Vows of Blood and Honor
Dragon patiently held still as Lorelei sketched him. He couldn't quite understand her fascination with capturing his image but she loved drawing him so much that he would sit for hours if she liked. This morning she was being rather fanciful, showing him what she thought he'd look like in different costumes.
"Dragon are you sure you don't mind this?" Lorelei looked up at him in concern.
The warrior mage smiled and shook his head. "I don't understand the urge you have to sketch me, but I don't mind it at all. It is so rare we have a quiet moment together." An ironic gleam shone in his black eyes. "You and I seem to quarrel a great deal, have you noticed?"
Lorelei laughed and shook her head. "Us? Fight?" She asked. "Why Nwyfan, whatever can you mean?" She rolled her eyes. "I think that you and I are so used to verbally sparring with each other…" She paused thoughtfully regarding the sketch she had drawn. "Before it was a way to make sure we both kept our distance even if it did sometimes feel like…"
"As if we were courting with words?" Dragon's smile was warm and wicked. "I admit I was definitely trying to impress you."
"And I you." She grinned back at him. "Showing off for you." She drew her pencil down the paper and blew the excess charcoal dust away. "We still do that I think…"
"Only now its different." Dragon said thoughtfully. His face was inscrutable.
"Yes…" Lorelei said very slowly. "On my part I know I fight with you because I want you so badly…getting angry, letting anger and arguing with you exhaust me, it helps me to sleep at night sometimes."
"I had wondered if you would admit that was part of your motivation for some of the truly ridiculous quarrels we've had in the past few weeks." Dragon's rasping voice was teasing. "I know a great deal of frustration on my part has been a bit of the force behind my reciprocation." He shot a look at the door and rose from his chair to kneel beside her own. His brown hand slid beneath the soft knot of hair at her nape and gently but firmly gripped her neck.
Tall as Dragon was, kneeling he was on a level with Lorelei sitting in her chair, and she had received the full force of heat in his obsidian gaze and felt the warmth of his body radiating outward as he pulled her mouth closer to his.
The delighted gasp of shock as his lips touched her own was quickly lost as Dragon once again firmly and thoroughly claimed her mouth. The cool precise princess was again banished as Lorelei responded with abandon to the coaxing demand of her Dragon's desire for her. Heat spiraled through her, as his lips and tongue explored her mouth and her hands let her artists tools fall so she could push her hands into the heavy darkness of his hair.
Dragon groaned in his throat and released her mouth, pressing kisses over her cheek and down her neck. His tongue stroked the curve and tip of her ear and his other hand slid around her waist in a possessive hot grip. "Oh, my siren." He murmured against the skin of her collar bone. "Tell me to stop." He implored her.
"Nwyfan…" Lorelei could barely speak as she drowned in the rising tide of need and sensation. "Oh, no, I can't…" she whispered, her soft lips brushing over his skin, the faint bristle of his whiskers abrading them delightfully. "Never stop please…" she breathed.
"My Lorelei." Dragon found himself reveling in her hands on his hair and neck, and in how she responded to his touch. His mouth moved over her pale graceful neck and he groaned in his throat. "Please, you must… I cannot stop myself… I need you too badly."
"I don't want to." Lorelei murmured before his mouth met hers again in a hot explosion of desire that drew a trembling moan out of her throat. The two of them were lost in that kiss, deep and sweet and hot, wonderfully, hopelessly lost. If an assassin had entered the room they would have been dead.
The hand that came down and grasped Dragon's shoulder, pushing him away from the princess and separating them far enough that they could not immediately resume the embrace did not belong to an enemy luckily for them.
Dragon looked up through lust hazed eyes to see the Crown Prince glaring down at him with a mixture of astonishment and displeasure. The warrior's hand which had instantly gone to his sword fell again and he took a ragged breath. "Sweet maiden!" Dragon swore without reservation.
"Exactly what did you think you were doing?" Andreas asked his friend icily as his gaze took in his twin sister's flushed face, swollen mouth and tumbled hair.
"I think the proper term is 'getting carried away'." Dragon rasped, his breathing still harsh with desire. His hot gaze swept over Lorelei and she looked at him and a tiny smile touched her lips. He knew she would not regret enjoying his kisses, nor was she sorry that he was not able to stop. He couldn't blame her for this though.
"Lorelei, what did you think you were doing?" Andreas demanded of his sister when he did not get what he thought was a proper answer from Dragon.
"What Mother told me." She returned with a calm she wasn't quite feeling yet. Carefully she removed Dragon's hand from her waist and held it within her own.
"Mother told you to let Dragon take liberties with your body?" Andreas exclaimed in disbelief.
"No." She looked at him as if he were an idiot. "Mother told me, that when I found a man, who with a look could make me feel the way I feel in a woman's arms, that I should hang onto him for all I was worth." She smiled. "I was following her instructions to the best of my ability until you interrupted."
"If I hadn't interrupted he would have had you writhing on the carpet and the door wide open for the world to see!" Andreas shouted.
"I like to think I'd at least have the finesse to make sure her first time was in the comfort of a bed." Dragon said mildly, with an ironic gleam in his eye. He caught Lorelei's eye and winked drolly causing the girl to burst into giggles.
"She is my sister!" Andreas shouted at him. "You were…you were…" Words failed him and he simply glared at his friend.
"And I am your friend." Dragon's voice was still amused. "And I am in love with her. I shouldn't have kissed her, since I knew I might not be able to stop, but sometimes I can't help myself. She's too appealing."
"Ohhh…" Lorelei sighed. "Thank you Nwyfan." She smiled at him tenderly. Looking up at her brother she shrugged. "Why are you so upset?" She asked. "It's not as if you didn't know we were in love. He asked permission to court me for Selena's sake."
"Courting! Courting little sister," Andreas said in a paternal tone. "Not mating. You think this courting?" Andreas asked. "Selena's smiles and Tears of Night! When were you planning on stopping him?"
"I wasn't." She told him calmly. "I don't have that much strength, to tell my Dragon no. Not when we are private."
"Then you had better be careful to only kiss him in public!" Andreas reprimanded her. "Or you'll be the subject of gossip and he'll be the recipient of a challenge."
"Now just a minute!" Lorelei rose to her feet and glared at him. "Who do you think you are? You don't run my life Andreas, you can barely keep your own straight. It's not as if you're a celibate priest or something. You're in Maggie's room every night free to take care of any needs you have! Unlike you, I don't have a choice. Mother made sure I was kept a maid. If Dragon wants to kiss me, and if we decide to become lovers, that is our decision. And let me assure you that when it comes to that decision, your opinion won't enter into my considerations."
"Lorelei…" Dragon tried to interject as Andreas looked on in disbelief at his twin's words.
"No!" She said furiously. "If we decide to wait, that is our decision. It is between us. He does not have anything to do with it. It's not as if you're out to bed me and abandon me."
"As if I could." Dragon shook his head. He rose finally from his half kneeling position and wrapped his arms around her. "I cannot help myself at times, I love her." He told Andreas. "And she is right. You are my friend, but I am courting her, with your father's permission. If he has some objection to the way I am treating her, I trust he will say something."
Lorelei nestled into her loves arms and glared at her brother. "I know you are used to being protective of me. But you should not even try to protect me from Dragon."
Andreas ground his teeth and glared at them both feeling embarrassed now as both turned on him. "Anyone could have walked in that door!" He shouted. "Do you want courtiers gossiping about you? Speculating on whether or not you're pregnant?"
"No, but neither do I want to pretend I don't desire Dragon!" Lorelei shouted back at him. "Mind your own business Andreas!"
Andreas flinched as he felt the very words he had shouted to Sebastian earlier. "This is my business!" He shouted back at her. As he saw Lorelei open her mouth to begin to protest, Andreas threw his hands in the air and shouted. "Fine. But don't think this is over Lorelei." He turned on his heel. "Dragon, tomorrow morning, you and I are going to have a discussion. Bring your sword or whatever other weapon you desire to use."
"Andreas?" Two confused voices cried out to him. Yet, it was to no avail as without further words, the Crown Prince stalked out of the room.
Andreas in his blind rage did not notice where he was walking and crashed headlong into his father as he turned a corner to quickly. So quickly was he walking that he nearly knocked the king right over. "My apologies sir." The prince grasped his father's arm to steady him.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Amon queried his oldest son, noting the set line of the young man's jaw.
"The practice room." Andreas said curtly. "I need to pound on something that won't feel it."
"And what inspired this?" The king inquired his blue eyes gleaming.
"My twin and her lover." Andreas ground the words out as if he'd like to strangle both parties mentioned.
Amon leaned against the wall and regarded his son. "It has gone that far?" His tone was carefully neutral since he wasn't sure exactly what was going on yet.
"I walked into her sitting room and they were locked in a passionate embrace." Andreas kept his voice low but his words were intense with outraged indignation.
"And you leapt to conclusions? Or did one of them inform you that they are intimate?" Amon asked.
"I was told to mind my own business, that it was their decision and had nothing to do with me." The young man was clearly offended.
Amon shook his head with a smile. "What did you do to cause such an outburst on Lorelei's part?" He regarded his son patiently.
"I pulled them apart." Andreas said as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
Amon chuckled and shook his head. "If you are going to continually interfere with your sister's love life, I suggest you learn to be less heavy-handed about it."
"Dad, you didn't see them." Andreas retorted. "She didn't even look like my sister."
"I suppose you read her the riot act as well?" Amon theorized. "And that's when she told you to mind your own business."
"She had the nerve to tell me she was doing what Mother told her to do!" Andreas exploded.
"Then perhaps you should have left it at that? And gone to speak with your mother about it." Amon suggested. "Since I suspect now that the result of your lecture is your twin wishing your head on a pike. I don't know that Dragon would appreciate being scolded by someone so many years his junior either."
Andreas scowled. "Dragon and I are going to speak tomorrow."
"At your behest or his?" Amon asked dryly. "Let it be Andreas, spar with Dragon tomorrow and meanwhile, determine precisely why you were so upset. You're not making a great amount of sense at the moment."
Andreas nodded reluctantly. "Yes sir."
"Meanwhile, I will go and speak with your mother regarding her instruction to your twin." Amon smiled. "I am her father, she and Dragon will listen to me, I hope. You are her brother, not her superior."
Andreas sighed in annoyance and nodded again, turning and continuing on his way to the practice room. The king watched him and rolled his eyes. His son was so impassioned about his ideals. Sometimes it was hard to believe he would ever temper that passion with wisdom. An ironic smile twisted Amon's lips as he remembered his own youth and determination that the world should be perfect. Still smiling slightly he went in search of his wife.
"Ladies…" Amon entered his wife's sitting room and gazed appreciatively at her Court Roses as Sabine called her ladies in waiting. With a bow he inquired. "Is my wife somewhere within your company?"
"Her majesty is bathing Sire." A dark haired girl with bright brown eyes offered. "She said we might sit here and have tea and talk. It is private you see."
Amon nodded his understanding. "Thank you Asula."
"We can go if we are intruding." Another girl offered with a hesitant look at the doors that led to the king and queens private apartments. The outer rooms of the wing were semi private, for Sabine's Roses and family, but no one who was not related by blood ever entered Amon and Sabine's private suite unless invited by one of them.
"No, please stay and enjoy yourselves." Amon winked at the girl and smiled at the blush that brightened her cheeks. "Though if my children enter, you might consider warning them off, for a while anyway."
The ladies giggled and many of them blushed at the king's suggestion that he and his wife desired complete privacy. With a grin Amon entered the doors to his rooms and locked them behind him. A lock wouldn't slow down his second son, but he might reconsider interrupting if the doors were locked.
Wandering down the hall he heard humming from the tiled bathroom and entered to see his wife lounging in the shallow end of the tub. Her long hair was drifting over the surface like an exotic flower. She had heard his step for her eyes were open and a smile of welcome on her face.
"Still too cowardly to sit on my end of the tub?" Amon teased. He took a seat on the edge of the tub and trailed his fingers delicately over her upturned face.
"Admit that you were trying to drown me when you had them make the tub so deep on that end." His wife retorted with a smile. "If I grow another foot and a half as you did in my absence I might consider using your side of the tub." She frowned with puzzled concern. "I thought you had an appointment with the ambassador from the Cormanthor?" She asked. "Is there a problem?"
Amon shook his head. "No, not at all. We didn't have a great deal to discuss. I just didn't want to leave it to chance that we'd have enough time." He tilted his head at her. "I bumped into our oldest son on my way back here though. He was extremely agitated."
"By what?" Sabine regarded her husband curiously. "There was not another attempt on his life?" She sat up in alarm, water rushing against the sides of the tub at her abrupt movement.
"No, no love, you may rest easy on that." Amon soothed her immediately. "He was merely ill-prepared for something he should have expected."
Sabine groaned. "Which of his sisters did he catch in a passionate embrace with another woman?" She asked wryly. "Though I would have thought he'd be amply prepared for that."
"Oh, he probably would have blinked and directed them to a less public spot and then moved on." Amon agreed. "No, this was a bit more disturbing to him." He raised his eyebrows wickedly. "Want to guess again? I'll give you a prize if you're right."
"Hmm…what sort of prize?" Sabine purred at him with a lazy smile as she sank back down in the warm water.
"Something you like very much." Her husband teased. "Want to guess?"
Sabine gave him a wicked look. "Hmm…" She stretched in the water and thought a moment. "Well he wouldn't have caught Maggie with another man or woman." She ruled out that possibility. "The best I can guess is that he caught Lorelei doing something she shouldn't be. Something truly outrageous."
Amon trailed his fingers down her throat. "You are very close." He teased. "Should I tell you?"
"Hmm… yes." Sabine smiled up at him. Her eyes grew darker and she sat up a bit. "Tell me please, what has upset him?"
Amon nodded and though his fingers toyed with a lock of her hair he spoke seriously and recounted his conversation with Andreas for his wife. "He was very angry with Dragon, and also with his twin." He told her. "I advised him to consider why this upset him so terribly and I would ask you precisely what you had told Lorelei was permissible once she had truly fallen in love with a good man."
Sabine sighed. "Our son does not wish to give up his twin to another, even though she is happy, even though he loves and respects Dragon as much as he does his brother." She murmured. "You may relax my lord, your ladylike daughter is yet unclaimed by Dragon. I can tell simply by looking at her." Her eyes closed for a moment as she said softly. "I advised her, that when she found and loved a man who could make her feel with a glance the way she felt in the arms of her lady lover, that she hang on to him for all she was worth." A wry smile curved her lips. "She obviously is interpreting my advice in a very literal way if Andreas caught them together."
Amon bent and brushed his lips over Sabine's. "I don't think we will have to worry." He said quietly. "Although you may wish to have a talk with Andreas… I will deal with Lorelei."
"Hmm…good idea." His wife smiled up at him lovingly. "Your daughter listens to you less selectively than she does myself. I don't know if speech with Andreas will be needful yet. Let us see how his talk with Dragon goes tomorrow. If he hasn't accepted Dragon's claim on Lorelei then I will speak with him."
"I agree." Amon nodded as he looked down at his wife. "Are you ever coming out?" He asked whimsically.
"Hmm…I don't know…" she teased, "are you ever coming in?"
"I think I might." Amon grinned.
"Oh, well let me know when you're certain of it." She closed her eyes again a mocking little smile on her lips. Her husband shook his head at her and began to remove his clothing. Sabine's eyelids slitted open, watching her husband undress and feeling the heat pulse through her veins at the sight of his still trim, felinely graceful form. He slid into the tub and her eyes opened a bit more regarding him through her lashes. "My lord wishes a bath?" She inquired lazily arching her eyebrows.
"Your lord, wishes his wife's favors to be bestowed upon him." Amon murmured as he gathered her into his arms and with soap slicked hands began to caress her wickedly.
"Oh, well then…" Sabine gasped out. "I am ever at your service my lord." Her demure look was completely at odds with the knowledgeable stroking of her hands. Before long the game was given up entirely as they strove to satisfy each other.
TBC