Blah Blah Blah: A Demon King's Autobiography, Chapter 2: Prepare for War
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Having lived through Mansur's War myself, I cannot deny that at times even followers of the Nephines can find their belts and put on their pants with speed and force rather than lollygagging about in diplomatic discussions and political gridlocks. But in Hell, this is not a rare occasion, this sort of energetic and vigorous politics and international relations, born of some great exigence: it is the norm. I once heard a story from Murcaime, supposedly of my grandfather's day, where the city leaders went through the citizenship rolls and found among the whole city, with some forty or fifty thousand adult male citizens, only a few hundred who had never seen combat - most of whom were deformed or disabled.

To say this is not true of the people of Talionne and Albinreich too young to participate in Mansur's War is a statement that is startling only in that anyone would waste time saying it, rather like wasting one's short time alive to describe the sky's blue shade or the grass's green coloration.

This is why you should not be surprised to learn, that within a week of acquiring Vida as my concubine - and doing my best to sweeten her to me with honeyed words and the proper sort of touch - I was already meeting with the revenant of Ishtar, making preparations for a war with Sirex.

At the time, Sirex was caught in a civil war, with many factions, partly divided on religious grounds, partly divided on ethnic grounds. The specifics, I'm sure, don't matter to you, but suffice it to say, it made the country very weak and vulnerable. The Hittani had supported one group, Daminatex another, even Kanna was involved in its own way. All the local powers benefitted from Sirex's weakness, and all, no doubt, planned to attack it and parcel it up between them in short order.

It was my goal to ensure that Ibaal benefited the most. It was my homeland, after all, and our nation was just a middling power - perhaps even that is too generous. I hoped to make us a great power, and like any young demon full of ambition, dreamed of positioning myself as king of all the demons in Hell. While, no doubt the reader knows well that is not quite what happened, there is a saying that you lot have: if you aim for the moon, even if you miss, you will land among the stars. We demons have an equivalent: a hungry esurient may not eat what it seeks, but it may eat all it tramples in the seeking.

* * *

I knew, if only briefly and immediately before the ceremony, the girl whose body had become the host for Ishtar's revenant. She was a beautiful young maiden with a quick wit and deft hands, but Ishtar's presence in her body had ignited all those things. Curves had filled out, her skin had grown perfect and unblemished, her body leaner yet more muscular, every part of her honed for that perfection of divinity. Black scales had begun to spread across her, as well, the embracing encroachment of a being who predated the rule of demons in Hell, slim carvings of unearthly material that would one day entirely ensconce her body and leave her another inert statue to guard the cavern where Ishtar's body lies. But not for another century.

I will not make the pretense so often made, when dealing with such beings - that the genius of a dragon is visible from the moment you can see into its eyes, that the holiness of a priest radiates from them before they have the chance to open her mouth. Those crimson eyes were cautious, but there was no sign of millennia of intelligence. That was only produced when she spoke.

"Alifex of the Ozken clan," she offered, by way of greeting. "I have to offer my praise to your idea of taking the women of Daminatex as your own - I only regret that they were concubines rather than wives. The humiliation will make the pact weaker, not stronger."

"I had suggested they be wives, originally," I told her. "Do you think it has ruined our pact?"

"It hasn't. Things are not ruined in single moments, but instead by the weight of a thousand things. But a woman knows who is her husband, and who is her master, no matter what is written, and what law says, men follow." There was a careful weight to her words - nothing was certain, to her. It was a characteristic which was unusual among those renowned for their wisdom, but I find that it is uniquely found only among those who are capable of giving truly valuable advice. "It means that Daminatex will not be made ally by this, and it is surely not subordinate. But they are a weak people. I would say... perhaps a one in three - no, a two in five chance that within the coming decade, they will attack again. Since the foundation of that rotten kingdom, its kings try to raid Ibaal about once every decade. It is the humiliation that will keep Leforias back, for fear of a second disastrous defeat. But he may die, and his son will doubtless consider his humiliation uniquely his. As it was."

"I see," I said, nodding along to the goddess's words. "I wish to ask you about a possibility I have been contemplating."

"Your new concubine is of the Hittani stock," Ishtar said. "Do you plan war with Sirex or with the Kakas?" She smiled as she saw the expression on my face, no doubt one of surprise. "I am glad you plan war with one of them. I had worried that perhaps you had a longshot idea of attacking Kanna or perhaps trying to place her on the throne of Hittana or Daminatex herself. I would say... a three in four chance of Sirex, for the simple fact that the Kakas live in such a mountainous land."

"It is Sirex," I agreed. "Do you think it is a wise move? Do you think we can get Hittana to aid us?"

"This king of Hittana is a man who loves the Lucifenes with an earnest heart," she said. "Perhaps, perhaps not. I do not know you, or your plans, well enough to say beyond that."

"I think we can annex the Khardi lands from Sirex with relative ease. Two of our royal clans are Khardi, so they can rule the Khardi lands. But we will have to balance the desires of the other royal clans. Sirex is large, and I am unsure how much we can truly take, particularly if Hittana becomes fully involved."

"Mmm," Ishtar hummed. "Hittana will become involved whether invited or not. It is a question of speed versus trust. If you can seize the whole of Sirex quickly, then their involvement will be nipping at the edges; if you can convince them of your own good faith, you can cut the land in half. But these are ifs and maybes," she noted.

"Would you support such an attempt to conquer Sirex?"

"I would offer the words that I have offered you, to the other royals of your people. No more, and no less." She stretched, then, craning her head from side to side, showing off her scarcely-covered and incredibly beautiful body before looking back at me. "How is your concubine doing?"

"I am doing my best to ensure she loves me," I said. It was the truth. Honeyed words and sweet touches served to make a woman far more enthralled to one's will than fear and domination.

"That is good to hear. Let that love bloom in her heart. The closed heart is an obstacle." She reached out with a fist, then opened by way of emphasis. "The open one is an ally. Your wife?"

"I love her dearly," I said, sincerity in my voice. "And she loves me back."

Ishtar raised a finger, wagging it threateningly in my direction. "I cannot tell you how useless a statement that is. Bring your wife here, let her say that she loves you without you there to hear, and I will believe it. But every man who loves his wife believes she loves him back, no matter how obvious the truth may be."

"I am aware, but she is different from that sort of woman. What we have is special."

"Perhaps she is different - but you are not different. You cannot say whether it is different, any more than a blind man could tell me what color my eyes were." She paused for a moment, letting the words sink in, drifting on the air. "She carries the Fang of Asmodai, does she not?" I nodded. "Hmm. I would like to meet her... but not today. Go home. Think on what you know, of Sirex, of Ibaal, of Daminatex, of Hittana. Imagine that you had already lost, that you ripped your shirt and beat your chest with the humiliation of defeat. What would you have missed? When you have finished this contemplation, ask those you trust much the same question. This is my wisdom for you," she said, dismissing me.

I did as she said, of course. She was a font of true and valuable wisdom. For any fools of your world who read this work in the hope of discovering some bit of wisdom - that is certainly valuable wisdom. Even among demons, though, it is a thing oft-forgotten, to truly think of all the possibilities and shapes of failure, so I doubt many of your lot will benefit from it.

* * *

It was that night that I laid with my wife, her powerful, slender arms wrapped around my naked chest, as I contemplated once more the possibilities that Ishtar had asked me to contemplate. I had not told her of them before, as that had been Ishtar's orders, but the ideas that danced in my head were that Kanna might get involved in the war; they were a small country that hated and was hated by their neighbors to varying degrees, and would not want to neighbor a stronger Ibaal. Hittana was also a possibility, if I failed to bring them on side. Once the blood is spilled, all the malifex will descend together, after all.

I told Elze what Ishtar had told me. I did not tell her what I had already thought of, because I suspected that perhaps this, too, was part of her wisdom - she had asked me just to ask those I trust the question, not to tell them of my own musings. "My love," Elze said, her voice soft and husky, "it is an intriguing question. I would suggest that perhaps Sirex will fight much harder and better than expected, or unite in response to the threat we present to them. Men can become hard and fierce, when they are backed against a wall, even if they were weak and soft before it, after all."

I was reminded, then, of how perfect Elze was for me - where I was thinking of the diplomatic angle, she thought of the issues of martial skill and individual character. What one of us missed, the other spotted. We perfectly complement one another, and I would surely not have risen as high as I have without her. I offered her such compliments in the moment, of course, and she hummed happily, her breasts pressing into my backside, her fingers trailing down my stomach towards my groin, a hot whisper of breath tickling my ear as she reached down to start to stroke my length...

I don't need to tell you what happened next.

* * *

I discussed the matter with my father the next day. My thoughts were simple: Sirex was weak, and Ibaal was strong. If we could coordinate with Hittana, we could manage to simply wipe Sirex off the map, or at the least cut them vastly down to size. After some consideration and discussion - and a consultation on his part with Ishtar herself - we agreed to send myself, my wife, and Vida north, to meet with the Hittani king and Vida's grandfather, in the hopes of securing such an agreement. He would handle the matter in Ibaal, and, unless things went truly dire, we would hopefully be at war with Sirex in three months' time. (The dates of Hell are different from your world's, for the obvious reasons - but three months is a close approximation. I don't expect you to learn anything, much less a separate calendar system.)

We traveled light, with only eight others coming along with us for the journey. Speed, and a certain degree of stealth, was key. The journey itself was a long one, but we had good animals to carry us, fleshraker mounts that ran with a greater marathon speed than any beast of burden known in your world. It took just twenty-six days to make the thousand mile journey.

I spent much of the journey on Vida. While my heart belonged to Elze, I was beginning to find some appeal to Vida. She was soft and pliant, which may not have been best for a wife, but were ideal traits for a concubine. I gave her countless sweet nothings, and countless more orgasms, until she was putty in my hands, malleable and ready to be given whatever shape I so wished.

The clearest point came some a week into the journey, when we had made camp and unbidden, Vida had asked to join me in bed. I had at times taken her, at other times my wife, according to my pleasure - which did lean towards my wife. Now, though, she was approaching me for company, her expression nervous as she looked up at me, as if to ask if she had gone too far.

She certainly hadn't. My silver tongue had done its duty, I believed, and I smiled down at her, cupping her cheek gently. "I would be happy for you to join me. I'm sure that my wife would, as well." Vida's cheeks flushed at that, but she nodded, following me into my tent.

It was larger than most of the tents, if for no other reason than the fact that my wife was very tall. She was already there, having laid out the beddings we used, the thick hides that protected us from the cold of the nightly Sirex desert. She smiled as she saw Vida there, offering me a momentary quirk of an eyebrow.

"She asked to join us," I told her.

"I see," Elze said approvingly, a smile crossing her lips as her gaze went to the rapidly-wilting Daminatex girl. If Elze wished to establish dominance over her, then of course I would let her. You fools may imagine that marriages such as mine are made up of naught but taking and taking, the woman placidly accepting every fresh absurdity heaped upon her. That may be true for your own weak-willed women, raised and bred for submission like cattle - but I assure you, I can no more take from my sweet Elze than I can take gold from a dragon. We work together, making one another happier, better, safer, at all times. "Do you think you will receive my husband's manhood before his own wife does?"

"No!" Vida squeaked out, immediately, her eyes growing wide as she shook her head. I let my fingers idly toy with her hair, simply smiling at Elze as she worked. She did not have the gift of charm that I did - there was no ofidex in her mouth, after all - but her height and physical power granted her a natural talent at establishing hierarchy.

"Good. You are just his concubine, even if he does quite like you." That subtle little note was to build me up in Vida's mind. Of course I had discussed my plans for the girl with Elze - she had helped me craft them, even. "Still..." she hummed, towering over the shorter girl. "I think it is important to ensure he is erect for me. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," Vida agreed instantly, though by the way she said it, my wife could have said anything and gotten the same response.

"And well-lubricated." She placed one hand on Vida's mouth, forcing it open, then simply placed her finger on my concubine's tongue. If she was truly concerned about my erection, then she would surely know that she had successfully assured it by the show, the far smaller girl shivering slightly under Elze's oppressive gaze. "Your mouth will work for that. Would you like to service my husband to prepare him to make love to me?"

Vida nodded around Elze's fingers, and Elze promptly popped her finger out of Vida's mouth, spinning the girl around and directing her to kneel in front of me. Elze looked down at me with a wry smile, clearly enjoying quite a bit toying with the other woman - and of course, it fell to me to reassure her that despite my wife's attitude, she was perfectly safe and secure and should speak well of us to her grandfather.

I wasn't too worried. My fingers ran through her silvery hair, and I smiled warmly down at her. "That's good, Vida. I really appreciate how giving you are," I told her, as her nervous fingers came up to my waistband, slowly pulling my pants down, revealing my hard cock to the open air. Her nose crinkled cutely as she got the thick scent of me. "Don't worry - once I'm done with my wife, I'll pay back the favor and make you feel amazing," I told her, making her cheeks glow scarlet. Her eyes looked like those of a prey animal as she wrapped her lips around my cock, staring up at me the whole while, gently sliding down my length.

My wife simply smiled down at me, her hands taking gentle hold of the other woman's horns. My cock shivered in Vida's throat, twitching in anticipation of my wife doing something that would no doubt be a terrible - but intensely erotic - idea. With her strength, no one - not even me - could stop her if she decided to simply facefuck Vida on my cock, pounding that tight throat up and down my cock with relentless force, using the princess of Daminatex as if she were nothing but a common whore, as if she were nothing but a masturbation aid.

Instead, she knelt down behind Vida, keeping up that same position. With her absurd height, she still came up to my chin even when fully kneeling, buttocks resting on her ankles. My cock twitched nevertheless, seeing her there, continuing to gently caress Vida's horns, keeping her hard as our eyes remained locked, a smile on my wife's lips. I then let my gaze slide back over to Vida as the girl bobbed up and down the top half of my cock, not yet ready to take my whole cock in her throat.

My hands slid down from the top of her head to her firm breasts, gently playing with them, finding the weak points I had already become well-acquainted with from my earlier work on her bosom during our previous lovemaking sessions. She let out a soft hum of pleasure around my length, her eyelashes fluttering as I played with her sensitive nipples, shifting and twisting in place to give me a better angle, her cheeks beginning to glow with arousal as well as embarrassment.

"Are you using your tongue?" Elze asked, sounding conversational, but also having that precise edge to her voice that suggested that it was very important that Vida use her tongue.

Of course, Vida immediately set to work, her tongue slithering all around in her mouth, rubbing at my cock this way and that. I let out a sigh of pleasure. "She most certainly is," I told Elze, as if I were defending Vida from her - when of course this whole play was entirely to draw her ever deeper into being utterly enthralled by me. Both women smiled up at me, for entirely different reasons, Vida's tongue wriggling excitedly along the underside of my length, her cheeks hollowing around it, her hot breaths tickling all along my dick. I gently groaned in pleasure, hips faintly bucking against her face, and occasionally she'd gag or sputter, but she certainly didn't let it stop her at all. "She's doing an amazing job. I'm very proud of her, given this is her first time doing this."

"Oh?" My wife prompted, turning her gaze down to Vida. "I would have expected her to have done it many times before." I could see the cringing in Vida's eyes as she intensified her pace. "She's been your concubine for quite some time, after all... but I suppose all women are different, in how willing they are to attend to their man's needs." Elze has a wonderful way of twisting the knife like that, these gentle words that disguise a real sadistic cruelty. It's something one often needs, among demons.

Vida was frantic at that point, desperate to prove she could do well. Her lips slid all the way down my length, entirely swallowing up my cock as she did so, her eyes staring up at me, desperate for reassurance that she was doing well. My cock hit the back of her throat with a wet squelching noise, a thick splatter of saliva spraying out as she gagged, but she kept going anyway, pushing herself ever further forward. Elze grinned at the show, clearly delighting in seeing the way the girl strained to please me further.

Vida may have been lacking in the firmness of a proper demonic bride, but that was clearly a matter of upbringing rather than character. She was determined to take my cock to the base, despite her body's constant war to keep her from doing just that, and she gagged and sputtered, growing teary-eyed as she forced herself ever further down my length - but she managed, in due time, pressing her nostrils directly into my pubic mound, mashing her face in there energetically, as if to declare her pride at her success.

I gave her all the praise she deserved, of course. Good behavior must be rewarded. "That's amazing, Vida," I breathed out, letting out a long sigh as she swallowed and gagged around my cock, continuing to stimulate it in her throat. "You're really very talented at this. A natural," I noted, and she preened around my cock, smiling vividly with her eyes.

I pushed her off a few seconds later, admiring her flush cheeks and panting mouth, her nipples perky, her cheeks glowing with arousal and exertion. A few tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't complain - rather, she looked like she wanted to dive right back down my length. I just softly ran my fingers through her hair. "No need for that, Vida. Remember, you were just warming me up. I do have to see to my wife first." I said it just ambiguously enough that she could imagine that I would gladly have sat there getting my cock sucked for longer, if only my wife weren't here - I wouldn't, of course, but the illusion was important.

Elze rose up, and soon she was straddling me on the bed, bouncing on my spitslick cock with the sort of excited energy that can only come when your bride has been given the chance to slake her sadistic side on your pretty young concubine and now was getting to fuck you right in front of her. Her gaze would occasionally flick over to Vida, who was just left to stare at the scene, as my wife's beautiful, stupendously tall body rose and fell, as her long hair flew across her bare skin.

My own hands trailed across Elze's body, sliding up her thigh, teasing her clit, finding her nipple and playing with that, too. She shivered in pleasure, casting her head back as she rode me, squeezing my length inside her with her inhumanly powerful inner muscles. Every squeeze was a vice grip, so tight it made my body shiver in pleasure, and then she would release and get right back to moving up and down. Her body was one of pure, feminine beauty and raw power combined in a lovely combination, pale skin on full display as she rose and fell, her eyes smoldering with lust with each pump of her hips along my length. My cock throbbed within her cunt, and I threatened to explode at any moment, both due to my pure desire for my wife, and the earlier fluffing that Vida had treated me to.

I did my best to hold out, of course. I leaned up to find my wife's nipple, sucking it into my mouth and tasting it thickly on my tongue, making her shiver as my inhumanly talented tongue teased the sensitive spot. "Ah, my love, my love," she panted out, hands grasping the back of my head, that overpowering strength of hers so great that I couldn't have pulled away from her breast even if I had wanted to - though I most certainly didn't. "You're so amazing, I love it, ahh," she panted out, squirming on my cock before finally orgasming, holding me even tighter against her at that point. I spared a glance Vida's way, and the girl had flushed cheeks as she knelt there, waiting her turn docilely, hands clasped before her. My cock throbbed as my attention went back to my wife, both hands grasping her supple ass, starting to pump her up and down my cock as best I could.

Given her height and consequent weight, though, I wasn't quite as able to do that as you would think - but she soon started to help me off, beginning to sashay up and down my length as we made sweet love just like that.

Eventually, after bringing her off twice more with my mouth on her nipple, the pleasure of her body became too much for me, and I simply came inside her with a groan against her bosom. She held me tight, letting out sweet words to reassure me. "Yes, my love, yes, come in me, fill me with your seed, make me a mother," she gasped out in pleasure, squirming in place.

When I was spent, she finally released me from her breast - I gave her nipple a last few licks and suckles for good measure before pulling back and letting my attention fall on Vida.

For a moment, I thought of simply treating her as one might a princess, laying her down on the bed and eating her out. But the moment the thought crossed my mind, the realization that there was a far better way to do it came as well - I laid down. "Strip, Vida, and let me pay you back for earlier," I told her, one hand idly grasping my wife's hip to direct her to start pumping on my cock.

Elze smiled viciously as she started to bounce on my cock, no doubt understanding what I was going to do. Vida was more confused, but she was certainly entranced, and therefore obedient, quickly stripping herself naked before approaching the bed. "Ahm, your wife," she noted, glancing up at Elze.

"Sit on my face," I explained. "I'll eat you out."


"Ah!" Vida said, nodding rapidly and quickly getting in place. There was nervousness there, clearly not understanding what the position was, exactly - but the moment my tongue lashed along her lower lips, any concern or thoughts left her pretty little head and she pretty much immediately started coming her brains out.

In the end, she came over a dozen times, to my two, and my wife's six. She seemed quite embarrassed, but I let her sleep in my bed with me and my wife, so she didn't complain.

* * *

By the time we arrived in Hittana, we had been traveling for nearly two weeks. We were nowhere near the capital, of course, with half the journey ahead of us, but Vida was completely enthralled by me. In the bedroom, she came with scarcely a touch, and she was constantly offering me bedroom eyes and looking up at me like a foal or some similar beast of your world. I encouraged it. The more affectionate she was with me, the more her grandfather would be inclined to help us.

We found a Hittani fortress and approached it gently - it took a bit of back and forth, but soon enough, we were given a small escort to head towards the capital proper, as we were here on diplomatic business and I was a prince of Ibaal. In my mind, I prepared myself for all the possibilities that might come.

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