The girl had entered a completely new world, one whose power and magic she could not even imagine. As they walked hand in hand, the other queens watched as Hana arrived with a new member for the group.
Meanwhile, Alequei and Kai spoke privately. —"My King, you look pale," Alequei said. —"How could I not be?" Kai replied. "I have to talk to all of them, attend to all of them, without being able to clone myself. Do you know how difficult that is? Every day there is a new problem!" —"Do you need help, my King?" Alequei asked. —"Don't worry."
Alequei insisted: —"Do you need anything else?" Kai took a deep breath. —"Yes. Call the jeweler." —"The one who made the last ring for Lyris?" —"The very one." —"Another ring?" Alequei asked. —"Yes, but let it be a secret." —"Understood, my King. And the color of the gem?" —"The same as we did with all of them," Kai replied. "We will take a strand of her hair and let the DNA decide the crystal."
Alequei nodded: —"And who is the candidate?" —"The young witch," Kai answered. "She already passed the tests. She is inside the harem. So… I will use her." —"Perfect," Alequei responded. "I have already taken a strand of her hair. Here it is."
Kai took it. —"Good. Have the jeweler make the crystal and then the jewel."
Alequei left to carry out the order, while Kai remained seated on his throne, waiting for the next audiences.
Anastasia's Arrival at the Harem
At the moment Hana and Anastasia were entering the beach house, all the other 118 queens were outside with their assigned partners. They all watched as Hana arrived hand-in-hand with a new member of the harem. Hana introduced her:
—"This is Anastasia. For the time being, she will live in the harem and will be my apprentice. Kai allowed her in to study with us." Isabella, the black witch, nodded: —"This young witch will study with us." —"Yes," Hana responded. "Anastasia will study with us. The King has asked me to teach her advanced magic, but by His Majesty's order, we will all participate in her instruction."
All the queens nodded before Hana. One by one, the queens greeted Anastasia. The young witch felt intimidated by so many beautiful women. —"Is it okay for me to be here?" Anastasia asked. One of the queens answered her: —"It is okay for you to be here. You should feel fortunate, Anastasia. If you are here, it is because the King trusts you."
In that moment, the young witch felt something she had never felt before: for the first time in her life, someone trusted her. But this trust was different—it was within the King's most intimate circle, within his house, his family, and what he loved.
Hana took her hand. —"Come with me. We are going to my room." Hana and Anastasia entered together while the other queens watched in silence. Inside the room, where there were several beds, Hana pointed: —"Take one of these beds. You have space in the wardrobe here to store your clothes when they bring them. You will sleep on that side, and I on this one."
Anastasia looked at her with a certain seriousness. Finally, she asked: —"Can I ask you a question?" —"Yes," Hana replied. —"Are you fighting with the other queens?" Hana looked at her, surprised. —"Why do you say that?" —"Because they all wanted to greet you, to hug you… one of them even had red eyes, as if she wanted to speak with you, but you didn't give her any importance."
Hana turned slightly pale. She lowered her gaze. —"Look… you don't understand what is happening here. I will ask you, please, to keep silent for now. We will go bathe, then eat, train, eat again, and then go to bed. The King will return very late. You will see him tomorrow."
Anastasia nodded, apologizing. Hana only said: —"It doesn't matter. But don't ask, please."
They both prepared for the bath. They entered a gargantuan hall of thermal waters, fountains, and steam pools together. More than a hundred women were waiting there; they were all naked. The young witch froze: she had never seen so many beautiful bodies together. Hana whispered to her: —"I ask you, please, to focus only on me." —"Alright," Anastasia said, blushing.
Hana sat down and asked her: —"Please, wash my back." The other couples were busy washing each other. Anastasia took a sponge and began to wash Hana's back. It had been six months since anyone had done this. Only Kai had done it once or twice, but Hana always avoided it. Upon feeling Anastasia's hands—soft, softer than the sponge itself—the dragon princess's eyes began to fill with tears. It had been a long time since she felt physical affection from her sisters; she had been living in isolation for six months.
So that they wouldn't see her cry, Hana asked: —"Come… let's leave now." Anastasia accompanied her, taking her by the hand. As they left, Sara—one of the queens—wanted to speak urgently with Hana, but she replied: —"I can't now. We will talk later."
Sara was left wounded. Her heart ached at being ignored by her wife, and the other queens felt the same: a bad, new, unknown sensation. For the first time in their entire history, they felt the emotional absence of one of their own.
The queens did not realize that the experiment of forming pairs had left one alone… isolated. Hana was the odd one out. And although she always said she was the strongest, she was not mentally so. The isolation was breaking her from the inside.
The queens were not lovers among themselves in the carnal sense: what they felt was sisterhood, a deep unity, as if they were a single being. Their love for each other was stronger than any romantic love. The only one who awakened physical desire was Kai; the only one who ignited lust was him. Between them existed something different: a spiritual, mental, and emotional union. But now there was a crack. A disunity. And that disunity had been generated by Hana's loneliness.
That night, Kai returned alone, as he almost always did. The couples slept in their rooms, each in her own bed: no woman slept with another; what they shared was affection, not physical desire. Kai lay down apart, like a lonely dog, as he described himself in silence. He did not want to interfere in that sisterly love; he knew that he only awakened carnal love, not the emotional love they shared.
The next day he went out to chop wood and hunt. The sun illuminated the faces of all his queens… and also that of the new member: the young black witch. While the white warlock headed to the forest, classes began between the dragon princess and the apprentice. The others went about their activities, and the two of them went deep into the woods.
Hana said to Anastasia: —"Look, first we will train the physical part." They spent the whole morning exercising and practicing some spells that Hana had taught her. Around ten in the morning, Anastasia asked Hana: —"Can I ask you an intimate question?" —"As long as it isn't about my King, I will answer it," Hana said. —"No, it's not about the King, but about you. How can you share the same man with so many women?"
Hana sighed deeply. —"Alright, I will tell you. Look, I know that to most of you, we are freaks or we are weird. But truly, we united before we ever met Kai. When I was at the academy, I studied with all of them. And I fell in love with each one, but not as you think, seeing them as my partners, but as parts of myself. Every day I got to know them and fell in love with them; I felt complete. When something happened to one, there was always a shoulder or a hand to lift her up. In my world, we were always alone; my aunt, my cousin, and I were always alone in my country. When we arrived at the academy, we met them all."
Hana continued, her gaze lost in memories: —"At first, we were 112 in an academy of 1,800 women. We always had rivalries with the others, but we fought all together. We supported each other and I could not imagine a life without them. But the moment came when we were betrothed to different men, different commitments, and we could not tolerate the idea of being separated. I understand it is a strange or unbelievable love to you, but the King was not what united us. It was not the circumstance or the theme of our union, but that we have shared a unity for years. We are a family. Later we met Kai and we knew love; a love that is different, Anastasia. And if your question is why I am sad, it is because we have made a decision to be able to live with our King. And I must do it for them, even if I suffer, even if I am alone. I love my sisters very much. We all love the same man, even if it is illogical to you to think you can love the same man another woman loves. For me, it is this way. I don't ask you to understand."
Hana looked toward the sky with tears in her eyes. —"I miss my sisters very much. And it has been a long time since I talked to anyone."
Anastasia responded, moved: —"I don't know what it is to love a man. The only man I... he never loved me. That is why I cannot understand what love between sisters is, because I never had a sister. But if it is as beautiful as what I see in your eyes, Hana… I see that glow when you speak of them. I never understood what sisterhood is, nor did I understand friendship, since I fell in love with my friend and he rejected me. I hope that someday I can learn from you how to love others."
—"I don't know how to love others," Hana replied. "I do what my heart feels and it has always been reciprocated. Because first I loved myself, Anastasia, and then I loved my sisters, and then I met the most wonderful man in the world. I know being rejected is very painful, because I also experienced rejection in my village. But here, within these walls, though it may seem like a prison, here there is a man and many people who can love you and teach you that you can live loved your whole life. That is how I feel every day, it's just that being away from them hurts me so much."
Anastasia sobbed: —"I hope someday I learn. Or someday I have the opportunity to experience that love you have."
Hana approached and caressed her cheek while they both cried. —"Look, we have known each other for a very short time, but I cannot help taking your hands."
Anastasia intertwined her fingers and rested her head on Hana's chest, crying inconsolably. —"I loved him with all my strength, I accompanied him on incredible adventures and he didn't even look at me. To him I was worth nothing, just a friend, an adventure companion. But his love was not enough for me."
Hana embraced her, dried her tears, and said: —"Anastasia, pain for us women will always, always be more painful. But you must understand that we must be strong. I tell you, if you want to grow and be a great witch, my sister Isabel is strong. Sometimes she fights a lot with the King. But she is strong, and that is what I admire most about her. Every time I admire her, my heart fills with love and admiration. That is why I always train and become stronger."
Anastasia looked at her and felt that someone was finally truly listening to her. Hana said: —"Look, let's get up, let's not feel bad anymore. Do you want to cheer up?" —"Yes, teacher." —"Don't call me teacher, call me Hana." —"Alright, Hana," Anastasia said. —"Let's go to a place that none of my sisters know about." —"Really?" —"Yes, but don't say a word."
Hana and Anastasia ventured into the depths of the King's imperial territory. They went deep into a thick, dense forest, into the innermost part of the woods. There were hundreds of hectares in that forest. At that moment, they heard the ground tremble. Anastasia and Hana hid behind a tree, and Hana whispered: —"Come, come, I'll show you something."
Anastasia, excited, followed Hana. Behind a thick trunk, they saw a massive man, pure muscle, chopping trees as if they were butter. It was the King, shirtless. Hana whispered: —"Look, look... chopping wood." —"We shouldn't be here, Hana. What if he gets angry?" Anastasia warned. —"He won't get angry. None of my sisters know where he chops wood. I discovered it, and I always come to watch him when he does it."
Anastasia asked curiously: —"And why does Kai chop his own wood instead of telling the servants?" —"Because my husband says: 'A man must take care of his own home, and other men must take care of theirs.' He is very responsible, Anastasia."
In that moment, Anastasia saw the perfect musculature of the universe; the muscles that make evil recoil. That man had a physique made by God Himself. In her heart, a desire so deep was born that Hana noticed it immediately. —"What's wrong, Anastasia? Are you feeling things?" —"No, don't say anything, Hana, I'm embarrassed," Anastasia said, blushing. —"I just wanted to see if you had forgotten the prince," Hana said and laughed. "Hahaha, don't be like that, Anastasia. Don't laugh, or he'll hear us."
—"Who?" Anastasia asked, confused. —"The one standing right behind you," a deep voice replied.
Kai appeared shirtless behind Anastasia and asked them in a deep voice: —"What are you doing here?" Hana embraced him and gave him a kiss. —"My love, I came to see you." —"But why have you brought her here, to this place?" Kai countered. "You know this place is forbidden, even for all of you." —"Yes, but sometimes we come to see you," Hana replied casually.
Kai approached the young witch. —"Anastasia, is it true that Hana brought you here?" In that moment, Anastasia saw a musculature that made her very bones tremble. Her heart raced so fast that Hana could only laugh on the inside. Anastasia, unable to hold his gaze, lowered her head. Kai took her by the chin gently. —"Listen, beautiful. Are you alright? You look very red," he said.
Kai always had that impulse to get very close to women, something his queens usually forbade, but this time Hana was allowing it. —"No, my King… I'm just a bit flushed. It's very hot out," Anastasia managed to reply. —"I understand," Kai said. He stepped back slightly and asked them to sit and wait for him while he finished chopping the wood, if she was feeling better.
But Hana embraced him again. —"I don't want you to chop wood now. I want you to talk to both of us for a moment, Kai." Kai sighed, yielded, and sat down. Hana settled on one side and gestured for Anastasia to sit on the other. The dragon princess was making her move. The two girls flanked the King; he had gone nearly seven months without intimacy, and being so close to them made self-control a titanic task.
Hana took the lead: —"You know perfectly well that we've tried to keep you two from getting close to me until we solved the issue. Well, that issue is now solved. And I am going to solve it here and at this very moment, because I cannot stand this situation anymore." —"I don't think this is the time," Kai countered. —"Yes, it is."
Then, Hana sat on the King's right leg and ordered Anastasia to sit on the left one. Anastasia, red with shame, refused. —"Look, Anastasia, believe it or not, I am a queen and I am ordering you." More than the order itself, Anastasia did it because it was what she desired most. Upon sitting, she had never felt such warmth from a man.
—"Don't do this to her, you know that already..." Kai tried to say, but Hana interrupted him. —"You, shut up. Anastasia, I have a question for you: What would you say if I invited you to be my wife?" —"You want me to marry you, Hana?" Anastasia asked, confused. —"Yes. Because I fell in love with you, Anastasia."
Kai remained silent, observing. Anastasia took Hana's hand and, still sitting on the King's knees, confessed: —"I fell in love with you too, Hana." The two held hands in front of Kai. Hana leaned toward the young witch's lips and whispered: —"If you want to marry me, we must give our King a kiss at the same time."
In that instant, both of them kissed the white warlock. Upon feeling the contact, Kai experienced an energy and a warmth that stripped away all his sadness. He took them by the waist, lifted them both, and they began to kiss him fervently. Anastasia didn't understand why she was doing it, but she couldn't pull away; it was Kai's magnetism, an attraction she couldn't quite process. Hana, for her part, felt Anastasia's skin and an immense happiness at no longer being alone.
Finally, the King let them go. —"The decision you have made must be communicated to the others. We will leave immediately to tell the news." Kai touched them, and in a blink, they disappeared from the forest and appeared at the beach house. Anastasia arrived in Hana's arms. The other queens, surprised to see them with the King, understood immediately: the final candidate had appeared.