The Sorceress of Belmair

by Bertrice Small

  “Nay, I did not,” Margisia said to him. “When Sapphira turned sixteen two years ago I saw how men were looking at her. I felt she should have all the knowledge I was denied. My wedding night was a horror because of my ignorance. I did not want Sapphira to suffer as I did. And now it seems fortuitous that she is knowing. She will please the king more, and perhaps she will win his heart.”

  “Send me to him tonight!” Sapphira said eagerly.

  “Nay, tomorrow night,” the duke told her. “You must appear to have considered carefully once again after the news which I brought you.”

  “If you think it best, Uncle,” Sapphira agreed docilely, and she smiled her little cat’s smile. “Have my apartments been prepared?”

  “I did not think to ask,” Duke Tullio said honestly.

  “Then you and Mama must go tomorrow early to be certain all is in readiness for my arrival tomorrow.” Since the end of the Summer Court, the duke and his family had remained discreetly in a guesthouse on the castle grounds while the matter of Sapphira and the king was being arranged.

  “I really think we must, Brother,” Margisia said earnestly.

  “Very well,” Duke Tullio said. The whole thing was becoming very distasteful to him. That his sister had tutored her own daughter in proper sexual behavior shocked him. A woman should be taught this conduct by her husband. He was eager to have the matter settled, and return to Beldane with his sibling. There was a very wealthy merchant in his dukedom who had expressed his interest in Margisia, and had been shyly courting her for several years. It was time, Duke Tullio decided, to make a marriage agreement for his sister. He did not know if he could tolerate her in his household any longer. If he needed a hostess for any event he would call upon one of his five daughters. The truth was he would welcome the privacy of his solitude.

  The following morning, he took his sister and went to the castle, where a disapproving Britto ushered them into a beautiful apartment in the south wing of the castle. There was a gracious entry chamber, a comfortable dayroom, a large bedchamber and a private bath. A small, tiled terrace was set off of the bedchamber. It was furnished with a double couch with a rolled arm at one end, and open at the other. There were pots of rose trees and other flora. The bed was hung with rose velvet. The furniture was white and gold. There were colorful wool carpets upon the wood floor, and tapestries hanging upon the walls. There were hearths in each of the rooms.

  “Oh-h,” Margisia thrilled, “Sapphira will be so happy here, Brother! Is this apartment not the most exquisite place you have ever seen?” And then she began to weep. “I shall miss my darling girl! I shall!”

  “Be silent, Sister,” the duke growled at her. “Your daughter is not marrying. She is becoming a king’s mistress.”

  “She will be his queen one day, Brother,” Margisia said indiscreetly.

  The duke saw the castle steward stiffen with his outrage at his sister’s words, and was embarrassed for them both. “You have a serving woman for my niece?” he asked in an attempt to avoid future shame.

  “I have chosen my own kinswoman, Tamary,” Britto replied. “She is a bit older than the lady Sapphira, and eminently sensible, my lord. She will take good care of your niece, and knows the castle well.”

  “Thank you,” the duke said. Then he turned to his sister. “Are you satisfied now, Margisia?” he asked her.

  “Only one servant?” his sister said in an unhappy voice. “How many did the queen have?” she wanted to know.

  “One, my lady. Anke, by name,” Britto answered her in a tight voice.

  “Oh,” Margisia responded. One servant seemed so mean, but she would tell her daughter, and there would be time to make changes once Sapphira was safely ensconced.

  They returned to the guesthouse, and the duke was relieved that his sister and her daughter spent the entire afternoon together chattering, leaving him in peace. His niece bathed and prepared herself for two hours. Then at sunset a litter came to collect her. By prearrangement the duke and Margisia walked with the litter to the castle. Sapphira was escorted from her litter by a serving man to her apartments. She was surprised that the king had not come to greet her. Duke Tullio was not. She did not bid either her mother or her uncle farewell. Turning her back on them, she hurried off.

  Margisia whimpered, the sound cut off by a sharp look from her brother.

  “The king is waiting for you,” Britto said, and he led them from the courtyard to where Dillon awaited them in the little hall.

  The king stepped down from the high board, and came to greet them. “Sapphira is now settled,” he said as if he had seen to it himself. “As we sent your vessel home when the Summer Court ended so there would be no gossip, I shall send you both back to Beldane now. Are you ready to go?”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Duke Tullio said.

  “My daughter!” Margisia said. “Am I not to see my daughter before I go?”

  “I was told you had already made your farewells, lady,” Dillon replied. “Sapphira is safe with me, and shall be well cared for, I promise you. And once she is well settled, perhaps you will return for a visit, if that would please you.”

  “Aye,” Margisia said slowly.

  “Then it shall be!” Dillon promised her. “Now stand next to one another.” And when they had the king silently said the spell that would transport the duke and his sister back to their own home in Beldane. Tullio, Margisia, by name. Return now from whence you came. And they were gone from the king’s hall instantly.

  “Nicely done, my son,” Kaliq of the Shadows said, stepping forth from the darkness at the corner of the chamber. “You are eager to go to the girl.”

  “Have you ever gone almost a full year without a woman, my lord?” Dillon asked his father sarcastically. “Do not, I beg you, judge me.”

  Kaliq laughed heartily. “I do not think I have ever gone a day or two without a woman,” he admitted not in the least abashed by the revelation. “But bide with me for a few minutes more, and tell me of any progress you may have made.”

  “None, so far. Agenor has divided the sea into sections, and each section is being searched carefully. So far there is nothing to report. He has not many Merfolk but he is doing his best with the few he has.”

  Kaliq nodded. “I’ll not stay,” he said. “You should have a few days of privacy to enjoy your new playmate.”

  “Do not tell Mother. She does not like Sapphira,” Dillon said.

  “Lara is right in her dislike, but you are safe for now. In any event, I have no intention of venturing to Terah. Your mother stayed away too long last time, and Magnus Hauk was not happy when she returned. It has been years since Lara went off and left her family. He had forgotten his loneliness without her, for he loves her greatly.”

  “So do you,” Dillon said softly.

  “Ah, but your mother is not mine, though I wish it otherwise. For now I am content to amuse myself with other lovers. I am pleased to see you can do the same,” the great Shadow Prince said. “I know your heart is Cinnia’s, but you are the product of two magical beings. Your lusts run hot, and your juices have been bottled up for too long. Go and enjoy Sapphira of Beldane. Let her passions soothe your troubled spirit.”

  “She believes by becoming my mistress she can cajole me into a marriage,” Dillon told Kaliq. “I have not deceived her or her family in that respect.”

  “Women faced with what they do not wish to hear often do not hear it,” Kaliq said. “They continue to fantasize, and belie
ve that they can make happen what they wish to happen. The girl has been warned, and yet still she has come to you quite eagerly because she insists on believing that she can make so what she cannot. Feel no guilt and enjoy her, Dillon. But do not trust her, for a woman like that is not to be trusted. She will speak soft words to you, but her determination is like rock. Unmoving.” Then stepping back into the shadows of the chamber, he said, “Good night, my son.” And he was gone.

  Dillon left the hall and went to his apartments where Ferrex awaited him.

  “I have drawn you a bath, my lord,” his serving man said.

  “Good,” his master said, and then spent a leisurely hour bathing, and another hour being massaged. Putting on a dark blue silk robe he made his way through the castle to Sapphira’s apartments, entering without knocking.

  “Good evening, my lord,” Tamary said, curtseying.

  “Where is she?” he asked quietly.

  “Awaiting you in the bedchamber, my lord, and quite put out to have been kept waiting I should tell you,” Tamary replied.

  “It is best she learn her place from the start,” Dillon answered.

  “I agree, my lord,” Tamary said with a small smile.

  “Go to bed,” the king told her. “Good night.”

  “Good night, my lord,” Tamary responded with another curtsey, and she departed.

  The king entered Sapphira’s bedchamber. “Good evening,” he said.

  “Where have you been?” Sapphira demanded to know. “I have been waiting for you forever, my lord! Is this how you mean to treat me?”

  “It is your duty to await me, Sapphira,” Dillon told her. “You are here for my pleasure, and no other reason. If you wish it I will send you home to Beldane now.”

  “You are cruel!” She feigned a half sob.

  “Aye, I can be,” he said. “Are you staying? Or going? If you mean to stay then remove your garment for I wish to see you as you were created.”

  “You are horrid,” Sapphira said, but she complied with his request, shrugging her peach silk robe from her frame.

  Dillon smiled a faint smile as he walked slowly around the girl. Her breasts were larger than Cinnia’s, but the same round shape. Her belly was flat, her mons plump and smooth, free of any hair. Her buttocks were also slightly larger than his wife’s, but they were pleasing to look upon. Reaching out, he ran his hand down her back. Her skin was silky. She did not tremble when he touched her. Dillon shrugged his own garment off, and then moved around to face her. “Now, lady, it is your turn to look your fill,” he told her softly.

  Chapter 13

  SAPPHIRA RAISED HER lowered eyes. They were darker green unlike Cinnia’s lighter green ones that were flecked with gold. Her gaze began to travel slowly, assessingly over him, but when it reached his manhood Sapphira moaned low in her throat, and fell to her knees before Dillon. “Oh, it is so beautiful!” she crooned, and she caressed him, running her fingers up and down his length. “I have never seen a manhood so large!”

  “I was given to understand you are a virgin by your family, and you told me so yourself,” Dillon said. “How is it that you have seen a manhood?”

  “My mother has tutored me in the arts of pleasing a man. She has displayed the manhoods of her male servants for me so I should know what they were like. But my virgin’s shield is completely intact, my lord. I have never lain with a man, I swear it!”

  “I must believe you unless it is proven otherwise, Sapphira,” he told her. His hand caressed her dark head. “Do what you will with me, my pet,” he said to her.

  “I must have it! I must!” she cried, and then she took him in her mouth, sucking eagerly upon his flesh, her tongue teasing it, nipping very gently as her fingers slipped beneath him to play with his sac.

  Dillon closed his eyes. He remembered the first time he and Cinnia had indulged in this pleasure, and she had been so hesitant and shy. Sapphira was not shy. Relaxing, he let her mouth work its carnal magic, and soon she was gagging slightly as both his length and his girth increased. His fingers tangled in her dark hair, holding her there. He considered releasing his juices in her mouth but decided against it. Instead, he silently spoke the small spell with which he had enchanted Cinnia’s womb. Your little womb will empty be until I give a child to thee. It was actually just an extra precaution because faerie folk did not give children to those they did not love. He would never love Sapphira. He looked down at her. Her mouth was stretched wide as she sucked him, and her eyes look just a little desperate. He smiled at her. “I think that is enough now, my pet. Release me, and we will move on to other things.” When she obeyed he pulled her up, and kissed her slowly. Her lips beneath his were soft, and eager.

  “Take me! Take me now!” she begged him. “Your cock is so hard and beautiful. I want it inside of me, my lord! I want to be a woman!”

  “Pleasures are best enjoyed with patience. My cock will remain hard now until I release my juices. You shall be cheated out of nothing, my pet.” He led her to the bed with its rose velvet hangings, seating her upon it and pushing her back so that her legs fell over the edge. “Did your mother’s serving man suck upon you, Sapphira?” he asked her, and when she hesitated, said, “The truth now, wench, for I shall know if you lie.”

  “Yes!” she admitted, “but my mother never knew it.”

  “I thought she was with you at all times during these lessons,” he responded.

  “Once one of the men lured me off. She did not know it, and I never told. We kissed and cuddled, and he put his finger into me, and then sucked upon me. It was only once, I swear it, my lord! Please believe me! Please! I am a virgin!”

  “It’s all right, Sapphira,” he reassured her, standing over her. “I shall soon know if you are telling the truth. If you are not I will have you beaten, and return you to your uncle for a liar and a fraud.” He knelt between her outstretched legs, and opened her nether lips to view her jewel. It was well formed. Leaning forward, he licked at it, and Sapphira whimpered. The inner walls of her nether lips, a rich coral in color, were moist already with her lust. The scent of her sex assailed his nostrils, rousing him even further. Leaning closer he took her into his mouth, and began to suck upon the sensitive nub. It took but a few tugs of his lips to send her into a paroxysm of pleasure.

  He hadn’t even played with her delicious breasts yet, but his need was too great, and she was eager. It would be something for later. He stood, and pulling Sapphira toward him he began to enter her carefully, mindful of a virginity that might or might not exist. She moaned as his great cock began to stretch the tight walls of her sheath. She gasped as it met her virgin’s barrier. “You have not lied to me,” he said, and then drawing back he thrust swiftly, impaling himself to the hilt.

  She screamed, and the sound was genuine. “Please stop!” she heard herself saying to him. But instinct impelled her to wrap her legs about him.

  He ignored her because he knew in a brief moment the pain she was suffering would turn to pleasures such as she had never known. He withdrew, thrust again, and yet again and again. He pushed hard and he pushed deep into her. Sapphira moaned, but the sound was no longer one of pain. “You see, my pet, patience is a good thing,” he said to her as he increased the tempo of his thrusts until she was screaming with her pleasure, and finally when she swooned he withdrew, looking at the blood upon his cock, and nodding, satisfied. She had not lied, and her eagerness told him she would be an excellent mistress for him. He would smooth out he
r inexperience, and when he was through with her he would let her have the pleasure of his father’s passion before he sent her back to her family to be married.

  He took her three times that night before he released his own juices. And then he left her to return to his own apartments where he slept a better sleep than he had in months. When he awoke, Dillon experienced a small qualm of guilt over having been unfaithful to Cinnia, but then was his wife not being well used by the Yafir lord?

  And she was. It had been almost a year since Cinnia had been taken by Ahura Mazda, and his passion for her had not abated at all. And while she felt a deep sadness in her heart, for Cinnia knew she would always love Dillon, she had come to terms with the fact that this place, this man, was to be her life. And she had been able to make herself useful because Ahura Mazda had kept his word to her. Enough soil had been brought from the surface, and she had had square wood boxes constructed, which she placed in the one spot in the gardens that got bright light much of the day. Into these boxes she had planted the many varieties of plants the Yafir lord had found for her.

  Within his castle she was given a small chamber for her apothecary. Her plants flowered, ripened and grew. Cinnia harvested the leaves, the berries and specific roots after taking the seeds to plant for the following year. Then she dried certain leaves, berries and roots, and ground the remainder of her crop into powders. Soon the shelves were filled with small jars, which Cinnia carefully labeled. She made salves and unguents for healing, lotions for pleasures and creams for beauty. Some ingredients she rolled into pills. And when she helped ease the pain of childbirth for Orea and Tyne, her usefulness as a healer was established within Ahura Mazda’s household.

  “If only you could give us a pill to birth daughters,” the two women had both said to her, for their newborns were healthy sons.

  As for her own fertility it appeared that she had none. Though Ahura Mazda came to her almost daily Cinnia showed no signs of being with child at all. He was disappointed, but not discouraged. Cinnia was quietly relieved. Within her there burned a small secret spark of hope that one day Dillon would find her, rescue her and bring her home again. As long as she did not produce a child for the Yafir lord she believed no matter Belmair’s laws Dillon’s love for her, and hers for him, would prevail over all.