Ephraim's breath caught in his throat as the door seemed to open in the slowest of slow motions. The door opened, revealing Innes' body, lean and muscled and dripping with sweat. He wore a frown on his face, that sort of perpetual frown that often seemed to disgrace his features.

"Where'd you go, Innes?" Eirika asked in confusion.

Ephraim felt his breath freeze in the upper part of his throat, exactly the distance it had managed to travel since the brief relief he'd felt upon managing to avoid immediate detection. Eirika, oh Eirika, he thought, your innocent question could spell doom for both of us.

"What do you mean?" Innes asked, frustration plain in his voice. "I've been out hunting."

"Oh, is that what we're calling it?" Eirika asked. And gods, this wasn't the time, but her voice was sultry and sensuous and his body was screaming at him to take her body for himself, his fire-laden nerves demanding that he fuck her right then and there.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Innes said impatiently. "Please don't play games with me, Eirika."

"I wasn't trying to play games." Eirika said, her voice retreating into meekness and mildness. She was retreating into the Eirika he'd thought he'd known, that innocent, quiet-spoken, almost little mouse of a being compared to the lion he knew now. Her entire life, Eirika had been compared to her brother, seen in reference to him, and now he was seeing just how wrong that was. No, Eirika was her own person, fierce and wild in her own right, a warrior both of sword and of the heart, and her legacy had only just begun.

He felt angry for her, intensely angry. He wanted nothing more than to clock Innes across the face, but this was something he had to see, had to judge for himself.

Innes sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "The hunt… it went badly. One of my men was severely injured. Well, I say severely, but he'll be fine. Might lose a leg, but our clerics can take care of him."

"I…" Eirika's voice teetered between confusion and empathy in just that single word. Ephraim could almost hear the gears turning in her head. "I'm sorry, Innes. Sorry for your man. Come sit down."

Innes shook his head, pacing toward the window, and Ephraim had a split-second of realization as he reached for his underwear. Innes stopped, balancing on his left foot, hesitating, as if he were going to turn around. Ephraim used the steel nerves he'd developed in battle and refused to hesitate even for an instant. The gamble paid off, as the silk underwear slid softly on the bed, landing on the floor next to him. He snatched the prize, deftly sliding it underneath the bed.

But he was still there, still a mere look underneath the bed away from Innes now. He barely dared to breathe. He remembered times on the battlefield where his army had snuck past the undead, quietly stepping through the forest, their footfalls made of feathers that stepped through leaves which whispered at the falls of their feet.

Eirika slid out of bed, her lithe feet and legs dancing gracefully onto the floor. And there—oh God, Ephraim thought, goddamn it. Fuck. He'd lost his train of thought completely, but what did it matter when she was approaching Innes with that fucking blindfold still on her face?

Well, there was nothing for it but to lay there with his breath threatening to punch a hole in his chest and hope that Knoll's charm worked. It should stop her from directly referencing what he'd done, but… hell, he'd never really trusted magic.

But how did she manage to walk the floor so gracefully, so tantalizingly, without her vision? Ephraim watched as she slid those clever fingers around the wood of the armoire and approached Innes. Still, he felt a strange sort of calm in his decision to stay put, some foolish, blasted, cock-eyed assurance that everything would work out the way he wanted it to.

Somehow, it felt like the gods were on his side.

The gods were, after all, not always perfect. He'd heard stories of their flagrant abuse and seduction of humans, and—

Ephraim's peripheral vision dragged him back over to the scene unfolding between his sister and Innes, to the silk ribbons trailing from the blindfold.

Innes, hearing her footfalls, turned around, then stared at her, puzzled. "Have you been naked this entire time?" he asked. He raised an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining." His fingers passed lightly, intelligently, over her right shoulder, and Ephraim felt an intense pang of jealousy. "But you usually don't sleep naked," Innes continued, frowning again.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Eirika said teasingly. "Maybe I used to sleep naked before you were around."

Innes frowned. "Didn't you and Ephraim share a room growing up?"

"What Ephraim doesn't know won't hurt him."

Innes laughed. Ephraim felt his cheeks burn in humiliation and embarrassment.

"A girl has needs, you know." Eirika said, passing further into the moonlight. Her pale skin shone with sweat.

"You're so sweaty," Innes said. His laugh passed hoarsely through his lips. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were on the hunt instead of me." Innes frowned. "And what is this blindfold?" he asked. "I don't recall you ever wearing it before. It's so…well…" he stumbled over his words. "I like it," he finished finally.

"What can I say?" Eirika said in that oh so seductive tone. "Like I said, there's a lot you don't know about me. Now, come to bed, Innes."

Her voice was so commanding and yet dripping with sex. She extended her hand out, lightly placing it in Innes' hand, and the young archer followed her, his eyes so obviously spellbound by her beauty.

There was a full-body mirror directly opposite the bed, and Ephraim watched, unable to tear his eyes away, as Eirika peeled Innes' clothes off his body one layer at a time. Her movements were slow, measured, confident, assured.

Ephraim couldn't help marveling at Innes' body. His muscles were so tight and taut, his slim body hiding just how strong he was. The archer had grown out his emerald hair even longer than he'd had it during the war, and as Eirika exposed his naked body, the young prince looked more and more like a God. Ephraim had never found himself thinking about the opposite sex—of Innes especially—in anything other than a platonic rivalry, but he found himself feeling a strange sort of helplessness as Innes' chest was exposed.

Great, he thought, I'm developing a crush on my sister and her abuser of a fiancée. Really messed up there, Ephraim.

But despite himself, he couldn't help but stare and to continue staring as Eirika looped her fingers around Innes' trousers and pulled them down. Innes' silk underwear shone in the moonbeams and Ephraim could already see his manhood harden.

But nothing could prepare him for just how large Innes' erect member was once Eirika finally pulled off the archer's last piece of clothing. Ephraim covered his mouth to muffle the sound of his gasp. It was hard to say which of the two princes possessed the larger cock. Ephraim had always been secure in his own size. After all, Tana had admitted that she'd gotten around quite a bit, and she'd always seemed satisfied. But he found himself measuring his own growing member against Innes' showing, feeling a tiny bit of envy at just how shaped and sculpted his rival's dick was.

Innes was already fully erect, and just the thought of the young Adonis' body entering his sister's had Ephraim there as well.

"Fuck me, Innes," Eirika said. "I can't wait any longer."

"Are you sure—" Innes said. "We haven't—"

"I said fuck me."

"But—"

"Shut up," Eirika said commandingly, "and fuck me."

Innes moaned. "Yes, darling." He carefully, slowly slid his cock into her, and Eirika moaned in ecstasy.

"Yes, Innes," she said, her voice husky and hitched. "This is exactly what I needed. You, and only you."

Ephraim felt a tiny twitch of jealousy, but he was so turned on that it hardly even mattered. There he was, touching himself under his sister's bed, shamelessly aroused. God, he'd never felt so turned on.

"Oh god, Eirika," Innes said. "Why didn't we do this sooner?"

He paused mid-thrust. "Should I pull out?" he asked.

"Fuck no."

"But what about—"

"I had Knoll concoct me an anti-pregnancy potion ages ago."

"Have you been taking it regularly—"

"I'm anything but forgetful," Eirika said. "Now, forget about all your worries, relax into me, and fuck me, Innes."

The young man complied, his slow strokes turning to vigorous thrusts now that he knew his lust would be consequence-free. Fuck, but the noises coming out of his mouth were nearly as enticing as Eirika's. Each moan he emitted set Ephraim's senses afire, running an almost drug-laden path down his nerves.

"Ohhhh, fuck Eirika," Innes moaned loudly. "Fuck, I'm going to come."

"Don't you dare," Eirika said. "Not until I'm there with you."

God, but she was so commanding, so in control. Ephraim saw Innes bite his lip and focus on slowing down.

"Don't you slow down either," Eirika said, gasping. "I'm nearly there. Just hold out, Innes."

"Yes, mistress," Innes said.

Eirika slapped him across the face, leaving an angry red mark on his cheek, and Innes gasped.

"I'm not your mistress," she said. "I'm your slut, your plaything, your slave. But most of all I'm your betrothed. So act like it."

"Yes m—" Innes cut himself off. "Yes, my future wife."

"Oh god, Innes, I'm almost there," she said. "I'll start a count from ten, and at the end of it, we come together. Do you understand?"

He nodded, silent from his exertion.

"I asked if you understood, slave." She bit his shoulder mid-thrust.

"Yes, Eirika," Innes gasped.

"Ten." She started, then paused for what was far longer than a second. "Nine." She sped up her counting. "Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four." She slowed down again. "Three. Two. On—" Her desperate moans and convulsions cut off her own words, intermingling with Innes' shameless grunting and cries. The archer shouted his pleasure, spilling his seed inside the crown prince's sister, then collapsed on top of her.

Below the bed, Ephraim timed his own pleasure alongside the two of them, stifling his own burgeoning screams by thrusting his fist inside his mouth, biting so hard on his own fist that he drew blood. His sharp intake of breath intermingled pleasure alongside pain. God, every orgasm he'd had the past few days proved stronger than the last. Just when he believed he'd reached the pinnacle of pleasure, his body revolted against it and proved him wrong.

He lay there gasping silently, licking his wound to avoid leaving blood beneath the bed. He cradled his hand and prepared to stay up late past when Innes and Eirika would fall asleep.

Eirika cried out, this time more in pain than pleasure. Ephraim wasn't sure what happened until Innes spoke.

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry," Innes said in the gentlest of voices. "Does your bruise still hurt?"

"Yes," Eirika said tentatively. There was something in her tone of voice that wasn't quite right, as if she weren't being entirely truthful.

"That damned horse," Innes said. "Kicking you in the face, I mean. I knew it didn't have the temperament to make the royal army."

Ephraim felt all of his nerves freeze. A horse? So Eirika had lied about Innes striking her, then. But why? And what else had his sister lied about?

He waited until he thought he heard snoring from both of them, checking the mirror to confirm both of their eyes were closed, then stole out quietly.

On his way out of the room, he turned to look at Eirika. Rather than meeting him with closed eyes, Eirika looked directly at him, mask torn from her eyes, those same eyes a picture of perfect sorrow. So, she knew then. How long had she known? Had she known from the very beginning? What did it all mean?

He turned away from her, face betraying nothing of the turmoil of emotions he was experiencing inside. Her words rang out, her lies. All the times she'd called him Innes. Just now, when she'd told the real Innes that he was the only one for her. And that damned lie about the bruise.

What was he supposed to believe? And gods above, what was he meant to do? Her clear blue eyes, drawn out in sorrow, fixed themselves in his mind as the crown prince drifted off into an extremely uneasy sleep.

Only one thing was clear to him as he finally succumbed to his body's need for slumber: for better or worse, he was slave to his sister's every whim, and for whatever trap the gods had laid in store for him.

Notes:

Christ, time keeps slipping through my fingers, and I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated this-again. Six years just sort of melted by. So much time has passed actually, that I'm now an official published author. It's just a short story that I've published, but I also have a novel in the works. Anyway, if you like this, you might like the short story as well. It's a completely different genre-science fiction-but it's some of the best stuff I've written. You can sign up to download the short story, "The Husked Heart" for free at if you're curious, or if you really want to make the puppies happy, you can get it on Amazon here for a dollar/free on Kindle Unlimited. If you do read it, an Amazon review is of course, always appreciated.

And for fuck's sake, someone send me an email if I don't update this in a reasonable amount of time (about a month, max, because Jesus Christ). The notifications for this story go to a really old email, but if you email me at kaseylinanderson , I'll be forced to actually see messages in my inbox.

Hope you guys enjoyed, I read every review and it really helps my depression when I'm having an off day to see a nice (or even constructive review). Should be fun to try to write myself out of the corner I've pinned myself in.