Title: When the Wind Was Green
Synopsis: One cunning prince set to steal the throne, another banished prince wandering the desert, a drunken warrior and an imperial princess set to wed against her will.
Characters: Bonnie Bennett: The Imperial Princess of the Northern Ottoman Empire
Kol Mikaelson: A prince from the Western Empire
Damon Salvatore: A warrior samurai protecting the Western Empire
Kai Parker: The banished prince of the Eastern Empire
~~~~~oOo~~~~~
A Tale of Two Kingdoms
~~~~~Oo~~~~~
Once upon a time the desert was an ocean.
Her father, the Sultan Khan would tell her tales about its majesty and the secrets that lay beneath its crested foams. He told her about crazed fishermen who sought the love of lusty mermaids and that beneath its undulating waves laid buried deep in its dark bosom, strange monsters the world could never envision.
That was before her time. That was before her father's time and his father before him.
Now a whirl of dazzling sand stretched before them, crested waves that leapt and slapped the hull as the galley steered. This was the world they knew now, the universe they were born into.
Sometimes she thought she heard the sand chant, a lowly hum from the depths of its fiery belly. She imagined the great white sails bellowing in the wind as the stately galley moved in the sand. She would close her eyes and envision standing on the deck of the oared vessel, watching the sweltering sun as it bathed the deck a golden amber. She had to draw these pictures from her imagination because she was forbidden to wander off onto the deck. Her grandmother, Sheila Bennett told her it was for her own good, that the sun would burn her lovely skin and that she had to remain beautiful for her betrothed. She knew nothing of the prince nor did she know much about the Western realm save for the reports of cold wintry winds and an arid desert but her mother did tell her once about how the Western Empire conquered the Southern Empire. Abigail told her about the notable warrior who helped the Emperor to conquer the South. She regaled her daughter with stories about the Western Empire's dark and powerful army of freemen who wielded swords like their own Janissary. Bonnie could scarcely believe that there could ever be an army better skilled than their own. Their slave warriors were bred, bred like the Armenian horses in her father's stables and their prowess in the battlefield was unsurpassed.
The beating drums in the belly of the galley sired her as they directed the rowing speed of the galley slaves. She closed her eyes and thought about how this marriage would be her undoing. She would never know freedom and she did not fare any better than the slaves her family owned. At fifteen she would be wed, lie with the heir apparent in the conjugal bed and bare him an heir. This was her duty as she was the dutiful little princess.
With her hands rested on her lap, she plucked a loose thread on her silk kaftan and then glanced at Sheila in the mirror as she took a brush to her dark hair. When she kept picking at the golden fabric, Sheila stilled her with one stare and then an awkward smile. Bonnie knew that by brushing her hair Sheila was attempting to calm her nerves. Sheila's frail freckled hands brushed in long, lazy strokes until the scented oils mingled in her hair filled her nostrils. The room was quiet save for the distant drums and the tossing sand.
Bonnie watched as Emily, her cousin dropped two cubes of pink sugar into her tea before handing her the small gold trimmed glass.
"Your Royal Highness" she curtsied when Bonnie curled her fingers around the patterned saucer.
"It will help you calm your nerves" Sheila offered with a rueful smile, "you must show valor, child. The gods will keep you safe"
"What of your magic?" Bonnie asked, casting a look at her nana.
"We shall not speak of such things; remember you may preform no magic within the walls of the Western Empire" Sheila paused and clutched her granddaughter's shoulder with one hand.
"They consider sorcery treason punishable by death" Emily chimed in, held up a maroon silk kaftan with gold embroidery and twirled around like a princess. With a sigh, Bonnie closed her eyes and thought about everything she was leaving behind. She had to bid farewell to her home, her horses, her mother, her brothers, and the bulk of her consort but most importantly, her magic. The Western Empire would be her prison and her doom. This was not a marriage but a treaty, a merger of two great empires. She was an imperial princess, she had no free will. Her destiny was to do her father's bidding. The West was growing even more powerful by the day, having already conquered the South, it had set its sights on the North and so her father had to use her as a bargaining tool to keep his kingdom and peace in his realm. Did he not see that by submitting to the West's demands, he had already surrendered his throne? But then again, the Sultan Khan was a very wise man and she would never doubt any decision he made.
Moreover did her father not have the last laugh; for she was not the Queen's spawn but a concubine's daughter.
~~~~~oOo~~~~~
"I have heard reports that she is a virgin oracle and that she has the blood of Isis running through her veins" Elijah said, swirling the red wine in his goblet. He stood on the stone balcony and scanned the courtyard below.
"Odd brother, I have heard tales that she is a Helen of Troy and nothing but an imperial whore" Kol countered, his tousled head leaning against the arm rest of a red velvet chaise lounge with gold adornment. His legs stretched on the sofa, silk robe gape as he sipped from a wine goblet.
"Do you think her father has a harem?" Elijah asked, pressing his lips together and studying the depths of his wine.
"Who cares? Her brother is still heir to the Northern Empire" Kol drawled and waved off his older brother much to the other's discontent.
~~~~~oOo~~~~~
Katherine emitted a strong heat between her thighs as she writhed on top of him with wild abandon. The symphony of their sex in the stillness of the gathering twilight was intoxicating. He would've died with pleasure were he Elijah but he was Kol and though she had moved him with her ample gifts; he would not worship at her feet.
She was always greedy with her tongue and her heaving breasts, Kol thought as he tossed her a look over his shoulder. He picked up a replenished pitcher of wine and filled up his goblet. Katherine watched from the four poster bed, mesmerized by his nakedness against the lingering silence of twilight. Kol Mikaelson was more maddening than sweet wine and certainly livelier in the bedchamber than his older brother and heir apparent, Elijah.
"You are looking well, your Highness" she mewled, propping herself up on her elbow.
"I know what I will call you" she laughed, kicking the Turkish sheets aside and rising from the bed.
Kol sipped his wine and closed his eyes, "What will you call me?" he asked as she moved to stand behind him.
"Kol Mikaelson the impaler" she smiled and draped her arms around his waist, her chin resting on his shoulder.
"No darling, I am Kol the god of Wine" he teased, slapping a hand to her bare buttocks.
"We will leave that moniker to Damon Salvatore, the samurai" she giggled and drew him closer to her. He could still smell his sex on her, buried in her forest of her dark tangled hair.
Kol paused with his hand over her plump backside, then slowly he replied, "Then I am the god of wine, women and song" his darkened eyes followed the trek of her fingers as they walked down to his chest until her hand gripped his flaccid manhood.
"You have certainly bewitched my brother with your feminine wiles" Kol noted, his lazy gaze taking in her attempts to arouse him again. Katherine Pierce had noble ambitions and he did not doubt that but he was not to be conquered, not by any woman.
"You must not say such things, your Highness" she giggled, a hand down toying with the hairs curling around the nape of his neck.
"Leave me" his voice was low, suddenly drained by their earlier exercise. He wanted to be alone and he wanted to consider his next move. It was a curious time at court and this prevailing discord between the kingdoms was his moment. He didn't even hear the door to the chamber close as Katherine left; his mind was reeling with thoughts and plans for the empire, spinning with thoughts about Elijah's betrothed. He needed a plan before this new blood married his brother, only to be crowned empress at the emperor's demise.
He would purge the Western kingdom of his father the ruler and his older brother, the heir apparent and take over the coveted throne.
-oOo-
Damon shrugged into his black kimono, glancing over his shoulder at the woman in the tangled bed. She had hair the color of fall and sunset, skin the color of winter but it had been ages since he had seen snow or felt the shudder of pine trees in a wintry wind. The last time had been when they had captured the South.
And now the emperor wanted to prepare for war again because he was never satisfied with the spoils of war. He glanced at the tiger emblem in the mirror as he tied his obi belt. This was their insignia as the warriors and protectors of the kingdom, the symbol of the ferocious tiger.
He took a code, to serve the royal family even if it made his blood boil every time he wielded a sword in the emperor's name.
"Damon, "Rose beckoned him back to the bed with her finger.
Swiping a small glass from the dressing table, he took a hearty gulp of sake wine and felt the warmth it gave to his veins. He glimpsed back at her with his crisp blue eyes, charmed by her nakedness and the pleasure between her thighs. She was as supple as summer, warm against his skin but he needed to leave the brothel.
The evening was gathering and his thoughts were beginning to wander to the Northern princess and her imperial consort.
-oOo-
The banished prince, Kai would've laughed were it not so deplorable. His father, the Eastern emperor had bequeathed him to the desert like an animal but he had found his home here among the desert mountain people. He snagged the wineskin from his travelling companion and tilted back his head so he could drink a measure of its contents.
Rice wine, he thought as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. They moved to the recesses of the rugged cave where light animated on the walls from the burning torches. Flames flickered and the gang of tattered bandits regaled each other with tales of their thievery against wealthy nobles. Kai picked at the rice in a bowl with his chopsticks as he listened to their tales. Reports of an imperial princess from the North riding with her imperial consort into the Western Empire were rife and they peaked his interest.
-oOo-
A/N: World building will develop more in the next chapter and the rating will also go up to M. Thanks for reading my lovelies.