Dthor laughed out loud. “Ye gods—I married a prude!”
“I can assure you my Lord Consort that before this night is out you will recant that accusation!”
When we finally returned to our quarters, a little light-headed from the wine, it was to find that the servants had spent the day clearing the debris from my quarters and had managed to have the water pumps repaired in the bathroom. They had spent secta after secta cleaning the ash and detritus out of the bath and had even managed to erect a canvas ceiling to cover the area.
A couple of braziers they had purloined from other deserted rooms in the wreckage of the keep were burning in the corners providing a good deal of heat and the whole of the chamber was illuminated by lightsticks.
The recently cleaned bath was filled almost to the brim with steaming sweetly perfumed water and the floor had been strewn with cloaks, blankets and towels and almost anything else the household had managed to lay their hands on to protect our feet from the cold stone.
Aarin and Iannos bowed low as we entered and assisted us out of our garments before leaving us standing together swathed in thick warm towels.
Dthor swallowed heavily and stepped towards me. “Do you suppose they think it is time we discovered each other, Meriq?” he asked softly.
“I think that is their intention.” I smiled.
His hands moved to my shoulders and he gently uncovered my torso, running his strong fingers down my back as he removed the towel. I reached up likewise pushing the towel from his shoulders and slowly ran my hands down his chest, marvelling in the soft, thick yellow hair that spread from his navel to his shoulders like golden wings.
The soldier shed the last towel exposing his nakedness completely and stepped back into the bath so that his face was level with mine. He kissed me softly at first and then more insistently, from my lips down the side of my neck, softly brushing over my chest until his questing tongue found my nipple. The feel of his teeth gently teasing the sensitive flesh sent hot flushes of excitement through me.
I pulled off my own towel to ease the pressure against my straining loins gasping as he drew me into him and the heat from his mouth spread from my crotch across my belly and down my legs like a hot river. In moments I was lost is a haze of pleasure, vaguely aware of my legs folding and Dthor lowering me to floor, never breaking his contact. I could feel his lips on my shaft then on my sac, his eager tongue flicking around teasing the sensitive flesh into delightful agony. Then as he pulled away and drew me towards the bath I leapt upon him returning like for like, marvelling in the sweet-salt taste of him.
Suddenly he grabbed my head, arching his back and let out a hoarse cry. His whole body shook and his sweet, hot thick nectar filled my mouth. I swallowed quickly, almost before I realised, bringing fresh cries from my lover and more heat filled me. Dthor took me by the shoulders pulling me along his belly panting as I slid against his sweat slick chest. He was on me again before I had time to think, his hands and mouth working in my groin, stroking, kissing, licking. His questing finger slid inside me. My whole body seemed to vanish in an explosion of light and heat and I spent myself letting out a great grating cry as my seed spilled into him.
We lay for a long while, our breath harsh in the silence of the evening, the scent of bath spice and sex mingling on the air. At length Dthor sat up pulling me with him as I opened my eyes. “I think we should bathe now, my love.”
I grinned at him. “That, Lord Consort, is a given.” I gave him a mischievous look as we sank into the water and wound our arms around each other. “You still consider me a prude?”
He smiled back. “The night is yet young, my little dragon. There are other delights yet to be discovered. Who knows, my appetites may yet shock you.”
“Strange that. I too was wondering.”
“And what were you wondering, ‘b’zaddi?”
“Whether or not you were man enough to slake my thirst and sate my hunger.”
When we finally emerged from the bathroom the lounge was empty. In the centre of the room a samovar steamed and gurgled on its burner, torches flickered in their sconces throwing an uneven orange light around the chamber and illuminating a tray of cakes and sweet winter roots. Iannos and Aarin appeared silently from the shadows to serve us before melting discreetly away into the darkness beyond the torchlight.
As we finished our supper and set down our cups Aarin materialised once more to announce that our bed chamber was prepared. Yet again the household had expended great effort to increase the comfort of our sparse lodgings. Dry soft thresh had been spread over the flagstones and this in turn was covered by blankets and skins acquired by Alna, so the youths told me from the Kyr-Garrin and members of the Royal Guard.
The linen had been sprinkled with red orchid, a richly aromatic oil prized for its ability to encourage passion; I could not even begin to fathom where she may have found such a commodity in the derelict Kosian shops. Dthor grinned at me.
“Do you think your servants are conspiring to ensure our union is fully consummated?” he asked laughing.
“I think there is a very strong possibility.”
“Then since they have put so much effort into making this night perfect it would be niggardly to disappoint them.”
We had scarcely slid between the sheets when Dthor’s hands were on me oiling me and working me to fresh arousal. He rolled back and pulling me on top of him he spread his legs and locked them around me. “Take me, Meriq. I want to feel you inside me. Fill me with your love.”
I pushed forward, pressing against the resistance I could feel even as his strong hands encouraged me to my goal, guiding me into him. He shifted slightly and suddenly all resistance was gone and I slid into him gasping as his heat engulfed my shaft. We began moving together, slowly, gently at first but as I felt my excitement grow my thrusts became harder, deeper and faster. Dthor grabbed my buttocks as if he was trying to drag me inside him completely meeting each thrust more eagerly than the last. A delicious tingling spread from my groin around my back centring at the base of my spine for a moment before rushing up my back and crashing over my head like a striking wave. Heat rushed through me and poured out into the man struggling beneath me. I dropped on to Dthor’s chest with a harsh growl, sinking my teeth into him, bucking and thrusting until the heat faded and filled me with a gentle warmth. My body seemed to melt away for a moment and then I felt Dthor’s arms around me.
He lifted me slowly, sliding me along his chest until I was sprawled over him. His hands moved slowly and deliberately, parting my legs and then he shifted slightly and I could feel the hard heat of his erection brushing against its target. Gentle warmth seemed to radiate from him and then slowly he lifted me off his chest pushing me down. I opened my eyes slowly, smiling as I felt his shaft pressing home. A tight growl burst from my throat as he lifted his hips and slid into me filling me with a searing heat and delicious pain. I could hear myself crying out and groaning as he moved me against him lifting up, pushing me back moving me this way and that. And with each twist, turn and thrust I could feel the hardness growing inside me even as my own shaft stiffened anew. He kept the rhythm slow and steady, restraining me when I tried to increase it as my excitement grew. And just as I thought I could stand no more he took hold of my shaft and began stroking it, slowly at first and then he just held it firm as I moved against him. He let out a series of small quiet groans, his legs began to twitch, his whole body shuddered and I felt heat fill me even as I spent myself on the golden hair of his chest.
I collapsed on to him letting out a small disappointed groan as he slid out of me.
We slept then, wound together in a tangle of arms and legs.
Love came and went many times in the night. Each of us taking the other as the need arose until finally we could do no more and slipped into a deep slumber.
I woke to the sound of rain on the canvas roof of the adjacent bathroom. Beside me Dthor lay sprawled on his back his head turned towards me, his eyes closed
and his lips shaped in a small smile as if he was harbouring a pleasing secret. One arm was thrown over his head, his strong fingers held in a gentle relaxed curve. His chest rose and fell softly as he slept, the thick golden hair on his chest sending off little coppery sparks from the torchlight. His hair like fine mist seemed to float on the pillow reflecting the glow from the brazier opposite the bed. I lifted the covers lightly and gazed on his nakedness, suddenly feeling enormously proud that I had somehow conquered this muscular beauty and at the same time feeling so immensely honoured that he had allowed it.
I turned back to find Dthor watching me. He gave me a heart stopping smile. “Are you planning to molest me further, little dragon?”
“Do you think you could cope with it?” I teased.
Dthor frowned at me. “Hmm. Let me see.” He took hold of my hand and placed it in his crotch. “What do you think?”
I let my hand linger for a while, smiling as I felt the stirring of his passions. “I think we should have Aarin draw another bath and that we should get out of this bed before we take root in it.”
Dthor took hold of me and held me to him. “You were not disappointed, then?”
I gaped at him. How could I have been disappointed? Even in my most intense moments of solitary pleasure I had never experienced anything that came close to how I felt on our first night as lovers. And virgin or not, I had no doubt that Dthor’s was every bit as adept as any man in finding his way around a body. He had certainly found his way around mine in the most spectacularly satisfying ways and I wasted no words in telling him.
He smiled broadly. “I was concerned that my lack of practical experience would cause problems.”
“As I was I for my part, Dthor, but I think Nature took the lead.” I laughed.
We rose then to find that Iannos was already preparing the bathroom for us and while we waited for the water to heat we broke fast, served under the discreetly smiling faces of Alna and Aarin.
†
CHAPTER 26
A DARK PACT
THE SCOUTS I despatched to the mountain pass returned with the news that the snow had mostly cleared, or to be more precise it had mostly been cleared though they were unable to say by what means. This news, though disturbing made the razing of Kos and the attacks of Delos and Polis much easier to understand. I suspected that Gorgoth had had something to do with unblocking the passage and supposed that he had used his staff or some other thaumaturgical device to blast through the drifts. I tapped the dead sorcerer’s crest that hung on my cloak thoughtfully.
Gorgoth was certainly no longer a threat, but an army like the Black Legion probably had more than one magic user in its employ and given that the world of magic abounded with evil and trickery I was almost certain that a man as powerful as Gorgoth would doubtless have set various magical traps through the pass firstly to prevent a vengeful army from following him and secondly to thwart the very retaliation we were bent on.
With this in mind I summoned Orrin instructing him to ride through the pass with Jalin. Given the youth’s ability to detect physical threat and hostile thoughts and his innate skill in detecting the flow of magic, I was convinced that he would be able to sense if there were any magical traps while Orrin would be able to detect the physical ones. And even if Jalin could not divine the nature of any traps he discovered, he would at least be able to tell me where they were and give me a fighting chance at disabling or dissipating them.
Needless to say, Janir was less than delighted when I sought his permission to send the boy out with Orrin on such a potentially dangerous mission, especially since talk had reached the king’s ears that Jalin was spending quite a lot of his private time in the company of the diminutive Orrin.
Even though I was quietly confident that Orrin would be able to move undetected through the pass even while keeping Jalin safe, Janir was not easily convinced to let the lad go but faced with the fact that traversing the mountain barrier, even with men marching twenty abreast, was by far the riskiest part of our campaign, he finally agreed.
“Will the boy manage?” Keelan asked as he cast a critical eye over the lad.
I assured the king that Jalin would cope. He had a singular skill for detecting magic that even I did not and as Janir’s viceroy and vizier I could not in good conscience allow our men to march into a place where they could so easily fall prey to our enemy. One well placed contrived avalanche or becoming trapped in crossfire from archers would cost us dearly. Once I was certain that the way was clear we could dispatch a couple of regiments to secure the pass and thus ensure a safe march into Mederlana to meet up with the main body of the Morlan army.
“I do not like this delay,” Balten complained. “We have already lost four days marching to your flux, father.”
“That is true, my son,” Janir answered patiently, “but what the Ez’n says is sound and the War Council agrees with him!” And as Balten went to speak again the king added. “And so do I.”
As the War Council disbanded and I took my leave to meet Dthor for lunch Balten broke away from the group of men he was with and approached me. He bowed low, bending his knee and waited to be given leave to rise. This sudden embrace of the formal protocols disturbed me and my guard was instantly raised.
“Your pardon, Ez’n, I hope you will not consider that I am speaking out of turn but I have noticed that your dog-boy is spending much time with your Morlan Scout.”
“By which you mean my Morlan assassin, “I responded with such obvious candour that the Crown Prince lost his voice for a moment, “And what precisely is your point?”
The Prince offered me his shield arm, walking with me as I took it. He had also become aware that Jalin was spending a great deal of time in the company of the king.
“These are hazardous times, Prince Balten and I think having my battle dogs and their handler stationed close to your father to be a prudent precaution.”
“My father has his own guards Ez’n and I am concerned that your “scout” may be schooling Jalin in unseemly ways.”
“Would that be morally unseemly ways or political ones?” I asked pointedly.
Balten baulked slightly. He must have realised the risk he was running in attempting to claim any kind of moral high ground—especially with me. He recovered his composure quite quickly. “A little of both I suspect, Ez’n, but I am more concerned that he may be teaching the boy the ways of the Kayetim.”
I made great play of seriously considering the Crown Prince’s words taking my time to order my thoughts before replying.
“It is possible, of course, but I have every confidence in Jalin’s integrity and his loyalty to the king.”
“But these are dangerous and treacherous times as you say, Ez’n.”
I found myself agreeing with the Prince and said as much, a statement that clearly surprised him. Yet despite his misgivings, which I assured the Prince I had noted, I was certain that Janir was safe in the company both of my dogs and their handler. After all, men could be bought or sold for a handful of gold, my battle dogs could not. “And besides, Crown Prince,” I added, “it behoves me to protect the king at all costs considering the fate you have planned for me and the Lord Consort, does it not?”
Balten gave me an easy smile that I liked little and distrusted much. “Lord Ez’n, those were merely words spoken in the heat of a moment long since forgotten.”
Forgotten by the Crown Prince, perhaps, but certainly not forgotten by me and neither would they be. As for how Jalin spent his private time that was between him and whatever companions he might choose. Times and attitudes were changing, I told the Prince and if Orrin and Jalin found pleasure in each other’s company then so be it. “I will, however, keep a sharp eye on the liaison your highness, and I thank you for the intelligence. And who knows, perhaps some information I have may be of use to you in your pursuit of your father’s throne.”
Balten started very noticeably, protesting his innocence far too intensely to be believed, and it wa
s clear to me that he knew it. “Were I so disposed as to plot against my own father, Ez’n-Kyr a man with such information would be a most useful ally.”
I smiled inwardly. So now the game was afoot, was it? “As would someone who held sway with the Royal Guard.” I offered.
“Oh indeed,” the Crown Prince agreed, “such a man would doubtless become very rich and very powerful extremely quickly in the service of a king so well supported:”
I gave Balten a cunning smile. “And might you become such an appreciative monarch, Crown Prince Balten?”
“My allies are well acquainted with my generosity, Meriq.”
“So do we understand each other, my Prince?”
“We understand each other very well, Meriq.”
“Good. Now know this. Your father is dying from The Wasting.”
“Yet he looks so well.” A look of sudden realisation crossed his face. “The flux was no such thing was it?”
“Of course not, my king-to-be. His health is merely a deception of my magic. Such strength as he has he receives from me.”
Balten’s hand twitched on the hilt of his sword betraying his thoughts in that instant. “Do not be foolish, Balten. Kill me and my vital force will transfer immediately to your father who will then outlive you by some twenty cycles and Jae’nt will ascend the throne.”
“How do I know this is not one of your wizard’s lies?”
“I never lie, Balten, and well do you know it. You may try your hand against me now if you wish but I promise you that you will be dead before even your knees hit the ground.”
The Crown Prince did not have to respond, the look on his face told me he knew this was no ploy, and even clearer was the fact that he realised I was not offering an idle threat.
“Now be sure of one thing if you doubt all else. Until the time is right I am Janir’s man and I will brook no treachery or any disobedience to his Treaty. If this plan is to work you will conduct yourself as I direct. Is that clear?’’
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