Chapter 67: Let’s Cut to the Chase

virgilknightley

By the afternoon, word had spread throughout Tater Town that my dragon-blood scars had healed—and just how that had happened. Yes, I blabbed to Ivy. I didn’t really see a good way out of the situation. Imagine my first act after marking her being telling her a lie. Not exactly an admirable course of action.

Etherea shot me smug looks all afternoon as the girls all voiced their opinions one-by-one. It was top shelf entertainment just to watch the turbulent, tossing sea of their expressions go on a wild journey as they saw my arms for themselves, being moved to tears, to scowling with irritation, to smiling, to frowning, to grinning, to growling… the full human experience was on display on those monster girl faces.

Eventually I found myself in the darkly lit throne room again, seated at the table. This time all my marked girls and Autumn were there in addition to Darkmaw and Marrowheart. The only other soul in the room was an ogre named Charles Xavier—well, that was what I called him anyway. He was bald, and the first time I saw him, he was seated. I need no further justification for the sobriquet.

As we’d all sat down for a meeting, Queen Marrowheart was grinning widely, making no attempt to conceal her amusement. Darkmaw looked slightly more unnerved.

“Is this some kind of behavioral hearing?” I asked, broadcasting just how I felt about the notion with the tone of my voice.

Marrowheart laughed. “Of course not. I love the fact that you took your fate into your own hands.”

“I love it less,” May Belle confessed. “Bucky, that was dangerous.”

Ivy sighed. “But it did get results.”

“Let’s cut to the chase,” Autumn cut in nice and quick, slapping her palm on the table. “We can’t control Bucky, nor is it our job to do so. He’s the Apex Hero. He makes his own decisions. If he concealed this from us, it’s because he knew we’d try to stop him from doing what he thought was right.”

“And it worked out, didn’t it?” Sprinkle said, beaming at me. “My Bucky looks great, and he’s back here in one piece.”

Darkmaw shook her head, though, showing some degree of dissent from the direction the conversation was headed. “He is indeed the Apex Hero—all the more important for him to be wise with his choices. The stability of the entire Western Third of Lusteria depends on his ability to breed with the queen and lead warriors into battle.”

I shrugged, slouching with my elbows against the table. “You ladies have all been talking about a lot while I was asleep,” I said. “Let’s be absolutely real for a sec. I have no idea what the fuck your plans are, and I don’t really have the patience to get caught up.”

“What are you saying, Bucky Drake?” Marrowheart asked from her seat at the head of the table, her fingers steepled together. “Speak plainly.”

“I’m saying I’m going to do things my way. You want to breed me? Fine, I’ll fill you up with more cum than you can handle. I don’t know why we have to be married, to be honest. Seems heavy-handed and unnecessary to me. So… I’m not doing it unless you can convince me why it benefits my girls.”

The Goblin Queen furrowed her brow at me, but to my surprise she nodded. “I see,” she said. “Well—allow me to explain my reasoning. I believe that a political marriage with the Apex Hero who is said to be the most powerful would send a message to the other queens and the rest of the world, erasing all doubt about my intentions. While you were in your coma, other heroes were still attacking my bases to the north. If we are wed, I believe they will recognize my claims as to my goals as true.”

“Or they’ll see me as a traitor,” I said. “Autumn sacrificed her ability to, uh, login to the catgirl network when she sleeps—the Catternet, we’ll call it—so she can’t even defend or clarify my actions to the other catgirls and their heroes.”

“Winter can,” Autumn said. “She is here often.”

I nodded, considering it. “I suppose that’s a good source. They won’t believe her loyalty has been compromised. They’ll take what she says at face value.”

“Frankly—first of all, I’m really excited to be here,” Ivy said, grinning around the room, soaking in her status as the newest marked girl. Her grin faded fast though. “But, to be honest, I don’t know if it’s such a good idea for Marrowheart to be the figurehead, at least in the Watcher’s Woods region. She’s proved herself to us, for sure. Still, the Wood Elves and people of the forest trust Bucky, and they like him, and the women of Tater Town adore him—maybe too much, really. I think the marriage should go forward, but with Bucky as the King and Marrowheart ceding to his authority, at least publicly.”

Darkmaw gasped, her brow furrowed at the treasonous suggestion, but Marrowheart raised a hand to stop her. “There is wisdom in this suggestion,” she confessed, “but does Bucky Drake have the judgment to be king?”

Awkward laughs rang out in the hall, including my own.

“I’m not royalty material,” I chuckled. “All I want to do is protect my family and home.”

“That is the primary responsibility of any king,” the Goblin Queen said. “However, a king’s definitions for family and home must be broader. It has been a long time since the people of this region have known a king or queen other than the Dark Queens. Bucky, I will ask you outright—would you marry me if you felt as though you were in control of your destiny and this region you love? Are you anxious to give up power? Is that why you resist?”

I shrugged. “I’ll do what my girls think is best, as long as the reasoning is sound to me. But I’m telling you now, king or not, I’m not sitting around and waiting for the Demon Queen’s armies to take notice of us again.”

“What are you saying?” Daisy asked in a near-hush, her big brown eyes wide and concerned. Her hands were folded on her lap, her shoulders just a bit too tense.

“I’m saying, starting tonight, I’m questing again. I need to be able to mark everyone that deserves to be marked, to level up, to become a one man army if I can.”

“And then what?” Darkmaw asked, her eyebrow cocked high.

I summoned my lance for effect, slamming it and planting it into the keep’s floor. “And then I take care of the other two Dark Queens.”

Autumn eyed me with skepticism. “Bucky, I love this proactive side of you, but you’ve always been more of the passive sort of hero, dealing with problems only as they come to your doorstep.”

“That no longer makes sense,” I said coldly, my eyes going to her belly. “I’ve got too much at stake now.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” May Belle said softly. “Bucky-Baby, take a few days to think of a more reasonable plan. You—”

I shook my head and cut her off. “May Belle. Stop.”

The tension in the room had mounted considerably. May Belle obeyed, nodding, her eyes glossing over with tears that welled in the corners of her eyelids. She folded her hands in her lap and looked down. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried for you.”

“Bucky isn’t a child,” Ivy said after that harsh pause, putting a hand on May Belle’s shoulder. “He is an Apex Hero, and we all have to respect that he alone can decide his destiny. Even the Goblin Queen has no right to hold power over him.”

“I’m not trying to control him,” May Belle whimpered, wiping her eyes, “I’m trying to keep him alive.”

I stood up and pushed in my chair. I didn’t want to be here for this part. “Girls, you have no idea how important you all are to me,” I said. “Hell, I’m being hyperbolic. You damn well better know how important you are. I’d be entirely lost without you.”

“We’d be lost without you, too,” Daisy said softly.

I brushed past that, not really having a good response. “Here’s what’s going to happen. Let me be clear: I’ll marry Queen Marrowheart if she puts me in charge of the Watcher’s Woods region. I don’t have any aspirations for power, but that makes sense to me. She can worry about the lands to the north. I’ll help her clean out the rebels. 

“Later tonight, I’m going back out on active patrol. One of you is coming along. We’re going to figure out how my new system works in greater detail, what it can and can’t do, and then, once I’ve leveled up a few more times, I’m going to track down the Dragon Empress. Once I secure her alliance, I’ll deal with the other two queens. When that’s all done, we rest. I raise my daughters, I spoil my girls, and we live happily ever after. Stop worrying about me dying. I promise, that’s not happening.”

They shared concerned and askance glances with one another, but nodded their heads primly. 

“If you are healed, then, the wedding and coronation can move forward,” Darkmaw said, her voice low and formal.

“Sounds good,” I said. I turned my head to Daisy and May Belle. “Where are our daughters?”

“Being tended to by Etherea in her cottage,” Daisy said, lolling her head with a puzzled look. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to spend the rest of the afternoon with them and Bonny’s girls. Will I see you there?”

“Oh,” May Belle said, sniffling, her voice suddenly warm and emotional in a whole new way. “Of course, Bucky-Baby.” She smiled at me. I smiled back at her. I felt awful for making her cry already. I would make it up to her soon.

Marrowheart stood, too. I sensed that she felt the need to be the one to let everyone go, still clinging to some authority that she was used to. “Very well then. Meeting adjourned. Bucky, please do keep me abreast of your moves. I will not fight you in any decision you make regarding your own health and activities, but I would appreciate foreknowledge of your designs so we can plan and support you accordingly.”

Autumn sniggered. “Bucky doesn’t usually have foreknowledge of his own designs.”

“That changes now,” I said solemnly, though failing to keep my face straight against her spot-on teasing remark. “From today, everything changes.”