I take a sip of the mogabii. “That’s right. Continue.”

“You, sir, took a moderate force to retaliate against the orcs who had attacked. After you returned, successful in your attack, you stripped Calius of his rank and his caste. He was then given the duty of… servicing the men, formally of his command.”

I chuckle. “Servicing. That’s cute. I turned Calius into a camp whore. I later loaned him to the pleasure houses to make money off him before eventually selling him.” I take my seat, taking another sip. “Keep that in mind when you return to the settlement, Commander. Not only will you be destroyed in whatever way I see fit, but I’ll profit from it. If you don’t want to be fucked by your men, then get these humans in line. They have no business harassing my soldiers.”

“Of course, General.” He bows.

“Consider this your warning. For me to hear of these pests undermining our dominance without also hearing of them being battered and sold, I should write a formal disciplinary report. We’ll leave it as a verbal warning but jump straight to your destruction if I receive any more.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Dismissed, Commander.”

Alistair backs away, still bowed at the waist. He turns and opens the door.

“One more thing, Commander.”

Alistair freezes in the open door.

My eyes narrow on him. “Since you know of my wrath, trust me when I say, I will find a way to out-do myself.”

Alistair nods and closes the door behind him.

As soon as the front door closes, the side door to my bedchambers opens. Dalia pokes her head through, but the lust and fire are replaced by fear.

“Did… Did you really mean that?” she asks.

I motion her to me, and she comes. “How much did you hear, you little spy?”

She grins as I pull her into my lap. “I heard just about all of it. Do you really need to be so harsh on humans? Can’t you just give them a little…” She swipes the air back and forth. “…smacking around?”

“Dalia, you should know better by now. There is a hierarchy of our world, and as much as I love you, I cannot alone change that. We will not harm those that will fall in line, and I try to be fair. I know it is hard, but I am just as stern with my dark elf servants. It is about order.”

She frowns and nods. Even with her previous admissions and vows, she still shows slight hints to her rebellious spirit. I’m glad for that. I love her fire and never want it extinguished, though I do want her to understand the true relation between humans and dark elves.

“Commander Alistair will handle it. You don’t need to think about it. You only need to focus on your duty to me.”

Her smile spreads and she leans into my chest. “I love performing my duties. I just think that… maybe if my kind knew your kind the way I know you… I think there wouldn’t be so much resistance. I find that I’m much happier now, submitting to you. I’m sure that more of the humans would be happier if they submitted, too. We just,” she shrugs. “Don’t know how good it can be.”

I chuckle and pull her chin in towards me, taking her lips with my own. Her moan urges me on, pulling her tighter and sliding my hand up her dress.

She pulls back, kissing my jaw for a moment before smiling up at me. “See? Like that.” She bites her lip when my fingers slide between her thighs, pushing past her wet lips. “Ohh. Etheron. I’m… I’m trying to talk.”

“I’m trying to fuck,” I whisper in her ear.

She giggles and moans as I keep working her over. “I’m… I’m just saying, humans respond better— Ugh! Fuck. We like this. We like rewards, not punishment. Ohh, Gods.”

I sit her up on the edge of my desk, my fingers still whetting her appetite for the main course. “Very few humans will be blessed as you have, Dalia.” I stand and she undoes my pants. “There’s too many things still in the way. And just because I love you doesn’t mean I’m sacrificing everything for a few rebellious humans. Those humans in the settlement are of very little concern to me, Dalia.”

My cock springs out and Dalia takes it into her mouth with a heavy moan. She sucks the head and strokes the shaft while gazing up at me. “It sounded important to you.”

The warmth of her mouth nearly steals my mind. I let the pleasure roll over me for a moment before regaining control. “The revenue the settlement will bring is important to me. I don’t care about any other human besides you.”

Her eyes slide to the side. “What about my family?”

“Dalia. Stop trying to make this personal.”

The fire returns as she glares up at me. She stands, defiance on her face but her hand still gripping my erection. “You don’t care about them.”