Tales of a Seductress

TOAD – Chapter 75

toad – chapter 75

as we rode north, i gave him a flirtatious smile. he ignored it the best he could, but i still could see visible effects on him. his cheeks were a little red, and he let out slightly more staggard breaths. he had already walked in on me in several embarrassing situations. he had seen parts of me that other men could only dream about.

i hadn’t gone out of my way to seduce him. this would only cause problems between me and my husband, and there was also the matter of magical items that suppressed my ability and protected him. even with all of that, i was impressed that he hadn’t thrown all caution to the wind and jumped on me. i wouldn’t call myself conceded, merely confident, but his resistance hurt my pride a little bit.

oberon and i were traveling by carriage for this part of the journey rather than horseback. since there were clear paved roads, it made sense for a king to not have to ride. that didn’t mean that everyone else got a carriage, and there were soldiers before and after use. the truthsayer was one of those riding alongside. after noticing me eyeing him, his eyes flickered to oberon worriedly, and then he kicked his horse and rode a bit faster so i could no longer see his face. i didn’t mind looking at his behind though.

“can you please stop flirting with my truthsayer? i’m right here.” a deep, aggravated voice asked in front of me.

i turned to the oberon and flashed him my best smile. “how else will i be able to make you jealous?”

“it hardly makes me jealous.” he rolled his eyes, but i could tell that he was in a good mood, and seemed more willing to engage with me than he usually did.

i leaned toward him, my low-cut dress showing a fair amount of cleavage. “come on, daddy, you can tell me. is he a eunuch?”

“daddy? you use some strange expressions sometimes.” he sighed. “and, no. his sexual organs are attached.

“do you not plan to impregnant me someday soon? you will become a father then, so i should get used to calling you daddy. if you want, you can call me mommy.”

“no, i’d rather not.” he responded seriously.

“if he’s not a eunuch, how is he so immune to my charms?” i asked.

“so, you admit you’ve been attempting to charm him?” oberon growled.

“no more than i’ve attempted to charm you.” i smiled. “quite a bit less.”

“hmm.” he grunted. “he and i... have a special relationship.”

“lovers?” i gasped.

“are you done?” he didn’t even smirk as he leaned back. “he comes from a special order of demons. their lineage is old... but only a drop of their blood remains. it offers them many special abilities. they see that which others cannot.”

in truth, we were probably still a day away, but that spoke to the massive size of it all. giant pillars and columns spiraled up into stone archways. towers were stretching up into the sky, many of them carved seemingly directly out of the mountain. it looked less like a castle was built on a mountain, and more like a mountain was carved away and what was left happened to be the castle.

the castle had a gothic appeal to it, as expected of a demon realm. i was surprised at how artistic it all was though. it wasn’t ugly but had a certain romantic element to it. a lot of the stone was white marble or something that gave a similar effect. there were images of demons and monsters, but rather than look terrifying and evil like in the human realm, they appeared triumphant and proud, standing tall, their faces filled with ageless wisdom.

as moved closer, i could see a city wall. the wall was surrounded by a massive moat filled with water from an underground spring. the water in the moat was crystal clear, and in my mind, it almost looked like glass. i could see fish swimming around in there too, making for some excellent scenery.

“there is no place like home!” one of the soldiers exclaimed.

he was right though, compared to other cities this place was quite impressive. there were multiple towers on top of the castle walls, which seemed to be used for observation. and the castle itself was also very well maintained. while not as decadent as the castle i had seen in the human realm, it appeared more functional, while being too artistic to be called a normal military base.

in comparison, the rather small city that had formed around it felt rather lackluster. the buildings were developed, with paved roads and clay-roofed houses, but there was nothing particularly grand. the forests were a bit distant, so everything was made of stone. there was also a crispness to the air that both made it feel refreshing, and made me want to cover up.

i could understand why the other powers chose another city to put the council and parliament. the small city didn’t offer much in the way of sights, and no matter how much they attempted to build and beautify the area, it would never compare to the grandeur of the castle above. anyone who lived there would be constantly under the fist of whoever lived in that building. people like tigon wouldn’t be able to make a peep under that constant reminder of power.

“that castle...” i spoke unconsciously, feeling a strange sensation inside.

“it was the demon god’s castle. he lived there for as long as time records. this was the last seat and all that remains of the power that once ruled the two realms.”

i was going to say that i couldn’t imagine this being built in this modern age. it was a wonder of the world, like the pyramids or the babylon wall. given its size and elegance, it made sense that it had been built by dragons. it looked like a place where gods receded.

“we’ll be living here?” i asked.

“in a part of it... a small part.” he shrugged. “the majority of it is very difficult to access, and many of the areas on inhospitable to human life. the air is... thin, up in some of the higher towers, and the wind is powerful enough to tear the skin of a human.”

i gulped. the closer we got, the higher i realized the castle went. it was as tall as a mountain. the upper floors did take you to the limits of the atmosphere. i wondered if we climbed up there and if we might be able to see any land masses beyond.

“what now?” i asked.

“now, your level.” he responded. “it is time to prepare for our marriage.”

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