Harem Assassins : King Sekton's Harem Planet, Book 2: A Space Opera Harem Adventure Baron Sord (good books to read for adults .txt) 📖

Sirius sat up in bed, her diamond blue eyes bright and inquisitive. She said, “I’ll take the True Ring!”

“Quiet,” Oia said sternly.

I said, “Can you ladies wear these rings and have them work? I don’t even know.”

“It’s never been attempted with your True Ring,” Oia said.

Venus said, “But it sure is tempting.” Her bottomless brown eyes were glued to the rings.

Oia squeezed my wrist and stared into my eyes with her blazing blues, “Would you really give up your rings?”

“If it means not dying, yes. I don’t want to give you up, Oia, or you Venus, or you Cygna, but definitely you, Sirius.” I winked at her.

She rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself.

I said, “Anyway, I don’t care about these rings. Other than you ladies, they’ve brought me nothing but trouble.”

Oia was mystified.

Venus said, “Did I not tell you he was the perfect man to be our new King?”

Cygna said, “That’s what I said from the beginning.”

“We all did,” Oia agreed.

“I didn’t,” Sirius snorted. “I said we needed a warrior. Instead, we found ourselves a coward who wants to run away when he gets a little scratch.”

“A little scratch?” I snorted. “Coward?” I laughed. “That’s bullshit! Do you know how many times I risked my life for you ladies?”

“One too few,” Sirius said.

She had a point there.

“Point taken. But one of these times,” I said, “I’m going to get killed. It’s a statistical certainty. That’s a contradiction in terms, but you get the idea. Anyway, this is the most dangerous job in the universe, in case you haven’t noticed. My luck can’t hold out forever, and it seems like it ran out tonight. I’ve met my match with that dragon. It has powers I don’t. Risking my life is one thing. Walking into certain death is insanity.” I looked at the rings in my hand. “See these? Against that dragon? Useless.”

Oia said, “Those rings give you official power over the entire Zalaxian military, my king. Their global forces are yours to command. What dragon could possibly withstand the combined might of an entire Royal Army?”

“I’m just the acting king,” I countered.

“You hold the True Ring.”

Venus said, “Your coronation in the Royal Kingdom is almost an afterthought, my king. You may as well be king now. I see how everyone treats you.”

“True,” I said. “Wait, is that the whole truth? You ladies aren’t hiding anything from me like last time? You’re saying I’m effectively the king at this point? Not acting king? The real deal?”

They nodded their heads in unison.

“Yes,” Oia said, “As long as you hold the True Ring, you may as well be King of Zalaxia. No one else can be king without it.”

I closed my fingers around both rings.

My eyes grew distant.

Charging like armored black warhorses into my mind was a powerful memory of a very old cartoon adaptation of Tolkien’s Return of the King. Made by Rankin/Bass, the same company who brought the stop-motion “Animagic” version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to American television in 1964. Their 1977 animated version of The Hobbit and 1980 version of Return of the King were something I’d first seen on Netflix or hulu or something, back when those companies first started streaming and every movie studio was racing to put their content libraries online. I had almost skipped watching either cartoon because they looked so dated. But something about the 1970’s anime vibe and lavish watercolor backgrounds and the haunting songs sucked me into The Hobbit.

Next thing I knew, I was watching Return of the King.

It has this one part where Samwise considers using the One Ring to conquer the dark forces of Sauron, and transform all of Middle Earth to Sam’s liking. First time I saw it, that majestic sequence gave me chills. At one point, Sam dreams of being king. He imagines leading his own adoring army to the very gates of Sauron’s Dark Tower to destroy it. Drunk with power, Sam says, “I could claim you, ring! I would be Samwise the strong!”

One line from the solemn song playing during Sam’s fantasy swelled up in my mind now, the baritone voices of the all-male choir giving me chills once again.

Beware, oh bearer of the ring,

The final power has yet to be shown…

Oia said, “You have nothing to fear, my king.”

“What?” I looked up from my eerie reverie.

Venus said, “No dragon could ever hurt you, my king. Not while you hold the True Ring and by extension, the throne of Zalaxia and all the power that comes with it.”

Sirius said, “They’re right.”

“Stay,” said Cygna. “We need you.”

“I need you,” Oia said with sensual intent.

“We all do,” Venus purred.

“I don’t,” Sirius sneered.

“Not just the four of us,” Venus said. “I meant the rest of Zalaxia.” She made eye contact with me, her face sincere and sincerely gorgeous. “We need you, Tim. After you make Oia your first, and me your second, you will have so many women in your bed, you will forget Sirius and her annoying attitude.”

“The sooner the better,” Sirius sniffed.

Oia said to Venus, “Don’t say that.”

“No,” Sirius said. “Do say it. He was going to leave us a minute ago. He still might. The sooner he goes, the better.”

“He saved your life,” Oia pointed out.

“So?” Sirius said. “I saved his. We’re even.”

I glared at her, “Do you mean what you said? About wanting me gone?”

Sirius rolled her eyes. That was a maybe.

Oia said, “Please stay, Tim. We need you. I need you.”

“You may need to replace me as soon as tomorrow,” I snorted bitterly.

“No,” she said seriously. “That’s not what I meant. I… I…” She trailed off.

“You what?” I prompted.

“I…” Oia leaned over in bed and reached out to squeeze my wrist. Frowning, she said gravely, “I can’t replace you, Tim. Nobody can.”

“Sure you can. There’s a hundred thousand guys back on Earth more qualified than me.”

“No! Tim, I… I… I love you.” Even with her bruises, Oia was stunningly beautiful, the most attractive woman