Viola Grace - Mask of the Overlord Read online

  Mask of the Overload

  was the largest telltale marker of her embarrassment. “I… Thank you.” Hellara left her chamber ahead of the dressers and six guards were waiting to escort her to the ballroom.

  They surrounded her and walked her from her chambers, past a number of unmarked doors, toward a well-lit atrium. “I thought we were going to the ballroom?”

  “Not yet. The Overlord wished to speak with you privately first.”

  She swallowed. “Ah.”

  The atrium was filled with flowers on one side and a throne filled the other. The throne was occupied by a masked Overlord proxy. As she approached, the guards fell behind and left her alone with him.

  “Hellara, thank you for coming. You look amazing.” He beckoned for her to approach.

  She made a careful curtsey and walked toward him. “I don’t understand why I am here.”

  “Because I wished you to be.” He got to his feet and met her halfway. “I wish to take you on a tour of the grounds.”

  He extended his hand and she placed hers on the back of his knuckles.

  She walked with him through endless wings of the house in silence. Finally she said, “this isn’t much of a tour.”

  He laughed. “I apologize, but I have something 13

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  to show you in the east wing.”

  “Fair enough. Why is the city unoccupied?” His lips tightened. “My folk are afraid that I will take their daughters, so once a year, all who can, leave.”

  She scowled. “What do you mean take?”

  “That is a discussion for another time. All you need to know is that there are only twelve women left here in the palace. The others were returned from where they originated.”

  A large metal door loomed at the end of the hallway. The Overlord walked up to it and placed a hand against it. “Behind this door is my body.

  Once a year for the last ten years, it has unlocked to allow a special woman inside. That woman will be able to free me from my mask and in doing so, she will free my people from the knowledge that they are ruled by Proxies.”

  Hellara nodded. Proxies were a limited range technology. A very strong signal needed to be sent to keep the mechanicals moving. If the Overlord was stuck, that meant he was ineffective as a representative for his people. They were crippled by his condition.

  “Why is your body in there?”

  “It began as a treatment for a genetically engineered virus, but it was later found to have been a ploy to lock me in stasis. The Proxies were offered by a nearby world and have been invaluable in my continuing to rule my people.

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  Those here in the palace are my most loyal servants.”

  She nodded. “So, I need only open the door and release you?”

  “As far as I know. No one has felt this right before.” He was going to continue but a gong sounded. “We need to get to the ballroom. It is about to begin again.”

  “Time moves funnily here.”

  He quirked his lips. “Not really, there is a naturally occurring chemical in the air that skews the perceptions. When you leave, you won’t know where you have been. It has kept other governments from destroying me while I have been otherwise occupied.”

  He led her back through the halls and into the ballroom. He separated from her and stood with the other proxies while the women filed in. True to his word, there were now only a dozen women.

  Each woman was wearing an outfit reminiscent of a brilliantly plumed bird. The men were wearing the same clothing as the day before, vests over tight trousers and a bejewelled belt.

  The dancing began again, this time Hellara did not manage to hide from the eyes that followed her every move. The proxy that she danced with held her far more closely than she had been held the day before. She widened her eyes in surprise at the erection that brushed against her with every shift in their balance and slide of their feet.

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  Her shoes were causing an ache she couldn’t ignore, so she begged off the next dance and wandered over to the buffet table again.

  Today a rich purple beverage was being served and the servants were most insistent that she take some. Each sip sent a hum through her veins in a most pleasurable manner. Warm, relaxed and enjoying a new pulse through her nerve endings, she returned to his arms and let him steer her around the dance floor once again. Her feet did not hurt, in fact her whole body felt wonderful.

  She looked up into the proxy’s eyes as they danced. He was looking at her intently as he pressed her hips to him in a repetitive manner. Her hips twisted against him, seeking further contact.

  Her lips parted and she slowly dragged her tongue over her lower lip. His eyes darkened and he pressed a kiss to her lips, right there on the dance floor.

  She surrendered completely to his embrace, revelling in the sensations rippling through her.

  She didn’t care about their audience, or the women who were whispering in shock, all she wanted was to wrap her fingers through the hair of the proxy in front of her and hold his lips to hers.

  He lifted her off her feet and walked with her, her arms looped around his neck and her mouth firmly involved in the kiss.

  He opened her chamber door and his hands worked at her ribbons and lacings until the gown 16

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  slid free and left her wearing nothing but her mask and the high heels.

  Nervous, she stood as he quickly stripped his body until he wore only his mask. The ripple of his abdomen drew her fingers and the jutting heat of his cock felt like an iron rod when she wrapped her hand around it.

  She stroked it with several slow motions, causing his eyes to close behind the mask. Finally, he opened his eyes and pushed her back onto the bed. He lifted her knees and spread them wide, lowering his head between them.

  He licked, bit, stroked and petted her until she was writhing on the bed with her hands fisted in the sheets. She bit her lip as she twisted to get more of his lapping tongue on her clit, but just as she was going to go over the edge, he stopped.

  She whimpered in desperation, but he moved over her and slid his cock into her in one long slow deliberate stroke.

  She sighed as he withdrew and surged back into her, setting a precedent that gained in speed and power until her knees were draped over his forearms and he was pounding into her.

  When she screamed her release, he paused in place. His body was giving him feedback but on its own, she had just had sex with a talking doll.

  Embarrassment claimed her and she covered her breasts, turning from his gaze.

  “Why are you doing that?”

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  “You are a proxy and can’t have your own orgasm, so this was simply to what? Expose that I am a slut?”

  He withdrew from her with a wet pop and quickly pulled her into his arms. “This body can’t find release, but my mind had no trouble at all. I simply enjoyed the sight of you in pleasure so much that I continued past my own release.”

  “Oh. I suppose that you will go now.” She was filled with dread and optimism.

  “No. I will stay with you throughout the night.

  Tomorrow they will try and stop you and you will have to fight to free me. You need your rest.” He cuddled her against him and hauled her to the bed.

  “I really don’t think I will be able to sleep.”

  “Then I will have no choice but to make love to you again until you are exhausted. It is your choice.”

  The heavy erection at the base of her spine let her know that he was serious. The true mind controlled the actions of the proxy, but also had access to the sensations that the artificial body felt.

  He would know if she made a move or didn’t sleep.

  Taking a deep breath, she lay still and tried to relax. After an hour, she attempted to ease herself free, but his hands held her tightly, rolling her to her stomach, then slidi
ng two fingers into her.

  She was ready in under two minutes, his teeth 18

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  on the back of her neck and shoulders causing a rush of moisture and an internal fluttering that he could feel. He was inside her in a moment, his weight pressing her into the sheets as she tried to lift back against him with each rocking thrust.

  She slid a hand between her body and the fabric, but he got to her clit before she did, circling with a rough motion that had her bucking back against him. She could hear her voice whimpering, “More.

  Harder,” but she ignored it in favour of enjoying the increasing tempo of his hips.

  She could hear as well as feel his skin slapping hers with every thrust. Not only would her channel ache later, but she suspected that her ass would look like it was paddled.

  Her breath sawed in her lungs, her taut nipples scraped the sheets and when he nipped her shoulder again, her body locked and a high whine came from her throat as she shook and he continued to pound into her.

  It went on forever, bursts of light behind her eyes, her body jumping and quivering with every slide of his cock inside her until he finally let her rest.

  Exhausted, she lay under him, trying to work her thoughts into a concentrated mass. “Why are you staying with me?”

  He licked her neck and inhaled deeply.

  “Because I wish to. Because if you are not the one, then this memory will have to last me another 19

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  year.”

  She tried to raise herself, but he kept her pinned, threading his fingers between hers on the mattress.

  “Are you making memories with the other women?”

  “No, they are on their way back to the spaceport. You are the only one left.” He rubbed his chest against her spine, like a great cat.

  She squirmed against him. “That doesn’t really make me feel better. What time is it?”

  “It is just after two in the morning.” She nodded. “When does the door open?”

  “Today.”

  She smiled with her head turned to one side.

  “Then why don’t I put on some clothing and try to get you out of there.”

  He levered off her. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She chuckled. “I know what you were thinking.

  Let me just freshen up and we can go and see if you are ready to be awoken.”

  He sat aside and let her head to the lav, a quick mist in the shower and she removed most of the sweat from her body. She wrapped herself in a towel while she moved around the room, looking for the hidden wardrobe where her nightgown was stored. “Aha.”

  She removed the gauzy silken gown and pulled it over her head, the elaborate mess of her hair still pinned in place.

  Hellara frowned and slipped on the 20

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  glass-heeled slippers she had worn to the ball.

  “Come on.”

  The Overlord had pulled on his pants and boots, but his belt and vest were still on the floor.

  He took her by the hand and led her through the dark halls. No guards were visible anywhere and she felt a tingle of awareness that she might be in danger.

  They moved in silence with the exception of her clicking heels. The door in the east wing loomed in front of them and sure enough, as she pressed against it, it gave way. She slipped inside, bringing the Overlord with her. With a burst of intuition, she pushed the door closed behind them.

  With the door closed, she turned to face the chamber of the true Overlord of Priznik and the Demnar sector.

  Wired in a restoration tank, he floated, weightless in a heavy fluid. The mask over his eyes was attached to a breather over his mouth, and she noted the flaring lights on the edge of the mask.

  “Come along, Hellara. Get me out of there.”

  “You have been in there a long time. This will take some doing.” She explored the control panel and looked at the medical readouts.

  He had been infected with a designer virus and the efforts of his staff had cured him temporarily, but it was a slow process that required another component. She swallowed as she realized that she was that component.

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  The Overlord needed Edinar blood, and Hellara was the only Edinar she knew.

  She looked at the man in the tank, and the proxy next to her. The choice she had to make was something she would deal with later. The extraction would take six hours to get him functioning again and in the meantime, she needed to prepare herself to give up her blood and possibly her life.

  Time ticked by and slowly, the fluids that kept the Overlord in stasis were replaced by blood and saline.

  She checked the tube in her own arm and winced. In another half hour, she might not be able to stay conscious.

  “Why are you doing that?” The proxy looked concerned, or at least his lips were twisted.

  “You need Edinar blood. I am Edinar. The blood is being filtered, but I am a very good match for you. You should be waking within the hour.” She swayed and he caught her.

  “You are very pale.”

  “I am a redhead, we are always pale.” Spots were swimming in front of her eyes. “Do me a favour and call my dad. He will be worried.” She dimly heard cursing as she was lowered to the floor. Darkness surged and flowed around her and then her father’s orange face was hovering over hers. “Ah, Hellara, what have you done?” 22

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  “Life will never be the same.” She smiled up at his face.

  Alfred Neering was a Nimlak who had legally adopted her after he bought her as a child. Her stepmother had sold her into what she hoped was a life of drudgery, but with Alfred, Hellara had flourished.

  Now he was holding her in his arms and tears formed in his eyes. “You did it, by the way. Your brothers are helping him out of the tank. He’s weak, but alive.”

  “Josu is the closest match if he needs more blood.” She drifted off but came to when her father shook her.

  “Why are you wearing that mask?”

  “He has to take it off, I can’t. Is keyed to him.” She yawned as he lifted her in his arms, the transfusion tube long gone.

  “Which one of the boys can help you?” She thought and then lost the thread. “What?”

  “Who is closest to you in blood?”

  “Lader. It will have to be filtered or his nanos will do something strange, but he is closest. Why?” Alfred rolled his eyes and called for his son.

  With her family there, Hellara had everything she needed so she relaxed.

  Dressers were working on her and her father was scowling. “This isn’t right.” The Overlord stood nearby and frowned as 23

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  well. “I would not do if it wasn’t necessary, but we have to do this together. How in the name of the gods did you get an Edinar?”

  “Her stepmother sold her ten years before the purge started. We declared her dead and I started travelling. I had no idea that they would all be destroyed.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you think that there are others?”

  “I have been looking for ten years. She is the first one I have seen.”

  Hellara struggled against the constriction of the dress. “I am right here you know, you don’t have to talk like I am unconscious or dead.” The Overlord took her hands and held her still when she would have slapped the dressers. “Be still, Hellara. We only have half an hour. I still need to walk you to the throne room.” She quieted and the dressers finished fussing with her. The Overlord set her on her feet and held her while she got her balance.

  She carefully moved and kissed her father’s weathered cheek. “Thank you, Dad. Thanks, guys.”

  Her brothers nodded and her father blushed.

  “Anything for you, dear heart. Now, go and shake the world.”

  She raised her eyebrows beneath her mask and took the Overlord’s extended hand. Together they walked the halls, but her family was at her back, weapons read
y. She didn’t understand the 24

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  weaponry until they walked into a cluster of guards.

  “With respect, Overlord, war has been declared.”

  “Not until after midnight. I have fifteen minutes to regain my throne.” The Overlord stood still, but he moved Hellara slightly behind him.

  “That is fifteen minutes you do not have.” The guard raised a weapon. “The Kelio pay much better.”

  In an instant, weapon fire filled the air. When the noise stopped, the guards were dead and her father and brothers were at her side.

  “Overlord, I don’t mean to rush you, but we should get going.” Alfred looked around and Josu took point.

  They moved without further incident to the doors of the throne room. The Overlord pressed his hand to the door and looked down at her, his eyes telling her to do the same.

  Bemused, she placed her hand over his and the door latch clicked at the same moment that another round of weapon fire occurred behind them. The Overlord pushed her into the throne room and to the central fixture in the room. The huge chair had a full set of controls on the arms and the Overlord quickly took his seat, leaning back and closing his eyes.

  A hum of power ran through the building and lights came on throughout the throne room. In the 25

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  courtyard through, the heavy blast proof glass, Hellara noticed the surface-to-air guns rising.

  She took a seat on the base of the dais as blasts from outside the throne room told her her family was still in danger. Ships started to fall out of the sky with echoing thuds.

  Needing something to do, she looked for any weapons or data ports. She found nothing.

  The Overlord of Priznik opened his eyes and reached behind his head, removing the mask that had participated in his stasis. It clattered to the floor and he scrubbed his face.