The Queen Revealed

by A. R. Winterstaar

  Guilt fuelled by anger burned hotly inside of Grotto’s old chest. He was swamped by memories of the past and the terrible mistakes of Rainere’s father when he ruled this Grey Palace. For it was Prince Rainold who had, in his lust and pride, brought the Marchant Family to their lowest ebb in all the centuries, it was he who had brought the monster within their midst so long ago.

  Grotto remembered the fear of that time, living with the monster who had changed the fate of the Marchant Family and the damage she had done to his precious charge, the baby Prince Rainere. He could remember it all as if it were just yesterday.

  Grotto had never before met a creature so ambitious and evil as that demon who had called herself Rainestra Marchant. As if she had a right to that name, as if she was a Human!

  It had not even been a year after the death of Rainere’s mother, Princess Rainella, and Rainere’s birth, when the demon had moved into the Grey Palace under the cover of darkness and married the wayward Prince Rainold in a midnight service, assuming the position of Princess of Marchant, and adopting Rainere as her son as if Rainella had never existed. The Prince himself had been so completely bewitched by the demon that he had been blind to what his foolishness had wrought. But then Prince Rainold had never much cared for his duty to the name of Marchant.

  Grotto had woken one night, not long after the wedding, with a fierce pain in his chest and a heavy cloud of premonition hanging over him. It must have been the Goddess Lune herself who had guided him to the baby Prince’s bedchamber while he stumbled, still half asleep.

  The door of the nursery had been pushed open and the first thing Grotto saw was the insensible body of the nanny on the floor, her cheek red and swollen where she had been struck. His gasp disturbed the figure bent over the baby Prince in his bed.

  She had smiled as she looked up at him, but her eyes had been as dark and cold as her soul. Her expression became more sneer than smile when she recognized the fear on his face before he could hide it.

  “What is it, Elf?” Her voice was melodic, beautiful. Grotto could feel it swimming about his ears seeking entry into his head, seeking to control him with its charm. “I was kissing my sweet new son goodnight, so have you come for your own kiss?” She had laughed then, a high, tinkly laugh. “I bet you taste delicious.”

  Grotto had forced his feet forward, determined to meet the monster with his head high. He had never known terror of the like which was pounding through his bloodstream now. His instincts screaming that he should run from this creature, run as far and as fast as he could. But his love for the boy held him firm, and he pushed himself forward to the bedside of his Prince, close enough to the creature to touch her should he chose, or kill her if he had been able. But he only knew of one weapon that could control her.

  “I’m sure his father, the Prince, will be pleased by the way you dote upon his only son. Even in the small hours of the night you grace him as a mother might. He will be told of your visits, Your Highness, please be assured.” His voice was only a croak, but his meaning was clear.

  The thinly-veiled threat hung in the air between them. For one terrified moment Grotto was sure the demon would reach across the bed and suck every last ounce of life out of his long-lived bones and his bowels turned to liquid. But she merely blinked at him and turned back to gaze down at the tiny boy asleep beside her.

  Grotto was close enough to see the sparkling puff of green that was the essence of Prince Rainere’s spirit hover in a little cloud at his rosebud lips.

  “His dreams are so small,” she’d murmured, her tone curious. “He dreams of Rainold, and drinking milk in his arms… and he dreams of you, Elf.”

  The demon raised her hazel eyes to Grotto’s.

  “If I wanted him you could not stop me,” she had said and this time her expression was almost apologetic.

  “I know.” Grotto’s answer was so soft he wasn’t sure he had even really spoken the words.

  The demon rose from the bed then and moved to the door of the nursery, stopping just before the threshold. “I will leave him to your care for now Elf, but my people will have him one day. A prize like him cannot not be hidden from the Temple for long.” She touched her belly. “And if it cannot be me then I swear it will be my daughter who will take him for her own.”

  Grotto watched her leave and his trembling only started when he heard the door click shut behind her. Dashing to the other side of the bed, he pulled the baby prince to his chest and hugged him hard. He waited until he felt the little boy squirm and grizzle in his sleep before he lay the boy gently back down on his pillows. Tears of relief flooded his eyes as he saw that the last traces of essence flow back into Rainere’s tiny mouth, and only a few green sparkles still glittered on his lips.

  Grotto stroked the black curls off the boy’s forehead and ran his palm along the dimpled cheek, feeling the chill of dark Magic on the baby’s skin and seeking to warm it away. Having his essence sucked out by that she-demon would deplete the boy of his strength and vital warmth, and he would need to sleep for hours to recover it. As he was not yet a year old, it was hard to know if his wits or power would be affected by the draining.

  Biting the inside of his cheek caused the tears in Grotto’s eyes to spill over, and with a long finger, he wiped them off his cheeks and painted them onto Rainere’s lips. It wasn’t much, but the Magic in his tears should be enough to help the boy heal more quickly, and deter the demon should she come calling later. More tears fell as Grotto thought about what it would mean to him if anything fatal should happen to this beautiful boy. He continued collecting his tears, now wiping them onto the baby’s cheeks as he tried to focus on finding a solution to the problem of a rogue demon in the Grey Palace. How was he to protect the young Prince from his evil step-mother?

  Prince Rainold loved little in this world more than indulging his own pleasures, but unlike many Marchant fathers he took a great interest in the child from his first marriage. Though he had not cared for the mother, Princess Rainella, at all, even annulling their marriage contract just weeks after it was made, Rainold was enamored with the son she had given him before she had died. Surely even a demon would not risk the wrath of a Marchant Prince just to sate her own appetite for young blood? Grotto would need to tread carefully, but he had to find a way of warning the Prince about his new wife’s night-time visit to the baby and her promise that she would have a child by Rainold himself. As reckless as the Prince was, even he wouldn’t allow the birth of a half-Marchant, half-demon Abomination.

  The little Prince sighed deeply and turned over in his sleep, taking Grotto’s hand and pulling it under himself as he would a comforter. Moving slowly so as not to disturb him further Grotto had lay down next to the boy and wrapped his long limbs around the Prince’s, counting his little breathes and feeling the warmth slowly return to his body.

  He remained like that for the rest of the night and for every night until the cursed demon Princess was murdered by The Marchant Eldars, and the Grey Palace delivered from her control.

  Pulling his mind back to the present, Grotto snarled and dashed the crystal glass down on the table. The red wine sloshed over the side of the glass and splattered on the white cloth.

  Grotto had been so sure that Prince Rainold would put Rainestra aside when she started her affair with the St. Lucidis King. Just as he had been so sure that the Eldars had killed Rainestra’s baby, when they had killed her after the birth, thinking she had made a St. Lucidis and Marchant half-breed. But the demon had succeeded where the Wizards of the Golden Palace and the Eldars had not. She had forced her St. Lucidis Abomination into the Prophecy of the End of the World and fooled them all.

  Grotto alone knew the truth. Queen Adelena was the very image of her demon mother, Rainestra. He recognized her the moment he first saw her at her Coronation at the Golden Palace. But it was such a bitter reward, that all he could do now was follow the Prophecy and push his dear Master into a marriage with this Abomination that was his new love.

>   Grotto ground his teeth. The demon Rainestra might have won the battle by manipulating the fates so that her daughter married the last Marchant Prince. But Grotto was determined that she would not win the war. Instead of fighting circumstance, Grotto now felt it was only right that the Spider Empress Ka-kik be persuaded to eat the Queen in revenge for killing her son, Oki. Then all would be set to rights when Prince Rainere was King of Unisia and the Queen was dead.

  The old manservant set his mouth in a grim line and pushed himself to his feet. But as he began to collect the unused plates and cutlery from the dinner service he shook with a sudden chill that rattled the china in his hands.

  If only he didn’t have to wait helplessly on the sidelines while this Abomination had her evil way with the Prince on this very night. Grotto shuddered at what she might be doing to his poor Master.

  “Soon, Master,” he promised himself silently. “Soon I shall free you of this dreadful lust and insanity that she has fired in you. Soon she shall die.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Sweet Love Speaks Softly”

  Adele and Rainere fell back against the damp silk of the sheets, panting loudly, chests heaving.

  “That was…” Adele gasped, waving her hand in the air as if to make the right word appear.

  “I know,” Rainere agreed and caught her hand, pulling it back down to entwine in his.

  They lay there for a long moment just catching their breath and holding hands as the aftershocks of pleasure slowly ebbed away. Adele recovered first. She rolled over onto her side, facing Rainere, and smiled. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, my love,” she said and lay a kiss on his chest.

  Rainere looked down at her and brushed a wisp of hair out of her eyes. “I think you gave me some idea, cara mia.” He smiled his gorgeous half-smile, but then winced as he moved his shoulders. “Your Magic is getting stronger, though. I’m sure of it.”

  Adele ran her hand down Rainere’s chest to his rippling abdominals. Was it possible that he was the most perfect specimen of manhood ever made?

  “I’m sorry, my love. Did I hurt you?” she asked and moved to drape herself across him, luxuriating in the feeling of his skin on hers. “I’ll be gentler next time.”

  Rainere laughed and the sound was throaty and wicked. “Don’t even think it,” he warned her and moved Adele to sit astride him as he shifted himself to lean against the bedhead. Face to face now, Rainere tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her in for a kiss. As the kiss became deeper and her hands travelled his body, he pushed her away again.

  “Just let me look at you,” he said gently when she frowned at the interruption. “It was too long ago that I had your beautiful face before me.”

  Adele smiled as Rainere stroked a hand down her cheek and pushed her long dark hair back over her shoulder, smoothing it down her back. Her eyes travelled to the small bedside table and saw a sheaf of papers piled haphazardly on it. She leaned over to examine one more closely. “Rainere, these are pictures of me!” she said in surprise. “Where did you get them?”

  Rainere shrugged, almost embarrassed. “I drew these when I saw you at the Golden Palace, during all those abysmal meetings. I knew I did not want to forget any detail of your face.”

  Adele looked at the elegantly-wrought sketches and smiled at the flattering likeness. “I’m sure I don’t look quite like this,” she grinned and raised an eyebrow at her artistic Prince. “My breasts are not really that big.”

  “I draw what is in front of me.” Rainere smiled as he took the picture from her hand and put it back on its table. “But I see you have changed so much in your weeks away from me that I will have to start all over again.” He touched her cheek. “You got some sun and your skin is more golden than it was before.”

  “The beach was so beautiful, Rainere. The children and I loved it! Have you ever been to Sandar?” She paused at the look he gave her. No Marchant monarch would ever be welcome in Sandar. “Sorry. Of course you haven’t… but it was amazing.”

  His hands travelled to the top of her thighs. “There are muscles here that weren’t before,” he commented.

  “Really?” Adele was pleased he had noticed. “I have been learning to ride a horse for the first time in my life,” she said proudly. “And I did a lot of walking and swimming in Sandar.”

  Rainere’s hands slipped around to cup her buttocks and gave them a squeeze. “There is more of this than there was before,” he remarked appreciatively.

  “Well, I did eat a lot more than usual, I guess,” Adele admitted ruefully. “On the road it gets so dull and we had brought so many sweet biscuits and cakes with us for the journey. I probably over did it.” Her pleasure with Rainere’s examination was fading a little if he was going to point out flaws, too.

  “No,” said Rainere, giving her behind a gentle pinch. “I mean I like it. You are far too fragile as it is, with your tiny bones and diminutive size. I like to feel that there is more of you in the world… I like that you are stronger now and less likely to blow away in the wind like you used to.”

  The memories of the dreams that they had shared for so many years together before she had come to Unisia swam between them. Only Adele had been able to travel to Rainere’s world on the dream winds that blew her there, but she had been a ghost in his dreams and the winds had always blown her home again and back to the reality of her life on Earth. It was the same reality that Adele still wanted to return to one day, though she knew that Rainere could never join her there. Melancholy edged in around their warmth.

  Rainere picked up Adele’s hand and placed it on his chest. She felt his heart beating fast and strong, and looked up into his dark, green gaze.

  “You must never leave me for that long again, Adelena.” Rainere’s voice shook with emotion. “I could not do anything when you were gone. I couldn’t eat or sleep. Even work held no pleasure for me. I can’t… I just can’t live without you now.”

  Adele leaned forward and kissed Rainere softly on the lips. Once. Twice. He pulled back to look at her again. His eyes bore into hers, searching them for anything he might have missed before.

  Adele blinked and bit her bottom lip. Could he see the wicked things she had done in Sandar carved into her soul? Now was the moment she should tell him about what had happened in the Holy Caves with the Mage. She should ask his advice on how to fix the problems she had wrought. He understood this world so much better than she did. Surely he could help her now?

  But would that change how he felt about her? Would he think what she had done to Ripenzo Shale was justified or just plain cruel? Adele could not bear it if Rainere turned away from her. She needed him so desperately to be on her side now that she had doubts about High Wizard Ohren and his plans for her back at the Golden Palace. She still didn’t know why the Wizard had warned her not to return when she knew that the fate of Unisia depended on her delivering the Fire Orchid stamens to him.

  It was all just too confusing. Adele wanted something in her life to just be simple and beautiful for once. She loved Rainere with all her heart. Maybe it was better that she protected him from what she had done? Anyway, it would do no harm to tell him tomorrow instead of tonight.

  Adele took his face in her hands and kissed her Prince. She felt him grow ready for her again.

  “Promise me that you will never leave me again, cara mia?” Rainere whispered, his lips against hers. “Promise me you will marry me now so that we can always be together.”

  Rainere tightened his hands around her buttocks and lifted her to hover over his erection still pressed between their bodies. Adele gasped as he slowly lowered her onto himself. She rose and dipped, pleasure coursing through her at the movement.

  “Promise me,” insisted Rainere, a fierce note underlying the sweet words as he pulled her down harder.

  Adele groaned as too much of him was inside her at once. He was so big, and it took time to be ready for him. “Rainere, please.”

  Relenting, Rainere let her r
ise up again, the new muscles in her thighs giving her the control she wanted as she dipped back down again and again. His hand slipped between her legs and found the swollen sweet spot where she needed his sensitive fingers. As the pleasure intensified, Adele dropped her head back and moaned. Rainere’s hot mouth found her neck and he pressed his teeth against her skin as his body took her to the edge of her control.

  It was too fast. Adele released a thread of her Magic into Rainere’s chest and she instantly felt his responding gasp against her throat.

  “Oh, cara mia,” he groaned as the Magic wormed it’s way deep inside of him, tightening around his own Power and binding it. “It hurts so much…”

  He collapsed onto his back. “Please, don’t stop.”

  His beauty, his power, his vulnerability, and his love for her completely overwhelmed Adele. She felt hot tears leak down her cheeks as she let the rhythm of their bodies take over. Arching back, with Rainere completely filling her, Adele sobbed the Word of Command that the magical Chime Voices were singing in her ears and cried out as it took them both over the edge in a hard, rolling orgasm that lasted forever and no time at all.

  Finally released, Adele fell onto the bed beside Rainere, both of them panting and glistening with sweat. As Adele lay with her eyes closed, she felt Rainere’s hand move gently along her cheek. She smiled and bliss made her silly.

  “Find me a priest,” she said, with a satisfied groan, and trembled from the orgasm that shook her still. “I’ll marry you as soon as we have one.”

  But she didn’t open her eyes, so she didn’t see Rainere’s expression and the pain in his eyes. She didn’t see that, once again, he didn’t believe her.

  Chapter Nine

  “To Look Upon Hope and Smile”

  Rainere led Adele back to the apartment, holding her hand the whole way. The empty hallways and corridors were all so dimly lit that the brightness of the lanterns outside the suite doors almost dazzled Adele.