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Part 2

The King and Prince Lycanopous left the chapel and headed for their suites. The castle was quiet, seemingly absent of all life as the sun dropped steadily towards the western horizon. Sir Wolfie stepped out of one of the deep set alcoves from where he had been seated, waiting for them to emerge, causing the King and Prince to jump, "Fucking hell Wolfie, don't do that. I nearly dropped in my shadow. Any news from the border?" The King asked, clutching theatrically at his chest.

"No Sir, I am afraid no-one had reported in," Sir Wolfie replied without a trace of humour.

"Is the city settled?"

"Yes, there have been no reports of civil disobedience. Everyone seems to have accepted the fate that has been presented to them."

"Is it too much to hope that Lord Ruth has shown up?" The Prince asked hesitantly.

"I would have fetched you from your meditation if he had, Sir. I have not heard from him at all yet." Sir Wolfie replied sighing.

"Well I went all lightheaded when I was in there, and I swore that I heard someone blaspheme...but no-one was in there with us," the King said rubbing at his forehead, "Stress does strange things to the mind. Any good news?"

"We have not had one of the carrier pigeons return that were sent with your mate and Prince John. At least one would have been released if they had been ambushed. They should be crossing into Lutra about now. The border is less than six candlemarks ride away in that direction." Wolfie answered.

"Then we should cross our fingers and just hope. I suggest that we dine now, but hold off on the wine. I for one don't want my last ride to be a hungover one!" The King grinned as he tried to lighten the mood.

Sir Wolfie and the Prince smiled slightly in polite response, "I sent Russell off with one of my brood mares and a letter of recommendation, Everett is going to just blend in with the other guard recruits. I will stay here at the castle tonight so we are ready to go at first light. None of the Knights are running Sir, they will all stand by your side right to the end."

"That's good to hear I suppose, but I didn't want any further bloodshed. If they feel it is their duty...well so be it. We will be glad of the company. Let's go see if the cooks haven't abandoned us." The King replied, his heart heavy.

They changed direction and headed for the dining room, Wolfie snagging a page he spotted in one of the side corridors as they passed, "Go and alert the kitchen that eight will be dining as soon as they can come up with a menu...nothing fancy. Then could you go to the circle meeting room and round up the other five Knight's that are likely to still be there. We will all eat together in the presence of the King tonight." He instructed, the young wolf nodding and heading off at a jog trot before he stumbled and fell to the floor in a heap. "What? You alright?" Wolfie called starting to run towards the fallen boy.

A large shadow passed the window then, blotting out the sun for a second before the sound of wings flapping penetrated the castle's walls along with crashes and clatterings that echoed down the corridors as things were dropped from lifeless hands. "TO THOSE WHO ARE STILL AWAKE, PLEASE ATTEND ME IN THE CENTRAL COURTYARD!" Ruth's voice sounded, blasting the castle with sound.

"He's come...Bloody hell, he's come!" The King exclaimed, picking up his robes and heading for the courtyard in an undignified jog-trot, the Prince and Sir Wolfie hot on his heels. They nearly ran head first into the Chancellor who was also still in the castle and was also answering the summons. Slumbering servants' bodies were strewn everywhere, but none seemed to be in danger.

Slowing, the four of them opened the main doors and stepped out into the yard where Ruth was examining the cart with a look of extreme distaste on his face, "We are here...Lord," The King said, dropping to one knee.

"Stand up man, I told you not to treat me as anything other than a judge. I am guessing from what my magic spies informed me, the Lyonesse did this," Ruth gestured at the thankfully recovered cart, "What the fuck did you do to piss them off so badly that they would stoop to such depravity?"

The Prince stepped forward, bowing is head, "I feel it is my fault...Lord," he started, proceeding to explain everything he had done, the prior betrothal agreement, the council's decisions, his actions with the deceased tigress...and the letter that accompanied the cart.

"You are in a right bloody mess aren't you? I can't intervene without permission as Lyonesse is not in my jurisdiction." Ruth said shaking his head, "Did you not consider that Lions are known to be blatant homophobes? That if Princess Electra even got a whiff of scandal she would probably kill you when she found you out? What she has done to the cubs of course is totally unacceptable...but I can't stop her invading you. You would have been better off sending James, they mate earlier over there than by your standards and he would have been taken to her bed as soon as he arrived. Do not worry about your citizens, every creature with intelligence that does not have foreknowledge of my kinds existence who is within five leagues of here has been spelled to sleep."

"B...but...That means I will have to do as we planned, and offer my life, the life of my son, and that of the Knights to try and appease her. A cub killer can't be let loose in Lupinia...even if it becomes just an annex to Lyonesse," the King protested. "I thought you cared for those you watched over."

"You are not listening to me Lycanopous...I said I couldn't intervene, I did not say we couldn't. I want you all to be safe, but the balance of good and evil is on the tipping point here. By the laws of the ancients, homosexuality is a crime...and an act of evil in the church. But if I were to judge on that, I would be my own prisoner as Sir Wolfie there will attest to. Infanticide is the worst of all crimes, but in this case it seems it was committed because of the dire wrong that you were all a party to. I feel a sacrifice may have to be made to appease the Lyonesse, but to approach them I will have to call their overseer in." Ruth finished sharply. He sighed, "Give me silence and I will prove to you now that your interests come before mine, for once and for all."

Closing his eyes he went into a trance, holding his forepaws out in front of him, the four of them watched him as he began to recite something in a language only hinted at. Cupped in the air above his paws a sphere began to form, shimmering in the setting sun before flaring and becoming mirror like. A stunning blue face stared out at them, taking in the scene. "Hello Pearly, long time no see eh. Got yourself some trouble on the border?" The Dragon in the mirror asked, grinning.

Ruth opened his eyes, "Hello Arianna, it has been a while."

"You come over to the good side yet my dear? My loins are aching for you; you know...You are about halfway to me where you are..." The blue dragoness replied grinning lewdly while running a tongue around her lips.

"As you are well aware...I am quite happy on the side I am on...and must you keep calling me Pearly when we are in public?" Ruth said sighing.

"But it is such a cute moniker, so much better than Ruth...What's up anyway?" Arianna asked, gazing at them all.

"The Lyonesse are causing trouble and the new Queen in waiting has decided to use an insult to cleanse the land of Lupinia. She has started by torturing and impaling the cubs that were sired by the royal family's ambassador."

"Mmm, I knew Xavier had been murdered while out hunting..."

"Murdered?" King Lycanopous asked, "I thought it was an accident."

"And you are?" Arianna asked frowning.

"The current King of Lupinia...Lycanopous my Lady. I was about to offer myself and my Son to Princess Electra as a sacrifice, to stop her from raping and pillaging my people."

"That won't stop that bitch. Xavier and I have had quite a few conversations about his wayward daughter and the company she kept. Quite a lot of that company have been guests at my dining table, or still reside in my home. It is only the fact that he petitioned me personally to allow her to stay...as she was his only offspring that she herself did not become my guest also. I had a tag on Xavier's soul, and when he died I held it long enough to find out how before he went to a better place. It was an ambush made to look like a wild boar attack. Electra's own bodyguards wielded severed boar tusks and took him down. Your son is betrothed to her isn't he? What has turned her eyes on you?"

"Ahem...I am gay my Lady. She found out that we were still planning on me fulfilling my grandfather's wishes to become her mate. Her reaction is why Lord Ruth is here now," Prince Lycanopous said, bowing his head.

Arianna started laughing, a deep sonorous chuckle that seemed to echo as it came from the floating mirror, "Oh my, oh my, oh my...Pearly you don't half get the good ones don't you. Where the hell was your intelligence coming from Lycanopous? That has got to be just about the stupidest thing I have ever heard suggested in my three hundred years of duty. Electra is an absolute whore. She has sampled just about every type and species of male that she can get her hands on. She keeps 'pets' in her chambers that she amuses herself with. If your Son had stepped foot into her bedchambers he wouldn't have lasted thirty seconds. Her King or not, he would have been thrown to the pigs if he didn't satisfy her at least three times a night."

"As far as I know My Lady, my brother did the best that he could as ambassador. If that information escaped his attention, it still didn't deserve the way he, his mate and his five year old twins were killed," the King replied angrily. "I thought you were meant to stop this sort of thing from happening?"

"As I am sure Pea...Ruth there has explained. We are not omnipotent. We monitor those we act in judgment for, but we do not have foreknowledge of the actions of individuals. If that were the case, people would be serving time for murders they haven't yet committed. All we can do is stop the murderers and abusers once they have begun to act. Things are quiet here now you know...far to the East, many months travel by ship over the ocean the people have developed powder that explodes when touched by a spark. From what I have heard through the ethereal plains gossip, the people have succeeded in killing even us, their judges, with the weapons they are using it to power. If that reaches the shores here, the wielders will be unstoppable by conventional forces. Many thousands of citizens have died so far, and we are yet find a way to stop it. Electra can be stopped this time, and now she has removed her father from the equation she will be invited to be my guest...but that will leave Lyonesse without a leader. I do not want a civil war on my doorstep." Arianna stopped as the King's face went white, blood draining from his lips as he stared at the sky.

A single homing pigeon flapped heavily towards the message tower, blood dripping from its breastbone. "Oh no...No...No...She couldn't have...no..." The King muttered collapsing to his knees.

"I can only see ground level, what's up now?" Arianna asked.

Sir Wolfie stepped forward, "That is a pigeon from the escort that is accompanying the Queen and the younger Prince James into Lutra for safety. If it has been released, and from the looks of it injured, it means they have been ambushed and prevented from reaching their goal. The Lyonesse must have us surrounded. I would guess that the Queen and the Prince are no more."

"Arianna, I will go and check and see if any live. Come here to the castle please in person. Electra must be stopped. That escort had over twenty guard cavalry and six of the best Knight's Sir Wolfie's circle could provide with them. If they have all been murdered, we have no choice and you know it." Ruth said firmly.

"I know...you will have to pay a price for my intercession of the cross border intervention though...as is in the ancients' agreement." Arianna said smiling slightly.

"Name it then...and I will pay."

"I am going to spell myself into full season. My price is your seed. We are going to have to increase our numbers so we can deal with the threat from the Eastern lands. You are the best and strongest male currently in adulthood and you know it. You are to father at least ten eggs by me Pearly, and then your debt will be discharged." Arianna grinned evilly as Ruth's jaw dropped.

"But I can't...you know I can't."

"I will allow you to take my rear passage if that helps, as long as you put it in the correct hole before you blow. I will even allow you foreplay with a willing male as that turns me on if you cannot make the sacrifice the Prince there was willing to try to...but that is my price. Will you pay?"

"I will have to...this kingdom has been too peaceful for me to let it be destroyed. You have a deal, and I choose Sir Wolfie here as my fluffer." Ruth said sighing.

"Done and done then, the plains have witnessed your words. I will be there in three to four candlemarks; you are over four hundred leagues away after all. Go and see if you can salvage something of the ambush and be waiting for me when I arrive." Arianna turned from the floating mirror and Ruth whispered another word, breaking his cupped paws apart to allow it to dissipate into mist.

He turned to the others, "Now do you believe that I am willing to do my duty to you?" He directed at distraught King.

"Yes...yes. Please, can you go see if my mate and Son survive? Thank you." The King begged.

"Straight away. Make your own food, I will leave the others sleeping. Sir Wolfie, I know this will not be a pleasant task for you, but you must aid me in keeping myself erect for Arianna when she arrives. I may need you to actively participate in the actual act of intercourse. I find females...well let's just say I wish they were not needed at all."

Sir Wolfie nodded in agreement, "I will do what is required...and as long as you are involved it will be a pleasure."

"Very well, I will be back in two candlemarks. Rest, and I suggest you bathe. Female dragons hate the smell of stale sex on their partners, and you stink of dingo cum!" With that he stroked his wings, making everyone back away as the cupped air beat down hard in the enclosed space of the courtyard as he lifted and headed out on the Lutra trade road.

"How exactly are you going to engage him in a sexual act Sir Wolfie?" The Prince asked as he watched the huge shape vanish eastwards.

"However he wishes me to. We partially consummated our relationship when he abducted me, but less than half of him fits within me. I would guess that he will require a prostate massage when he is tied within Lady Arianna. I know that is the only way that I could complete with a female. You my friend demonstrated that you must have some taste for females within you, or you could not have tied that traitorous tigress."

"I took a castle maid when I was younger for my virginity, but then I caught my manservant at it with one of the pages. I was excited and expressed an interest. Until that tigress, I have not passed the thighs of a female in six years. I do not know if I could have faced Electra in bed or not...but I would have died trying if it had prevented this," Prince Lycanopous replied, his head bowed.

"Do not bow your head son; it is nothing to be ashamed of. The fact that you tried was enough. James would have been enough to continue our line...if he survives." King Lycanopous said placing a hand on the Prince's shoulder.

"And remember, your sexuality is no judge on if you are a man. I do not hold position as head of the Knight's circle by appointment...I am the best. I have a feeling though that the only way the Lyonesse will leave us be, is if we win a contest of skill. Cutting the head off the hydra will not stop the body from regenerating and attacking again. We may yet have a fight on our hands," Sir Wolfie said frowning.

"I will face the bitch that killed my brother, my nephews and my son...One on one in a tourney ring. I will demand it as is my right. They can eat her when her body is cooling in the sand!" The King snarled.

"And if you lose...My liege?" Sir Wolfie asked quietly. "You are not a young man anymore, and Electra is in her prime."

"Then I designate you Sir Wolfie as my Champion. She will have one of her own who you will have to defeat before she faces her second fight. If we both lose to her, then the Lyonesse will not respect those that follow us and the Kingdom and people of Lupinina will be lost. The Lord Dragons should help see to it that there is no cleansing of the people I hope, if that comes to pass."

"I would be honoured...Sir."

"I will prepare a tourney ring for you...I can do nothing else. I only hope that we all live through this," the Chancellor said, uttering his first words since Ruth had appeared.

"After we have raided the kitchens...Come, let us eat, rest and bathe as instructed. The dragons can have free reign on the herds if they wish," the King replied, placing a hand on the Chancellor's shoulder as they headed back into the castle.

~~~~

Ruth followed the trade road back towards Lutra, scanning the ground carefully from a height of around a thousand feet. He didn't really need to though. The pungent smell of smoke and semi-cooked wolf and horse meat assailed his nostrils before he came to the border of the forest, and a grey haze drifted up through the branches of the mature oaks that made him gag slightly. There were no clearings nearby, so he dropped height and smashed his way through the trees canopy with his claws until he landed on the road with a clatter of wings.

The Royal carriage was a smoking ruin, just the axles left, hitched to the hamstrung horses that had been pulling it. They were keening in pain as all their withers had been burnt from the heat of the burning timbers behind them. Ruth ended their suffering quickly, crushing their skulls with his talons as he observed the rest of the scene. Three of the knights had been mounted naked on stakes driven through their bowels at the East end of the ambush site in the centre of the road, the other three at West. Their genitals had been removed and hung dripping from their mouths. They had obviously died where they were impaled from the expressions on their faces. The cavalry was scattered all over the place, bodies like pincushions with the number of arrows that feathered them. They would have died instantly when the signal was given, leaving only the Knights when the ambushers descended from the trees. It looked as if only some of the horses had been hit, as there were far less equine corpses than there should have been. Ruth assumed they had been taken as spoils of war.

Of the Prince there was no sign, nor that of the Queen. A low moan was heard from the bushes at the side of the road and Ruth darted over quickly and parted the foliage. A young wolf, dressed in the uniform of the guard stared up at him, fear in his eyes. Two arrows pierced his chest plate, one in his breastbone, the other his stomach. Both legs were pierced through with other shafts. Blood was flecked on his lips. "What happened youngster, there is no need to fear me," Ruth whispered as he placed his lips close to the mortally wounded wolf's face, breathing some life force into him and easing his pain temporarily.

The wolf coughed up blood, "I don't know Sir...we were riding and the one of the Knights stopped dead in his tracks, calling a halt as the birds had gone silent. The next thing I know it was raining arrows. I did not even have time to raise my shield. My horse collapsed under me and I was thrown into the bushes and knocked unconscious with the pain. I came to, to the sound of screaming. They were impaling the Knights Sir. I couldn't move. The Prince and the Queen were bound and trussed, being forced to watch as the tigers and leopards gloated over what they were doing. There must have been forty or more of them Sir...we didn't have a chance. One of their officers was talking to a female lioness that seemed to be in charge. She made a slicing action with her hand and the Queen was tossed back into the carriage before they nailed the doors shut. The lioness walked over and said something I didn't catch and took a vial of something from her belt which she threw through the open window to smash on the carriage floor. The tiger who had been talking to her handed her an ember keeper which she opened and breathed on the coal before tossing it in. The carriage exploded Sir, the Queen was screaming in pain as she burnt alive. They didn't even give her the option of a noble death. It took minutes for her to die. The Prince was fighting with his captors all the time but to no avail. He seemed to be uninjured. The lioness walked over and backhanded him, knocking him out. The last I saw was them heading towards Lutra with the treasury wagons in tow and the Prince trussed to the back of one of the Knight's horses." The wolf's breathing was getting more laboured with each word, and his eyes started to mist.

"Thank you youngster...you have done you duty better than any could expect. Now rest..." Ruth placed a single talon under the labouring wolf's throat and pierced him through his skull in a smooth movement. The wolf sighed once, a smile parting his lips as he went to the death that had been denied him. Catching his soul, the white dragon whispered a couple of words over the writhing wraith, making sure that it was granted passage up and not down...it was the only thing he could do as reward.

Ruth sighed and walked over to the smoking coach frame. There was what was left of a body in there, and his nose wrinkled at the scent of burnt wolf meat. "Bastards!" he called loudly, but only the wind and a few birds answered, "Total and utter Bastards!"

~~~~

"B...b...b...a...s...t...t...t...a...a...a...r...r...r...d...d...d...d...s...s...s...s.....s.....s."

Around two leagues down the road back towards the city, Chloe planted all her hooves in the rutted earth as the unearthly howl of anger echoed down the tree tunnel from ahead. It took all of Russell's horsemanship to remain seated as she shook beneath him. "It's alright girl...It's all right. It's just the wind," he said trying to reassure her. They were running behind, Everett had proved to have more stamina than Russell would have thought for a virgin and he had left over a candlemark late. It had been fun though.

"B...b...b...a...s...t...t...t...a...a...a...r...r...r...d...d...d...d...s...s...s...s.....s.....s." The howl echoed again, fading this time as silence fell and the birds began their song again.

The dingo drew his sword uneasily, letting it ride across his thighs as he chucked Chloe into her walk again... "At least I hope it is girl..." he whispered quietly, his eyes scanning the forest for any signs of movement.