We stay here, cuddling with our foreheads touching for a while. My stomach interrupts our cuddling time with an ill-timed loud growl. Lysara giggles and says, "I guess we should probably eat actual food, too." She puts down the barrier, and I pull the blanket on top of us for modesty purposes, then call out, "May?" May comes back in and seems disappointed about the situation, but doesn't say anything and asks, "What can I do for you, Miss Ari?" I ask, "Is there a way we can get our dinner a little early today?" May responded, "Certainly. I will prepare it at once." She leaves and shuts the door. I thought for a moment, "How are your funds looking, Lysara?" Lysara giggles, "That seems random. We may have spent A LOT during our travels, but I still have plenty for now. Why do you ask?" I say, "Well, I used to tip her a lot, but I haven't been able to tip her while being here since my father took my things. I don't have a copper to my name right now." Lysara winks, "Leave it to me then, Ari." I hold Lysara tight, "I love you so much, Lysara." Lysara squeezes me tight back, "I love you too, Ari."
We cuddle naked in bed until May knocks with our dinner. We call her in, and Lysara reaches into her purse on the end table and grabs a few silver coins and says, "Thank you for accommodating us. Here is a token of our appreciation." May approaches and takes the silver and says, "Thank you for your generosity. I am just doing my job." She says that, but her eyes are gleaming from getting money. Glad some things never change. She is a great maid as long as you keep her purse full. She used to neglect me as a kid until I offered her 5 silver to get me a 1 copper donut from the festival when I was about 5, and since then, she has been the picture-perfect maid. I know that she didn't care for me because she truly cared. She only cared about money. It was nice to pretend, though. I hugged May more than my mother. It was almost as if I were paying her to provide me with motherly affection. My mother was always so busy with the duchy that she couldn't spend time with me. I did not mind buying May's affection because our relationship was mutually beneficial. I had too many coins and she loved them. While I sought affection that she could give. Using each other to survive in this cruel world. May then says with a smile, "Please enjoy your meal, my ladies. Let me give you some privacy." She curtsies and takes her leave with silver coins still lighting up her eyes.
Lysara giggles when the door shuts and turns back to me for more cuddles with her tail flickering in amusement, "Wow, I wasn't expecting her attitude to change that much. You were not kidding." I giggle, "When I realized the power coin had over her, everything changed for the better during my childhood. She was the main one to show me any kind of motherly affection. I only saw my mother during meal times, if that, or during the occasional tea time. I spent a lot more time with May. I am glad I don't have to pay you to show me affection." I say as I kiss her. Lysara replies, "You get that for free." She says with a flirty smile and kisses me again.
A few days later, we get a knock and we hear Ricky's voice, "Miss Ari, Miss Lysara. May I come in?" We call him in. We are mainly behaving right now, just chilling. I was reading a novel while Lysara was sitting behind me, distracting me by kissing my neck over and over while taking a break from her magic training. Ricky blushes, "I can come back if you need me to." I close my novel after placing a bookmark at my spot and put my hand up, "That isn't necessary, Ricky. What's going on?" He says, "Patala received the orb and is requesting a meeting with you in audience along with the king. Are you ready now?" I look at Lysara, and she looks ready, so I nod, "Sure, let's go. Is our attire enough, or do we need to change?" Ricky looks over us carefully, "You should be fine. Follow me and I will take you to our communications room." We travel through the castle corridors for a while until we reach our destination.
Once inside the comms room, we see 2 incubi, a succubus, 2 dark elves, and a few unimportant-looking demons out of the way to the side being projected from a magic ball. The two incubi appear to be twins, saying in sync in a sing-song mocking way, "Been a while, our little broken Lysara. Have you learned how to use magic yet?" I growl back, "I don't care if you are her family. Lysara is far from broken, and she will be my wife. Whether or not she can use magic is completely irrelevant to why we are here today. I refuse to stay here and listen to you belittle her just because she is different from you."
I hold Lysara's arm and turn to go leave, and a gorgeous succubus from the projection smacks the twins and kicks them out of their comm room, "Don't leave yet, Lysara. I apologize for their lack of tact. We still have much to discuss." We stop walking and come back, and sit down. We sit next to each other and are holding hands on the table in front of us. The gorgeous succubus then says, "I am Elinesha, Queen of Patala. Those two are Urixar and Colyxir. The young dark elf here is my other son, Almon. The one to my side here is my husband and the Demon King, Salenar. Human woman, what is your name?" Technically not human anymore, but I can't argue right now since King Victor is here. He doesn't know I am a vampire, and I plan to keep it that way. I replied, "The name given to me by my parents is Ariela Romo, but I have been going by Ari these past several months." Queen Elinesha says, "Nice to make your acquaintance, Ari." She then turns to Lysara, "Lysara, what exactly happened? You just disappeared one day, never to be seen again." Lysara responds with an academic air in her tone of voice, "When researching my teleportation magic project, one of my formulas was off slightly, and it teleported me to Perdita instead of my intended destination."
I didn't know she was a researcher.That is so cool. I knew she was sent here from a magical mishap, but I didn't know the exact circumstances. I just learned something else about my beloved, and I have fallen even further. I am currently just smiling at Lysara, giving her my silent support while I squeeze her hand. She squeezes back and looks at me with a tender smile. King Salenar responds, "Wait, you were able to transport you, yourself, a living being with magic?" Lysara holds her other arm out wide, "Well, I am here, aren't I, Father? Ari is my witness. She met me shortly after I was sent here and has been my travel companion."
King Salenar chuckled, "Here I thought you were wasting my time, and here you are doing the impossible, attempting to combine light and dark magic elements." Queen Elinesha then says, "It is something indeed. I had no idea your research had come so far along. I thought you were just wasting decades away on something pointless." Queen Elinesha looks at me and asks, "So, Lysara, tell me about this human. Last we spoke, you hated them.Now I hear you want to marry one?" Lysara squeezes my hand, and I squeeze back.
She steals another tender glance. I don't know about her, but looking at her is easing my nerves. Hopefully, it is doing the same for her. Lysara responds to her question, "This human is the only being alive in this world that saw me for me. She loves me exactly how I am." She chuckles as she recalls, "When we first met, she defended me when I got into an altercation with some perverted human men. Even after knowing I was a succubus, she still helped me. When she said, 'Before she is a succubus, she is a lady,' I knew she was different. She had no idea who I was or my affiliation with Patala. She just wanted to help me.She is the first one I ever starved myself for." Queen Elinesha replies with a tone of primal curiosity, "Oh? You, starving yourself? How interesting." She looks at me with her succubus head-to-toe 'examination' and looks as if she is trying to envision me in bed.
NOW THAT IS WEIRD.
It would be even weirder if she were imagining her daughter. Ugh. I need to stop thinking about this before I visibly shiver with disgust in response. Queen Elinesha continues after giving me the up-down eyes, "So was she worth starving for?" Lysara squeezes my hand and responds immediately, "Absolutely. I only desire her flesh now. The thought of feeding off of someone else repulses me now." Queen Elinesha purrs, "Oh, so it is like that, huh? If she is so great, can I maybe try a taste?" Both Lysara and I said simultaneously and pointed, "NO."
I put my other hand on top of our grasped hands as a show of 'MINE'. Queen Elinesha pouts, "Oh, how boring. You used to not mind sharing." King Salenar then says, "Let's get back to the main topic of why we are here today. I feel we are getting distracted here. So, Lysara, this marriage between you and this human is a very big deal to our people, and we alone cannot decide whether or not you can marry for this peace treaty. We will have to invoke the Demon Council to take it to a vote as to how to proceed." I then ask out of curiosity, "Your majesty, hypothetically speaking, what if the treaty were off the table and/or Lysara dropped her title as princess? Would that change things? Would you allow us to elope in that situation?"
King Salenar replies after he appears to think briefly, "It depends. As of right now, I do not wish for her to lose her title. There is still a chance she will be the next Demon King. Until that is decided, it will be hard to say for sure." Lysara joins in, "We have discussed it. We are ok with any outcome as long as it ends with us together. I am fully prepared to live the life of a commoner if it means I can live by Ari's side." King Salenar replies, "We will keep that in mind when we further discuss this engagement. We will get back in touch with you when we have more to discuss."
The orb disconnects before goodbyes can be exchanged, as if that is normal for them. That call ending felt more like a job report than a farewell from a father and daughter. I didn't feel much love from them at all. I feel like we are similar in that regard, with a lack of affection from family. I hate that for her. She had been dealing with these people for 86 years, too. I can't even imagine what she suffered all by herself. Not even her mother believed in her abilities.
Fuck them.
They only want to acknowledge her efforts once they produce results that could favor them. Patala could earn a fortune from teleportation magic equipment if they can monetize this magic. I ask Lysara with a look of worry, "Are you ok? That was probably a crazy emotional ride for you." She squeezes my hand, "That was better than how they normally treat me, so believe it or not, I am ok now. It is like their attitudes changed instantly when they realized my magic research yielded significant results."
I replied, squeezing her hand in response, "They either are just now seeing how amazing you are, or they are just wanting to use you. Maybe a little of both. If it is the former, then they are blind idiots. Regardless, I don't trust them yet at all. They weren't good to you, and they put you down instead of helping you thrive. A fish may not have wings to fly like a bird, but it can reach depths that a bird can never reach."
King Victor finally joins in as he was silently observing this whole time, "Truly wise words for someone your age. I like that fish/bird metaphor. I am going to steal that from you. I hope you don't mind, Ari." I shake my head, "Words are meant to be stolen, your majesty. Use them as you please. If people owned words, we would never be able to utter a single word." King Victor laughs, "Ha! Very true. I love our conversations. You always say thought-provoking things. We need to have another tea party soon with my wife. The last tea party we had was before Lysara was here, and I would like for her to join us as well. I will send Ricardo when it's a good time." I replied, perking up at the talk of tea, "I always have time for tea, your majesty. Especially in the presence of good company."
I bow elegantly since I am wearing masculine clothes instead of a dress otherwise, I would have curtsied. King Victor says with an air of disappointment, "Tsk. It is such a shame you don't desire my son. A woman like you would be a great queen." Lysara chimes in possessively, "She will be my queen, and I know she will be great." She says as she reaches up and strokes my face affectionately, then comes in to kiss me. I love her lips.I love them even more when they are on my lips. I giggle, "I love it when you kiss me." I say as I kiss her again. King Victor clears his throat, and we stop kissing. I apologize, "Sorry, your majesty. I got a little distracted." Lysara and I giggle, and King Victor sighs a kingly sigh and says, "Young love. Makes you forget where you are sometimes. Anyways, moving on. I don't have anything else for you two today. I'll keep you posted on future conference calls with the Nocturae royal family." I bow again, "Thank you, your majesty. We will take our leave then." Lysara and I leave the conference room and head back to our room.