my Mistress," Sarania says, picking up the two kids. The unknown Goddess and the one I had with Esiyae. "The fruit is important."

"Fine."

I get both children together, letting them latch onto my nipples and cradling them in my arms. The succubus cuts up the apple to feed it to me, piece by piece.

"My Mistress," Sarania says. "Do you know what you wish to do when your wives come to save you?"

"I think I want to divorce them," I say. "Do you think it would work?"

"Yes, but are you sure? I'm not trying to convince you to stay, my Mistress. I just want you to be sure about this. The dynamic in the family will change dramatically when you rejoin them now. You'll have me loyal to only you, and without the collar, they will have to respect you more. They won't even realize that they haven't been giving your opinion the correct weight until you ask for something. If you are certain about this path, I will be happy to help you through it. It should be simple, just pray in the Temple of Love."

"I should. They let me get kidnapped twice, and it wasn't even Elora who removed the collar."

"Very well. I'll find out where the temple is, and we can make our way there. Just remember, you are still a citizen of their Queendom, and they will order you to work for the army until the war is over. Don't fight them on that, or they will find a way to put a true slave collar on you, and then all hope will be lost. I'll stay with you in the army, and you'll be safe. I promise."

"Ok," I say. It would be good to finish healing the women anyway.

*** Elora ***

"Has anyone found them yet?" I ask. Not a single woman has come out to fight us since we entered this city. The immediate area had practically nobody, and deeper in just had citizens going about their lives.

Without knowing what was happening in the city, we had to push in slowly, even without having to fight. But the mayor still refuses to show herself. A few nobles have surrendered to us already, but none with any actual authority.

"I'VE FOUND THEM!" A messenger screams. "I FOUND THEM!" My guards let her pass through. I'm still in my armor, and my shield is out, so she can't hurt me even if she's another changeling. "Temple. Of. Fertility." She huffs out. "Ritual thing. Lady Alzi. Missing."

"Ritual and missing Alzi," Shimmer says.

"Finally awake?" I say, trying to ignore that my husband is most certainly no longer under my control. Did someone else slip a collar around her neck? Is she still even in the city? As long as she's in the city, I can handle it. The collar was going away soon anyway.

"Yes, and ready to go look for a missing wife," Shimmer says. "Just post guards around the Temple and get them when they leave. But we shouldn't kill them without getting permission from the Goddess of Fertility. She may be rewarding them for something, and it wouldn't do to kill them after that. Was there a man among them?"

"Yes."

"Do you disagree, Elora?" Shimmer asks, already walking out into the city.

"No, but you should have someone with you."

"Ah, yes. Vu! Come," Shimmer says, calling out for her maid.

"I'll check as well," Geta says, her maid also in tow. "Take care of the city, Elora. We'll take care of our husband."

"Fine," I say. That's my role, unfortunately. Yet again, I'm unable to save my husband.