The Claiming of a Virgin King
Title Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Epilogue
When his father is killed in battle, William De Gulliame is thrust into the position of king. But armies of rebel aliens attack from the north, his own people in the south cower below him, and William is in increasing danger of losing his throne. He needs help and he needs it fast…and there is only one male who can give him that help, Lord Dargan of the island fortresses.
Lord Dargan has an army of his own, but he has never gotten involved in the war. Though an alien himself, he is settled in his fortress and has everything one male can ever need. So, when the king comes to him and asks for his aid, Dargan has every intention of refusing. Until he meets him that is, and realizes that the king has something he wants very much indeed…
The Claiming of a Virgin King
by
April Andrews
M/M, ANAL SEX, ANAL PLAY, RIMMING, DUBIOUS CONSENT, FORCED SEDUCTION, AND TENTACLE SEX
Twisted E Publishing, Inc.
www.twistedepublishing.com
A TWISTED E PUBLISHING BOOK
The Claiming of a Virgin King
Copyright © 2015 by April Andrews
Edited by Marie Medina
First E-book Publication: January 2015, SMASHWORDS EDITION
Cover design by K Designs
All cover art and logo copyright © 2015, Twisted Erotica Publishing.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
Dedication
This one is for the place that inspired it.
Þakka þér fyrir.
The Claiming of a Virgin King
Chapter One
King William De Gulliame looked out of his private chamber onto his kingdom. It was all laid out below him, from the castle stronghold below, right to the farms that stretched as far as his eye could see. And then beyond that, the tenement villages, the mining structures, the smelting plants, the fishing ports, it was all there, all safe for now.
William had no idea how long that safety was going to last.
He placed his hands either side of the wall and narrowed his eyes. His view was to the south, so even if it somehow stretched all the way down to the coast, William wouldn’t be able to see the devastation that was there in the north—the sacked villages, the burning farms, the empty mines. But it was behind him, nagging at him, filling his thoughts every minute of every day.
He lifted a hand and rubbed against his head. As was often the case these days, a headache was blooming. William tried to ignore it, because there was little that could be done to remove it. The headache, along with the constant, low level churning in his gut, had been there ever since he had buried him father sixth moons ago. William suspected it was going to stay there right to the very end…whenever that might be.
“Soon,” he whispered to himself. “Sooner than you would like.”
He frowned at that thought and turned away from the window. There was little benefit to derive from simply looking out at his kingdom. William had to make a plan, had to find a way to save it.
He walked over to the great table where a map of his entire kingdom was laid out. The northern part of the map was colored a deep, blood red. The alien rebels controlled that portion of his kingdom now, their armies moving ever further south as they took village after village. To the south, and colored a rich blue, were William’s own people. They hid behind the bottleneck that was the capital city, their fighting skills no match for the rebels even if they were inclined to try.
They were not.
William could not escape the fact that his people south of the line were cowed, but then, was that any wonder? When the aliens had arrived half a decade ago they had left everyone in awe of not only their towering physiques, but also their advanced technology. In the beginning they had held out the hand of friendship to William’s father, and then, when his guard was down, had turned on him. The war had been raging ever since, and now it was up to William to win it.
He sighed at the thought and continued his perusal of the map. The islands that were on the left side of the capital city caught his gaze. There were over a hundred in all, little bits of what had once been part of the main continent, at least until the seas had risen. That had been many thousands of years ago now, but here, in the castle, were writings that told of that time. So far as William understood it the southern polar cap had melted and flooded all the low-lying areas. The inhabitants had all fled inwards, to the place that was now the capital city. Over time they had then moved north and south, until the entire continent was inhabited in some way, but they had never gone back to the islands. They were too superstitious, and so the islands had remained uninhabited for the most part, at least until a half decade ago, when they too had been taken…
Lord Dragan…
The king frowned as he thought about the alien male who had declared himself ruler of the islands. Like the alien army to the north, he too had arrived from the stars seeking a new home. But unlike the northern aliens, Dragan had never held out a hand of friendship or a knife of deceit. He had simply settled his people on the islands and ignored everything, and everyone else.
He was neutral.
And damn him for that.
The door opened and closed behind him with a soft thud, almost punctuating William’s thought. He did not look up immediately. Here in his private chamber he was safe enough, the rebels could not get to him here. Though they had tried to disguise themselves before and infiltrate the capital city, their appearance made it difficult. Apart from their height and their broad build, their skin was a strange blue shade, very like the northern oceans. And if that was not enough to give them away, their bodies certainly were…
“William?”
The king shifted, pulled from his thoughts of the strange alien appendages, and looked up. Niahm, his advisor, his general, his most trusted servant, stood before him. Whatever William needed Niahm gave, but there were some things she could not help with, and the moment he saw her face he knew that was going to be the case today, because she did not look happy.
“The messenger has returned?” William asked.
Niahm nodded. “Yes.”
“Already?”
“Despite the approach of the new moon the seas were kind to him,” Niahm said. “They have been calm for some time now, ever since the great storm. It seems whatever damage the arrival of the aliens caused has healed. The planet has righted itself again.”
William sighed, straightened up, and crossed his arms. “That is not what I meant.”
“I know,” Niahm said with a sigh. “And I wish I had better news to bring you.”
William knew then exactly what his advisor was going to tell him, and he gritted his teeth against the knowledge. “Lord Dragan refused to see him?”
Niahm nodded again. “Yes. He was turned away.”
“That is the sixth messenger I have sent.”
“I know,”
she said. “And the sixth to be turned away before they could even step foot on the capital island. Dragan will not see them. He will not even allow them to enter his lands.”
“They are not his lands,” William growled. “They’re mine.”
“In name only,” Niahm said. “You hold no power there anymore.”
William looked down at the map again, the truth of Niahm’s words hitting hard. It wasn’t that she was telling him anything he didn’t know, he was well aware of how tenuous his hold over his lands was, but still…Dragan…
“Send another,” he snapped. “Make them try harder.”
A pause and then, “As you wish.”
Niahm turned back to the door. Her long, red hair swishing as she moved. It was a sight William was very familiar with, as Niahm had been with him now for over a year. She had been promoted by his father after the death of William’s last advisor. And then, when the old king had died, it had been assumed that William would simply keep the old court and relegate Niahm, but he had not. Such an action was unthinkable. William simply did not know what he would do without her. She was smart, cunning, careful, but most of all she was honest, and in their current situation William valued that honesty above anything else.
“Stop,” he said as she moved to turn the door handle. “Say whatever it is you’re thinking.”
She turned back to him and narrowed her green eyes. Green eyes…red hair…they were typical of her people, those from the north, those that had been displaced by the alien aggressors. Niahm had escaped in the very early days when she was still a teenager, and William had often thought that her mother had been very smart to see danger where, back then, none had seemed imminent. Had Niahm not managed to escape south, she would likely be mated to one of the alien generals now. They took two, three, even more females as their mates, and those females were not confined to their own species.
“Sending another messenger will make no difference,” she said after a moment. “Dragan has never involved himself in our wars, and he will not do so now.”
“He is a member of my kingdom,” William snapped. “He agreed to that when he accepted his title.”
Niahm frowned. “I’m not sure he ‘accepted’ the title. He simply didn’t refuse it when you father bestowed in upon him. And,” she added when William made to speak, “he causes us no trouble. His people never stray from the islands. They do not collude with the northern rebels. They keep to themselves.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that the Island fortresses are part of my kingdom,” William said. “Lord Dragan and his people are there by my leave.”
A pause and then, “Really, William?”
He slammed his fists down on the table, frustration now bubbling to the surface. “Damn it. That’s the way it should be.”
“It should be, yes,” Niahm said. “But nothing is really as it should be ever since our visitors arrived from the stars. They did more than stir up the planet and cause the great storm, they have changed everything.”
“Changed…” William shook his head. “If only it was that simple.” He paused, the pounding in his head increasing, the churning in his gut making him tense all over. “Changed does not even begin to describe what their arrival has done to us. You know, father always feared the southern clans would turn on him. He kept a careful eye on them, waiting for the day they pushed against the capital. He never expected our enemies would come from above, or that they would be people from another world.”
Niahm shrugged slightly. “The stories say that their own home was destroyed. That they had no choice but to find another.”
“I wish it had not been ours.”
“We all do.”
William walked over to the window opposite the one he had last been looking out of. This one did show the north, and though right now all he could see was the peaceful capital, he knew what was beyond it.
The aliens were making the north theirs, taking the villages, enslaving whatever humans remained, and there was nothing he could possibly do about it, not on his own, not with just his people. William needed access to the same technology that the rebels had, more than that though he needed someone that they feared.
Dragan…
“We cannot win this war without Dragan’s help,” he said slowly. “We have tried for the past five years, and we have failed. He is our last hope.”
“He is our only hope,” Niahm said. “Sooner or later the rebels will reach the capital. The energy barrier will fail if they attack it repeatedly. They will breach it…and when they do…”
“We will not be able to stop them.” William paused. “And if Dragan will not meet with my messengers…there is no other choice.” He took a deep breath. “I will have to go myself.”
“William…” Niahm breathed. “You cannot. The risk is too great.”
“Risk?” William asked, turning away from the window and locking eyes with his most trusted friend. “What of the risk of the aliens rampaging their way around the capital? Can you imagine what they will do once they move south? Once they see the riches we have hidden there? What about when they take the whole country? Take all of our people? It is my job to protect them. That is why I am king. To keep my people safe. I cannot allow them to fall when it is in my power to do otherwise.”
“I know this,” Niahm whispered. “But the journey…the risk…the new moon approaching…without you we have no one. You have no heir. Who will lead if you fall?”
“If I fall we all do,” William said. “I do not say that because of any arrogance, but because it is true. The court will never stand up to the rebels. They will lie down and do as they are told. And my generals?” He shook his head as he thought about what was left of those brave men and women. “They will be overwhelmed. And they too will fall.”
Niahm stepped forward then and took William’s hands in hers. He allowed it because that was their relationship. They were comfortable enough that such gestures were the norm. “I know,” she said. “I know it is all down to you, and I am sorry for that. You never wished for this.”
William thought of the moment his father had died. Of how it had felt to know that the fate of an entire world now rested on his shoulders.
Panic.
Horror.
Acceptance.
He remembered it all.
“My wishes are irrelevant in the end,” he said slowly. “I am king.”
“And Dragan?”
“Will be my general,” he said, and he squeezed Niahm’s hands. “There is no other choice now, and if going to the island fortresses is what it takes to make that happen, then that is what I will do.”
Chapter Two
Lord Dragan walked along the docking port and cast his eyes over the ships tethered to the docking system. They were in the middle of their morning preparations. Checking their energy crystals were charged, that their nets were loaded, and their supplies secured. Soon, when those perpetrations were complete, they would all head out, gliding above the icy waters around the islands and catching whatever fish were swimming in their midst.
Dragan hoped they would catch more of the pink fish that he liked. He understood that the fish were only pink because of some of the other life forms they ate, some sort of chemical that changed their flesh as they matured. He wasn’t completely sure how it all worked, but then Dragan had never lived on a planet where the oceans teemed with life and the bigger fish ate the smaller, and those on land ate them. It was an alien concept to him. Much of what happened on this planet was, and yet…
He inhaled deeply. The salt in the air bit the back of his throat in a satisfying way that Dragan was sure he would never quite get used to. This was one of the reasons why Dragan came down to the docks every morning. From this spot he could inhale not only the clear, cold air, but see all of his islands surrounding him. He wasn’t sure of the exact number, and not all of them were inhabited, but Rejvac, the island he stood on now, was not only the largest, but was perfectly placed in between the m
ainland and the rest of the islands, almost like a sentry. Because of that Dragan had made it his capital, and he was very satisfied with it.
He nodded at that thought and continued his walk along the docks. Several of his people greeted him as he passed, and he paused to share a word or two with them. They were in good spirits, happy to be busy. That pleased Dragan. He understood at a basic level that his people needed an occupation in their lives to give it meaning, and one of the first things he had done with his new land-faring society was to put a structure in place that allowed that. Every one of Dragan’s people had something that they and they alone were responsible for. It could be something as simple as tilling the land, or something as complex as working on the power crystals, but it all came together like a puzzle, each piece as important as the other. Here, on the islands, everyone was valued, everyone was needed, and Dragan intended to ensure it would always be that way.
He smiled, pleased as always with the society he had created. A society that he had pieced together from the remnants of what had once been a great number of people.
All lost now…
His smile slipped as that thought slithered through his mind, and in an effort to dispel it he turned away from the dock and looked out at the view in the other direction. At this time of morning the eastern oceans seemed to be wrapped in an icy mist and that mist inched its fingers towards the land. But it had only inched so far. Dragan could still see the majority of his capital island, from the twinkling lights of the main town, nestled in embrace of the mountains, to the smaller towns out on the open plains, and those running all the way down to the coast.
The Claiming of a Virgin King Page 1