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Despite having won the mind and loyalty of Konie, however, there was one more thing that needed to be done before they could actually move on. It wasn't until morning that Lorenus remembered what it was, either, and he groaned as he slithered out of bed and onto his jackal's shoulders when it finally occurred to him.

He owned the lions and the skunks, but they hadn't had an official ceasefire yet. They were currently working under the idea of a long-term parley between the pair of them and nothing more, and if some ambitious skunk displaced Konie, or if there was a male in the lions that managed to take the current leader's place, then there was every reason that the conflict could flare up again. If he didn't get something signed, then he wouldn't have the chance to move on, and he'd constantly be watching his back to make sure that someone didn't do something stupid while he wasn't working.

"Sssstupid little technicalitiessss."

Still, it had to be handled, and that meant a formal agreement before they did _anything_else.

The more that he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Everything that he did was supposed to push through his enemies and gain him more allies as fast as possible, but every time that he managed to solve one problem, it revealed something else that needed solving before he could move on. So far, he was still on schedule, but only barely, and there was still the chance that he might miss the column that was coming up through the tribal lands if he didn't pick up the pace. Losing a day now to get the treaty signed would have been unacceptable if it wasn't for the fact that the consequences of skipping over it were far greater.

He was getting rather sick of the whole 'far greater consequences' problem. He'd prefer something that was just a choice of one consequence or the other, and both being rather equal in scope.

"Come, perch...let ussss ssssee to them."

Controlling the jackal with twitches of his tail, he led him out of the tent and back to the meeting place. The lions and skunks were already there, both sides completely under his control, though neither of them seemed entirely aware of it at the time. They turned to him as he entered, and while a casual observer might have thought that they were just offering him the attention of a guest, there was something of submission in their eyes, and it was clear that they weren't entirely there any longer.

Lorenus settled at the side of the room, allowing them to talk, but every so often, he would fix his eyes with either Konie the skunk or Jahari the lion, and when he did, his eyes would flash. A jump from his world to the mental world, something that lasted no more than a second in the eyes of anyone else, but always long enough to leave behind another command.

Give him this.

_Offer that. _

_Do this. _

_Do this thing. _

Make this happen.

And so it went, giving the pair of them the instructions to actually craft a worthwhile peace treaty. Lorenus gave it strict attention, drawing on all the lessons of politics and history that his father had forced him to learn before his banishment to make sure that it was a treaty as punitive to those that broke it as it was beneficial to those that kept it. He wanted to make sure that there was no chance in hell that anyone would think that it would be a good idea to break the peace, even those that thought that it might be to the benefit of their particular tribe.

It could have been done in two hours if he'd had access to their minds one after the other, but it was better to let them think that they had negotiated the whole thing on their own rather than under the instructions of someone else. He let them have that, and he wasted nearly eight hours in the process.

But the treaty was written, and that meant that the lions and skunks were bound together. It wasn't much, but it was one less thing that he had to worry about.

He made sure to leave one more rule - one that required that their orgasms only occur at the permission of the other tribe or himself - before giving Jelani a little nudge. The jackal got back to his feet, and the leaders of the two sides barely gave him a nod before he was on the move again, heading back to something far more engaging.

The Old Hump met him outside of the tent, as he had half-expected. The camel shook his head.

"They're at peace, then. Or at least, they think they are."

"It issss the ssssame, isss it not?"

"Close enough for politics."

"You almosssst sssssound petulant, Old Hump."

"I'm making sure that nothing comes apart. That's all. Treaty?"

The naga chuckled, pulling out a copy that he had Jelani write while the negotiations were going on. The aged camel took the parchment and started flicking through it, eyes narrowed as if he was sure that he might find a mistake. Considering that the Old Hump had been an advisor and a teacher for so long, Lorenus supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised. The camel had seen him at his worst as well as at his best, so failures were probably more expected there than they were anywhere else.

But there were no mistakes. He had made sure of that.

Eventually, the Old Hump handed the pages back, shaking his head. No complaints, which meant that there was nothing wrong with it, but no compliments, either. Lorenus chuckled.

"Sssssomething the matter, Old Hump?"

"It relies on your hypnosis."

"Not at all. Merely their sssself-interessst."

After all, if they were that concerned about freedom, anything that he put down could be broken, but if he put down that the consequences of breaking the treaty would all but beggar a country, it was certainly something that would encourage them to keep from lashing out or starting something. Particularly when the net beneficiary wasn't necessarily either the skunks or the lions, but rather his own empire.

He was, after all, a concerned third party that wanted to make sure that his investment in the peace went well. He deserved a good cut of those penalties.

Self-interest, pride, and a hefty helping of knowing that they were going to merely strengthen their southern neighbor if they started fighting would keep those two tribes in line. Even those that weren't hypnotized would know better, and those that were would keep those ones in line.

"Now, if you excussse me, I have pleassssuressss to attend to."

"More time with the orcas?"

"They_are_ mosssst unique, you mussst admit."

"They are something."

"Why musssst you dissssapprove of everything?"

"I have less urges than you do. And you've already lost yourself in something before. I don't want you to come this close and lose anything more."

"Remember who'ssss taken us thissss far, Old Hump. I make lesssss misssstakessss than mosssst, and lessss sssevere onesss too."

"...I try, master."

"Try harder."

It was, perhaps, more than he needed to say to someone that had been so loyal to him for so long, but he was wearying of this. The Old Hump was cautious to a fault, and while that had stood them in good stead in his homeland when they were sneaking around his father and when they were the underdog guests of the old Emperor of the Sizwe, it didn't matter now. Now, they had to be bold, decisive, striking quickly and moving swifter through their opponents before they could be caught out and pushed back.

They could not afford to act like they used to. They had to adapt and be better.

"Dissssssmisssssed."

The hissed-out word was sufficient to send the camel back to one of the other tents, and the Emperor directed his mobile perch towards the care-tent that the orcas were in. He expected to be overwhelmed with the smell of cock and cum, and he wasn't disappointed as he pushed into the tent in question.

As the initial wave of old cum and musk scents faded, a fresh one followed as the stabled-up orcas arched their backs, thrusting off the ground and spilling their seed through the air with a whispered word. Not from him, however, but from the lion shaman, Yukeci. Lorenus leaned over the shoulders of his perch as he looked at the slightly older lion from across the tent, watching as the maned male leaned over one of the orcas, working his magic on the wounds that they still had. A glance across the rest of the orcas proved that the shaman had been quite busy, and more, that his magic had been quite effective at healing the various wounds that the drugged-out soldiers had suffered during the campaign thus far.

"Your magic workssss wondersss," the snake said.

"They were injured badly. And for the sake of my people."

"You are generoussss assss well. Truly an assssset to your people."

"I care for those that help us."

Lorenus heard the coded meaning in that, and he chuckled, hissing through his fangs. He supposed that might have been a threat at some point, but he was riding a high that he felt would continue for some time. No reason to be that concerned right at the moment, particularly when the lion was doing what he needed him to do, and when he was already planning on ensuring that his 'care' for both species continued well into the future.

After all, once he defeated his father and the power of the Snake Lands, he needed to exceed his old man. Sure, he could do that by ruling both the desert and the Sizwe Empire, but where was the fun in that when he could have everything?

Of course, he wouldn't be letting them know that. Not until everything was over and done with. Not until they were all bound in chains so subtle that they would never know that they were captured until it was too late.

Slithering off the jackal's shoulders, he landed on the ground and made his way to the kneeling lion. The orca beneath the feline was panting, huffing, big dick slapping and squirming against his stomach and oozing all the more. Lorenus lifted it and Yukeci nodded his thanks, running a finger against the scratches and remaining wounds along the orca's middle. The muscular warrior seemed unbothered by them, but the naga knew that such things could rapidly sour in the desert, becoming infected and dangerous to not just the one that carried the injury.

"They're recovering?" he asked.

"Quickly, even more than my magic can account for," Yukeci said with a shake of his head. "I would have thought that they would be finished, half of them. The others might have taken weeks to fully recover, but I think that they will be ready to march within a few days."

"I need it ssssooner."

"They will not be ready sooner. Anything that you have planned, you'll have to find another way to do it."

"Have to...or sssshould do?" Lorenus asked.

"Have to," Yukeci said. "If I use my magic, I don't know what that will do. I may be able to heal them completely -"

"I sssshould demand you do."

"But that might do something to them."

"...Ssssuch assss?"

"Such as leaving them completely catatonic. Or taking away the drugged nature that they're currently in, obedient as they are. Or any number of other things that might make them less useful to you."

Hissing to himself, he looked down at the orca again, weighing his options. It would be good to have them completely in his control for the trip to the merchants and craftsman tribes - something that he knew that Ano would fight him over, the Old Hump be damned - but at the same time...

They're useful. They stormed this place in a way that no other soldier could have. I can't just replace that.

It irked him, galled him, even, but the lion was right. He'd have to find another way forward, and another way to get what he wanted. The orcas would be given those few extra days to recover.

Except for one.

Looking around the tent, he pointed to the orca that was most recovered. Yukeci glanced back at him as well, then back at the naga.

"You insist?"

"I do. Tesssst it on that one, and we'll sssssee what happensss."

"..."

"That issss an order."

"Yes, master."

The shaman got to his feet and took the orca in question to a private place. With that taken care of, Lorenus turned to the remaining orcas. A slow smile crossed his face as he looked over the various muscular, powerful, sweaty soldiers, and one word came to his lips.

"Cum."

And as they moaned, they added yet another layer of seed to the earth below.

The End