by Zoey Ellis
The servants around her began picking up the pieces of the Dao board and Sarai came to ask if she was all right.
“Yes,” Elora breathed. “I don’t know how you manage with that. It’s so dangerous. What if you were pouring wax when something like that happened? Someone could be injured!”
Sarai nodded. “It is a hazard sometimes, and it does make things more difficult. But that is the nature of where we are.”
“How can it be?” Elora said. “It was never like this in the other lair.”
Sarai said nothing, but Elora didn’t miss the look Sarai exchanged with Pelles.
Once the Dao board was upright again, and everyone was settled, Pelles, who was intrigued with the rules and determined to win, challenged Elora to a game.
They played slowly at first, laughing with each other and the other servants as Pelles learned the rules, but then he became more serious once he was more familiar with it.
Elora was contemplating her next move when the servants around her gasped, and the mood in the room changed. Looking up, surprise, alarm, and awe unified their expressions as they stared toward the door, and when she twisted around she was shocked to see Zendyor crowding the entrance, his eyes filled with that familiar intensity as they met hers.
Elora had almost forgotten just how huge he was, considering it had been quite a few days since she’d seen him. And seeing him in the lair among other people, highlighted his unique distinctness. He carried a turbulence within him, not only in the strength of his gaze, but in the air that surrounded him. It was intensely powerful, somewhat imposing, and for Elora, highly attractive.
He strode in slowly and everything fell silent.
Elora glanced around for Marahl, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Zendyor circled them, his eyes flicking between Elora and the Dao board. The servants around her all got to their feet, keeping their eyes on him.
“M-my lord,” Pelles said, the stutter in his voice betraying his nervousness. “I assure you we have finished our duties for the day.”
“So I hear,” Zendyor said, his eyes Elora. “Very interesting how you have managed to interfere with my servants’ duties.”
“I simply helped when I saw they needed help.” Elora smiled brightly. “You should be proud of them; they work very hard.”
Zendyor said nothing, his eyes flicking back to the Dao board.
“If there is something else you wish us to do…” This time uncertainty dominated Pelles’s tone. “We’d be happy to do anything more that you need.”
“I think that should be up to Elora,” Zendyor said, his voice measured.
Elora tried to keep her smile as he came toward her, standing by the chair Pelles had just vacated. “What do you mean?”
Zendyor sat down opposite her. “If you win, they have the rest of the week to do as they wish. If I win, they are punished.”
“Why would they be punished?” Elora said sharply, her smile dropping. “They have finished their duties for the day. I doubt they’d prefer a week’s grace, so all you are offering is punishment.”
“I am the lord of this lair,” Zendyor said. “I can create any punishment or reward I wish.”
Elora glanced at the servants and most of them gazed at Zendyor in awe, but Sarai was looking at her with a smile, dipping her head in an nod of encouragement.
“All right,” Elora said tersely. She reset the board. “Provided we don’t get any mountain quakes we should be able to have a fair game.”
For some reason, a couple of the servants gasped at her words. She peered at them in confusion, but again their eyes were solely on Zendyor, as if she may have offended him.
Zendyor didn’t seem to notice them at all. His gaze was solely focused on her.
The game was extremely intense. It began in a series of furiously fast moves and Elora was immediately aware that she was playing with someone who had extensive experience. Every move she made forced her to rethink her strategy.
Once the preliminary moves were out of the way, she paused, contemplating her next move
“You have obviously practiced this game,” Zendyor said. “I am surprised.”
“Why?”
He gestured to the figurines. “I am surprised you’d be spending so much time around the Goddesses.”
Elora’s stomach dropped. She stared at him, her face slowly going cold. How could he possibly know? She cleared her throat. “They’re just figurines.”
He stared straight back at her, his gaze a blend of curiosity, desire, and determination. “They are not just figurines.” He leaned forward. “Did you know they say the Goddesses can see through the eyes of any effigy made in their image?”
Elora dropped the figurine she held, her fingers shaking, a numb dread spreading through her. Suddenly it was hard to breathe.
Zendyor watched her closely, a smile spreading on his face. “Do you forfeit?”
Elora lowered her head and took a breath.
“You can do it, Elora,” Sarai said.
Elora blinked up at Sarai, who was grinning and shaking her fist excitedly, cheering her on. A warmth spread through Elora at her cheerfulness among the sober, dramatic mood Zendyor had created. The other servants were staring at her like she was insane.
“What?” Sarai said to them. “It’s a game. Our lord is playing a game with us in our hall.” She looked so excited Elora thought she was going to faint.
But she broke the tense mood. The other servants relaxed, some also calling out words of encouragement.
Elora picked up her piece again and examined it. Then she picked up the others and examined those. She glanced at him, annoyance burning through her. He was lying about the Goddesses. She returned the pieces and made her move.
Zendyor’s expression was still sober. It was as though the servants didn’t exist for him. “You will tell me why you avoid them.”
Elora glanced at the servants, but most of them were watching the board, still staring at Zendyor or smiling at her. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said. “I do not avoid paying Dao.”
Zendyor growled, the deep rumble echoing in the hall. The servants quietened. “If you will not tell me, you will forfeit. Now. And they will suffer.”
Elora’s annoyance turned into outrage. After everything she had done to try to create a place for herself among the servants, just as she was finally making headway, he was threatening them all, just because she wouldn’t share something that was deeply personal and private. She ground her teeth, trying to control the anger spiraling in her chest.
“If you don’t,” he said, “I will never allow you to leave your room again.”
Fury encased her, seizing her in a hot rush and pushing her beyond her limit. “Then how will you fuck me?” she muttered.
In one swift, fierce move, Zendyor rose and upended the Dao table with one hand, throwing it clear across the hall until it cracked against the far wall. The servants gasped, everyone jumped back a few steps as Zendyor charged forward and dragged Elora out of her seat.
“I will fuck you anywhere I please,” he thundered, his face contorted in fury a mere inch from hers. The familiar scent of him grabbed hold of her, transmuting her anger into seething need. She wanted to be in his room again, on his bed, on his cock—sweaty, sticky, sore. A single thought dominated her mind; she’d missed him. She breathed him in, relishing just how delicious he smelt, and her desire peaked beyond her control.
“You will tell me everything I want to know, Elora,” he growled. “Or I will not only—”
She leaned forward and captured his full bottom lip in her mouth, sucking on it with a moan.
He responded immediately, opening his mouth and claiming her kiss—hot, rough, and bold, with a groan of his own.
He kissed her like he was starved for her, locking his mouth over hers, brushing his tongue on her, sucking her lips… there was something about it that was sensual, it made her nipples ache and her stomach flutter.
When her ba
ck hit the wall, Zendyor held her against it while he reached up under her tunic and ripped off her panties. He unbuckled himself, their kiss becoming messier and wilder as their desperation grew.
Elora hooked her toes onto the waistband of his pants and dragged them down, then opened her legs as he settled in between them, tilting her hips and offering herself to him.
He thrust in hard and pounded her aching channel, his body slapping against hers as she widened her knees and groaning for more. Clawing his back, she was held in the grip of the exalted pleasure she sought. Nothing else mattered but this feeling. Nestling her face into his neck, she breathed him in as he grunted into her ear. He gripped her tighter, pummeling her faster, the succulent slams of their coupling echoing back to her.
Her climax was as savage as him. It tore through her, rupturing all coherent thought and bathing her in a euphoria that was almost too intense.
When the alpha came, he slammed her body into the wall until she was plugged with his fleshy knot, roaring so loud she shivered at the tickle in her ear.
Elora wound her arms around his neck, panting and sweaty, her head resting on his chest as she hummed in delight at the feel of him locked to her.
When she finally opened her eyes, partial awareness retuning, the hall was empty. She groaned, wondering what the servants now thought of her. But she would have to deal with that another time. Exhaustion was creeping over her and she needed to be flush against the alpha not the wall. She whined softly, and he must have understood, because he carefully lifted her from the wall and carried her to his chambers.
7
The next day, Elora paced in her room, wondering what she was going to say to the other servants.
She had no idea how they would take what happened in the hall or how it would affect her burgeoning relationship with them.
Marahl hadn’t visited this morning for her to ask.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed her nerves and embarrassment aside, knowing she couldn’t stay in her quarters forever. She went to the candle-making room to see Sarai, but she wasn’t there.
There was no wax to melt, the cauldron hadn’t been used, and the molds were sitting on their shelves.
Confused, Elora went to the kitchens.
“She is on a new schedule,” explained Boe. “Once her task had been filled with the candles, she’d be rotated onto another job somewhere else.”
“So it’s not because of me?” Elora asked.
Boe peered at her. “Why would it be because of you?”
“How do I find her?” Elora asked, avoiding his question.
“I’m not sure,” Boe said. “She would have been told this morning where to go, but there isn’t a way to find out where everyone is. Only the stewards know.”
“Oh,” Elora said, dismay sweeping through her chest. It never occurred to her how she would get in touch with Sarai if she was rescheduled; Elora had no idea where her quarters were.
As she walked down the corridors, wondering where she could find Sarai, she came across Askel, who was sweeping a corridor. An uncomfortable sense of dread filled her, embarrassed by what he must think of her after seeing her with their lord. But when he looked up at her, he grinned. “That had to be one of the most fun lunches I’ve had here in all my forty years of being here.”
Elora laughed nervously. “You’re not angry, or… disappointed?”
“Why would I be angry?”
“You all seemed very worried when the lord walked in,” Elora explained. “I thought Pelles was going to have a heart attack.”
“Shit himself, more like.” Askel laughed. “Everyone wants to please our lord,” he said, reassuringly. “But we all finished our work. There was nothing we were doing that was against any rule, or against any guidance of our duties here. If we manage to finish our tasks, we can spend our time however we wish.” He inclined his head to her. “And you allowed us to do that yesterday.”
Elora still held herself tense. “I’m glad,” she admitted. “But what about… after? I wasn’t sure how everyone would react to—”
“It was very special having our lord in the hall with us yesterday.” Askel gave her a look. “I must admit I never thought I’d ever witness that kind of coupling.”
Heat burned Elora’s face. “You stayed and watched?” she whispered, horrified. By the Seven! She’d never thought she’d ever be on display while having sex. Plenty of public sex in Nyro’s lair but she never planned to put herself in that situation, even though she had to recognize it was her that instigated it yesterday. “I thought everyone left.”
“Oh, we did,” Askel assured her. “Once we realized what was going to happen we left straight away, but it happened so quickly. No one knew you were one of his kon’ayas.” He gave her a look. “That is a valid role, you know.”
Elora shook her head. “I don’t have the role yet, but it seems that is what it will be.”
“You should meet his other kon’aya if we can find her,” Askel said after a moment.
“I would like to,” Elora said eagerly. “Is she nice?”
“She is friendly, but she is not like you,” he said looking over Elora. “She looks very different.”
Elora’s hand went to her hair. “In what way?”
“She’s dark-haired and from the South. But she is difficult to get hold of.”
As they talked, Askel continued sweeping and Elora noticed his limp. “What happened,” she said pointing to his knee. “You weren’t limping yesterday.”
“It was the quakes,” Askel said. “I banged up my knee when I fell.”
“They are really dangerous,” Elora said, annoyed. “I don’t know why we don’t find a way to stop them.”
Askel looked at her strangely. “It’s just not possible.”
“I think part of the reason why you all work so hard is because of the damage the quakes cause,” she said bluntly. “If they weren’t happening, you’d be able to get your work done quicker and easier.”
Askel shrugged. “For some of us, maybe.”
“Let me do that for you,” Elora said, holding her hand out for the broom. “You can’t work like that. You should go and see the healer.”
Askel stared at her for a moment. “You want to take on my duties?”
“If you trust me to do them well,” Elora said. “I assume it is just sweeping?”
Askel nodded. “It is.” He explained the layout of the corridors in this part of the lair and how to sweep to make sure she got all the dirt and debris and disposed of it out of an opening higher up in the mountain. “Once you get there, and you brush it out, make sure that you leave the area immediately.” Askel said, an odd seriousness in his tone.
Elora nodded. “I don’t think I’ve been in that part of the lair before,” she murmured.
“Do not linger in the area. If I see Sarai, I’ll let her know you’re looking for her, but I will meet you in the hall for lunch, if the healer doesn’t tell me there is anything seriously wrong with my knee,” he muttered. He glanced at Elora. “I’m trusting that you will be able to do this well. It will be my responsibility if you don’t.”
Elora smiled. “I won’t let you down.”
Askel returned her smile and limped down the hall on the way to the healer.
Elora got to sweeping, making sure she was thorough in catching all the debris in the corridor and gathering it into a pile before starting another corridor. Since the corridors were wide, some of them long and windy, it took hours. She was sweaty by the time she’d finished, and the last corridor tilted in an upward angle, taking her farther up into the lair, possibly higher than Zendyor’s chambers.
When she finally saw the opening, she brushed out all the dirt, soot, and debris, watching as it fell down the side of the mountain.
Sighing with relief that she had finally finished, she headed back the way she came, but a horrid stench nearly overwhelmed her. It was a decaying, rotting odor that filled the corridors, almost as if there was
an open graveyard somewhere in the lair. It wasn’t that unlikely considering the threats Zendyor made to her—but if that was the case…. She thought back to Askel’s warning. Was there something she should know about?
Elora stepped toward the corridor where the odor was strongest, her curiosity getting the better of her.
She came to an enormous, cavernous room with a large opening at one end and a pit carved into the ground in the center. It was disgusting inside. Large rotting chunks of charred meat were strewn around the floor, particularly in the center pit, as well as intermingled with shiny items also piled up around the space. She covered her nose, almost gagging at the potency of the decaying flesh. Insects and flies swarmed around the room. Elora gathered her strength and swallowed down her need to vomit, then stepped in carefully, wondering what this space was and why there was rotting meat left all over the floor. Of all the cleaning, washing, and careful upkeep of the lair, why had the servants left this space to fester?
When she couldn’t take any more, she escaped back into the corridor and made her way back as far as she could until the smell lessened, but she couldn’t leave the room like that.
Heading back down to her washroom, she grabbed two buckets, filled them with scrub brushes, soap and candles, and carried it all back up to the space, then retrieved a large bucket filled with hot, soapy water.
She gathered all the rotting flesh and bones into one bucket and the shiny items into another, then poured the hot water all over the floor bit by bit as she scrubbed.
At one point she retched, and although nothing came up, she ran out of the room to gulp some fresh air from the opening high in the mountain.
When she returned to the room, she could see its potential—it could be a lovely craft room or lounge for activities. It was bright and airy, and had a wonderfully wide, round opening that allowed breeze to come in. She worked for hours scrubbing the floors until the smell had considerably dulled.
Exhausted, Elora dropped down onto the wet floor, leaning against the wall as she rested. Once this room was cleaned up, it would be amazing, though she still couldn’t understand why this space had been so neglected. Maybe it was because it was located so high up the mountain, away from the most utilized parts of the lair.