Dark Princess' Throne

This is the patron poll story from October. I'm posting it here since I just finished and don't want to make patrons wait until Monday as with the usual DA schedule. 

Reminder to patrons of appropriate tier to submit ideas for the next patron poll. With that, enjoy!

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“Just look at the architecture in this place… how long ago do you think it was built? Five hundred years? A thousand? More?”

“It could be ten for all I care, now could you stop gawking and heal me already Marlon!?” 

The healer shook his head, and turned back to his allies. “You’re doing fine, Rudolf. It’s only three skeletons-”

“Then you come here and whack them with that staff!” Rudolf shoved one away with his spear. “At least you wouldn’t stab them between the ribs!” 

“Relax, relax,” A third voice said, as a fireball sailed over Rudolf’s head. “The great wizard Samuel is here!” The third member of the party declared as his spell blasted two of the skeletons apart. 

Marlon winced, hoping that the wizard hadn’t just blown up anything too historically significant in that fireball. The party had stumbled on the castle while taking the scenic route on the way back to the city from a successful quest. If they had been the types to pass on a chance for some extra loot, they would hardly be able to call themselves adventurers. Surely, an abandoned castle filled with monsters would have treasure in it, wouldn’t it? Skeletons and spirits hardly summoned themselves. 

Thus, they’d entered the castle, and… so far, been fairly disappointed by its contents in terms of loot. Some of the skeleton guards were carrying gear that had clearly once been superb, but had rotted. Some of it was probably salvageable. They’d found a treasury and thought they’d hit the jackpot, but most of the chests were empty. 

In terms of history, though, Marlon was pretty happy. The castle was clearly ancient, the trappings of a long-dead kingdom adorning it’s walls. He could practically feel the history - now if only his friends weren’t only interested in material goods!

He joined Rudolf and Samuel, waving his staff over the former to heal his wounds. “There, happy?” 

“Quite.” The paladin said curtly. “Now, come. I believe the throne room is up next.” 

It was - a once-opulent throne sat on a raised dais in the center of the room. Tattered tapestries adorned the walls, telling of the kingdom’s origins. And there wasn’t a single gold coin to be found. 

“What a waste of time…” Rudolf grumbled.

“Not yet!” Samuel said cheerfully. “Look around. There may yet be a hidden passage, or a secret key to some other place in the castle…”

“I wonder if there’s a library somewhere.” Marlon wondered. “...Because the texts could be priceless to the right scholars or collectors. Yeah.” 

The party split into three, going to different sections of the throne room to look. Marlon went to the throne itself. It was… kind of sad, honestly, seeing such a grand piece left empty by the ravages of history. He sank into the throne, slowly and carefully so as not to further damage it. 

“...Get off your lazy butt, Marlon.” Rudolf said. 

“I’m… just checking for buttons. Switches.” he said.

“Sure…” 

Marlon sank against the backrest, wondering what had happened to these lands, to this place. It wasn’t on any map, not mentioned in any history text. What could have happened that had wiped it so completely? 

As he settled into the chair, he noticed something poking his butt. Pulling at it, he found a small, tattered book. The words on the top were in a language so ancient that he could hardly decipher it, but it was near enough to several languages he did know to read something. IT was a diary… a chronicle of the kingdom’s fall…

He had been reading for almost an hour when the others came back. “...Marlon, have you done anything but read since we got here?” Rudolf asked.

“I understand the history fascination, but this is ridiculous…” Samuel agreed. 

“This castle… it was cursed.” Marlon said. 

“What tipped you off, the skeletons?” Rudolf scoffed. 

“The last princess of the kingdom was a dark sorceress…” Marlon continued, not noticing them. “The people were sick of her experiments and cruelty, and besieged the castle. As it became clear she would not leave alive… she cast a curse…”

“Yeah, yeah, the standard villain stuff. Come on.” Samuel said. 

“It was to be her kingdom’s end. And it would be hers… but not all gone… the kingdom went to waste without me, and the castle fell to ruin… with my magic lingering here, on this throne... waiting for a new host… someone to revive the kingdom and bring it back to its place at the top…”

Samuel’s eyes widened as he cast a spell to detect magic - and saw dark energy swirling around Marlon. “Rudolf, pull him off that throne, now!” 

When weird crap is going on and the wizard tells you to do something, you do it. You don’t ask why. Rudolf moved, reaching towards Marlon, but a bolt of magic lashed out and sent him flying away. 

On the dais, Marlon stood up, feeling the magic moving through him. “Now… for a form better befitting the new Dark Princess…” he said, smirking. The transformation began quickly, his short blonde hair growing out as it darkened rapidly. As it reached towards his bottom, it styled itself in a long braid, held in order with pins sharp enough to be used as weapons, glinting silver against raven tresses. 

As his new bangs fell to frame his face, it changed as well. Marlon had never been a masculine man in the first place, but his androgynous looks were discarded in favor of a soft, unambiguously feminine form. Edges smoothed, the thin dusting of nearly invisible blonde stubble fell off, and his eyes seemed bigger and deeper. His lips thickened, a permanent sexy pout on them, while below his head his adam’s apple vanished. “Much better,” his new, soft and feminine voice said, “But not enough yet.” 

The change rippled down his body, and though it was hidden by robes, it was easy to see that his shoulders slimmed down, becoming significantly more feminine, and his arms followed suit shortly thereafter. The change continued down to his chest, breasts budding quickly and swelling in size. They weren’t huge, but even under his baggy clothes they were unmistakable. “Ah, that’s better…” the transforming young man(?) said, taking a moment to feel them.

Marlon’s waist pinched inwards while his hips flared out, a new hourglass shape to go with his feminized upper half. Not seconds after, he let out a soft, feminine moan as the change reached his crotch - beneath his robes, a certain something shrank and pulled inwards, replaced by a feminine slit as his reproductive system rearranged itself appropriately. She grinned luridly at the watching wizard and paladin, winking at them knowingly. The final stage of the physical transformation came quickly, her bottom thickening and her legs turning long and shapely. 

The sexy lady that had replaced Marlon took a moment to look over herself. “Ah… I do love this body, but the clothes do it no favors. Princess Marian needs more appropriate apparel…” she said, waving her hand and causing her clothes to change. The white robe seemed to almost tear themselves to shreds before rearranging themselves. The pieces blackened as they reattached themselves to Marian’s body. First the pieces arranged themselves in the shape of undergarments, taking on a lacy texture to give the princess proper lingerie. Then, on top of it they formed a beautiful black dress, one that clung to Marian’s curves and gave her plenty of range of motion, with a plunging neckline. Black stockings hugged her legs, and golden jewelry formed across her body, piercing her ears and in the form of bangles and rings across her arms. 

“That’s much better…” Marian said. She dismissed the magical field, stepping off the dais. “What do you think, boys? I look sexy, don’t I~?” 

Rudolf raised his spear, pointing it at the newly made princess threateningly. “I’m going to exorcise you, is what I think.” 

Marian laughed loudly. “Oh, that’s a good one… you think this is a possession, really?” she said. “The boy you knew is gone. My power wasn’t enough to leave a soul behind. Maybe if we’d come here a thousand years ago, it would have been a possession. But my very soul was twisted by this power - this is me now, and forever.” 

“I’m sure that’s what you think-” Samuel said, before shooting a bolt of magic at the dark princess - it carried with it a cocktail of spells of his own design, a true polymorph and a hypnotic suggestion… it wouldn’t reverse any corruption of the soul, but it might render Marlon unable to fight back and give them time-

Marian simply raised a hand, and caught the spell. The magic glowed in her hand, but didn’t continue. “That’s cute.” she said with a smirk. “You think your power is a match for mine. Well, don’t worry, cutie. We’ll be friends again soon. When this castle fell, it was because it stood without allies. I won’t let that happen again.” 

The ball of light darkened, purple energy corrupting it’s color. Samuel didn’t have enough time to raise a magic shield before it hit him square in the chest. 

The transformation was nearly instant from Rudolf and Marian’s perspectives, but agonizingly slow for Samuel. He watched the corruption spread from the point of impact. His body shifted and changed, new boobs ballooning to the size of his head and popping his cloak right open, while his figure became thin and feminine. Any hair he’d had below the eyebrows vanished without ceremony as his long, brown hair bleached white and tied itself up in elaborate ringlets. 

It was as his face started to morph and as he felt a strangeness in his crotch that the mental parts started. He… she… had to fight it. She could recognize when she was being attacked with magic. It should be easy, she’d invented this spell. She just had to… to focus on her past… on the core parts of her character… Marian’s rise to power, their friendship as young girls… her discovery of magic… the blackening of her soul as she found how fun it was to use for her own ends…

“Surprised, Samira?” Marian’s voice echoed in her head. “You did excellent work with this spell… but I made some improvements. I don’t have to bother to tell you what - it’s not like you’re capable of believing you were ever male, anymore.” 

What? That was silly. Samu… Samira... had always been a woman, why’d that even come up? Marian was just helping her… dress appropriately. They’d lured a paladin into their halls… it was always the most fun to corrupt the devout ones. Her lips curled into a predatory grin as her new clothes formed, a tight black and purple minidress with fishnet stockings, and of course, the traditional witch’s hat. The proper attire of a dark sorceress. 

“Ah… that’s so much better…” Samira said, stretching luxuriously. “Now… we have to break in this stud here, huh?”

Rudolf swallowed hard. He had to retreat. Come back with more mages and knights… save his party… but just as he turned to run, bands of black magial energy wrapped around his arms and legs, suspending him in the air.

“Oh, you thought I’d let you go? Adorable!” Marian giggled.

“You’ll be fun to break and rebuild…” Samira said, walking up to him and stroking his chin.

“My… my faith in my god is strong… I won’t break…”

“I’m sure you think that,” Marian said. “Why don’t we test it? Pray. If you keep your mind through the transformation, I’ll… reward you.” 

Rudolf swallowed hard, but did so. He prayed to his god for protection… “God of Law… hear my prayer…” he murmured…

The prayer continued. It was a lengthy one, an exhortation to his god to protect him. As he did so, though, the magic wrapped around him and began to transform him. His red hair lengthened and straightened, before tying itself into a ponytail. His masculine face smoothed and softened, becoming androgynous - less feminine than the others, but still not all that male. 

He asked for protection by listing the god’s previous miracles, acts of divine protection. His body slimmed down, becoming distinctly more feminine - although unlike his compatriots, his muscles remained. While his chest was hidden by his breastplate, his gasp and soft moan told Marian that his breasts had come in quite nicely. 

Continuing the prayer, Rudolf grit his teeth. As his hips widened and waist narrowed, he spoke of the good he and his party and had done, as proof of worth. As his manhood shrank and withered, she spoke of her service… to her goddess… the praying woman didn’t notice how her prayer had changed, as now her armor began to change. The mirror-polished silver blackened and changed. 

She prayed to her goddess for strength, to do her will. To protect those she loved and smite her enemy. She prayed that her service would be justly rewarded. She prayed her very soul away, withering and blackening faster than her armor. She thought of the debauchery, the sins, she had committed in the name of her beloved goddess, and smiled. Rudolf the holy knight was gone. 

Raina opened her eyes, and smiled at her goddess. “Did my prayer please you, my Goddess?” she said. 

Marian smiled, and answered by kissing her on the lips. They locked for several seconds, before the princess pulled away. “Of course it did, my dark knight…” she said. “And as I promised, you will be rewarded. Come with me. Samira and I shall help you take off your armor…” 

“Yes, mistress~” Samira purred.

“Of course, my goddess.” Raina said.

The trio stalked off to the bedrooms. Marian noted with pleasure that the castle had already started to repair itself, now that it had a ruler once more. The bed would be in perfect shape by the time they got there - and quite strong enough for three. 

These two were her first conquests, twisted in mind, body, and soul to be her eternally loyal servants and lovers. They wouldn’t be the last. They would be far, far from the last.