Part 27

Tribe after tribe, victory after victory, and far more of them bloodless than I ever could have imagined. I spoke to the guards and the shackles of duty that bound them were broken, and they allowed me to pass, even with my growing entourage of armed followers. I spoke to the people, and the bonds of societal norms, religious scripture, they shattered. My words caressed the ears of their chiefs, and all law was broken, save that of the Truth.

And the law of the Truth required only that you allow the Truth to be spoken, and to be heard. All other laws were common sense.

The army grew as we crossed the Great Plains, Shiss’kill and Naryssa at my side. Both had offered, but as of yet I’d had neither share my bed, much less both at the same time. Shiss’kill had suggested that once, a smile on her full lips, her delicate lower limbs wrapped around me, and I’d declined, my face a brilliant red. I wanted to, especially with the intoxicating musk of the demoness swirling around me, but ironically the shackles of restraint bound me still.

My words broke the external forces bending others to their will, but they did not do the same for me. That, I had to do on my own.

But how? It seemed an impossible task, to free myself from all expectation and do only as I desire. How then did you know which restraints you should apply to yourself? Surely a life completely unrestrained would be nothing but chaos…

I laughed aloud at the thought. Chaos. Shaking my head, I wondered how much of my adherence to tradition was foolhardy, and how much was productive. Was any of it worthwhile? Or was all of it artificial constraint that merely held me back?

“What’s so funny?” Shiss’kill asked, her eyes gazing at me. She was my height, even though I was mounted on a horse, and as always, I was astonished by the way something her size could seem dainty and petite.

“Just an error of logic that I might need to account for in the future.” I told her consideringly, my eyes sweeping over the delectable curves her scant armor and teasing cloth adornments only enhanced. “Perhaps I have been overly restrained.”

“Unbecoming a champion of Slaanesh, even if you worship all of the gods.” Shiss’kill nodded, her lips curling into a coy smile. “It is to be expected. You left the flock of the False Emperor little over a month ago now, and you were forced out. Unlike our friends here,” she gestured back at my growing army. “You do not have the benefit of a witch freeing your mind with a word or two.”

“My lovingly crafted speeches are hardly a word or two.” I protested.

“Yes, but they serve to sway as much as to free. The magic of your words would function with the merest whisper. The speeches, they are a magic altogether their own, and far more powerful.”

I grinned, remembering how I felt when standing before them. Heart thundering, pulse racing, my entire body electric. The slightest brush of my own hand in such a heightened state sent a thrill through my entire body. I often imagined what it would be like to have Naryssa’s hands, or Shiss’kill’s, on me in such a condition.

“Just say the word, milady.”

I started, glaring suspiciously at her. “Are you reading my thoughts you naughty girl?”

Shiss’kill snorted. “I am bound by you, and not unwillingly. I admit I occasionally dip into your surface thoughts and swim through them. There is quite a bit of delectable material there that you keep suppressed.”

“Not all fantasies are ones that should be enacted.”

“As I said, unbecoming a champion of Slaanesh.”

“Does reason not temper passion? Or anger? I cannot be all these things at once.” She sighed, trying to imagine keeping the respect of her army, and their allegiance, while indulging in the many delights of her dreams and waking thoughts. “I require focus, not indulgence.”

“You can have both. You will learn, in time. It is why the gods chose you. Not for who you are now, my darling little Katherine, but for who you will be.”

“And who will I be?” I demanded, affronted that my future was supposedly set. Like all mortals, I disliked to think my own fate was beyond my control.

Shiss’kill smiled wider, hunger, pride, admiration, but most startling, awe, in her gaze. “Passion that feeds on anger, shaped by reason and motivated by hope. Your hatred of the wrongs of this universe, your love for its delights, your hope for the future of all humanity, driven by will unmatched among mortals. You will become glorious, my lovely.”

“But only if you allow yourself to be.”