by Kate Keir
“Apart from anything else,” the General continued. “You’ve helped me find out that Tarnfell has men watching the castle. We had no idea they were out here. This could prove valuable information, Nyssa.” He kissed my forehead once more and then helped me to stand. I was still wrapped in his cloak, but he turned his back to allow me some dignity while I recovered my lost clothes.
When I was dressed, I realised I was cold. So, I fastened his cloak at my throat and turned around. He was already mounted on his horse and was smiling as he held his hand out to me. I walked past my poor, dead mare and knelt to kiss her forehead. “I am so sorry, sweet one,” I whispered. Then, walking past the body of my would-be rapist, I didn’t pause, just spat on him as I walked by. Taking my saviour’s hand, I swung up into the saddle behind him as he kicked his horse into a canter and turned for the castle. His red cloak streamed behind me as we rode.
We arrived back at the castle, and the General gave his horse to a young stable boy to take care of. As we walked up the steps, he turned and spoke to me. “Your guard will get suspicious unless we make this look convincing.”
I had been worrying this over in my mind all the way back. If the guard had any inkling that I had lied to him when I left my room, he would surely report it to Lord Odyn. I wondered what the General had planned.
“Sorry,” he suddenly said as he swept my legs from under me and carried me in his arms over the threshold of the castle and through the corridors to my room.
“What are you doing?” I hissed at him.
He grinned at me. “Just lie still and look unwell.” He tilted me in toward his chest, and I had to put my hand up to stop myself getting a mouthful of steel. Rescuer or not, I was strongly considering giving him a slap when we were safely in my room.
As we approached my red door, I heard the guard come to attention as soon as he saw General Roeseer. “General,” he said. Roeseer never slowed down, instead saying, “Get the door open. Mistress Nyssa is unwell and needs rest. I will stay with her for now. You’re dismissed.” I felt sorry for tonight’s guard. He had been pushed from pillar to post this evening because of my failed escape attempt. But he nodded respectfully to the General and left after opening the door for us.
The General kicked the door closed behind him and let me down to my feet. I looked around the room, and I felt an overwhelming sadness fall over me. I had thought I was done with this place, I had hoped to be well on my way back to my family by now. But a strange part of me also felt glad to be back here, although I was sure that was just the trauma of all that had happened, making me crave some sort of sanctuary.
I took off Roeseer’s cloak, holding it out to him. “Thank you, for everything you have done for me tonight, General.”
He took the cloak and held it in his hand rather than fastening it back at his throat. “I think it might be about time you start calling me Astarin, rather than General, Nyssa.” He smiled at me.
I looked at him, steadily meeting his ice blue eyes, and I tested his name out inside my head. But when it came to actually saying it out loud, I found that I couldn’t.
He turned serious suddenly. “You are truly all right?” He asked me.
“I am fine, thanks to you.” I smiled.
“The guard won’t be back for the evening. I’m pretty sure you won’t be staging a second escape attempt.” He raised his eyebrows at me questioningly, and I quickly shook my head. “Good, get some rest.” He turned to leave, but I found my mouth opening, and before I knew it I had said his name. “Astarin?” I whispered and took a step toward him.
He turned back to face me with a look of surprise.
I walked to him, and before I had even given myself time to question what I was about to do, I stood on my tiptoes and placed my lips gently against his in a sincere kiss.
His eyes widened, and I felt him lean back a fraction before he seemed to change his mind and instead leaned into my kiss.
Pulling my head back so there was an almost imperceptible gap between our mouths, I whispered against his lips. “Thank you.”
I was so not prepared for what happened next. His arms slid around me, pulling me toward him, hard. The kiss deepened, his tongue searching for mine inside my mouth. I responded to him, tilting my head back and allowing him to take control of me. I sighed as ripples of desire ran though my body. He dropped his cloak to the floor and without breaking the kiss, he grabbed my ass cheeks and lifted me up, giving me no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.
He groaned in pleasure, whispering my name over and over into my mouth. He carried me to the bed and knelt on the soft covers, leaning forward until I was laid before him. His hands came up and over my waist and stomach and then found their way to my breasts. I moaned and arched my back as I felt his warm touch through the fabric of my tunic. He leaned down to me, and his kiss was as hard and needy as it had been the last time. I matched his ferocity, giving myself over to him completely, the heat in my belly was like a furnace.
He moved his mouth away from mine, and I whimpered at the loss of him, but instead of coming back to me, he began kissing my jaw-line, trailing kisses down to my neck and then my collarbone. I wrapped my fingers in his hair and pulled his mouth down harder on my skin, my breath coming in short gasps of pleasure. As his mouth reached my tunic, his fingers frantically started to tear at the laces.
I had no idea how he managed to make himself stop, but suddenly he did. Pulling back from me, he stared into my face. His blue eyes were filled with a needy darkness, but it was tempered by a hint of worry. “Nyssa, I can’t do this? An hour ago, that man was going to…” his voice trailed off as his fists tore in to the covers on either side of my head. The anger pulsed from him in waves.
As I met his eyes, my first reaction was to allow myself to feel the sting of his rejection, but instead I reached up to him and touched his cheek, whispering, “Don’t you want to?” I could almost see the anger leaving him as his eyes softened, and he answered me.
“Sweetheart, you have no idea how much I want to.” He lifted his hand and stroked my hair as he continued. “But I don’t want to take advantage of you. I don’t want to hurt you.”
As I held his gaze, I knew that nothing I could say was going to change his mind. He was such a noble man. For all these years, I had never known how good and pure Astarin Roeseer really was. I wanted to be a part of that, if even just for tonight I wanted to feel what it was like to be with him. Bracing myself, I pushed upward hard and fast, sending him off balance. I took advantage of his surprise and reversing our roles, I pinned him to the bed, sitting on him with my knees on either side and my hands on his chest. He began to protest, but I leaned forward and kissed him, hard and deep and hungrily. I worked at the laces of my tunic, freeing my chest as I peeled it away.
He groaned and leaned up from the bed to pull me toward him. First his hands found my breasts, and then I moaned and threw back my head as I felt the warmth of his mouth teasing around my nipple. “Do you really want this?” he growled at me.
“Yes. Gods yes I want it.” I almost wailed.
He bit down on me, hard enough to make me yelp. “Are you sure?”
I leaned back from him and looked down into his eyes. What I saw there undid me completely. “Please Astarin. I need you.” I felt almost feral as I snarled the words back to him.
He took me at my word, and the last of his will-power melted away. Returning my snarl, he flipped me onto my back so he had control of me again. His hands went to his armour, and I helped him, frantically undoing the ties that held it together. When he lifted his under-tunic over his head, I was stunned by the sight of his sculpted chest. He was beautiful and fierce and strong.
I leaned forward, wanting to touch him, but he pushed me back against the bed, unlacing my trousers, and in a swift movement, I was lying completely naked before him. He looked me over and smiled. “You’re a goddess, Nyssa.” Then his mouth was on me again, on my neck and then my
breasts.
I arched my back, digging my hands into the softness of the bed and moaning softly as he bit gently at my nipples. My eyes were closed, and my head was thrown back, my hair spread across the covers in ripples of rose gold. I felt his fingers then, tracing gently over the wetness between my thighs. I held my breath in anticipation, sure that it would hurt, but as he gently slipped two fingers inside me. I cried out in pleasure.
He looked to my face, making sure I wasn’t hurting. But the look I gave him, told him that I never wanted him to stop. He smiled then, a smile filled with lust and satisfaction. As he found a rhythm, I began to arch my hips to meet him each time he plunged his fingers back inside me. Suddenly I was knocked by the force of a huge wave of heat rising through my body. It exploded, sending pulse after pulse of ecstasy through me.
I fell back against the bed, covered by a sheen of sweat. I was breathing fast and hard, and I closed my eyes to try and calm my pounding heart. I felt his body pressing down on me, and his lips pressed against mine, and I moaned into him.
“We’re not done yet sweetheart.” He breathed into my mouth.
As I opened my eyes, I saw he had ditched his trousers while I was distracted, and he was completely naked now. My eyes went to the hard length of him and widened a little at the sight. I had no idea how it would fit.
He smiled at me, lifting my chin with his fingers. “Are you sure, Nyssa? I promise you, I will be gentle. I know this is your first time.”
Nothing on earth would stop me from sharing this moment with him. I nodded my head, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him to me. He sighed, and I felt him press the tip of himself against my opening. My body called to him, my hips lifting, urging him to me. And then he pushed, gently but firmly until with a searing pain and a rush of indescribable euphoria, he was inside me. He looked at me then, checking I was all right, and I kissed him and began working my hips to entice a rhythm from him.
As we worked together, the pain began to disappear, and I started to relish every thrust as he almost left me and then returned to meet me again, making me cry out over and over again. I felt the rise of a second orgasm just moments before it flooded through me, tensing my muscles and filling me with a warm sense of completeness. He sped up slightly then and just a few seconds afterward, he howled my name as he came, spilling his seed inside me.
I stretched languorously as I opened my eyes to take in the early morning light streaming through my window. I frowned for a moment at the dull ache between my thighs and then smiled as I remembered the reason for it. My eyes met a piercing blue stare. He was staring down at me as though taking in every part of my face. He was leaning on one arm next to me and had been gently playing with a strand of my hair as he watched me sleep.
“Hello, sweetheart,” he whispered before kissing me gently.
Smiling, I kissed him back, wriggling my body closer to him so I could wrap my arms around him and bury my head into his chest.
He rested his chin on the top of my head as he spoke. “I must go soon, love. I need to get back to my chamber before I am seen.” I felt a coldness run through me despite the warmth of the sun and his arms wrapped around me. If he was seen leaving my chamber, both of us would be hauled before Lord Odyn. My fear was greater for Astarin as I knew what the lord meant to him, and he had risked it all to be with me last night. I felt a stab of guilt for what we had done.
He sensed my unease, and lifting my chin up toward him, said, “Don’t think for one minute that I regret any of it, because I don’t. But no one must know, Nyssa. We have a war to win in a matter of weeks, and we can’t do it if me and Odyn are at each other’s throats.”
I knew what he was saying was right, but I couldn’t help but wonder what happened next. If Lord Odyn called for me, it would feel so strange going to another man’s chamber after all that we had done last night.
“Don’t fret. All will be well Nyssa.” He kissed me again and then rose from my bed and started to get dressed.
I was filled with panic then, I didn’t want him to leave me. I felt as though I would never see him again if I let him go. “Astarin?” I rose from the bed, letting the covers fall from my nakedness in my rush to call him back, and he growled at me and pounced across the bed, pinning me down.
“You don’t make it easy for me when you do things like that, sweetheart.” He kissed me hard and fast and I kissed him back, feeling the familiar heat return to my belly.
But, too soon he broke off the kiss and stood again. “I have to go, sweetheart. I need to protect you, keep you safe. I will see you very soon.”
I looked in to his eyes and said, “Promise?”
Leaning down to me and kissing my forehead, he said, “I promise.” Then he picked up his cloak and after turning back to smile at me, he opened the door and disappeared into the corridor.
I lay in bed after he had gone, and my mind ran from worry about what would happen if we were found out, to delicious memories of every single moment of last night. I was shocked at myself. I couldn’t believe I had willingly given myself away to someone before I was married, least of all a man who I had spent the last five years despising. But I knew that even if we were never together in that way again, I was glad. Glad that I had given myself to him so completely.
Astarin
After he left her, Astarin couldn’t stop thinking about last night. He knew that he should regret what he had done. He knew that he shouldn’t have done it, and he felt guilty for so many reasons. But regret? Not a fucking chance.
She was exquisite in every way. He couldn’t believe that she had chosen to share her first time with him. He knew that Odyn wouldn’t sleep with her unless she said yes, and he knew that she hadn’t said yes until now, so he was fairly sure that for the near future, she would be safely his and his alone. They would be off to war in a few short weeks, and after they came back, after he had done his duty to Ankh Shdaar and his brother, he would tell Odyn everything.
He had no doubt that Odyn would rage like a madman and threaten to kill Astarin and Nyssa both. We might even have a second fight on our hands. He laughed to himself. But once Odyn had a chance to calm down, he wouldn’t stand in the way of his brother’s happiness, Roeseer knew that with absolute certainty. He was banking on it. Then he would ask her to spend the rest of her life with him, to become his wife, and they could enjoy the new-found peace of Ankh Shdaar together.
Nyssa
The next few days passed in a blur for me as the whole staff of Castle Kytara were completely wrapped up in the planning for the upcoming feast. Lord Odyn had kept his men locked away for days on end. The time for them to leave for battle was drawing ever closer, and they waited anxiously to hear back from their spies in the north. As soon as Faryn Tarnfell mobilised his forces, then so too would Lord Odyn, and they would ride to meet each other on a field far from here. A field that would run red with the blood of both sides before it was done.
Because of the chaos, I hadn’t seen Gidren or Astarin and I hadn’t been summoned to Lord Odyn either. Instead, I had spent my days reading in my room and visiting with Bernhardt when he had some free time. It was now the day before the feast, and I was sitting on my balcony, getting some fresh air and sunshine while I read when a knock sounded at my door. “Come in,” I called as I rose from my seat and stepped back into my room.
Bernhardt appeared through the door with a huge grin on his face, followed by three maids carrying two large boxes and one small box. The maids laid their cargo on the bed and left quickly, but Bernhardt remained after they had gone. His grin widened, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him questioningly. “Well? Aren’t you going to open them?” He nodded toward the boxes.
“For me?” I asked, smiling.
“Who else, sweet child. Who else?” He laughed, and I ran to the bed and opened the first of the large boxes.
Inside was the most stunning gown I had ever seen. It was silver silk and cut with a square neck that would sit just abo
ve the breasts rather than the Capitals customary V cut that revealed everything. It had a bone bodice set into it, and the full skirt ran in to a tasteful train at the back. It was decorated with thousands of tiny white stones that were similar to crystals but brighter. “Diamonds,” Bernhardt suggested helpfully as he saw me admiring them. I almost dropped the dress when he said that. It was probably worth more than the whole of my home town.
“Open the next box, sweet child.” He smiled at me.
As I opened the second large box, I gasped. The box was split into three separate compartments. One contained a pair of silver slippers which were embellished in more of the tiny, sparkling jewels. The next contained a cloak made of the same silver material as the dress, again peppered with gems. The third compartment contained a tiara. It was wrought of finely detailed silver. The slender strands wove through each other like vines until they finally joined in a point at the top. There were much larger gems set in the tiara, and they were a dark blue colour. “Sapphires?” I asked Bernhardt, and he nodded at me happily.
I looked at the small box wondering what else could possibly be in there.
“Go on, Nyssa,” he encouraged.
Lifting it up I opened the flip lid and took in the sight of a necklace intertwined in the same way as the tiara, but there was only one stone set in this piece, a sapphire that was almost as big as an egg. Beneath the necklace there was a note. I took it out, and unfolding the paper I read it to myself. Nyssa, My Lady. It would please me greatly if you would accept these gifts and wear them to the feast tomorrow. It was signed simply Odyn. I looked questioningly at Bernhardt, and he sighed.
“He is not a man of many words, sweet child. I believe that what he means to say by this,” he gestured at the finery strewn across my bed, “is that he wishes you to wear these beautiful garments tomorrow at the feast. Because he respects you greatly. As do I, and I would be delighted to see you wear them, Nyssa. For when he returns from battle, he will be a king, and he will be in need of a queen.”