Epsilon Twilight
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46. Heiress
🕑 Added 2024-11-12 12:13:11 +0000 UTCThe walls of Asina lured the eyes of the beholder with their vibrant blue as always. Rani had made her go to the capital on a whim, and whilst she was an expert of the speed stance at this point, Naila didn't have a potent enough Nurture to match the emir's pace. Older sultanzade could make the round trip between Sadina and Asina in a single afternoon, Naila though, had needed a whole day for one way only.
"Quite pathetic, really," Rani taunted behind her.
"I… only… have… so… much… vitality…" Naila explained between pants. She was already slow enough for her half-sister's taste, so it was obvious that Rani hadn't let her rest for the whole journey.
"You could do better," the emir snickered as she continued walking toward Asina, her stance already switched off. "You need to reap more."
"How do you intend me to do so?" The young sultanzade protested. "I'm seventeen! And I've been reaping to my limits these last months!"
Rani shrugged without looking back at her. Naila preferred that either way, she wasn't in the mood or had the strength to talk. She just took off her traveling glasses and donned the regeneration stance to recover her breath.
They entered the city uninterrupted – obviously – and were met by the wide main avenue but, above all else, the golden dome resting atop the palace of Asina. As ostentatious and beautiful it was, Naila could only consider it an eyesore as big surfaces of metal tended to blind the passerby.
The city of Asina was more lifeful than Sadina's as the Emirate of Asina didn't share borders with Loyata. And even if it did, food was plentiful here by the sole virtue of being the home of the Sultanah.
"Rest until sunset, meet people or whatever, I'm going to pick you up at that moment," Rani told her when they arrived at the palace, and, without any further hesitation, she left her alone.
Even if she had grown and spent most of her life in the palace, Naila felt no nostalgia whatsoever now that she was back. And she had been away for almost two years now, which was a lot of her life considering she wasn't even eighteen just yet.
For starters, she directed herself to the baths. She wanted to clean herself but also relieve some stress, unfortunately, there weren't any servants she considered worthwhile. It seems today will mostly be reaping rather than pleasure. Naila picked up the first manservant she saw and threw him in the bath where she pounced him dry. Sultanzade had a reputation to uphold, and a good female cultivator knew that the strength stance boosted downward musculature too.
She would have to drink a contraceptive tonic afterward, but it felt good being filled once in a while. Rani didn't seem to share the same thoughts as her, though. Naila had barely seen her lying with men since she became the imperial scribe. Which, to be fair, was a wise choice when she had a charm stance as powerful as hers. Considering how much she abused it, not even contraceptives could cancel out the fertility properties of the stance.
That wasn't a problem for Naila as she rarely used the stance, maybe to make a hard-to-get target succumb to her to bed them, but that was all. However, in most cases, she preferred to be forceful instead of using such underhanded tactics.
One of the bath maid's helped her bathing after she was done with that man, and she took pride in making him unable to walk straight out of the bathing pool.
There was still some time for the sunset, but truth be told, Naila didn't want to meet with anyone. Her half-siblings were odious at best, and she didn't want to meet with her wet nurse, not especially after…
Her resentment at Aaliyah-al-Ydaz reignited with that memory. It wasn't enough to break all her fingers to convince her to lay with someone, the Sultanah also had to force her to reap her wet nurse, arguably the woman who had been her mother unlike her actual one.
Naila went to the gardens as the nausea was overpowering her.
She was actually thankful that she had been sent to Sadina only weeks after that. Her heart couldn't take meeting her mother's eyes after that. The woman who deserved to be called mother. She hadn't acted as if she didn't want to be in Sadina for a while when she first arrived at the emirate because she really didn't want to be a scribe, but in hindsight, she was grateful for the opportunity to avoid her.
And she continued doing so.
For the first time in ages, Naila didn't feel like training. Not only she was nauseous, but also from the exhaustion of the journey. That didn't stop her from seeing some sultanzade training.
Cultivators were violent by nature, Nurture inscribed that in someone's heart, but the sultanzade had the rage of their upbringing etched into them. Oh, how ferocious were the children of Aaliyah-al-Ydaz! Naila carefully observed as a duo of the older sultanzade practiced with the flowing stance. She hadn't had much success with it so far, but it was a question of time before she learned.
For there was no one with more rage in their heart than hers.
Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was right in her teachings; cruelty and harsh discipline were what people needed to grow. Naila could feel it in her bones if she hadn't had such difficult lessons, she wouldn't be nearly as capable as she was. That was exactly why she hated the Sultanah so much.
Respect and hate weren't mutually exclusive.
As the sun came down, Naila sensed Rani appeared behind her. Even if she hadn't seen her, even if she hadn't heard her, the woman had too much of a distinctive aura to be hidden. And besides, the effects of charm stance weren't limited to sight alone.
"Come on, it is time," the emir of Sadina spoke with a crestfallen tone.
Her imperial scribe didn't defy her orders, for now, her half-sister wasn't her enemy, but another person sharing her blood.
Expectedly, Rani guided her to the Sultanah's office. Naila was forced to switch off her sense stance as the smell of incense and sex was too overwhelming for her. As always, it wasn't hard to find a place to sit in the seat-infested room. Out of her mother's many obsessions, her collection of unique seatings was the one that surprised her the most.
"That was fast," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz lazily commented as lay on a sofa with a glass of wine in her hand.
The three imperials ignored the yelping boy underneath the Sultanah. The little man was fighting for his life, trying his hardest to push himself inside his liege, much to Aaliyah-al-Ydaz's amusement. It didn't surprise Naila the least that the boy was barely older than her.
"Whuh?" So heightened was his lust that the boy only now noticed the presence of princesses.
Even then, the Sultanah didn't let him go free until he liberated his seed. With his visage redder than a tomato and his body still naked, the boy fled the office as he fell more than once on his way out with his arms clutching his clothes.
"I thought you did not want to sire more offspring," Rani commented after sitting on a throne.
"A cultivator of my pedigree has ways to avoid pregnancy by their will alone," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz responded as if she could go against the laws of nature.
"Aaliyah," Rani started, "are you sterile?"
Naila coughed and her body jerked at the sudden question, almost asphyxiating herself in the process. She knew Rani had a special relationship with their mother, but not one so… disrespectful. Naila could never.
"You would like that, would you not?" The Sultanah teased her. "But no. I told you already how to manipulate one's body, it is not that difficult to become infertile at will."
That sounds… useful. Naila thought to herself after recovering her composure. Even if the imperial tonics were useful to avoid unwanted pregnancies, they were – in simple words – yucky.
"I see," Rani's visage portrayed derision. "Anyhow, that is not why we are here, and you know it."
"Enlighten me, daughter, if you know so much," the half-naked woman finished her glass of wine.
"What games are you playing?" The emir of Sadina went for the throat.
"As I have told you, enlighten me." The emir of Asina snickered at her.
"Is this about the inheritance of Ydaz?" Rani's amethyst eyes flared with life.
"You would like to know, would you not?" Their mother countered.
But Naila didn't stand around with her arms crossed. One of those words was very wrong. "What is this inheritance you are talking about?"
"Oh, dear Naila. I forgot you were here," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz responded in faux surprise.
Liar. Naila denied her in her mind. You have noticed me from the very beginning. Someone as acute as the Heavenly Descendant just didn't forget people were before her. She could choose to ignore them, but she would be very aware of them. And besides, there was a greater lie uttered by the woman. There was nothing 'dearly' in her tone.
Love was not a concept Aaliyah-al-Ydaz understood.
"What was Rani-al-Sadina talking about?" She reiterated. It felt wrong to use her half-sister's full name, but the formality of the dialect required it.
"Nothing much, just how I designated you as the heiress to Ydaz." The Sultanah calmly explained as she inspected her fingernails.
"You what?" The calmness wasn't reciprocated by Naila. "You cannot do that!"
"I am afraid I can, I am the ruler of these lands."
"But-"
"Are you trying to 'but' me? You can do better if you are a daughter of mine," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz interjected her.
"With due respect, my Sultanah," Naila restarted her response, "the Sultanate has a long tradition of its ruler achieving their position through strength. Designating an heir would cause strife and undermine centuries of tradition."
"Tradition means jackshit," the Sultanah coarsely countered. "And once more, I am the ruler of these lands. If I say you are my heiress, you are." Her voice left no space for discussion.
What are you? A man-child? As much as she wanted to utter those words, Naila held herself. But she couldn't go without fighting.
"Then I refuse the status and the title," the young sultanzade added.
"I would still force you to be my heiress."
"An heiress that performs none of her imperial duties is not useful to you. You would not make me an heiress as you hate inability."
"And I would beat you senseless till you accepted. Those tactics have already proved effective against you."
Naila physically recoiled at that last verbal exchange. The Sultanah had hit her where it hurt the most. But she refused to be intimidated so easily.
Not anymore.
"Then I would try to defeat you and become the Sultanah the legitimate way."
Aaliyah-al-Ydaz smiled. She actually smiled. Not some sort of djnnish grin or sly curvature of the lips, but an actual nince-damned smile like a real person. The warm smile of a mother.
The sight sent shivers down Naila's spine.
"You have some guts, I will give you that," the Ruler of the Qiraji raised her hands in defense. Even then, the action that at most would mark them equals in a verbal exchange could only be seen as a polite admission of defeat. Or more exactly, a consolation prize. "You are free to try at any point. I will not refuse your challenge regardless of the time or place."
Naila knew her mother was speaking the truth. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz would give her the opportunity to kill her like she had done with her very mother before.
"I will reserve the exploitation of those rights for now," Naila bowed down. "What I would like to know at this moment is why you even want me to be your heiress. Surely Rani is a better option for a ruler than me."
"She is not," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz sternly answered, and Rani recoiled as she had been slapped. "And do not overthink it, the only reason for your selection is just because I please it. No more, no less."
No matter how much she tried, how hard she pushed her sense stance, Naila couldn't get a read on her mother. The woman was truly unflappable. She couldn't tell if she was being truthful or not.
"Will that be all?" As the Sultanah talked, she gathered her wild mane in a bun, leaving her previously covered breasts with her hair now on display.
Naila's breathing stopped at the sight. Even if she wasn't wielding the charm stance and she was her mother, Aaliyah-al-Ydaz's Nurture was too strong. It was impossible not to feel attracted to her heavenly body.
That made her gag.
"No," Rani taciturnly interjected. "We are not here for inheritance discussions, Aaliyah. And you know it."
The monarch snickered and stood up, her breasts breasting boobily… erhm… bouncing powerfully with the movement. It infuriated Naila to no end that she couldn't separate her eyes from them, that her progenitor's beauty directly ate at her thoughts and poisoned her mind. Aaliyah-al-Ydaz walked toward her bed and put a shawl on top of her. Whilst it was translucent, it did a great job at covering the massive mounds.
Enough to dispel the enchantment she had put on her.
"I do know it, but I will not answer until you put it into words yourself, daughter." Even if the word wasn't directed at Naila herself, she couldn't help but feel aversion to the word daughter. It was impossible for her brain to connect with the idea that Aaliyah-al-Ydaz was their mother, even though she knew it well.
"I can understand putting an end to the Pax Qiraji," Rani started. "I am surprised that it lasted this long, but what is completely beyond me is why would you give us the military command of this campaign."
"Is it so hard to understand that I want my future heiress to gain some military prestige and accomplishments before she ascends to the throne?"
Yes, Naila thought, and by the looks of it, so did Rani. There was more to it, they both knew it, but so they did know that the Sultanah wouldn't answer that question.
"Do we need to declare war immediately?" Rani instead focused on the how of the inevitable war instead of the why.
"You do not," the Heavenly Descendant responded. "But the more you take to declare this war, the more hurt the country will be. And the heiress would not like to reign over a singed land, would she?"
Something over her choice of words felt wrong, but Naila couldn't point out what exactly.
"I see," the emir of Sadina bowed slightly. "I will ask for a year of preparation before the official declaration."
"Sure, you do you," Aaliyah-al-Ydaz lazily supported her back on the wooden supports of the canopy of her bed. "Sadina has complete control over the military at the moment." Until I interfere, she left unsaid as it was obvious.
"I will ask for the support of the other emirates to strengthen our border with Loyata and provide manual labor for the affected villages and cities."
The response of the Sultanah was a simple gaze filled with condescension. "Such petitions must be made to the emirates themselves, not me."
"Understood," Rani stood up and left the room, her expression an unmoving wall. No goodbyes were needed nor wanted.
What is she planning? Naila couldn't help but try to dissect the thoughts of her mother. Something was very wrong with her awkward plans and executions. The imperial scribe of Sadina felt as if she was missing a key detail. The greatest ruler Ydaz had seen couldn't be willing to execute such foolish strategies.
Being left alone in the office with Aaliyah-al-Ydaz filled her with unease. She preferred being trapped with nine Grandmaster Assassins before the Sultanah of Ydaz, and that was taking into account that the door to the office was wide open. Naila rushed outside, but she didn't fail to notice how their mother wasn't looking at her as she left but at Rani.
Comments
Zachary Patterson
Thank you for the chapter! Still going after aloe I see.... Hope aloe is ready to Crack some Sultana heads by then, or scorch as has been eluded too...
The3rd
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