Wolves of War

Court Ordered

“Oh, this is bad,” Keylyn said. “We cannot let the Ursa have the magical item but we cannot let it fall into the hands of the Queen either.”

“Our only solution would be to destroy it, after you make your wish to return home,” Asai said.

Right…home back to my world. The time to make that decision seems to be getting shorter and shorter.

“That type of wish… I don’t know what kind of price that would incur. Worse case scenario, a rip in time and space would open up swallowing up life in this world as we know it.”

“The wish box sounds intelligent. I doubt it will do anything to harm itself. Ending life as we know it would fit that description,” Asai argued.

I thought about that for a moment and agreed with his assessment of the music box. There is mention of music boxes not granting wishes that would bring harm to the box itself.

“Okay… But I still have to reclaim Blackstone and bring Nymera’s killer to justice”, I mentioned

“As much as I want you with me, the price of that is too great, not with the Queen still in play, you have to be far from her reach and being with me will put you at arms length. Leave Blackstone and Nymera’s killers to me”, Asai said.

“Okay”, I said, “Once I make my wish, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Asai nodded and caressed my cheek, his eyes held both pain and adoration for me. I stared up at him a hint of sadness in my eyes as well. Our time together was slowly coming to an end.

“We will go prepare dinner now” I heard Galga Thea grumble as she was ushered toward the door.

“I’m going to pick fruit for the table” Ramune said, also making his way to the door.

“I’ll be in my chambers if I am needed my prince,” Keylyn said, backing up.

I chuckled at the excuses everyone is coming up with in order to dismiss themselves from our presence. I was about to make a short comment to everyone when the doors to the study opened. Sanna stood there wearing an almost sheer and very revealing gown. Next to her is a thinly built chimera in brightly colored robes and large rimmed glasses.

“What business does a lawyer have with Prince Asai at this time of night?” Keylyn asked.

“The question of marital duties has come into question” he said.

Again with this crap!

“So you are the one who made that report to the King” Asai said, folding his arms.

Sanna and the lawyer took a step into the room. He spotted me hanging onto and pressed up against Asai. Feeling like I'd been caught red-handed, I let him go and took a small step back.

“The lawful consort is bringing to light the lack of order in the harem.” The lawyer stated

I blinked, huh?

Keylyn slowly turned to look at Asai.

I dared not look at the prince, I could feel his anger. How could Sanna do this? She was wanting to kill the man a few weeks ago. Now is she bringing a lawyer into this? And we are about to plan for a war. Does this woman think of anyone other than herself?

I bit my lip, remembering that I am the selfish one here, not Sanna. But bringing a lawyer into this? What is that going to solve?

The lawyer stepped into the room and went right up to Asai and me. With a meter stick thicker than my arm, the Chimera jammed it between Asai and I and pushed me away from the prince.

I gave the lawyer an offended look at his audacity. I felt myself starting to lose control of my emotions and, as a result, the air around us began to electrify. A look of fear was shown in the lawyer's eyes and he took a step back.

“If you harm me accidentally or not, you will be in the wrong. I am just a mediator in this.” The lawyer said in a shaky voice.

“See!” Sanna said, arms crossed “Unstable, Iv’e. She had been saying she should not be allowed to be alone with the prince she could harm him. And besides, if anyone should be standing next to the Prince, it’s me.”

How dare she? I’m the one who risked my life for this man while all she wanted to do was take it. I took a deep breath and calmed down. Having more power at my disposal made me a lot more sensitive to stimuli and my emotions. Once I regained my composure, I opened my eyes and gave Asai a solid nod. He was looking at me with concern, but returned my nod in confirmation. Even though the pressure in the room is gone, the air still crackles with residual electricity.

“Now is not the time for your antics, Sanna. We have a war meeting to prepare for and plan. I don’t have time for this.” Asai began.

“This will not take long” said the lawyer, pushing up his glasses. “We just need to go over these boundaries and house rules. Then I’ll be off”

“Everyone clear the room” she pointed at me, then added “You included”

“Actually, she needs to be here to hear the House Rules that you would like to implement. Then she may leave.” The lawyer said, pulling out a gavel and other stationary

Sanna sucked her teeth and looked down her nose at me. Everyone left the study leaving only Asai, Sanna, myself and the lawyer.

“The first set of house rules has to do with the shared time of 3rd Prince Asai.” The lawyer began “Sanna of the Mountain is a contracted consort so she gets priority nights. There are five nights shared between the women of the harem, while nights 6 and 7 are considered as personal time for the prince. The Prince can spend his personal life however he pleases. However, three nights of the week, Prince Asai is to report to Princess Sanna’s bedroom and perform his marital duties to his contracted consort.” The remaining two nights will belong to the woman not contracted to Prince Asai, Princess Talia Noor. If, for any reason, the prince is unable to share three nights with Princess Sanna of the Mountain, then Prince Asai must make up the time each consecutive night. For example, if Prince Asai missed 6 days due to extenuating circumstances, then the prince must spend 6 nights with Princess Sanna. Prince Asai Zeeve of the GreyWolf Empire is hereby court ordered.”

The lawyer pounded his gavel on Prince Asai’s desk, then handed him a copy of the order.

“The next issue is about the order of the Harem.” The Lawyer took a deep breath and looked between me and Sanna.”

“There is no precedent of a Demi Goddess agreeing to become a Royal Consort. Rules dictate that Sanna should be in absolute control over the woman or women. She gives out allowances, rewards and punishments.” Lawyer said nervously.

“A court order cannot command me, and any retaliation against me will anger Serberus”, I told the lawyer.

The lawyer nodded his head. “I understand. Then my solution would be to split the Manor in half. You would essentially have two harems. One run by Princess Sanna and the other run by Princess Talia.”

“We are already doing something like this” I said.

“We are?” Asai asked

I smiled up at him “Sanna will have command over the mountain wolves who work in the Manor and I have command over the forest wolves.”

“There are more Forest Wolves than there are Mountain wolves.” Sanna interjected. “Which gives Talia the majority rule over the Manor.”

“The solution would be to dismiss half of the forest wolves under your employ and replace them with Mountain Wolf.” The lawyer said.

“I cannot”, Asai said.

“Why not?” The lawyer asked.

“The forest wolves have a tactical advantage over the Mountain Wolves. They are bigger, faster, stealthier, and meaner. I will not compromise security over a jealous feud.” Asai said.

“This leads me to my second suggestion. While in the Capital City, Princess Talia will have jurisdiction over the Manor. While in the Dukedom, Princess Sanna will have jurisdiction.”

Asai sighed but nodded his.

“This next part does not pertain to you, Princess Talia. You may go now”, the lawyer said, dismissing me.

Asai gave me a sad look as the door to the study closed in front of my nose. I sighed as a heaviness settled on my heart.

Galga took my hand and began to lead me away. “It sounds like it is going to be a while. Why don’t we take a bath and then have a small meal?”

“Sure” I nodded, patting Thea on the head.