Chapter 686: A name worth cursing

Things had gotten bad in a way that Cass hadn’t expected.

The people who had been in charge of tailing Fiona and Ava had been eliminated. That wasn’t something that Cass had expected, and it only came to light after Gideon had sent his people to help Ava and Fiona.

Fiona had been aware that she was being tailed. Her instincts as a mercenary and a hero had told her as much, and since they hadn’t harmed her, she assumed that they were from Cass or Gideon.

A smart assumption on her part, and Cass was thankful to have some kind of conversation with her even if it was after Gideon’s people had sought her out for days.

They were fine, but Cass’ people? Fiona had no idea if it was demons or people who had a grudge against Cass who had taken them out. Or if they had a grudge against her.

She just knew that all of the difficult things came one after another once they had disappeared. The dungeon, the attack and betrayal of the others, and then the camp.

Ava let Fiona know that the people they had been traveling with and who betrayed them were not demons, at least, they were humans through and through.

They were monsters for sure.

They reiterated that they were fine several times. They were happy for the trustworthy companions, and people who knew who they were. Ava was doing fine, Fiona was doing fine, and they then asked how everyone else was doing.

Cass wasn’t even sure how to begin when they asked. They were doing well. Cass was...changing, but he was at home, in the comfort of everything and everyone who cared about him. The problem was that the people around him were not doing well.

They were being targeted because they couldn’t get to Cass. That annoyed him and angered him, but he wasn’t almost losing his arm or being attacked like Fiona and Ava were.

So he told them that they were doing well. They were just starting to get the ball moving for the legalization of same sex marriage. It was going to take some time, but they were starting on it now. Cass did say that his health was getting better, and that he was going to tear up the contract with Gideon.

That didn’t seem to surprise Fiona, and that almost annoyed Cass. She expected that he would easily fold? That he would go back on the contract? He wanted to demand why she felt that way, but because the way they were speaking to each other was so confusing, he couldn’t.

She had already sent other questions that needed to be answered by the others. Clarifying, asking about what their plans were, that kind of stuff. Cass begrudgingly answered her before they had to end the connection.

They couldn’t talk like this for long. It put strain on Edgar and Cass, and it could be dangerous for them if someone overheard them.

They didn’t talk in detail, just broad strokes, and Cass was glad it seemed that Fiona understood how dangerous this was for them. Not that she hadn’t before, but it was more obvious now.

When the call ended, Edgar was exhausted, slumped over and Gideon was gladly accepting a goblet of wine from Ember. Cass was sitting in his own office chair, huffing as his own bones felt like they didn’t exist. He was wobbly, weak, and Lucian stood over the two mages.

"Glad we got that sorted." Lucian murmured. "Now they know they aren’t alone, we have a plan, and that they can do what they want and we’ll support them." Lucian was right. It was a good thing, even if it put more weight on his shoulders.

"Let’s hope they string up the next set of idiots who try to harm them." Cass muttered and Lucian snorted.

"Only string up? Cass, that’s our wife. She needs to take their entrails and decorate the tree if she wants to be accepted back into the den." Lucian said. Cass couldn’t help the dry laugh that left his lips.

"Right. How could I be so foolish." Cass joked and Gideon chuckled.

"She needs to provide nutrients for the trees to grow, right? Isn’t that what you encourage, Cass?" Gideon asked. Cass almost felt foolish that he hadn’t brought it up. She should do that, of course.

While their joking and worrying was important, there were still some major issues before them.

The first was the bribing. Cass could do it from his home, but it would be easier and faster if he was back in the capital. That brought up another problem.

Cass’ body and everything that entailed.

He needed to talk to his doctor and find out if overfeeding would help him manifest faster. He’d had time before, but his heat was coming up, he needed to be in person to negotiate a lot of the things he needed to do, and coming in with a fat ass, heart eyes and a face that could beguile any man wouldn’t help him.

Not being scary, at least. He needed to terrify these people, and having breedable hips didn’t terrify anyone.

So, once the interaction with Fiona was over, Cass called for the doctor again. He needed to know, and while Gideon and the others prepared for everything coming up in their own way, Cass prepared in his.

~

When the doctor showed up, they had a rather sour look on their face. As if they already knew what Cass was going to ask of them and they already didn’t like the answer. Cass could do nothing about that, all he could do was welcome them into his office.

Gideon and Edgar sat on one side, Lucian beside Cass, and the doctor had been brought a seat at the edge of the coffee table since that was where they set up their tools.

"What seems to be bothering you, my lord?" The doctor asked, pulling back their food and revealing their antlers. Cass stared at them for a moment before he spoke.

He explained some of what he had to do. The pushing of laws, being around nobles, those kinds of things he asked the doctor to check on his current state, see how he was doing, and he also asked about how they could speed up the process.

Cass’ expression was grim when he said lots of lives were on the line. When the doctor met his gaze, it was clear that they believed him.

However...

"Healing can’t be rushed." They said softly. "I can check your body, see your current state, and give you a rough estimate. You can’t be mad at me if it isn’t what you want to hear, my lord. Your body has been unhealthy for a while and sometimes during the healing journey, you plateau. It’s normal, and in your case, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner." They hesitated. "But your heats are times for you to absorb massive amounts of healthy nutrients for your body to grow."

The doctor stared at Cass and Cass stared at them. Their eyes darted around, then landed on the three men around Cass.

"Forgive me for being so forward, my lord, but do your husbands use both the new and the old entrance?" Cass felt his face go bright red. He heard Edgar gasp slightly, while Lucian reached for Cass’ hand and squeezed it.

Cass could feel his heartbeat in his ears, and the doctor watched as he remained silent and the doctor stared at him with concern.

"My lord? I’m not trying to pry for foolish reasons, I’m trying to get a grasp of how you are fed." They said softly and Cass sucked in a breath finally. He nodded, aware, but the words wouldn’t leave his lips.

"We haven’t inserted our penises inside of Cass there, no." Lucian wasn’t gruff as he said it, his voice soft like he was aware that saying it any louder might upset Cass more. The doctor nodded.

"Thank you for saying that." They said before staring at Cass for a long, silent moment. "My lord, might I examine you again? Just to see how you’ve developed below?" Cass closed his eyes. Fuck.

"Like he’s some kind of freak? Isn’t that too cruel?" Edgar piped up. "Cass is just Cass. He doesn’t-"

"Eddie." Gideon cut him off softly. "That’s not what the doctor is saying. They are trying to help us speed up Cass’ recovery. I’m sure Cass feels uncomfortable, just as much as the Doctor does, but this is necessary. You can hold his hand while the doctor checks on him, but the doctor doesn’t want to hurt Cass at all." The doctor nodded, their eyes strong in their belief.

"Thank you for saying so. I understand how strange this might be. I need to know before I can offer any advice. If you are only feeding from two of three holes...maybe you need to be fed from the third to speed up recovery." Cass sucked in.

He couldn’t stop the words, shaky as they were, from leaving his mouth.

"B-But pregnancy-!" Cass slapped a hand over his mouth, aware that Ember was still in the room. The doctor’s expression softened.

"I can check to see if that development is possible, and if you are worried, I can prescribe some medication to help prevent it." The doctor reached out slowly and placed a hand on Cass’ knee. "I can understand your hesitancy, but I promise, I am good at my job. Surprisingly, you came to the right doctor right off the bat. I deal with all kinds of clients and while you are my first as you are, I’ve dealt with other issues. There is the fact that you are primarily a fairy, so unless there is a nursery tree around, it shouldn’t be a concern." Cass blinked, then turned his gaze towards the pot near the window.

The doctor’s eyes followed Cass’, and when Cass looked back at them their eyes were wide, shocked.

"It’s still a baby." Cass whispered and the doctor nodded. They let out a shaky breath, but patted Cass’ knee.

"No worries then, we’ll make sure that all kinds of contraceptives are available." They said. "Would you like to be examined here, or the bedroom?" Cass let out a shaky breath.

"Bedroom, please." It wasn’t anything of what Cass wanted to hear, and it felt like it was playing into the demon king’s desires, but what could Cass do? He kind of needed to to get out of this shitty situation. He had signed a contract to change his body, and now he had to finish that.

A couple decades late, but that felt like nothing to the demon king.

He cursed his grandfather’s name the whole way to the bedroom.