Ice Dragon Tales

by Hurri Cosmo

  Diagus had not taken him last night. He'd stopped when Joron called out for Aric. Joron felt relief and actually a bit sad for his brother. He truly did look brokenhearted when Diagus looked at him and asked if he loved King Aric. Then when he answered... It was as if Joron had run him through with a sword. As much as it turned Joron's stomach, Diagus touching him in that way, he still felt sorry for him. If Diagus truly believed he was in love with him, Joron knew firsthand how painful it was.

  He smiled a bit also over the fact he was as protective as Aric had been, throwing a sheet over him so no one would see his nakedness. Then letting him come in here by himself, he had done a good thing. Maybe he could be trusted after all. Maybe as time went on, being he was home, he might see a different life.

  * * * *

  Diagus waited until the door shut to the chamber room before he turned on his men. "What is so important you would dare to interrupt me? Not only that, but you walk right into my bedroom?"

  "S-sire, I'm...sorry, but...your mother...the queen...queen mother..." It was clear the man had no idea any longer how to address his mother.

  "Spit it out. What does my mother want?" Diagus cared not one bit about his mother or any honorific possibly proceeding or taking the place of her name. He had a difficult enough time simply referring to her as his mother.

  "She needs to see you immediately. She...she said if we didn't retrieve you right now..."

  Diagus took the two steps necessary to be directly in front of the man who stood first in the door. He reached out and took the man by his throat. Diagus went nose to nose with the man and in a very low, controlled voice asked, "Who is the king?"

  The man opened his mouth but only strangled sounds came out, little choked gags, as Diagus watched his face turn beet red. When his eyes started to roll back in his head, Diagus finally released him, pushing him back into his comrades. The guard took a ragged gasp of precious air as the other two held him up.

  The one on the left looked up to Diagus. "You are, your majesty. You are the king."

  "Then why would you let my mother dictate what you should do? She is nothing in this castle any longer. Nothing." But he would comply. Something had to be up for her to send three of his own men to retrieve him. Of course, she had no clue at all what he had been doing, being up far more hours than he had been able to sleep, barely without food, and had only now been able to obtain a small bit of rest.

  But he did feel wonderful. Awesome, in fact. There was only one thing that could possibly make him feel better. He shoved the men out of the room, telling them to inform his mother he would grace her with his presence when he was good and ready and he shut the door. Then he turned toward the door he had watched Joron's amazing body waddle through and ached with the thought of what he still wanted to do with him. He breathed deep as he dreamed of those things, still smelling Joron's presence. Yes, he would do that and that--and that. Oh yes, and that. Mmmmm... He was getting hard, and as much as he wanted to take his sweet brother before he left the room, he would wait--again. Tamusi would be coming, but Joron would not be found. All Diagus needed was time. He would woo the shit out of Joron, charm and romance him until he was begging Diagus to take him.

  He would dictate to his men to ready a room, one off in the far recesses of the castle--maybe even out of the castle. Maybe that would actually be best. He would think about it for a bit. Yes, a room faraway from any activity, and he would chain his beauty there. There would be no escape for Joron, ever, and there would be no rescue. Yes, Tamusi would come. He knew, because he had done the same thing. Joron would be a prize they would have to fight over but Diagus had the advantage of home territory, the home people, who all thought Joron was a kidnap victim. They would not welcome the man. It was not wise to challenge the king of Claymoor Doom, but if any king would do it, could do it and get away with it, it would be the king of Blade Rain. However, he figured he had a couple days before the man would show up. He made absolutely sure he and his men would be exhausted and the king of Claymoor Doom, especially the king of Claymoor Doom, would not push his people beyond their limits. Not for such a selfish reason.

  But Tamusi would come.

  And Diagus would be ready.

  * * * *

  The queen sat seething in her rooms. She had received word her son would attend her soon--or at least she thought soon. The message was that he would come when he was ready, and he damn well better be ready or there would be hell to pay. No, Joron wasn't Diagus's brother, not even half brother, but Diagus did not know that and never would. He may be the king, but he was still her son and there was no way in hell she was going to allow him to dirty himself any further with the bastard son of her late husband.

  She had heard from the servants Diagus rode to "rescue" the little fool, that royal want-to-be. She didn't believe for one moment the boy had been kidnapped. Aric would never do something so base, nor would he want someone like Joron. It was asinine to even think it. Aric would be falling in love with her, thank you very much, not with some frail, thin, ugly, little boy.

  She scowled.

  She had heard enough people say the boy was beautiful, although she didn't see it. He was scrawny and skinny. He had no curves at all... Well, maybe his ass, but that was it. Who would be interested in something so...so...not woman? Who? But she knew who. She kicked at the footstool. It tipped over and slid a small distance away and pain assaulted her foot. She screamed.

  It was all his fault. All that asshole of a husband's fault. The woman he'd brought to this castle had stolen his heart and had him in her bed. She hadn't been the queen. She hadn't been charged with the duty of producing an heir to the throne. Yet that is exactly what that bitch did. Joron was second in line, though he was the only one with royal blood. Well, the people will get what they deserved then--someone who was not of royal blood. Serves them right.

  But...but her son did serve them right. She had attended Diagus's first official meeting with the people and he had amazed them all. She'd never expected him to do what he did, help as many as he had. She had to admit, at first she was shocked and dismayed and was about to make her thoughts known, but then she saw him smile. He sat there on the throne her husband had occupied for so very many useless years, and in a quiet, all by himself moment, he smiled. She couldn't help but feel an emotion she thought had died long ago--an emotion she couldn't quite label or understand. It was a cross between jealousy over having no idea at all what he was thinking that would put such a beautiful smile on his face, and pride that her son was powerful enough to have the people in the large room in awe of him. It wavered between anger at the fact he was giving away too much, and fear she had truly lost all of her own power. He was a different person, not only from her husband--that waste of human flesh--but also from the young man of only three years ago. He had even dictated to King Aric on the day he was here, the terms of marriage to her daughter. He dictated to the powerful man and Aric had listened to him.

  But this was where her real turmoil lay. Why did Aric not realize Erora was available? Maybe it was out of respect of her widowhood, and if that was the case, she was going to have to see he changed his way of thinking. But the one thing she knew it could not be was he was enamored of her daughter. Yes, being a queen with the health and wealth of the kingdom first in her heart, she should jump at the union of her daughter and the wealthy king, like her son had. It was a match like no other. He was a bachelor among bachelors, a man every self-respecting king and queen across the whole of all the known lands were after. Blade Rain would be the envy of all of them, to have captured the prize. Not to mention it would guarantee their kingdom peace and wealth for generations to come. But the man--the magnificent, amazing, wonderfully handsome man--belonged to her, not some worthless boy and not some young, inexperienced woman-child.

  She would make it happen, too. She still had it. She proved it every day when all she had to do is make some motion, some gesture, and they were all of them sniveling at her feet, eat
ing the breadcrumbs she would provide. They came to her time and again, telling her how beautiful, how mesmerizing, how stunning she was. She could have them all if she wanted them, had had a good number of them. But it was Aric she dreamed of. It was Aric who had finally broken through the wall she had erected around her heart and made her feel something she thought she would never feel again. Not since Mormir.

  Ahhh, Mormir...

  But she didn't have the time to think about it anymore now.

  Her son was coming and she had questions he would have to answer. It was best to keep her mind trained on the matter at hand. She was still his mother and still wielded power here, though it was nowhere near as much as it had been when her husband was alive. She sighed. Maybe it had been a mistake, killing her husband. It wasn't like he could see past his constant erection anyway. So what if he had suddenly begun to ask questions about the age-old death of his friend, the Duke of Stone Mire? There was no possible way he would have been able to discover her part in it. More importantly, he would never have discovered the duke, in truth, was Diagus's real father, even if he had come to some conclusion the man had the same symptoms as Oxys had. There was no connection at all. It had been her fear, her guilt, that made her think things that could not be. She'd acted too hastily.

  However, there was the continued threat of that damn letter. Killing VenTorry was turning out to be as big of a mistake. How the hell could she have possibly guessed VenTorry would have duplicated the letter her husband dictated to him and dangle it front of her just to blackmail her into having sex with him? Why had he done that when he had already forwarded the original on to the intended receiver? She paid the idiot for it with her body yet even during the disgusting act, the letter was already gone! Who could have possibly predicted the simpleton would do something like that? Who had he sent it to? Did it say the same thing the duplicate did? VenTorry, due to his friendship with the Duke of Stone Mire, had known about Diagus's non-royal blood, knew firsthand who Diagus's real father was. Would he have told Oxys?

  No. If Oxys knew, he would have said. That secret was safe.

  So the letter was probably the same as her copy--vague and unclear in meaning or substance.

  She sighed.

  Whoever it was the asshole had given it to--if it truly existed at all--had yet to come forward. What did that mean?

  Lord VenTorry, that bastard. Dead bastard. She made sure of that and no one at all questioned his death after leaving her bed. She smiled at her cleverness in having the man stabbed several times and thrown in the moat. It looked like a badly executed robbery. They never thought to look for any other reason for his death, so the fact he actually died of a massive overdose of the queen's own special poison would never see the light of day.

  But it was in his dying breath, lying naked on her bed, writhing from the pain, his once hard cock limp and ugly, he told her he had duplicated the letter from Oxys. She had gotten careless, thinking she had outwitted the buffoon.

  She should have known someone with the capacity to blackmail would betray her in the end.

  But there was no sense in second guessing herself after all of it. If she wanted her son to be king, if she wanted her secrets to remain her secrets, then what she did was not only necessary but crucial. She could not allow herself to question the path of logic she had tread to come to the conclusions she did. If she lost a small bit of power for a moment in time, so be it. She would gain it back. Her son would tire of the responsibilities of running a kingdom and drop into the same pattern her husband had. He was as obsessed with carnal pleasures as the next man. Speaking of which, he would also tire of the trollop he was obsessing over as well. And if she had anything to say about it, it would be sooner rather than later. But at the very least, the little fool Joron was not with Aric, and that was a very good thing.

  There was one loud knock on her door and it immediately opened. She shrieked at the intruder for walking in without permission but recognized her son and was at least able to stop herself from the tirade she intended.

  * * * *

  "Difficult day already, Mother?" Without waiting for an answer, an answer he didn't care to hear, he continued. "What is so important you would interrupt my morning?"

  Erora sniffed as she raised her nose in the air. "I simply wanted to talk to you about...Joron." Her voice was stiff and she refused to meet his glare at the mention of his brother's name.

  "What about him?" he growled.

  Now she turned to him, rising up from her chair near the window. "You rode all the way to Claymoor Doom to retrieve that... that... boy from..."--she turned away again--"from King Aric. Why was he there?"

  Ahhhh, so this isn't going to be a conversation about why I took my brother to my bed. At least, not yet. This is an inquiry about what Tamusi had done with Joron and why I went to rescue him.

  He chuckled again at the fact his mother paid attention to the castle gossip. But then his mind went dark, and anger rose from somewhere he had evidently stored it while he was alone with Joron. Tamusi wanted Joron. The fight to keep Joron by his side had only begun, and to have his mother distracted by some lust she had for Tamusi was a very good thing.

  "He had him in his bed. Why else would Joron be with Tamusi." He hated it, hated saying it, and the satisfaction he received in twisting that knife in his mother's gut did not diminish that fact as much as he thought it would.

  Neither did the scream.

  "Get hold of yourself, woman."

  She turned on him, ran to him, and pummeled her fists on his chest. It didn't hurt. She wasn't putting much effort into it. It was more for show than anything else. "No. No. No. He loves me. He wants me. What could he possibly want with that...that whore?"

  Before he could make a conscious decision to do it, he simply raised his hand and slapped her hard. She reeled back, her own hand coming up and covering the spot he'd hit, instantly turning red. Her eyes widened with horror at what he had done. She sputtered as if she meant to say something, but nothing intelligent or remotely understandable came out. She continued to stumble back until the backs of her knees met the chair she had been sitting in, and she collapsed into it. Diagus should have been as shocked at himself not only for slapping his mother but also for the quick rise of fury in defense of Joron.

  "He is not a whore. In fact, as much as it pains me to say this, Tamusi took that boy's virginity."

  She continued to look at him with shock in her eyes, although he was starting to see pain seep in around the edges. She would be bruised, but his feelings about the matter would not turn to guilt any time soon.

  "Watch what you say about that boy from now on. I intend to make sure he is well hidden and well protected from the likes of Tamusi and you. Lay a hand on him, Mother, and I guarantee, I will kill you."

  He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. Right now he needed to tend quickly to some royal matters, make some decisions as king, and then get back to his brother. He would move forward on finding "that room" as well. He would make sure it was safe and secure and be sure it was as remote as he needed it to be, because the sooner he moved his brother to it, the better. Tamusi was coming. He knew it.

  He could feel it in the very air he breathed.

  * * * *

  Diagus spent a good part of the day with Joron. Then Joron spent another night in Diagus's arms and other than a small bit of fondling, Diagus did not force himself on him. It was getting to the point where Joron was beginning to trust him. In fact, for a couple of hours, they simply sat on his brother's bed together and talked, Diagus's arm draped over Joron's shoulder, holding him close. Joron laughed out loud a number of times at Diagus's accounts of things he had encountered out on the road. They ate their meals together, easily chatting about unimportant things. Diagus even sat at the table in his suite, going over papers, documents, and scrolls, so he wouldn't have to leave Joron alone in the room. Once he caught Joron watching him. He got up and walked across the room, Joron never taking his
eyes from him, and Diagus leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips.

  "You're going to fall for me, Joron," he whispered.

  However, Joron knew that would never happen. He might grow to admire his brother, but he would never fall in love with him. It didn't matter anyway. He came back to Blade Rain and even into this room for only one thing.

  He needed to save Kinnabe.

  It looked as if the necessary "deed" to affect his release was not going to happen anytime too soon, which was fine with Joron. So, in a rare moment when Joron was left alone, he decided he had to escape this room and go in search of Kinnabe himself. He dressed, thankfully, in his own clothes. The one set Aric had commissioned for him he had sent to be washed and folded, then asked they be hidden deep in a drawer in his rooms. It was good to know he had them, but he would never wear them again.

  Besides, today he was on a mission.

  He assumed Kinnabe would be in the dungeons. He had an idea where they were. Once he found him and released him, since it wasn't too late in the afternoon, they could escape the castle. They could enter Raven bog before nightfall, and though it would be extremely dangerous, somehow they would get through to the small village of Raven Keep. From there they could take the south road and head back west then north to the pass. An odd route even Diagus would not guess. Joron would need to visit the kitchens for supplies, and he could have one of the stable boys saddle a couple of horse and do it quietly. There had to be some who would still be loyal to him. But when he opened the door, Kinnabe was standing on the other side of the threshold.

  Right there.

  Joron shouted out his name and flung himself into his arms. Kinnabe stumbled back one step but otherwise held his ground as he took Joron into his arms.

  "Kinnabe. You're safe."

  "Yes, my lord," he whispered. "Of course, my lord."

  "But you were in prison."