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Despite looking like a slightly evil porn star, Mordiel was actually really fucking good at negotiating terms. I'd expected someone as naturally powerful as her to be kind of shitty at it, considering the absolute dominion nobles held over this world, but on second thought, it made some sense. The noble houses were not allies, at least not all of them, and kept each other in check, keeping even the higher level nobility sharp and ready for political maneuvers. Not to mention Mordiel had been in a shadow war with her sister for years and honed herself that way.

Graciel was, based on the info I'd gathered. Beloved. Amaya slightly less so, since she was only recently returned to the kingdom from who knew where (I knew where, it was earth, hence the pendant), but the Princess herself was considered the next best thing to a goddess in this kingdom, and Mordiel had needed to be incredibly subtle to stand against the beloved monarch without turning her own people against her. Having learned to negotiate from my father as I was growing up, I considered myself more than a match for most people, but Mordiel was on another level in terms of sneakiness and double talk.

Eros and Psyche, to my surprise, turned out to be the thing that made the difference. Mordiel's desires weren't overtly sexual, but they were DEEP and I was able to get subtle hints to what she wanted from negotiations by paying close attention to my ability. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you would be the victor of a hundred battles. With insight into her priorities I barely managed to come out on top of the negotiations. It took hours to set everything up, but we finally hammered out a contract.

The terms of the deal (which was written on some kind of magic paper with magical Amethyst ink weirdly enough) spelled out the rights and responsibilities of both parties for the duration of the deal. First, I would supply Amethyst with a quarry of G ranked Amethyst stones, until such a time as the quarries under the control of my village ran dry. I'd worded this part VERY carefully, since I couldn't sign a magic contract saying I HAD a quarry, just that I could supply one, which was true.

The second of the terms binding me was that I wasn't allowed to sell those Amethysts to anyone else, nor could I supply less than the agreed upon amount each month so long as the quarries continued to produce. Technically this meant I could break the deal at any time, because I could just get rid of the quarries, but I had no reason to do so because this was all to my benefit. Once again I structured the wording in a way that benefited me without tipping my hand, something much easier to do when you had abilities that shouldn't theoretically be possible.

Someone else may have questioned the desire for an exclusive trade contract, given that Amethyst were the ones who benefited most from the stones, but those people would be idiots. The stones were a massive asset to the Amethyst kingdom, and were bound to upset the balance of power in the region. They weren't exactly mega powerful, but the quantity I'd promised would raise the floor on their production capabilities back to a place it hadn't been at for literal decades. Any other kingdom would sell their first born heir to prevent Amethyst from regaining the dominance they once had in Gemworld, even the ones supposedly friendly to them.

In return for the supplies, I'd negotiated a few things for myself too. I'd needed to do so to come across as what I wanted to project myself as. Mordiel needed to see me as a cocky young lord with an eye for her niece and enough ambition to compromise in the short term. I gave zero fucks about the crystals I would be giving them, but if that became obvious I would lose my leverage by virtue of the fact that the character I was playing WOULD care. I couldn't give her a reason to question what she thought she would see, so I had to haggle like a motherfucker.

The first concession was, of course, a meeting with Amaya. Mordiel didn't seem pleased that I was so interested in her niece, but that was more because it was potential power for Amaya and hence Graciel. Some subtle reminders that her office was the one who dealt with this kind of thing, and that bringing in this windfall would reflect exclusively on her since everyone knew this was supposed to be a punishment assignment (not that anyone would say that to her face) made it clear to her that my benefit was her benefit.

This was the tactic anyone in my position would take, so she expected it, and since she wanted to believe it convincing her was almost laughably easy. The whole thing was just a salve to her paranoia to make her feel like she'd done her due diligence. Aside from that though, I needed some kind of trade good to exchange for, because I had to come across as an ambitious young lord. But I didn't NEED anything. So I went with the old standard and just asked to be paid in gold. Pure currency was always useful, and I could bring that shit back to earth with me too.

It made me come off a bit greedy and short sighted, but I didn't need anything they could give me, and money was the closest thing to valuable I could find. It STILL didn't count towards my GP, but I had ways of producing points now, so that wasn't really relevant. Once we hammered all that out, I'd been informed that while I WOULD get my meeting with Amaya, I would also be meeting the Princess herself in her capacity as leader to discuss the protection from Emerald I was interested in.

Mordiel looked like she'd swallowed a lemon when she brought it up, but she made it clear that anything as important as extending protection across the border (essentially annexing part of the Emerald kingdom) was a huge matter, and she couldn't make that decision herself. Trading with me was fine, but if I wanted to be PART of Amethyst, I'd have to get the nod from Graciel herself, and that meant she would want to meet me and decide what kind of person I was. I wasn't opposed to that, though I did worry how it might affect my chances to woo Amaya.

Which was how I found myself standing in the entryway to the biggest and most extravagant building in the city. The royal palace was built inside the rest of the spires, shorter and much wider to allow the buildings to hide it from view, but upon seeing it, I immediately knew that it wasn't like anything I'd ever come across before. The incredibly intricate but still overwhelmingly powerful building appraised at A rank, the first building I had seen at that rank, and I could tell from the description that the security was absolutely top notch. If I had been insane enough to try attacking the Amethyst court, seeing that would have immediately dissuaded me of the notion.

The guards, who were both E rankers like me, allowed me into the building after I showed them the document Mordiel wrote out for me, and escorted me to the receiving chamber without any fanfare or delay. When we arrived, I was escorted into a massive towering chamber, and inside was a whole host of stupidly powerful Gemworlders. The room was laid out like an opera house, with a grand stage at one end and a huge open space in front of it occupied by the seated forms of nobles.

The higher ranked nobles were in boxes along the walls, elevated positions where they could look down over the gathered crowd. Against the far wall there was another, higher platform, positioned so that the people on it were visible despite being above the rest of the room. A pair of women on radiant thrones, looking down at everyone in the room, and more specifically for the moment, me. As we stepped inside, the guards hung back, letting me walk ahead down the purple aisle carpet leading between the floor seated nobles.

I walked down the aisle to step up onto a platform, and when I came to a halt, the platform rose into the air, bringing me closer to eye level with the Princess and her daughter, though not reaching their actual height. Princess Graciel waited until I was stably positioned before addressing me. "Greetings. I have heard from my sister that you possess access to an Amethyst quarry, and are willing to provide us with a steady supply, but that one of your requests was for protection. Before granting such a request I wished to take your measure myself. Is this acceptable to you?"

I wondered if Mordiel had shared my interest in her daughter for a moment, but then I decided she probably had Mordiel's office under surveillance. If I had a jealous sister plotting my downfall, I knew I would keep an eye on that bitch. That was just common sense. Still, since she was Amaya's mother, this could work in my favor if I played it right. The trick was to be magnanimous about letting her test me but not be a kiss ass. If I looked like I was sucking up to her mom there was no way the little princess would be interested.

It was a fine line to walk, but I enjoyed a challenge. I gave her a placid smile, deciding to go with arrogant and aloof with just a hint of sarcastic for my image here. "Of course, it is you majesty's kingdom after all. Ask me whatever you like, I'm always happy to answer a question for a potential business partner." I made sure to slip in a reference to us being peers as I spoke. If she didn't correct me, it would set the image that I was on her level socially, which would make interacting without sucking up much more feasible.

I saw a flash of amusement on her face, but she didn't call me out on it. "Very well, I suppose the most pressing issue is your bloodline. I'm afraid I don't recognize the magic you wield, but to become an Earl, especially at such a young age, your bloodline must be potent. Might I inquire as to your lineage?" I'd been expecting a haughty and arrogant demeanor, but when she asked that she sounded polite and earnest, without any condescension at all despite being so far above me in the pecking order. Her words clued me in to exactly why, and I realized I had miscalculated this situation. A lot.

I was an E ranker at eighteen. Based on the way the magic in this world worked, I had to have a bloodline to reach that standard, and people with bloodlines became stronger over time. It was why Amaya was only D rank despite being the daughter of a B ranked Princess. Since I was already this strong, it implied that I had a powerful bloodline, which had to have COME from somewhere. She wasn't negotiating with me, she was negotiating with the theoretical heir of a potential new force nearly on the level of one of the dynasties. Hell, everything I had done up to this point implied I had backing, from the raising of the village to the gems I casually took out, made it seem like I was some prince in disguise. I hadn't actually intended that, but I sure as hell wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

So, knowing the situation had changed, I did what I did best. I lied. I tapped into the Vital Tempest, letting the change to dragonkin flow over me, and allowed my antlers and a light dusting of scales (not enough to make me less attractive in front of the princess) to surface on my body as I swept into a bow. "I am Nicholas, heir to the the dragon Primordius, Dragon of the Vital Tempest. I bid you greetings." Having Amethyst backing me up to keep Emerald off my back was great, but if they wanted to assume I had a secret powerhouse backing me, I was game. I always loved executing a flawless plan, but I wasn't against stumbling into some good luck now and then. I just had to make good use of it.

February 24th 2016 Gemworld 7:00 PM EDT

Graciel's eyebrows rose in surprise. Not shock, which I would have expected, but she was thrown off balance at least. It was an admirable display of self control given the circumstances. She studied me carefully, clearly going over the things she knew and thought she knew. My bloodline was probably obvious to her even now, being a B ranker, I was betting she could sense it in these close quarters. Being the ruler of this nation had to have some perks, and she'd mentioned my bloodline specifically without any word from me.

As she stared, I waited. The biggest mistake most people make when lying is thinking they have to fill the silence. They say something untrue, and then assume that since the other person hasn't responded, their position is shaky and they need to add more details. They throw in unnecessary information and sloppy details because they're nervous and they think it makes them sound believable, almost always slipping up and giving themselves away, or at the very least arousing suspicion with their nerves.

The truthful do not fear silence. Facts don't become less factual because the other person doesn't believe you, or because they aren't responding. No matter how hard you stare at someone telling the truth it won't change, so a lie shouldn't change either. In fact, silence, when wielded by a skilled liar, can be turned back on it's wielder. People like to think of themselves as formidable, and if someone stares you down and you don't blink, confirmation bias tells them you must be telling the truth.

You would think a Princess would be less susceptible to that bias, but in point of fact it's the opposite. People in power are used to being obeyed, and just like with Morgan Edge, if you showed someone something they expected to see, no matter how canny they were, they wouldn't question it. I watched Graciel parse every bit of information she had, and come to conclusions that wildly differed from reality, because they fit into her worldview better than the truth. I was an out of context problem, and it would be crazy to assume any of the truth about me.

I was the son of a dragon? Well obviously I was dragonkin, and dragons had dragonkin children. My dragon parent was an unknown dragon she had never heard of? She could feel my bloodline, and she wouldn't have ever seen it before, so again, that was a given. That dragon was powerful? All dragons were powerful as far as she knew. She had no real choice but to add two and two and get twenty two. I watched all this churn through her mind, until she finally spoke. "What are your intentions?"

Her voice was still cordial, maintaining the diplomatic casualness she'd shown earlier, treating me as a peer. It was a good tone to move forward on, and she wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with a dragon she didn't know over nothing. I straightened from my bow, turning to cast my gaze at Amaya. "Your majesty, I have traveled far from my home, seeking to make my own way in this world, to create my own legacy. I've begun the process of building my territory, but I have always been lacking for one thing. I knew not what this was, simply that there was a hole in my heart that I could not fill, until I first set eyes on an image of princess Amaya."

The blonde girl, about my age, was a stunner. She looked a lot like her aunt, though with plumper lips and less of a resting bitch face. Her nose was a bit more aquiline and her eyes a bit bigger, glimmering a gorgeous violet, and as I spoke, they widened in shock. Her cheeks flushed, and internally, I grinned. D ranker or not, she was a deer in the headlights. I didn't appraise her, I didn't want to risk it this close to the her mother after she detected my bloodline. It was probably a pointless worry, but it would be a stupid way to die if I was wrong.

Amaya cleared her throat, her voice husky and somewhat nervous. "I...I'm sure we've never met before my lord. I find this boldness a tad overwhelming." Her tone was a bit hesitant, probably trying to sound courtly despite being from earth where no one talked like this. I imagined that was harder to do when you were shaken. "I'm not sure what it is you expect of me, but I have no interest in a diplomatic marriage." I imagined more than a few people had tried that tactic, but they were idiots, diplomatic marriages in matrilineal dynasties were much rarer since marrying out your heir was pure stupid.

Someone might have been able to marry IN to Amethyst, but anyone with the pedigree to even get in the door with an offer like that was bound to be a powerful member of their faction and unwilling to abandon all their land and titles to come be a consort for a girl who probably wouldn't become ruler for centuries. I had confirmed that nobles lived longer than most, and the higher the rank the longer they lived. Contrary to how it may appear though, knowing that Amaya had turned down a bunch of other guys wasn't bad news, it was good news.

The most important part of this whole plan was my understanding of the situation. Amaya was an earth girl, living in a literal magic kingdom, probably slowly becoming disillusioned with Gemworld politics and at the same time reeling at become a magic princess. Amaya's entire world right now was a weird mishmash of fairy tale and political drama, and I imagined she was getting whiplash from dealing with it. That whiplash could be used to my advantage though, because fairy tales had more than just magic princesses in them. Fairy tales also had a handsome prince.

Back on earth you had to slow play the harlequin romance vibe if you wanted to get in a good girl's panties. If you went too hard it became obvious you were full of shit, and you might scare her off. Here though, everything about this place screamed fairy tale. If I was a perfect handsome prince, it wouldn't seem suspicious, because to Amaya that was just part of Gemworld, and the place was already weird as hell. So I did one thing no self respecting gamesman ever does when hunting prey. I went full simp.

I dropped to one knee, bowing my head. "I seek only bask in your highnesses radiance. To be allowed to hear the angelic choir of your voice, and sun myself int he blinding light of your smile. A few days to get to know each other, a few conversations to learn more about you. Would you grant me such a favor?" I made sure to meet her eyes, and as much as I REALLY wanted to hit her with Eros and Psyche I didn't. It would have been too easy for someone to detect in this kind of place.

Her cheeks flushed hotter, and her eyes flicked from side to side. She didn't know how to react to that kind of thing. The other nobles who tried to court her probably came at it from a political angle, but Amaya was an earth girl in a fairly tale kingdom. She wanted to swept off her feet. Well, she THOUGHT she wanted that. If I actually stuck with this character she'd get sick of the simpering wuss within a week or two, but I wasn't an amateur. This was just an in, once we got some time alone together I had ways of pushing boundaries that would cement the image in her head of me as a secret bad boy.

Most people who tried to seduce women made the mistake of going either full positive or full negative. Not giving a fuck could drop a pair of panties, and coming on strong could do the same, depending on the situation. But if you wanted to really hook a girl, you needed to run hot and cold. Positive, negative, too much of either and you became predictable and boring, but just like a roller coaster, ups and downs were exciting, as long as you rode the line right, jerking a girl around was how you got her full on addicted.

I could have looked back to Graciel then, she was probably waiting for that, but in the end I didn't need her. It wasn't feasible to make Graciel mine, not in a short period of time, same with Mordiel. Amaya though, was vulnerable, and I needed to make sure that I caught her interest in just the right way. I made sure my gaze was hot and intense, showing a bit of lust mixed in the longing, because sweet little princess or not, when you're going with the handsome prince tactic you need to make sure a girl knows you want to fuck or you might get friend zoned, and I didn't have time for that shit.

It would have been nice to be able to quantify this kind of thing, but when you've gotten enough girls in bed you just kind of developed an instinct for it. Most guys made the mistake of thinking they had to project strength and machismo at all times. While women didn't actually usually enjoy vulnerability long term, most of them thought they did, so showing a sensitive side for short periods of time were a good opener, even it got boring to them fast. Amaya, as I had suspected, was one of those girls and this whole thing was hitting her out of left field.

She swallowed hard. "I...suppose some time could be set aside. Perhaps you could take me on a tour of the quarry. I'm sure the kingdom would like to take stock of its potential assets, and we could further discuss out collaboration while we get to know each other better." Perfect. Her tone was steady, but her expression was a bit shy. She was successfully off balance. Now I just had to make sure to keep her on the hook with the hot and cold tactic. It was harder than the honey trap I used on Hildie, but I would need Amaya around long term after all. Needed to make sure it stuck.

Now that I'd settled that, I finally turned my attention back to Graciel. Far from being upset at being ignored, I saw an approving gleam in her eye. She probably assumed that me ignoring her was a good sign, because it meant I cared less about her approval than Amaya's good regard. Which I did, though not for the reasons she was assuming. "You majesty. Might you assign the princess a guard and allow her to journey with me to my lands? I assure you her safety will be my first concern."

It would also be useful having a high ranking Amethyst noble staying in town to scare off any Emerald poachers who came to look into the secret of my success. Since they would be subordinate to Amaya in matters outside of her safety, I wouldn't need to worry about them getting in the way of my moves either. The girls would be a bigger problem, but one I was pretty sure I could deal with, I had a few ideas how to turn their presence into a benefit more than a hindrance, as long as I got Amaya interested enough before we arrived.

Graciel stared at me sternly. "This matter concerns the health of our nation for generations to come, so I am inclined to grant this request, but one of my Dukes will be accompanying you on your journey. Should any harm befall my daughter due to your actions, know that no dragon will be able to shield you from the wrath of Amethyst. " Amaya looked mortified, but Graciel let her scowl fade. "That said, I look forward to coming to a deeper understanding and maintaining friendly relations between our peoples, assuming you are sincere in that wish." I was looking forward to that too, but I was pretty sure those relations would be a lot friendlier than she intended. I really loved my life sometimes.

February 25th 2016 Gemworld 8:00 AM EDT

I was fucking exhausted. I hadn't even known I could still GET exhausted, but apparently it was more than possible, because I was ten seconds from falling over. Luckily the Vital Tempest still raged within me, and my energy was refilling, but it was taking a while. Apparently the more power I had the more I produced, and I regenerated it slower after draining myself dry, which was good to know. I'd have to avoid this shit in the future, because I was sweating like a pig and felt like I'd gotten kicked in the chest by a horse.

When I'd gotten out of that meeting I'd felt pretty smug. Everything was going according to plan, and Amaya's pretty little ass would have my stamp on it before too long, so there was plenty to celebrate. Except for one thing. Graciel had decided she could accompany me back to Lord Town, and I had no fucking clue if I'd have time to create the quarry for them before we got to the town, so my only option was to rush back ahead of them and set it up myself before they arrived and then rush back.

Which I did, and I wasn't too worried about being able to make it, at least until Amaya wished me good night and told me to rest up well because we would be leaving tomorrow. I bid her good evening then bolted out of the fucking city and BOOKED it back to Lord Town, stopping in a cave nearby just long enough to create a few veins of G ranked Amethyst (the veins themselves were F rank because they were a large amount of G ranked crystals, but still too small to be viable individually). I made three of the things, bringing me down to eighty thousand GP and then blitzed back to the city, making it just in time to meet Amaya in the morning.

Which was how I found myself absolutely decimated as we set out. I could fly, and I could supplement that flight with my energy to increase my speed, but a non stop sprint (so to speak) from Amaranthine to Lord Town and back was almost enough to put me in a coma. Since I had an arrangement with the Amethyst kingdom now, I didn't worry as much about being noticed, I'd been given a neat token that marked me as a trade partner, and told their detection webs and sentries would basically ignore me, so I was free to travel at top speed. It was still an absolute saga getting there and back in time, and it was taking all my acting skills to not melt into a puddle on the ground.

I briefly wondered if Amaya would be told I rushed home and back, but even if she was there was nothing they could say, it was an odd choice to make, but it wasn't suspicious or anything. In any case, now that I was back and we'd mounted up on a pair of very well groomed G ranked horses I was free to get to know the princess better, by which I meant identify her weaknesses so I could ruthlessly exploit them to make her fall in love with me. Pretending not to be basically hyperventilating I gave her a soft smile. "Now that we have this time to spend talking, I'd love to hear more about you."

I actually almost meant that. Magic princess from another world seemed like it would be up there in terms of finding a decent story, though I was already starting to get annoyed at my genteel act. Once I got her talking I'd start to shift the tone more towards my normal methods of interaction, with the occasional slip back into my current persona to keep her on the hook and stop her from getting her balance.

Amaya blushed shyly and looked away. I almost groaned. Oh gods, this really was going to be a fucking harlequin romance novel wasn't it? I really hoped the sex wasn't all soft and intimate. Like I could deal with that a time or two, but I made a mental note to fuck some slut into this girl first chance I got. Eros and Psyche may be detectable normally, but no way she'd notice it when she was stuffed with cock, especially not the first time she got fucked. I just had to get her there. She bit her lip. "I...uh, I'm not that interesting. I mostly just sit in on court sessions and attend lectures to learn about leadership."

I almost physically cringed. Kill me now. She was one of those passive girls who made you pry the conversation out of them. I'd literally never heard a girl say 'I'm not that interesting' and have it not turn out to be true. I was skeptical a magical interdimensional princess COULD be boring, but just in case I was abso-fucking-lutely going to have to get her talking or I was going to throw myself under the hooves of one of our horses before we made it another mile. I needed an ice breaker, because the shyness was killing the conversation.

I chuckled wryly and scratched my head. "In all honesty that was my thinking. I'm sure your lessons are fascinating, but mostly I just sit around my town and manage the farmers. I'd much rather hear about you. You said you do court functions often? Do you spend much time studying with your aunt? She seems like an interesting woman." I let a bit of intrigue slip into my tone, and I saw her stiffen slightly. I grinned internally as she turned to look at me, eyes narrowing in annoyance.

Good. Annoyance was a solid ice breaker, and this was a good start to the hot and cold approach. Aside from pissing her off and saving me from a boring conversation, I was also making her feel like she needed to prove herself. I heard the creak of leather and saw the towering dark haired man behind us adjusting in his seat, wintery blue eyes narrowing at me for making his princess unhappy. The guard was a powerful Duke loyal to Princess Graciel (read, he wanted that sweet milfy ass) and he clearly didn't enjoy the thought of me making her upset.

A lesser man would have been worried. I was not a lesser man. The rules for dealing with nobility where much like the rules for dealing with businessmen. Nobles, while also literally powerful here, were more concerned with virtual power. When playing politics or business, acknowledging overt strength was considered a loss. An underling was an underling, even if he could kill you, because if he wasn't then you weren't on the same level as his boss. You couldn't be peers with the help and the master at the same time. This guy was way stronger than me, but if I let him worry me, I'd be lowering myself to his position.

Amaya seemed to be choosing her words here carefully. She hadn't responded immediately, which told me she didn't want to bad talk her auntie, probably because of the politics, but she definitely didn't like her. After a brief pause she finally spoke in a level voice. "My aunt is a powerful and capable noble, but we have different styles of leadership. I prefer to follow in my mothers footsteps. I have much to learn from her already, I can consider gaining experience from my aunt later, once I'm more settled."

It was like she'd just pulled up her shirt and showed me a big red button that said 'press me'. This was obviously a sore subject. I needed to make her lean into that without aiming that unhappiness at me. Luckily we'd literally just been talking about an obvious target. "Of course. I imagine there is much to learn. I heard you've only recently returned from afar. Your mother certainly seems thrilled to have you back. I imagine even if she can't further your education your aunt is equally thrilled by your return."

That got a flash of genuine anger, which was good, and as she looked like she was about to go off about her aunt, I immediately switched tactics. "So, you certainly seem close with your steed there. Is he your normal mount?" Having been building up a head of steam to rant about her aunt, Amaya's brain semi short circuited for a second as she tried to adjust to the rapid shift in gears, but as I'd suspected from her interactions with it, the horse was a favorite topic of hers, and she looked cautiously excited to talk about it.

She still had to reframe her thoughts for a second, but finally gave me a slight smile. "Yes. Ypsilos was a gift from my mother. He's actually a pegasus, but mother had a special bit made for him that allows him to appear to be a normal horse. We don't have another like him, and it would be rude to you and Rodrick to pull ahead because my boy here is faster than your mounts." She smiled fondly and patted his side. "We've been through a great deal together, and he is a loyal and dependable friend."

I smiled to myself. The bait and switch had done it. Pissing her off and changing trains of thought left her too off balance to remain all shy and clammed up. Thank the gods, that would have been a miserable thing to suffer through for three days. Not to mention the wild emotional swing would help her associate me with excitement ad I'd planned. "A winged horse huh? You must have seen some pretty amazing things. What is the most interesting destination the two of you have visited together?"

She lit up, clearly happy to talk about her adventures. "The Sword Waterfall. It's the most beautiful place in all of Amethyst."Her face got all dreamy and distant, and I recognized again that Amyay's facial features were hands down some of the most delicate symmetrical I'd ever seen. She made most supermodels look like hulking beasts. There was something fragile and ethereal about her, and the idea of those pure, pristine features red and coated with drool as I fucked her pretty regal face was extremely distracting.

I forced myself back on track. I wondered briefly if higher ranked women were more attractive to me. Zee was my highest ranking regular fuck, and despite how good the rest of my girls were, she was easily my favorite fuck. Something about high ranking pussy just drove me wild. I had a sudden urge to bounce Graciels sweet milfy ass on my cock, to watch her squeal and beg me, completely abandoning every shred of royal dignity just to get me deeper in her pussy. Sadly that was more of a long term goal.

I focused on Amaya, thankful for my perfect memory since I'd been so distracted thinking of deep dicking her mother I'd missed her story. I mentally replayed the words, pretending I was awestruck by the story and trying to imagine what the place was like. In my defense, a giant waterfall of sorcerous water falling between two Amethyst sword mountains DID sound pretty awesome. I made a mental not to have Amaya show it to me sometime.

After I got rid of the shyness and got her talking, all of her unease melted away. Amaya didn't seem like she got much real socializing, and she began to happily pour out details and information about herself, absolutely thrilled to tell me anything I wanted to know. I made sure to poke at a few sore spots and rouse her jealousy a bit, but for the most part I just slowly reinforced the impression that I was someone she could share her dreams with. In my mind, the little princess was already mine, if she wanted someone to listen to her feelings she would get it, and she'd pay the tab with every inch of her body and every speck of devotion in her soul. I had a new treasure to claim, and I wasn't intending to play fair.

February 26th 2016 Gemworld 8:00 PM EDT

We came to a stop for the night about a six hour ride from Lord Town. We'd made solid time on the horses, and during the whole ride, I'd managed to get Amaya to the point where she didn't want to do anything but talk to me. This process involved LOTS of listening, responding quickly and attentively to her stories at time, and occasionally telling my own stories, usually about my girls and in such a way as to leave my relationship with them ambiguous enough that she was off balance trying to figure out if I was unattached or not.

Roderick, the huge bearded Duke, rode behind us, having somehow managed to maintain the exact same level of malicious glare for literally two whole days without flagging, which I assumed was some kind of bloodline or spell, because no one could be surly for that long without some kind of assistance. Regardless with my skills at manipulation (and a bit of cheating with Eros and Psyche, though I only used the sensing aspect and didn't directly tinker with her) I'd managed to get Amaya wrapped completely around my finger.

What was the biggest surprise to me however, was that I LIKED her. Amaya wasn't just some spoiled little princess, she was a spitfire. She loved to travel, was extremely skilled in combat, and had dozens of stories about her adventures traveling the land and meeting strange creatures. She had this insane sense of charisma that just radiated off her, and I was pretty sure she would be putting the other girls under her pretty little boot when we arrived. I was curious if she'd be able to subdue Barbie, my redhead had an attitude problem when it came to sharing, and she liked to tell herself she was my bottom bitch.

Now Amaya was COOKING for me, and was apparently good at it. She completely ignored the disapproval from Roderick and plucked fresh food from the forest (which I appraised as she went to make sure she didn't accidentally poison us) before conjuring a set of Amethyst kitchen constructs and getting to work happily preparing dinner for us. I watched her move as she worked, graceful and powerful and very appealing, and the leather pants didn't hurt either. In the end though, I had to ask. "So what kind of princess cooks?"

Amaya, who insisted I call her Amy, pouted at me fetchingly. "I'll have you know I wasn't always a princess. Besides I just spent two days regaling you with heroic tales of adventure. Did you think I just decided to leave out the contributions of my personal chef following me into danger and excitement? It was just me and Ypsilos. I did all of our cooking, and I happen to excel at everything I try." She tilted her head back, clearly trying to seem haughty and aristocratic, but mostly just looking like a really snooty kitten.

I just laughed, shaking my head. "Fair enough, it smells pretty damn good." I'd slipped out of my formal cadence, slowly and subtly shifting my tone to something more familiar, both to reinforce our closeness, and because talking like a recently sodomized game of thrones character was obnoxious at best. Amy had responded in a similar fashion, losing some of her formality, and aside from confirming that Roderick didn't have heat vision there hadn't been any real consequences. "So, how long are you planning to stick around Lord Town. Not that I have any issues hosting you, but I want to know how to plan my week."

She giggled, rolling her eyes at my comment. "Assuming you don't have dragon-y things to do like counting your gold or kidnapping some virgin noblewomen." She'd gotten much more comfortable teasing me as we talked over the last day or two, and it was always cute seeing the pretty little smirk she got when she felt like she'd scored a point on me. That didn't happen nearly as often as she probably thought it did, but regardless I was willing to let her have the occasional verbal jab, as long as she knew I could give as good as I got.

A fact I tried to remind her of every now and then, and went out of my way to reinforce now. I gave her a predatory grin. "In point of fact, I prefer my noblewomen not to be virgins. They're much more entertaining that way. You know any promiscuous noblewomen I could kidnap?" I made sure my tone was half teasing, half sexual, just enough that she wouldn't be able to say for certain. Since she started the teasing she wouldn't be able to say much, though the most important factor was obviously that she enjoyed it.

Her face turned bright scarlet and her eyes went wide. "Nicky! You can't say something like that to a princess." She looked away, biting her lip in an obviously intrigued way. I'd been working my way up to comments like that, but I was enjoying her reactions too. She turned to focus harder on her cooking, and I waved cheerfully at Roderick, who looked like he wanted to tear my head off. As usual I gave zero fucks, because unless Amy decided she didn't like my flirting he couldn't do jack shit to me on this diplomatic mission to my home.

Capitalizing on her shyness to change the subject (you have to give them time to calm down so you can fluster them again later) I stepped up next to her to look over the food. "So, what exactly are you making for dinner? Like I said it smells amazing." I stepped up behind her, making sure I was close enough that she could feel the heat of my body but not close enough to actually touch her. I looked down over her shoulder into the amethyst frying pan construct, seeing she was making some kind of meat sauce with mushrooms.

Amy shook slightly, and I heard her swallowing hard. I could sense her desires through Eros and Psyche, even if I couldn't actually manipulate them without notice, and the poor little princess was a knot of anticipation and a small amount of fear and confusion. I briefly debated pressing into that relatively small but exquisitely shaped ass, but I stepped back. Amy relaxed fractionally, though through the connection to Eros and Psych I felt a flash of disappointment that I hadn't tried anything.

If I'd just wanted her cunt I would have pushed. I COULD have fucked her tonight. I was not, however, planning to put her to work and drop her. I needed my key to gemworld happy and intact, which meant I had to slow play this. Luckily I had some experience with this kind of thing. It wasn't even as tough as seducing Dinah had been, since Amy was at her core a shy nineteen year old. I'd just do this part the same way I'd done the rest, hot and cold. The rapid shifts in the balance of our relationship would throw her off sure, but there was an easier reason.

Amy was a sweet little virgin. The only actual virgin I'd kept (Hildie didn't count since she was more Barbie's than mine mostly) was Cherry, and Cherry was a fucking nutcase. Because of that, I had to manage her emotions toward sex and sharing more than the others. If I took the initiative to bend Amy over and stuff her little pussy first chance I got, she might get uppity like Barbie was and try to make me get rid of some of my other girls. As the strongest and a literal princess that kind of power grab was within the realm of possibility.

In order to head that off though, I just had to make sure she was the one who jumped me. Constant edging and teasing would get her so desperate and needy she would do anything to get me eventually, and as long as I introduced her to the other girls before that point, that anything included making peace with me having other women. Hell, if I played this right she could be a huge benefit. As someone trained to take over a literal kingdom, managing my girls should be easy enough. It would actually take a lot off my plate for her to be in charge of my burgeoning harem. As I watched her work, ignoring Roderick trying to glare a hole in my head, I finally took the time to appraise her at my leisure.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Amaya- D rank Marquis of Amethyst. The princess of the Amethyst kingdom and inheritor of its purest bloodline, Amaya, also known by her earth name of Amy Winston, is a talented and charismatic member of one of gemworld's most powerful bloodlines. A lonely and isolated girl, Amy desperately wishes for friends and equals who can relate to her.]

I couldn't help but grin internally. Poor sweet little princess. She just needed somewhere to fit in. After I convinced her to fit me in a few times I'd give her that too. Dinah was going to be pregnant for a while, and she reminded me of Graciel a bit. Someone to dote on would be good for her, and sweet little Amy would just adore her new mommy. I'd make sure Cherry was right there to advise her too, her new devoted sister, keeping her in the mindset I wanted as she grew up into a B ranked Princess or even a Queen without too much need for me to waste points on her.

I was really looking forward to getting Zee and Amy branded. I had a pretty good idea how to do both actually. The branding process got more demanding as I the girls got stronger. I'd actually asked Crassus about it, and he'd been able to explain it pretty easily. The brand took ownership, which meant it took that ownership away from the person themselves. People were naturally resistant to that kind of thing, even on a subconscious level, which was why I had to get complete surrender from my girls before I could take them.

Sexual submission wasn't enough at higher ranks though. The POWER that these girls had was resistant to me in itself, so a split second wavering of self assurance from getting their brain dick scrambled couldn't do the job. They had to completely and totally let down their guards around me and accept that they belonged to me in order to get the Brand. There was a loophole from Branding while elevating, like the chalice could do, but in general it would be much more difficult to take ownership of anyone high rank.

I made a mental note to make more effort to look into the purification thing for Raven once I got back. That bitch was B ranked, at the same level as Graciel, and would net me a billion points if I could tame her, which judging by the way she'd reacted to my mention of purification, I could easily do if I cleansed her of her fathers influence. I should probably wait until I was stronger though, since her dad was supposed to be some sort of king shit demon monarch, and I was still at E rank. I might have been jumping the gun a bit.

For now I let Amy finish dinner and at with her, making sure to poke at her a bit now and then to keep her thinking of me. She was blushing non stop by the time we finished eating, and basically bolted out of the clearing to set up her tent, a magic thing that Roderick had brought with him for the princess. Once she was gone, I laid down under the stars and closed my eyes. The weather was nice, and I might as well enjoy a pleasant doze. Tomorrow we would be back in Lord Town, and my official attempts to seduce Amy would be under way, starting with a visit to the new quarries. I looked forward to showing off my work.

February 27th 2016 Gemworld 10:00 AM EDT

The rest of the trip went basically the same way. Bit of teasing, bit of flirting, bit of stopping myself from grabbing a handful of that sweet little ass. Despite not being huge, it was amazing perky and round, just big enough that it should have been impossible for it to be so bouncy without being more toned than it was. I spent WAY more time staring than I probably should have, but this trip was probably the longest I'd gone without getting my nut since I was thirteen, so I could be forgiven some drooling.

When we finally arrived though, Amy literally squealed with excitement when the town came into view, spurring Ypsilos to his top speed to close the distance so fast that I had to augment my horse with a bit of wind magic to keep up. She bolted up to the gate, swung herself down from her horse, and then slowly took a breath to calm down before allowing a composed and regal expression to slide over her face. It was almost cute.

When she started in I saw the bandits drooling over her, but the second they spotted me their eyes snapped forward, not daring to lay eyes on one of my women. I had to smile at that. Whatever Sally had been doing to those poor bastards was working wonders. Having her and Waylon run the training had been a good choice. I led Amy into the village, Roderick following behind us, and took her to the Berry Orchard.

I popped the door open, gesturing for her to get inside, and when she stepped in I almost had to cover my ears at the excited squeal. Amy wasn't such a big squealer on the ride over, but something about being in my town was making her extra excitable, probably because this all seemed like some kind of grand romantic adventure to her. The Orchard itself helped I imagined, since the place was absolutely gorgeous and smelled amazing. I plucked a few berries and passed them to her, making sure to feed her the first by hand. And the moan and eye roll of enjoyment she gave struck me as a bit too erotic to be between friends, which was nice.

Once we got her settled in though, I plopped down in a chair to look her over. "So, what do you think so far? My council is busy for the moment so I can't introduce you, so I figured we could look over the quarries first and you could say hi to everyone later. If you'll be around its best they learn to listen to you like they would me." They wouldn't be doing that, obviously. But they would be humoring her. The whole lady of the house thing made girls feel valued, and I wasn't going to be the one jumping through hoops so it hardly bothered me.

Some of the girls would mind, hence the wait before the introduction. I was going to have Zee pound the sulk out of Barbie with every bit of sex magic she had at her disposal and maybe a bit of dual bondage with Hildie before I introduced them. Barbie was possessive, and despite things getting better with Zee since we relieved the tension, competing with a literal princess who was too beautiful to be real was bound to tag more than a few of her insecurities. Best to have her nice and sated before they met.

Amy nodded jovially. "Of course! I'm so excited to see everything. The berries here are so much better than the ones back home, and I have this comfy bed, and everyone here seems so nice! I can't believe you got your town built up to this extent in only a few months. You must have a real talent for this!" I'd brought her through the middle of the town, partly to show off but partly to make sure that everyone saw her. Emerald would almost definitely have people here by now, and knowing Amy and Roderick were around would keep them the fuck out of my business, at least for now.

Speaking of, I figured I'd ask her about that. "So, do you know much about Emerald? I was worried about catching their attention, I have some distant family members under my command, but no one in the direct line. Being neighbors you must know a thing or two." We could use any actual information we could get. I had zero intention of taking a loss when dealing with them, even a minor one. We might have a position of strength to operate from, but insight never hurt.

To my surprise, Amy grinned. "Well yeah, of course." Her voice was just as excited but less giggly than before, more genuinely happy. "My best friend is the princess of Emerald. Emmy is the absolute sweetest person. Emerald are the most compassionate bloodline. They can communicate with animals and help plants grow. Honestly you're lucky to have landed here. I'd be worried about any other bloodline, but not Emerald. You'll be safe with them." Her smile was obviously meant to be reassuring, but I just stared at her.

She...couldn't be serious right? No one was that naive. Maybe Ingrid could have gotten away with an attitude like that, but if Amy still believed shit like that then she hadn't been a princess for nearly long enough. It was almost enough to make me feel bad about planning to fuck her into a simpering love slave. Almost. Ok, no it wasn't. If anything I'd be doing her a favor. The poor thing needed someone looking out for her or she was going to get klilled. I always kept my things safe, so once she was mine she'd be perfectly alright.

She didn't seem to notice the horrified gape luckily, and just kept chattering on about her friend Emmy, who I made a note to collect if I could. Another princess would be useful, and I kind of wanted to try two at once. I might be able to pull off some neat things back home with a beast tamer. Plus I was interested to see if I could upgrade her a bit and get my own Poison Ivy. I held out a hand to Amy. "Well then, since we're having such a nice day, why don't we go for a walk and I can show you the quarries. They're a beautiful sight."

She put her hand in my shyly, looking up at me with big shining eyes. Our time together on the trip had really gone as well as expected. I'd been slowly shifting over from the urbane well mannered image to a more natural style of interaction. Every time I switched gears to throw her off I bothered a bit less with theatrics and before long I'd been mostly being myself. At this rate we would be able to head back soon. I had the pendant on me at all time in my pouch, and once I got the necessary points we could make our way home, though even with all this that was going to take a while.

My plans to screw over Doctor Gotham weren't complicated, but they WERE difficult. Even though my part of them was less intensive than Doctor Fate's. I'd just be giving him and a few of the League the opening they needed to hit the old bastard without having to deal with a limitless mana pool. I mentally shook off the thoughts though. I'd deal with that when the time came. I needed to Brand Amy, Zee, and get plenty of people and things under my control on top of that before I could get even close to the needed points values.

Amy and I left the orchard, heading for the caves off to one side of town. I'd set the quarry up pretty close, but in reality they weren't as close as I'd expected to be able to get them, because I'd had to find some veins of ore to actually merge the crystals with. A series of G ranked ore veins were a pain in the ass to arrange, but with my appraisal skill and a bit of help from Zee's spell I'd managed it, making the veins of the stuff I needed.

As we stepped into the cave, Amy's breath caught in her throat. I knew there were mines in Amethyst, but I doubted she spent time in them, not to mention they'd been picked clean on top of being lower ranked. All those factors combined meant that she was completely thrown when she took in the caves after we entered, and honestly, I didn't blame her at all.

As I'd noted before G ranked Amethysts had their own inner glow, a conglomeration of light inside them that shifted and moved on its own. In large concentrations and in a dark cave, the effect of the veins shot through the walls of the place was pretty damn mesmerizing. The play of light and shadow over the cave created a tapestry of rioting color that looked like a purple kaleidoscope of sorts, and Amy looked completely spellbound. I grabbed her hand, intertwining my fingers with hers and giving a soft smile when she startled out of her reveries, because bitches eat up sappy shit like that.

I couldn't blame her for her reaction though. This place was pretty wild, and if I was the kind of person to get all moon eyed over shiny lights I'd probably be all enchanted and shit too. I could still appreciate aesthetic beauty though, and I made a note to come chill here sometimes to think, and maybe bring some of my girls since Amy was reacting so well to it. This seemed like the kind of thing they would be into as well, though I was pretty sure once the miners were crawling all over this place it would be a lot less idyllic. Maybe night visits though. I did a quick appraisal, just to double check my work.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. G ranked Gemworld Amethyst Vein- F ranked. A deposit of G ranked material with occasional bits of F ranked Amethyst shot through it. One of three veins within this cave, the Amethysts radiate dense mana that permeates the air around them even with their powers untapped. Nearby structures will be suffused with mana, though the effects of this on most constructions are largely irrelevant.]

Irrelevant to others, but not to me. My Deepvein Titanbone would suck up the extra magic that came off these rocks and use it to grow and reinforce itself. I doubted it would make a perceptible difference, not with gems this low ranked, but it should be a powerful boost to the town over time. I grimaced at the appraisal though. The Greed System wasn't exactly organized. I knew that the deposit of G ranked gems was F ranked in its entirety, much like a city of G ranked buildings could be F ranked, but the actual description was annoyingly ill worded.

I shook that off though, and focused on Amy, who was ignoring the gems to stare at me with big shining eyes again. I smiled down at her. "So, do you like what you see?" I did that intense eye contact thing girls go nuts over, and stepped forward, looming over her a bit, but not in a way that would be threatening, more in a 'look how much bigger I am than you, imagine your body under mine' way.

She swallowed hard, staring up at me. "I...what? Oh, the quarry. Yes, they're...I like it. Them. I like the gems." I smiled down at her and put a hand on her waist. I wasn't going to rush and fuck up my work, but missing a moment was as bad as pushing one, and this was a tailor made fantasy first kiss. I'd be an idiot not to take advantage. I leaned down to capture her lips softly with mine and pull her against me, not being too aggressive with the kiss so I didn't spook her. She melted against me, so transfixed she didn't even protest when I grabbed a big handful of soft perky princess ass. I grinned internally. Patience or not, some things you just have to do for your own peace of mind. I gave a quick squeeze and she moaned into my mouth. Fuck that had some bounce. I really loved gemworld.