Dark Lord in Chains 105

Playing with Sapphire was fun, I thought with a slight reluctance as I pulled back from my comfortable position between her legs. Unfortunately, speaking with Valkyrie was more important than teasing Sapphire more. Not only we had a fake-assassination plan, but also I was curious about her findings about the North. 

Considering it was the topic that resulted in my capture in the first place, it was a dangerous oversight — though, to my defense, I was busy. 

And, to be honest, the fact that Sapphire was holding under my playful teasing a bit too well, which reduced the amusement I derived from the situation significantly. 

I might as well move to the next step, I thought, my smirk wide as I suddenly popped under the desk. Sapphire gasped in shock, but while she had many admirable qualities across a great number of topics, from dancing to political acumen sharp enough to make a knife jealous, her reflexes weren’t one of those qualities. 

Nor was her ability to handle sudden changes. 

This was why, as I suddenly rose from under her desk to stand next to her, looking and Valkyrie, her only reaction was a panicked gasp as she froze. 

Valkyrie reacted just like I expected. Someone else might have jumped back in panic, doing their best to open the gap as much as possible, but doing so would mean cutting their link with the ground, which, in turn, would hamper their ability to dodge further. 

She took a half speed back, her hand already on her waist — the fact that she was actually allowed to carry her sword showed the extent of the trust she had — ready to attack and block. 

Even her face was calm, though I was familiar enough to read the tightening of her lips. Anyone else would have been shouting in anger. 

“Oh, it’s you,” she muttered calmly as she looked at me, then the Queen. “I should have guessed a rat like you are not easy to squash. So, your disappearance was planned.” 

I just chuckled. She wasn’t a foul-mouthed person unless she was unsettled, which showed her shock even better than her expression. Her gaze fell on Sapphire, realizing that it was not the right attitude to have against her ruling monarch. 

“Well, not entirely, but Sapphire here proved to be a doll to work with,” I said with a chuckle as I caressed her cheek, making her blush. “Luckily, she also knows the value of a good deal.” 

Sapphire’s lack of objection told a story, enough to make her eyes widen in shock. “I … see,” she murmured, her gaze bouncing between us. 

I chuckled as she fell silent, trying to come to terms with the realization. To her credit, she was handling it better than I had expected, which was why I saw no problems shocking her more. I pulled Sapphire off her seat and sat on the chair instead. 

And pulled her to my lap, with my arms around her waist, lazy yet suggestive at the same time. “Yes, Sapphire here shares your sensibilities toward cooperation, believing that, sometimes titles were best ignored while making a good deal.” 

“And … what’s this situation that requires that deal,” she asked, though her tone carried little curiosity. I smirked. She was a remarkable woman, but that didn’t mean that she was above her prejudices. Seeing her Queen making a deal with a Dark Lord, it was clear that her assumption was that it was a political ploy. 

The kind that she hated most. 

Sapphire was lucky that I was not at the point of undermining her, because that moment would have given me a great tool to do so, finally recruiting Valkyrie more directly. Instead, I resolved it immediately. “Nothing much,” I said with exaggerated laziness. “Just two mystical races, Phoenixes and Elves, appearing again, and looking determined to take us down.”

A gasp escaped her mouth. Annoyance accompanied it for a moment as she realized I was teasing her deliberately, but she chose not to focus on that aspect. Her familiarity was useful, as she knew that I wouldn’t joke about such a thing. 

Of course, while that didn’t prevent a suspicious glint as she considered that I was the engineer of such a weird situation, engineering a fake crisis, she abandon that part equally quickly. “Exactly, I would have gone with something much simpler,” I answered with a chuckle. Faking two mystical races was not a simple thing. 

Valkyrie had some faults, but luckily, impracticality was not one of them. “The creatures at the North, is this about them?” she said as her gaze tightened. 

“Very likely,” I answered. “We don’t have any evidence yet, but it would be too coincidental otherwise. 

“It might be someone trying to muddy the waters,” she offered.

“Well, not impossible,” I countered. “Unfortunately, the fact that we have another party aware of it, and trying to create a crisis is even less likely. I’m more inclined to believe that it’s elves, especially since they had already arranged the throne room perfectly to change the ruler,” I said. 

“Wait, what?” she asked. 

“They managed to establish some wards that managed to avoid the attention of the court mages,” I said before giving a quick breakdown of the wards. 

“That useless bums,” she growled in dismissal, and Sapphire nodded, though that didn’t prevent her annoyed glance at me at the ease I was handling Valkyrie, revealing just how far our communication went in the first place. 

“Deal with it,” I whispered into her ear, like trying to suborn one of her most loyal generals was something to be dismissed casually. 

Admittedly, compared to everything else I had done — even the things she was aware of — it wasn’t absurd to categorize that as simple. I chucked at her annoyed glare, gripping her legs tighter to extract a beautiful moan. 

Valkyrie paused for a moment. “Then, what’s the plan. Do we go to the North and handle it directly?” 

“No, we still don’t know if it’s a genuine attempt or just a distraction. We can’t really commit to that.” 

“We can’t leave the North unattended either, the nearest settlement might not be near, but once the defenses are breached, we don’t know what kind of threat will come down. Maybe I should go there—“ she added heatedly, but I interrupted her. 

“No, there’s a reason I arranged your summoning. We need someone we absolutely trust to handle some stuff here.” I smirked. “You can imagine I can’t just go around and make a show. And since Sapphire is going to be dead…” 

“W-what!” she gasped before stopping, realizing my smirk. “That, we can talk later. We can’t leave the North alone, no matter what.” 

“Don’t worry,” I said, letting my smirk widen. “That’s why we’re going to send Lancelot there.” 

Her reaction was even bigger than seeing me treat her Queen like a bar wench, keeping her on my lap. “You can’t allow that vainglorious idiot to go there. He’ll just screw up everything. War is not a game.” 

I smirked, amused by her vitriol. I wasn’t the only one that hated that blond idiot. “Don’t worry, that vainglorious moron is actually stupid enough to sell himself to the elves, hoping that they would reward his loyalty. So, we send him there…” 

“And either it’s the elves that are causing the problem, and stops to protect him…” she muttered.

“Or, it’s a different group, and we leave elves between the choice of abandoning their critical agent or solving it. Either way, we can just open the paths to send reinforcements.” 

“What are the paths?” she asked. 

“Some kind of secret magical transport,” I explained, enough to placate her. “Now, about the assassination,” I said. 

“You’re going to arrange a fake assassination to remove the Queen as a target, and need someone reliable to arrange it.” 

“Half-true,” I answered. “Arranging the assassination is trivial,” I said, which was true, especially if I asked Cinder to intervene. “We need you to be the bodyguard for Aria, while also handling her political activities, to make sure no one could force her into a dangerous position. The farther she could stay away from the mess, the better.” 

“Yeah, she doesn’t have the correct attitude for that cesspool,” she accepted. 

“Exactly,” I said, amused that just how little it took to handle two huge issues as well as reveal several huge secrets. Anyone else would have been catatonic. 

Yet, my favorite knight just took it all in stride. 

There was a reason I liked her.