They entered a twenty-foot-wide hall of black stone which was streaked through with red. It reminded Alburet of the altar at the Dark Lord’s temple in Stormguard. Tapestries adorned the walls, each scene depicting one of the Gods appearing before their chosen people. Bestat was shown with the Lunari in multiple tapestries, each of them depicting a new ability taught to her followers. Justice was shown guiding humanity into civilization out of the stone age. Alburet spotted Elven and Dwarven Gods, along with others he couldn’t easily identify.
Alburet stopped in front of one tapestry, trying to make sense of the scene depicted. “Gygax what is this tapestry of?” Alburet asked, staring at a forest scene that showed only a Lion Lunari asleep in a clearing.
“That is Leo, the male Lunari god,” Gygax replied. “He is only known for sleeping and mating.”
Alburet’s lips compressed as he suppressed the laughter that tried to escape. He walked on, wondering where the doors they passed led. After a few turns and another long hall, they reached another massive set of doors, again guarded by two Destroyer Lords. Alburet nodded to the two guards as Gygax ordered the doors open.
As the doors swung open, Alburet was treated to a scene very much like the one depicted on the tapestry in the Dark Lord’s temple. Rows of columns stretched off into the darkness, naked male and female figures of every species chained to them. Succubi roamed among the columns, stopping here and there to whisper to those chained, giving them a gentle caress or a lash of the whip each carried before moving on. The Succubi were stunningly beautiful, their hair and eyes coming in all shades, with perfect pale skin. Large, leathery black wings and cloven hooves marked their Infernal nature.
“Wow, bondage scene much?” Alburet said without thinking.
“The Dark Lord awaits you,” Gygax intoned as he floated just inside the room then off to the side. “Go straight until you come to the last pillars. Stop there and wait for him to address you.”
“Thank you, Gygax,” Alburet led his minions into the room, looking around as he walked.
None of the people chained to the columns seemed distressed or unwilling. If anything, the general air was one of contentment. Some people were even sleeping as Alburet passed. Shaking his head, Alburet kept walking. There was no sense of fear, hatred or despair in any of the people he passed. The Succubi they passed all smiled seductively at the group. One even knelt to be at Bob’s height, she reached out and gently stroked his head as he went by. Bob let out a shuddering sigh, but kept walking even as he looked wistfully back at the winking succubus. The columns abruptly ended, leaving an expanse of deepening gloom open in front of them. Just at the edge of the light they could make out a shadowy throne with a figure seated on it. Alburet stopped, and his minions all went to their knees, bowing their heads.
Alburet didn’t kneel, but did give a deep bow to the throne. A dark laugh rang out from the figure on the throne, “You will not bend knee to me?”
“I… with all due respect, no. I would only bend a knee to one I accepted as a superior. While my wife and her family venerate you, sir, I have not taken up that same veneration. I don’t doubt you can kill me without effort. That does not make you my superior. If this upsets you, Dark Lord, I will offer what apologies I may and take my leave.”
“I was told you Two-souled would be a stubborn people, and I see I was told correctly. Do you still wish to receive my blessing to become a Half-blood Infernal?”
“I would take that blessing sir, but will you bestow it upon one who does not venerate you?” Alburet asked.
“Would you be willing to sacrifice to receive it?”
“I’ve already lost more in my life than I ever wanted to. If you require anything, then it had better be something fleeting like gold.”
“You think a blessing from a God should come without cost?”
Alburet sighed, “I got the boots by basically just being a nosy bastard. The gloves I got from a cracker-jack box, for all intents and purposes. The crown was a gift from the family that accepted me into their life when I married their daughter. If you truly require something from me, I would choose to give you back the items that I have collected so far.”
“What about your Imp? Would you take another in his stead and gift him to me?” The figure stirred on the throne, sitting forward slightly.
“I would not send a friend away, much less family. Bob has been loyal and true to me since our first day together, and you ask me to hand him over like so much spare change?” Alburet felt his anger spike at the thought of losing someone he cared for again. “I would spill blood for family. I have killed for family before now, and if needed I will again.” His voice was hot with his anger and he took a single step forward.
“Good,” the Dark Lord cried out. “One who will defy even the Gods themselves. Would you try to kill me if the stakes were high enough?”
“Yes,” Alburet said as his eyes went to Stacia.
“She means that much to you? You met her less than two months ago. Has she so thoroughly entwined herself to you that you can’t do without her now?” The Dark Lord sat forward a little more, twin points of flame where eyes should be just visible in the gloom.
“She does and she has,” Alburet replied simply as he touched Stacia’s head gently. “Stand beside me, Kitten. A wife should fear no one when she is next to her husband.”
Stacia shivered as she got to her feet, “As you wish, me husband.”
“I can take her from you,” the Dark Lord said. “All Succubi obey me, and only me, in the end.”
Alburet’s blood went cold then hot as his hands clenched. “I will not let you,” he spat the words. “She is her own person, not some toy to be controlled at a whim.”
“But isn’t that what you do?” the Dark Lord mocked. “Do you not control her? Do you not force her to accept your will?”
“Nay,” Stacia said before Alburet could reply. “I bend to his will of me own choice. It be right and I wish it. He asks me iffin me be wantin this or tha’, he rarely forces his will upon me own. Truly, he blends love an’ control as no other can.”
Alburet looked at the woman he loved and his anger abated slightly. “Kitten, change for me, please. Show him who you are, not what you are because I bound you.”
Stacia became human in guise, “He wishes to protect me and me family, Lord. He be doin’ what ya tried an’ failed to do for generations. Be tha’ nay what ya truly want? For someone to help the rest understand tha’ ya nay be evil? Tha’ ya only wish for ya children to flourish.”
A ragged sigh came from the throne, “So much like your mother and grandmother. Always pointing out my flaws and pushing me to be better. If I could have known how much her line would influence me over the years I might have had different thoughts. But, one doesn’t control who they love, do they Stacia?”
“Nay,” Stacia said simply. “I did nay know I would be losin’ meself so thoroughly to me husband. But I would nay change it even iffin it meant havin’ all me other wishes granted.”
“As one would expect from my granddaughter,” came a silken purr from behind the throne. A moment later the most perfect woman Alburet could ever have envisioned appeared. Her perfect, porcelain skin was off-set by lustrous black hair that came down past her waist. Her green eyes were emeralds shining with their own inner light. “I am known as Mother,” she greeted Alburet. “I am the First Concubine to the Dark Lord, and mother of those that became the Succubi, Imps, and Destroyers.”
“Stacia’s grandmother?” he half inquired, having already been told as much. “It is an honor to meet you.” He bowed as deeply to her as he had the Dark Lord.
“Hmm, so you are polite and respectful if given the same treatment.” She looked rather pointedly at the Dark Lord, still seated on the throne, then back to Alburet. “Tell me Two-souled, what do you wish most in life?”