Shot by the Love Darts
It was a warm, steamy day in the land of Tamir, and Princess Rosella of Daventry and her lover Edgar had decided that it suited them fine.
It had been a few years since the end of their last adventures with each other against Malicia. Rosella wanted to visit Tamir again, because she missed its natural beauty and fantastical residents, and she had wanted to see if Genesta, the fairy queen who ruled the land, had any good fortune bringing a sense of peace back to Tamir since the death of Lolotte.
Edgar had certainly done a good job of cleaning up Lolotte's castle and making it seem a lot less foreboding. Now, with the help of a spell sent by Genesta, the castle had a bright, silver sheen on the outside, and the inside had plenty of sunlight and moonlight to make it cheery. Rosella loved what they had done dearly.
Now, though, dressed in casual walking clothes, the two friends were wandering throughout Tamir, enjoying the sights. They were careful to stay away from the ogre's house, the scary forest, and the cave of the three hags, and they steered clear of the depressing Whateley Manor and its cemetery, too. They stopped for a moment in the very meadow where Rosella had met the incompetent minstrel-turned-actor while questing to save her father and Genesta's lives.
"Tamir really is one of the wonders of the World of Daventry," remarked Edgar.
"It surely is beautiful," agreed Rosella. "It's too bad that so many of the inhabitants didn't care at all for strangers like me when I first came here."
"Mother was always finding ways to oppress the fair people," replied Edgar, "She would make sure that there was no order around here, only chaos. I never approved of it, but I had no influence over her, so it didn't matter."
"Well, it matters now," said Rosella, "You help Genesta rule Tamir now, and your ideas and opinions matter as much as anyone else's."
Edgar hugged her. "Thank you, Rosella."
"You know, this is rather a hot day," Rosella said, gazing up at the noon sun. "I'd like to cool off someplace nice, but I'm not sure if I want to go back to that frog pond. I don't want to meet that arrogant jerk of a prince again!"
"Oh, don't worry about him!" laughed Edgar. "He left Tamir a long time ago; he said something about wanting to look in better places than here for royal maidens to woo."
Rosella looked a little amused. "I just hope he never makes it to the Kingdom of Daventry. I wouldn't dream of kissing him ever again."
"Yeah," said Edgar, "but why don't we change the subject now? This 'frog prince' could put a damper on our whole afternoon. We don't have to go to the frog pond, but there is a beautiful marble pool in western Tamir that's open to anyone of good heart, especially romantics."
"Oh, yes," said Rosella, "I had forgotten about that place! It was beautiful. It was also a hangout of sorts to Cupid, the god of love, when I saw it. If lives hadn't been at stake at the time, I may have tried swimming in it."
"Well, how about we go there for awhile?" Edgar suggested. "It's a nice quiet place to get away from the more bothersome people in this land."
"All right," said Rosella, smiling, "Let's go."
The pool was made of marble, all right; it also had carved columns, also marble, flanking it on two sides. They looked like they were holding up an invisible roof, or maybe the sky itself.
Rosella and Edgar circled the pool, gazing at its inviting waters.
Suddenly, they received a visitor from above. They looked up. It was Cupid himself. Rosella was a little afraid that their presence there was going to scare him away, again; she didn't want to get on the god of love's bad side again.
But this time, Cupid flew right up to them and hovered near them. Once again, he had a bow and two love darts. Before Rosella or Edgar could move or say a word, Cupid rapidly fired his arrows, one at Rosella and one at Edgar. Both humans felt a slight sting as the love darts struck their hearts and vanished into them. For a second, they stood, surprised. Then, they looked into the marble pool's water again.
Suddenly, Rosella realized that she couldn't stand seeing Edgar in his tunic, trousers, and boots. She walked up to him and began tugging at his clothing, pulling off every article one by one, until he was nude, and kissing him. At the same time, Edgar suddenly seemed to have very similar feelings for her. He pushed her away gently, and began to strip her of all her own clothes, pulling off her dress, casting aside her shoes, pulling down her panties, and she was as nude as he was.
They embraced erotically. Rosella wrapped her legs around Edgar's lower body and kissed him on the mouth. She kissed him on the collarbone, his shoulders, his chest, his belly, and his arms and legs. When his turn came, he ran his hands over her shoulders, her back, and her breasts, kissing her breasts and feeding from her nipples. He traced and kissed her belly button. He pulled off all the hardware that styled her hair regally, and her long, blonde tresses ran down her back and over her shoulders.
At last, they could fight desire no longer, and jumped headfirst into the pool. They swam with different levels of grace. Rosella had more experience swimming, and so she swam through the cool water with ease. Edgar held his breath and watched her from underwater. She glided when she swam, almost like a dolphin, or maybe even a mermaid. Goodness knew, if not for the lack of a tail, she almost could have been a mermaid. With her legs together, her arms at her sides, and her body's fish-like motions, it was like she was never meant to walk on land, or to wear any kind of clothes.
Rosella, too, had an eyeful. Edgar had had less practice at this than her, but as she now watched him swim from under the water, it was obvious that she was entranced. To think that he had once been a deformed man trapped in a horrid body, as Genesta once put it! Now, his body matched his beautiful soul. Muscular like that of her father and brother, lean and strong, though he swam more like a human would swim, he made such daring moves that it was like he was a champion athlete.
Eventually, both of them stared unblinkingly at each other's nude bodies under the water for a few moments, but then they realized they were running out of air. They swam to the surface.
Cupid was still there. He was giggling with joy the whole time. Rosella and Edgar got out of the water.
"My lovely!" exclaimed Edgar.
"My beloved!" exclaimed Rosella.
They kissed French-style, feeling each other's skin everywhere as they did so. Rosella had never felt more in love, or child-like, in her life. Suddenly, she darted away from Edgar and invited him to chase her through the meadows nearby. "Catch me, my beloved, or you may never see me again!" she cried playfully.
"You'll never get away, my lovely!" shouted Edgar. The two lovers started running to and fro, laughing, jumping in the air, outstretching their arms, tackling and teasing each other, traipsing through flowers and disturbing some of the more, proper, neighbors. At one point, the unicorn of Tamir showed up. Cupid then shot it with a third love dart, and it invited Rosella to ride it. She jumped on its back and rode about, rejoicing in her nakedness, while a laughing, naked Edgar continued to make chase. They didn't cross the fisherman's shanty, but the old couple thought they saw the young couple's frolicking from their back window. The seven dwarfs noticed them playing when they returned home from their mine, and marveled at how even the young enchanted by Cupid could have so much energy. The ogress was hunting for some meat for her next meal, and came across Rosella and Edgar. She tried to catch at least one of them, but the unicorn saved Rosella, and Edgar was running too fast for the ogress to keep up.
The unicorn dropped them off by the sea, right across from Genesta's island. As their last destination while enchanted, they chose to swim out to Genesta's castle and pay her a visit. It was a long swim, but they easily beat any sharks and whales that were in those waters. They came to the island, and there was Genesta, watching them come, laughing at their antics.
Rosella and Edgar danced, nude and unashamed, around Genesta, until Edgar finally tackled Rosella to the sand on the beach, and they French-kissed once more, giving each other one more rub-down. Now they were starting to get interested in each other's sexes, and Rosella started to massage Edgar's shaft while Edgar in turn began to massage Rosella's vulva. They moaned and groaned in anticipation of the coming moment of consummation.
And then, suddenly, it was over. The effect of the love darts suddenly wore off, and Rosella and Edgar, who had agreed once to court each other but not yet talk about a serious relationship or marriage, found themselves naked and hot in each other's arms. Then they remembered that Genesta was standing there. Blushing in embarrassment, they covered their private parts and asked each other and Genesta what they were doing there, and why they didn't have any clothes on.
Genesta laughed prettily. "It looks like you two lovebirds met Cupid at the Roman pool. He loves to create romance between potential lovers."
Rosella blanched. "Oh, now I remember! He flew down to us, and shot us with his arrows. I think we lost our minds, going after each other like that, but I didn't think we would take off all our clothes in front of each other!"
"You're telling me!" remarked Edgar. "Listen, Genesta, I know you could change Rosella's peasant dress back to her court gown, because you did so just before sending her back home. Can you fetch our clothes for us? I'm afraid of going back for it after all the commotion we caused."
"Certainly!" said Genesta generously. She waved her wand, and in a second, Rosella and Edgar were fully dressed again. Their blushes slowly left their faces.
"You know," said Genesta, "There may have been a reason Cupid chose to shoot you two with his arrows and make you play naked with each other."
Rosella and Edgar looked at each other. "Like what?" Rosella asked.
"Well," suggested the fairy queen, "perhaps the god of love feels that your love relationship is going too slowly, when your father, mother, and brother were more willing to relax and give in to it. I think he wants you two to enjoy each other more, and to get into the spirit of love and romance for once. He isn't necessarily saying that you have to drop everything and get married, but he does believe you are too shy about getting serious with each other."
"But I don't want to get married before my time," said Rosella.
"He isn't necessarily saying that you have to drop everything and get married," said Genesta, "but he does believe you are too shy about getting serious with each other. Maybe you should get a little more serious in your relationship in some way or another. Not a repeat of today's actions, if you don't want to, but something that will break the ice and make you realize how much you truly love each other."
Edgar was the first to respond to Genesta's suggestion. "Perhaps you're right, Genesta," he said. "My dear Rosella," he said to the Princess, "if you still aren't ready to get married yet, that's fine. But can we, at least, see a little more of each other, and do more things together? I know I'll love you even more when I get to know you better."
Rosella smiled romantically. "I would be delighted to, beloved," she said, reaching over and kissing him. Edgar was radiant with joy, and kissed her back, saying, "Thank you, my lovely." Rosella's eyes lit up.
"Now, how would you two like to spend one night in my castle with my attendants and I?" said Genesta. "It's a wondrous place, and quite romantic, too."
"I accept," said Edgar quickly. "It will be beautiful."
"Easy there, boy," said Rosella affectionately, "I agree, too, but I think I'd rather sit and talk or read a book with you this time, or maybe have a private dinner tonight. I've had enough physical excitement for one day."
They laughed and went inside the castle with Queen Genesta.
And nearby, Cupid, the Roman god of love, watched and smiled in delight as his latest achievement walked hand-in-hand together.