A Conquest of Fire Ch. 01

********

The gurgling of a man drowning in his own blood was no pleasant sight, but Selena knew that war had a way of one-upping every horror, and by now she had built quite a tolerance.

She whispered an epitaph as she pulled her blade out of the dying soldier's backside and granted mercy, a quick downward stroke through the back of the head.

********

"Retreat!" she roared, mounting her horse.

********

Even the sight and smell of the occasional corpse could not douse the spirits of King Westin I of Galaterra as he watched his men chain up the last of the Haloran soldiers that had laid down their arms.

Focus, he berated himself, but the fire in his veins could not be quieted.It was not so much the victory itself that stirred him; no, countless triumphs on the field had come before this one, and if his optimism held, only one battle remained before he could deserve the moniker his people had eagerly bestowed upon him: the Redeemer King.

No, it was not the brilliant military strategist that howled in anticipation, but the primal male within.

He had caught a fleeting glimpse of her.

Lady Selena Blackburne- now Commander Blackburne of the former state of Haloras- was magnificent. He had bedded countless women, both in his domain and during the five long years of his reclamation- all beautiful, nearly all more-than-willing.

But she was something different entirely. Selena Blackburne was a vision on the battlefield, a tall, dark-haired warrior goddess with a womanly figure that even a full suit of armor could not conceal. And beneath that exquisite exterior lay a gifted leader and tactician who had met him blow for blow in numerous strategical bouts; despite its small size and population, Haloras had proven far more difficult than any other campaign in his quest. Perhaps more than anything else, her wild, willful spirit was an invitation, a defiant challenge among a sea of pliant, nubile conquests.

And now, two years since he had first laid eyes on the Lady of Haloras, she was his for the taking- in every imaginable way.

********

The usual clamor of men returning from battle was absent, replaced by a grim silence punctured only by the clanking of the city gate lifting and the occasional whinny of the horses.

Selena had not uttered a single word in the two-hour ride back to Kalath, the weight of defeat a sinking stone in her stomach.

The ambush had been a disaster from the outset; not thirty minutes from the moment she gave the order to spring the trap had her battle lines collapsed as the advance infantry and a significant portion of her cavalry that she had sent to flank the Galaterran force were intercepted at the lower Hidden Pass by two cavalry groups led by none other than King Westin Wyndemere himself.

Overall, though her forces had only suffered a few dozen casualties, hundreds more of her warriors were now prisoners of the Galaterran war machine.

And she harbored no illusions about their fate; while Westin I was surprisingly unlike his predecessors in sparing captured men, he was far worse in his treatment of women. Nearly a quarter of her infantry- as well as a good third of her cavalry- were female, and she had no doubt that every single one of them was currently naked and on her knees or back while being brutally violated by at least two Galaterran soldiers at a time letting loose the pent-up lust of battle.

She shook her head. It would not help to think of their suffering; all she could do now was to come up with the best course of action forward. Her father, along with four other Lords Paramount of Galaterra, had rebelled against the previous king, the decadent tyrant Theorin II Wyndemere, and won their ravaged lands a hard-fought freedom. And she would be damned before she saw her people trampled on by that monster's son.

********

Midday had already passed when the gates of Kalath finally came into view- but what awaited Westin could be described as nothing other than a shock.

A single large white flag draped over the wall.

An open gate.

An enraged Commander Selena Blackburne, chained by the wrists and held kneeling by one of her men - and completely nude.

"The city of Kalath surrenders, Your Grace," a silver-haired man declared.

"Who are you?"

"I am Soros Undin, Steward of Kalath, Your Grace," he replied in his even, smooth drone. "Proof of our sincerity."

The soldier holding Selena yanked the chain, and she grunted, forced to stand and bare her figure for all of Westin's men to view.

Immediate hoots and catcalls rose from his ranks, along with screams of whore and bitch.

Westin's blood boiled- the sight enraged him at the treachery of the Halorans toward their commander, a foe he had very much respected, but also admittedly aroused him. Lady Blackburne was a woman he had craved for so long, and now she stood prostrate before him, bare breasts swaying and head bent in shame.

He raised his left hand, instantly silencing his forces.

"We accept."

********

All Selena could do was wait.

She had expected to be handed over to his men right then and there and raped half a hundred times, or simply outright executed for her years of resistance. Yet King Westin had simply commanded her traitorous men to unchain her and cover her naked form, an unexpectedly courteous gesture from a man who led the most debauched army in the civilized world.

Now she was a prisoner in her own manor, her servants acting under his personal supervision. She had eaten a quick meal of bread and stew, bathed, and donned a fresh tunic and pants before being escorted to her bedroom by two Galaterran soldiers.

Thankfully, they had not inspected her or her room- a mistake, she thought, her fingers dancing over the tiny dagger concealed in her right boot prepared just for dire situations like this.

The large oak door opened without so much as a warning, giving her no time to conceal her expression of surprise.

She had been prepared for something along the lines of a party of soldiers led by some Galaterran official to force her to sign the surrender; never in a hundred years would she have expected this.

Standing before her was none other than the man who had plagued her and her country for two long years, dressed in nothing but a pair of trousers and carrying a rounded tourney sword in each hand.

He was young, at most a year or two older than her twenty years, and, as much as she loathed to admit it, the rumors her fellow noblewomen perpetuated were no exaggeration.

King Westin I was exceedingly attractive, his shirtless form exposing broad shoulders and a muscled torso earned from a half-decade spent on the front lines. Selena was tall for a woman, almost of a height with many of her male captains, but the king towered over her by more than half a head. High, angular cheekbones, dancing green eyes, and a mop of short blond hair gave him a youthful charm that contrasted heavily with his hard, battle-seasoned frame.

A jolt of recognition shook her; though she had never seen her enemy counterpart up close to her knowledge, a powerful sense of familiarity racked her brain.

"My lady," he stated as he extended his left arm, offering the practice sword in his hand.

"Pray tell, to what do I owe this pleasure, Your Majesty?" Selena gritted, hardly keeping the anger out of her voice, which drew a smirk from him.

"I had hoped we would cross swords once again on the field, but it seems that your men were twice as smart and half as honorable as I had expected."

Rage filled her as she recalled the betrayal of Undin and her captains, but then another thought hit her.

"Again? I don't recall our last encounter," she retorted. I would have run my sword clean through you on sight.

"You knocked me flat on the ground the last time, and I thought I'd try my luck evening the score," he grinned.

Then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit her.

It had been at the start of the war, when she was still a green girl of eighteen. The fall of Orth, a city near the Galaterran border second in value as a trading port only to Kalath itself, had caused hysteria among the Haloran nobility. . She had chosen to lead the scouting party to the outskirts of Orth herself, eager to earn the respect of her men and with nary a thought for the disapproval of her councilors.

They had gathered much of the information they sought- supply lines, army size, occupation methods- and begun the three-hour journey back to Yaravath when they encountered an enemy scouting party roughly the same size, two dozen men strong.

The battle had been particularly bloody and protracted; though the Galaterrans were more experienced warriors, her men were well-suited for forest combat, and she quickly joined the fray only to be singled out by two enemy riders who had chased her into a clearing, and with her horse tiring she had no choice but to turn and fight.

The older of the two had charged recklessly only to receive her sword, a staggering blow that dented his chest plate and knocked him clean off his mount. His partner, on the other hand, a handsome blond youth of no more than twenty, was far more skilled. It had come down to a duel on foot, and though her sword skill matched or even exceeded his, he was far larger and stronger, and eventually he had her sprawled on her back, her armor useless against an inevitable sword through the neck.

"What is your name, swordsman?" he had asked, only to be stunned into silence as she removed her helm, revealing her unmistakably feminine features.

"Selena Blackburne," she had replied before kicking his feet out from under him.

By the time the fight had truly ended, only she and three of her men were left of the Halorans; a dozen been slain and the rest taken prisoner by the superior Galaterran force that had only lost five men, and had it not been for the timely arrival of those three, she would have been taken as well- and all that ensued for a female soldier captured by the Galaterrans.

That night, she had dreamt of the battle, of the fate that she had so narrowly avoided.

She dreamt of the blond knight who had spared her, wearing a feral look on his boyish features as he carried her chained, defeated form back to his camp.

She dreamt of him on top of her, spearing her virginal body with his cock as his comrades watched and cheered.

Selena had awoken gasping, more aroused than she had ever been in her life.

She could not fall asleep again that night.

********

Selena Blackburne was furious, he realized.

She accepted the sword before immediately swinging viciously at Westin's head, but he parried effortlessly before returning a strike that she sidestepped.

"If you're concerned about alerting my guards, rest assured I've had everyone in this wing cleared out. If you win, I'll leave you to your rest," he heard himself offer, but he could barely concentrate on anything but the duel and the enchanting, lithe fighter before him.

She was an absolute vision, her black hair falling freely around her lovely pale face as she glared at him, chest heaving, both hands gripping her blade.

Yes, her body was made for this, he realized with an ever-increasing grin.

And made for something else.

********

The ringing of steel on steel filled her spacious bedroom as Selena advanced, thrusting her blade desperately.

But King Westin Wyndemere- the enemy she didn't know she had spared- was far better than he had been in their first encounter, and the horrible realization slowly dawned on her: her muscle fatigue from the long day of war was starting to show, and he was still holding back.

********

Westin's heartbeat pounded through him as he felt himself grin.

She was close and he knew it. Her movements, along with her breathing, had grown erratic and labored, a clear sign of exhaustion that he had learned to detect over the years.

Finally, the last mistake was made, a careless rightward stroke that left her off-balance, and he quickly capitalized, his sword knocking hers ten feet across the floor.

He lay down his own and took a step forward.

********

Selena could barely stand as he approached, his scent- salt with leather, soap with sweat- making her head swim.

She remembered her last resort, drew the dagger from her boot, and roared, slicing toward him.

He stepped back, but slightly too late; the blade had nicked his cheek, a faint line of red slowly appearing on his tanned skin.

Suddenly, his grin changed.

It was a look that she remembered- the primal expression from her dream.

Selena gasped.

Before she had time to react, his strong hand was already around her wrist, painfully twisting until she was forced to drop the dagger.

"You're mine now," he breathed before pressing her body into the wall behind.

********

Heat and blood rushed into his groin as he took in the sight before him.

Her face was flushed with anger and exertion, her onyx eyes boring hatefully into his as her slender jaw and full lips contorted into a sneer. Beneath her tunic, her bosom heaved with every breath.

Selena Blackburne, Lady Paramount of Kalath and Commander of the Haloran Army, was his prize-and she was his for the claiming at last. Her defiance had hardly deterred him; if anything, he craved it, the strength and danger she represented.

He picked up the dagger with one hand, still twisting her arm with the other.

"Kill me. Do it," she spat, eyeing the weapon.

"I'm not going to kill or hurt you, Selena," he whispered into her ear. "No, I've wanted you for so long. You have no idea how hard it was for me not to take you, chained up and in front of all of my men. You're going to be screaming for me by the time I'm done."

********

The king's words simultaneously chilled and ignited Selena.

Her worst fear had been confirmed; all the gallant gestures had only been a cover, and he had simply chosen to wait for the right moment before raping her.

She was an exotic beast to him, she realized, a wild and dangerous one, and he had wanted to savor the thrill of the hunt.

She dared not look at him, his handsome, masculine face pressed ever-so-close to hers.

Then he drove the dagger downward- cleaving straight through her tunic and breast bindings.

"Have you ever had a man before, Selena?"

She dared not reply.

"I'll take that as a no, then. Do you have any idea how good it'll feel when I'm inside you?" he growled.

A whimper escaped her, and she hated herself for it.

A strong hand tore open the laces of her pants, and she tried to buck and kick him away, but his legs were iron against hers.

********

Westin could not believe his fortune.

Selena was a virgin.

He would be the first to ever taste her womanhood- and if he had anything to say, he would be the last.

He would plunder her body, divest her of her innocence, and teach her the pleasure of a man.

He dragged her spent form to the spacious white bed, pinning her frontside to the bed as he stripped away the tattered bindings and tunic before tugging her pant leggings and boots off.

She was now nude once more, and he needed to see all of her, but he chided himself before he could flip her over. First he would give her a taste of what was to come.

She gasped, her previous efforts to stifle herself completely forgotten, when Westin pressed his still-covered cock against her thigh, pressing a light kiss against the nape of her neck and earning an angry moan. Then he divested himself of his own leggings and boots, and there was nothing left between them.

He grabbed her arm and she lashed out desperately with her other, but he caught it as well and pulled her entire body onto the bed before turning her over and exposing all of her to his eyes.

She was the loveliest woman he had ever seen- shoulder-length raven hair, dark eyes glazed with lust and hate, a set of full lips he would plunder soon enough.

Below that, her slender neck and large, full breasts topped with rosy peaks made his mouth water- contrasting beautifully with her toned arms and stomach, her abdominal muscles rippling with each breath. Most nobles preferred their women soft, nubile, even demure, but Westin had a taste for athleticism and strength of spirit, and her body was perfection to his eyes.

And finally, at the top of her firm, voluptuous thighs and rear was the crown- her glistening cunt hidden beneath a mop of black curls.

********

Selena could hardly breathe, her shame, lust, and exhaustion combining to override any desire to fight back.

Then she saw him, nude and unadorned before her.

His abdominals made a perfect V down to his groin, where it stood above a pair of sculpted muscular legs- his manhood, jutting proudly among golden curls.

She had seen men naked before as a commander and soldier herself, but never a man like this in a situation like this. He was a paragon of male beauty, she hated to admit, and the sight of his formidable cock sent a shiver down her spine.

He had promised that that would be inside her soon enough, and the thought both horrified and excited her.

After what seemed like an eternity, he moved.

Selena closed her eyes, not wanting to give him the knowledge of her willingness to view her own ravishment.

Then she felt it- one calloused hand under her face, caressing her gently, and a pair of warm lips pressed to her own.

She immediately bit him, drawing blood to the edge of his mouth, and a fleeting little spark of victory lit her core.

But it did nothing to deter him; his face was contorted in a feral grin.

A second hand trailed its way down her right side, stopping at her bosom. The king deftly palmed her breast, lightly rolling the nipple between his thumb and forefinger and sending a jolt of pleasure through her.

********

Westin could barely control himself as the woman of his dreams- his longtime opponent- let out a breathy moan as he continued to play with her luscious breasts. They were perfect, slightly too large to fit in a single handful, and softer than he had imagined.

He pounced, taking the other rosy nipple in his mouth while his free hand moved under her, massaging her lower back before grabbing her firm rear, and finally moving to the treasure between her legs.

Unlike the simpering camp girls who took great care to maintain their femininity, Selena did not shave herself, which only contributed to his arousal. She was dripping wet, the heady smell of her womanhood stirring his blood and causing his cock to throb almost painfully.

But he would not ruin this by penetrating her too quickly like the basest of his men took a captive or a whore; Westin did not enjoy sating his hunger unreciprocated. No, he intended to make the night the most pleasurable one of her life and desired nothing more than to hear her to scream his name and to come for him when he did finally fill her welcoming cunt with his seed.

********

The sensation of a single finger sliding against her womanhood made Selena tense, her abdomen contracting with every electric touch.

It entered her and she could not hold back a moan any longer, and soon a second finger made its way into her core, her body blindingly hurtling toward something that she could not describe as anything other than fire and joy.

She had never touched herself, not like this.

Then he moved downward, and his fingers pressed into the small nub atop her womanhood while his tongue took their place.