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Rat Rebellion

Chapter 13

By Draconicon

The servant-slaves of the manor had no eyes for him, nor any attention for the vixen carrying him along. Whether rat or low-ranking fox, neither looked at his heaving frame as Aeliana dragged him through the halls. Even the vixen herself didn't look at him as she pulled him forward, her eyes on the halls ahead rather than on him.

It wasn't surprising. He was a damaged rat, his back marked with stripe after stripe from the whip, his chest sliced and cut by knives, and the same marks adorned his hands and his feet. His ass had been all but ripped open by the torture implements that they had put to use on him, and he could not stand on his own. The scabs were probably disgusting through his fur, so who was he to blame anyone for not being able to stomach the sight of him?

The rat lowered his head, grunting as he tried to put his feet under him. The cuts on his feet burned, and he stumbled. Aeliana caught him, but he waved her off, forcing himself to stand despite the pain.

"I will not..." He growled. "I will not meet her broken like this."

"You can walk?"

"I can try."

"You'll fall again."

"If I do...I do."

But he wouldn't walk into Cassia's room in the arms of another. That hateful woman, that bitch, was not going to have the chance to mock him even further than she already had. He took a step and almost fell flat on his face, but managed to catch himself against the wall and take another. And then another, and another, and the pain fell to the back of his mind, leaving him focused on the future instead.

They reached her chambers, and thankfully, found her still getting ready to face the day. The high-born vixen turned as the door opened, and her lips peeled back in a sneer.

"So, the monster was punished," she said.

"I was tortured."

"You deserve it."

"..."

"Why did you bring one of your betters, hmm?" Cassia said, gesturing to the vixen bodyguard entering behind him. "Were you planning on tormenting me while she watched? Getting off on the chance to show off what a monster you are?"

He shook his head.

"No? Then I guess you just want to show off your conquest. Has he told you what he did?" Cassia asked, looking over his shoulder and laughing. "This rat, this brute, came to me and raped me. Changed me. Just like he did you, I expect."

Aeliana didn't say a word. Perhaps there was something else going through her mind. Perhaps she had some respect. He didn't know. He didn't care anymore. Anastus walked past the ranting vixen, sitting at the foot of her bed.

"I'm not here to show off...or fight..."

"Well, that is a pity, because I am not in the mood to listen to you. Oh, wait. That doesn't matter. You would force anyone to do anything you wanted, monster, because that is what you are. A rat will always be a rat, no matter what you do for them."

He was too tired to be diplomatic, and was in too much pain to want to fight. Instead, he looked her in the eye.

"You are going to do what you're told anyway. Why do you need to rip me down like this?"

"Because you're a rat. And you should never, ever have this power."

"Why?"

"Because you are a rat. The only ones that can be trusted with it are my people."

A soft gasp. Not much, but something. Aeliana had heard that, at least. Anastus sighed.

"So you don't care. Not about the power, not about the 'monstrous' things I've done to you. All that matters was that it was a rat doing it instead of one of you."

"You deserve it. We don't."

"And I deserved all this? All that I had...when I tried to make things better?"

"You did not make things better for me. You had my husband killed -"

"I never tried to have him killed. And I punished the one that killed him."

Cassia shrugged, clearly uncaring. Shaking his head, he nodded at her clothes.

"Get dressed. You have a task this morning."

"Hmmph."

Yet, as much as she complained, she began the process of putting on her clothes. A simple, if rich, dress was the main thing to wear, and she pulled her perfectly-groomed tail through the back of it without comment. As she started to pull on her shoes, she looked up at him, cocking her head to the side with the same mocking smile she'd worn since he'd walked through the door.

"And what will you have me do today? Lunch with the King? Or prostitute myself? Or -"

"You will do both."

"..."

"You will distract King Jovian for the day."

"...You can't - I - you -"

"You will." He narrowed his eyes. "And after today, things will be different. For all of us."

The vixen stiffened, fighting the compulsion for all of three seconds before she nodded. Anastus stopped her on the way to the door.

"You will tell him nothing, not in writing, in speech, in gesture, or in any other form of written, verbal, or non-verbal communication. You will merely keep him busy, unable to be talked to, unable to be visited by the rest of the palace. Nothing will take his attention from you for the next six hours."

"...Monster."

"I'm getting very tired of that word. Go."

As she left, the room fell silent. He sagged where he sat, groaning under his breath as all the strength he'd summoned to not humiliate himself floated away like smoke from a spent fire. Cassia always took a great deal out of him, but he'd had less to start with this time. And a witness, too.

"Anything you have to say about this?" he asked the vixen soldier.

"...Things are worse than I wanted to admit," Aeliana said.

"That isn't saying much."

"It's saying more than I could. Before this."

"Before what?"

"Before seeing what the King did. Before understanding how far he'd go, and what the others would do to you, just for..."

"Just for being a rat."

"...Yes."

Some realization, finally. Some understanding. Anastus looked up, half-expecting to see her look away, but the vixen managed to meet his eyes. Her expression stiffened, and though she didn't glare, she did narrow her eyes.

"You have reason enough to...be angry. And...there are things wrong."

"I'm not stopping now," he said.

"I can't stop you. Even if I wanted to - and I still do, somewhat - I couldn't. You control me. You control everyone in the guard."

"...I do. And your point is?"

"It's too late to negotiate with you. So I'll beg. On my knees, if I have to."

And to his shock, Aeliana did go to her knees, the chief bodyguard of the King kneeling before him with her hands at her side. She looked up at him with no less pride, but with more strength than he expected.

"I beg you. Don't become a full monster. Don't destroy us."

"..."

"Some of us deserve it, some of us don't, but we're all different. Just like you. So let it be decided on a case by case basis."

"You beg for...what, then? For me -"

"Not you. Not any of your leaders...and none of ours," Aeliana said. "Nobody will trust them. Instead, let's pick new councils, new courts. Of foxes...and rats...and let them judge the fate of the people."

His breath caught in his throat as she begged for something so reasonable. It was far past any point where she could stop him; he had the control, he had the coup set up. He could do whatever he wanted, now, and it would be done as long as the King didn't figure it out before all the rats and all their controlled minions began their work in the mansion. If he wanted to, he could ignore everything that she asked for and be as brutal as he wanted.

But...

As much as he hated the King, as much as he hated the soldiers that had carried out the executions, he remembered what he had been.

Anastus thought back to the rat that had been tied to the table, who had been dosed with the very first version of the potion. He remembered himself, back then, innocent, softer, believing in a peaceful solution if they could just make the foxes see things properly. He remembered how he had fought against Cassia in all the non-violent ways that he could think of, trying to find a way to get her to see where he was coming from, trying to get her to understand. She never did. Instead, she had all but demanded that he become a monster, holding out until it was the only option for him.

And now...

Now, he was almost going to give in again, and be a monster for all the world to see. It took a vixen, a goddamn vixen, to bring him back from that edge.

He slumped forward, holding his head in his arms. A little shiver ran down his back.

"You're right."

"I know," she muttered. "Glad that you can see it."

Anastus rubbed his forehead.

"I hope you understand."

"I don't. You could have -"

"Could have what? Talked? You saw how that went; she's as bad as most of them, and even better than some. My former master started all this, changing us in hopes of leaving us big, brawny, and brainless," he said. "Fight? We had nothing to fight with. You had all the weapons. You had everything. There was nothing left to fight with, and nothing but death if we tried anything. All we had...was this. To survive slavery...we became monsters."

"..."

"It was this, or stay slaves forever. And sure, that would have been fine for you foxes, but what about us? What about my people?"

"..." Aeliana shook her head with a sigh. "I don't know. I guess...I never thought about that."

"Nobody does. Nobody but the slaves do."

"It's just -"

"The normal way of things. And we've both proved that doesn't work forever."

"I guess not," she said. "But you'll listen? You'll not -"

"Monsters survive, but they don't build. A monster can't create a kingdom for others. If that's going to happen, then I need someone else, someone that doesn't have so much blood on their hands, to do it."

She nodded in agreement. As she got to her feet, Anastus thought of the future. There were so many things that had gone wrong with the world, so many ways that his plan had gone off the rails. He had tried to be slow and gentle, and that had almost gotten them caught. He tried it more aggressively, and he had only turned the rats into greater monsters. He tried everything, and nothing worked.

Survival is one thing. Improvement is another.

Once you no longer needed to fight to survive, there was no reason to be so crude, no reason to be so suspicious, aggressive, forceful. The tools to keep the dangers at bay were not the same tools that would allow you to live a peaceful life.

And having someone from the other side willing to work with him...it made all the difference.

"We'll do what you said. Mixed courts, mixed councils. One side will watch the other, until they get used to it."

"And the King?"

"..."

"You are still going to take him?" Aeliana asked.

"...Yes."

It was the last monstrous act that he would do. They couldn't afford to lose the King; if he died, then the Kingdom would wonder what happened to him. If he was free, then he would spill the beans eventually, and the whole scheme would come crashing down. They needed his authority behind the plan, or nobody would fall in line. That was the long and short of it.

"Collect the bodyguard. Lock down the mansion. Everything is going to go to hell in a few hours."

"Yes...sir."

It took little time to break those that were still free. Before Lidochka had been caught and before the executions had been carried out, they'd been assembling as many rats as possible in the immediate area outside the mansion. The converted bodyguards meant that there was little danger of them being detected, and with nobody guarding the doors, they flooded through. It was as simple as opening the gates, and what little advantage the foxes had with numbers was overwhelmed.

Nobles visiting were taken in their beds. Soldiers that had been brought in to spell the bodyguards were stripped and broken. Everyone, everywhere who looked down on the rats were broken, even the rats that were part of the house servants, ones that had looked down on Anastus and his little rumored rebellion. They were broken perhaps the most harshly; those that should have been on their side but chose the oppressors were hated most of all.

As the rebellion broke the back of the kingdom's government, Anastus walked alone to the King's bedchamber. He knew what would be happening there, and had no shame kicking down the door.

King Jovian and Cassia split apart instantly, with him looking furious and her looking relieved. She grabbed for her clothes as the King leaped to his feet, glaring at the rat.

"What is the meaning of this, rat?" he growled. "You were not summoned."

"I came here to tell you that you were right."

"...Right? You -"

"That I knew about Lidochka. And that I am just like her."

"You - Guards!" the King shouted. "Guards!"

"They aren't coming. They work for me now."

For the first time, the King's eyes lost their confidence. That look of utter superiority, the knowledge that he could do whatever he wanted to anyone and not have any consequences, faded from the King's face. It was a moment of utter revenge, and Anastus took great joy from the sight.

As he stepped forward, the King fumbled for the blade that laid at the foot of the bed. The rat kicked it away. The King grabbed for a marble bust, and Anastus seized it first, throwing it over his shoulder. Every move the King made to stave off his end, the rat countered with the greatest of ease.

Soon, he had Jovian pinned to the wall, the fox's eyes wide as he gasped for breath.

"No, no, this...Cassia! Cassia, stop him!" the King shouted.

"I can't," the vixen said, her lips pulled back in a snarl. "He caught me, too."

"And the both of you deserved it..."

Aeliana. She had come to watch, it seemed. He looked over his shoulder at her, and the vixen looked back. She made no move to stop him, no move to even slow him down. If anything, she seemed resigned to the fact that this had to happen.

And, as she said, the two of them deserved this. Of all the foxes in the mansion, they deserved this.

"Will it be quick?" Aeliana asked.

"Traitor!" the King shouted.

"I will make it as fast as I can...I don't want to do this, but you know I have to."

She nodded, and turned away. He turned back to the King, flipping Jovian to face the wall and holding his tail up. As the King was already naked, there was no need to do more than push himself forward. His cock slid between the cheeks, and moments later, he was inside.

The King screamed, of course. Anastus just closed his eyes and did the deed.

The End

Summary: Anastus takes the final step towards taking over the kingdom.

Tags: M/M, M/F, Body Control, Rat, Fox, Vixen, Nudity, Interrupted, Anal, Noncon, Series, Rape,