A Royal Rebellion

by Revella Hawthorne

  Percy went from crying to horny in seconds. He wanted his mate, his prince. The taste of salt on his tongue made him moan, cock hardening. Edward’s hands ran up his back, his shoulders, and then back down, encouraging him. Percy touched every single inch of exposed skin, his own hands mindless in their desire to feel every edge and line of muscle.

  Percy kissed his way up Edward’s chest, standing on his toes to get his neck. Percy licked then bit, hands on Edward’s shoulders for balance, and he did it again, enjoying the silent hitch in Edward’s breathing.

  “Fuck me,” Percy said, his breath ghosting over Edward’s ear, and the whole body shudder that worked through his prince made Percy feel powerful.

  Strong hands turned him around, and Percy gasped as his trousers hit the floor, his underwear soon following. His hands hit the mirror, and his feet were kicked apart. Edward pulled his hips back, and Percy was bent over, ass exposed and wet, cock throbbing in time with his rapidly beating heart.

  The sound of a zipper opening and the slide of cloth to the floor made Percy pant with need. Seconds later hands spread his ass cheeks apart, and hot flesh pressing to his back and thighs left his head swimming with arousal. Edward wasted no time.

  Edward’s thick, hard cock was in him faster than his brain could process the sensations. Percy screamed, arching his back, pushing back against Edward as his master fucked into him, over and over. Percy’s body went insane, his inner muscles trying valiantly to grip the cock spearing into him, but Edward’s thrusts were too powerful, too fast, and so very deep.

  “Harder!” Percy shrieked, and Edward gave it to him.

  A hand gripped the nape of his neck, the other on his hip, pulling his body back as Edward thrust forward. Edward leaned over him, chest to back, and Percy mewled as the wet sound of their fucking joined their gasps for air.

  “You are mine,” Edward whispered in his ear, hot breath making him shiver even as the changed angle made his toes curl and his cock drip precum in copious amounts.

  “Yes,” Percy said, barely getting the word out. “Yours.”

  Percy came. Hard, deep, violently, he came over the wall, the mirror, and the floor. Arms lost their ability to hold him up, and Edward pulled him back to his chest, standing them upright, and Percy’s inner muscles finally caught Edward in an impossible grip, sucking him in deep. Edward came with a shout, and Percy shattered in his arms.

  ***

  Percy

  Percy woke up in the sitting room that Lord Lucius had converted into a type of computer room. Mason had commandeered a desk, full of flat screen monitors, and more equipment than Percy could name. He only barely understood exactly what the internet was, while he listened patiently to Mason explain it, he still ended up wishing for a book and warm cup of tea.

  “…King Henry, my father, made it clear, that if I did not release Percy as my consort willingly that he would be stolen from me, and if I protested, that I would then meet an unfortunate end. When my father learned that Percy was pregnant, he threatened to steal my child as well, and I would never see Percy or my babe again.”

  Edward shifted on the stool the camera in front of him making him awkward, but Percy could see the anger underneath the embarrassment of the situation. Edward was a private person, and Mason’s videos stripped away the layers, made everything accessible and exposed.

  “My father is not the man he shows the world,” Edward said, eyes locked on the camera, unwavering. He spoke with restrained anger, the unease at speaking thus fading away. “He cornered Percy, my consort, at one of the christening parties late last month. He tried to choke Percy, in a drunken attempt thwarted by my brother, Mason. He almost killed the man I love and our babe. My father’s insanity has no limits.”

  Mason clicked a button, and the lamps that illuminated Edward on the stool went dark. Edward’s shoulders slumped, and in the shadows seemed drained. Percy got up from the chaise he was on, throwing back a quilt and climbing to his feet. He was dressed again, and Percy smiled, thinking that were more times he was mysteriously clothed than he could remember. He tended to pass out after an orgasm, and Percy always ended up back in his clothing or tucked naked into Edward’s bed.

  Percy went to Edward’s side, and Edward looked up with a smile and gathered him into a hug. Edward gave him a kiss, all lips and love. Percy melted and sighed, wrapping his arms around Edward’s shoulders and kissing him back.

  Edward ended the kiss, dark eyes aglow. Percy tucked his face in Edward’s thick hair and breathed him in, loving the masculine scent.

  “Mason? How long until that goes up?” Edward asked his brother, who was sitting at the bank of screens and fiddling with equipment Percy barely understood.

  “About an hour,” Mason replied absentminded.

  “Have you heard anything new? How’s the reactions out there?” Edward asked, and Percy looked up for Mason’s reply, curious as to the answer.

  “Day one was disbelief. Everyone thought it was a prank. Palace made the mistake of trying to block it, taking down website after website. But the palace trying so hard to contain it, and ultimately failing, coupled with my earlier videos detailing my imprisonment and torture along with the palace’s inability to produce either you or Percy is making the public lean our way.”

  “How so?” Edward asked, hopeful.

  “Well, the major networks are running with it like crazy. Some conservative channels are saying it’s a farce, that you and I are the crazy ones, and we’ve joined some kind of domestic terror society or something and are promoting anti-monarchist views.” Mason’s voice was full of amusement at that one, and Edward snorted, shaking his head. “But every other network and media organization is of the opinion that we’re telling the truth, or most of it. Public opinion on the social media sites are in our favor, too.”

  “That’s good, but I’m still not sure how this will help us,” Edward said, pulling Percy into his lap, a hand going to his belly immediately.

  “Well, if we to stop and do nothing more, then all it does is piss Father off, destroy our family, and make everyone very, very uncomfortable,” Mason quipped, and Percy rolled his eyes.

  “Father is king, Mason. This isn’t one of those tiny democratic nations that elect their leaders. Father is King by Right of Blood, birthright, and he will not abdicate,” Edward said, and Percy looked back and forth between the brothers, listening intently. “None of this matters in the long run.”

  “Eddie, little brother. Don’t you remember your history?”

  “I remember plenty, get to the point.”

  “Once upon a time, in a faraway land named Cassia….”

  “Mason!”

  “Oh, fine. Farmers have no sense of humor,” Mason said to Percy with a wry twist of his sexy mouth. Edward glowered at him. “Not every son or daughter in the line of Airric has been fit to rule. Some were crazy, like our father, some were mentally incompetent, and some were just plain stupid.”

  “Yes, I am aware.”

  “So how did they jump succession then, little brother? How did a more worthy royal take the throne? Not counting coup attempts by impatient sons, of course.”

  “All of the blood princes or princesses in the line of succession would….”

  Edward froze under him. Mason leaned back in his chair and laced his hands over his stomach, idly kicking at the floor as the chair swayed back and forth. Mason grinned, and Percy saw Edward swallow, face gone pale.

  “What, Edward? What happens?” Percy whispered, worried.

  Edward heaved out a shaky breath, and looked at Percy with wide eyes.

  “Those of the blood eligible for inheritance convene in the throne room and vote to remove the current monarch from power, there is a challenge to the vote by the monarch, and if the monarch loses then the crown would be passed on to the closest Cassian Royal in the direct succession. That means all blood princes and princesses, which means full-blood siblings of the current monarch and any eligible children of the mona
rch—they then confront the king, cast their vote of lack of faith… and then the current king can ever accede to their wishes and surrender the crown or…”

  “Or?”

  “The current monarch faces the presumptive monarch in combat, either by a proxy champion or fighting themselves.”

  Percy sat still as stone in Edward’s lap.

  “That means…” Percy whispered. Mason answered him.

  “Malcolm is ineligible, and he wouldn’t deign to help anyway. I’m ineligible for the same reason as Malcolm. Our sisters are knocked out. Our uncles are deceased, and there are no cousins close enough to the throne to be blood titled. The only blood prince in the line of succession is Edward. That means you, little brother,” Mason said, pointing at Edward, “Will need to confront Father in the throne room, list his sins for the world, and cast a single vote for lack of faith. You challenge his right to rule, and he will have to respond. Father will then either have someone else try to kill you, or he’ll do it himself.”

  “Oh my god.” Percy couldn’t tell if it was either him or Edward who said it in disbelief.

  “Then why all this, Mason?!” Edward snapped, arm gesturing wide. “Why drag our family through all this if all I needed was to walk in that room and confront him?”

  “Because you can’t walk in that room if you’re in jail for treason, you fool! It only works in this day and age, in modern times, if the country, if the world, believes your claim of no faith to be true and just. We may not be elected officials, but try ruling a country that calls you usurper instead of king!” Mason shouted as he stood, the chair falling back to the floor, wheels spinning. “If Malcolm isn’t disqualified, if I’m not, if our sisters are not tossed out of succession, this doesn’t work! They are all too cowed by Father’s will to cast a vote of no faith!”

  Mason stormed across the small span between them, and Edward stood, gently putting Percy aside. Percy stepped back, out of arm’s reach, staring. Reynard, responding to the shouting, ran into the room, eyes alarmed and breathless. Percy backed away some more, and Reynard came to his side.

  “I have to prove to the people, to our siblings, to the entire world that Father is truly the monster I’ve known him to be the whole of our lives. Otherwise you get nowhere near that throne room, and will either die by execution or rot in a cell the rest of your life. He is not fit to rule, and if in the process of freeing us all from his madness I get my revenge, then I will count myself content,” Mason whispered, he and Edward’s gazes locked, both men bristling with anger and frustration.

  “Mason, you ask me to…” Edward began, and Mason nodded once, curt.

  “I am asking you to kill him, Edward,” Mason agreed. “No mercy for him, he’ll only stab you in the back from prison. Kill him, and free us all.”

  “And if he chooses battle by proxy? Am I to kill a man he’s chosen, a man I’m bound to have no quarrel with, and then kill Father?”

  “If that comes to pass, and he chooses a proxy then, I will fight in your stead, my prince,” Reynard said, stepping forward. “And I will fight the King if that is your choice as well.”

  Edward nodded at Reynard, not in agreement, but understanding. Edward gripped his shoulder and squeezed, and did the same to Mason.

  Percy stared at all three of them, shaking his head. He may not understand entirely what was going on, but the grim resolve on their faces set an iron weight in his gut.

  “You are all insane!” Percy whispered loudly, incredulous. He shook his head and walked back to the chaise when they all looked at him, surprised.

  Chapter Eleven

  Edward

  He paced the empty hall, back and forth, the long stretch between the room he and Percy shared and the one shared by his brother and the captain. Reynard had eventually conceded that Lord Estiary’s guards were up to the task of protecting them, and had taken to sleeping with Mason in his room instead of skulking about the halls like a spook.

  Twenty steps, from door to door, and Edward’s strides consumed them before he was ready, and he spun back around, pacing back the way he came, working in his mind over and over the choices laid out before him.

  Three weeks since Mason laid out the path to the throne for him, and he was no closer to finding peace with it than he had been that day. Six weeks, almost seven here at Estiary’s estate in total. The world was consumed by the scandal devouring the Cassian Dynasty, with public opinion heavily in favor of Edward’s claim. Not that he’d made one. It was one thing that he and Mason agreed on in this whole mess—Edward would avoid making a claim of no faith and challenge until he was actually in front of his father. Making a bid now in the court of public opinion would only seed the idea that Edward wanted the throne and this entire debacle was but a smokescreen to hide his greedy bid for power. That didn’t stop the more educated of the Cassian public from putting things together themselves and punting about the idea of the no faith challenge. It was trending on all the major social media sites, according to Mason, in the Top 100 topics, and had been for weeks.

  He stopped outside his door, and checked on his mate.

  Sex was no longer allowed, as Percy was too uncomfortable. Though Edward didn’t mind. He was too nervous Percy would go into labor without a doctor to assist. Edward had no experience in human birth—much less that of a male breeder. Edward could deliver a horse or a cow without qualm, but humans left him terrified. He had Mason use Estiary’s access to steal everything Heritage had on Percy, and from what he could tell, Percy was ready to give birth any day. Cartwright’s estimation on how long Percy’s gestation period would be was off, it had to be, because no way was Percy that big and still have another month and change to go. Dr. Rosen, the specialist from the capital, had theorized that Percy could have an even shorter time period than that.

  “Pacing again, little brother? This is becoming a nightly occurrence,” Mason asked at his shoulder, and Edward jumped. It was the middle of the night, and Mason was in a robe and pajama pants, hair askew. Edward took a deep breath, and took a discreet step back from his brother at the scent of sex and sweat. Not unpleasant, but this was his brother, and that was too weird even for them.

  Mason smirked at him as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “Yes, I’m pacing again,” Edward said to stave off an offensive remark he could see brewing in his brother’s eyes. “We need a doctor, one that specializes in breeders. Dr. Rosen is in the capital, and we’re eight hundred miles away. I’ve checked, and while we could always use the doctor that delivered Estiary’s babes, he only handled female breeders and I don’t know if he’s trustworthy. One mention from the man about delivering a male breeder’s babe could tip Father off and bring the guards to our doorstep.”

  “I agree,” Mason said, who thankfully didn’t offer up any commentary on what else could be bothering Edward. “I could always take Abe and go on a shopping trip.”

  “For what? You can’t buy a doctor with that specialty from a grocery store!” Edward hissed at Mason, annoyed at himself. He could confront a king rabid with anger or plot to overthrow the man’s rule, but get he and his brother in the same space and Edward reverted back to being a shy ten year old boy being hassled by his big brother.

  “A shopping trip means a kidnapping, my prince,” Reynard offered, coming up behind Mason and grabbing his lover about the waist. Edward reached out and carefully closed his bedroom door, ensuring Percy slept undisturbed. It took his mate so long to get back to sleep these days, if he managed to sleep at all.

  “Who the hell would you kidnap?” Edward asked, instantly regretting it. “And how many people have you two kidnapped?”

  Mason grinned. “The delightful Dr. Rosen, of course. And just a few.”

  “She’s in the capital. And under scrutiny from the palace for corroborating Percy’s pregnancy to the press. Do you really think you can get back to the capital, get her and what equipment she needs, and get back here without being caught or seen?”


  “We’ve done far more, in far worse places, with far less than we have now, my prince,” Reynard said, calm and unruffled. Mason grinned maniacally at Edward, and he just shook his head and waved a hand at them.

  “If I wasn’t so desperate for a proper doctor to be on hand for Percy I wouldn’t even say yes to this foolishness,” Edward muttered, as Mason began to laugh. “Can you do it fast and proper? Get her, and get back here as fast as you can? We’ve all seen Percy, he’s not going to make the full five months.”

  “Wasn’t that number just a guess though?” Reynard said, looking at the door behind which Percy slept on. “Dr. Rosen said it could be four months, or sooner.”

  “I’m thinking Percy is in the ‘sooner’ category. His hips have shifted, his back hurts all the time, and the babe is moving. I think he has days left, maybe a week or two at the most.”

  “Shopping trip!” Mason cheered quietly, and Edward smacked his chest. Mason swatted back at him, and Edward was glad Reynard pulled his brother back out of range or things were about to disintegrate into a brawl.

  “We’ll leave in an hour, my prince,” Reynard said. “Unless you think it’s time to move ahead with all of it, and we can all return to the capital.”

  “Too dangerous,” Edward said, shaking his head. “Percy is too close, and I can’t confront my father if I’m thinking about Percy going into labor and I’m not there.”

  Reynard nodded. “Then Mason and I will be off. We have cells now, and they’re secure, thanks to our generous host. You will call us if something happens while we are gone, understood?”

  “I do, and thank you,” Edward said, truly grateful. “How long?”

  “We will be back in four days, my prince.”

  Mason started backing away, dragging Reynard with him. Edward could hear them talking as they returned to their room. Mason’s voice was clear before Reynard shut the door.