Prologue: The Chronicler - Sex Stories

Prologue: The Chronicler

... society events just to see their men squirm. So when I decided to run for one of the Council’s three electable seats - the other twelve reserved for aristocrats, of course - those same wives’ support prevented any objections. I won the election easily.”

I grunted with disappointment. “Most of the stories I’ve heard speak of a disgruntled whore storming the city with an army of outlaws,” I said. “Which, frankly, sounds like a better story than this. Your Grace.” That last bit sounded inadvertently ironic, I realised.

She snorted. “I’m getting to that, you little shit.” She stretched her left hand, grabbed a bottle from the floor, and put herself a cup of wine, offering none to me. “Truth be told, I didn’t really plan to use my newfound, limited political power to bring about radical changes, but it must have been the last straw for the Church, cause soon after an envoy from the High Conclave came and warned the Council that thisprofanity would not stand. They wouldn’t send the Legion, but they didn't have to; all the Church needed to do was threaten to direct merchant caravans away from the city. Faced with the prospect of trade shutting down, I was swiftly deposed, exiled, and thrown out of the walls without pomp or circumstance.” Her face darkened. “That I could have stomached, but my friends and employees were not so lucky. Unfortunately for the Council, I had transferred most of my funds to the Stoneheart Bank, away from their, or the Church's, reach. That ...

... move gave me the resources to plan my revenge.”

She got up from the chair she had thrown herself in. “But that can wait for tomorrow.” Seeing my disappointment as I had been waiting with my mouth open for the good part of the story, she added: “Always leave them wanting more is good advice for most professions.”

I protested. “OK, but I will need a preview at least – for the outline, of course. What stories will we cover? There are many, and I bet half of them are not true.”

“Oh? What have you heard?” Her thick eyebrow made a perfectly angled arch on her forehead.

“Frankly they’re all variations of the same trope; you fuck your way from victory to victory. You submitted to Khonran the Savage so he would fight for you; you fought naked in the Golden Fields to boost your troops’ morale; you took Hemmsburg from within by convincing the city’s whores to murder the Dukes…”

“Partly true, all of them; but not quite. There's a twist in each of them. And many more stories to tell.”

“You promised to let every last one of the Qereshi soldiers fuck you if they surrendered the city,” I added, this being the most notorious story I knew.

“That one’s true – I didpromise them.” She winked at me. Clearly, that was a promise the idiotic Qereshi soldiers regretted believing. “But I said enough for today!” she suddenly boomed in fake anger and laughed when I jumped.

“What about the rest of the women you took from Amberstrat?” I asked after a minute. “What is to become of ...