PgueDaddy

  Orstelia slowly walked down the stairs, groaning with discomfort from the dull pain she was still in. But the delicious smell of food beckoned her down regardless. What she saw was unexpected, for her at least. There were four people she didn't know, including the rabbitkin from earlier, but she felt a strange connection with them that she hadn't felt before, a feeling of authority. As one, they immediately knelt with their eyes closed, looking towards the floor, and excimed "We greet your majesty!" with a fervor rarely seen outside those so religious they would commit any atrocity if they thought their god would approve. But this devotion that was aimed towards her only made her feel satisfied. As if the natural course of the world was in alignment.

  As if it was only natural that this was happening, and she could feel the awakening primal urges of an Ur stir within her in approval. All except the desire to procreate. It remained silent. It was still present and awakening like the others but it felt like they disapproved of the people in front of her. As if they didn't meet a standard that it set.

  "Your queen acknowledges you. Now let us dine for I am famished." Orstelia resolutely said while internally she was panicking. 'Was that queenly enough? Do they think I am trying too hard?' were just some of the paranoid thoughts swirling inside of her head. But, using her ability for minute muscle control she obtained from being a Masquerade Viper, she didn't let it show on her face.

  She sat in the chair, that what she assumed to be a mantiskin, offered her. Which just happened to be at the head of the table. The others quickly sat down except the mantiskin who went into the kitchen to serve the food and confirmed that they were, in fact, a mantiskin when she unfolded her raptorial limbs from behind her back to bance more ptes on.

  A pte of food along with a knife and fork was promptly set in front of Orstelia and the smell coming from the dish made her stomach rumble in anticipation. It was a seared auroch steak with a beautiful sauce over it with a side of baked potatoes cut into bite-sized chunks around a small dish with even more of the sauce in it, probably for dipping or pouring over the potatoes. A heavy meal for one to eat immediately in the day but such a dish was quite common for lunch or dinner for those with enough money. Not caring for manners at the moment Orstelia started eating immediately.

  The taste was exquisite, the meat practically melted in her mouth, and the various seasonings perfectly complicated the meat and sauce. The potatoes were the perfect firmness to easily eat and not fall apart as soon as you stabbed them with a fork. Orstelia was lost in thought eating and not paying attention to the conversations the others were having until she heard a voice beside her.

  "My queen, is the food to your liking?" asked the mantiskin in a voice as soft as a pile of pillows. Not a softness born of insecurity, but a softness in the voice that only those with confidence in themselves can muster, unlike the boisterous hollering of those pretending to be strong or the carefree nature of those with strength who do not need to prove it to others. A quiet but capable individual is the best way Orstelia could describe the pink, white, and cream-colored mantiskin.

  "It is quite exquisite, probably the best meal I've had," replied Orstelia. "I'm sorry for neglecting the conversation at the table, I was famished after the incident earlier. May I get to know whose company I am sharing this meal with?"

  The mantiskin's emerald eyes practically glowed with joy at the fact she received praise and an infectious smile took over her attractive face. "My name is Petalknife of the rose mantiskin. You can just call me Petal or if you wish to take after my colleague you can call me Pinky," she said while gesturing towards the dwarf rabbitkin. "I will let the others introduce themselves but all four of us form the hunter party called 'The Gilded Lillies' and I serve as the party's designated tank." Petalknife looked conventionally attractive at first gnce but the more you looked at her the more of an uncanny feeling you got from her. Her cream-colored skin had seams where her chitinous ptes fit together to mimic a humanoid appearance while being able to move naturally, pink and white chitinous ptes covered her vital organs and forearms, the raptorial limbs that were attached to her below her shoulder bone folded into a flower looking design, her eyes were compound eyes that changed colors to mimic a regur humanoid, her lower mandible had a barely noticeable seam down the middle to allow her mouth to fully expand, and her ears were her antenna folded to mimic the general shape of a humanoid ear. Yet she had traits like light-pink hair that was exactly like human hair, something no insect should have.

  The dwarf rabbitkin sighed in resignation after a brief pause in the conversation. "Since Pinky gestured to me earlier guess I'll go next. My name is Chestnut of the dwarf rabbitkin and I'm the cleric of 'The Gilded Lillies'. Don't underestimate me just because I'm small. If I get serious I can knock an ogre ft on their ass with one blow," she stated with confidence. Chestnut was short as her species name suggested but she was tall enough to pass Orstelia's knees with just enough height to punch a human-sized person in the groin easily. She had a tanned, thin, and lithe body that had light brown hair, two rabbit ears on the top of her head that constantly swiveled and changed positions, and a stripe of fur that started on the back of her hands, ran along her forearms, and ended at her furred elbows. If more parts of her were different Orstelia couldn't see them as her clothing covered them.

  "I'll go next then," said the bck-furred catkin in a sultry and sleepy drawl. "Following the customs of my cn I go by Grimoire. Grimoire of the Tarrisian bck catkin. I'm the parties mage with an affinity for shadow magic, although I can use other spells besides shadow magic." She was quite beautiful with a well-endowed body that the robes she was wearing, which looked to be a size too small for her, struggled to stay contained in. Her chocote skin seemed to glisten in the light like it was slightly oiled, her bck hair looked meticulously taken care of and braided, and the bck fur that ran down her cheekbones was fwlessly cut to frame her light purple catlike eyes.

  Everyone at the table looked toward the st person who had yet to introduce herself. She was calmly cutting her steak into smaller pieces and making small kebabs on the three prongs with the meat and potatoes. She looked up briefly and said "Names Milli," and returned to making and eating her small kebabs. Milli had unnaturally pale skin, wine-red hair and eyes, and slightly elongated and pointed ears. Other than that she looked like a normal human.

  Grimoire chuckled softly at Milli's curt response. "Milli is not much of a talker to strangers. We know she is a dhampir but of what bloodline she doesn't know. She usually fills in the role of the rogue in our party. Stuff like scouting, stealing, or disarming traps. She's probably the one with the most eccentricities in our party but we love her. Although Chestnut has her beat in barfights instigated," she finished with a coy smile.

  Chestnut seemed a tad angry and Grimoire's remark as she began a "friendly" game of tag with her while wielding a giant hammer made of her divine energies while Grimoire used shadow magic to travel within the numerous shadows around the house. Orstelia was initially worried that Chestnut's divine hammer would destroy the house but it didn't. She could either control what her hammer damaged when she cast it or she just had that good of control over her divine power to continuously change what it could damage as she swung it. Their antics continued for a while, which even brought a smile to the stoic Milli, although afterward they were forced into doing dish duty for disturbing the meal unpnned.

  While the two of them worked under Milli's supervision Petalknife and Orstelia talked.

  "So how long was I out for?" Orstelia asked while rexing on a sofa while Petalknife stood beside her and poured her a cup of tea.

  "A few hours," replied Petalknife. "The dragonkin brought us here around a bell toll after midnight. It's the te morning now. Although I pnned to tend to you throughout the day your physical wounds cleared up after a few hours. We decided to check up on you regurly as we thought that it would not be long before you awoke. And you did, around lunchtime as well which was fortuitous timing. Although I will admit something, mistress. The speed of your recovery is quite abnormal. Your wounds would usually take days if not weeks to heal properly. The fact that it took you mere hours is honestly a little unsettling."

  Orstelia thoughtfully sipped her tea while ruminating on what Petalknife said. It would probably be unsettling to see whatever wounds she had healed that quickly. Something to keep in mind for the future, although she had other questions on her mind.

  "Why do you call me mistress? I admit I do not remember much of st night but it seems much for our first meeting."

  "I figured as much considering how you were acting st night. What do you remember then?"

  Orstelia thought for a bit before responding with "I awoke after being captured, broke my chains in some sort of haze, and I remember getting shot with an arrow. After that, I remember waking up here."

  Peatlknife sat down beside Orstelia, seemingly trying to find the right words to say. After a while, she spoke. "What we first saw of you was almost like a feral beast. You were killing indiscriminately. It didn't matter if they were one of the svers or the sves, if they were in front of you they were killed and you ate their heart. We feared that we would be next but then something unexpected happened. A sve covered entirely in bandages limped towards you and for some reason, you didn't attack them. If anything you seemed wary of them as you backed away from them and coiled yourself as if you were going to leap at them. But all they did was go onto their knees and prostrate themselves before you. It was then that you seemed to change. You no longer seemed to show wariness of that person and slithered right past them. Some of the other prisoners did the same while others did nothing but hide in their cells awaiting their death.

  After that, it also gets a bit hazy for me. It was like something was compelling us to serve you. Whoever you looked at seemed to practically fall over themselves to serve you and treat you like you were the physical incarnation of a god. Even we fell under your spell. You took a particur interest in us. You made me into your maid, you called Milli your spymaster, and Chestnut your general. Grimoire offered herself as your concubine but you refused her instead allowing her to hang around and be pampered like a spoiled cat. After we accepted those positions you grew a crown of bck horns and the will to serve you only deepened further. I still feel it now although it has loosened quite substantially. But despite that feeling, I know that I still want to willingly serve you. I'm not sure about the rest of the party though.

  Back to the main story. After you grew those horns the bandaged person left through the secret exit the svers had to "find help" as they put it. We got comfortable in our roles and were in the middle of a strategy discussion when you felt a presence approaching. You decided to be a little theatrical and set up a nice dispy for them to see. Soon the leader of the svers arrived and you had a duel with them. You were looming over her in victory when the master of this house intervened. She knocked out the sver and punched you in the same breath. She hit you so hard that you lost focus on the various magics you had cast which caused you to suffer the backsh which is what knocked you unconscious. The spell bewitching us was also broken but we still went with the master of the house to look after you. Along the way through the secret exit, we found all the bandages of the person who went ahead in a pile in the middle of the path. When we arrived here the master of the house threw the sver leader into to basement in chains and left to report to the Guild. A few hours ter and here we are."

  Orstelia had long finished the tea in her cup and was deep in thought. 'That bandaged individual is immediately suspicious. I'll have to see if Fulger found anything when she gets back. There's also the fact that Petal says I used magic so hopefully I remember how I did that. That sver leader might know something worthwhile but should probably wait till Fulger gets back to mess with them. She might have a pn and I don't want to mess it up.'

  "Is there anything you wanted to do today mistress? There is still plenty of time in the day." Asked Grimoire as she joined them on the sofa.

  "Well, I need to go to the guild and finish my registration," replied Orstelia casually.

  "The master of the house said she'll take care of it when she left and told us to make sure you recover. Is there anything else?" asked Petalknife.

  Orstelia thought for a bit before she was hit with a realization she had completely forgotten. "That's right my sword! I need to get that back."

  "That should be an easy thing to do. Milli and Chestnut you watch the house and prisoner. Grimoire and I will take the mistress to reacquire her sword." commanded Petalknife. With that procmation, they got ready to set out into Goldtusk.