by Ava Sinclair
I must be strong. I must be silent.
Chapter 15
Prince Yrgi
News spreads quickly in the castle. Queen Zara woke screaming from her nap, and would not easily be soothed. She could not remember the dream she had, and refused Bymir’s offer to send Ezador the Wise to help recall and interpret it. Later, my brother king told me she seemed mortified to have caused a stir, and begged his forgiveness, as if she’d done something wrong.
I blame Oneg, who is still avoiding us. Zara has not spoken of her time with the ShadowFell, and likely has no memory. But she remembers being taken by the ShadowFell, and my brother’s spiteful barb no doubt stirred recollection of that awful day.
How will I find her when she comes to me? I have had more women than I can count, and yet none have been so fixed in my mind as the one I will lie with tonight. I think of nothing else, and pace my chamber, waiting. When the soft rapping sounds from the other side of the door, I force myself to walk calmly to answer it.
Not since I was a green lad have I felt this way for a female. Our tiny queen is clad in a sky-blue gown so sheer that I can see the form of her lithe, pale body. The sight of her small, firm breasts with their pert nipples result in an instant cock stand. The triangle of red curls at the apex of her thighs is visible, too.
“My mate. My queen.” I lead her into the room, and when the door is closed, I fall to one knee, bowing my head. Even kneeling, I am nearly as tall as she is standing.
“Rise, my prince and mate.” Her voice is soft and sweet, and I am relieved that whatever terror invaded her sleep seems to have fled.
I stand and take her hand. “You look beautiful.”
“The gown leaves little to the imagination.” She looks down at herself. “I am not sure I would have chosen it, but the ladies assured me you would like it.”
“I could hardly hide how much it pleases me.”
Her pale face flames scarlet. She’s noting how my cock is tenting the front of my skirt.
“In time, you become used to the power you have over your mates, Queen Zara.”
“You may just call me Zara when we are alone, Prince Yrgi.”
“And you may just call me Yrgi.”
“Very well.” She smiles, and it lights up her face. “Yrgi.”
“Shall I carry you to the bed, Zara?”
She sighs. “I’d rather walk. Everything is done for me here. I’m bathed, dressed, fed. I might as well be a babe for how helpless I’m made to feel. I’m forgetting what it is like to be in control of anything.”
I consider this. “Come with me; perhaps we can remedy that, at least for this night.”
I turn and head to the bed. Zara follows me, looking around. “Your room is beautiful,” she says. “The ceiling…it looks like a night sky with stars.”
“It’s onyx flecked with gold. When I was little, my brother Rargi and I fought for it. I won. I got the room and this scar.” I show her a silvery line on my arm, and feel my blood grow warmer when she traces it with her finger.
“You didn’t go to the healing pools?”
I shake my head. “No. I was proud of the scar. It reminded me of how hard I fought for what I wanted. They can be useful things, scars.”
Zara suddenly looks away, focusing on a table by the window. “What is that?”
“It’s an armillary sphere. Come. Have a look.” I’d intended to have her in bed by now, but I have decided it can wait. I like her curiosity, how carefully she studies the object containing metal spheres within spheres.
“What does it do?”
“It represents the objects in the sky, and how they move. See?” I turn one of the spheres, and they all move. “I’ve always been fascinated by the night sky.”
“That’s why you wanted this room.”
“Yes. I never get tired of looking at this ceiling. Or waking up to it. In the morning, we will wake up to it together.”
“Yes.” She glances down shyly.
“Come.” I hold out my hand. Now we head to the bed, and Zara lets me lift her onto the mattress. She stares up at me, her fingers flitting along the neckline of her diaphanous gown.
“Do you want me to take off my garment?”
“Do you want to?” I give her a wink. “Tonight, you decide. You say you feel helpless, so tonight consider me your servant.”
“Truly?” She grins.
“Truly.”
Her teeth worry her lower lip. “Very well. You will disrobe.”
“As you wish.” I pull my nightshirt over my head and stand quietly as her gaze moves over my body. Even this—just her attention—has my cock rock-hard to the point of aching.
“After last night, I was wondering if you were all so…,” says as she averts her gaze. “…big.”
“Do you like being filled, Zara?”
If her soft “yes” is music to my ears, her next words are a symphony. “Would you remove my gown, Yrgi?”
I reach out and pull it over her head, marveling at the sight of this pale, sprite-like beauty sitting naked on my bed, her mantle of red hair spread around her.
“I await your further command. Tell me where to touch you, and how, and I will obey you with eagerness and joy.”
Does she realize how her combination of boldness and trepidation increase her allure? Zara reclines, bending her legs at the knees. I stare as she parts them, resisting the urge to brush my finger across the springy curls covering her mound, to feel her shudder with need.
“Do all women get so wet?” she asks, bringing her hand to rest on her lower belly. “Even now, I feel wet. And warm.”
I groan. “Would you like me to make you wetter? And warmer?”
She nods and I climb onto the bed. It’s taking all my control not to unleash the dragon passion I feel, but there’s something exciting about letting this tiny female take the lead. I’ve never had a woman do this; I’ve never thought to. I lean forward, covering her sweet mouth with mine. My tongue touches hers and I teach it to fence with mine as my fingers breach the seam of her pussy. Zara does not lie. She is wet and warm. I like that I can slip my finger into her without worrying over a virgin barrier. I like it even more that she raises her hips, inviting my touch, reveling in it. I feel the walls of her pussy clamp and flex on my finger. My cock strains towards her, eager to slide into her tight heat. However, as I slide my finger from her quivering pussy, she sits up, eyeing my cock.
“You’ve touched me,” she says boldly. “Now I want to touch you.”
Is she trying to drive me mad? Surely she sees the effect she is having on me. A drop of clear fluid is already crowning the slit at the end of my cock. A promise is a promise, though. I nod, holding still as she reaches out.
Zara gasps and withdraws her hand as my cock bobs, and I laugh. “Don’t worry. It won’t bite.” I quietly instruct her then how to cradle it in her palm, how to squeeze and move her hand up and down. She examines the length of me, commenting on the warmth, asking me if it’s always hard, questioning whether my heavy balls are as sensitive as the cock in her hand.
I’m close to regretting giving this little minx all the control. She does not mean to torture me, but that’s what it feels like, and when she begins to fondle my balls I find myself groaning at her exploration.
“My little queen.” My voice is thick with passion. “I believe it is in your best interest to give me another command.”
I look down and see her eyes, large and innocent, in her beautiful face.
“I would like you inside of me now. I would like you to move hard and fast.”
By the gods. I cannot push her back on the bed fast enough. I palm the base of my cock, reveling in her sweet whimper as I push myself inside her tight sheath. I’m so big. She is so small. But she is hot and wet and miraculously capable of accepting most of my shaft.
And here I take control, showing her my special abilities. I begin to move in and out while the surface of my cock pulses and vibrates inside her.
> “Oh, my prince!” She wriggles beneath me, coming almost immediately. I grit my teeth to keep from coming, too, but I want to take her hard and long. Holding her hips, I rise to my knees, thrusting deep into her. When her first climax has ended, I lodge myself in Zara’s pussy and hold still, allowing only the tip of my cock to vibrate against a hidden inner spot that drives women wild.
She is screaming now, thrashing her head back and forth. Her little body bucks against mine. I move my hand between the globes of her ass, sliding the tip of a finger into her bottom hole as I fuck her. Her sharp intake of breath lets me know she feels it, but if there was a protest on her tongue, it is drowned out by her cries of carnal bliss.
“Oh, Yrgi! Oh! Oh! Oh! You fill me so full of pleasure!”
The sweet words push me over the edge. I hold her to me, my seed pumping in hot spurts. Filling her is the most blissful experience of my life. One day I will put a son in her. Nothing seems sweeter than to imagine her swelling with my child. When I have released all I can into her, I roll onto my side. We are face to face as I study her. She smiles.
“Did that please you, Zara?”
“It did.”
Her skin is flushed and rosy, but as I smooth her hair back, I notice something—a mark on her forehead. I push her hair aside. “Did you hurt yourself?” I’m surprised that I didn’t notice it earlier. The splotch looks like a burn. I put my finger to it, and when I do, she tenses and then sits up. She puts her finger where mine just was, then fixes me with panicked eyes.
“Have you a looking glass, my prince?” The question is asked with a quaking voice.
I rise from the bed and walk to a table. There is a small one sitting there, and I bring it back, confused by her growing agitation. When I reach out to hand her the mirror, she snatches it away frantically and holds it up to stare at the spot.
“No…” She begins to shake her head. “No. No. No…”
“Zara, tis just a blemish. It’s nothing to cry over.” I sit down, seeking to comfort her, but she pulls away and leaves the bed, visibly shaking as she turns back to me.
“It’s not just a blemish. It’s a mark! His mark!” She puts her face in my hand. “I thought it was just a dream! Hidden memories! But it’s real!”
An uneasy feeling comes over me. I leave the bed and go to her, putting my hands on her arms. “Zara, look at me. What’s real? Tell me!”
When she looks up at me, tears are streaming down her face. “Oneg is right. I am not fit to be queen. The enemy has marked me. King Seadus has been coming to me in my dreams.”
I am momentarily speechless with rage, not at her, but I know if I don’t control myself she will think that’s where it’s directed. I will myself to remain calm. “Why didn’t you say something?”
Zara is sobbing harder now. “The dreams started when I came to stay with Isla. I would wake up remembering…horrible things.” A violent shudder shakes her body. “My sister said they were just dreams, that they would stop, and when I was told I’d be queen…” Her eyes search mine. “I could not let down those who had saved me. I am sorry.”
I hug her to me. “You have nothing to be sorry for. But we can keep this secret no longer. We must take this to the king.
Chapter 16
King Bymir
“What do you make of this, Ezador?”
We are in the oracle’s tower room. This is the first time I have seen him look so grave. He’d quietly examined Zara’s mark as she repeated what she’d told Yrgi.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Oneg asks. “Even now she harbors the same dark magic that was used to break open the Mystic Mountain.”
“Quiet,” Rargi growls, but the queen sighs sadly and looks at our sullen brother.
“Perhaps Prince Oneg is right,” she says. “If they did it once…”
“He is wrong.” Ezador is now gazing into a bowl of misty water, divining. “There is no dark magic in the queen.” He looks over at our mate. “But the enemy is able to reach her through dream magic. He seeks to punish her for mating with his enemy, but he also seeks to use her as a messenger. King Seadus taunts us with his ability to shift. The man she saw, the man who used dream magic to mark her, is the man he has become.”
“And you expect me to bed a woman marked by the enemy?” Oneg walks over to me and points at Zara. “I am the trueborn son of Vukuris, and I will not have it.”
“Then you will be the first prince banished from the Empire.” The volume of my voice matches his and we are chest to chest now. Oneg’s eyes flash with anger and hurt. He knows I mean what I say. “I will not suffer a selfish brother who would sacrifice our future for pride.”
“So you would send away your own brother for sake of a ShadowFell puppet queen?” His eyes flash golden.
I feel the heat rising in my blood. This is the only room in the castle too small for dragons, and anger is bringing us to the edge of shifting. Even Ezador looks uneasy, but it is not he who pushes his way between us.
“Stop! Stop this!” Zara’s small form wedges us apart. Despite the tension, she seems to have found her strength. She turns to our youngest brother. “I am not a puppet, Prince Oneg. I was a prisoner, used and threatened and made to survive the pain of dragon fire because I would not consent to become Seadus’ queen.” Then she turns to me. “I would do anything for those who saved me, but just as I will not be forced to accept the ShadowFell king, I will not see Prince Oneg forced to couple with a woman he finds abhorrent. And I will not see brother banish brother for my sake.”
The room is silent for several long minutes.
“This will always be remembered as a tragic day.” Ezador joins us now. “The queen must be taken in order of victory. If Oneg will not have Zara, and she will not allow this to be required, then Rargi will not be able to mate with her, either. And this queen, who has shown remarkable bravery and mercy to the prince who spurned her, will be the one facing banishment.”
“Can they take another queen?” Zara’s concern is for us, not for herself.
Ezador nods. “With royalty, it would be allowed to choose a new queen before a Deepening is achieved. The king’s bloodline cannot die.”
Zara puts her hand to her forehead. “It hurts,” she says as if to herself, and it is clear to me that she is not talking about the mark as she turns and leaves without another word.
Chapter 17
Prince Oneg
I brace myself for my brothers’ judgement. It would be easy to take, given that it could not be harsher than what I feel for myself. As the door closes behind Zara, I realize that I have done more than break the heart of a woman who does not deserve it. Still, I am stung by how quickly Byrmir chose the queen over me.
“Yrgi, Rargi…out. I would have a word with Oneg.” Byrmir orders. He turns to Ezador. “With Oneg’s permission, you will stay. For counsel.” He looks at me. I nod begrudgingly.
When our other two brothers have left, I point to one of two chairs. As Bymir sits in one, I settle uneasily into another.”
“Am I really so easily forsaken?” I ask, then wave my own question away.
My brother king looks away for a moment. When he looks back, his expression portrays deep sadness. “Can a king beg forgiveness? Because I beg yours now.”
“You?” I’m puzzled.
Bymir sighs. “That my words came in the harshness of anger does not excuse them. Neither does pressure I feel to set our house on the right course. Zara recognizes that, I think.” He pauses. “You are my brother, Oneg, but you are more than just a prince. You are the one trueborn son of our father king. I know how much this crown I wear meant to you. I know how much…King Vukuris’ approval meant to you.”
“He’d be ashamed of me.” I cast my gaze downward. “He’d be ashamed of my covetousness, my jealousy, my cruelty.”
“No…” Bymir shakes his head. “He knows what it’s like to want the crown. I think he would understand. And I think he’d know that a son of his blood would overcome such feeling
s. Oneg…” He leans over, his hand closing over mine. “You are my brother. I love you. Please forgive me.”
I stand. “It’s hard to do when I can’t even forgive myself, Bymir. Those faults I have…they do not disappear overnight. I must be honest with myself. A man who harbords such faults so deeply does not deserve to wear the crown. Perhaps that’s why our father king never treated me like his son.”
Bymir stands. “He did treat you like a son.” His tone is kind but firm. “He just didn’t treat you differently. The gods willing, we will all have sons by Zara. Trust me when I say that you will be grateful when I treat your son the same was mine. Hmm?”
He is right, of course, but after what I have done… I must go to the queen. But will she even let me touch her?
“You could beg her pardon.” Bymir is reading my mind.
“But will she grant it?” I ask.
“That is the question,” Ezador adds. “You have wounded her. She will not allow herself to be a liability.”
“And that is because I have made her believe that’s what she is.” I sink down onto a chair. “What have I done? I was so fixed on the crown, so obsessed with the belief that claiming it was my destiny…” I clench my fist and pound the seat beside me.
Our brother king is looking out the window of the oracle’s chamber. “The ShadowFell have captured the magic that can turn them into men, but the fight for it weakened them. King Seadus cannot return—not yet. But he is strong enough to torment the queen in her dreams. Between that agony and what’s been said in here, she doubts her abilities to rule more than ever.
“Out there is an empire that now hinges on whether you can convince the queen of her worth.” He turns back. “As it turns out, Oneg—crown or no—you alone hold the power to save the Drakoryan Empire. Having mated with Zara, I can say with certainty that I will love no other. If this is not repaired, our bloodline will die.”