When Sara and I emerged from the pyramid, Alice was waiting, looking quite bored. Nevertheless, since she had not witnessed the battles inside, she inquired if I had been injured. Aside from the cobra bite marks on my shoulder, I had not been. Although I had to point out that without Sara there, things would have gone badly for me. Alice's only reply to that was a harrumph. Introducing Sara as the princess caused Alice almost as much mirth as it had caused the sphinx. "Idiot," she said to me.
"Did you know she was the princess?" I asked.
"No, but I would have at least thought to ask if I was in your position. You see a random young lady hanging around a pyramid where the princess was supposedly taken and you don't even think to ask?"
But nothing compared to showing Alice my dragon seal. That one nearly had her doubled over as she alternately clutched her sides and pointed at me. I don't think I'd ever amused people so much in one day.
We made it back to the castle without incident and were quickly rushed in to meet the king. Needless to say, he was quite pleased.
"Hero!" he exclaimed. "You saved the princess! As king of this country, I give you my thanks! You are a true hero!"
I still had mixed feelings about that. The king approached me. "And allow me to thank you again as a parent," he said. "Luka! Thank you! Thanks to you, my daughter was saved!"
He embraced me. I felt slightly embarrassed. Did he know that she ran off herself? I wasn't going to be the one to tell him.
The king resumed his place on his throne. "Now, as I promised," he said. "Sara will be your bride."
I thought we'd settled this? I tried to compose a non-panicky answer and chose to go back to my overdramatic hero voice which I hadn't used in awhile. "I'm afraid I must decline. Sara has another in her heart. I cannot trample her feelings by becoming her husband."
Okay, so I cheated a little there. Sara had fed me that line verbatim and made me rehearse it on our way back. What I really wanted to say and what I thought a king would respect was that I had an important mission to achieve first, something that was bigger than even this kingdom. But Sara knew her father better than I did, so I decided to defer to her judgment.
"Someone in her heart?" the king asked, perplexed. "Sara?! Is it true?"
Sara turned to me. "Your words make me glad, hero. Will you not support my love, Father?"
"I'll support your love, princess," I said, also a rehearsed line. "Your majesty, will you also support your daughter?"
"Ermmm…." The king grumbled.
Leave it to Alice to get us off the subject. "By the way, king, I'm hungry," she said, matter of factly. I'd note even though the reader already knows this, that Alice actually did nothing on this caper. But she quite was eager to reap the rewards.
"Yes, of course," the king said. "A feast in honor of the Hero and his companion! Please eat as much as you desire."
It was a feast indeed. I'd never seen what Alice could eat when she didn't have to limit herself. It was stupendous. The King, a very large man, ate a whole pheasant by himself, as well as vegetables and desert. Alice ate a whole pheasant, half of a large ham, about three pounds of roast beef, at least a pound of vegetables, several apples, a bowl of grapes, followed by a bowl of cherries, a large filet of Sabasa fish, and then asked what was for dessert. When given the options, she said, "yes" to all of them.
Conversation at the dinner table was limited to safe subjects such as how hot and dry the desert is, as well as commentary on the food itself. Alice was extremely complementary, in detail, about everything she put in her mouth, which once the king got over his shock at how much she could put away, pleased him, not to mention his chef, a great deal. I was mildly surprised that the king didn't ask me to regale him with tales of the great battles I fought, but then I realized that this wasn't a fantasy story from my world. In this world, stories of battles involved things that probably weren't appropriate dinner conversation. "So then they licked me all over and I thought I was a goner…" Nope.
After the feast was done, I had to admit it had been a fine reward for my efforts. The king approached me as I was getting ready to leave the dining chamber. "So what do you really think about marrying my daughter?"
The man was no fool. He saw right through our charade. Now I had to just answer honestly. "I just met her," I said. "She seems like a fine woman. She's got spirit, she's resourceful and intelligent, she's lovely. It's just not that simple for me. I have to do some things which are very dangerous first, things vital to this kingdom and others."
"Hmmm," the king mused. "I'm not surprised. As someone who has the weight of the world on his own shoulders I see that same look in your eyes. You must understand my position. I have no male heir. There are many unworthy men who would try to woo my daughter. You are the first who I consider worthy and I think you have what it takes to be a king. My daughter has been educated in the details of rulership, so don't fret that you don't understand the job. She can run the kingdom. But Sabasa has always had a strong king, even when that king has been just a figurehead. The people would respect you. Won't you please reconsider? It can wait until you've finished whatever you have to do. I may not know the details, but I know we live in dark times. Whatever your mission is, it must have worldwide implications. Perhaps when you returned…?"
Arguing with the king was like arguing with Alice. I just did not have the debating skills to win this. He would wear me down if I let him.
"Her feelings matter too though," I pleaded. "You can't expect her to marry someone she doesn't love."
"Sara is royalty," the king said firmly. "She knows her duty and she will do her duty. I wouldn't have to force her. She accepts her responsibility. If you made your feelings towards her known, she would marry you of her own volition."
Nope, no way I'm winning this. Last resort: change the subject. "Speaking of Sara, where is she?" Sara had left the feast quite early. Suddenly I panicked. Will she try to run again?
"Sara retired to her quarters," the king said. "She's been through a lot the past few days, so I understand. But she didn't get to say goodbye to you. Why don't you go to her room and bid her farewell before you resume your quest?"
That sounded like a fantastic idea, since it would get me out of this conversation. Now I object to being called an idiot all the time. But in fairness, sometimes things do fly right over my head and this was one of those times. I was escorted to Sara's room by the king. He knocked on the door, opened it, peaked inside, and then gestured for me to enter. I walked into her palatial quarters, while the king waited at the door. Sara was sitting on the edge of her bed, still in the dress she wore at the feast. She greeted me with a smile, rose, and approached me.
Before she or I could say anything, I heard a loud sound behind me. "Argh! Eagh! Dammit!" It was the king! I looked back to see that the door was now closed. "Oh, I'm sorry! It appears as though I crushed the doorknob. Don't realize my own strength sometimes. I'll have to get a craftsman here to fix it before we can open it again. Should be just an hour or so."
I rushed to the door and tried to open it. The king had spoken truthfully. The doorknob wouldn't budge.
"Father?!" Sara yelled. "What are you doing?!"
"I'll say it again," he replied from behind the door. "Please wait one hour while I get a craftsman. Oh, what bad luck! For a young man and woman to be alone in a room with nobody able to enter it no matter what! But I'm glad it's Luka with you. Absolutely anything he does would be forgiven, since he's the Hero who saved you. Well then, see you in an hour."
We heard the king loudly stomping down the hall. Now even I understood what was happening. See, I'm not a total idiot.
"What should we do?" Sara asked. "Should we try to break the door down, or the window?"
"No," I said resignedly. "We're not in danger and we don't have any bad intentions towards each other. Let's just let him play his game. Besides, you're interesting company, I'd love to just talk with you."
"I'm really sorry, Luka," she said. "it just seems as though my father really likes you."
She sighed and sat back onto the bed. "So if you don't do anything in this situation… You wouldn't be shamed?"
"No," I replied. "Why would I be?"
"Perhaps I could use my mouth to service you?" she asked.
"Huh?" was about all I could manage. Where did that come from all of a sudden? I was getting used to monsters promising me sexual favors as rewards, but I wouldn't have expected that from a human princess! I guess she was part monster, but still!
"At a time like this, a gentleman can't lose face," she explained. "That's what was written in my lady training book. Is it wrong?"
"I….I don't know," I admitted. "I'm not familiar with your culture. How about I explain it this way… You don't have any obligation to reward me that way. Your father held a great feast for us! Not to mention his gratitude meant a lot to me."
"What about my gratitude?" she responded.
"You thanked me as well, and allowed me to escort you out of the pyramid as a proper hero. You made me feel ten feet tall."
"You're so sweet," she said with a smile. "But I'd really like to do this for you. For my own reasons. If you're uncomfortable with it, we can just talk for the next hour. Why don't you come sit by me on this bed and we'll talk? Then maybe you'll be comfortable enough in a little while to accept my offer."
That sounded fair, and if I'm being honest with myself I did want her to. I just wasn't convinced that she really wanted to do it. It's not as if she had concocted a plan to have me trapped in her room. I also had other concerns. I sat with her on the edge of her bed, trying to think of what to say.
"So…. I'm really pleased with your offer, really I am, but are you sure you're okay? They violated you in there. Should you really be.. intimate right now?"
"They violated you too," she pointed out. "But I agree, maybe we should talk about that. We did go through it together, after all. Are you okay? Has that happened to you before?"
"Lots of times," I replied. "In so many different ways. I guess I haven't really taken the time to process how I feel about it. Just so many emotions and sensations. There's the danger, the humiliation, the violation, but at the same time you don't want it to stop. Did you know that monsters have magic that makes what they do more pleasurable so that men can't resist it?"
"I didn't know that!" she replied. "But I… felt it. Not the magic, so much, but the revulsion, and the terror… and yet…. I was receiving pleasure I could never receive from any man, or any human woman. I was struggling, but part of me desperately wanted them to make me orgasm over and over again. I'm not really feeling traumatized right now. It just happened today. Maybe later on it will be more difficult to handle. But right now… it's just a thing that happened. As you say, I haven't… 'processed' the experience yet."
"I'm really glad I have someone to talk to about this," I said. "You're the first person I ever shared that with."
"You haven't talked about this with Alice?" she asked.
"No, she's never been through it and she doesn't seem very sympathetic. I don't think she'd understand if I tried to tell her."
"She doesn't seem like a very nice person," Sara said.
"She's…. rough around the edges, but she's saved my life a few times and she's been an interesting traveling companion."
Sara looked down, silent for a moment. Quietly, she said, "Right now, I just can't get out of my mind all the licking. Part of me wants to run back there and get more of it. Especially now that I know they won't hurt me. Does that make me a pervert?"
"If you are," I responded. "I am as well. There's a whole list of monsters I'd like to see again. I can't get out of my mind how some of them promised to make it feel even better if I'd just stop struggling, if I'd just give up. They promised to send me to heaven. The problem was, some of them meant that literally."
She giggled a little at that. "You know," she said. "I read that most boys' first experience is being raped by a monster. So at least we're not alone. There should be some type of thing where people who have had that experience can get together and talk, and support each other."
"That's a great idea!" I said. "You should organize something like that. I think it would really help a lot of people. Especially if they knew it had happened to the princess too."
"I think I'll do that," she said. "Thank you, Luka, again. You really know the right things to say."
We sat in silence for a few moments. Her demeanor began to change. She was starting to giggle to herself. "What's on your mind?" I asked.
"Oh, I was just wondering what it was you were thinking of having the sphinx do to you," she replied. "I know I said I never wanted to know, but now my imagination is getting the better of me. You have to tell me."
"It's really embarrassing though, and pretty disgusting!" I protested. "I never would have actually asked her to do it, it just ran through my head!"
"I knowwwww….." she said, a twinkle in her eye. "I won't judge you. My mind isn't pure all the time! C'mon, satisfy my curiosity!"
"Okay," I said reluctantly. "I was imagining that lower mouth of hers sucking on my body."
"Oh! That IS kinky!" she giggled. "It was a pretty big mouth, but I don't think all of you would fit."
"I know," I admitted. "And then I got to thinking that maybe she could partially swallow me, or even swallow me all the way and then spit me back up, if that was possible."
"Oh wow," she said. "I wouldn't have taken you for a vore fetishist."
"I'm not, honest!" I protested. "But having seen and experienced so many ways of getting pleasure from monsters it might have given me some new fetishes."
"Like what?"
"Foxes have these super fluffy tails," I explained, which made Sara giggle even more. "Slime girls I've heard can just do so many things with their slime. Supposedly they have the greatest variety of ways to give a man pleasure. I fought a slug girl whose body was covered in mucus but the mucus felt amazing." Sara stuck out her tongue at that. "And of course you've experienced yourself what a foot long tongue feels like. In any case what I was thinking about the sphinx was stupid and impractical. Did you see those teeth?"
"I know!" she agreed. "So scary! But she sure sounded confident that she could make it happen for you."
"She was probably just teasing," I said.
"Maybe…." Sara responded. "Sooooo….. I may not be able to swallow your whole body, but maybe I can swallow other parts of you?"
She took my hand and brought it to her face. She began to softly suck on one of my fingers. She really did want to do this! I decided to quit fighting it. I really felt like we'd made a connection and now I wanted this. If she did too, who was I to stop her?
Sensing my desire, she instructed me to get into her bed. "If you're going to experience a princess blowjob you should also experience the comfort of a princess' bed. I guarantee you've never been in one more comfortable than this."
She was right. I felt like I could lay there forever. So soft and comfy! She removed my pants. It was kind of adorable to see her struggle with them after experiencing so many times how monsters just eliminated them with no effort. This was going to be the first experience I'd had with a human since arriving in this world two years ago. So far, the encounter felt so very human, and for some reason I found that familiarity comforting.
She lay down between my legs, resting her arms on my legs. "You went through a lot of trouble for me, and I was the cause of it. I really do want to reward you with my mouth. But I'm not very experienced. I hope it will be good enough."
"It will be," I assured her. "I haven't had a woman, a human woman, touch me in as long as I can remember."
"Are you a virgin?" she asked.
"I don't think so," I said, now realizing I was about to have THAT conversation again.
"How would you not know?"
"I have amnesia," I explained. "From about two years ago. So I don't have any specific memories of being with a woman, but it does feel familiar to me so I imagine I must have been."
"Oh," she said, then got a mischevious grin on her face. "So do you remember…. this?"
She gave my penis a long lick. I groaned in pleasure. "Yes, I definitely do."
"Okay," she said, laughing. "I'm actually glad I'm not your first. That would be a lot of pressure plus I'd be worried you might actually fall for me."
"I know where I stand with you," I assured her.
She smiled and went to work. She was inexperienced, her movements clumsy and tentative at first. But I was in heaven. Somehow this just felt more… real. And I knew that I'd be able to enjoy it for a bit longer. I was relieved to feel that her heritage didn't give her that special monster magic. I was comforted that some of the things she did were slightly uncomfortable: the teeth rubbing against the top of my shaft. The occasional pressure on my head that was a bit unpleasant. Monsters liked to boast that once a human experienced the pleasures a monster could bring that they would never be satisfied by a human again. That was technically true. Sara's mouth couldn't send me to the heights of ecstasy that a mere touch of Alice's pinky finger could, but somehow her ministrations felt more intimate, more personal. Like I wasn't food.
Despite her inexperience, she was watching me closely, checking my reactions. Whenever I made a sound she liked, she would repeat what she had done. Five minutes in and she was already more confident. After about ten minutes of trying various techniques to pleasure me, she got an evil grin and lifted herself up by her arms, poised over my dick.
"I'm the sphinx, and because you are a fool, I will swallow you whole!" She dove down on it, trying to take it all into her mouth. I felt the back of her mouth as she started to struggle. Failing to get it in any further at first, she resorted to a twisting motion with her head, which caused my sensitive head to roll around the back of her mouth and palate. I expressed my pleasure enthusiastically. This drove her to resume her efforts to get it all in. I felt my head go past something and into an even softer place. She gagged softly, but kept going down until she reached my base, then held it there, maintaining eye contact the whole time.
After a few seconds, she tried moving her head around again, which felt heavenly but caused her to gag and cough more forcefully, expelling my cock. Her eyes had begun to water. "Hey, be careful there," I urged. "This isn't worth hurting yourself."
She smiled as she reached for a tissue near the bed. "I just wanted to try that," she said. "I did it pretty good, didn't I? Anyway, I'm not into guys so I probably don't need to get really good at that. Let me show you what I've really been practicing. I've heard this part of a guy is a lot like a girl's happy place," she said, touching my frenulum. "So if I do interesting things with my tongue there it should be just as good."
She put it back in her mouth and began much more confident movements with her tongue on the underside of my penis. She must have been practicing this a lot for Granberia, because she did it for about ten minutes without seeming to tire, the pleasure just building and building, varying the patterns, the speed, and the pressure. She probably could have done it for quite a bit longer, but it finally became too much for me and I released forcefully into her mouth, her tongue never stopping the wonderful movements as I came.
When I was finished, she reached for a glass of water by her bedside and swallowed the water and my semen. "A princess never makes a mess," she said brightly. "That was surprisingly delicious. Maybe that's my monster heritage."
She handed me my pants to put back on and lay down beside me, cuddling up to me. "I think we still have half an hour left. Let's cuddle."
This was also something I had missed. Alice never cuddled me after feeding off of me. I was grateful for that one time that she'd comforted me on the beach, but after she finished me in the hotel rooms she'd gone to her own bed. Sara snuggled into the crook of my arm.
"You know," she said. "If you did want to marry me, I'd say yes. You're a good guy, Luka. I'm not into guys, but I would be a good wife. If it's you, anyway."
"It sounds like your father's plot is working," I said.
She playfully thumped my chest. "No it isn't! I felt that way before you entered this room. I don't really want to marry you, but I do have my responsibilities and I can't imagine I'll find a more… tolerable guy than you. I know I could make you happy, and I could be happy being with you. I'd have to give up on Granberia, but that's probably an impossible dream anyway. And we're royalty, it's understood that we'll both have playtoys on the side. Maybe we could even share women. Is my father's plot working on you?"
"I have to admit it is," I replied. "I really do like you Sara, you're smart, sweet, lovely, everything a man could want. But I can't just jump into a marriage. I just met you today. If I didn't have such an important task ahead of me, I'd want to stay, get to know you. It is tempting though. What I'm doing is so dangerous and I doubt I'll survive it. Being able to just spend my nights lying in this bed sleeping in your arms… it sounds like a much better fate."
"Ask me, then," she said. "Right now! Whatever your task is, stay here, send baptized heroes to do it. You'd have that power if you were my husband. If you were betrothed to me today, my father would send one hundred men to do what has to be done. He'd order it as soon as he left this room with your answer."
"I know that's not really what you want," I said.
"No, but maybe it's what we both need," she replied. "If you leave this castle you probably go and become a martyr and I end up married to some hero or noble who I can't stand, and who wouldn't be as understanding as you about my needs."
She was as good at arguing as her father. My brain told me that saying yes was absolutely what I should do. I wasn't in love with Sara, but her arguments were rock solid. And she was someone who I knew I could grow to love, deeply. Maybe this was right. Would my journey ever have a better ending than this? Maybe I was an idiot, but something nagging at me told me that I could not, at least not yet. Could even one hundred heroes take on Alma Elma and Granberia? Could one thousand? This was something only I could do. I just knew it in my bones, even though I felt stupid thinking it. I was just one man. Maybe I could get the other three spirits, but would even that be enough? It wasn't just that. For some reason, I felt that Alice would hate me if I cut our journey short. But hadn't she told me to go home? Wasn't this just as good? Why don't I ask Sara? I mused. It just makes so much sense to me now! And yet…I still could not.
"I can't, Sara," I finally said. "I think I'm the only one who can do what has to be done. Is it a standing offer? If I complete my task and come back, would you still be interested?"
She giggled. "Sure, if I'm not married to Granberia by then. So hurry up! In all seriousness, I can hold off the advances of so-called heroes or whoever else my father thinks would make a good match until you return. He might want to wait for you as well. He really seems to admire you. I might even get a break while you're gone. I'll tell him I'll marry you when you come back if you ask me. That should get him to leave me alone for awhile."
We continued to cuddle until the door was repaired. At some point I must have fallen asleep, because I'd missed the king entering. He stood over me, as I held his daughter in my arms, looking very pleased with himself. My answer was less to his liking.
"So you are leaving here?" he asked. "That is regrettable. But I do understand. Am I also to understand that you haven't said no?"
"That is correct, your majesty," I confirmed. "I like your daughter a great deal. I would love to get to know her more, perhaps even woo her, when I return."
"Thank you for your kindness, hero," Sara said. "I shall pray to the goddess for safety on your travels."
"It seems that my daughter has put you through a lot of trouble," the king said. "Allow me to apologize."
"No!" I protested. "Yes, it was a difficult quest, but it was unbelievably rewarding. I got to meet a remarkable lady, had a wonderful feast, and received a king's gratitude."
The king seemed very pleased with my answer. "When we have some time alone when you return, you must tell me all about what happened in that pyramid. My gut tells me it's a very interesting story."
"I will, sir," I said. I wondered how much he knew about the sphinx's relation to him.
With that, I left the king's presence and went to bed in the quarters Alice and I shared. She was already asleep. I crawled into my own bed and passed out quickly. Quite a day. There had been a few of these days. I wondered how many more days like this there would be. Would I survive many more?
When I awakened, Alice was already up, gathering our things. I'd begun to appreciate her doing that, since I had to carry everything. She was a much more efficient packer than I was. Despite her airs of royalty and entitlement, she really was contributing a lot more than I had expected. Her saving me the trouble of packing our things so that I could sleep in a little longer was just another little example.
"Hmph…" she said, noticing I was awake. "It looks like you got quite close to that princess."
"Yes," I said. "Don't misunderstand though, we're not in love or anything."
Suddenly Alice wrapped her tail around me. She was staring at me intently, holding me in place. Was she hungry again? No, she just ate yesterday and she only fed on me when we were settling down for the night, not as we were about to leave. Wait, was she jealous? How could that be? I really shouldn't try to read monsters' minds, I thought. Whenever I try, I end up being wrong.
"Alice, is there something you want to say to me?" I asked.
She released me from her tail. "It's nothing," she said. "Don't worry about it."
"Alice, I want to know if something's bothering you," I insisted.
"it's just…." She paused. "I'm a little insulted. Getting pleasure from others when you have the Monster Lord with you. I know you never ask me, I just take what I want from you, but if you ever want me to pleasure you all you have to do is ask. I'm always hungry, you know that."
Oh, so that was it. An ego thing. I was relieved. A part of me was disappointed as well. My feelings for Alice were complicated and I hadn't had time to work them out. I was definitely feeling the signs of infatuation, but I was old enough at that point to recognize that crushes were a passing thing, probably due to her being my traveling companion, saving my life, consoling me when I was down, giving me insane amounts of sexual pleasure, etc. But I'd just assumed she was unattainable that way. I'd briefly entertained the idea that maybe I was being recruited as a prospect to be her husband, but had discarded the idea as ludicrous. Even with the spirits, I doubted I could pass that test. Besides, she didn't even respect me that much. She'd allowed that she liked and cared about me, even considered me a friend. But I wasn't even close to her match, either physically or intellectually. It occurred to me that I'd better start thinking harder about what Alice meant to me.
"Alice," I said. "I only consented to Sara because she really wanted to thank me and you know I'm not good at saying no to people. And Meia, didn't you set that up?"
"Meia?!" Alice screamed. "You are such an idiot! Why would I do that? I was just hungry and not interested in spending an hour at her house making small talk and hearing how wonderful you were. How many women have you bedded while I turned my head for just a moment?!"
"Just the two," I said sheepishly. "And we didn't have intercourse. I'm sorry, Alice, I didn't know that bothered you. You've been watching me get violated by monsters regularly for the last few weeks."
"That's different!" she argued. "I can't blame you for being attacked. Do you think I enjoy seeing you get raped?"
"I don't know!" I yelled. Now I was getting a little mad. "It's obviously less of a problem for you than just appearing and saying, 'hey, I'm the Monster Lord, would you mind not eating my traveling companion?' Is it wrong for me to enjoy a little consensual affection?"
"That's what you have me for! Just be a man and ask! And I hate seeing you get attacked by monsters! We've had that discussion! I won't fight your battles for you if they are battles you can win. Would you even want me to? Would you prefer to spend the rest of this journey hiding behind the Monster Lord whenever a threat appears?"
Ouch, again trying to argue with Alice. When would I learn? I decided to surrender. "Look, Alice," I said. "I truly am sorry. You're right. I have a lot to learn about being a man. I've spent some time thinking about all the things you've said to me over the last few weeks. You've been right about everything. And you're right about this too. I don't know how I'm going to deal with a lot of the other things you've said to me, about martyrdom, about how easily I'm manipulated, but this is something I can reconcile. I promise I won't voluntarily let another woman touch me as long as we're traveling together. Believe me, you are more than enough. It's true that I've wanted…. Things from you and didn't have the nerve to ask. But I also haven't needed to. I still haven't recovered from the last thing you did to me."
Her expression softened. "Thank you," she said. "That's all I wanted from you. I accept your apology. You can make it up to me tonight at camp. I took the liberty of taking some of your gold and buying some delicious treats from the market. I look forward to your culinary genius, my chef."
She handed me my now packed backpack. We left the castle a few minutes later. "You know," she said, now in a much better mood. "If you fail in your mission and survive, I'm so going to keep you as a slave at my castle. You'll be my personal chef."
She seemed mighty pleased with herself.
Actions