The characters from the game belong to Capcom. Some OC's and story background belong to me.
A/N: I'm not english native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.
A/N: Contains Sexual Content
Castle of Baveen, Library
"Your husband has already granted as a Duke! What else do you want?"
"I always want more!"
The king frowned at her contest
"Look. We are on the same side, but we are the ones in the front line! We need more power to intervene in your own affairs! I am the one doing all the most important diplomacy with the other provinces and countries! I do deserve more for my effort! And my husband deserves a better title to continue his affairs in your favor!"
"You speak as if you were a sovereign…"
"I am a sovereign!"
"And what do I win with that?"
She gasped, "What do you win? More power and influence… and more importantly, you get the mine! Christopher has managed to secure that area only for us, the Bohmans!" she spoke convincing
The man exhaled thoughtful, "So a better title is all you want?"
She smiled with a mysterious gaze, "For now, yes"
"For now?" the man lifted an eyebrow
She smiled seductively, "Oh Charlie… My dear Charlie… you know you have nothing to lose by making an agreement with me. I always keep my word! We sign the papers, you get most of the profits and we both win in our instances… Oh and you also can imprison that man…"
He grinned, "I know what you want…" he spoke mysteriously
Katarina smiled and nodded in agreement.
(*)
"The term "grand duke" as a monarch reigning over an independent state was a later invention to denote either a particularly mighty Duke or a monarchy playing an important political, military and/or economic role, but not large enough to be a Kingdom.
Christopher Reed was an imposing figure with a strong temperament who could also charm people with his courtesy and a graceful presence. He was a family man, an understanding father and husband who was passionately loved by his wife. Frequent phases of illness, partly due to a stomach ailment, occasioned long absences from court but did not reduce his high output of paperwork, and may have had an element of hypochondria in them.The Bohman diplomat wrote of his onetime superior: "This Grand Duke had such a head that he seldom went about anything but he had three or four purposes beforehand." A Baveen eyewitness of described him as "an intelligent man who could explain his ideas and who displayed an impressive dignity. Others, who did not know him, would have considered him worthy of a kingdom…"
"I can't believe you gave him the mine!" Christopher spoke outraged as they returned to their palace after the entitlement ceremony
She grinned, "My love… Relax. We are on the same side! Everything belongs to the King!"
"Yes, but not the way you deliberately did! We have the hard work and won't receive a single penny just because of a change of title?"
"It is not only because the change of title!" she protested
"No? So what is it? Not to mention the imprisonment of Albert!"
"My only intention was to keep the order, to make justice."
"Enough! Don't play me a fool Katarina! I know what your intention was! This has nothing to do with justice. Is just a childish way of trying to impose respect! And respect isn't something that should be imposed. Your decision to keep someone like him in prison is nothing more than a whim. A whim of a spoiled woman!"
"My love… it is not fair…"
"Shut up! I'm not finished yet!"
Katarina stared him with a very serious face, inhaling bitterly.
"Why can't your eyes see the world the same way as me? Why didn't you learn in all these 6 years, through the good examples I gave you?"
She turned her face up, inhaling deeply, staring him with her chin up.
"I wonder if you ever cared about my struggles…my causes…" he spoke looking saddened, "If you're so faithful and loyal to me…"
"Do not say that, my love…" a tear cored down her face as she tried to keep her composure, "I am exclusively yours!"
"Really? From what I see the king seems to 'serve' you in all you want…"
"You are insulting me! I am just a very close friend of him! I cannot say the same about you, can I?"
He gasped changing topics, "So why imprison Albert?"
"Albert is a bad man! He is evil!"
"Do you have proof of that?"
"His alliance with his brother, William."
"They are alchemists. Not evil!" he protested
"I do not regret my suggestion! I did what I thought was best. I will not give up the power of my requests!"
"I won't give up either, Katarina. I won't give up… because that's something that both of us are very similar. We don't give up easily of anything!" he spoke and passed by her leaving the chamber
Katarina remained in the same position. Sinking in all his words. Her favorite lady in waiting came next to her trying to comfort her.
"Do not touch me!" she ordered as she continued looking bitter, feeling completely humiliated, "He had no right to treat me that way. I am not a child anymore for someone to tell me to shut up!"
"Although he is still your husband. Beyond that, he is The Great Duke!"
"A Great fool! That is what he is! A weak!" Katarina shouted
"Your royal highness shouldn't get so upset. I'm sure your highness will know how to overcome the situation… He being your husband… you know it's only needed a kinder gaze, an apology…" the woman suggested with a mischievous gaze
Katarina smiled mischievously in agreement, "You are smart. That is the reason why you are my favorite!" she spoke delighted
"I'm just practical, milady" the woman replied in a cynic humility
"You are right! All I need is to act smoothly with him… that always breaks his barriers…"
"It's been six years I'm dealing with your husband!"
"Yes indeed! Now leave me alone… I need to think…"
"Do you want me to prepare your bath before I leave?"
"Yes please… and you know what... You do not need to leave. I like your point of views and hints, it helps me when I bath and think…"
"Will you speak to Charles again?"
"No. I will not have contact with him besides the necessary. Christopher is growing suspicious of me"
"Why? It's not something he hasn't done in the past…"
"Exactly! And he has no reason in doubting my motives; I never did anything to receive such treatment even having the permission and reasons to do it!"
"That proves that in all these six years he has learned to care about you milady…"
Katarina gave a shrug, "Maybe… but I still have my doubts"
"Do you still think…?" the woman spoke leaving the sentence in hang
Katarina frowned, "No, it is not that… the problem is the type of woman he wants me to be"
"What type?"
Katarina inhaled and let out a long sigh, "The shadow of his pathetic late wife…"
.
.
.
"Although, at Christopher's side was his stunning wife Katarina Reed O'Gregon.
The period of Katarina the Great rule Baveen, the Katarinian Era, is often considered the Golden Age of the Bohman Empire and the Bohman and Baveenian nobility. The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the reign of Charles' father and confirmed by King Charles, freed Bohman nobles from compulsory military or state service. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the Governors the Grand Duke Reed and the Grand Duchess Katarina, changed the face of the country.
Katarina enthusiastically supported the ideals of The Enlightenment, thus earning the status of an enlightened despot. Her husband as a patron of the arts and military. She presided over the age of the Bohman Enlightenment, a period when the Baveen Institute, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe, was established.
They were the power couple of their time."
Reed-O'Gregon Palace
It was night. Katarina was lying in bed reading a book when Christopher entered the chamber to change his outfit to the nightgown.
Katarina closed the book and put it on the bedside table and walked closer to Christopher calmly.
"Are you still mad at me?" she asked with a low tone
He didn't respond and threw his pants on the armchair, "Mad is not the word…" he replied harshly
Katarina knew he was lying. Christopher was too transparent about his rage. He didn't know how to hide it nor disguise when he was upset, "Forgive me…" she spoke with a sorrow tone
He looked back frowning. Surprised. Katarina wasn't the type to admit her mistakes. Much less to ask for forgiveness. What happened to her pride?
"I did not do that to upset you… if you want I can try to speak to Charles when he return from Bohma and…" she spoke looking down
"No. it's not necessary… What's done is done! Better leave it that way" he interrupted her
"It is necessary! You are distant from me again!"
"I'm not distant. I've been sleeping in the same bed as you and not in my own chamber…" he shrugged
"Still feels like you are not even here… you keep your back to me. Do not look in my eyes…or touch me…"
"I've been occupied…" he replied walking away in distress and opened the wardrobe to get his nightgown.
His hand stopped half the way to the shelf as he felt the warm hands of his wife embracing him from behind. Her right hand sliding down his abdomen and rested teasingly on his groin.
"I miss you…" she whispered kissing his back, passing her tongue on his neck as her lefty fingertips teased his skin, causing him shivers. He couldn't hide it nor deny he liked her touches. He missed it.
"You're the one who gave me more responsibilities…" he replied with a husky voice still resisting her teases
"Instead you punish me when you could forgive me…"
"You sent an innocent man to prison!"
"Forgive me! I will fix that when Charles returns…" she spoke apologetic hugging him tight and resting her face on his back
The man let out a heavy sigh, intrigued with Katarina's resignation. He turned to look at her. She was looking down. He lifted her chin and she looked up at him. Their eyes finally met after a couple of weeks of cold distance. Softened, he leaned over and kissed her passionately.
It took him a long period of 6 years into their marriage to see her in a different light and he was able to like, if not love, her a little bit more for who she was. He could now understand her reasons and embrace her causes. He had also grown to admire her strength, bravery and intelligence. She had indeed proved to be a good partner, a good mother and above all a good wife. An excellent lover. Sexually he had nothing to complain about her. She satisfied him, infatuated him. In fact, since they were younger she did have a sex appeal on him. He just fought it as he felt it raw, beastly, feral, wrong. He was a good intended man, but he had that darker side. A side he only allowed in battles where he judged it was fitting and right to use it.
However, Katarina loved that side of him. His beast. His controlled demon. She sought for it and she got it.
His hands travelled her body to finally realize she was naked all the long. She knew how to trigger his buttons, his flesh, his desire. His lust.
He sucked her neck, leaving the marks of his teeth and lifted her. She straddled him and he quickly stifled inside of her making her groan with the sudden penetration. She liked it. She loved it, instantly getting wetter to fit him, to accommodate him entirely. That pleased her.
He was strong. She was flexy. They were feral. They loved the sounds of their flesh clashing against each other. She crossed her legs around his waist making him go deeper as she came. She nailed the back of his shoulders, his arms. He groaned. He loved when she arrested him between her legs nearly being unable to move. He walked over the bed and lied her on her back. He bent on her, took her breasts in his hands, and sucked her nipples. Hard. She loved when it hurt. When he bit it delicately and then licked as a way to ease the pain.
A charge of intimacy flooded his body, better than anything else ever had of furtive invasion, the naughty thrill and the powerful sense of knowing that she didn't object at all to anything he requested. To anything he wanted to do with her. She was his. Completely his.
In fact she had thrown her head back and arched her back giving him the perfect access to her neck, breasts and abdomen so he could run his tongue as she squirmed against him and more of those quiet moans slipped free of those perfect lips. It was deeply satisfying to touch her this way. He could almost feel it himself, the chill that ran through her, the shiver of response as her arousal built as her fingers ran through his hair, shoulders and arms.
Sex with her was the best, feeling so in tune with a woman that he could sense her response, could almost feel her pleasure in his own body as he touched her. What had she done to him? His skin was alive with the texture of her smooth cool flesh. He did things his mind objected and saw as wrong, dirty, forbidden. He tried, but he couldn't dominate his forbidden persona when with her. A woman that could be as wilder as himself. Lustful.
He kissed, bit down. Licking down her stomach slowly. Seductively. Teasingly all the way down to her pink spot. He bent his head and took it in his mouth. His hot tongue laving hard against it as her parted legs rested on his shoulders. He felt it tighten in his mouth, and he drew on it harder until she quivered, panting and giving little cries.
She was on the brink already. It would take so little to make her climax again right here like this. That knowledge swept through him, how in sync they were. How susceptible she was to the sensations he could bring with his hands and mouth. He wanted to have her screaming with pleasure, rocking to orgasm on top of him, a waterfall of that beautiful woman squeezing the sheets, convulsing on the mattress. Her thighs squeezing his head as he drank her liquor.
He took her face in his hand roughly and kissed her. She could taste herself in his mouth. She was clawing at his back, trying to get closer to him, gasping with arousal and his for the taking. Don't. Something in his mind said, some last shred of sanity. Don't take her standing up like an animal. He nearly growled at the thought of lifting her up against headboard or better yet, bending her over and gripping her hips hard as he showed her exactly what he was capable of. Still even into six years of marriage he tried to draw back. He fought back.
He looked at her, disheveled. Her bright eyes and swollen lips. The mess of her dark hair. The perdition in her eyes. He looped an arm around her hips and pulled her against him. He softly cupped her face.
"Listen to your instincts. Ignore all logic. Let go…" she demanded raising her legs to his shoulders and lying her back on the mattress and lifting her arms up. Urging to see and feel that man when he wasn't in control of his body.
He looked at her, right in the eyes, for longer and the urge to do more than just hear this woman scream out his name overwhelmed him. Her lips parted and he shoved any other emotions aside except the need to possess her. He let go of his tight rein of control and the need to explore, to let time slip away from him hit him. He sank into her rough and deep. She screamed as he reached the bottom of her. He could feel it.
Katarina definitely did something to him, and on some level, it freaked him out.
He trusted harder. Her legs locked around his neck. His left hand held both of her fists tightly as his right hand was on her throat. He trusted and trusted again. She pushed her hip against his pelvis wanting him deeper. Rougher. Painful. Blissful pain. Her eyes begging for more. Her nails clenched in his skin. Her failing voice begging for more as she enjoyed the suffocation as he fucked her harder. Deeper. Wilder. His pelvis nearly entering her. She loved it. She loved accommodating the all of him. Tightly buried.
She groaned. He groaned. Their fleshes clashing loud and fast. The headboard beating against the wall. They didn't care if the servants could hear them. She enjoyed that thought. That attention. In fact, in royalty such intimate moments were a public matter.
Her tight muscles spamming around him. Wetting him, his balls. His balls smashed against her buttocks. He couldn't take any longer. She propelled him heedlessly onward as her body rose and fell to match his pace. The demon burst free of its cage as he took her with a ferocity he couldn't stop. She held onto him as she felt the unraveling within him. He plunged into her again and a guttural shout escaped him. The pulsations of his release filling deep inside of her brought forth an answering orgasm from her again and she cried out.
Slowly he regained the control again and released her arms and neck so she could breathe properly. The delighted smile on her face. Satisfied – for now. The scratches on his arms. The mark of his hand on her neck. She unlocked his neck.
Falling back on the bed, she marveled over the beauty of his chiseled body, dampened with sweat, as he remained rigid above her. Slowly, his head came back down and his eyes met hers. His hair was tussled as it fell almost boyishly across his forehead. What transpired between them had done nothing to ease his need for her. Instead, it had only whet the demon' appetite for more.
Katarina braced herself for what was to come. However, he didn't strike as he stared unwaveringly down at her and kept her body caged beneath his. He didn't so much as breathe. She knew it was taking all he had not to pounce on her and take the rest of what he needed from her.
She loved him even more for it.
He gazed wordlessly at her as some new emotion came to life within him. He wasn't sure what this feeling was, but she was the only one who had ever brought it out in him.
Katarina smiled at him as she found herself staring into a pair of beautiful, deep brown eyes once more, "There's the Christopher I love" she whispered
She was his, but more than that. Somewhere along the way, he had fallen in love with her too at some extent.
Christopher rolled over and climbed from the bed. He glanced back at where Katarina remained sleeping peacefully for the past few hours.
Moving away, he walked into the bathroom. He turned the sink on and splashed his face with water. He pulled a towel from the rack and dried himself before lifting his head to meet his haggard reflection in the mirror. His face hadn't seen a razor in a while. Thick stubble lined his cheeks and jaw. He had rubbed her skin raw earlier because of it and she seemed to like it.
He walked into the bedchamber as a knock sounded on the door. Grabbing his robe and dressing it, he hurried to answer it before it woke Katarina. He crackled the door open, his eyes narrowing on his advisor.
"What is it?" he slipped out and closed the door to within an inch
"I have got a message from the king"
"And?"
"He wants you to go to Bohma as soon as you can"
"Did something happen?"
"I don't know details"
Christopher inhaled and nodded thanking him for the message. He entered back into the chamber and changed his clothes to leave and head to Bohma.
Green Hills, Bohma
It was morning; Angelique was playing outside with her five-year-old son, Oliver, when she noticed George coming their way.
"Good morning my sun shines" he greeted them with a smile
"Good morning papa" Olly replied
"Good morning George. Where are you going so well dressed?" Angelique replied noticing the well dressed manners of the average looking man
"The king called me"
"What? Why?"
"I don't know…I'm about to find out"
"The king called you? Can I go with you?" Olly asked innocently excited
George smiled softly, "No my dear. I'm sorry, but I can't take you with me"
"Is the king back in town or are you going on a trip to Baveen?" Angelique asked
"No, he is in town… Now I have to go. I tell you everything when I get back"
Angelique nodded in agreement and smiled softly to him. As she watched him leave and Oliver getting back to play, many thoughts crossed her mind. The king was back in town. She couldn't help but wonder if Christopher was back too.
She looked at her little ginger boy. Oliver had her looks in general. Fair skin, green eyes and red hair… But his temper was Christopher's.
Castle of Bohma
"George Talbot, from the House of Talbot?" said the king facing the man standing before him
"Yes, your majesty."
"Your father was a marquees and close friend of my late father and a great dealer from what I have heard"
"Yes, they were close…"
"I wonder if your father passed his negotiation gift to you as I heard you run a jewelry shop? Is that correct?"
"In fact he did pass his knowledge to his children but I am the only son that continues running the family's business. My mother is the one who actually runs the jewelry-painting shop"
"Painting?" the king asked in curiosity
"Yes"
"I didn't know Lady Talbot had artistic skills"
"She doesn't, but her assistant does"
"Oh, and is the assistant a good painter?"
"The best! I have never seen such realistic traces before; so detailed and so faithful."
"Interesting. I'd like to meet your assistant, I was in fact looking for a painter. Does he…"
"She" George corrected him politely
"Does she give art classes?"
"Yes she does."
"Good! Tell her I want to speak with her about it"
"Yes I'll tell her. And how can I serve your majesty?"
"I invite you to return to the court. Your title and rights as Marquees will be reestablished. I need your proficiency with negotiation and use it with other new provinces as our territory is growing thanks to the battles won by the Grand Duke of Baveen."
George remained thoughtful, "May I think about it and answer you later?"
"Absolutely, but I want you to know that the conversation and negotiation is open if you have reservations or requests to make"
"Thank you. I'm glad to know that"
(*)
George Talbot returned home thoughtful. He didn't expect such proposal from the king. Since his mother abdicated from living in the court, he never imagined he could ever go back to it. Not that he did care immensely about such position. He did enjoy his life as an ordinary person, although he wasn't a hypocrite to deny he like the prestige such title or position permitted.
At dinner, he broke the news to the family. As expected, his mother Margareth Talbot didn't like the news and promptly gave her position. Though, she didn't impose her wishes to him but hoped he'd be wise to make his decision.
"Oh and I was almost forgetting… The king wants to speak with you" he added looking at the redhead woman who was still in the dining table
"What? Why?" she replied surprised
"About art classes. During our conversation, I ended up mentioning your skill and he demonstrated interest in speaking with you… Probably he wants you to teach his children…"
Angelique remained thoughtful and apprehensive. Giving classes in the court meant that at any time, she could reencounter Christopher and that was a thought that caused her fear. Long time ago she gained courage to speak with Christopher and tell him about Oliver. However, that courage happened long enough for her to have let go of that possibility, although she still owned the truth to her son who grew older every day and deserved to know his own history and later make his own decision if he would forgive his father for abandoning them or not.
Thank you Pin for the review! :D
I'm sorry guys for taking so long to update. I got in a training for a job and was studying, so I didn't have time to write or even think. :(
But I got new ideas for the story :D
I'll write in my own pace, but I will definitely continue the story :D
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Thank you all for reading my work. Your support gives me a boost to continue improving!
And as the usual...
Stay Tuned!