It was the first time in a long time that Helia didn't curse the morning light for spilling into his bedroom. It was the first time in a long time that Helia didn't feel a dull pain when he opened his eyes and cursed the fact that he had the ability to open them at all. He didn't hate the morning, he didn't hate the fact he woke up, he didn't hate looking around and seeing the stone walls of the castle that he had regarded as his prison for the longest time.
Helia raised his arms as he sat up on the bed, his muscles stretching and his joints cracking in the cold air. The cold hit his skin and he wanted to crawl back under the fur blankets of his bed but after last night, there was nothing as warm as Flora's body against his. Her hands running through his hair burned and her lips on his was an all-consuming fire. Nothing would ever be as warm as her.
He brought a hand down over his face to wipe away the sleep that still covered his face. However, upon touching his skin, he felt a dull pain on his cheeks and was reminded of the small cuts that were left on his skin by Flora's magical touch. He chuckled as he thought about how she had lost control when she was with him. It was nice to know that he had that effect on her and that she felt the same way about him as he did about her. But Helia would love to go further with her, to have her in every way imaginable but he didn't want to die to get it. He would, but he didn't want to.
But how could he teach her how to control powers that he had no idea existed until only a few hours ago? He barely understood what it meant to have powers. He would never know the feeling of that rush of magic. Helia fell back onto his bed and stared up at the high ceiling, his eyes tracing the mix of stone and wooden beams that made up the top of his bedroom.
Helia turned his head to the side, unable to think of anything, and groaned. His head was still swimming with what happened last night, too much to think about what to do next. He found out Flora had powers, told Flora he still loved her, she told him she felt the same, they kissed, they made out, and she lost control. But maybe that was a good thing. If she hadn't lost control and shot thorns out of her hands and into his face, they would have gone all the way. He would have ripped that green dress off of her body and taken her on top of that kitchen table. But he couldn't do that, he wouldn't do that.
She deserved better than a wooden table in a hot kitchen. Frankly, she deserved a lot better than him. No, he wouldn't think that way. She said that she loved him, and he would believe her. But as he thought about her on that table, her hands and lips on him, his hand trailed down his bare torso and down to the hem of his black sleep pants. The ties that held his pants on his hips loosened as his hand dipped below the fabric, meeting hot skin. Traveling further, his hand met his target as his head continued to swirl with all that happened last night.
In his head, he imagined what it would be like to have Flora underneath him, the curves of her body on full display for him. He could just imagine the swell of her full breasts and the soft peaks of her hips as he held onto them. Her lips would have been on his again, searing as he would taste peaches on her tongue yet again. The feel of her hand on his chest had been permanently etched into his memory and he wished that it was her hands that were touching him now.
His fingertips grazed the base of his hardening member, and he slowly opened his hand to wrap his fingers around himself. He was hot in his hands and as he tightened his grip, he imagined what it would feel like to have his erect member anywhere near Flora. He imagined her legs spreading open for him, her eyes hooded as she looked up at him, her hair in a halo around her head as she was sprawled out on the table. Helia turned his head and looked at the empty space on his bed and his mind shifted from the kitchen to his bedroom. Suddenly, he saw Flora on his bed, her bare back on the furs and dark bedding.
Helia gripped himself even tighter and slowly began pumping his hand up and down as the images of Flora continued to flow through his head. He pictured her on his bed as she held onto him, his hips thrusting into her. Her skin would be tinged the slightest pink as she moved underneath him. Would it be because she was hot? Or was she bashful? Perhaps and hopefully, she was turned on? Either way, she would be pink like she was when they had made their way back to the palace before he impulsively gave her the cloak from around his own shoulders.
Her breasts would move up and down, just as they did when she breathed heavily when she had yelled at him. But this time, it was due to the movement of her body under his. The small whimpers that escaped her mouth would fill the air in addition to the sounds of their bodies coming together. Yes, Helia could hear it now. His name on the tip of her tongue, finally to be released in a whisper for only him to hear. She would bite down on her lip to hush her moans lest the whole palace hear her with the prince. Helia would chuckle above her as he would wonder if she was keeping quiet for her honor or his. He didn't care about his honor. He would love nothing more than for the whole palace that he had gotten Flora. The object of so many men's affection. He had been denied so much by his father but not Flora. Helia didn't care about anything else because he had Flora in his hands, her face twisted into an expression of ecstasy because of him.
Flora's bottom lip would escape from her teeth as it all became too much, Helia would not relent on his pace. His hand kept pumping, harder and faster as his mind pictured Flora gripping his biceps tighter and tighter. Her nails would dig into his skin as she would do her best to keep quiet. The moans and pants would become louder and Helia would revel in the sound until finally, she would throw her head back and scream out his name. That's what would send him over the edge. As she arched her back, he would hold her tight to his chest as he came, seeing stars as he stilled inside of her. Neither one of them would care that he had finished inside of her, he was already hers in every way and she was his.
Helia had decided that Flora would be the one he would be with. He couldn't fathom being with the princess, having her carry the next heir of Hademort. No, it would be Flora. It would always be Flora. He couldn't imagine it not being her. She would be his, even if he had to forsake his namesake and leave the palace. He would live with her in the coldest corners of Hademort, knowing that she would be able to keep him warm. He would read to her and their children at night like his mother did for him. He would work in the mines and would bring her back gemstones that he would steal away in his pockets.
He would do anything for her.
Helia's thoughts were interrupted when a loud knock thumped on the large wooden door of his bedroom. His eyes shot open, and he pulled his hand out of his pants to curse at the white, hot, sticky cum that had covered his fingers.
"Shit." Helia seethed as he searched around his room for a place to secretly wipe away the evidence of his daydream. Spotting a white towel hanging from the chair by his desk, Helia threw the furs and blankets off of his body and shot to his feet. He ran across the room and grabbed the towel, wiping his hands of the result of morning fantasy.
"Your Highness," Saladin's voice sounded from the other end of the room, "I have your clothes for the day and your father has requested that you join him for breakfast this morning. He said that he needed to talk to you."
At the mention of his father, Helia's eyes shot to the silver tray of whiskey on the small table. But he shook his head as the face of a certain green-eyed handmaiden entered his thoughts. There would be nothing that his father could say to ruin his mood when he knew that he had Flora. Helia took a deep breath and closed his eyes, forcing himself to look away from the tray carrying the bottle and the glasses.
"Come in!" Helia shouted and the door swung open as Saladin came in with piles of dark blue in his hands. Helia had to look on the bright side, at least it wasn't black. He mentally made a note that if he were ever to run away with Flora, he would never wear black. He would dress in colors like the men of Linphea did. Black was so serious, and he wanted Flora to feel joy whenever she looked at him.
"Good morning, Helia. I trust that you slept well." Saladin grinned as he set Helia's clothes on the edge of Helia's desk. Helia frowned and glared at the old man. How did he always know everything and how much did he know? He had to know something because Saladin never greeted Helia with a sly grin like that unless he had something smug to say.
"Out with it," Helia commanded as he folded his arms across his chest.
"I have nothing to say, Your Highness." Saladin shrugged, "Just that there were some suspicious noises coming from the kitchen last night after I left."
"Your ears must have been playing tricks on you," Helia replied, not giving his grandfather the satisfaction of being right, even if he was.
"Oh yes, Your Highness. You know how my old ears like to hear things that they aren't meant to hear." Saladin brought his hand under his head and began to tap on his chin, "Though I don't know why my ears would suddenly hear the sound of-"
"I get it!" Helia threw his hands down and snatched the white shirt that was on top of the pile of clothes. He snapped the material and thrust his arms into the sleeves before angrily doing up the buttons. He missed one hole and had to start over, adding to his annoyance.
"I apologize for eavesdropping on an intimate moment but if you do not want people to know about you and a certain Linphean woman then I would suggest that you be a little more discreet. I don't think that the kitchen is the most appropriate place to carry on. Your father and mother found that the library made a more-"
"Stop talking." Helia groaned as he finished buttoning up his shirt. He glared at the old man whose grin turned into a smug smirk.
"Just don't get too ahead of yourself. You are fortunate that I was the only one to hear you last night. I wouldn't want anyone hearing who would best be kept in the dark about your coupling with Flora."
Helia inhaled through his nose and glared at Saladin, knowing that he should be more careful. But how could he when Flora was just so…enticing?
"I say this not for your sake, Helia." Saladin continued as he took a step towards his grandson. The smirk had left his face and was replaced by a frown. "I say this because I worry for Flora. She doesn't need any more heartbreak and she doesn't need to be caught in the middle of the affairs of the royal court and royal family until she is ready and when you are ready. I just want what I expect you want and that is for Flora to be kept safe. That means being kept away from your father and his confidants until the time is right. Until you have a plan."
Fuck, Saladin was right. But he had a plan. He would talk to his father, and he would demand that he accept that he would be with Flora or that he would break off all ties with him. He couldn't care less about a stupid crown or title, he didn't want Hademort if he couldn't have Flora.
But it suddenly hit Helia as he was getting ready to meet with his father that talking to him would be easier said than done. His father would yell at him, call him a disappointment. Then it sank in when hearing Saladin's warning that it wasn't just about him and what he wanted. By talking to his father, demanding that he be able to have Flora, that he would be throwing her right into the viper's nest. He wouldn't do that to her, not after everything that she had been through. He had to come up with a plan and fast.
How could he bring it up? How could he let his father know that he didn't want anything to do with the princess romantically and that he wanted, no needed, Flora? If he broached the subject too early with no plan, who knows what his father might do to Flora. He could send her away, accusing her of being a distraction for Helia. He had already taken away his books and his art, what made Flora any different? But there was nothing that could keep Helia away from Flora, not even…
Helia swallowed at the thought of his father permanently getting rid of Flora. With all of the happiness that his father had torn away from Helia in the past, it was not a far stretch to think that his father would do such a thing.
He had to wait. He had to come up with a plan. Figure out what he was going to do to ensure Flora's safety. He didn't care what his father did with him, but if he ever threatened to take Flora away from him, there would be Hell to pay. Helia had lived his whole life steeped in selfishness but now that Flora was a factor, Helia needed to be selfless.
"Is everything alright, Helia?" Saladin asked as he looked at his grandson with concern.
Helia turned to face his grandfather, "No, it's not." Helia responded before snatching the rest of his clothes and escaping into the bathroom, leaving Saladin in the main bedroom, worried about Helia and his forbidden feelings for the young Linphean.
Making his way down the cold hallway, the familiar morning headache seeped back into Helia's body as Saladin's warning rang in his ears. Had the hallways always been so bright? Had they always been so cold? He had forgotten everything that made Hademort horrible when he had spent time with Flora, when her lips were on his. But now knowing that they might never be together because of his tyrant of his father, knowing that just being with him might mean her demise was enough to send Helia once again wishing to be anywhere but there.
Helia walked down the long, stone hallway and it took everything in him not to take off his boots and throw them at the window, shattering the glass so that he may jump. He didn't want to be selfless, he wanted to be selfish. Why couldn't he just have what he wanted? Why couldn't he simply have her? Why did his father have to ruin everything?
He passed servants in the hall, and they all bowed to him but he couldn't care less. He was on his way to his father, and he was pissed. Not by anything in particular that his father had done but who said he couldn't be mad at what his father had done before and what he might do in the future? What was so important that Azrael had to summon him to breakfast? Helia hadn't met with his father this early since the day that Krystal, and by extension Flora, showed up on the shores on Hademort.
"I wonder what has the prince of Hademort in such a mood this morning?"
Helia stopped in his tracks and turned his head and came face to face with the other person that he would do anything never to cross paths with ever again.
"Remind me when you leave again?"
"Relax," Duncan pushed off from his leaned position against the wall, "just an observation."
Helia rolled his eyes and did his best not to punch the smug smile off of Duncan's face.
"Didn't answer my question."
"You didn't answer mine either," Duncan took a step towards Helia and looked at him up and down, "Your Highness."
"I owe you nothing." Helia replied, "I still am the prince after all, something that you will never be. I have the crown and country, something that you will never have."
Duncan smirked and scoffed as he took a step back from Helia. His golden eyes stared at Helia and held Helia's gaze with a dark gaze of his own.
"Do you know how I became captain and gained the approval of your father?" Duncan asked, cocking his head to the side, "Because I figure out what makes the enemy keep fighting. I figure out what it is that gives the enemy an incentive to keep going. I figure out what it is that makes life meaningful, and I take it. People may think that I am just brute force and while your father definitely enjoys that about me, what he admires is my tenacity and ability to bring armies to their knees. I find what others want, Your Highness," Duncan leaned forward and whispered in Helia's ear, "and I take it."
Helia felt a chill shoot through his body, and it wasn't due to the draft in the hallway. What the Hell was Duncan talking about? Whatever it was, it sounded like a threat. His jaw clenched and Helia really wanted to wrap his hands around Duncan's neck and...
"Good morning."
A soft voice brought Helia out of his momentary rage and grounded him back to the less rage-filled albeit still shitty reality.
"Good morning, Flora." Duncan turned his attention away from Helia and gave Flora a lewd smile.
Flora brought her head down to avoid the captain's gaze and brought the pile of fabric to cover her bare chest, the light green of Krystal's gown clashing with the bright orange of her own.
Helia did his best not to smile at her, she looked like a warm summer's day. Like when he would spend the summer before he came of age escaping his father and the cold of Hademort in Solaria. She looked and smelled like peaches and that brought his thoughts back to the night before in the kitchen. Her legs wrapped around him, her lips hungrily devouring him, and her hands running through his hair.
"...Your Highness?" Flora's voice brought him back again.
"What?" Helia asked.
Flora shot Helia a soft grin as she brought the cloth of Krystal's gown for the day closer to her chest, "I asked if you slept well, Your Highness."
"Um, yes, I did," Helia answered, wanting desperately to tell Flora that thanks to her he had the best sleep in his life. He wanted to tell her that he would have slept loads better if she were in his arms sleeping beside him. But they had company, aggravating company.
"I am glad to hear that, Your Highness." Flora blushed, "Oh no," Flora reached up and touched Helia's face, her fingertips burning on his cheek, "did something happen, Your Highness? You have cuts all over your face."
Helia wanted to laugh, to tell her that she knew exactly where he got those cuts and who gave them to him. He looked into her green eyes; they were filled with concern but veiled mischief that only he could see.
"I slipped on the obstacle course last night, nothing to worry about."
Flora smiled as she removed her hand from Helia's cheek, "I hope that you will be more careful, Your Highness."
"I guess I will have to get better control of the course."
Flora rolled her eyes, the intimate moment not lost on Duncan as he stood near the wall, in the shadows but very much not in the dark.
"I will be training today at the arena with Prince Helia," Duncan walked towards Flora, ruining the connection that she and Helia had made, "will you and the princess be in attendance?"
Helia stepped back from Flora and placed his hands behind his back. His peaceful expression fell and Helia once again tried to find his own control as Duncan came closer and closer to Flora.
"No, captain," Flora gave Duncan a polite smile, "Her Highness is having her final fitting for her gown for the ball."
"Shame," Duncan grabbed Flora's hand in his own, "I was looking forward to showing you the progress I had made with our recruits. I have molded them from weak, pathetic, shells of men," Duncan snuck a glance towards Helia, "to men worthy of the Hademort Army. His Majesty will be in attendance."
Flora gently removed her hand away from Duncan's, "Then you best make sure that your recruits are on their best behavior."
"And what about you, beautiful," Duncan smirked, "have you been on your best behavior?"
Flora's smile dropped momentarily as she took a step back from Duncan. She looked up to Duncan's bright, golden eyes and her face softened once again as her mouth formed another polite smile.
"Of course, captain."
"Good," Duncan replied, "such an obedient girl. I enjoy that about you, gorgeous. But I can't lie to you, your obedience isn't what I like most about you."
Duncan's eyes ran over Flora as he placed his thumb on his chin as if he were assessing the woman in front of him. Behind, Helia was sending daggers towards the captain as he looked at Flora. He had to keep his temper under control, he wasn't going to let Duncan get to him that easily. Helia couldn't let Duncan know that Flora had any effect on him or else Duncan would easily use that against him. Flora was not a pawn. If Helia had it his way, Helia would make Flora her queen.
Sensing his bubbling anger, Flora broke the tension between her and the captain.
"Well, there is not much else that people particularly enjoy about me, captain." Flora looked at Helia before looking back to Duncan, "I hope the both of you enjoy the rest of your mornings and that training goes well." Flora gave Helia a shallow curtsy, "Your Highness."
Flora turned on her heels and returned on her way to Krystal's room. Duncan watched as Flora walked away, watching her hips sway back and forth.
"I can't wait to get my hands on that." Duncan groaned as his eyes focused on Flora's ample backside. "Such a beauty, don't you think, Your Highness?"
Helia glared at Duncan as he listened to Duncan talk about Flora in such an inappropriate manner. How dare he talk about Flora, his Flora, like that? He would rip his tongue out for speaking to Flora in that way. He would gouge his eyes out for daring to look at the woman that Helia vowed he would make his own. He would...do nothing. Not until he had a plan.
"Like I said, Your Highness," Duncan turned his attention back to Helia, the dark expression back on the captain's face, "when I see something that my enemy wants, I take it."