Vows of Blood and Honor
Dragon found Lorelei, predictably enough, in the portrait gallery staring up at the paintings of her family, among them a copy of the late queen Alusair and her sister Tanalastia with Amon as a very young man.
"My lady." He said his wicked voice very gentle. "Are you well?"
Lorelei turned slightly and he saw she was regarding a smaller painting of her grandfather and his daughter Sabine. The artist had clearly known both subjects for their character was read in their faces and stance. "Everyone says I am very like him." She said in a distant tone. "They called him The Serpent you know."
"I know." Dragon spoke more to let her know he was listening than from a need to speak.
"I know that he was thought to be cold and ruthless, some believed him heartless and evil. He is not like that now, not often." She turned completely and looked at Dragon. "Is there some lack in me Dragon?" She asked trying to sound indifferent to his answer and failing for the most part. "There is some fault in me that you do not wish to have me, the way I wish to be with you?"
"Lorelei, how can you ask me that?" Dragon's rough voice chided her, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders. Looking down into her eyes he shook his head at how vulnerable her amber gaze revealed her to be. "I love you. My need to be with you, is akin to my need to sleep. I am only a man. If I do not at least attempt to control my desire for you I would be lost."
"Then you do want me?" Lorelei asked desperately. "You have not…" She looked down. It was hard for her to say that she wanted what she saw between Briar and Sebastian, the way she'd seen them kissing once or twice. "You have not touched me as though you did." Her voice grew lower with each word.
"I cannot." Dragon said simply. Her head jerked up in shock and she stared at him. "I cannot." He repeated. "I do not trust myself to touch you in passion. I do not believe that I could control my need, my reaction to feeling you under my hands." His growling voice grew heavy and dark and he shuddered visibly as if his thoughts were tempting.
"I do not want for you to control it!" Lorelei burst out passionately. "I love you. I need you…so badly it's like a pain within me. I ache constantly. I see Briar and Sebastian and I know she's still a maid but there is something between them…I would never have thought it possible that my brother love someone like that. I'm almost jealous of them, wondering if you will ever want to make me feel that way. Wanting to touch you the way Briar touches Sebastian."
"Your brother is a unique man." Dragon said simply. His dark eyes were hot as he looked at Lorelei, nearly devouring the sight of her. Her words tempted him to forget his resolutions but speaking of her brother made him remember why he was resisting Lorelei's lures so strongly. "I do not know where he gets his patience, or his control. I don't know how he can stand it." He shuddered trying to subdue his body's clamorings and his emotional reaction. "I am not him. I do not…" He paused gathered his thoughts and looked at her.
"I think he and Briar… are…petting." Lorelei whispered. "They satisfy one another somehow, I've… I've asked Jenny about it, and she told me how it is possible…" She wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered. Just thinking about what Jenny had told her in connection with Dragon was enough to give her dizzy spells.
"I know. I do not know how he can bear to…" Dragon shook his head.
"You would not like it?" Lorelei looked at him in shock.
"Would I not…" Dragon regarded her as if she were mad. "Don't be daft, of course I would." He growled. "The thought of you… putting your…" He groaned audibly as his body surged to painful life again and pushed his hands through his dark hair in an effort to calm down. Taking a deep breath he looked at Lorelei. "I'm just going to say it, and I hope to gods I don't frighten you to death by what I'm telling you. But I'm not a gentleman, my love, and that might explain why I am not capable of behaving like Sebastian." Lorelei just blinked at him and waited.
Dragon took another gulp of air and looked at her steadily. "When I finally allow myself to touch you the way I truly wish to, I will not be satisfied with half measures. I will not be able to stop until I possess you completely. I will take you, and make you mine, and give you my seed until we are both panting and exhausted with the pleasure of it. I am constantly amazed at your brother. I know he hasn't had another woman since he met my sister. By my calculation he was completely celibate but for kisses for nearly a year. I can't imagine the amount of control he must have to lie beside my sister and not completely seduce her."
"He…" Lorelei had to clear her throat and start again. "He wants her to give herself willingly, without reservation." She whispered. "I heard him tell her once. He will wait forever if he has to. He said she was a priceless gift and he did not wish to cheapen it with any doubt when it came time for her to bestow it."
Dragon smiled slightly. "He is a better man than I am." He sat down heavily on a bench and tugged her into his lap, holding her against him. "Even this…Lorelei, I want you, need you so badly, that even touching you like this is difficult for me." He kissed her cheek. "It is different for those two, trust was such an issue for them for so long. And Briar, not only distrusted men, like you, but she feared them too, for what Saldan would have done."
He pulled back so he could look at her. "I trust you Lorelei, I hope you realize that. When I told you I loved you, I gave you my heart and trusted that you would never use my love against me, or betray me."
Lorelei sighed and snuggled back into his arms. "I love you Nwyfan." She murmured. "And I trust you. I just don't understand why you do not claim me."
"I have too much respect for you. And your twin is my friend. And your parents have been good to me." He told her gently. "Dishonoring their daughter is no way to repay their kindness."
"Dragon, from all accounts, and there were a lot of people around them, my parents would understand. They anticipated their wedding vows before they were even sure there was going to be a wedding. My mother was Daddy's lover." Lorelei told him. "I know that they would not think you were dishonoring me."
"How difficult was your mother's life after they married and during that time?" Dragon said somberly. "How many spiteful tongues counted the months between the marriage and Morgana's birth? How many rumors flew about her? How many said she was a jade and worse?"
"Do you think I care what people say about me? Or that they will?" Lorelei asked hurt that he would believe she was so dependent on the good opinion of shallow people.
"Yes." Dragon said simply. "I don't think you would mind. But you are their daughter, and they do not wish for you to be the subject of hurtful gossip. It would hurt them, and that would hurt you. And I do not wish anyone to speak of you without honoring you. I cannot love you and not love you in honor. Do not ask it of me."
Lorelei sighed. "I am sorry. I did not understand that you did want me, beyond that one time in the closet you haven't shown me that sort of affection."
"I will make an effort to give you kisses, and soft touching." Dragon told her gently. "You do so well at concealing your need for my affection, I did not realize how much you wanted it. My greatest pleasure of late has been watching your eyes go molten gold when I kiss your hand." His words were affectionately teasing and he startled a tiny giggle out of her. "Come, my etrielle, we must let your family know you are well."
Vidanalas Dhulouragne watched with eyes that gleamed like black green ice as the Prince Sebastian practically minced his way through the court with Rosaleen on his arm. The elf restrained a sigh. To be fair and truthful the young man did not mince, there was nothing effeminate about him at all. His manner though, was meticulously and thoroughly bored and languid. He seemed to find little pleasure in the Court doings yet not a night passed when he did not attend. He treated everyone at court with a lazy courtesy and kept them amused with barbed humor. But there was nothing about him that spoke of any depth of character.
Vidan could not understand how his daughter, a woman whose beauty of soul was spoken of so eloquently in her music, could delight in the fools company. True he had an appreciation for music and his manner towards Rosaleen was near reverent and adoring. But he seemed like a child with a favorite toy, guarding it jealously and showing it off to all his friends, as if he were in a competition.
Even as the elf watched his daughter smiled and then laughed outright at some quip the prince made. The blue eyed man lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a worshipful kiss to her palm, sighing with overdone ecstasy at her touch. Vidan could barely contain a snort of distaste. It had been a week that he had endured the prince's company in order to be with his daughter. Attending court was an interesting pastime if one was at all curious about human society. He did notice that the princess Lorelei was skillfully playing the part of the diplomat and treated her younger brother with tolerant condescension. The Crown Prince like his parents had the air of one tolerating the Court as if it were something necessary, sometimes amusing, but still annoying.
Vidan smiled slightly as he realized his description of the court also described Sebastian to a nicety. His attention was caught by his daughter as she straightened abruptly from her elaborate curtsey. Following her gaze he saw three human nobles entering the Hall. They were announced by the Herald as Lord and Lady Serendal and Lady Loren. Vidan mentally connected the name and realized that this must be the young man he'd met years ago, when he'd been a guest of the previous lord. Lord Serendal had been a stripling of twenty five when Vidan had last seen him. Age had made its mark and silver touched the brown hair. Lines around his eyes and mouth did not speak of an easy temper.
Vidanalas was more interested in his child's reaction. She had gone very pale and stood close to Prince Sebastian as if he could protect her. Her back was straight as a poker and her gaze dark with some emotion Vidan could not yet read.
The trio from Serendal swept through the court and came to a halt before the King and Queen. A cool nod of greeting from His majesty and a slight tightening of his wife's lips were the royal couple's reaction. The Crown Prince stepped forward and spoke with an authority that seemed to exceed his years. "Your names are known. With what intention do you come to Court and present yourselves to my Royal Parents?"
"Your Royal Highness," Lord Serendal bowed. The lord of Serendal clearly considered himself equal to the task of speaking with the crown prince. His bow to Andreas was the briefest of concessions to etiquette and the expression he wore told that he plainly expected agreement with what he was about to say.
"The honor of my name demands that the bastard half breed known as Rosaleen Dhu be taken, jailed and executed for the murder of my son." His words rang out loudly and caused a ripple of shock and excitement across the sea of courtiers.
Vidan felt himself pale with fury as he saw his daughter's face turn white. Her lips moved but he was too far away to hear her.
"Sweet Lady!" Briar whispered as she paled.
From where he stood behind her Sebastian's hands pressed her shoulders comfortingly and he bent to whisper in her ear. "I swear to you beloved Rose, it will not happen. By my love I swear it." He pulled her back against him, his body warming hers.
Vidan saw the foolish prince whisper to his daughter and that she relaxed minutely. That Sebastian's gaze was angry and protective of the slim girl and anything but bored lessened the elf's poor opinion of him.
Andreas patiently waited for the murmurs to subside before he spoke. He did not even glance at his father for a hint towards an appropriate response. "Denied." The Crown Prince said in a flat cold voice. His arms rose to fold across his chest in a subtle challenge as he regarded the lord.
"You are not on the throne yet—" Serek began and was interrupted.
"But I am." Amon hissed ruthlessly. "Denied," The King said consciously choosing to repeat Andreas' reply.
Lady Serendal had been silent until now but she finally spoke, addressing Sabine. "Your Majesty, please, someone must answer for the death of my oldest child, my only son. Surely as a mother your sympathy is with me and you can see our request is not unreasonable."
Sabine smile was one that never failed to chill whomever it was bestowed upon. Ljosa was no exception. "As a mother, I understand your pain, but if anyone must answer for the death of your son it is yourself and your lord as parents." Her voice was implacable.
"How dare you!" Ljosa nearly shrieked as Loren gasped in shock and pain.
"Was it daring?" Sabine said thoughtfully, her cinnamon honey voice like ice. "I think not terribly so." She tilted her head. "Your son was executed for treason." She told them. "He would have made my oldest child his next victim of sick lust. I hold you to blame for the fear and pain she suffered." The queen looked over the court and met the eyes of Vidanalas and then looked at Briar.
Her voice pitched so only the women and man of Serendal could hear she said. "The two of you are a disgrace to your title and responsibilities. Instead of protecting your niece you turned a blind eye to your son's pursuit of her. You would have allowed him to rape her. A pure and innocent girl would have been defiled by the family who should protect her. And then you would punish her for defending herself."
"How dare you come before us and demand we revoke the justice finally done after two long years?" Amon said quietly. "You are given leave to go." His tone was an obvious dismissal.
"You will not escape this unscathed." Ljosa hissed almost to herself with a look of virulent hatred and followed her husband as he and her daughter turned to leave.
By chance their path to the door passed Briar and Sebastian. Serek and Ljosa swept haughtily past but Loren when she saw Briar hissed out. "You!"
Her hand rose and descended to strike the girl. Vidan began pushing his way through the crowd feeling sick as he watched the larger human girl strike at his fragile looking child.
The ringing crack of a hand meeting flesh never sounded. So quickly he hardly seemed to move Sebastian's hand grasped Loren's wrist, his grip white knuckled on her flesh and bone. "You are not fit to breathe the same air as my lady." He growled out keeping his courtier's phrasing but allowing his volatile anger to finally show. "Do not dare to touch her. Try to harm my lady and there will not be a place in the world you are safe from me."
He flung the girl's hand away as if touching her disgusted him and watched coldly as she nearly lost her balance and then hurried after her parents.
Briar's father watched as the prince tenderly placed a finger under her chin and gazed at her anxiously. "You are well?" He asked, sounding to Vidan ridiculously like a small boy.
Vidan rolled his eyes and said quietly. "Allow me to add my concern to that of his highness." He raised a hesitant hand to touch the coronet of ebony braids and was rewarded with shy smile. "I regret that I was not at your side to protect you as a father wishes to protect his beloved child."
Briar's smile grew tremulous and she tried to blink away the tears that rose in her eyes. "To hear you voice such a declaration Father, I would gladly have let her strike me."
Vidanalas' cold face warmed with the smile that spread his lips. "How could I not declare what has been in me since I first saw you?"
Sebastian grinned down at Briar. "You see?" He gently teased. "Mother and Dragon and Lorelei were right." He struck a mock thoughtful mien. "But then they often are."
Briar laughed at her love's foolish clowning and almost couldn't stop when she saw the look on Vidan's face. Her father wore an expression of barely concealed impatience with the prince. 'If he only knew.' She thought impishly. "Very often." She agreed. "Shall we?"
Sebastian nodded and bowed elaborately, his frivolous attitude complete once again. "I really must introduce you to this fellow I met." He drawled vaguely and Briar smiled at her father as Sebastian quickly swept her off.
Before Vidan could follow Dragon and Lorelei had come up to him and the princess was politely inquiring. "My older sister Morgana spends a great deal of time at King Lamruil's court. She is there now actually. Have you ever met her?"
Courtesy demanded that Vidan reply and he lost sight of where Sebastian was leading his daughter.
TBC