Wife of the Elven King

by jenfaberry

Rachel was stolen in the middle of the night and taken to a mysterious new world where she learned that elves are very real. She also learned that what the King wants, the King gets.

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Confusion was quickly becoming the norm when I awoke the next morning, once again finding myself disoriented about where I was. But then I recognized the familiar room I'd woken up in the previous morning.

I bolted up in bed, looking around for Quinn, but not really surprised when I found that I was alone once again for the second time in a row. At least I didn't have a hung-over feeling like yesterday. My memories were a bit hazy, but the fact that I was naked, along with my still-throbbing vagina and sore nipples, confirmed my fragmented memories of riding my Elven lover last night.

A blush covered my cheeks at the memory. I couldn't believe I had actually done that!

But it had been unbelievably amazing. The feel of Quinn's hands on my hips, urging me on. The way her hips had thrust up, driving into me deeper. The look of… what was it—longing? happiness?—in her bright green eyes as she looked into mine.

We had made love. Plain and simple.

But then what happened next?

I didn't remember laying in Quinn's arms to bask in the afterglow. Had I passed out during the act? I grimaced. How embarrassing if that was what had happened!

Folded pieces of clothing at the foot of the bed, the same color of dark blue as the Elven King's robes, caught my eye. I scurried out from under the covers, wasting no time in slipping it on.

But as I tried to do up all the ties and loops, I just became frustrated and gave up. However, despite all the intimate acts we'd done over the last couple days, the last thing I wanted was for Quinn to suddenly walk in and find me naked. Nudity was all good and well while having sex, but I could only imagine how vulnerable I would feel trying to have a normal conversation with her while I was unclothed.

After several aggregating minutes, I finally gave up and left the bottom three ties undone and then made my way over to the door that I assumed was the way out. I froze as I stood in front of it, thoughts of every possible horror movie flipping through my mind.

My hand hesitated over the handle before I mentally berated myself for being such a wuss and grabbed it with more force than was necessary. Even so, I felt surprised relief when the handle turned easily, and with a soft click, the door opened.

I felt like a prowler, and I had no idea what—or who—to expect to be waiting for me on the other side of this door.

Slowly, I stuck my head through the partially opened door and peered out.

I was learning more about Quinn every time I saw her, but for all I knew she could be part of some kind of royal mafia, with dozens of armed men lining the hallways.

But, thankfully, from what I could see, it was just another room. It was large with high-ceilings and a few cream-colored couches in the center with a couple of small tables holding a pair of rather ornate and old fashioned-looking lamps. There were several wooden, high-backed chairs pushed up along one of the walls. It looked to be a sitting or living room.

And no thugs in sight, thank goodness.

Pushing the door open farther, I cautiously stepped into the room, still half-expecting someone to jump out at me. But all was quiet. The only sounds were my shallow breaths and the rapid beating of my heart as it thrummed in my ears. There was a door across the room directly facing the bedroom door, and two others on the left and right.

To the left was a large picture window that was covered by only a couple of thin, nearly transparent white curtains. I made a beeline to the windows and pushed the curtains aside.

The sky was a beautiful blue, making the huge knot of tension in my chest loosen just a bit. However, a sense of vertigo washed through me when I looked down and was greeted by the sheer drop of a jagged cliff face, the rocks and crashing waves at the bottom were so far down that they were barely distinguishable. The drop must be at least a couple thousand feet.

Startled, I immediately jerked away from where I'd been leaning against the window, my heart suddenly in my throat. Why in the hell would someone build a structure so close to the edge of a cliff?! One small earthquake or some weathered edge suddenly becoming unstable, and someone would earn a one-way ticket to the last terrifying ride of their life.

I quickly took several steps back toward the center of the room.

Looking back over to the bedroom door, I wondered if I should just go back inside and hide under the blankets until Quinn returned. But before the thought even finished, I felt my stomach growl and was suddenly reminded that I hadn't eaten in who knows how long. There had to be a kitchen somewhere nearby. I really hoped I wouldn't have to wait for Quinn to show back up to get something to eat.

I wondered if I was in something like an apartment, or if the King of the Elves lived in a huge castle or palace and this was just one of several of its wings.

Perhaps now was as good a time as any to explore what I knew to be my new home.

I walked over to a pair of French-style doors that opened out onto a wide and spacious balcony with tables and seating. Although I wasn't exactly afraid of heights, there was no way I was going out there alone without first asking Quinn about it. For all I knew of the Elven realm, it could be a windy season or something and not safe to go out there.

When I opened the next door, I smiled when I was greeted by a large grand piano. It was absolutely beautiful! And I stood in awe at the instrument. There was no way I could have ever afforded something so extravagant, and my fingers itched to play it.

The walls of the room had floor-to-ceiling bookcases full of hundreds of books. Quinn must love to read, I thought as I took in the majesty of the entire room.

I stepped further into the room, but stopped when my gaze fell on a long-haired, blonde woman who was seated on one of the many overstuffed chairs in the room, an open book in her lap. I stood frozen, staring at her while her light blue eyes blinked up at me in surprise.

She was incredibly beautiful, her features much narrower than a human woman's but delicate and perfectly proportioned as if they had been sculpted by one of the Renaissance masters.

With a jolt of panic, I wondered if this ethereal girl was the queen. She looked a lot younger than I anticipated, but she could've been a thousand years old for all I knew about the longevity of elves. But I knew I sure as hell wasn't ready to meet Quinn's other wife, especially when I was in essence "the other woman". Quinn had said that the queen didn't care for her at all, but that didn't mean the queen would be all that happy about her bringing another woman into their household.

The thought of just backing out of the room and running back to the bedroom crossed my mind again, much stronger now. But then the elven woman smiled, and it was a genuinely friendly smile without a sharp edge or judgement to be found.

"Hi!" she greeted happily, closing her book and placing it on the small table beside her before standing up. "I am sorry I wasn't there when you awoke, My Lady. But you seemed to be deep in slumber and I didn't want to wake you." I smiled at her bubbly tone. She reminded me of one of my classmates in my drama class. "My name is Brittany of the family Pierce, and I am a servant of the royal household. My Lord King has assigned me to be your lady-in-waiting."

Feeling the tension drain from my shoulders, my smile widened. "It's nice to meet you, Brittany. I'm Rachel." I didn't give her my last name, unsure of what the proper etiquette was for introductions now that I was considered one of the king's wives. Just thinking the "w" word made me squirm inside. At that moment, I very much felt like a fish out of water. I didn't need to be from the elven realm to know that it was probably dangerous to commit a social faux pas even with a servant. I mentally winced. I didn't like the sound of the word "servant".

"Are you sure you should be up?" she asked worriedly. "Her Majesty expected that you would not wake for several more marks, yet." I saw her eyes flicker down to my stomach for a brief moment, and I had an uncomfortable suspicion that I knew what she was worrying about.

The problem was that I couldn't really say she was wrong, given that I had already slept with the king twice. And then to make matters worse, I felt my cheeks heat up at the thought of everyone in the whole damned Elven realm knowing that I'd just spent the last day being screwed into the mattress by their king. I'd always been a private person, but it was beginning to look like complete privacy would no longer be an option for me.

"I'm fine," I assured her quickly. At her smile, I continued hesitantly, "Actually… I am a little hungry. Qu-, I mean—my lord husband—" I almost choked on the word. "—hasn't had a chance to show me around yet. Is there a kitchen, or someplace specific that I'm supposed to go to eat?"

Brittany inclined her head gracefully. "If you would like, I will have a meal prepared and sent up, My Lady. Her Majesty sends her apologies, but she will not be dining with you for the midday meal. But perhaps you would like to visit the royal baths while you wait for your food?"

I thought about that for a moment and figured it was probably a good idea since I more than likely smelled like sex and sweat. Considering that was practically all I'd been doing since I got here. I felt myself blush at the thought as I nodded. Just how good was an elf's sense of smell, anyway? For all I knew, I probably reeked to high heaven, and Brittany was just too polite to say anything.

I followed her to a large door that I assumed had to be the main exit, and to my dismay, it had indeed been locked after all—and from the outside, no less. Brittany had to call out to who I presumed to be guards, who were standing just outside, to unlock the door. I decided to pretend that it didn't bother me at all—even though I was fuming inside that I was locked in here. The last thing I needed was to start the rumor mill about my behavior.

When the door was opened, I saw two guards waiting in the hallway, both looking as flawless and beautiful as Brittany. Their blonde hair was also to their mid-back, making me assume all the Elven prefered long locks.

Brittany and I, along with one of the door guards, walked down a series of narrow corridors that all looked identical to me. I knew it was going to be nearly impossible to navigate them on my own for quite some time. But I felt comfortable as I listened to Brittany chatter on.

"Tina of the family Cohen-Chang, and Kurt of the family Hummel, will be joining us sometime past midday. Her Majesty has also assigned them to serve as your ladies-in-waiting along with me."

"Kurt?" I asked curiously. "A man is to be one of my ladies-in-waiting?"

"You will understand when you meet him, My Lady," was all she said.

Being addressed in such an archaic way was making the reality of my situation all the more real, and I found my anxiety levels rising again. I was now the wife of a freaking Elven King and was expected to bear the heirs of this kingdom. The thought of it was infinitely more terrifying in the light of day without my mind being overwhelmed by mind-blowing sex.

The royal baths was a large area straight out of an expensive spa brochure—all marble pools with low-lighted ambiance made possible by several small oil lamps littered throughout the huge chamber. But I had very little time to absorb the extravagance of the place, when Brittany abruptly stopped walking, causing me to almost trip.

Before I could question her actions, I noticed that she was staring at something across the room—and her whole body was visibly tensed.

My eyes followed her gaze, and landed on a gorgeous woman with black-ebony hair, lounging in one of the smaller side pools, while four female elves hovered at the edges nearby, obviously attending to the woman. But as I looked closer, my body suddenly went rigid, and I realized that I'd seen that woman before.

Then it all came back to me.

I remembered with a clarity that was almost as shocking as it was mortifying. It was her—the elf that had been standing in the doorway of Quinn's bedroom watching us as Quinn was doing her best to screw me into oblivion.

Then with a sinking feeling, I realized that given where the woman was now and the fact that she had been able to easily walk into the king's bedroom, there was only one person she could be.

The queen.

And then, as if I'd shouted her name, her gaze connected with mine. And her face was just as expressionless as the first time I'd seen her.

Brittany bowed to the woman and said something in a musical language that, judging by its tone, must have been some sort of an apology, but I didn't need to understand her words to have my suspicions of the woman's identity confirmed—her low bow and downcast eyes said it all.

I wasn't sure if I should bow too, but quickly dismissed the idea, not wanting to show this woman any weakness. Yes, she was the queen, but I refused to let her think she owned me.

And if she was offended, I figured I could probably use the stupid-human-doesn't-know-anything-yet excuse. Might as well milk my ignorance for all it was worth while I still could.

Even as Brittany spoke, the queen still didn't take her dark laser eyes off me, acting as if the young elf wasn't even talking. And it took everything in me to keep a neutral expression on my face and not to outright scowl at her. She was acting as bitchy as I'd feared she would be, and I knew pissing her off would only make matters worse.

Suddenly, rudely cutting Brittany off, the queen spoke sharply in what I assumed was Elvish, and immediately two of the four elves with her hurried over to an alcove where piles of towels and other various garments were neatly folded on several rows of shelves. They returned with several of each just as the other two elven women were carefully helping their mistress out of the pool.

The queen kept glaring at me as she posed with her arms slightly out and raised, seemingly unconcerned about displaying her nudity to everyone in the room. Not that she had any reason to be concerned—every part of her body was a masterpiece. Her tanned skin was flawless and had a touch of glow to it. Her breasts were full and bigger than mine, and she had long legs that went on for days.

The two elves dried her off as carefully as if she was a delicate figurine that might shatter with too much pressure.

I stood rooted to my spot, silent and feeling extremely awkward, but trying hard not to show it. Brittany also stood silently beside me. It was apparent by her worried eyes that she had no idea what to do in this situation. Obviously she hadn't expected the queen to be here, and I immediately felt a kind of kinship with her. From Quinn's earlier explanation, it was rare for the Queen and the Royal Wife to ever see each other.

Brittany and I were both treading unknown waters here. And one of the biggest sharks in the ocean was heading straight for us, her eyes as hard as steel. She almost seemed to glide as she walked across the marble floor, then she stopped only an arm's length away from me.

This close, I could see that Quinn was right—the queen was extremely beautiful. But her dark smoldering eyes looked like they could incinerate me where I stood, and her dark beauty brought to mind power, emphasized by the coldness in the sharp angles of her face. There was nothing soft or delicate about her. She reminded me of a well-honed, well-crafted sword who just happened to have an exquisite jewel-encrusted hilt. It was almost like she'd been bred to be a warrior. Quinn had said that the queen was of a different elven race, which was obvious with her darker Latina-looking skintone. I wondered if the rest of her people's women shared the same sharp, warrior-like characteristics.

I was drawn out of my thoughts when I realized that the queen was examining me as well, her eyes moving critically up and down my body several times. She even tilted her head to look at me from several different angles, giving the impression that she was a judge examining the quality of an animal at a stock show.

I pursed my lips together, internally gnashing my teeth at the way she was treating us. But I decided to be civil and said a short "hello." Quinn had implied that this woman held just as much power as she did, both elves the ruling representative to their peoples, so antagonizing the Elven Queen here would be worse than stupid. Hopefully me talking to her first wasn't a social misstep or even worse, against the law.

As soon as I spoke, the neutral expression on the queen's face morphed into something between a sneer and a look of disgust, making her appear even more evil. I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine, and hated myself for being the one who had blinked first.

"So, hobbit, you think you are here to bear our future king?" she spit out, her eyes still doing their best to bore twin holes through my face… and I wasn't altogether sure she couldn't. "Anything born from your heinous human genes would be an abomination."

I swear I could hear my spine crack. Over the last few minutes, I had grown so stiff with suppressed outrage, but I merely stared back at her neutrally without a word. She was clearly trying to get a rise out of me, and damned if I would give the elf-bitch the satisfaction.

She scoffed and then uttered a few words in the musical Elven language, making Brittany suddenly stiffen more than she already was as the queen walked past me without another glance. Her ladies-in-waiting scurried after her, flashing me a few curious looks as they passed, but saying nothing.

"What did she say?" I asked my companion once I could no longer hear the faint footsteps of the queen and her entourage.

A flash of panic showed momentarily in the elf girl's blue eyes before she could completely hide it. She tried to cover it up by smiling brightly and urging me towards the largest pool in the chamber with a gentle pat to my back. "Do not worry about it, My Lady," she said airily. "The queen is still adjusting."

Translation: "The queen just called you a dirty whore; but that's only because she's jealous, and she really, really doesn't mean it…"

I decided not to force the issue and allowed Brittany to lead me to the steps of the main bathing pool. While I removed my robe, she went to fetch me some soap. The pool was pleasantly warm and came up to just below my shoulders. Beneath the water, a natural stone ledge had been carved and smoothed out into a bench allowing me to sit comfortably.

Brittany returned with the soap as I was dunking my head beneath the water in order to thoroughly soak my long hair, and she immediately insisted on being allowed to wash my hair. I let her have her way without a fuss, but flat-out refused to allow her to wash anything else, telling her it was a "human" thing, so I wouldn't hurt her feelings. Remembering how I'd been washed by all those unknown elves while still blind and clueless about my fate, made my skin crawl just thinking about it. I wondered if this was the pool where it had happened.

After bathing, she directed me to one of the smaller pools towards the back of the chamber, just like the one the queen had been soaking in. I wasted no time in getting in, uncomfortable with even walking that short distance while completely naked, even if the only one to see me was Brittany.

The pool was a bit hotter than the one I'd just left, but not quite hot enough to be considered a hot tub. But it still felt really good on my muscles.

"Relax your body for a time, My Lady, while I go alert the kitchen staff about having your midday meal brought to your personal rooms," she said. "If you need anything before I return, you need only call out to the guard at the entrance and he will send in one of the bath servants immediately."

Bath servants? It had never even occurred to me that there were other elves around! I quickly scanned the room, but except for us, the large chamber appeared empty. "Where—"

"Don't worry," Brittany assured quickly. "They would not dare to intrude on the Royal Wife unless called upon. It would be punishable by death."

My eyebrows shot up. "Really?" I asked, stunned.

"Oh, yes," she nodded her head emphatically. "Even if they dared to look into the bath area without being summoned when the Royal Wife was present, Her Majesty would have them killed."

That information was quite… interesting. The rules here were very severe. I would need to talk to Quinn to make sure I learned them before I accidently broke one and found myself hanged or shot by a firing squad, or however they killed people here.

"Thank you for informing the chefs about my food," I said with as sincere a smile as I could muster before she gave me a slight bow and left the room.

When Brittany kept addressing me as "My Lady," I realized I really didn't like this newest form of address, for more than the obvious reasons. For me, it was like building walls between the two persons. Brittany was certainly friendly, but as long as she insisted on calling me by such a formal title, I would always be the "Royal Wife" and she the "lady-in-waiting." If the elven realm was where I would be spending the rest of my life, then I would at least want to have a few real friends here. However, now was definitely not the time to bring it up, not when I still had very little clue as to what was in store for me.

I couldn't help but wonder back to the other new title Brittany had called me—Royal Wife. It reminded me once again of why Quinn had stolen me to the elven realm. "You will bear my heirs." A baby was utterly the last thing I wanted right now, especially when I was still so confused about my feelings for Quinn. We hardly knew each other, never mind what my stupid, sex-muddled brain thought of the matter. Hardly the ideal situation to raise a child… especially if she only saw me as a baby factory, a pleasurable means to an end.

The thought of Quinn only tolerating my company just for the sake of breeding made something deep inside me twist painfully, leaving me feeling cold despite the warmth of the water. But then there was that weird—incident—that had happened the second time we were having sex that Quinn had yet to explain properly to me. Not that she'd really had the time to explain even if she'd wanted to. We had started making love again almost right after, then…

I made a face. It was then that the queen had walked in on us and instead of her saying something or gasping in shock or… anything to get our attention, she had just stood there and watched us go at it like she was some kind of sick voyeur! And that I had passed out just when I was about to say something to Quinn about her presence was probably no coincidence.

~~~~~QR~~~~~~

A/N - Let me know how you're enjoying the story so far! It's a little different than I usually write, but I thought I'd give it a go!