Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Princess Enaeria… or rather Queen Consort Enaeria smiled at her handsome husband who was still asleep this late into the morning.

Ever since their bedroom ceremony, she had been trying her best to cement their relationship even further by ensuring a physical representation of their union would come to be. These things took time though, and it was not as though the man would be able to leave her in the meantime.

He was thoroughly entranced by her Mark of Charm and would do everything for her until the end of his or her days. Once ensnared by her mark, no one could escape without dying or by intervention by someone with a closer relationship.

Through thorough research, they were able to determine that King Zethis had no ties or bonds of any kind save with one of the country's Empyrean Rankers. Even then, their relationship was one born of fear, not of trust. Without a trusting bond, it was unlikely Zethis would ever escape her clutches.

Since they spent every day together from now on, their own bond would grow stronger and stronger as well. Essentially, the Beast King himself was now her pet.

Experience tales at empire

"My Liege!" a knock at the door brought Enaeria back to reality. Outside the door there was a servant needing to speak with her husband.

Enaeria wrapped herself loosely in a robe and opened the door slightly. "I am sorry, my husband is still asleep. I shall rouse him for you."

"Th-thank you, my queen."

Zethis was already moving to a standing position by the time she had turned around. His bestial senses alerting him to the commotion well before she even answered the door on her own.

"Thank you for giving me time to come to sorts." He mumbled as he put on his clothes.

Enaeria stepped forward to assist with adjusting his cloak and then moved to dress herself. As Zethis kissed her neck before leaving she giggled. "Thank you darling, now go. You have duties to attend to. Do not forget we have another meeting with Mer'Krul this afternoon."

"Of course."

Before Zethis left, a few maids walked into the room to assist her in preparing for the day. Though the climate of this nation was not well suited for her, she was getting used to it slowly. The people were earnest and hard-working which presented them in a good light.

Frequently she found herself thinking that this situation was not so bad. With her Channeling capabilities she was able to cool herself off easily and slowly adjust to the heat. The sunlight was a different story. There was no way she would allow her perfect skin to be marred by the desert sun.

Because of this, she spent precious little time outside of the palace itself. Not that there was much else to look at. Though she looked favorably on the people, they were still quite simple when compared to her own lands. Haedda was a place deeply steeped in magic and knowledge.

Its citizens benefited from the power of the Grand Mages of their nation and the instruction provided to all the magically gifted. Because of this they had advanced their culture to a point beyond what the beastmen of Alorek could imagine, which made her feel quite sad for them.

After several hours of dealing with her own plans, the afternoon meeting was ready to begin. Zethis, Enaeria, and Mer'Krul sat around a large, circular table and enjoyed a series of snacks. Or rather, Enaeria enjoyed them while Zethis drank the country's foul swill they claimed to be wine.

"Are things going well Mer'Krul? Those of the Far Shores and Haedda have been working for several weeks in the untamed sands outside our cities. Did you find what it was you were looking for?"

"We have found some, yes. There is a cave that was inhabited by a few of those 'Sand Wyrms' as you called them. When we cleared them out, we found a small amount of Orichalcum. We believe that it might be connected to a much larger vein and have begun mining." The muscular and tattooed man answered.

He too was sharing in the same drink as Zethis. Though Enaeria charmed the king to feel the way he did towards her, she was unable to change his feelings towards others. Zethis and Mer'Krul truly did get along.

Though even those in Haedda knew little of the Far Shores, the culture shared a lot of similarities to those of the beastman nations. Strength was valued highly. These two men recognized each other's strength and used that to form a beneficial relationship.

"I must say, when you informed me of this strange material and that it might reside in our lands, I was skeptical. However, I now have no choice to believe you. I find it strange that our own smiths are unable to utilize this material as of yet." Zethis sighed. "I wish you would share your knowledge of it with us, but I do thank you for being honest about its importance."

"Of course, King Zethis." Mer'Krul chuckled, "Though taking advantage of your lack of knowledge would have worked well for us, those of the Far Shores are an honorable sort."

The two men chuckled together and clinked their glasses in a toast to friendship. Orichalcum was a very rare resource. So rare, in fact, that most countries were unaware of its existence. A handful of scholars knew of it, but even those that did had no idea that it was valuable.

The only nations with knowledge of its potential were the Far Shores, Haedda, and Aedrider. Aedrider did little to try and utilize it because they were so far away from any large sources. Instead, their growth and technology was based along the magical crystals that grew in the deepest of their caves.

Haedda and the Far Shores had worked together to discover the secrets of the strange material over the course of decades of cooperation and found that it behaved in ways that were similar to mithril, but was capable of so much more.

There was no way for Alorek to figure out how to properly utilize Orichalcum alone, so there was no concern in them knowing of some of its capabilities. Besides, there was no way for them to pretend it was useless when it was folded into the weapons and armor of every soldier they had brought with them as escorts.

"This one mine is all that I grant with our current terms though, Mer'Krul. Any future expansions into locating this strange metal will require new negotiations."

"King Zethis, do you have in mind what it is you would like for that? I can relay that information in advance to our leaders so that way when the time comes we can work more quickly than before."

Queen Consort Enaeria smiled because she already knew what the bloodthirsty lion wanted. Zethis leaned forward and gave a massive, toothy grin, "Weapons, Mer'Krul. Weapons to annihilate my enemies. Weapons to bring all of beastman kind under our great banner and erase the Five Kings Union from the continent."

Mer'Krul returned the king's smile. "It will take time, but I can promise that if you are patient, we can fulfill your greatest desires, oh mighty Beast King of the Raging Sands."