"What's your name?"
Despite being King Kard's general, the Greek god had fought for Elio, going a step further to even shield him from the monster's attacks with his own body. Elio saw no reason in not trusting the guy.
"My name is Shienus Maldor, You Grace. Most people refer to me as general Maldor."
"General Maldor it is, then. Thank you for saving my life!"
Elio extended his hand for a handshake. Maldor had just laid Princess Mareen on the bed.
He shook Elio's hand, joy all over his face. "You flatter me with such words, Your Grace! It's my duty."
"Not all take their duties seriously as you did back there. You're a reliable man."
"Such is who I am, You Grace!"
"Alright, then!" Elio said as he glanced at Mareen, changing the subject. "Feed her! If she regains strength, have maids bathe her and put her to rest."
"Right away, Your Grace!"
"Also, make sure to take men back to the dungeon to bring the body of my knight and clean the place."
"As you command, Your Grace!"
"Don't feed Queen Liza! She doesn't deserve it!"
"I won't, Your Grace!"
The your grace at the end of every response these guys gave was starting to get to Elio's nerve, but he didn't know what to do about it at the moment.
Elio turned to look at both his knights and King Kard's other generals. "Now, escort me where the people are!"
Outside the sun was already descending in the west, and it wasn't going to take long for darkness to fall upon the City.
'After this, I guess I will call it a day. Whoa! What a day! I can't believe all the things I did.'
The passage went direct from the King's chambers, through the King's garden and climbed a wide staircase into a room with a ceiling that was at least twenty-six feet high, sixty feet long and forty feet wide, supported by six columns of white limestone.
The chandeliers and lots of other decorations screamed elegance, and there was a huge golden chair at the elevated platform, overlooking the expanse of a wide floor that was painted bronze.
"Call the people in!" Elio ordered as he sat on the cold, hard throne. "Call my soldiers first. I wouldn't want to be assaulted by hungry mobs."
'Why do kings like to sit on metal? This thing isn't comfortable at all.'
Elio had entered from inside, so he had not encountered any person. He didn't know all the women would be beautiful when they entered, most men tall and imposing.
Despite their cheap and dirty clothes... for some, even the short ones looked beautiful and handsome in their own way.
People continued to pour in, and Elio's soldiers had to step in and stop them because the throne room was already filled.
On the sides, on elevated galleries, officials emerged, and each of them had a dubious expression on his or her face. After all, they came here thinking it was King Kard who had summoned them to celebrate his attack against Stardret Kingdom and its capture. Why was Elio Stardret the one sitting on their king's throne?
They fell silent, even the common folk. Not only were they surprised, but they were also frightened. Did their king lose the battle? Did it mean those who didn't return had fallen? And what of their future? Surely, they would soon become slaves to the Stardret Kingdom as some kind of revenge.
Elio leant back, assuming a haughty posture on the throne and addressed the crowd.
"Dear friends, be at ease! Your fathers, lovers, brothers and sons and friends are safe and sound back in my kingdom. They're alive. I only killed your useless and hateful king."
Gasps erupted throughout the crowd, people gossiping among themselves in hushed voices.
Elio put his index finger on his mouth, his left hand still playing with his taser gun.
"Shush!"
Even a person without a nose could smell his arrogance when he made that gesture. His annoyance.
Every voice disappeared.
"Your queen will follow him in the grave soon. They tried to kill me, so it sounds fair for me to return such a favor, don't you think?
"Anyways, I'm not your enemy. I know you were hungry and agreed with their plans because it looked like the only way. But it wasn't. Together, we can exterminate those blue abominations which have plagued our shores. We can... "
Just then, someone from the crowd burst out laughing, interrupting Elio, the King!
"Who are you to assume you can kill them? They're invincible. Do you think we never tried? Haha! We don't know how you were able to kill our beloved king or who among his generals betrayed him, but you'll never match him. He's not useless."
The man pointed at Elio. "You are. Now we're all doomed. Losing such an intelligent king for a fool and a weakling like you. Oh! Dear Niemoth, take me already!"
For some reason, Elio felt happy.
'Now I have a sacrificial lamb. Haha!'
With this thought, he gestured for the man to come close to the throne.
"You might kill me, but you'll never rule me. My heart will forever belong to king Kard. Hail King Kard! Hail King Kard!" the man chanted as he approached the throne.
People were parting to give him passage, and some started tuning into his chant, infecting the entire crowd, even the officials.
"Hail King Kard!"
Elio was just smiling, waiting for their fearsome, inspirational man to get closer. The more hope he gave them, the more crushed they would be after Elio subdued him. The more they will respect or fear Elio.
As soon as the man reached the base of the throne, Elio aimed his taser at him and boom, the man fell on the ground, shaking.
Everybody went quiet.
Elio didn't say anything, either. He just reclined into his uncomfortable throne, his right hand playing with a beard he didn't have.
The eerie silence went for minutes, and even continued when the man regained his consciousness and rose to his feet. He looked at Elio with fear, shock and confusion, each of these emotions trying to dominate his face.
"You were saying?" Elio asked, calmly.
The man fell to his knees and kowtowed to Elio.
"Have mercy, Your Grace! I shouldn't have mocked you. You're not weak. You can wield thunder, the power of the gods. Niemoth is on your side. You can kill the Blue Monsters. You can protect us. Please, Your Grace, kill them and save us all from hunger and terror. Have mercy on us. We will follow you to the ends of the world."
Elio rose to his feet and raised the taser in the air.
The guy kowtowing to him didn't know electricity, so he assumed what he saw was lightning, that the sounds the taser made were of thunder. Why not continue with such a narrative?
"Niemoth had given me his wrath so I can unleash it upon those monsters. My friend, it is not your fault that you did not know. Stand up! I am merciful."
The man rose with joy on his face, then started his chant again, this time a lot more different.
"Hail King Elio Stardret!"
The crowd tuned in. "Hail King Elio Stardret! Hail King Elio Stardret!"
Elio gestured for them to keep quiet, then said, "Before this friend of ours interrupted us, we were saying that we can exterminate those abominations. That we can have our sea back. Our ports back. Our visitors back. We can fish and trade with merchant ships from other continents again. Who's with me?"
"Me, Your Grace!"
"Me, Your Grace!"
"Me too, Your Grace!"
"Me..."
"Alright then! I'm sure none of you is hungry today. I've brought enough food, after all. Go, feast!"
He glanced at the officials, causing them to flinch and lower their gazes.
"Open the royal reserves and your stocks. Give people ale to drink and all other delicacies you have. Today is celebration, tomorrow is war. We shall kill all those abominations! Soon, our stocks shall be flooded with delicacies from other continents."
The crowd went crazy.
"Thank you so much, Your Grace."
"It's you!"
"You're the one!"
"Son of Niemoth!"
Just then, Elio left the throne room. It was better to leave them while they were still excited.
It was already dark when he stepped outside.
Once in his room, he found Princess Mareen asleep in the bed, General Maldor and others standing guard.
He didn't want to disturb her, so he ordered his dinner to be brought here.
Soon, the maids entered with the food. The same 4 maids he had been with in the carriage earlier in the journey here.
Amethyst hair, beautiful and half naked. Such was tradition, so Elio didn't try to have them cover their boobs again. After all, he was badly in need of such a gesture. The day had been taxing. He needed some relaxation.
They slowly danced as he ate, swaying their hips and pinching their nipples.
There was no way his dick could resist such temptations.
"Come here!"
He pointed to his pants, and the girls happily crawled under the huge table and pulled his dick out and started sucking on it, hungrily fighting for turns.
"Oh! Yeah! Good girls!"