The dragon's harem

Isdis clapped her hands, and her entire aura faded away, making her once more feel human. The most important part now wasn’t what their secrets are, what they could do, or even what they want. What mattered now was to confirm that they are obedient without the need for magic. They would be working with gods, demons, devils, and being so powerful, scary, and convoluted that mortal logic itself might not hold a meaning.

Maids and Servants were in the same situation as soldiers and knights; obeying the chain of command and discipline to follow orders was the key. Isdis’s scary aura would muddle those results by adding fear as a factor.

“This is the obedience test, and so I won’t be pressing you for anything, just giving orders.”

Isdis looked at the two maids she brought with her, Ceil and Lara.

“Just ask those two. No matter how stupid, impossible, or weird I try to make my orders here, they’ll never match the stupid chaos you’ll face in your work.”

Lara nodded with a tired face. “I can assure you that.” Gods, another world inside Arad’s stomach, a legion of dragons, demons, devils, crazed monsters, and even angels. She had seen so many scary things that she got numb to all the chaos.

“Yeah, depending on what Queen you chose to serve, you might end up really in a weird place.” Ceil smiled, but the three maids could tell that her smile looked off, as if she were thinking of something weird. The slight twitch in her eyes, her tightly closed lips, and the faint red glimmer in her eyes were all red flags.

“Sometimes it is best to just turn your mind off and do whatever you’re told.” She then pointed at Isdis. “She bathes in ice-cold water, and we were there. This morning, I had to wash her back and give her a massage in what felt like the frozen mountain peak.”

The three maids stared at Isdis, and Camilla gasped. “Ice-cold water?” They knew Isdis had an affinity for ice magic, but that didn’t mean she had to bathe in cold water; it doesn’t work like that for bards and wizards, unless she had some kind of cold bloodline.

“Yes, I’m that cold.” She poured herself a cup of tea and put one finger in it, causing it to freeze in the blink of an eye. “And I’m tame compared to the other wives. One of them even got some maids worshipping her, and even offering their blood and life.”

“Indeed, she is a most excellent being.” Ceil gave the three maids an evil stare, sending shivers down Camilla’s spine and alarm bells through her mind. Right above them, through her own heaven, Eris was looking at a rotating purple sun in her palm, her eyes gazing through the plasma right back at the vampires of the world, and a single thread of her consciousness was watching the room where the test was taking place.

Ceil shivered, hugging herself with a giggle. “AH! She looked at me… I didn’t even mention her name.”

Just by seeing Isdis and her maids, the three maids could already tell that dealing with Arad’s wives is going to be a chore and a half, an impossible task in most cases, if they just counted how the guards aren’t even there to protect them, but to just keep a mundane look. Take Isdis here for example, she doesn’t need to be guarded, she is the one guarding the castle with how powerful she is.

They could imagine a large monster charging at the walls, and Isdis just freezing it in place before it could topple even a single building.

“I got it. What should we do?” Camilla nodded, steeling herself for whatever awaits.

Isdis looked at her with a smile, “Then, would you mind telling me about that little secret of yours? I already know, but I want to hear the story from you.” She leaned back. “And just so you won’t say I’m not fair, Lara, Ceil.”

Lara sighed, “I used to torture other kids and animals when I was little, all to find out what this pain they were talking about was. I didn’t even sign to become a royal private maid; my parents sent me in the hope that I would hurt someone important and end up executed. Now, I work as a secret torturer who deals with anyone the queens send my way. Even today, I still feel no empathy toward those in pain; in fact, I even find it disgusting how they can’t endure it.”

She looked at the terrified maids with a smile, sending shivers down their spines. “I’ll be the one making you a sequel if you dare cause trouble.” Just looking at her face, they could tell she was really enjoying her job. How did they even accept such a woman into the royal maids?

Ceil smiled, and her body flashed with light. “I’m a paladin of murder, as you can expect, I worship the divine goddess of murder, and I do a lot of killing in her name. But my secret was that I knew her from the old days since she was a member of Katal’s cult, who is the previous god of murder. I didn’t join the royal private maids for anything besides my love for Queen Eris.” She opened her mouth, showing them a set of sharp fangs. “By the way, I’m a vampire spawn. Don’t worry, I won’t suck your blood unless you want it, or if I get too hungry.”

As Camilla stared at Ceil with a terrified face, Roana and Alicia stared at Isdis. “Are they really, safe?”

But before Isdis could answer, Camilla moved. Before Roana or Alicia could even notice, a sword was pointed at Ceil’s neck. Where did Camilla have that thing hidden? Why did she do this? And why didn’t Isdis freeze her yet?

“You know…” Isdis looked at Camilla with a smile, but before she could finish speaking, she was growled at. “Shut up! What is a bloodsucking fiend doing here? And why in the nine hells is she using divine magic?”

Ceil looked at the sword with a grin and then lifted hand, pushing the blade away. “Calm down, you cannot cut down a god’s paladin, especially not one of hers.”

“Who’s her? Goddess of murder? Fitting. Do you know what horrors your kind brought on us?” Camilla wasn’t going to listen to anyone now. She had seen a vampire and would take its head off.

“I know, cattle. Your people are to us, the same thing sheep are to your kind. It is a world of kill or be killed, and we vampires are the humanoid’s natural predator.” Ceil’s eyes flashed red, and Camilla felt drowsy; the blood failed to reach her head, and she was about to pass out.

“We are born from the humanoids to regulate their population so it won’t grow beyond what the world can support. Just how, without wolves, deer would decimate the forest and farmlands, humans would turn this world into a dystopian hell if we stop culling their numbers.”

Camilla’s body flexed, and as all of her muscles tensed, the blood was forced back out of her legs, and due to the pressure, it reached her head. [Indomitable]

“Do you think the trickery of a mere spawn can put me down?” Camilla had managed to resist Ceil’s blood magic and stood there to challenge her.

“Flexing the muscles of your legs to direct the blood upward and resist my blood magic. Who taught you that?” Ceil lifted her hands, and Camilla’s arms tensed.

“Father trained under Dragon Slayer Alcott for a while, and I heard from him about the training. This is a basic fighter skill.”

Before the two could clash, ice froze their hands. “Enough, both of you sit down. This is what I meant by you wanting to make sure you want to join the private royal guards.” She threw a glance at Camilla. “So, what will you do?”

Camilla sheathed her sword, sighed, and sat down. “Fine, I won’t do anything for now.” She glared at Isdis, “You asked for my secret? Fine.”