The Surrender of Sleeping Beauty

by Lidiya Foxglove

  Augustus stood waiting just inside the doors. I was unsteady on my feet as he put an arm around me and unfastened the cloak. Usually, onlookers pressed at the windows of the room, but today it was guarded by soldiers with their backs to me. If they turned to look they would be thrown in prison. The room was full of a hundred or so people. The mood was more reverent than lascivious, and yet…

  The cloak was pulled away, handed off to someone. My vision blurred as I was presented to the court, and the faces seemed countless. The High Cleric stood mere steps away. Augustus held me against him and slipped a hand between my legs, stroking two fingers around my bud of pleasure. I heard his sharp breathing, and the soft hush of the room.

  It begins. I have to find a way to feel.

  I blinked, and found myself looking at Count Farren. He was in the middle of the hall, standing by the window, peering out almost from behind a statue. His eyes were slightly hooded, mysterious in their elven beauty, and he brushed his fingers across his lips—unconsciously, I thought.

  Augustus lifted one of my breasts, pulling me up so I was slightly on my toes, my torso lifted against him to show off as much of my pristine skin as possible. I was breathing tensely, trying to resist the sparks produced by his touch. I wasn’t supposed to resist. But I think the crowd liked it when I did… The calm of the room was slowly starting to turn to intrigue as they waited to see how long it would take Augustus to break me. I shut my eyes.

  Augustus could do anything he liked to prepare me for him, but he had to stay above me so he could not use his mouth. My sex grew slick, his fingers gliding along fragile folds. I told myself to fall into that touch, but I couldn’t let go. He was unrelenting, nevertheless, two of his fingers slipping inside me, his thumb teasing at my tender spot, until I finally let out a shuddering little cry.

  He let go of me and took a step back. I turned to him as I had been told to do, my lungs straining as my breath came faster and faster.

  “My lady,” he said. “Princess Marie Rose of Osteria, you have pleased me well since our wedding day. I have asked much of you, and you have given everything of yourself. I pledged to love and protect you. Have I done so?”

  “Yes—my lord. You have loved me well and so I offer myself to you as your bride and your queen. May the court bear witness.”

  I swept one trembling hand across my breast and leaned down. There was nowhere to hide. There was no way to bow that did not show everything of myself, reflected in the mirrors.

  Augustus struck the scepter against the ground and the vines stripped themselves off the golden scepter and caught my wrists and ankles, holding me fast. The vines pushed my feet upward so I was at a level with his height, my breasts hanging down, blood rushing to my head. I bit my lip not to sob. My head spun. I felt Augustus move behind me, heard the rustle of his clothes, and felt his warm, broad hands cup around my hips.

  He thrust his cock into me in one stroke, and I cried out above a murmur of approval.

  Now my trials truly began. The tone of our relationship would be set by how well we performed. Augustus could not just fuck me and be done with it. He had to bring me pleasure. My inner walls burned against him, tender but agonized, and I didn’t see how I could possibly feel anything like pleasure now. If he couldn’t bring me to climax in ten minutes, I would be given an aphrodisiac, and everyone would take note of our failure.

  I knew he had to have some anxiety over his own performance, but he seemed perfectly composed, stroking into me deep and hard so I cringed against it, and the vines seemed to hold me more tightly. He shifted, so my hips were canted differently. He was trying to find a spot to hit that would make me shriek with pleasure, but I was so frightened.

  I don’t know how long it went on. I had no clock. It felt like forever. I was terrified the ten minutes must already be over, but ten minutes was also a very long time.

  Augustus was finding pleasure in me, however, I could feel it in his vigor, hear the edge in his quickening breath and the slickness of my passage. Some primal part of me was deeply aroused, enough that I felt the wetness trickling down my legs, but it hadn’t reached my brain.

  “Mmph…” He suppressed a grunt, the fucking stopped, and he leaned over me with his cock sunk deep inside me. He pulled my hair away from my ear. “Look at Axel,” he whispered.

  “I…”

  Augustus’ whisper was meant only for me. “You torment him, Rose,” he said. “I invited him so he would see you…think of no one else. Show him your pleasure.”

  I swallowed. I hardly recognized Augustus when he spoke like that. Somehow, my flirtation with Axel had not angered him, but spurred him on.

  I finally forced my eyes upward but my eyes didn’t focus until they found Count Farren. His gaze was locked onto me and his beautiful blue eyes were like fireworks, blinding me with their brightness. Even at this distance I thought I would remember every detail of his face forever, and I felt a thrill of forbidden desire that was not private to me and Axel, but shared with Augustus. When I looked up, Augustus caught my hair in his hand and wrapped it around, holding me there, looking at Axel.

  He wanted this too.

  This private affair, whatever it may be, even if it was only this—it was shared between the three of us. It had as much to do with Augustus’ desires to break free of his role as it had to do with me.

  Louisa and Julia suggested that a queen could have anything, as long as I fulfilled this one duty. But I couldn’t have Axel. And neither could Augustus. There was no role for him here.

  Axel finally lowered his gaze for a moment, the subtlest of bows. Your Majesty, he mouthed, with the barest of smiles—as Augustus drove his cock deep inside me.

  “Ohh…” A wave of intense heat swept over me, every inch of my skin suddenly coming alive with him. My eyes glazed with tears but I still saw Axel through the blur. I bit my lip. “Mmph…”

  It’s happening, I realized. I can’t stop it…and it’s going to be intense.

  Pleasure rolled over me in waves, and I let out a low moan. The court collectively drew a little closer. I still felt the most horrible shame but at the same time, I felt myself leaning into it. Wanting to show them all. Wanting to be the greatest of queens.

  Something inside me shattered, and I shrieked as the most spectacular climax thundered through me, and I heard Augustus let out of a low sound of relief. He must have been holding back for me and now, I had done it, thank the gods, I’d done it. I couldn’t stop moaning, straining and bucking against him as he held me. My eyelids fluttered open and shut, still blurred, but I saw Axel gripping one of the curtains.

  “Ohh…ohh…” My pussy was clenching and pulsing hard against his cock in endless aftershocks. I already knew this would be the stuff of legends and after all my dread, I was proud.

  As I came down from it all, Augustus pulled out of me, leaving me there in my absurd pose for a moment as he cleaned and buttoned himself up again and it seemed terribly unfair. I was breathing hard, my arms and legs trembling; I’d been basically on my hands and knees for many long minutes. Then he put his arms on my shoulders and drew me up against him. The vines slithered up my legs and down my arms, coiling around my ribs and waist and curling around my upper thighs.

  The entire court fell to their knees, lowering their heads.

  “As you bow to the king, so shall we bow to you,” the High Cleric said.

  “So shall we,” the court echoed.

  My ladies came forward with a linen shift and drew it over my arms, and the fur cloak was pinned around my shoulders once more. The High Cleric now placed the crown of gold, sapphires and rubies, a more delicate twin to Augustus’ crown, upon my head.

  The court got to their feet, music began to play, and by some miracle, it was all over and time for the coronation feast.

  I melted into Augustus’ arms.

  Chapter Nine

  Rose

  My ladies dressed me in my coronation gown, an audacious garment of ice blue and crimson
. I still wore all the gold and diamonds from the bowing ceremony, my nipples still tingling under the golden clamps. And I fully expected to wear the grand corps, and eat like a mouse, but Louisa said, “No, you will not wear it again.”

  “What? Never?” I could hardly believe it. It had been a national scandal when I refused to wear a corset last year.

  “Now you wear the King’s Vine.”

  “Oh, this is…staying with me? What does it do?”

  “Well…it’s up to him, isn’t it,” Julia said with a wry smile. “I believe it can do just about anything. The enchanted vine was a gift from the King of the Wicked Revels two hundred years ago and they say it nourishes itself on the nectar of queens.”

  “Oh my!” I blushed. Just when I thought I knew what to expect.

  The ladies laughed. “Still human, in the end!”

  I was used to, if not happy about, the rigid boning of the grand corps. The vines were an entirely different sensation. They slithered around my body like a living thing as I moved, so I had room to breathe, but no doubt I would be subject to some new trouble before long.

  For once, however, it seemed I could just enjoy myself after the ordeal. We had a grand feast and since I didn’t have to wear any corset at all I could stuff myself to the seams of my gown, which was still tight but nothing like before. I felt light and free and Augustus seemed in very good spirits; he had certainly been as nervous as I was. He could hardly take his eyes off me now, and he periodically squeezed my hand impulsively. I had made a proper king of him.

  We shared the first dance, and the one after that. The party spilled out through the doors. The music was regal but merry, the gardens lit with luminaries and fireflies. I danced with Augustus’ brothers, per custom, but I kept looking for Axel. I started to worry he had left before the dance.

  Maybe it’s for the best if he went back to his own country, I told myself. He’ll only cause us trouble…

  But I wanted to see him again so badly it was like an ache inside me, gnawing more urgently by the hour.

  Augustus said nothing about Axel to me now. That was a conversation for later, if we ever dared to have it. But when we had a moment alone in the garden, he suddenly looked down at me and clasped my face in his hands. “Rose,” he said. “I will never forget this day.”

  “Nor will I. I adore you beyond words…Augustus.” I still felt an urge to reassure him that I was his.

  “I know,” he said. “There is no doubt in me that we are of like mind, and…whatever else happens, you will have my love and I’ll have yours.”

  I smiled. “Kiss me.”

  “Is that an order from my queen?”

  “Oh, yes. You might choose to defy it, but…”

  He pressed his lips to mine, and I spread my mouth to claim his with my lips and tongue. I would possess him in every way I could.

  “You do realize I have only just begun with you?” he murmured.

  “What else will you do to me, I shudder to think…” I leaned into him, tugging at his collar. “I want to look in your eyes now.”

  We heard a crunch of footsteps on the path, and the interlude was cut short as Count Farren approached, looking over his shoulder before turning to us with a frown.

  If he had only come a moment later, he would have caught us in the act.

  I blushed. Why did a part of me want that so badly? Why did a part of me want to be back in the Hall of Mirrors with Augustus claiming me and Axel’s eyes on mine?

  “Your Majesties,” he said, bowing as an afterthought. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

  “Not at all,” Augustus said.

  “I’ve heard that the witch who cursed the princess had left town,” Axel said.

  “It seems to be so,” Augustus said. “She tried to lure her, and failed, and since then we’ve had no word of her.”

  “I would not relax your guard,” Axel said, putting a hand to the sash belt at his hips. “To be quite frank, the witch captured me as I was leaving the masquerade the other night. I would have captured her and brought her to you, but she tied me up and left me there. I was set free by some passersby who heard me shouting.”

  “The same witch?” I asked. “What did she want with you?”

  “She offered to save my kingdom from trolls,” Axel said. “In exchange, I am meant to ruin the both of you.”

  “Ruin us?” I suppose I should have been afraid, but at this point my attitude toward the witch was rather dismissive.

  “You speak casually but frankly,” Augustus said. “I hope I can take it to mean that you escaped her clutches?”

  “Yes, I have no intention of bringing harm to you. But I hoped I could ask for your aid with the trolls.”

  “Of course,” Augustus said. “We can discuss it once this madness dies down. Where are you staying?”

  “In the town, at the Bat’s Wing. Most places were already full…”

  Augustus shook his head. “I should have thought of that when I invited you at such a late date! I’ll arrange an apartment for you here in the palace.”

  Axel went still. “I don’t think I should stay here. I ask you, just lend me your aid and I’ll hurry home.”

  “What is it? She did something to you. Don’t be coy. If you want to help, we should know what we face. Or did she curse you not to speak of it?”

  Axel took a long pause, and his face was grim again. “Your Majesty, she wants me to seduce you and the queen. She would like me to ruin you with a scandal. To that effect, she has blocked me from having any release except by the two of you. Not even…in solitude, after I have witnessed something most arousing.” His smile was resigned.

  “What?” I gasped, getting unexpectedly aroused myself at the very idea. “But that isn’t fair at all.”

  “We can hardly ask you to go home to a life of eternal chastity,” Augustus said. “To deny you heirs, even…”

  “I might be a rake, but I’m an honorable rake,” Axel said. “I’m afraid…of what might happen here.”

  “Where is the witch staying?” Augustus asked.

  “I can show you the house,” Axel said. “But whether she is still there is another matter. It looked like a transient residence without much furniture. No one in the neighborhood seemed familiar with her.”

  “Do you suppose she is confident you would betray us?” I asked carefully.

  Axel paused before saying, “I’m not sure what her ultimate goal might be. It’s possible I was targeted because I already represent…a danger to you.”

  “The only danger I see now is the witch herself. I’ll send you with a sizable guard to this house. Question everyone in the vicinity. We’ll leave no stone unturned. I haven’t forgotten that she promised to put the queen to sleep for a hundred years.”

  But in many ways, we had forgotten, or at least brushed it off. When time passed without danger, we began to relax, and the Sun Palace was a place of many distractions. Count Farren was likely to be as much a distraction as anything else, I thought. He was such perfection; no woman would be able to take their eyes off him, and he would face endless temptations he wouldn’t be able to act upon.

  The witch wants to force him into my arms…to ruin me. To ruin the both of us…

  “Count Farren, how do we know we can trust you?” I asked.

  “I want an alliance with you, not an underhanded witch,” Count Farren said. “I have every reason to devote myself to you, especially after what I have witnessed here today.” He looked at me. “We certainly have no queens like you in the north…”

  “When we find the witch, we will force her to lift this curse,” Augustus said. “I’ll tell the guards to capture her alive.”

  “I thank you. I await your word. But for now I will keep the room in the Bat’s Wing. The witch will suspect nothing.”

  He left but our eyes lingered on him. August caught my hand and drew me against him. “What a stupid thing to do,” he said. “We’ll never be rid of him now.”

  “You t
hink so too.” I laughed. “But what else could you have said?”

  “He will certainly suffer for sharing a moment of conversation with you, won’t he?”

  “You look almost as if you relish it…so wicked now that you’re king, hm?”

  Fireworks burst over the gardens, white bursts of sparks, some tinted colors, followed by wheels of flames. Augustus and I turned to watch them, just like on our wedding. He caught my hand in his.

  “You sound almost as if you relish it,” he replied. “My queen.”

  Suddenly we both turned to each other at once, our mouths pressing together hungrily, and I crashed back into the bushes as he lifted my skirts. A repeat performance, but this one was just for the two of us, and the only witnesses—or so I liked to think—were fireflies and stars.

  Chapter Ten

  Rose

  Although it seemed an irony, to be the Queen Who Bowed was to have much more freedom than to be the princess awaiting her role. My household was now managed by one of my dearest friends and I had a monthly allowance, meant to be spent largely on gowns for each season.

  Even in their wildest days, faeries were known for creating beautiful things; elaborate crowns of flowers, ethereal fabrics and the softest leathers and furs. But since the royal family had been established, the garment industry had grown to a worldwide trade. Luminé was the most fashionable city in the world, and while men had once made most of the clothes, in recent years a few women had started to open up shops of their own. Julia wanted very much to poke her nose at the shop of Annerose Bertin, a very young woman who had dared to open a shop right on the riverfront alongside the long-established houses.

  “I think I even envy her a little,” Julia said. “It seems so delightful to own a shop and make beautiful things all day.”

  “But you would have to deal with picky clients like us,” Louisa pointed out.

  “I’m not picky,” Julia said.

  “You are, but that’s not the point. Can you imagine making clothes for someone like the Duchess of Haranburg? You’d bite her head off, and then she’d ruin your reputation.”