“You don’t use dogs here, do you?”
“No dogs. We have to keep our own sense of the forest sharp. We might live in a palace, but we’re still creatures of the wild wood. That’s why I’m out here every day.”
“Sounds good to me.”
I rode hard, keeping up with Augustus, while our guard had trouble keeping up with us.
“Your Highnesses!” one of the men called behind us. “I beg your pardon, but we are having a hard time protecting the princess!”
Augustus shot back a grin at me and spurred his horse faster, deep down the forest paths. The forests outside of the palace were vast, dark with the thick leaves above us, and full of birdsong. I had fire in my core that bled into my hands, and I had never been so happy to have a bow in my hand or a horse beneath me. It proved the perfect antidote for my frustration.
Augustus slowed his horse, pointing out deer tracks crossing the path.
“Those weren’t there day before yesterday,” he said.
“They lead deep into the woods…”
“We’d have to leave the horses.”
We had outrun the guard, though I could hear them a little ways back on the path shouting for us.
“You’re not supposed to be unsupervised,” he said. “But you won’t be.”
Whenever I had been hunting before, I had been part of a whole entourage and hunting dogs; this, in our own kingdom with every spindle destroyed. My mother would never let me go into the forest without plenty of people to keep watch over me. Magic is strongest in the woods, she would say. Faery magic. Witch’s magic.
But I couldn’t imagine anything happening to me with Augustus there. Surely the Cobblestone Witch wouldn’t appear in front of the future king of her own country.
And to be truly alone with him…
“All right.” I let him pluck me off the horse and into his arms, and we dashed into the forest, hunkering down out of the guards’ sight. Augustus was grinning, my hand caught in his, and both of us ran like boys, unfettered by skirts or delicate shoes or grand corps or servants. We reached a stream where I could see many deer tracks. The waters were full of fish, but there was no sign of the deer.
“They stopped to drink here,” I said.
“This is really very very wrong of me,” Augustus said. “My guard will be required to call a search if we’ve disappeared.”
“Do we have to turn back already?”
He paused, sniffing the air, which was so fragrant with the thick ancient scent of the forest. He crouched and traced a finger along the imprints of the hooves.
“I didn’t know you knew magic,” I said, as I guessed he was picking up the magical traces of the deer.
“A little, picked up on my own. When I was young I heard the term ‘mage-king’ and I wanted to be one. But the mages and the kings were separated in most kingdoms many years ago. Too much power for one man.”
“What didn’t you want to be, Augustus? A scholar, a clockmaker, a hunter, a laborer, a mage? I think your mind is every bit as restless as my own!”
“I don’t think you can call me restless when I devote myself so thoroughly to all of my endeavors,” he said. “Particularly my future kingdom.”
“I’ll call you what I like,” I said, sticking out my tongue. “Laying bricks is hard work for most men, but pure indulgence for a king.”
“Impudent!” His nostrils flared and he looked at me hungrily. “We’ve no time for that. Come, this way.” He caught my hand in his and led me along the stream. His footsteps were so quiet for how fast he moved. I was a bit blundering in comparison.
“There.” He fitted arrow to bowstring and took aim.
“Wait…,” I whispered. I hadn’t even seen what he was aiming at.
Down the stream a little ways, past bushes that dangled their branches in the water, a doe stood alert on the opposite bank, her ears lifted our way. I had seen my brothers shoot deer many times (they only let me have rabbits and birds) but suddenly I had lost my taste for it.
I looked at Augustus, my hand on his arm, and he lowered the bow.
The deer bolted.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I just—for some reason—“
“You don’t have to explain.” He swept me toward him with one arm and kissed me with a fervent passion unlike anything I had felt from him before. The bows we were holding got somewhat between us. He pushed me back a step against a tree and I very much thought he was going to claim me again; I was braced for that, and even yearned for it, despite my horror that the guards would see us.
But he didn’t. He just kissed me and then he let me go and took my hand again. “We’d better go back now. But—this won’t be the last time.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rose
There was some ridiculous talk that one of my shoulders was higher than the other. Sometimes I noticed members of the court staring at me in particular to see if it was true.
“How completely ridiculous,” Julia said over a nightly card game. “Bariel must have said it.”
“I think it was Madame Etiquette herself,” Louisa said. “You’ve probably denied her her greatest pleasure of the day.”
“Her greatest pleasure was watching Rose get laced up?” Julia cackled. “Then again, I can see it. If she had a husband I bet she’d be the one spanking his arse.”
“Maybe they’re in cahoots. Madame Etiquette has some sympathy for Madame Bariel,” Louisa said. “I’ve seen them exchange words now and then.”
“I don’t see why. Noria is from an old family,” Julia said. “Why a woman with good blood would be happy to have Bariel around court, I certainly don’t know. Madame Bariel is reveling in the drama. I heard she was asking the king for a riding suit of her own.”
“What?” I cried. “Just because I went riding with Augustus?”
“Yes, only I heard that Bariel said, ‘Only I want to ride like a proper lady.’”
So, Madame Bariel was trying to undermine the king’s opinion of me. “She doesn’t even care about riding or hunting,” I said. “The other day she screamed when a dragonfly landed on her arm.”
“Of course she doesn’t. She just wants to make you look bad.”
“Even her dog is nasty to my dogs,” I said. The other day Bariel’s spaniel Dorine had bit Peony and sent her running under a bench. And as it all unfolded, Bariel looked at me as if she thought I would finally have to say something to her just so I could yell at her about the dog. But I wouldn’t fall for that trick. I gathered up Peony and swept her back into the palace.
“It won’t work. Her overall manner is off putting. She’s much too familiar with His Majesty. The Mistress of Many Loyalties is supposed to have good taste and restraint. She just wants to show off that she has the king wrapped around her finger.”
“I squirm whenever she feeds him.” Louisa shivered.
“And when he makes her coffee!”
“That’s the worst of all,” Julia agreed. She mimicked Bariel’s coarse accent: “‘Don’t muck up the brew again!’”
“But Noria is utterly loyal to the king, and if he likes Madame Bariel, that’s all that matters in her mind.”
I was starting to understand court dynamics, not that I really knew what to do with the knowledge. When I first came here, I thought the king was a very easygoing ruler—certainly compared to my own mother. But I had started to notice that he was strict with Augustus. I don’t think the king liked me riding like a man at my husband’s side. It undermined the reputation of the Queen Who Bowed. No one had said so outright, but I wasn’t stupid. I felt powerful when I rode a horse through the woods. More powerful than I should feel.
“Don’t worry,” Louisa said gently, noticing my face. “The king seems to adore you. I’ve never seen him treat you coldly. So even if Bariel does go hunting side-saddle, I think she’s been disappointed at how little anyone cares.”
“When we ride…I see the real Augustus,” I said. “I don’t want that taken
from me.”
“Oh, poor sweet Rose.” Julia patted my hand. “You’re really in love with him, aren’t you?”
“I—I think I would be, if I…” I trailed off. Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this, even to my closest friends. “He’s a mystery to me, but he has such a hold on me. I feel like my whole life is spent waiting for the next time he graces me with his attentions, and I don’t even know why I’m so enthralled…”
“He’ll make a better king than I would have ever thought,” Julia said, crossing her hands under her chin. “For such a quiet little boy…”
Sometimes I wonder what you would do to me if our roles were reversed. Have you ever thought of it? If I was in your position, I certainly think I would.
I kept thinking of the way he said this to me. He had thought of it, that was clear. Sometimes I thought, to be the husband of the Queen Who Bowed must be an exhausting role in its own way. I had no responsibility except to wait for his command, and now every minute of my life I was reminded of him, thanks to the clockwork that kept me in a state of constant desire. Just as Peony and Storm waited for me in my chambers with their little tails wagging, I felt like I was always waiting for him, growing slowly addicted to the pleasure of being someone else’s prize, even as I chafed at all the rules and the distance it put between us.
Was it wrong to think that Augustus might dream of succumbing to my whims, just now and then?
“Does the Queen Who Bowed ever get to have her way with the king? In private?” I murmured.
They both started. “Rose! You should know better than to ask a thing like that!” Julia exclaimed.
“I’m sorry. I was just curious. If Augustus—“
“Oh, do be quiet!” Julia hissed. “Those ladies at the next card table might have heard you!”
I had no idea that it was such a misstep just to ask, and immediately I recoiled. “Of course, of course. I didn’t know. Just some ridiculous musings…”
Julia leaned over to me and whispered, “Rose, you must know, the king already suspects Augustus of having a streak of submission in him because he was rather soft as a boy, and it would be absolutely fatal to his authority if anyone thought so. Augustus is a perfect prince now, and that is all we should talk about.” She added more gently, “It was my fault for noting that he was shy. I shouldn’t have said those things about him.”
“It wasn’t your fault. I should have known better. Sometimes the rules of this court still elude me.”
My eyes roamed the room for Augustus. He often skipped the nightly card parties in favor of some private study. But I was yearning for him more intensely now, thinking that he had confessed a sort of secret to me. It was an intriguing thought that Augustus might dream of surrendering to me, and that it would be strictly forbidden, while at the same time he mastered me without hesitation.
I saw him standing in the corner, watching his brothers play a game. They seemed to be coaxing him to join. I lingered on his tall grace until he felt my gaze on him and looked up.
He said something to his brothers and then beckoned me with a finger.
Could such a dominating man really dream of the opposite?
The clockwork between my legs twinged and my cheeks warmed with lust.
I put down my cards. “Sorry, girls, I’m out.” Julia and Louisa were already giving each other knowing smiles.
I curtseyed to Augustus and his brothers; all of them very handsome men. Josef was very dignified but I thought he had a streak of wickedness. I saw it in his eyes at times, or in the quips of his acerbic tongue. Perhaps that was appropriate for the Master of Delights. He was engaged to a goblin girl who was rumored to be rather ugly, although no one had yet seen her. If this alliance troubled Josef, he had shown no sign of it yet. Charles, the youngest, was not yet matched to anyone. He loved the outdoors and had a restless nature much like my own. While the king might not approve of me hunting with Augustus, I know Charles probably wished all the ladies of the court would ride astride in the sunshine.
“I told my brothers I’d join the game if you would be my good luck charm,” Augustus said. “Sit with me.”
“It would be my pleasure.” He pulled out a chair for me and Josef dealt the cards. Augustus’ leg brushed mine through my skirts.
“Wine for the lovely lady?” Charles offered. “Your wife is the talk of the town in Luminé, brother.”
“Should I be worried?” Augustus said.
“No, it’s all good things,” Charles said. “About Marie-Rose’s beauty and youthful vigor. People think it’s intriguing that she rides out on the hunt. They want to see you, Rose. You should take her to the opera soon.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Soon,” Augustus said.
“I’m trying my best,” Charles said, winking at me. “Augustus is a hermit at heart. If he could, I think he’d build himself a shack on the grounds and live there tanning his own leathers and skinning his own rabbits.”
“That might be true,” Augustus admitted.
“Yes, how was your trip?” I asked, still eager to see the capital.
“It will require a lot of guard to take the princess to Luminé,” Augustus said. “Don’t forget, she’s still cursed and we have a responsibility to keep her protected. Still, it won’t hurt her ears to hear about your trip.”
Hearing about the opera and the masquerade balls in Luminé, I ached to go, but the conversation turned naturally to politics and other matters, and since I had not been invited to actually play the game, I started to squirm. Augustus had a bad hand, so I’m not sure I was even helping.
He leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Come for me now.”
I flushed, a curious arousal sweeping through me at the idea of doing such a thing right in view of his brothers…and if they never even knew…
“Now? But—”
Augustus poured us both more wine and went on like he hadn’t said anything. “You should see my hand. This is abysmal.”
Josef shook his head. “You’re not supposed to say so.”
“It’s a good thing he’s the Prince of the Sun Palace and sheltered here,” Charles said. “If we threw him out on the street he’d be tricked by a goblin within the week.”
Augustus stroked a hand up my thigh as he scoffed. “I would never engage with an unknown goblin in the first place.”
“No, that’s what Josef’ll be doing!” Charles said with a barking laugh.
The little hand swirled around, and my breath caught. He wanted me to come for him, right here at the table? Why? But I wasn’t supposed to argue. For whatever reason, this seemed an important duty.
Since he had given me the clockwork belt, I always felt like I was hovering in some space between normal life and soaring desire. The stimulation came infrequently enough that I could go about my business, but frequently enough that I never forgot what it was like to have his hands upon me, his cock filling me, and by the end of the day I was ravenous for him.
Another minute passed, and now I let my thoughts linger on the end of the day, when the silken cords held me fast to the bed and his hands and mouth roamed my tender skin and I couldn’t have stopped him if I wished to, his admiring gaze and his body overwhelming me as he claimed me until he was sated. He used to always make sure I was sated too, but last night he had left me hungry again. It took a long time for my body to calm down.
A slow flush crept up my pale skin, and my eyes remained open but looked at nothing. Under the table, Augustus pulled my legs open a bit, and then took another card. I tried to focus on that tender spot, muscles tensing in my core.
It was impossible to entirely hide the rising tension inside me. The way my dress shoved my breasts up was unforgiving as every quick breath made them rise and fall.
For the briefest second, Josef glanced at me and his lips twitched in what was almost a smile.
I bit my lip, shamed because I knew that he knew, even though no one paused the game or the conversation even for a momen
t. My chance slipped away as I grew self-conscious, the tingling feeling between my legs growing more subdued.
Augustus glanced at me with faint disapproval and I clenched my legs together again. The moment of desire slipped away. I felt defeated, and then angry at him for demanding something so shameful and ridiculous.
Charles won the game and swept up the coins with one hand.
“She is so human,” Josef said, finally voicing the unspoken conversation. “She has no sense of the game, does she? It’s very charming—until Grandfather dies.”
“Pray we have time yet,” Augustus said curtly.
Josef rapped his fingers on the table. “I’m not much for praying.”
I felt a ripple of tension I didn’t quite understand. “What’s going on?”
Augustus and Josef were exchanging hard looks. Augustus looked at the small watch he had in his waistcoat pocket and took my hand in his. “Past midnight and we should both be going,” he said. “I’m not sure why I keep playing with you when Charles always wins.”
“Augustus, what is it?” I pressed, when we were alone again. “Josef seems angry at you. Or is he angry at me? Have I done something wrong?”
He looked at my face, and stroked my hair, and then he drew me close to him. “No, no, my love. You have done nothing wrong at all.”
Chapter Fourteen
Rose
The aunts did put their corsets back on after a few weeks of solidarity with me. They said they were too old to go without.
Another letter came from my mother:
I have heard from the Countess of Winschingrau that you have let your appearance go to a troubling degree. I hope that these rumors are exaggerated; surely you are well aware of the importance of appearance in Ellurine’s court and wouldn’t do something so provoking! Remember that you are a human among faeries and it will not take much for them to see you as a foreign body who does not respect their customs, particularly when you have not yet given them an heir! You must set the highest tone for your conduct.
Prisoner of Silk: An Adult Fairy Tale Retelling (Queen of the Sun Palace Book 1) Page 10