by Emera Rose
I wasn’t aware of when he returned. I walked out empty-handed, and up to his throne, he didn’t even bother to look at me.
“Where is my cup?”
“My lord, I am not sure what happened, but there is no more in storage, maybe if-”
He snarled loudly, causing me to drop to my knees and cover my ears. I had spent so long with this man that I’d forgotten he was a monster. He was usually always in pristine form, poised and proper. I had forgotten that this man was nothing more than a bloodthirsty beast.
“What the hell makes you think that I want to sit here and wait because of your incompetence. You are my servant, correct?” He bellowed in my direction, but I was too scared to answer, I just stayed still with my head down. He flashed to me and wrenched my head back so that my eyes would meet his. I yelped out in pain at the force of how hard he was pulling on my hair.
“Correct?” He screamed again in my face.
“Yes! I am your servant.” I yelled back at him in pain.
“Then serve me god damn it!” He pushed me down against the floor, “If there is no blood in my quarters, maybe I should just take my fill of you. I bet your blood tastes sweeter than most.” He knelt on the floor in front of me, getting close enough that I had to lean back, that did nothing but further his pursuit. He crawled until he was straddling me. His razor-sharp teeth only inches from my throat, “It would be so simple, so easy to drain you right here.”
I looked into the man’s eyes and could see that he was already transfixed, soon he would be at the point of no return, and I would be lying lifeless on the floor beneath him.
I did the only thing I could think of doing. Either it would work, and I would break Jett of the spell, or he would kill me faster for doing it. I craned my neck upwards and delicately brushed my lips against his.
He gasped lightly, his attention instantly moving from my neck up to my mouth. I waited on pins and needles for what seemed like forever until he crushed his mouth down on mine.
Every thought I had in my mind vanished as my senses all focused in on the soft warmth of his lips. My body reacted instantaneously, and I reached up to thread my fingers into his hair, the more I did, the more excited Jett seemed to get.
I couldn’t get enough of him, I had never wanted for anything in my life more than my freedom, but I would stay his captive forever if it meant he would always kiss me like this.
“Laramie, I knew it. I knew you were for me.” He murmured against my lips as he pulled me in close again to kiss me.
I had no response. I was attracted to Jett; there was no denying that, but he was a king, and I a slave. We could never work.
He cradled my head softly while he pressed with all his might into the ground on the side of me with his other hand, I could hear it cracking and crumbling with the pressure. He must have been trying so hard not to hurt me. I took in a breath, falling deeper into the abyss that was this erotic mistake we were making, and I leaned back. He growled deep in his chest, so loud that the rumble vibrated through my chest. He followed lying in the cradle of my legs, using one forearm to keep his full body weight off me.
I pulled at him, let my hands roam up and down his powerful back and muscular arms. I moaned into his mouth as his thick tongue swept the inside of mine. His hand pulled at the fabric of my dress, pulling it up, giving him access to my trembling thighs. I had no objection.
A gasp sounded from behind us, we tore our lips away from each other and looked up, “Oh, my lord, Laramie, I am sorry. I shouldn’t have intruded. Forgive me. I’m sorry.” Helene backed up as quickly as she could, her face a bright red and her eyes darting in every direction but ours. “Your shipment is here. I’m sorry,” she backed out fast.
I pushed him off, and as quickly as I could, got up and walked over to where Helene was, I could see the shock and judgment clear in her eyes.
“Where is the shipment?” I asked, trying to sweep away everything that had just happened under the rug.
“The servants left it just by the stairs, shall we retrieve it?”
I nodded my head, yes but I turned back to Jett, I had to keep up appearances even if I knew we had just crossed a line that we would never be able to come back from.
“My lord, may I retrieve the shipment.”
“Go on, but be quick about it,” he was up near his throne, his head down as he leaned his arms forward on his knees.
I followed Helene out of the room, she pulled me faster than I thought possible.
“Laramie, what the hell are you thinking?” she pulled me into the corner and hissed at me.
“Helene, I didn’t mean… I don’t know how this happened!” I ran my fingers into my loosely coifed hair. It was a mess from lying on the floor with Jett.
“Child, this is no good; it will end badly for you. There is no way that it cannot.” She put a hand on my shoulder. I knew what she said to be true, but it stung still the same to hear her say it out loud.
“Why? Maybe he has feelings for me too?”
“I have no doubt that he does, I would go as far as to say that King Jett is in love with you, but he has a Queen, a ruthless and sadistic one who can only be dethroned by death. He is also the vampire King of all Froize, and lastly, you are but a slave. You are a lamb trotting with the likes of monsters and demons, hoping that love will prevail, I am here to tell you that it will not.”
I put my head down in shame, every word that she was saying was right, I couldn’t deny it as much as I wanted to. I looked into her caring eyes and could see that she was genuinely concerned for me. I nodded once and hurried to get the first two boxes of Jett’s blood shipment and hurried into the Jett’s chambers.
“I’ll just put these away and will get your blood cup at once, my lord,” I said as I tried to make my way toward the back room.
He was standing in front of my face instantly. He grabbed the boxes from my hands, put them on the floor, and slid them clear across the entire room with his foot.
“Laramie, don’t shut me out. I can feel you doing it already.”
“My lord,-”
“Speak plainly!” he growled, his chest heaving up and down with anger.
“Jett, I am not shutting you out. We can’t do that. It was wrong. We can’t.” I shook my head, trying to get him to see where I was coming from.
“Why? I have wanted to kiss you since you spoke my name. Now that I have, you can’t begin to believe that I can go back to how things were. I am King I can have what and whom I chose.”
“You also have a Queen, Jett. Did you just forget about Margot, or did you think that maybe you could bed us both at the same time?” I threw my hands up in frustration.
“I don’t want her; I have never wanted her. She is everything I can’t stand about my kind. You know this!” The veins were already starting to pump out on the sides of his neck.
“That doesn’t change the fact that you have her. It also doesn’t change the fact that I am human. You know, your meal of choice?” The attitude was dripping off my tongue now, and I couldn’t stop it.
“Have I even attempted to bite you?”
I looked around the room like I was going crazy, “Did you forget how we got into this situation? You were going to drink my blood because I didn’t have your cup! I had to kiss you; it was the only way to distract you.”
He backed up slightly, “Distract me? Is that all this was for you a distraction?”
“It started that way; I won’t lie. I never thought you would have the same feelings for me or even a portion of the feelings I do for you. When you didn’t push me away, I got my answer.”
He moved closer to me once again, grabbing me behind the neck and pressing his forehead against mine, “I can’t believe I finally find someone who I can be my true self with, and I have to give them up. It can’t be.”
“It is, we have to stop Jett. We have to stop.” I walked back out to get the rest of the shipment. I left his chambers with my back straight and my head h
eld high, but I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my face if I wanted to do.
Chapter 17
“My lord, the ships draws near; we must attack!” One of the noblemen spoke harshly to Jett as he sat on his throne, just looking over all the scrolls and information that had been brought before him. We had only been training with the slaves for a few weeks, the infrastructure that needed to be built was nowhere near complete, and the hellfire was still being made. We couldn’t attack, even I knew that, but I didn’t say a word.
Since that marvelous day, we shared that kiss I had done my best not to tempt him. He was adamant that we could work something out, but I knew he was wrong. I tried not to smile when I passed by him, and I only visited him when it was necessary. I tried to keep things as professional as possible, but occasionally I would gaze at him, and he would catch me. He knew I was still affected by him.
“Slave! Are you not the liaison between our mortal soldiers and the rest of us? Have they not been training long enough?” One of the nobles looked in my direction as he glared down his nose at me.
I looked at Jett for the briefest of seconds, “Answer him.” he growled.
“They have been training diligently, but they were not born soldiers, many of these men and children are farmers and simple workers we are trying to mold into warriors. Forgive me, but I don’t believe that will be a quick process. They are working as fast as humanly possible.”
He sucked his teeth nastily and looked away from me, “No wonder you are the lower species. Your people aren’t worth the dirt they die on.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from responding. My people were the first line of defense because his people were too lazy or too helpless to fight their own battles. My people would die first so that they could have the chance to run away like the cowards that they are. The vampires had strength and speed, unlike humans, but they were too focused on status to do anything but feel entitled.
“Be that as it may, I can tell you from my first-hand account, that we are not ready for the Makins.”
Margot laughed aloud like a harpy, “Of course you aren’t ready peasant. You’re too busy rolling around with the human soldiers, rutting like the pig that you are.”
I could taste blood in my mouth, I looked over to Jett, and just like usual, he did nothing. How could he expect me to believe that I had a place in his world when he couldn’t even stand up for me. I shook my head and turned to walk out of the room, I had been among the royals long enough.
“Laramie, store these maps for me,” Jett called out before I could take another step toward the door. I turned; my eyes cast down as I had been trained to do. I walked through the small crowd and made my way to where Jett was sitting.
“If we can’t depend on the humans to form a solid line of defense, we will have to pull in more of our men of arms, and my fellow vampire warriors are already stretched too thin. From the information we have here if the Makins attacked today, we would fall!” One of the generals spoke, which caused the entire room to erupt in comments and opinions, each one trying to yell over the person sitting next to him. I made sure to keep my head down as I picked up the scrolls and maps in front of Jett.
His hand softly grabbing mine, stopped my movement, I looked up at him through my lashes, and he was focused solely on me while everyone around him screamed and argued. He used his thumb to caress my knuckles, and maybe it was his way of apologizing for what had just happened, or maybe it was because he just wanted to touch me, either way, I was grateful for it. Just that small touch was enough to fan the flame still burning inside me for him. I gave him a smirk before I took my leave of him just to know that his affection did not go unnoticed. Before I could turn completely around, my carefree gaze turned into one of fear.
Margot was starring directly at me, her eyes wide and crazed. She saw. There was no other excuse. She saw the small moment that Jett and I had shared. I rushed from my place, hoping that she wouldn’t make a scene.
I put the items back where they belonged and walked as swiftly as I could toward my room. I prayed she would forget it, but the light footsteps behind me let me know that her pretending she didn’t see, was not in the cards.
I turned into my room and tried to close the door, but she put her hand out to stop it, and with a flash, she was standing in front of me. She pulled her head back and slammed her forehead down on my nose, the sick crunch and the blood running down my throat caused me to gag.
“Who the hell do you think you are? King Jett is mine!” She grabbed me hard by my throat and squeezed, lights flashed in front of my eyes. “I knew from the day that I got here that you were trying to get your claws into him, but I will rip the veins out of your body first before I let you take him. He is mine; this is all mine.” She dropped me on the floor, and I coughed hard, trying to catch my breath. “For some reason, he entertains you and the mindless drivel that falls out of that disgusting mouth of yours. I wouldn’t want to upset my new king by killing his pet, but I promise you that I will make sure that your life as a servant is more suitable than what you have been accustomed to. You will be the servant that he deserves.” She stepped over me but made sure to kick me hard in my gut. I rolled over to my front, one hand holding onto my nose to stop the bleeding the other gripping my stomach to stop the pain.
***
I had training with Tahmas and the rest of the soldiers, and I wasn’t looking forward to it at all.
“Here comes the princess,” one of the soldiers called as I walked by.
I was always dressed in silks and dresses when I made my way to training. It was the only attire that I owned. I made my way to Tahmas’s tent, and I pulled the cloth door back and stepped inside.
“Are you ever going to teach your men some manners? I don’t need to be harassed every time I come here to check on things.” I turned toward where I figured Tahmas was, and he was naked. “Oh, lord.” I dropped my eyes down quickly, he wasn’t fully nude but all he had on was his loincloth, and that barely covered his manhood.
“What, you can’t tell me that you’ve never seen a man before?” He laughed as he strolled over toward me, not even caring that he had nothing on but that scrap of fabric.
“Of course I have, but it was usually after one of my masters had sex, never just because.”
Tahmas put his hand under my chin and lifted my eyes back to his, “How high an honor for me then, to be your first.”
I rolled my eyes, then looked away, and he turned my face back to his. “What in all the hells happened to your face?”
“Our queen is not my biggest fan,” I mumbled.
“Of course not, she is a figurehead fighting for power while you wake up and the world is at your feet.”
“Sure, the world is really at my feet, I am a slave, have been one for as long as I can remember and am pretty sure that I will be one until the day I die.” I pulled away from him and walked over to the weapons display. I picked up a staff that I hadn’t seen before. It was heavier than the one that I had been using.
“That is a custom weapon; it’s an ax along with the staff.”
I put the staff further out in front of me, yes it was heavy, but I didn’t see any blades anywhere on it that would classify it as an ax. Tahmas moved up behind me and wrapping his arms around my body he clicked a lever on the wooden staff that caused two small blades to pop out.
It was beautiful, and the blades on this weapon were so much more than just two flat sheets of metal. They were intricate, each blade an intricate weave-like pattern that finished in a thin sharp plane. It was mesmerizing.
“I had this specially commissioned for you.”
I turned to look at the man behind me; he had something made for me? “Why?”
“Well, you are getting much better with the staff, but you are around the killing kind way more than any of us, and if you ever need to defend yourself, you can do so with this. I have already doused the blade with Willow acid, thanks to your v
ital information.” He smiled, never taking his eyes off mine.
“I don’t know what to say. Thank you Tahmas, this is more than I ever expected.”
“I can do that, you know.”
“What?”
“Give you more than you ever expected.”
I pulled away from him, taking my staff with me. “Tahmas, what are you doing? What is this?”
“Laramie, tell me you can’t see what I can see. Both of us are the most powerful here on Froize, the slaves outnumber the vampires five to one, and once we are full force, it will be seven to one. Everyone is scared, but we can lead them, we can be their king and queen. If you will have me, that is.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What about me said that I wanted to be anyone’s queen. All I wanted was to survive. That’s all I have ever wanted. “Tahmas, stop this madness. I will never be a queen. You think too much of me.”
He grabbed his tunic and pulled it over his head, covering his upper body, “I know what I know, and I know that you will never be just a slave of Froize.”
Chapter 18
“Laramie!” A loud screeching voice screamed my name. Margot.
I hurried over to the throne chambers to see Margot there by herself, “Yes, my lady?” I asked, making sure to keep my eyes cast down.
“I think this is bad, taste it and find out.” She held a plate out for me to take.
I took the plate from her and picked up the soft brown piece of bread. It looked good from what I could see, “What’s wrong with it, my lady?”
“Don’t question me!” She smacked me hard across the face, but I dare not drop the plate in my hand. “I told you to taste it! Do it now!” She yelled at me. “Now!”
I picked up the roll off the plate and took a small bite, I chewed a few times, but panic and disgust filled my body when I felt the telltale movement in my mouth. I threw up immediately as maggots began to push their way out of the bread, still in my hand. I dropped it on the floor and tried to run for something to wash my mouth out.