Sebastian
Good God I did not want to stop. The fact she was initiating it was so fucking hot. She sat there, blushing under the covers as I opened the door. Troy was standing there.
"What?" I barked; anger wrapped around it causing Troy to flinch. I knew it was important. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have stopped what I was doing with my Lilith.
"I'm sorry to... interrupt sir. But um..." He fidgeted as he glanced downwards.
"Jesus Christ! Spit it out!" I folded my arms, as my groin was becoming more and more uncomfortable.
"The dukes are here..." He stood at attention as the words slid through my ears. I furrowed my brow as I turned to Lilith.
"Eat. You can also borrow some of my clothing until I can get some for you." I tilted my head towards my closet and desk. She nodded as I turned, leaving the room and closing the door.
Troy quickly led me down the stairs, escorting me to the front. He was smart for not letting them enter my home.
"Let us through! This is an important matter!" Duke William hissed at the guards who stood in the front, blocking them.
"What the fuck do you weasels want?" I roared as I strode up to them. I pushed myself around the guards as I stood in front of them. Williams shrunk down once I stepped up.
"We demand the release of Duke Spry at once!" Duke Byrum stated, stepping forward with his guards. Duke Evans and Thompson agreed in unison as their guards stepped forward.
"Jesus, you come onto the royal property, spewing your demands at me? The prince?" I crossed my arms as I glared at them.
"You know, how about I give you a rundown of my events from last night, shall we?" I took a step forward, grabbing one of the guards and shoving him out of the way. I grabbed Duke Byrum by the ear, dragging him to the courtyard as he squealed. His guards tried to intervene, but mine stepped in the way, stopping them. The other dukes gawked and gasped as they followed us.
"You see Dukes..." I hissed as I pulled harder. We made it to the courtyard where the slaves we saved were at. They all turned their heads as I flung Duke Byrum in front of me.
"You see these lovely beings? I rescued them last night from a slave auction." I circled Byrum with my hands folded behind my back. "And you know what else I had to do? I had to fucking kill a hydra." I halted as Byrum looked up at me shocked.
"Now, why would such a deadly creature be inland of Astion? They reside in the ocean, pretty deep in the ocean if I remember my lessons." I halted in front of Byrum as he struggled to get to his knees. I grabbed him, pulling him up onto his feet as I smoothed out his shoulders.
"I think the answer is pretty simple..." I placed my hands on his shoulders as I squeezed him. He winced. "Someone is trying to wipe my father out." The color drained from his face as I released him.
"To think, I'm 20 years old and you guys are 50. You have thirty years of experience on me, yet I keep figuring these things out." I took a step back from him, looking at the other dukes who were mumbling among themselves.
"Release Duke Spry, and we'll..." I snapped my head towards William, who spoke.
"No. You can wait till my father comes back, he's currently under arrest by me for violating the slave freedom pact, that is still in effect because I did not veto it." I hissed at them as I shoved Byrum towards them.
"You don't like it? Send a crow to Estra and get my father to say otherwise. Or better yet, pull together and try to overthrow me. I'd love to see your dumbasses throw us into a civil war." I grinned at them as they huddled together. They slowly backed away.
"Watch yourself Sebastian, you're just a prince..." Evans told me firmly as he headed out. Ooh, a challenge. I sucked my teeth as I watched them leave.
"Troy!" I hollered; he quickly came trotting up to me. "Make the security around the palace tighter. I have a feeling they're going to do something stupid." He saluted me, then turned to work on what I asked.
I turned to the fifteen sum people I had in my courtyard and one beast that sat there staring at me. Azazel grumbled, upset that the shenanigans awoke him. I locked eyes with a small baby Griffin that had a collar like Lilith had around its neck. I stepped forward, reaching out and breaking it with my hand. It squawked and rubbed his head on my shin. I patted its head as I stood up.
"Come, line up, let me remove those awful things." I gestured for them to line up in front of me. One by one I released them, all of them sobbed as I did so. The collars left burn marks on most of their necks. The orc girl came up to me last.
I grabbed the collar in my hands, snapping it. She looked up at me, pitifully.
"I... Didn't say thank you." I told her as she lowered her gaze.
"I should be thanking you sir. You and Lilith got us out of there." She bowed, the rest of them followed, falling to their knees as they said thank you.
"You can all stay here, in the barracks, until we figure something out. My guards will stay in the palace. The only thing I require you to do is be useful. Help the maids and butlers out, hold your own." I tilted my head towards them as they stood up, bowing and agreeing. I turned, heading back inside while I pinched the bridge of my nose. I'm going to have to figure out jobs for them. Maybe we can make a shopping district trip and get some of them to work in the city.
I walked by Cranston, who stood there solemnly.
"You're staying here, work with the guards on setting up a barrier to protect us. I have a feeling the dukes will do something." I glared at him as he nodded. He turned to go meet up with Troy.
"One more thing, Cranston," he halted, turning to me. "Keep working in your bookstore, keep your ears open and see if you hear anything, then relay it back to me. Got it?" He nodded. "Also, take some of the girls here and use them to help clean up your store, put them to work. Fairly." I narrowed my eyes onto him as he responded, "Yes master."
"Mmm, master, that's nice," Azazel purred as I scoffed, heading back inside.
"I wish you'd go back to sleep; I wanted to spend some time with Lilith." I mumbled out. He chuckled.
"Don't worry, you can have your fun with her. I won't intervene unless you let me," he rumbled as last night flashed through my head. I paused at the entrance door as I saw Lilith coming around the corner. She was wearing my shirt, along with some pants. They looked comical on her as they were twice her size. She had a plate of food in her hands. She walked up to me, holding it as she looked up at me.
"Sorry... I just wanted to make sure you ate as well..." She gently pushed the plate towards me. I raised a brow at her.
"Did you eat?" I glared at her. She stiffened up. She looked away from me, her focus landing on someone behind me.
"Annalise!?" She exclaimed as she shoved the plate of food into my hands. She quickly pushed by me, heading to the orc girl. I furrowed my brow. I didn't like how she avoided my question.
She flung her arms around the orc girl; I'm assuming her name is Annalise? Annalise wrapped her arms around her sobbing. Lilith pulled away, placing her hand on her cheek, wiping her tears.