The dragon's harem

Everything has settled down. Arad returned to Alina and decided to spend a few days with his wives before venturing forth to the last place he wanted to visit in the mortal world before leaving.

The first day was slow, and he was sitting on the couch in the living room, having nothing better to do than read a book. So why was he locked here? Isdis was the answer.

When Arad was fighting Calorin, Isdis went through his stomach to meet the Metallic Queen for further political discussion. It was mostly boring talk that Arad had no interest in, or at least wasn’t something that needed his attention. As all of his wives agreed, Arad’s role as an emperor was to deal with existential threats beyond human comprehension.

He leaned back on the couch and lifted a tea mug using gravity magic, getting it close to his hand. The mug looked like a tiny cup between his massive fingers, which made the maid standing beside him reach to the boiling pot of tea to give him a refill.

Many things were going through his mind. For example, what Isdis found in the Metallic Queen’s private quarters.

As expected, most political talks happened inside the protected confines of the Queen’s quarters, where Isdis managed to get a glimpse at the Queen’s living conditions.

Isdis wasn’t shocked by the architecture, expensive and rare furniture, or magical items. What puzzled her was that inside the Metallic Queen’s room, she found the Chromatic Queen and the two Tiamats there, in their casual clothes, playing a game of cards.

While the Chromatic and Metallic dragons fought each other in a never-ending war of ideals and morals.

The rumor about their queens being in bed together was true. Even the two Tiamats were involved. It was all a hoax to keep the dragons fighting each other and maintain low population numbers, so they won’t overwhelm the world’s ecosystem.

To the entire dragon kind, this seems to be forbidden knowledge. Dragons are always scheming and plotting, and to the queens, that seems to be about sustaining an endless war-fueled economy to gain wealth, maintain stability and control, and make sure the dragons don’t get out of hand.

So why was Isdis let on the secret? Why did the Queens show her the reality of the mortal world and dragonkind? The answer was far simpler than she ever expected.

Dragons are a powerful and dangerous race. Isdis now has two thousand of them living inside Arad’s stomach, half-Chromatic and half-Metallic. Someone must maintain balance. With those huge numbers, fights aren’t a possibility, but a reality that will start happening soon.

As the two queens presented her with several plans, Isdis listened in silence before speaking up, asking why this was even needed. The dragons there will remain under Arad’s will and control.

The answer she got was scary. One of the two Tiamats pointed at her, formed a rose of ice, and spoke. “What Gamond did will repeat itself. One dragon would grow too powerful and wipe out all life in search of domination.”

By the time Isdis was talking with the queens, Arad had already sent the Metallic drakainas into the world inside his stomach. A fight had already happened, a territorial dispute. If Isdis doesn’t act fast, the dragons will fight each other anyway and destroy everything as collateral damage.

But that wasn’t the only extent of harrowing secrets the gods kept hidden away from mortals. For a fact, most gods are working together, trying to balance the lives of untold billions of mortals and the cost of the war against the abominations.

With Arad soon going on a trip to save the worlds that fell under the abominations’ rule, Isdis and all of his wives are going to be the literal gods of his inner world, the place where all the refugees would end.

Tiamat explained it strangely, telling Isdis that she and the other wives are the gods of the people living inside Arad’s world, and that Arad himself is their overgod, the one existence that gods worship.

Isdis took it as a simple metaphor, but the Queens knew what they were doing. They needed to condition Arad well, to make sure he knows how to play the role of an overgod for the future.

In the end, it was all to make sure Arad doesn’t crumble under the weight of his own power when the day comes.

Right now, Isdis started trying to understand the Queen’s plan. It was simple, dragons loved to fight, so she must give them a reason to fight, a reason that makes the result of their clash a collective benefit.

In the mortal world, the dragons’ clash results in them hurting and bullying humanoids less, protecting the world, and helping the spirits achieve balance by acting as pillars of countless ecosystems.

A red dragon can turn an active volcano into its lair, effectively preventing it from erupting randomly. The area around the volcano would then thrive, forests would grow, and both animals and monsters would flock to live there.

The countless worlds are constantly heating up, all of them. The only thing preventing them from turning into scorching deserts is the white dragons building glaciers to live in.

But those dragons are deadly and dangerous. The only thing standing between a red dragon and enslaving a whole city for its own pleasure and fun is a metallic dragon living as a beggar somewhere in its streets.

Metallic dragons aren’t good either; if they were allowed, they would’ve already locked humanoids in safe wildlife sanctuaries and reserves.

Dragons aren’t the humanoids’ friends, and Isdis had to learn that directly from the queens.

Chromatic dragons see humanoids as cattle, cows, horses, and sheep to be used for food and labour. Metallic dragons see humanoids as cute pets, beautiful animals that are too dumb to think for themselves and must be protected, kept safe, and locked away from the Chromatic’s abuse.

Managing a world was far more complicated than just one kingdom of humans. Isdis and Arad’s other wives had to juggle countless races, each with their own harrowing powers and ideals, all of which would clash on Arad’s world, threatening to turn it into a boiling battlefield.

Using the draconic Queens’ help, Isdis came up with a simple plan that could be expanded later. She would give each of Arad’s wives a role to fulfil and act as the shackles on those who live inside Arad’s world.

Eris would be a divine goddess worshipped by most.

Aella would take a seat alongside Zephyr and rule the air, standing above everyone as a divine spirit queen. Follow current novels on novel⁂fire.net

Mira would take her divine throne over craft and weapons, making her another goddess beside Eris.

Every one of Arad’s wives would take her place and look like a distant star to the mundane people. They shouldn’t look like normal Queens, but divine beings, and be treated with both fear and respect.

Isdis soon left the Metallic Queen’s private quarters and returned to Alina’s castle; her head was full, and she felt more tired than on any other day.

Heading to her room, she walked past some maids who greeted her. She looked at them, thinking about the future. Those two maids served Eris; they were responsible for keeping her room clean and well decorated.

They are humans, perfectly normal and mundane beings with no power, not even magic. They couldn’t fight a rooster, let alone anything bigger. But, around them were thin and invisible threads of divine magic.

They were the servants of a divine goddess of murder, a sun drakaina with enough power and influence to stand above the world. Inside Arad’s world, Eris was the literal sun rising each day to bless those who live there with warmth and light.

They must create a stable structure, a hierarchy of command that allows for quick and efficient response to any problem. The maids here are trustworthy, but none of them should be able to just walk to Arad or Eris and get them to blow a kingdom to ash.

It was then that Isdis decided to put a few things in order.

Wives answer to Arad directly.

Concubines answer to the wives.

Mistresses answer to the concubines.

Maids answer to the Mistresses.

Servants answer to the maids.

If one of Eris’s maids wanted something serious dealt with, they must first find someone like Lucia, who would then go and tell Zia, who would then find Eris.

At first, this would cost time, but it’ll prevent maids from just pulling on the strings of the wives and possibly wasting their time.

Of course, the maid could still skip all of that and ask Eris directly if she thinks the matter is urgent enough. Maids who make good use of that can even get promoted if they want to.