Work Text:
Robert pushed his horse as hard as he could, raincoat shielding him for the most part from the rain whipping past him. On and on he rode, galloping past a sign that read “Blackwall, three miles.” He cracked the reigns with a cry, pushing the horse even harder along the road.
When Robert made his way past the city's gate he found a cheap stable to holster his horse at, tossing a few gold coins to cover the cost. Up Blackwall’s streets he climbed, keeping his grey-haired head down and covered by his hood. It was only when he had made his way to a certain door that he knocked, taking a step back and looking at the house that seemed tiny in comparison to the others that he had seen members of the Order gifted to them.
He waited a minute or two in the pounding rain before the door creaked open, a woman with pink hair and blue eyes staring at him with a cool look. “Ah, Robert.”
“Elizabeth. Much as I appreciate formalities, I would much rather do so inside, and out of the rain.”
“Of course.” The door was opened further and she stepped to the side while Robert marched his way inside, grumbling under his breath while he took off his wet jacket and placed it on the coat rack just to his side. Blue eyes met grey ones and she gave a nod. “So, I assume since you’re here, you got my letter.” Robert wore a simple red and grey tunic with his house symbol on it, a curling cat with one eye open. His eyes were a dull grey color that maybe once was bright but now perfectly fit his thin, willow-like frame and soft voice.
“Yes. You wanted to speak on the matter of some business.” Roberts's eyes narrowed. “I assume you mostly wished to focus on the subject of my, comments, about your apprentice.”
“Those were the main points, yes. Please, sit down while I go get us some refreshments.” She gestured at a small oak table that sat in the room that made up the half dining room and half kitchen that connected to the living room, Robert himself letting out a soft grunt and sitting down at the backmost side. Robert then took a moment to just rest in the chair and look at the decorations adorning her walls and even her shelves. “I must say, I never knew you had such…interesting, housing tastes.” Even if he hated the woman, he knew when something was well made.
“It’s a bit of an inside joke between me and my student that’s grown a fair bit. I teased him one day by calling him My Little Serpent after he told me a story from his village, and neither of us is willing to let the joke drop it seems.” She came through the door with a tray that had two cups and a pouring glass of some kind. “About half of the snakes you see up there were supplied by him and his friends. The rest, well, I figured I was saddled with a theme and leaned into it.”
The pink-haired woman then sat down and took a sip of her drink, some sort of tea by the looks of it. “Now, since we’re on the topic of my apprentice. You’ve been causing problems for him lately.”
“Mmm, I’m not sure I know what you mean.” Robert lifted up his own cup and took a quick sniff. Mmm, scentless. Odd, but, if she was willing to drink it… He took a sip himself and was pleased at its minty taste. Good, he liked mint. “Would you perhaps mean his trouble finding missions lately? If that’s what you mean, I’m afraid you’re mistaken on that front.” He took another sip to attempt to hide his smile, setting it down and finding he couldn’t succeed as he met her firm-set frown. By the chief god, he hated this woman.
“No, I’m quite sure I’m not. Heroes known to be backed by you have been given access to missions that normally would be given to lower ranked and those usually not interested in that sort. Not to mention that nasty little rumor that’s been spreading around lately.”
“Mmmm, a ghastly rumor indeed. After all, I’m sure a dutiful teacher like you would NEVER stoop so low as to use a blacksmith's son for political games.” Robert sneered at the pink-haired woman, his facial features twisted into an ugly snarl. “Like you used my sister.”
“Your sister's choice to become a hero was her own, I had no control over whether or not she went out and-”
“You’re the fucking Lord of the Blackwall Knights, don’t tell me that you couldn’t, you very much could have!” He slammed a fist against the table, his diminutive form holding more strength than most realized. “You could have held back her training, refused her the chance to go on missions, blacklisted her from getting any companions, something! But my sister was lost to a hellhound pack because of you! Those mongrels and whatever bastard husband they sleep with!” His sneering face turned into a manic grin. “Oh, but I have proof. I was hoping to wait until later to use it, but telling you now and getting to see the look on your face is too irresistible.”
Her eyes quirked, setting down her tea cup. “And just what are you talking about? Proof of what?”
“Proof that you’re working with the mamono.” Elizabeth's face paled, Roberts's smile only growing more feral as she seemed to confirm his idea. “Oh yes, I’ve spent many sleepless nights wondering how my sister fell into their clutches. And when my men spent some time scrounging in the area, driving back Mamono with the help of my OWN heroes, not your knights, I found something one might consider quite, disturbing, left in the aftermath.”
Robert reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a few scraps of primitive paper, aged as if it had been covered with a light layer of dirt. “Dear diary, today I managed to scrounge up my courage and sent off my application to the Echidna in Blackwall. And no, I didn’t just ask for a husband like my sisters told me I should but also a sister wife. It’s perfect you see. With just the three of us we may get overwhelmed but with a fourth wife then one of us can hunt and the other can tend to any pups we have while the other two make sure our husband is ready to mate whenever we want.” He paused there, copper eyes glaring at her in hatred. “You have a spy, and while I despise many things about you, you’re not totally incompetent. So that means one thing to me. You knew. You KNEW you had a spy, maybe even helped them.”
“Please, the ramblings of one Hellhound in a barely legible scrap of paper is hardly enough to cast doubt on the Lord of Blackwall.”
“Maybe to the common rabble, maybe so. But the rest of the nobility will take any chance to see you taken down a peg if it means increasing their power. Plus, this is all someone like, say, Zelotes would need to start an investigation.” His grin grew ever wider. “I wonder, would your bastard apprentice be able to withstand such rigorous investigation without something forcing him into the church's direct graces?”
At this Elizabeth’s calm facade finally snapped and she scowled at the ranting man, eyes narrowed. “I think that is enough out of you.” She raised a hand and snapped her fingers, something twisting in Roberts's gut as he noticed the tea had turned a shade of soft pink, tiny heart bubbles coming to the surface before bursting with the smell of roses wafting up to his nose.
“W-what did you do to me?” He gripped the sides of the table with a knuckle-white grip but found himself slumping to the floor, the room spinning while his head pulsed in a manner that should have felt like pain but instead was something else, something his drugged mind couldn’t quite place.
“Mmm, the mint flavor hid it well. Sleep well Robert, you’ll understand when you wake up.” Elizabeth's cold, frigid smile was the last thing that his struggling body saw before he fell asleep, head making a thunk sound as it fell onto the floor.
—------------------------------------------------
Rober awoke with a wince of pain and slowly moved to clutch at his head, an ache in his bones and soft flesh. It took him a moment to open his eyes and look around, noting that he was most certainly not at home.
Water dripped from somewhere in the rocky cavern he now found himself in. Robert slowly gripped the wall closest to him and used his small amount of strength to bring himself up to a standing position, squinting his eyes a little as he got more used to the dark confines, with only tiny mushrooms providing patches of light here or there.
Now, how did he… “Fuck!” Elizabeth had knocked him out somehow, probably something in the tea. Well, she couldn’t have moved him too far underground and likely not someplace too far from Blackwall either. All he had to do was make his escape and then the so-called Lord of Blackwall was DONE for!
Slowly he started exploring around the room until his eyes got used enough to the almost darkness that he could see the opening to a tunnel of sorts, a large, full-body mirror with snake decorations up and down its metallic surface. He stepped closer cautiously, eyes narrowed as his eyes flicked up and down the mirror frame.
Suddenly the reflective surface began to ripple, a pinging sound ringing through the cavern and down the tunnels, Robert looked around to make sure nothing was coming to attack. When nothing did he focused back on the mirror.
“Hello, hello? Can you hear me?” The bitch herself came into view and a smile graced her lips. “Ah, excellent, I was a tad worried that being placed underground would interfere with it too much.”
“Elizabeth you’ve over-extended.” A pearl of laughter slipped passed Roberts's lips, exultant and sharp. “Drugging me, locking me in an unknown cavern? Oh my, you’ve fucked up this time.”
“You know,” the blue-eyed woman mused, “I’ve wanted to do this for quite a while. And since you’re down here and out of the way for my plans, I suppose I finally can.” Her human visage fell away to reveal green hair and slightly tanned flesh turning a shiny purple. Once blue eyes turned a conniving yellow, and her smile turned into a full-toothed grin. “You told me I had a spy in my ranks, and that’s true. I have multiple in fact, who do you think put them there~?”
“M-mamono!” Roberts's face had turned white as bone, a shaky finger pointing at the mirror in front of him. “Echidna!”
“Yes. Finally, this is what I’ve wanted for quite a long while. Now if only you would be so terrified as to shut up!” The Echidna cackled as she threw her head back, a deep contented sigh leaving her. “There’s no way out of this cave, I hope you know that, not until I remake an opening to come to get you. Oh don’t worry about air, there’s plenty of tiny holes to allow it in, but none big enough for you to make use of.” Black gloved hands gestured towards the frame of the mirror. “I have tiny versions of this spread all through the cavern and its tunnels, so don’t think you can find a spot without seeing. Oh, and I have a colony of Myconids down here.” She speedily walked two fingers in front of her, giggling as she did. “I wonder how long you can get past them before you tire and slip.”
“Why! Why are you doing this?”
“Because I dislike you.” A snarl left the Echidna's throat, yellow eyes blazing with righteous fury. “Because you mock my student. Because you would have interfered in my plans I suppose. Because I can really. But the first two are the most important. I would have done this to you even if you hadn’t found me out, it just wouldn’t be exactly like this.”
“I’m,” Roberts's vision began to swim even as he pounded his now-closed fists against the mirror surface, “I’m going to kill you! I’m going to get out of here, and I’m going to tell your apprentice what you are, and I’m going to take pleasure out of watching him butcher you for being an Echidna!”
“Neat idea. But first,” she grinned and leaned in close to her side of the mirror, “you have to get out, so have fun with that.” She leaned back and let out a yawn. “Now if you’ll excuse me I need to make plans and do some things that would be a better use of my time. Try not to break too quickly. Tata!”
The mirror went flat and Robert howled in rage as he brought his fists against it once more, fists glowing with unchecked mana. It shattered and crumbled down to the floor, fragments of glass ripping open dozens of little cuts in his hand, but he was too drunk off his rage to truly notice. “I’ll kill you! Kill you!”
Footsteps skittered in the distance and Robert snapped his head to where the sound came from, narrowing his eyes for a better look. Somewhere down the tunnel, he had just come out of. No time to rage, only move. Robert picked himself up and found a tunnel had opened up beyond the mirror, his feet carrying towards it while the sound of pattering feet from closer behind him grew ever closer.
Left, right, a punch through what seemed to be a thin piece of stone but it worked as he kept running and running through the stone tunnels, the sound of more and more feet running behind him becoming a thunderous wave that dominated his ears that were pricked specially to try and avoid them. Anytime one got close he ran in the opposite direction or even ran straight forward if it was possible.
Then suddenly something grabbed around his ankle and they both went tumbling down. His foot kicked out on instinct alone and he heard a squeal as it connected with something fleshy, sending it tumbling down the tunnel. Flicking for just a moment he saw what looked like a petite young woman with a wide purple mushroom cap growing atop her head picking herself up, large sleeves on her arms that looked like the folds of a drooping flower, her dull purple eyes blinking as she got a good look at him. It was only when somewhere three other pairs of eyes drew closer that he started to run again, able to hear all four sets of feet silently slapping against the stone floor, never stopping as they chased him.
They launched themselves twice more before the last one managed to grab high enough onto his leg to pull him down and keep hanging on when he struck out, the other three quickly scrambling to hold him down. Purple spores fell off them as they moved to hold him down and during a bit of panic, Robert breathed in some of them, feeling like fire was spreading across his body.
“Mistress Elisabeth told us there was a man down here,” the one that now clambered onto his lap and ground herself against his groin half whispered, half breathed out, “but I didn’t think you would smell this good.
“Get off me!” He tried to bare his teeth and only received giggles. “Monster!”
“No, Manomo. Let’s show you the difference~”
============================
Elizabeth turned away from the mirror, turning it off with a swipe of her hand. In truth she had no desire to watch an annoyance be defiled by her people, not when she had more important matters to deal with. “Tell me, are the Sandworms close to being in position?”
The blue harpy secretary bowed in front of her Mistress, still bound in a few bandages and her wing creaking when it moved too far outside its usual range. “Yes, Ma’am. We have the advance units and gathering in the abandoned village outside, and the tunnels are partially completed as you asked with Wurms being brought in to help support them and shore up some of the smaller tunnels. All we have to do is wake up the Sandworms when we’re ready and they’ll bring down the walls.”
“Good.” Elizabeth toyed with a small ring that she usually had in her desk drawer, contemplating what it would like covered in her darlings cum, a burnished silver metal band with tiny flecks of emerald made to look like a serpent's eye. “And our units for actually invading and holding the city?”
“The orcs are ready whenever we are and the lizardmen are always ready to find husbands through a sacking, but some of the others are a little harder to convince to move quickly, namely a tribe led by a Minotaur.” She flipped a page through a notebook and made a tsking. “Our resident snake was sent to convince them. Mistress, are you sure it’s wise to let her in on this?”
Elizabeth shrugged as she set the ring back inside the drawer and closed it. “All we have to do is give her a chance at Haru and not say her name. An easy price to have an assassin of her strength help us if we ever need someone removed from the board. And since the plan only needs another year or so to finish, we should be fine.”
“But…with a force this large, we could do it within three months Mistress.”
“HA! That’s only if someone discovered us early and we had to rush everything. Sure we could take it but then we would be rushing to hold onto the city while we get reconstruction materials, not to mention some of my plans to distract the order from us while we’re doing that need time to mature. No no, a year at the least, two would be optimal.”
The green-haired Echidna grinned. “Anyway, sadly I still need Roberts so I can’t fully get rid of him yet. I’ll let his wives claim him and bring him out for a retirement party in a couple of months and have him seen off. Then he can go right back where he is now.” The Echidna winced as she checked in the mirror and was met with the sight of the man himself lifting a Myconid’s ankles by their head and furiously thrusting into her like a man possessed.
“Bah.” She swept her hand over its surface and smiled at her secretary. “You’re worries are appreciated but unfounded. Who’s going to piece together anything in time to be a threat to us?”