He was usually too busy to have time to watch the Zaronian sunset, but the king of the Drow Elves seemed to be making an exception that evening. Whereas he was supposed to be approving paperwork while sat at his desk in the royal archives, Kyle was distracted, watching eagerly out the window as the sky darkened and the sun lowered. Soon the moon would take its place altogether.
Soon, he consoled himself, the dry point of his quill tapping restlessly against the document he had been neglecting for the past five minutes.
"Are you alright, your Highness?"
"Wha-?!" Kyle jumped at the unexpected voice beside him. He turned to see Stan standing there, his brow knitted in concern. "Oh. Um, yes." He turned his attention back to the document, ashamed to be caught neglecting it, and bent double over it, scribbling his signature in great haste, to make up for his ill practices. "I'm fine."
Stan wasn't convinced. "You've seemed distracted today."
"My apologies," Kyle laughed nervously, shaking his head as he finished signing and returned the quill to its holder. "I'm just tired." He tidied his papers and got up from the desk. "Actually, I think I'll retire to bed now." The sun had just about set, after all. It was almost time.
"That sounds like a good idea," Stan said, already sounding more relieved about his king's condition. "Most of the staff have already abandoned their duties for the day."
"So I can hear," Kyle said, smirking at the sounds of drunken hollering coming from downstairs. Elves were partial to wine, and the kitchen staff loved to bust it out as soon as the sun went down. Kyle liked to join them sometimes, but he couldn't that night. There was nothing stopping Stan, though. "You should join them tonight."
Stan shook his head, straightening his shoulders and placing his fist over his chest. "I cannot allow myself to do that. As your personal guard, I must be sober and rested."
Kyle sighed as he placed the papers in a drawer at his desk under lock and key. "You can let loose for one night, Stan. It's not like anything crazy is going to happen to me while I'm safe in my bed."
"The first rule of the royal guards is to always be vigilant," Stan recited fluently. He surely repeated that and the following rules to himself every morning as he woke and every night before bed.
"You're not just my guard, you know," Kyle reminded him in irritation. "You're also my best friend."
Stan blushed sheepishly, suddenly feeling foolish for his formalities. He couldn't help it – the captain of the guards had drilled a lot of rubbish into him while training him. Kyle, though, would always see Stan first and foremost as the little human boy he grew up laughing with, running around the grounds chasing each other with wooden swords.
"I know," Stan said. "But that's why I can't let myself get carried away. I have to protect my best friend."
Kyle's shoulders sagged in defeat. He wasn't so quick to give up an argument usually, but he had entertained this particular argument with Stan multiple times before and had grown bored of trying to win it. Arguments with Stan just went in circles. He wasn't interesting or challenging to argue with; not like someone else he knew.
"Suit yourself," Kyle said, making his way out of the archives. He could hear the echo of Stan following his footsteps. It was a kind of maddening sound.
Kyle wouldn't admit it, but he was trying to foist Stan off onto his wine-drunk brethren for his own sake as much as the guard's. Sometimes he became rather fed up of the way Stan would feel the need to follow him everywhere, as if he were a child who would wander off into danger in an eye's traitorous blink, or who would be unable to defend himself if he was to run into a person of an unfriendly nature. Which was preposterous, because Stan got into just as much trouble as Kyle did when they were kids, and it was often Kyle who had to fight them out of it again while Stan just fretted. Sometimes it felt like his own guard didn't trust him, didn't consider him capable, and it frustrated him to no end.
Perhaps that was part of why he would be doing what he would that night… At least Kyle could be sure that he would treat him like an equal.
"How is the kingdom?" Stan asked as he continued to accompany Kyle to his chambers. He could find his own room, for gods' sakes! Stan insisting that he walk Kyle to his room was so unnecessary that it was ludicrous! But sometimes, just sometimes, the more neurotic part of Kyle worried that maybe Stan did it because he thought that it was necessary – because he knew about what his king did. Perhaps he had even actually seen him one night and-… No. No, Stan would have said something in that case. He didn't know. Nobody knew.
"There are some concerns about the weather affecting the coming summer harvest," Kyle replied, "but otherwise we seem to be doing well."
"And… Kupa Keep?"
Kyle stopped in his tracks, and so did his heart for a minute. He started to turn his head, to look back at Stan, but then he thought better of it. His expression might give away too much. "What about it?"
"You received a raven from them this morning," Stan said. "Just like last month. And the month before that. I was just wondering, what do they keep writing you for? What more do they want? Negotiations are ended."
"It's just spewed hatred, as always," Kyle replied morosely, walking on again. "You know how childish their king is." He thought back to the letter the raven had brought in that morning, as he had been doing all day since first reading it.
You will one day
Come down
To your knees by my hand, like a
Donkey brought down by its master's load.
At my feet is where you belong.
Night will come swift to your kind. Your kingdom shall
Fall.
I'll make sure of that.
Be fearful, Elf.
Waiting for your miserable fate is all you can do.
Eric's letters were so obvious, Kyle thought, yet the human's stupidity made the elf smile as though he were an intoxicated fool.
"Maybe we should send a raven of our own back to him," Stan suggested, clearly riled after hearing of the human king's immaturity. "There are plenty of insulting things I could say to him."
"No," Kyle said. "We won't lower ourselves by responding to such asinine drivel. Let him write, if he so pleases. It is his reputation that's blackened with his words; not mine."
"Fine," Stan said sourly, actually allowing his shoulders to slouch as they walked on, the poor thing. Kyle wouldn't have any qualms with Stan sending his own nasty letters to Eric, honestly; but to respond to those letters he would need to read them, and he couldn't risk Stan studying Eric's letters for too long. The guard could be oblivious at the best of times – much to Kyle's fortune – but he was by no means stupid. He could catch on if Kyle wasn't careful.
They soon made it to the oaken door to Kyle's chambers. Of course, the walls were oaken too. The entire place was, in fact, as the elves lived in the centre of a hollowed-out oak tree, gargantuan enough to house a royal family due to thousands of years of growth, as well as some elvish enchantment to help enlarge it more.
"Is there anything else I may do for you, your Highness?" Stan asked as Kyle opened the door, his hand fisted at his chest and his head bowed low.
Kyle shook his head. "No, that will be all, thank you. You may retire now, too."
Stan lowered his fist and straightened his head to stand at attention in front of Kyle's door, head high, shoulders squared, and arms tight at his sides. "Goodnight, your Highness," he said, bowing respectfully low. As he rose again he added, "'Til tomorrow," reassuring that he would be there for Kyle bright and early the next morning.
"'Til tomorrow, Stan," Kyle said, playfully using his friend's first name whereas Stan had used his title. That caused the guard to grin awkwardly, embarrassed again by his silly formalities, necessary as they were for his position, before turning sharply and marching off down the corridor towards his own room.
Kyle waited a minute at the door, listening out for whether Stan was gone for good and wouldn't come hurrying back for something forgotten. Once sure that there were no signs of his return, Kyle decided that it was safe to close and lock the door. Alone at last, with everybody else in bed or close to it, he could finally make a move. He was too impatient to wait any longer.
Kyle went to his wardrobe, but instead of changing for bed like he should have, he took out a long, black cloak and put that on over his robes. He then went to his bed, but instead of getting into it to sleep like he should have, he took the sheets and he knotted them all together into a makeshift rope. Once done, he tied one end to his bedpost, and then hurled the other end out of his window. Kyle leaned out of the window to watch as the rope of sheets sailed down until it almost touched the ground. Smiling at his handiwork, he gave the rope a testing tug to ensure that it was safe before he went out of the window and descended down with the rope.
When he reached the end of the rope, since it didn't quite reach the ground, Kyle had to make a hearty jump the rest of the way to the ground. It was only a few feet, but enough to make a landing so loud that he had to stop for a minute and listen. Although he waited, no voices raised, no lights turned on, and no footsteps sounded. Nobody had heard him – or, if they had, they were probably too tired or drunk by that time of night to care – and nobody was coming. Kyle allowed himself a moment to breathe a relieved sigh, but soon he was off again.
Being the king of that land, his face was familiar to all, and so he had to rely on the shadows of the evening to hide him, as well as the cloak he wore. It billowed behind him as he headed to the stables. His piebald stallion, Willzyx, had been spooked to see Kyle in that cloak at night the first few times he had snuck out, but he had since grown used to his master appearing as such. He remained calm, then, as Kyle entered his stable and saddled him up.
"I hope you're well-rested," he told his equine companion. "We've got a long ride ahead."
The horse brayed softly, almost as though in quiet assurance that he could make it. Kyle smiled gratefully. He was grateful, as well, that his horse couldn't speak, or else he would have quite a lot of gossip about his master to share. Some more was about to be added that night.
At first, Kyle crept quietly out of the stables, leading Willzyx by his halter. If he set a slow and steady pace, making sure that the animal's footfalls were soft, then he could ensure that nobody heard them while they crossed the grounds. As soon as they made it to a parting in the trees at the edge of the forest – for they couldn't risk going directly out of the gates and being seen by any guards – Kyle felt it was safe to mount his ride and trot on from there.
The trees were a trial to ride through, the king having to duck his red head whenever they rode under a particularly low branch. It was a good thing he wasn't wearing his crown or else it would have been surely knocked off his head. They soon made it through the copse and out onto a dirt path beaten into the ground by centuries of travellers and wandering tradesmen. Kyle hoped that he would cross no such people at that time of night, however, and broke Willzyx into a gallop, out towards the border between the kingdoms.
The Giggling Donkey was a den of thieves and convicts that laid on the edge of the humans' territory, a place where No-Goods and Down-On-Their-Lucks went to gamble and drink and fuck their problems away (or rather, end up making more for themselves). He hated paying patronage to such an unfortunate establishment. But that was exactly why he had to. No one would expect it of him. No one would look for him there.
Once they made it to the dreaded place, Kyle dismounted and led Willzyx into the stables. His anxiety lifted when he saw a familiar grey mare already tethered there, and he smiled as she all but purred when she recognised him too, pawing at the ground in an excited greeting.
"Hello, Kitty," Kyle greeted her back, stroking her smooth muzzle. She was alone out there. Her master was probably inside the inn already, waiting for him… Kyle couldn't unsaddle Willzyx fast enough, fumbling clumsily with the straps in his eagerness. Once he had finished, he bid the stallion a kind goodbye as he left him with the mare. The two horses nuzzled noses with each other fondly, glad to be back in each other's company. He grinned at their display, knowing that he would be glad of the same for himself soon.
He forced himself to school his expression into neutrality as he walked up to the inn, though. He paused outside the door to make sure that the hood of his cloak was pulled far down over his face. The men there were especially dangerous. They did not respect royals – despised them in fact – and would not be kind to any unarmed and unguarded ones who had wandered too far from home. When he was sure that he was ready, he entered silently, slipping in from a gap in the door, unwilling to open it any wider than necessary, and walked at a steady pace towards the bar, not too fast or too slow to draw attention to himself.
The barkeep was in the middle of wiping down the counter with a dirty old rag as Kyle made it there. His moustache moved with his mouth as he spoke. "What can I get for ya?"
Kyle shook his head. "Meeting someone." He kept his voice low as he spoke, not only in volume but in tone. The less people heard him, and the less recognisable his voice was, the better. "Large man. Has a horse out front."
"Oh, yeah, he said you'd be coming." The barkeep slapped down his rag and leaned forward on his elbows across the bar, lowering his voice too. "He's waiting for ya in the room at the end there." He jerked his head to Kyle's right, guiding the elf's eyes to a door near the far corner of the inn.
"Thanks," Kyle said, sliding some coin onto the counter. The barkeep snatched it up as Kyle walked away. His heart pounded harder the nearer to the door he drew.
Kyle was eager to barge right into the room as soon as he reached the door, but much like a royal guard, he had to remain vigilant. He looked over both shoulders first, to ensure that nobody was watching him, and then performed their secret knock on the door – an alternation of five light and three hard raps on the wood. Shortly, there was the sound of heavyset footsteps, and then the door creaked opened slightly, creating a gap just slim enough for Kyle to slip in through. The door was shut again as soon as he was in, and he lowered his hood to smile at Eric, who returned the expression with warmth.
"I was wondering when you'd get here," Eric said, turning to the door to twist the key in the lock. It clicked, a sound which filled the both of them with relief. Safely inside together, they could lower their guards at last.
"It's not like I'm late," Kyle said, walking further into the room. He shed his cloak and threw it down next to Eric's on the chair in the far corner, underneath the only window in the room. It usually looked out onto the dark surrounding woods, but the curtains were drawn tight together. The room was dim, only lit by the glow of a group of short candles on a small, round table by the door. In the opposite corner sat a bed. It was crooked and cramped, but he and Eric could make do with that. They always had before.
"Nobody followed you, right?" Eric asked, shadowing Kyle's steps and stopping just behind him.
"No," Kyle shook his head. "Did anybody follow you?" He turned back around to face Eric, looking up into those eyes. The brown of them reminded him of dirt on a forest floor, the bark of trees, nuts and seeds; nature – all things which he was familiar with and sought comfort in. It allowed him to relax further, looking into those eyes, which were sparkling with mischief at that moment as Eric smirked at Kyle's question, obviously finding it ridiculous.
"Nobody can when I use an invisibility spell, Silly Elf. Did you forget I'm a wizard?"
Kyle rolled his eyes. "How could I? It's not like you're always bragging about it or anything."
Eric laughed, "You'd brag too if you could use magic the way I can."
Kyle had no retort for that, since he knew that there was a possibility for Eric's words to be true. They were a lot alike at times, after all. Not that he would ever like to admit it. To avoid having to do that right then, or to lie instead – something that he, as an honest elf, hated to do just as much – he took a purposeful step forward, so that they were then chest to chest, and gazed deeply, distractingly, into Eric's eyes as he asked, "Did you come all this way just to talk?"
"Not at all," Eric said, his voice taking on that silky-smooth quality which Kyle wouldn't admit he was partial to. He tugged one of Kyle's curls playfully, grinning at the way in which it bounced back into place once he let it go. "Impatient, aren't we?"
"With good reason," Kyle replied, raising his arms to wrap them around Eric's neck. "You and I both know why we're here."
"Hmm, I might need a reminder," Eric teased. Kyle rolled his eyes, but compliantly got onto the tips of his toes to press his lips against Eric's. It was chaste – just a taster for the evening – but satisfying all the same. Kyle was smirking triumphantly as he pulled away, knowing that although Eric was the wizard between them, he had just done some bewitching of his own with that kiss. That much was clear from simply looking into Eric's eyes, and seeing how dark and heavy and clouded with lust they had become.
"Remember now?" Kyle whispered teasingly, his hot breath ghosting across Eric's plump lips, ripe for the kissing. That mouth morphed into a grin, one which cursed Kyle's heart to thud at the sight of it.
"How could I forget?" Eric replied before leaning down to press his lips against Kyle's again. Kyle let him happily, groaning gratefully as the tip of Eric's tongue teased his lower lip languidly. Oh, how he had missed this…
It was hard to believe that Eric and Kyle had once hated each other. They had seen their kingdoms as opposing forces, and played their parts well. However, negotiations following the war had required that they often be in close quarters with each other – a curse which would bring about the doom of their animosity.
Negotiations were far from civil, at first. They yelled, they insulted, and they had to be kept at separate ends of the room to prevent their attacks transitioning from verbal to physical. The more they argued, though, the more each witnessed how passionate the other was, how driven, how stubborn, how similar they were. They saw familiarity in each other, found comfort in it, and soon started to seek each other's company outside of the meetings.
For hours they would stroll across the grounds of their kingdoms, pretending to onlookers to be "discussing politics" while actually ranting about the difficulties of ruling a kingdom, comparing human and elven cuisine, and retelling stories from their childhoods. Eric would complain when Kyle led them through the acres of enchanted forest (filled with sentient, mischievous trees which would snap their branches at the human as he passed by and knock his hat off his head), and Kyle would complain when Eric led them into a maze neither knew how to get out of (the elf would never understand why humans grew gardens just to get lost in), but both would secretly delight in how much more time it meant they had together (and how those deep forests and overgrown hedges could hide them, sight and sound, and allow them to kiss and touch and get to know each other better in peace).
They kept such "negotiations" going for as long as they could, to enjoy as much time with each other as they could. It could not last forever, though. Their people grew restless and ill-contented, so they had to reach an agreement before suspicions rose.
Yet, they could not let go of their time together so easily. Thus how meetings, such as the one that very night, had started.
Their kissing was gentle when it began, but it did not take long for it to become frantic, the two kings were so starved for one another. Their hands strayed from necks and shoulders down to their waists, loosening each other's pants and stepping out of them as they pooled at their ankles. Eventually Eric lifted Kyle up from the floor, and Kyle wrapped his legs securely around Eric's waist and held tight to his neck as he allowed himself to be carried to the bed. They fell down onto it together, Eric above Kyle, and continued to kiss as they writhed upon the sheets, trying desperately to be pressed as close as possible to each other. The only thing they parted for was to remove their shoes, but they made quick work of them and were back onto each other in no time. They had been apart for far too long.
"God," Eric gasped, his hands roving underneath Kyle's robes, sliding up to his smooth thighs. "I missed this." He withdrew his mouth from Kyle's to instead kiss his cheek and his chin. "I missed you."
"Mm, me too," Kyle managed to reply before letting out a short, sharp gasp followed by a long, gratified moan as Eric nipped his neck, where the human knew that some of his more sensitive skin laid. "Eric…"
"Kyle! God, Kyle…" Eric groaned. It was a good thing that the tavern-goers outside were so loud and rowdy, otherwise they'd have been sure to hear him. Eric's teeth grazed against Kyle's jaw, running along up to his ear. "Have you been thinking about me?"
"Yes…" Kyle gasped out, barely breathing.
"Thinking about me touching you?" Eric's teeth clamped down on the pointed tip of Kyle's elven ear.
"Gods, yes," Kyle moaned, his legs falling open at Eric's continued attentions.
Eric chortled smugly, pleased with his answer. He released his teeth from Kyle's ear, only to press his lips into it. Kyle would keenly feel his warm breath as he asked, "Where do you want me to touch you?"
"Anywhere," Kyle answered breathlessly. "Everywhere."
Eric chuckled. "As you wish, your Highness."
"Ah!" Kyle's toes curled in pleasure as Eric led a full assault against his neck and collarbone, sucking an army of bruises onto his skin, and licking and scraping his teeth along him just right. It was all Kyle could do to tangle his fingers in Eric's hair and moan endlessly, encouraging the wizard to continue his magical movements.
However, Kyle wanted to return to favour too. When he regained his head enough, he slid his hands down the back of Eric's collar, and dragged his nails across the human's shoulder blades. Eric let out a moan in response which was somewhere between agonised and aroused, and growled as he bit Kyle's lower lip in vengeance. Kyle's cock jerked in pleasant surprise, and a low groan reverberated in his throat as he tasted something warm and metallic. As he continued to leave long scratches across Eric's back, Kyle raised his knee to rub it to and fro against Eric's crotch. He was amazed by how hard it was already. He was amazed by how much he wanted it inside him already.
"Fuck me," he commanded, deciding he couldn't wait anymore. He'd already waited so long.
"Oh-ho!" Eric guffawed as he raised his head, smirking down at Kyle's expression: eyebrows knitted and cheeks flushed and teeth gritted in frustration. "Think you can just boss me round like one of your subjects, Kyle?" He took the elf's wrists prisoner in his grip, pushing his hands down against the bed and sitting himself down on Kyle's hips for good measure. "You forget who I am, Elf. Beg me like you'd beg a king."
"Fuck you!" Kyle spat, so wound up that he couldn't bear playing these games. He just wanted to be fucked deep into the mattress already, into a place where he wasn't a king or an elf or anything else that could dictate his life, into a place where he could be free at last to love and be loved by whoever he wanted without worrying what the world would think.
"I'm not going to do anything else until you beg," Eric said, and fuck, how could he be so cool about this? Kyle could feel his bulge pressing into him, he was just as hard as him, just as desperate for this. He didn't know how Eric was holding out, but Kyle couldn't any longer.
"Please fuck me," Kyle begged, squirming to try and fight his way out of his restraints. He thought that would be it, but Eric decided to be even more of an annoying bastard.
"Who are you asking? Please fuck me, commoner? Please fuck me, servant? Please fuck me, who?"
Kyle growled. Gods, how he hated Eric's fucking power-trips. If he hadn't lost all sense and control to the human a long time ago, he'd have exercised a lot more resistance to comply with his whims. As it was, he'd surrendered everything to Eric already, and the human fucking knew it too. It was why Kyle had to give in, because they both knew he wasn't getting out of it any other way.
"Please fuck me, your Majesty," he spat.
Eric smiled. "That'll do." He released Kyle, and the elf immediately shot up to grab the collar of Eric's robe and force him into a biting kiss, scraping his teeth across his lips with the intent to injure. Eric allowed him to as he misused his magic to summon a bottle of oil out of the pocket of his cloak in the far corner, and brought it floating towards them on the bed. Kyle shrugged his robes off his shoulders in the meanwhile, too hot for them anymore, and discarded them to the floor. He was completely naked by the time the bottle was near enough for Eric to grab, and then the human fought one-handed against Kyle, pushing him by his chest and forcing him down onto his back.
"Give me your hand," Eric commanded, and Kyle was too eager to get down to the act to bother hitting Eric back with a taste of his own infuriating "Beg me!" bullshit. Maybe next time. Right then, Kyle offered his hand, allowing Eric to pour a generous amount of oil onto it. Kyle immediately got down to preparing himself then, spreading his legs and reaching down to stick his fingers inside one after another and scissor himself open between each addition. It burned more than it should have, probably because he was hasty in his movements, impatient to get to the next part already.
Eric sat back on his heels and watched as Kyle opened himself up for him. He stroked his hard member with the oil, slathering and jerking himself, as he gazed open-mouthed at Kyle's vulnerable, submitting form. Even just that did so much to him, the head of his shaft dripping already.
"Christ," he whispered hoarsely. "I'll never be over seeing you like this."
Kyle blushed, still not used to those kind compliments from such a harsh mouth. "Me neither," he said, enjoying his own view of Eric sitting between his legs with his robe falling open down the middle, stroking himself to the elf's image, so hard and worked up. When he was ready, Kyle held his arms out and open to him, an invitation. Eric took it without needing to be urged, sliding into his embrace. Kyle kissed him soundly on the mouth as Eric steadied him at the small of his back with one hand and guided his cock into him with the other. Kyle grunted and winced through the initial sting, as always, but fought through it, knowing it would be worth it. In time, the otherworldly sensation of being filled with heat and girth overtook any other, and he sighed in relief at achieving what he'd longed for at last.
"You good?" Eric asked, holding himself up on his elbows.
"Yeah. Come on," Kyle urged, pushing back against Eric, causing the human to gasp and stutter into motion. He pulled out of Kyle and in again, meeting his motions, and they panted and moaned in sync as they thrust together. They felt like two minds melding into one body.
They started slow at first, sweet and sensitive and unsure after so long. But as Kyle tightened his grip around Eric's neck and dug his heels into his back, pulling him closer into him, their movements became surer and stronger. The aged mattress creaked in complaint as they jostled atop it, and the air filled with the sound of their skin slapping hard together, again and again, faster and faster as they neared the edge.
"Yeah, you like that?" Eric grunted, observing Kyle's stream of unending moans and the quiet curses he'd whisper to himself in his ecstasy.
"Don't you dare fucking stop," Kyle answered, digging his nails into Eric's shoulders, almost as a warning of the pain he'd been subjected to if he did.
"As fucking if," Eric laughed, a lonely bark of humour, disbelieving that Kyle would take precaution to warn against something so ridiculously unlikely, because of course he wouldn't dare. "Gonna fuck you all night. Gonna fuck you 'til you can't walk. Gonna fuck you 'til I cum inside your ass and then just keep right on fucking you. You want that, Elf? Huh? You fucking want that, you dirty fucking-"
The rest of his words were drowned out, cut off by the scream that issued out of Kyle's throat as he came all over both of their stomachs and chests. Eric talking dirty to him turned him on more than was reasonable. It was presumably because he was used to having to talk all prim and proper and polite as king, and hearing the antithesis of such talk just shook him to his core, mind and body.
"Oh, fuck," Eric whimpered as he watched Kyle cum. He was quick, then, to yank Kyle's legs up and hitch them over his shoulders, nailing him with renewed vigour from this new position, trying to finish himself off as his lover fell limp. Kyle continued to scream disjointedly as Eric slammed into him harder than before, as if he wanted to rip him apart from the bottom up. "Kyle!" he panted desperately, his voice quaking with exertion and anticipation. "Kyle! Kyle! Kyle!" His thrusts became jerkier, losing rhythm, as he became closer, and then suddenly he was groaning as he came, his hips slowing as he fucked his spurting load into Kyle's ass. "Fuuuck," he breathed, like a sigh of relief.
"Oh my gods," Kyle whimpered, hiding his face in his hands because it was all too real and intense and he just needed a minute to recompose himself. "Fuck, Eric."
Once he was done, Eric pulled out of Kyle. Cum started to dribble down the elf's backside as Eric fell onto his side beside Kyle, his back facing the wall, his muscles shaking and his body totally spent and his chest rising and falling rapidly with the effort to breathe. His loose robes were suddenly too hot for him, so he shrugged them the rest of the way off his shoulders, and the deep purple cloth joined the rumpled sheets on the mattress. The soft pillow was a soothing comfort to his pounding head, and he closed his eyes as he sank his face into it.
"God, it's been too long," he muttered into the pillow.
Kyle lowered his hands from his face, resting them against his chest and regretting it straightaway when he felt them touch the splatters of cum on his skin. "It has."
"I can't keep doing this," Eric almost sobbed. "I'm going to die."
"We can die together," Kyle said, turning on his side to see Eric. Eric turned his head out of the pillow, and smiled at Kyle.
"Yeah." He reached out and placed a hand on Kyle's face, rubbing his cheekbone with his thumb. "It's been too long," he said again, but Kyle knew he wasn't talking about the sex that time.
"I know," he said, and Eric's hand fell from his face, sliding down to his hip instead, as Kyle sidled across the mattress until they were face to face. They both closed their eyes as they leaned in, and their mouths met in a kiss which lasted longer any others had that evening. They savoured the softness of each other's lips, drinking in the warmth of each other's breath, and although they were weak and tired, they'd never felt so alive. They kept their noses pressed together even after they had parted, looking into each other's eyes and seeing the contentment that laid there.
"So," Eric began, running his hand up and down along Kyle's hip, "how have you been?"
Kyle snickered, amused by the fact that they fucked first and asked questions later. They really were an untraditional pair.
"Fine," Kyle said, and he began to play with Eric's hair as he spoke. It was short and brown and pretty ordinary, yet for some reason Kyle loved running his fingers through it, pulling on stray strands, pushing locks out of place and back again. "My people are happy, and the forest is restful. There haven't been many issues other than the dry weather compromising the harvest."
"Yeah, my farmers are worried about the same damn thing," Eric sighed. "I might be forced to summon a rainstorm soon."
"That'll upset the world balance," Kyle said disapprovingly, tugging on a fistful of Eric's hair to chastise him for believing he could play like a god. "You must let nature do as it will."
"Oh my God," Eric groaned, "enough with your elven bullshit. If I don't have a successful harvest then how are my people going to eat, huh? All of them dying of starvation is what'll really upset the world balance. One little rainstorm isn't going to send the world into chaos. Spare me your gypsy drivel."
Kyle narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't call them gypsies, they're-"
"When they're on my land, I'll call them whatever the fuck I like."
Kyle sighed. "You're as unreasonable as ever. Why did I come here again?"
"Because you love me," Eric answered easily, and Kyle blushed at his feelings being spoken out into the world so suddenly like that.
"Don't let it get to your head," he warned, pulling particularly hard on a strand of Eric's hair. "I still think you're a pig-headed fool."
"Yeah, but you're still in love with me even though you think that, so what does that make you?"
He had a point, there.
"I don't like you," Kyle declared moodily, for lack of any other retort.
Eric chuckled and shut his eyes as he nuzzled Kyle's nose with his own. "I love you too." Kyle relaxed at those words, reminded then why all of this risk was worth it. He flinched, though, as Eric's eyes suddenly snapped open again, lit up to an almost honey-like glow. "Oh! That reminds me." The human king lifted himself up onto his elbow, and used his magic to summon something from his cloak pocket once more. Kyle turned his head to watch with curiosity as a small, flat rectangle floated towards them, and into Eric's waiting hand.
"What's that?" Kyle asked as Eric settled back down beside him.
"I wrote you," Eric said. He handed the piece of paper over to Kyle, and he could see clearly then, when it was still and right before him, that it was a sealed envelope.
"You wrote me?" Kyle took the envelope and laughed, rolling onto his back to hold it up high above his head. He turned it over and back again, inspecting it from all sides. It was a simple, indiscriminate envelope of white, yet it filled him with so much joy to have it in his hands, knowing what was inside. Eric's words. Eric's thoughts. For me.
"We may not be able to send letters to each other," Eric said, for fear of their ravens being intercepted. Such letters of them being sweet on each other ending up in the wrong hands could cause them to be seriously extorted. "It doesn't make me want to write you any less though. So I end up writing you anyway. And recently I decided, why not be my own carrier raven and deliver them to you myself?"
"You're ridiculous," Kyle declared, but he was beaming. His fingers traced the paper gently, as if trying to feel the words inside. "Should I read it now?"
"No," Eric said, leaning it to kiss Kyle on the cheek. "Read it when you go home and you miss me."
Kyle had to hand it to the human, he was ingenious sometimes. There were so many instances back home in his kingdom, deprived of Eric for weeks on end, where the elf wished he could just hear his lover some way or another. Eric's letter, then, would finally answer that prayer. If only he could do the same…
"If I'd known you were going to do this I would have wrote you, too."
"You can write me next time," Eric said, always having an answer for everything. "Give me your response to this letter the next time we meet."
"Okay," Kyle agreed, and he kissed Eric again as if to seal that promise. He really loved this man and his spontaneous surprises.
"You'd better tell me all the things you love about me in your letter," Eric said with a cheeky grin as they pulled away, as if he'd read Kyle's thoughts, before leaning in to steal another kiss.
"Oh?" Kyle laughed as they parted once more. "And what would those be?"
"Hmm… Well, there's my handsome face," Eric answered after kissing Kyle again, "and my strong shoulders," he continued after another kiss, "and my sultry voice," he added after one more. "I could go on," he said before kissing Kyle again.
Kyle merely laughed as he playfully pushed Eric off of him. "It sounds like you should just write yourself a love letter, you arrogant pig."
Eric laughed too as he rolled onto his side and rested on his elbow, the cursed sheets only just covering his lower half. "Nah, I wouldn't deprive you of that honour, not when you're so desperate to write about your undying love for me."
"You wish," Kyle said, sitting up in bed, the sheets falling off his back and pooling at his hips as he did. He went to place the envelope on the table beside the bed, but as he did, he spotted something interesting, and he grinned as a fun idea entered his head. He quickly took Eric's pointed hat off of the bedpost where it hung, and pulled it onto his head, holding it by its round brim showily. "What do you think? Do I look like a wizard?"
"Not even close," Eric chuckled, shaking his head.
Kyle pouted playfully, pretending to be hurt. Eric laughed at the expression, and Kyle, feeling triumphant to have gotten out of Eric what he wanted, gave into laughter then too. He kept the hat on as he laid back down on his belly beside Eric, folding his forearms atop the mattress and resting his chin on them. The hat was a bit too big for his head, though, and so as he moved, it slipped lower, falling over his face, which had him and Eric laughing all over again.
"You really are a silly elf," Eric said as he pulled the hat up higher, revealing Kyle's face once more. Then he ducked underneath the brim with him to kiss Kyle on the nose. "You're my silly elf."
Kyle hummed happily as he shut his eyes with content, glad of that title. "And you're my stupid wizard," he said. Then he trailed off, and opened his eyes, which had lost their sparkle as more miserable thoughts had entered his mind. "…Until this night ends…"
Unfortunately, their kingdoms would not allow them to be together. The relations between the elves and the humans were not the best. Even though a truce had been called and a treaty met, both sides had lost many good lives to the other in their battles, and it remained a sore spot for their people who had been widowed or orphaned by the war. What he and Eric were doing was scandalous. If anybody found out, there would be accusations of treason, riots in the streets, perhaps even calls for dethroning. Still, Eric shook his head in disagreement at Kyle's statement.
"No. Even after that, we'll still be each other's." In demonstration, he held up the acorn which hung on a string around his neck – a gift from Kyle, plucked from the highest branch of the tallest tree in the elven forest. Kyle smiled and held up the emerald which hung on a chain around his own neck – a gift from Eric, unburied from the darkest, most dangerous depths of the human mines. Each was a token of their love, a symbol of their belonging to each other. "You are mine," Eric continued, smiling too, "and I am yours."
"Always," Kyle finished for him, and leaned in to kiss Eric once more.
Eventually their kissing became more heated, and they were hardening once more, so that shortly Kyle was slathering Eric's shaft in oil again, making him nice and slick for when he lowered himself down onto him, ready to do it again with Eric on his back that time, a position favoured by the human king. Kyle gasped as he felt himself being stretched again, and again as he gave his hips an experimental roll once he was seated deeply on Eric's manhood.
"How does that feel?" Eric asked, gripping Kyle's hips and squeezing, making the elf shudder.
"So good," Kyle panted, starting to move in desperate rises and falls, Eric sliding half-way out of him and all the way in again. The emerald around his neck swung to and fro like a pendulum with his movements, and Eric would have been hypnotised if he had been watching. His eyes could look nowhere else than the elf's face and hips, however. He admired the faces Kyle made as he fucked himself on his cock, his eyelids drooping and irises clouding with pleasure, his mouth open wide to allow a continuous stream of moans, and hot breaths coming in ragged pants. He also admired the way Kyle's hips moved, and watching as he saw his own slick dick sliding in and out of his gorgeous body. It took everything he had not to cum right then and there, to try to prolong both of their enjoyment.
"Kyle," Eric whined, his fingers clenching, tightening his hold on hips. "You're fucking killing me here."
Kyle winced as Eric's grip began to hurt, but moaned nonetheless, enjoying the pain anyway – enjoying how real and grounding it all felt, how alive he felt in moments like this. "Oh, Gods," he whimpered, easing his hands over Eric's, trying to hold onto him too. "Eric… Eric…"
Eric finally released his hold on Kyle's hips, only to slide his fingers in between Kyle's, clasping their hands tight together as Kyle continued to rock and sway on top of him. The gesture was so intimate, Kyle's heart skipped a beat, and it fluttered as Eric struggled to open his mouth to speak, too lost in the euphoria. "I never want this to end," he gasped. "I never-… Fuck!"
"Me too," Kyle panted. "Fuck, me too."
"Come here," Eric said, and Kyle leaned down so their lips could meet. Fucking from this new angle, where he could feel Eric's chest sliding against his own and his belly rubbing against his dick, added a new edge of excitement. Kyle felt himself coming close already. They were always faster to finish after the first fuck, already so sensitive and riled up.
"Eric," Kyle sobbed against his open mouth, their lips just touching, exchanging air. "I'm going to-"
"Do it," Eric dared him. His voice was so demanding, Kyle couldn't refuse him. He came quickly, hitched breaths hiccupping from him as he did. Seeing Kyle's face contorting in relief at his release, Eric wasn't long behind Kyle. The elf could feel the warm rush as the human came inside him for the second time that night, and he continued to roll his hips as they rode out the aftershocks of their orgasms.
Then, exhausted, Kyle fell on top of Eric, and they panted for breath together, their bodies relaxing as they melted together. Their hands remained intertwined, and for a while they just listened to the sounds of each other breathing. Where Kyle rested his head on Eric's chest, he could hear the human's heart pounding. It was a sound which filled him with more happiness than he thought possible. Eventually Kyle found the strength to raise his head again, and his eyes met Eric's for the hundredth time that night. Yet, it still wasn't enough. It was never enough.
"I love you."
Those words never failed to make Kyle feel taller than any tree in the forest.
"I love you too," he said, and leaned forward until their lips could meet again. He never wanted to stop kissing Eric, especially knowing how long he would have to go without his kisses until they could next meet. He wanted to kiss him a million times more. He wanted to kiss him until the sun rose. So he did. For the rest of the night they laid there naked, Kyle across the top of Eric, keeping each other safe from the chill by holding each other close, and kissed whenever they weren't talking. They talked all night too, about everything, all the things they used to talk about on their walks through forests and mazes and more. They argued as well, of course, but that was just how it was with them. Kyle wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
He would, however, have liked it if the sun could sleep just a little longer. All too soon, he noticed that it was becoming light behind the curtains. He was tempted to ignore it, but he knew better than to do that. Stan would be knocking on his chamber door as soon as the day was risen, and it would cause a kingdom-wide panic if he wasn't safely in his bed by then. He had to leave.
"The sun will be rising soon," Kyle spoke in a whisper, as if he hoped that saying it quietly enough would make it so that it wasn't real.
Eric didn't respond except to squeeze him tighter.
"We have to go, Eric," Kyle insisted, reminding him of their responsibilities, their reputations.
Reluctantly, Eric loosened his grasp. He knew as well as Kyle that they couldn't stay there much longer, much as he wanted to.
"When will I be able to see you again?"
"I don't know." Kyle sat up on Eric's hips and ran his hand over Eric's cheek. "Soon, I hope."
Eric grabbed Kyle's hand, swallowing it whole in his grip. "I can't stand this."
"I know," Kyle said, his heart feeling squeezed along with his hand. "Maybe it won't have to be this way someday. When our people make peace, maybe then we can-…"
"Fuck our people, Kyle," Eric seethed, and he shot up as well, grasping Kyle's shoulders and facing him firmly as he ranted. "We're their rulers. We should make a stand. We should tell our people enough with their bitterness. We should usher in a new era for our kingdoms ourselves. Those sore assholes aren't going to anytime soon. It's our duty as kings to incite change. It's us, or nobody."
It wasn't like Kyle thought Eric was wrong about that, and the determination in Eric's voice and his steely expression almost convinced him to agree right then and there. But… "If we do that so suddenly, after apparently hating each other's guts, people may get suspicious," Kyle reasoned. "And then they may find out what we've been doing. They'll feel betrayed, Eric. They won't trust us to rule them anymore, keeping secrets like this from them."
Eric's expression turned sour. He could argue with the elf until the cockerel crowed the dawn in, but he knew that wouldn't make him any less right. It was one fight Kyle hated having to win. He kissed Eric's cheek to try and ease him.
"Give it more time, Eric. Someday we will find an opportunity to make this work."
"It'd better be soon," Eric huffed in dissatisfaction, "or else I'll be forced to storm your gates and kidnap you. You're going to become part of my kingdom one way or another."
Kyle narrowed his eyes. Sometimes he couldn't tell whether Eric was just making empty threats for show, or whether he was deadly serious. "If you do that then I won't hesitate to declare another war on the humans."
"You'll lose," Eric said simply with a careless shrug. Kyle decided that he already had. He'd lost the minute he'd given his heart to the one man he was never supposed to fall for. And, in the same way, perhaps Eric had lost, too. So at least they could be losers together.
They couldn't ride off at the same time and risk being seen leaving together. Such a sight witnessed by the wrong eyes could yield questions, and they were too cautious for that. They agreed while dressing that it was Kyle who would leave first, as he had the longest journey. So when they left the inn for the stables, Eric stood aside and busied himself stroking his Kitty's muzzle as he let Kyle saddle Willzyx back up. He then followed the elven king as Kyle led the creature out and over to the side of the dirt track. He wasted no time in jumping up onto the great horse's wide back, and his body was quick to shock him with jolts of agony as his ass met the saddle hard, and his already aching legs ached more as they spread over either side of Willzyx.
"Fuck!" Kyle winced as he settled into the saddle, rubbing his ass to try and soothe it. Riding horseback after being fucked never went down well, yet he never seemed to learn his lesson.
Eric smirked. "What's the matter, your Highness? Feeling a little sore?"
"Fuck off," Kyle spat. "This is all your fault." Although, he was glad that Eric wasn't making a fuss of his pain and babying him the way Stan would have. Kyle preferred being mocked to being patronised. That was just one of the many things which he liked about the human.
"Aw, don't be like that," Eric laughed. "You can get your own back next time." He winked suggestively, and immediately made Kyle forget the pain he was in. It was his turn to smirk then.
"Don't think I won't," he promised, before taking up the reins and sliding his feet into the stirrups. He was distraught straight after, because then he realised that he had no other reason to delay his departure. "Well," he said, "I'll be off."
Eric stepped forward, his expression softening, and held out his hand. Kyle released the reins so as to reach down and take it. For a moment they just held on to each other like that, trying to savour the precious few seconds they had left. Though they smiled at each other, there was sorrow in their gazes.
"Ride safe," Eric said.
"You too," Kyle replied.
"'Til we meet again." Eric laid a tender, loving kiss upon Kyle's knuckle. Kyle nodded, and squeezed Eric's fingers just once. Then they let go, each allowing the other to slip out of their grasp, though not without knotted hearts and twisted guts. Wordlessly, because he couldn't abide goodbyes, Kyle took up the reins again, turned Willzyx's head, and urged him into a trot towards the path home.
Kyle tried not to, but he couldn't stop himself from looking back a little ways down the path. He wanted to weep and laugh at the same time when he saw Eric still standing there, where they had parted, watching him leave with a crestfallen face.
It took every ounce of willpower that Kyle had to resist jumping off of Willzyx, running back to Eric's arms, and begging him to consider eloping – to follow him away from the Kingdom of the Drow, the Kingdom of Kupa Keep, the Land of Zaron altogether, never to return. Actually, he knew that he wouldn't have to beg. He knew that Eric would say yes as soon as he asked, without a moment's thought. He was reckless like that. And that was exactly why Kyle couldn't be. So he turned his head back to the road and kicked his horse into a full gallop.
Someday, he consoled himself as the Zaronian sunrise began to light up the land once more.
Author's Notes: This is my contribution to Day One of Kyman Week: Games! I've actually had this particular fic in the works for a couple of years now, so I saw this prompt as the perfect opportunity to motivate myself to push it out. Of course, I still managed to be late. I always am. And the rush I was in may have made this story come out worse than it should have. I'm just glad it's out at last, though. It wasn't coming out any other way than by force. But I've always wanted to write something for their Stick of Truth personas! Rival kings in forbidden love is such a juicy concept.
Thanks! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!