***The Infernal Plane of Lust***

***Ashley***

“Mmh... that's good,” I groaned in bliss while I leaned further forward in my armchair to give Hellith better access. My dear daughter, Hellith, was a true master in pleasuring her elders. It was a delight to have her at home as a helping hand in my office.

“You are doing a damned fine job at massaging my sore neckline. Are you sure that your true talent doesn't lie in a more pleasant art? Being our spymaster doesn't allow you to be at home for nearly as much as I would like you to be. All the time you are holding court in that bordello of yours.”

“It wouldn't be prudent to have all of our informants commute back and forth between the castle and the settlement,” Hellith commented while she continued the massage, using her thumbs to dig deep into my sore neckline while she continued speaking.

“It's much easier to have them come directly to Irkos. The settlement is much less intimidating to them than our family’s estate. And there is also the point that it is much less likely for my spies to be recognized among a large population. Nobody would question someone paying regular visits to Irkos. Compared to that, everyone who watches the castle can see who visits and leaves. Worse, there are ways to track teleportations through the Anima Network. Though, I am still glad that I made it back in time before the storms started.”

“You are right of course. That doesn’t mean that I have to like it, and it is indeed rare that everyone spends the season at home,” I admitted. “But it is necessary, given the circumstances.”

“Indeed,” Hellith affirmed coldly. “Are there any news regarding our guest of honour?”

I chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. “Negotiations, negotiations.”

Hellith sniffed, allowing some of her impatience to show through. “Shouldn't we be already long done with those?”

“Hah! Of course not!” I sighed, slightly annoyed that no matter Hellith’s age, she still hadn’t learned the wisdom of patience. A demon had all the time in the Infernum at his or her hands. Why was it that the young ones always tackled their problems by throwing themselves headfirst into trouble? It was probably nature’s way to keep the population down.

So I decided to educate my daughter on the subject. Since I had done a remarkable job at not losing any of my children yet, I wouldn’t start so now. “That's why I am the matriarch of this family. You young ones are just too impulsive!”

Raising a hand, I counted the reasons for the delay. “First, Khorne didn't bother to show his face in person up until now, so the Infernum can’t hold me responsible for any previous agreements. I may be the party with the 'supposedly' lesser standing in these negotiations, but there is no reason for me to demote myself even further by negotiating binding contracts with his minions. Secondly, now that he indeed found the time to visit us, I will still negotiate hard to make sure that we don't make any mistakes. If necessary, I will draw the negotiations out throughout the whole damned season just to get the terms I want. Infernal Contracts aren't to be taken lightly. And thirdly... it isn't as if the game is already over. Have you seen to our other special 'guest'?”

“He made it among Khorne's men without issues.” Hellith dug her fingers deep into my shoulder blades. “Are you sure that it is wise to let such a thing into the castle?”

“It isn't as if my daughters could be slain so easily. For Khorne's men, that's another matter.” I shrugged, hoping that the uninvited guest would be enough. It was important for us to be able to swear certain oaths once the season was over. “Just see to it that someone looks after Isabella. She is still too young to defend herself against such a thing.”

“You are doting too much on her.” Hellith's voice was stern but loving. “Isabella is more than capable of protecting herself by now. It's been decades since she ran through these halls as an imp. Or rode on your shoulder as a demonling. A demon her age might be seen as young, but thanks to her evolution to a full-fledged succubus she has the same rights and responsibilities as any of us sisters.”

I growled, disapproving of not looking after our youngest. No matter their age, all of them were my children and as a parent, I could dote on any of them as much as I wished to. It would take a few more centuries at least, or even millenia until I might lay another egg.

Such a thing always depended on my mood and whether there was an acceptable donor available. Though, breeding was always an exhilarating experience for a succubus. It was the only time that we could truly let ourselves go and give in completely to the Lust.

But until then Isabella would stay our little demonling and be looked after as long as I was the matriarch of this family.

Hellith sighed. “The triplets are checking on her, like always. There is nothing to worry about, Mother.”

Frowning, I relaxed slowly. It was true that Jada, Danielle, and Claire were the next best thing to mothers for Isabella. They would keep an eye on her while we saw to our guests.

“What about this Amon and his minions?” I continued. “That's a factor which I didn't take into account.” He was an uncertainty, and uncertainties bothered me. Unfortunately, Khorne had extended his guest-rights towards them or I would have already thrown the whole party out of my castle. Storm Season or not. I couldn't afford any sand in my plans.

“I have looked into his background, but aside from his meteoric rise to power, there isn't anything exceptional to tell about him,” Hellith admitted. “No powerful family to back him, or relations aside from Ebandon. The problem is that he originated from Gluttony. We can get information from there, but it is slow going, and now that the storms are here...”

“Understandable,” I interrupted, knowing that my daughter was capable enough. If she couldn't get the information, then nobody could. “We can’t expect more information until the season ends if I understand you correctly?”

Sometimes I wondered whether we should relocate to Greed, but the thought of leaving my ancestral home always pained me. Maybe a few more centuries. At one point or the other, I had to get bored enough with Lust to leave without sad feelings.

“There is one thing,” Hellith pointed out hesitatingly. “He is apparently affiliated with Isa. They visited me once, searching for a certain Sozzudon and his whereabouts. I didn't think much of it at the time, so I gave them access to the archives.”

“Hmm.” I considered it, but couldn't say that this information triggered any alarm flags. “Sozzudon is a name I know, but that one is a vagabond if I have ever seen one. There is no way to link anything substantial to Amon that way. Though, it might mean that he is more than he seems. Haven't you mentioned something about Isa being around him an awful lot? Is there any risk of Isa doing something stupid?”

Funny though, now that I thought about it. Sozzudon was a certain Demon Lord’s right-hand man a long time ago. His name also happened to be Amon and he caused some huge waves over in Gluttony. Huge enough that I heard of it over here in Lust until the man disappeared without explanation. I thought for a moment whether the kid I had met yesterday could be ‘the’ Amon but dismissed the idea. If so, then his acting skills were even better than mine.

Maybe some distant offspring? But why would he leave Gluttony if he had a powerful progenitor over there?

Admittedly, these haphazard theories of mine didn’t make much sense and I didn’t have the time to pursue a mere hunch. Plenty of demons shared a name and lived in the same dimension. That didn’t mean anything. But I couldn't help but feel like Sozzudon’s involvement meant something.

My daughter scoffed. “As I said, the triplets are looking after her. If she came up with a stupid idea, I doubt that she could hide it from them.”

“Yeah...” It was likely, but the triplets weren't the most reliable of my offspring. It wasn't so much about their ability to keep Isabella in check, but about them playing games of their own. “You may keep an eye on them when there is time? If only so that we don't throw wrenches into the gears of each other's plans.”

Succubi were a scheming sort by nature, relying on oaths and the Infernum’s judgement. If something could be gained through trickery, that path was almost always preferred over violence. Sadly, that was the reason why most of demon-kind looked down on us. There was rarely a demon who wasn't wary of a succubus – and they would be right to count their nuts once the day was over.

“Just... just tell them to do nothing stupid,” I concluded. “I am afraid that all my attention will be fixed on keeping Khorne in check.”

“It will work out,” Hellith affirmed. “Do not worry, Mother.”

I had to laugh. No matter how much my dearest daughter might wish for it, a single mother with forty-one squabbling offspring would always worry, always have her hands full, and always wonder when the next crisis would arrive.

A knock on the door interrupted my silent complaints about being a single parent. “Yes?”

The door opened and a grey-skinned succubus with white hair peeked into the room. “Mom, Hellith, I am sorry to disturb you, but there is a minor problem with Khorne's men.”

I groaned. “What is it, Diana?”

“It looks like one of them didn't make it through the night,” Diana replied guiltily.

Hellith sighed and whispered, “And so it begins.”

I frowned, surprised that our special guest had acted so soon after his arrival. Then again, there wasn't really a point to wait now that the storms had started. Or, this was an entirely different problem. “Did one of you get too excited? I swear to the Infernum if any of you offed one of Khorne's men after I explicitly told you not to-”

“It's nothing like that! The problem is that the victim never respawned.” Diana quickly interrupted me. “And the body, it doesn't even look like one of us did it. You have to take a look yourself. I have a bad feeling about this.”

***The Infernal Plane of Lust***

***Amon***

“Wait, wait!” I intervened before Jada could pull me off to a place only the Infernum knew. “I have to see the others first.”

“Aw, they are fine, I promise,” the succubus replied haughtily while she tried to pull me back into the castle.

Her innocent smile was affecting me, but it wasn't like Isabella hadn't tried that numerous times before her. So I put my feet down and didn’t move. “I still have to talk to them.”

She pouted when she realized that she couldn’t drag me away. “Fine, I wanted to see my Shaxy baby anyway. We saw to it that they got their private quarters in a separate area of the castle. Come with me.”

Pulling at my arm, Jada led me out of the courtyard and deeper into the castle. We followed the main corridor only for a few steps until she steered me into a side passage that led along a row of windows. Outside, the storm raged silently.

One narrow stairway later, I still didn't know enough about my new, somewhat surreal, situation, so I decided on some small talk. If I was caught for years in this place, then I might as well find out what made the various parties tick. “What is it about Shax that you like?”

Jada snorted good-naturedly. “What are you? His mother?”

“Just a concerned leader,” I hedged. The interview was already off to a bad start.

Jada rolled her eyes and flicked her tail to give me a swat on my backside, making me jump. “Amon, I can call you Amon right? Anyway, your concern for your friends is ad-”

“Minions,” I corrected, not wanting to look weak.

“Friends,” Jada insisted. “It is admirable. That is what I wanted to say when you interrupted me. But your worries are wholly unnecessary. I appreciate what you did for Shax, or I would have likely never met him. Though, you have also be to aware that even if you both met as imps, he has far more life experience than you do. Shax is several hundred years old. Which makes you not even an infant compared to him.”

She didn't have to put it like that! And the big brute was slow in the head, at least in some things, so the rest of us had to look out for him. “That stings.”

Jada petted my shoulder. “Be assured that I won't let any harm come to Shax. It's very rare for a succubus to find a male that can resist her charm and I won't let that chance go to waste. Do you know why succubi have such troubles with finding appropriate mates?”

“No?” I replied questioningly. Isa already told me of course, but it didn’t hurt to verify through another source.

“Because most males are weak. Everyone thinks that we intentionally suck our partners dry, life, souls, and all – which I admit is true nine times out of ten. But even if we restrain ourselves and do nothing because we genuinely like our partner, once we bond to someone, most become so addled in their brain that they end up handing us their souls of their own free will. And if you have ever paid with souls at a bar, you know that there is nothing to be done about that.”

I grunted in affirmation. A demon's soul well was like a magnet for souls. If a soul was shoved at us in an act of payment, there was literally no choice but to take it. That magnet thing was also likely the reason why the Infernum had no free souls floating around. The demons sucked up all the available ones. Whenever I was in a mortal realm I could sense souls floating around freely. Unfortunately, something about my demonic nature allowed me to take only souls that I somehow earned while I was summoned. Either through murder or contract, or some act of service had to be performed. There was no taking freebies even if I tried to.

Jada continued. “In any case. Just like you, Shax is someone who has the mental fortitude to not commit suicide because he falls head over heels for me. And for that I am thankful.” She giggled. “Especially because he has this ginormous thing that should normally be attached to a hors-”

“Nonono!” I covered my ears and tried to block out the memory of that one time when I had stumbled upon Jada and Shax doing it. Let's just say that I didn't want to know which shape-changing spell made their coupling even possible.

“Oh, is that a little inferiority complex which I can sense there?” She smiled and played with her hair, coiling it around a finger.

I was spared from giving her the answer because we reached the end of the passageway, which was a dead end. Though, it opened up a little bit wider to make room for a community area with a few tables and chairs. There was still the window front to our left and a few doors to our right.

Jada handed me a key and indicated a door with the marking 696. “Room 696 is yours. The next room down the corridor belongs to Uphir and Philomena. Then comes Kitia’s, Shax, and the room after that is Jebril’s.”

“Amon!” Jebril stood up from a table where she sat with Philomena and Uphir. “Thank the Infernum, you are alright.”

As much as I liked Jebril’s greeting, Uphir wasn’t so pleased about seeing me.

“Bastard!” The demon got up, quickly evading Philomena’s grasping hands. “What got into you to get us stuck in a succubus den?”

I frowned, feeling like my authority had been challenged. “I promise you that-”

He wasn’t done with his tirade and rudely interrupted me. “Promise all you want! You being our leader doesn’t excuse-”

I raised my hand and formed a half-open fist. Then I brought it down in an arc, summoning my staff at the last moment from the spacial pocket in my ring. Normally, there would have been no way for me to catch Uphir in a close combat situation. The man was a trained assassin and had some form of shadow magic, but the summoned weapon came totally out of nowhere from his point of view. One moment he saw me swinging my fist at empty air, the next, a staff made out of fae oak was right in his face.

Uphir went down with a broken nose and a few smashed teeth, causing Philomena to jump to her feet while her partner held his face.

It would heal, I told myself. But what would not heal would be the diminished respect if I lost control over my minions in this situation. Now more than ever I and my people had to present a united front.

“I understand that you may have gotten the impression that I am a lenient character after I declared all of you the next best thing to family, but don’t forget the path we took to get to this point. Or what I am capable of,” I growled. “I won’t tolerate such a tone with me.”

Then I dropped the hostile display and unsummoned my staff back into the pocket dimension. “As for my delay, it is unfortunate, but it is as it is. Making excuses wouldn’t change the situation. For the time being, all we can do is to keep vigilant while we spend the season as best as we can. I saw that the castle has a training area, meaning that we should meet up for at least a few hours each day to improve ourselves.”

Philomena and Jebril nodded in unison.

I looked down on Uphir. “Especially after you got caught unprepared like that.”

The demon got back to his feet and nodded, properly cowed by my reaction to his tantrum.

I nodded in return to assure them that the matter had been resolved, at least from my point of view. “Now that I have assured myself that at least you three are doing well enough to complain, where are Kitia and Shax?”

Jebril pointed at one of the doors. “Kitia is meditating in her room and Shax is…” She looked towards Jada. “Hiding somewhere.”

“Aw.” The succubus on my arm blew out her cheeks. “Where is the scoundrel?”

“He had us swear to the Infernum that we wouldn’t tell,” Philomena explained apologetically.

Jada huffed, but then she shrugged and grinned with confidence. “No matter. I will find him soon enough. There is no way for him to hide in my own home.” Then she returned her attention to me. “Happy now? Ready to take that tour?”

I sighed, knowing that there was probably no better way to get to know the whole castle. “Let’s go.”