War of the Races - The Verdant Realm

The Champion And The Oracle, cont. 1

I came to a sudden stop, and Glenna was nearly thrown out of the saddle. She righted herself and slid off my back so that she could walk around and look at my huge lion face. She grabbed handfuls of my golden mane and shook my head as she smiled at me.

“You knew,” I whispered.

“I always knew,” She purred lovingly.

“How?” I asked.

“Well, you always said strange things as a child. That certainly would have clued me in if I hadn’t had a dream from Selene the night I conceived you, explaining to me what happened,” She answered as I shapeshifted out of my lion form so that I could embrace her as an Alfar.

“Oh mama,” I cried as I hugged her tight.

“Oh my beloved boy,” She purred as she held me close. We hugged for several minutes, and then she asked, “So about your father?”

“Oh,” I laughed and stepped back as I wiped tears from my eyes and cheeks, “I never had a father until Summerset, and so I don’t want to disrespect him by bedding his wife.”

“I see, well, I certainly admire your loyalty to your father and to me,” She answered with a nod and another hug. Mumbling to herself, she turned, and we walked for a while before she asked, “So you don’t like that my Goddess requires that I bed men occasionally to give blessings, and you won’t bed me because I am your father’s wife?”

“You can’t possibly understand how much I want you,” I said, trying to lessen any hurt feelings.

“No, I understand completely,” She said in a warm, understanding purr. “I was given to the church when I was ten years old. My mother was a priestess, as was her foremother before her. The House of Moonlilly was built on the back of the church, and they are nearly indistinguishable from each other. I was never given a choice as to what I wanted to be as a child; I was simply trained to be what I was going to be. I don’t know any other way but to be a priestess of Selene, and now the Goddess has blessed me with a body resembling hers and given me a mission. I can’t simply abandon my faith and my Goddess.”

“Nor do I want you to,” I answered with a shake of my head before pulling us to a stop so that I could take both her secondary hands, “But there has to be a compromise somewhere. Some way that you don’t have to keep giving blessings by having relations with men.”

“I suppose,” She mumbled as she brought her right primary hand up to cradle her chin as she thought it over, “I would have to go back to the Temple and research all the proclamations and edicts given for the last five thousand years, but there might be something in the old manuscripts that will help us.”

“Well, we are investigating the churches for corruption now,” I offered mildly, “If we are looking for Apostates, won’t we have to research their edicts anyway?”

“That’s true,” She mused and then nodded as if she had come to a personal resolution, “In that case, from this day forward and until this investigation is over, I will only bed my husbands.”

“Husbands,” I asked in surprise.

“Why yes,” She said with a cheery smile, “Summerset, and you.”

“Me?!” I hollered.

“Yes,” She laughed, “This isn’t usually something a mother tells her oldest son, at least not until her husband, her son’s father, has passed away. However, given our closeness, I think you should know. Should anything happen to your father prematurely, or when he dies of old age, you inherit everything that is his. Property, wealth, wives, concubines, the unmarried daughters of his wives and concubines, slaves, and animals, everything!”

“W-What? How? Why,” I stammered in disbelief.

“Here, let us sit in the grass, and I will explain,” She said as she pulled me to a nearby tree and motioned for me to sit before she knelt and sat in my lap. Her black orbs gazed into my emerald eyes, and with a patient smile, she explained, “The day you were born, both your father and I marked you as his heir in our own blood.”

“How is this done?” I asked.

“We prick a finger, silly,” She laughed, and then took her thumb and pressed it to my forehead and moved from one side to the other as if she were painting a line just above my brow. “Your father did the same, but his line is at your hairline, signifying his headship of House Vale and our family. Mine was below, signifying my submission to his authority as my husband, and that was it; from that day I have been your wife and his.”

“What about Silvain and Shadowlynn,” I asked.

“They are yours as well,” She answered with a nod, “What you do with them is another thing entirely. You can keep them as wives, or you can marry them to other lords for alliances. However, you can’t do both. Their virtue must be intact to be able to marry them off.”

“How would that work when you have sent Silvain off to become a priestess?” I asked, my concern for her virtue thick in my voice.

“You need not worry for your sister,” She reassured, “The first five years are spent teaching theology, world history, politics, mathematics, science, biology, and literature. The next three years, they learn Animal husbandry, medicine, herbalism, and chemistry. In their ninth year, they take their second Vows of Covenants, and then they focus on their devotion and prayers. They learn precepts, traditions, and public speaking. It is only in their tenth year that they take their final Vows of Covenants and are baptized in the Pool of Virgins, becoming Disciples of Selene, and must give themselves in the pool to a man so that their virgin blood may anoint them as priestesses, and then, like me, the fact we priestesses are not virgins is overlooked since we are anointed by Selene.”

“Holy s**t!” I gasped in shock as she looked at me in shock, not understanding my distress. “I have to get her out of that school! I will not have Silvain bedding any other man but me! She is my wife!”

“Of course she is, honey,” She said with a nod, then shook her head, “Her losing her virginity for the sake of her baptism to Selene doesn’t change that.”

“She will either lay with me for her baptism, or she will not become a priestess! This I vow,” I growled.

“Of course, my Lord,” She whispered and lowered her eyes in submission, “As my Lord commands. If you wish, I will send a letter immediately withdrawing her from the Temple.”

“No, not yet,” I answered confidently, but I was feeling unsure of myself now that Glenna was submitting to me as her husband. I wasn’t sure how to proceed.

There was a comfort in her being my mother, and in the dynamic of that relationship. She was older, more mature, and an advisor and a leader, but now, at least in this moment, she was submitting to me, giving me leadership over her as her head and husband, and it was thrilling and frightening all at the same time. “Send a letter to Silvain, explaining my wishes as her husband to be.”

“And those are,” She asked with a secretive smirk.

“She is not to take the final vows until I am present to also take her as my wife. If there is a way to secure the message, tell her about our quest, and tell her to be alert to suspicious activity. And tell her, I love her with all my heart and that I think of her every day,” I commanded.

“You really are your father’s son,” Glenna purred with a chuckle and shook her head before leaning in and kissing me soft and passionately, not at all like a mother kisses a son. When she pulled away, her mouth was only an inch from mine as she whispered, “Since I have told you I am your wife, you may take me now if you want me.”

“Is it really okay?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes, it is really okay,” She whispered as she moved around on my lap so that she was straddling me. Her breasts were huge and beautiful and right in my face. Her star-filled, midnight black hair gently wafted to and fro as it floated above her head. Her skin glowed brightly from the recent full moon, and she smiled lovingly down at me as two hands caressed my face while her other two caressed my chest. “This is how it has been done for thousands of years. Your father knows this and doesn’t mind. Any children I bear from you will be considered his, and when he passes, they will be considered yours. That is just the way of things.”

Reaching out suddenly in my ardor, my need to have her, I grabbed her behind her head and pulled her down for a passionate kiss.

“Mmm,” She hummed into my mouth and lay into my body so that her breasts were squeezed out the sides as she pressed herself into me. Her hands were all over me, and mine were all over her, at least until I cupped her bountiful buttocks as her tail wrapped around my arm.

One of her four hands snaked down between us and massaged my d**k until I was supremely engorged, and then she guided me to her s*x. It felt so warm and natural, like I was going home. Her pubic mound collided with my pelvis, and I could feel that I was completely sheathed in her body.