Vows of Blood and Honor
Amon looked at his wife who was busily braiding her hair. "It seems that Lord Serendal wishes a private audience with us." He said with a grimace.
Sabine turned and smiled sweetly. "So in other words he wishes to be told no in private as well as in public."
Her husband smiled as her movement revealed the unclosed lapels of her sheer robe. Moving to stand behind her, he slid his hands down her shoulders to brush the sides of her breasts and span her waist. "So it seems." He breathed in her ear, stirring the tendrils of gold that had escaped her braid.
"Hmm…" Sabine sighed at his touch and her hand lifted to thread through his hair. "When does he hope for an audience?" Her sultry voice whispered.
"Apparently he is waiting in one of the lower antechambers." Amon's tongue flickered out and trailed down her neck. His hands were busy parting her robe more completely and trailing over her delicate flesh.
"And you believe that we should go immediately down to him?" His wife inquired mischievously.
"I am not thinking of him right now Sabine." Amon told her firmly. "I am thinking it has been an entire night since I had my wicked way with you." His mouth moved from her neck to her shoulder as he slipped the robe off of her. "Surely you will not deny your husband his conjugal rights?" He asked, his fingers slipping between her thighs and caressing her wickedly.
"My king you know I can deny you nothing." Sabine turned into his embrace and her white hand parted the robe he wore. "What is your will?" Her voice was sweetly submissive as she pressed her lips to his chest.
Amon smiled delighting as always in his response to her and in hers to him. "Let me show you, my wife." He told her and his firm hands compelled her to rise, guiding her towards the bed.
Serek was pacing impatiently two hours later when the footman appeared in the doorway. "Their majesties will see you now." He informed the impatient nobleman. "If you will follow me."
Serek was led to a simple though elegant room decorated in a fashion similar to a morning parlor. The king and queen sat in a pair of elegant bentwood chairs in rich mahogany with a small table holding a tea tray in between them. As he was bowed into the room her majesty was handing the king a cup of tea which he balanced on the palm of his hand in its saucer.
"You requested a private audience with us." The king raised his eyebrows inquiringly.
The nobleman bowed automatically to them both and stood with his hands clasped behind his back. "I did your majesty." He nodded.
"Dare I inquire why? Or can I make the short leap of intellect that bases your visit upon your request of several days ago." Amon took a sip of tea and gave his wife a teasing smile. "Do I only get tea?" He asked her. "Or are you going to share those biscuits you've got under the cover?"
"I'm just trying to keep you trim as you requested." His wife returned his smile and placed several of the honey biscuits on a plate and set it near the table's corner for him.
"You are doing that quite well by ensuring that I exercise." He glanced at her own plate. "But you are getting too thin, eat something."
"But I did eat something Amon." Sabine murmured lowering her eyes and glancing at him from beneath her golden lashes. "I had something creamy and warm first thing this morning. I was assured it was quite good for me."
"And was it?" Amon asked her nonchalantly taking a bite of biscuit.
"Oh very." Sabine smiled and took a sip of tea.
"That's good to know." Her husband looked at her sternly. "But it's not enough to sustain you. Please have something more to eat." Sabine put a few of the biscuits on her plate and muttered about growing fat much to Amon's amusement. With a chuckle he told her. "The only time you have ever gained weight is when you are with child."
"Well Selena help us then." Sabine said dryly and looked at Serek who had remained silently mystified by the entire exchange. "Well?" She asked. "Is his majesty correct? You have come to repeat your demand for the execution of my son's personal bard?"
"I had come to repeat my request for justice." Lord Serendal admitted with a nod. "She killed my son."
Amon set his cup in its saucer with an audible click of the delicate china. "Are you aware of exactly what your son and his conspirators attempted?" He inquired coolly.
"I was informed that he died at the hands of Rosaleen Dhu, in an illegal duel." Lord Serendal replied quietly. "And that her family and yours watched and did nothing to stop it."
"You have been sadly misinformed." Amon told him. "Your son, Saldan, conspired with two others to make the Black Rose appear unfaithful to my son Sebastian. Not satisfied with spreading rumors about her they used magic to attain their ends. Their attempts were discovered and with the help of our head of intelligence a plan was set in motion to draw them out." He glanced at his wife and abruptly leaned over to put several more biscuits on her plate. "If you don't eat I'll make certain that we have kippers for breakfast tomorrow, and you'll eat that." He told her.
Sabine made a face at him but resignedly picked up the roll and sweetly said. "Tyrant," before she took a bite.
Amon rolled his eyes and looked at Serek again. "Your son was exposed as part of the plan to hurt Rosaleen. Such attempts are treasonous, since they affect not only the bard but also my son."
Sabine continued as Amon took a sip of tea. "Your son while he was at court made the additional mistake of fixing his attention on our oldest daughter."
"Looking at the princess is a mistake?" The lord asked incredulously. He subsided as the queens icy purple eyes bore into him.
"Perhaps you were unaware, since you so rarely leave your estate." Sabine said quietly. "Our oldest child is very special. Her reading of a persons character is uncannily accurate." Her voice was tight with distaste. "What she saw in your son, and in his intentions towards her, terrified and sickened her. When she learned who he was she became even more afraid."
"Our daughters fear is not easily roused." Amon told the nobleman. "We would not have executed him for that alone though. But that, combined with his actions against our son and Rosaleen, and the testimony of his conspirators as to his intentions toward the bard and our daughter when he eventually caught her alone set his fate."
"You needn't fear that we took only the word of the others condemned as traitors." Sabine regarded her plate and made a face. "One of the mages in our service made use of spells to compel the truth. Even the woman who was part of the plot admitted she was afraid of him, and not just for herself, but for any woman whom he had set his sights upon. She and the other man knew quite well what Saldan intended to do with our daughter, and with Rose if he knew she was alive."
"I'm sorry as a father to tell you once again, that your request for vengeance is denied." Amon said quietly. "But I cannot condemn an innocent child to death, simply for being strong enough to survive all that your son would have done to her."
"Our son loves her. Saldan's actions were as much against him as they were against Rose." Sabine inserted softly. "Saldan's actions were traitorous threefold. Against our daughter, against our son, and against our future daughter."
"So because the little base born half breed is whoring for your son, mine is murdered for seeking the same favors of her!" Saldan had grown steadily paler with fury as they had spoken and now his bile erupted. Amon and Sabine suddenly had an excellent idea of where Saldan had gotten his twisted nature as they remembered Ljosa's words and now saw this man's blind devotion and unswerving belief that his son was innocent of any crime. "One way or another I will see justice served. Against everyone who had a hand in my son's murder." He stood with fists clenched glaring down at them as if he'd like to strike at them both.
Before he could move, both of them were on their feet and regarding him with identical expressions of disgust for his stupidity. The king's hand had automatically moved to the hilt of his sword while the queen had a hand at one wrist, flexing and ready to palm a dagger. "Remove yourself." Amon told him.
Sabine looked past him to the guards who had been standing silently beside the door within the room. It was a mark of Serek's arrogance that he hadn't even noticed them, since they were dressed as servants. "Be so kind as to remove Lord Serendal please?" She said softly. The men were already standing behind Serek and had been since his first rage filled word.
"Yes your majesty." One of the guards, a blue eyed veteran nodded respectfully. "With great pleasure." The other guard with a smile simply grasped the lord's arms and roughly turned him around.
Serek paced back and forth before his wife and daughter spewing forth the contents of his interview with their rulers. His wife grew increasingly furious while their daughter merely waited for them to calm down and the planning to begin.
"It is because of the Obarskyrs that Saldan is dead." Loren pointed out when her father ran out of breath. "If it weren't for the fact that their daughter is skittish and their son Briar's patron my brother wouldn't have been killed."
"She is right." Ljosa agreed. "I refuse to allow them to escape the punishment they deserve."
"I agree." Serek hissed coldly. "Everyone who had a hand in Saldan's murder dies. I will make certain we include even their 'head of intelligence'." He sneered the words. "Since they were so careful to credit him with aiding Briar."
"And every Obarskyr dies." Loren said softly. "Every member of their family must pay for my dear brother's death." Her pale eyes gleamed with chilling resolved madness.
Briar sighed as Sebastian's arm slipped around her waist. "Are you sure you still wish to touch me?" She asked softly. "With my father so constantly near, it will surely drive us both insane."
Sebastian simply pulled her more tightly into his embrace and kissed the top of her head. Vidanalas Dhulouragne had been seemingly determined that his child never be alone with Sebastian. Their stolen moments were brief as he had an uncanny way of discovering them. The elf always courteously phrased his requests to join them but short of barring him from the palace the two young lovers could not escape his company. It had been a frustrating week.
"Will you meet me tonight?" Briar asked softly. "Come to my apartment. If only so I can hold you."
"You need not plead with me beloved." Sebastian whispered, his hair brushing against hers as his lips touched the tip of her ear. "You know I will come to you."
Lorelei patted her hair and smiled to herself. Her amber eyes glowed with anticipation as she waited and regarded her ensemble with satisfaction.
The knock on her door was brief and to the point as Dragon so often was. When she did not answer, as was his custom, her love entered and called her name from the sitting room.
"I'm in here." Lorelei called out as if she were finalizing her preparations for the evening. "Come in, Dragon." She said with a laugh. "It's perfectly safe."
She could feel more than see or hear him as he came and stood a few feet past the doorway of her bedroom. Turning she looked at him and the smile she'd been ready to offer froze on her lips as she met his eyes.
Molten obsidian pinned her to the spot where she stood, like a doe caught in the too bright lanterns of a hunter. The heat from his gaze washed over her and seemed to burn at all her sensitive pulse points. Lorelei could feel her breasts grow fuller with the heat, swelling in desire and the tips puckering tightly, sending passion twisting through her body.
Dragon stared at her. He knew it was exactly what his manipulative little love wanted but he could not help himself. She was so beautiful, as intoxicating as the fey wine elves could not survive without. He was helpless against her. The heat that throbbed in his veins and seemed to harden every muscle in his body pounded his heart like a heralds drum. He could not take his eyes off of her.
Lorelei stood before him, not fully dressed and playing with her hair as she was so often when she offered the invitation that had fallen from her lips so innocently moments earlier. She instead was clad, or unclad, as his brain shrieked, in a very tiny pair of black lace panties. A silken triangle that allowed silvery gold curls to peek out around the edges of the scalloped fabric and two tiny cords with bows he was aching to untie and slip his hand between that silk and her skin.
As if deciding this would not torment him enough his lady had donned a pair of impossibly high black sandals that showed her toes with their bright painted nails and shaped her legs to near impossible lushness.
Dragon could not help it. He heard a growling groan emerge from his throat and he moved. Quickly, before Lorelei could even blink at the look in his eyes or think to run from the combination of fury and lust, he was upon her. His hands grasped her tiny waist and picked her up, pressing her body against his.
He half carried, half pushed her back until she was bent, backwards over her bed. Dragon groaned as he nearly fell on her in his need, tearing open the laces of his black tunic and feeling how exquisite her nipples felt against his chest. She was panting beneath him, the tight buds pushing up, and his hands slid beneath her back gathering her tighter as his mouth fastened to hers and began to ravage it.
The warrior didn't know if he could stop himself and he wasn't sure he cared at the moment. She was responding to him, desperately opening to him and that was all that mattered. Her mouth was sweet and spicy beneath his. He tasted the skin of her throat and groaned his pleasure at how soft and delicate it was. Hungrily he rubbed his aching groin against her mound and heard a passionate cry of longing from her.
Dragon pulled back and with glittering black eyes regarded her full heaving breasts and bent down to them. His hands slid up to plump them to his lips and he began to suckle her roughly, his tongue and mouth hard and demanding of a response from her.
Lorelei felt as if she'd die from the pleasure of it. She'd longed for this, her lover against her, touching her, sending her body up in flames. Rough gasps of air combined with longing moans escaped her throat and she threaded her hands into his hair, tangling with the dark satin of it.
Then suddenly she was cold and bereft and Dragon was standing over her, his mouth hard with anger and his eyes still glittering with lust. Dazedly she could see he was lacing up his tunic, one of the laces torn in his earlier need. A small voice she barely recognized as her own whispered in pained longing. "Nwyfan, thou wouldst leave me so unsatisfied?"
Dragon growled out in his rasping sepulchre-like voice. "Thou wouldst tempt a starving man with the scent of honey, and then deny him a feast?" His hand trailed tenderly from her throat down her breasts to the now soaking black silk triangle and stroked her once before lifting his fingers to his lips and nose. "Thou wouldst leave me, so unsatisfied, my Lorelei? Siren." He turned and she heard the outer door slam shut.
Jenny held the princess while she wept and soothingly stroked her hair and back. Of late Lorelei had seemed to need affection more than passion, as if making love merely emphasized to her that she was not allowed to be with her love. The bodyguard gently eased back and asked softly. "Now my pretty princess, tell me what brought on this rainstorm." She kissed Lorelei's forehead.
Slowly Lorelei told her what she had done, and Dragon's reaction to it. "I only wanted him to make love to me." She cried out. "He doesn't see Katherine looking at him, but I do. He won't dishonor me, but what's to stop him from expending his lust on her so that he can control his desires?" She burst into tears all over again at the thought and Jenny sighed.
"My dear Lorelei." She cuddled the girl. "Do you really think Dragon would betray you like that?" She asked. "This is the same man who still doesn't trust noblewomen completely. I notice he's careful to watch and base his opinion on their treatment of folk rather than birth but he's very watchful. He trusts you. Loves you. Not Lady Katherine with her plump features."
"I just… I know I want him. I know we could be discreet and become lovers but he won't even consider it. I hoped that I could seduce him, and maybe then he'd see that we could be like my parents or even Briar and Sebastian." Lorelei looked down at the box she clutched in her hands. "He gave me this a week ago… because I was trying so hard, he said." She sniffled. "It's the first present he's ever given me. I don't want presents. I want him." But she held it closer to her chest like a beloved doll.
"What is it?" Jenny asked curiously.
"Jewels." Lorelei sniffled again. "He wrote me the most beautiful letter, telling me how proud he was of me, how difficult he knew it was for me. He said I'd never know how much he appreciated how I was trying to behave myself and not manipulate him. He wanted to give me something as beautiful as I was but that the necklace would have to do."
"Your Dragon is eloquent when he wishes to be." Jenny smiled and stroked Lorelei's back trying to calm her.
"He did that for me, and he hates shopping…and then I go and be such a bitch to him!" Lorelei wailed. "Why can't I just be what he wants? Why can't I just love him. Why? Why do I want him so badly that I do these things he hates so much?"
"Oh sweetie." Jenny smiled tenderly. "My pretty little princess…it is because you are so passionate. And you've had your wonderful parents giving you an example of how special and grand it can be to be with someone. You want to be like that, but you aren't your mother or father. You are yourself and Dragon is unique. So you can't do things the way your parents did. You must do them your own way."
"Oh Jenny… I'm sorry I'm such a bitch lately." Lorelei sniffled and tried to smile for her lady.
"Don't worry sweetheart. In a way it makes me happy. You trust me enough to be yourself around me instead of the soooo polite princess I first met." Jenny kissed her softly and drew her down to be held and watched the girl drift into sleep.
TBC