Plutarch

Paradia, Capital of the West 2054

Shiro winced as he tried to stand up from his desk where he'd been carefully studying maps. It hurt.

His damn leg hurt him still, and it had been nearly two weeks. Doctors were constantly buzzing about saying he should be wearing a cast and not moving at all. This never suited Shiro. But he brought it upon himself, this pain, by not wearing a cast and forcing the leg to heal properly, and so he never complained.

He didn't like casts. They were uncomfortable, and in his eyes, damned unnecessary. All he could do was make sacrifices to all the gods, especially his patron deity, Jperital, god of death and lust (surprisingly, he could see how the two might go hand in hand), and let the leg have a mind of its own.

Secondly, casts promoted the idea of weakness. Weakness was a very expensive hobby, he found. Showing the slightest sign of perceived weakness sent all your enemies after you at once. Shiro was the dictator of the East, and while he was rich, weakness was still far too expensive for him. He had conquered more land in his short, four year reign then anyone before him, and that made him master of the western world. Other world factions were small and insignificant, and Basanon was nothing more than wasteland now.

"I've conquered almost all worth conquering except you." he whispered with almost affection as he looked down at his map of the West. But it looked like he might have his chance, snuggled most comfortably inside Paradia's palace walls.

The rebellious, hot blooded youth that still resided somewhere within him - the same one who had convinced him to go against his master's wishes, and tattoo the white stallion that was still on his back - longed to use the military force he had, just waiting for his signal to move.

He could probably do it. It might be easily done.

But no, he had other plans. They weren't necessarily better plans, but they were more enjoyable, and less people would die. All in all, it kept the city more in tact and he could still collect that big fat fee Kurai still owed him.

Ah yes..Poor unfortunate Kurai. He'd been dead for almost a year. No matter. He left a surviving widow - who played a key role in his plans - and either way, he still had the grounds to demand his fee.

Yes, the widow, Rein. It was partly she who was driving him to do this. Except for the foggy, disease induced haze he'd been under, he'd seen her only a very few times, though she seemed strikingly familiar. But what he had seen of her, he liked. Quite a lot in fact. He groaned slightly, chiding himself on his own lustfulness, while he stretched his arms in the air.

One always thought of widows as old and tearful and more than likely either sweet, cute old ladies, or mean as hell, ugly old witches. Rein was neither. She was only just twenty one, but reports did say her temper was a fiery one, so the mean part might be likely. No matter. He grinned, for he enjoyed challenges. As for nice, that was also highly unlikely. He'd been told she hadn't shed a singly tear for Kurai when he died. Instead, servants had found her screaming at his carcass that she'd never forgive him should he leave her alone in this viper's nest. There was no fear of murder, for he'd been having chest pains for quite some time, and the strain had simply proved too much for his heart. Rein was undisputed queen, with or without her husband. She had nothing to gain from his death. In fact, she stood to lose everything by it, were she not careful.

Ah, but Rein was careful. Annoyingly so, she was careful. Damned woman. He grabbed his cup of wine from the table and chugged it. Now might be a good time to stroll, or at least limp, around the palace grounds. He might run into Rein, and he was hoping that he might subtly implant the idea into her brain to invite him to her chambers for dinner.

"Her Majesty, the most divine Queen Rein, patron and mother of the West, sovereign-"

"Yes, yes!" Shiro had said impatiently with a wave of his hand while the servant bowed and gave his news. "Skip to the important stuff!"

"-Would like to invite you to her chambers for a private dinner this evening," the servant timidly finished.

And so, here he was. It was a luxurious room, which had candles lit around in different areas, giving it a soft glow, and a brazier for warmth. And it was warm. It was luxuriously warm, and he'd been told it was like this in summer. He hadn't the luxury of staying till summer at the moment. Should the need arise, he would. Until then, his plans were to stay as they were. His leg enjoyed the warmth, and it took out the stiffness the wound had created in it.

He straightened and stood as a guard announced the entrance of the Queen into her quarters. He gracefully bowed, while she stayed immobile. She was queen, and bowed to no one.

He delicately took her hand and kissed it. "My most gracious royal Majesty! I must thank you for your thoughtfulness of inviting me to dinner." She smiled ever so slightly. "The pleasure was all mine, My Lord." He looked up at her before rising to his full height, which was a few inches taller than her. Those eyes...In the candlelight they seemed almost bronze...And so familiar...

If she had looked into his eyes and seen the searching look he was giving her, she'd ignored it, for she continued speaking. "I thought you might be growing tired of the banquet meals. I frequently do."

The banquet meals were set up for all high ranking personnel of the palace, including inhabitants and guests. It was basically a feast every night, though not elegant as one might think a feast to be. Yes, Shiro had noticed that she was not often there for dinner, which had disappointed him, for as a dictator of such power, he was allowed to sit on her left - an extreme honor. He'd begun to worry his plans might fall apart should he never see her. A little investigating revealed that the queen often ate alone in her quarters, and never disturbed. It was a gift from fortune to him! A perfect opportunity to strike!

"Please, General, do sit down," she said, motioning to the chair he'd been in previously. She took her place opposite of him, and dismissed the servants. He grinned.

"You never worry that something might happen to you alone in here?"

"The food is all tasted before hand," yes, Shiro had seen that being done, "and I find one must have some element of trust, or otherwise, they fear that everything will destroy them.." She had grown eerily silent, and bent her head down, studiously poking her food with her fork.

He leaned forward, looking worried. He wasn't, but he had been trained as an actor before Sellon had swooped him up like a hawk for his apprentice. And getting Rein to have full trust in him was key. "You seem like you have experience in this field," he offered. She looked up, and smiled slightly, the lightly applied make up bringing out the color in her eyes. "Not me, personally, no. But, my late husband, Kurai...He was a bit overly cautious..."

Shiro frowned. "I'm terribly sorry about your loss." He wasn't.

And apparently, neither was she, for she snorted and rolled her eyes. "Please! Don't bother yourself with pitying my widow-ship. I don't miss him." With that, she placed a piece of the delicate and delicious crab meat in her mouth, chewing it slowly before swallowing and continuing. "We stopped being husband and wife to each other some time ago...I think we both just sort of fell out of love..."

Shiro began to let his guard slip, letting the real, true, clever and calculating, and somewhat lustful Shiro shine through. He managed to catch himself, and mask it a bit. "And it's such a pity he wasn't viral enough for you to at least have an heir to remember him by."

She snorted again. "Kurai never touched me."

This did, however, surprise Shiro, and it was clearly visible to Rein.

"He never. that is to say, you two never..Uhh."

Rein laughed. "No," she delicately placed her hands under the table, rubbing the outside of her hips in slight depression. "No one's touched the Queen of the West yet." She did not fail to notice his discomfort, and smiled, which disarmed Shiro even more, at him.

"Are you sure he wasn't...Oh ye gods, how to put this eloquently."

"He wasn't gay," she snapped. "He had a harem."

"Well, yes, but was it-"

"It was a female harem," she said, testily, again.

Shiro leaned in, resting his arm on the table, smiling one of his charming smiles. "Then why not go to you, for heaven's sake. Royal bastards are unbecoming on thrones." He smiled, with a twinkle in his eye, allowing the mischievous Shiro to shine through momentarily. "Were you so apposed to having him as your bed mate?"

She smiled, allowing her straight, white teeth to make a brief entrance. "Oh no, I was more than willing to...alleviate the stress My Lord was under."

"Then....?" he said, allowing the question to drift off. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You can't possibly be truly interested in this garbage?"

"On the contrary, I find it fascinating," he said, grinning as he leaned back in his chair again.

Sighing, she began the tale. "He believed in any prophecy imaginable. Everything down from petty fortunes to world predictions. And the one he believed most starkly in was the one that went, specifically designed for him by his personal mediums, of course, 'Do not break the Queen among women.'"

"But you said you were...untouched."

"And so I am. But he had an extensive harem, and he was constantly adding to it. He took in one girl who talked, and looked, and seemed like a queen among his harem women. There was only one important detail he never considered."

"She was virgin," added Shiro.

Rein smiled. "Yes. And he slept with her. And he died.I told you, its ridiculous nonsense..." She bowed her head again. "I suppose I'm a queen among women in title only."

Shiro reached across the table and took her hand, and contact with the queen, whom the people considered to have the status of a goddess, was forbidden, and she could have him killed if she so chose. Instead, she remained immobile in surprise. He looked up at her with his dark, dark eyes for a moment before placing the hand to his lips.

"You are a goddess among women." He was whispering it, almost seemingly to the hand, so one would have thought that she might not have heard. But she heard every syllable of it. Kurai, who had guarded her so jealously, never said anything remotely along those lines to her. She felt her flesh get goose bumps, and the hand seemed so familiar to her that she thought she almost had met him once before. But of course, that was impossible.

And he had meant what he said, and this was an extraordinary thing, for Shiro never told women the truth. He made up fancy, charismatic lies that gathered them to him like flies to honey. He wined them, dined them, took his pleasure, and left them. He was trying to accomplish something along those lines with Rein here and now. But the stakes for success were much higher. If he lost, he might loose part of an empire.

And Shiro meant it.

"D-don't.." she whispered back, shakily, and gently drew her hand away. "I am not a goddess... Don't call me that..Whatever anyone else might say, I am no goddess.."

He wanted to pursue this topic further, for he thought he may have dented the queen's brick wall defenses, but let it slide. Shiro knew quite a few things, but if there was anything he'd nailed down to a science, it was women. And when it came to such games as these, timing was everything.

"Anyway, the whole thing's ridiculous," she continued, replacing her napkin in her lap. "Kurai died of a heart attack, plain and simple." She then added, laughing, "I could even blame you for it, if I chose!"

Shiro, who had stood up to pace as he listened to her talk, wheeled in surprise. "Me?"

She laughed again. "Yes, you, who gave him money for a campaign you knew would fail. Oh, but clever, clever Shiro! You worded the contract so perfectly, riches and success or no, he'd have to pay you!" She laughed again. "And here you are, to collect your bill! Only, it is you who are trapped, and you may have to pay very dearly to get out!" She laughed, finding it all very humorous, and grinning, Shiro could see the irony in it too.

"But my lady!" he said, bowing, and pointing to the window. "As we've been eating, my troop's carefully built up reinforcements have surrounded your capital!" It was Shiro's turn to laugh now.

All the color had drained from Rein's face, and she threw her napkin down onto the table and raced to the window, seeing the torches of the well trained and large army. Mean while, Shiro had collapsed into his chair he was laughing so hard. And they had never seen it coming!

Rein turned, colored with rage. "You! You yellow, turn coat traitor!"

He laughed and bowed more as he sat, "Madam!" to indicate the truth.

"I spare your life and half your army and this is how you repay me?"

He laughed again. "Admit it! You'd have done the same thing if you'd had your chance!" She smacked down into her chair in anger, causing him to laugh harder.

"I have an army too! They are inside the heavily fortified city walls! And I can get supplies from the sea!" Yes, Paradia was a sea port.

His tone turned slightly more solemn. "And I can get supplies from the outside. There are a few kings and monarchs in Central that ask how high when I say jump."

She glared at him. "My troops will never let yours in."

"And mine will never let yours out." She huffed and threw her napkin down onto the table, no longer hungry. "It seems we are at a bit of a stale mate."

She snorted. "Hardly."

His tone was now soft whispers and gentle motions, as though he was trying to sooth a frightened animal. Rein was looking at him with such a mixture of hate and fear, she was too surprised to move when he suddenly knelt next to her chair and opened his arms, gently drawing her into them. Rein sucked in a breath in surprise as he whispered in her ear, his hot breath tickling her slightly.

"I want this city intact. Let us reach a peace."

She was silent at first, completely unsure as to what was going on. "Wh-why? So you can conquer it?"

She could feel him smile. "All that in due time. You're right though. About that contract that is. I get the half of the treasures won, and part of Tanamo."

"Tanamo? Are you mad?" She tried to bolt out of the chair which he'd imprisoned her in, but he merely tightened his grip around her waist, his head resting in between her shoulder and her breast.

"Your love of that sliver of Tanamo is purely sentimental. It may be fertile, but it's far too small to affect you seriously."

She managed to wiggle a bit so that she could speak with him more face to face, though she realized too late the proximity this put their faces at. Shiro did not fail to notice, and to he began to ooze out both charm and lustfulness and Rein was having a hell of a time trying to draw back away from him.

"Haven't you ever heard of appeasement?" she angrily hissed. "First I just give you little bits of nothing, and then you're taking chunks of everything!"

"Don't fool yourself," he said, inwardly noticing that she was beginning to relax in his lustful embrace, and allow misty shadows of searching looks to cross her face. "That will probably happen anyway."

"You're so comforting."

"The point is that I legally get my land. That you can't get out of. But I want my money, which you don't have. So you have to find some other way to pay me so my troops and I pull out of here and you have your city intact. Pay the fast way, Rein." She was startled by this, for no one but her personal physician ever used her first name. "Put your own pride aside. Buy peace. Rulers have been doing that for centuries."

She knew exactly what peace would cost with General Shiro, the famed White Stallion, and ruler of the largest empire in the world.

"Why should I pay? Can't you put your own greed and lust aside?"

"It's the losing side that pays the price. And admit it Rein," he straightened slightly so that he was taller than she was, and his arms tightened around her. "You're loosing."

She looked at him for a moment, as though measuring him up for a fight. Her bronze eyes flashed and flickered in the candle light, and finally, she drew a breath, as though she hadn't breathed in ages. Timidly, her arms wrapped around him as well.

"Alright."

It was barely more than a whisper, but it was enough. Kurai had borrowed the money, and somehow it was she that ended up paying his debt. She'd sold herself to Shiro. For how long? Fool that she was! Why had she not hashed out the details out with him?

"This is not the sort of trade that details can be hashed with," she chided herself. Bargains made in lust were rarely bargains to be kept, but if the dictator didn't remain true to his word, she'd kill him with her bare hands.

She jumped slightly, for his bare hands were slowly working on finding the ties to her blouse which covered the top half of her dress, which covered the rest of her. She stiffened slightly, and as though he could sense this, he began to kiss her to distract her.

This had not been Shiro's intention.

Looking back on the moment, he believed he might have been possessed by his beloved patron god, who was known to do such things. To be certain, eventually he had planned to do something like this himself, but never at the cost of peace. The idea was that she come to him. It had been known to happen. She must come to him and offer herself. She would be willing to offer him anything. Even pieces of her kingdom, and much more than merely what the contract said. As said, oddly enough, such things had been known to happen. Whatever else he was, Shiro the White Stallion was no rapper, violator, and pillarist.

But he almost was that night.

Yes, the queen was his. To take and run with and never look back.

"Yes, go ahead," a voice in his head encouraged. "You are a dictator, you are a god. You are supreme. Take what you will and show no mercy."

Yes, he was a dictator, he was-

Rein had finally managed to get herself to loosen up and go with the flow of the moment, delving into his caresses just as much as he supplied them. He broke away from her with such speed, it was as though he'd been hypnotized, and only just now woken up.

He looked at her with such surprise; Rein thought he might have forgotten why he was there and what he was doing.

"Shiro?" she asked, confused, running a hand up his arm to show him she was willing to make the sacrifice.

He gulped slightly, and backed away slowly. "I'm sorry, I've never..I'm not.. I don't.." Finally, fed up with his attempts to explain, he stood, and stiffly bowed. "Forgive me." With that, he left the room, and she could hear his feet echoing down the corridor, brushing past the guards.