The Kingdoms of Sky and Shadow Box Set

by Foxglove, Lidiya

  “I’m not in the habit of writing your parents…”

  I tried to wrap my legs up around him, but I was too weak. Sacred stones, I wanted to scream sometimes. Keeping his weight carefully off of me, propping himself up on his arms, he poked at my entrance. I tried to help him.

  He let out a pant of relief as he slid into me. My core was afire, and it seemed to melt away my other pains. I savored the feel of him. He might not quite have Seron’s length or Aurek’s textured girth, but he was still more than enough to fill me.

  “You can be a little rougher than that…”

  “I’m trying, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

  I lay there, hardly able to help him as he did all the work, his arms corded with straining muscle as he kept all his weight off my body, trying to give me something satisfyingly deep and hard without succumbing to the urge to crush me. Because of course I knew that was how other people made love. On top of each other. Tumbling around. Grabbing each other. Rough and lost in passion. And no one could ever love me like that.

  Three men were now going to look to me for all of their satisfaction and I could hardly handle one.

  Don’t think of that now, just enjoy it. He’s still happy.

  Oszin’s brow had a faint sheen, his eyelids growing heavy with pleasure. “Damn it, Moth…you feel so good inside. I’ve thought about this a thousand times and it still didn’t live up to the real thing. Just looking at you right now is heaven on earth.”

  “I’m sorry I’m sort of feeble,” I said in a small voice.

  “Don’t even say that. If I’m being honest, there’s something pretty sexy about you just laying there looking so exhausted, biting your lip now and then…” He shut his eyes. “I’m going to have to—stop. I’m sorry. I got so excited watching you all that time.”

  He pulled out of me, leaving me empty way too soon. Sitting up, I reached for his stiff length before he could pull away and tugged the protective skin off him. I bent down and wrapped my lips around him again, desperate to give him something, even as I was aching.

  I heard Aurek set his cup down, and the rustling of silk behind me, as he came to the bed and sat down behind me, urging my legs to unfold before slipping two blunt claws inside me— Gods, he was fucking me with a dragon’s hands. He thumbed my clit.

  “Give him your pleasure, my gem,” he said softy. “Show him how you’ve yearned for him.”

  I clutched Oszin’s legs, his muscles tense and hard under my fingers. If he wanted to protest, he didn’t seem to have the fortitude to do it. Aurek’s scaled fingers skillfully drove me to the brink, and I sucked on Oszin’s cock until his seed was pumping into my mouth. He was shouting, sounding wild with a release that I knew must still feel scandalous and forbidden to him. I was glad I could do it him first. I could be his queen, serving him for once, and I hadn’t done this for Seron or Aurek yet.

  As Oszin came for me, Aurek mercilessly and roughly fucked me with his hand, and I came for him, feeling my inner walls clench around his scales and claws, sending exquisite little sparks that were not quite pain ripping through me. I swallowed most of Oszin’s seed, choking on it a little as the force of my release almost made me laugh.

  “Oh…” I collapsed on the bed, and then I did laugh. I reached for Oszin, trailing fingers down his arm. “I did it.”

  He flopped down beside me. “Damn right you did. I shouldn’t have implied you weren’t strong enough to get me off.”

  “I was determined. I just wanted to make you feel that way… I know you’ve waited for me, without actually expecting anything. Sometimes I wondered if you had a girlfriend, and when you never did, I was so relieved. But when I started to think that was because of me…” I clutched his arms.

  “I couldn’t love anything else. But the thing I loved most about you was just…you. Not whether you could touch me, or how healthy you are…just you, in any way possible.”

  I looked at Aurek. For a moment I’d almost lost track of him and what his needs might be. It was still hard to juggle two or three men at a time. I felt so inadequate. “Aurek…?”

  “Stay with him tonight,” Aurek said. “Just this once.” He picked up the cover and draped it over both of us. Then he straightened up. “This is the beginning. Oszin, I appoint you queen’s champion and consort, and will give you the other room adjacent to ours. You and Seron will not be far from her side unless ordered otherwise. You will come to us whenever we ask.”

  “I—I didn’t agree to this yet.”

  “Ah. No?” Aurek patted his arm. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. If I don’t get a firm no, I’m assuming a yes. And everything about your reaction tonight was a big yes.” He stepped back and bowed. “Good night, my queen, until tomorrow.”

  When the door was shut behind him and his footsteps had faded away, Oszin looked at me. “He’s really weird.”

  I laughed until I ached. And then I fell asleep beside my Oszin.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Aurekdel

  “I gave my bed to Himika and her champion tonight.” I shut the door to Seron’s bedroom. “You don’t mind if I camp here.”

  “Well, you’re better than a hundred soldiers crammed in a cave, but I guess I’m not getting any reading done.” I heard Seron set something aside. “You’re letting them alone? What happened? I thought you were excited to let her have this guy.” He muttered, “For some reason.”

  “I am.”

  “Well, you look a little jealous.” He offered me a box of flower water candies. For a strapping warrior, Seron ate the most delicate sweets.

  “No one has ever loved me like that, I must admit.” I sat down on the bed. “Actually, what I mean to say is, no one has ever liked me like that.”

  “Do I have to admit that I like you?” Seron sat up and moved some things around. I heard what sounded like him scraping a claw on crystal. Only the king was supposed to display dragon hands in public, but in private we could all shift whatever parts of ourselves we desired at will.

  “Are you shaping crystals now?”

  “Just practicing. Making toys for the nursery. If Morlis ends up never coming back…”

  I nodded. Poor Seron. It was truly aggravating that Morlis never brought up the rumor about his relationship with Tiriana. If he wasn’t Seron’s father, he really ought to say so.

  “Everyone likes you,” Seron said.

  “I failed to heal her. And she’s so easy with Oszin. I try to be easy with everyone, but—”

  “It’s a careful kind of easy,” Seron supplied. “Which makes it not so easy after all. That it?”

  “Maybe you’re right.”

  “I know,” Seron said. “Women do like to use you for favors and sex. But then, you’re the one who fancied up your dick. I don’t think Himika’s going to be like the rest of them. Maybe you should do something with her besides sex, though. Something you can still do when you’re a hundred.”

  I wondered soberly if Himika would even live to be a hundred, if I couldn’t find a way to lift her curse. I’d felt her body fighting the magic. It could never win, I thought.

  “It isn’t as if I haven’t spent any time with her. But once the daily business is over, she’s usually tired, and then it’s lunch…then I have meetings, usually. That’s when she goes to her garden.” He was right. When it came to women, I tended to think with my cock first, and it had been that way since I was came of age. As a kid, I had to juggle the double isolation of blindness and rulership, but when I became a man, I was by all accounts attractive, and suddenly had new weapons to wield.

  Himika was my wife, however. She deserved more than just that.

  “Just something to consider…,” Seron said in a low voice. “I’d spend more time with her if I could. But I’ve got work to do, too.” His hands stopped moving. “When you told me you wanted me to have her too, it was the last thing I wanted. Why’d we even have to start? Now I’m always thinking about her. And really? I want to throw the d
oor open and bring her to bed with us. Every night, when it’s you—”

  The bitterness slowly unfolding in Seron’s voice surprised me, even though it had first appeared the other night. I chalked it up to exhaustion from being away from home too long. “Do you want to share our bed every night, Seron?”

  “Of course I fucking do! After all that? I want to hold her.”

  “I wouldn’t mind. But now we have Oszin.”

  “Yeah. That was your bright idea.”

  “But she’s the one who loves him. I wonder how the priestess handles five men at a time?”

  “She rotates, mostly,” Seron said. “That was the rumor when I was there.”

  “We don’t have the same situation,” I said. “I’m still her only husband. But I’m not possessive. Not like that. Well, we’ll see how it unfolds. Oszin hates me right now, but it certainly didn’t stop him. She has the willingness worthy of a priestess. I’m not sure she could ever handle all three of us at a time, or even in turns, but we will just make do. She was in pain tonight.”

  “Pain?” Seron was sharp.

  “She didn’t complain. So I don’t say anything. She has to live, Seron, even if it costs her.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Himika

  When I woke up next to Oszin, I felt so warm and comfortable. I could hardly believe I was allowed such a thing as to sleep with him in Aurekdel’s bed. Kajira was curled up between our legs. I never wanted to get up, just to stay in that warm spot forever.

  But there was also stuff to do, and I felt emboldened.

  “What are your plans for the day?” Oszin asked. “I think we could finish the garden.”

  “I have a better idea.”

  “Hmm?”

  “Aurekdel gave me a magical sword. It’s very light. He says the weaker you are, the stronger the sword is. It’s only a just-in-case sort of thing, but I want to know how to hold it. You said you’d teach me.”

  “I don’t know about that. I’m afraid you’ll hurt yourself.”

  “If I do, it’s my problem.”

  “It’s also my problem. I think you’re trying too hard to compete with dragon women.”

  “I’m not! I’ve always wanted to fight!”

  “Gaermoni women don’t fight, and they shouldn’t. I still don’t get why you’d want to. Do you think it feels good to kill someone? It’s the stuff of nightmares. I fight to protect you and my family, not because it’s awesome. I fight so you don’t have to.”

  “All I said was that I wanted to know how to hold a sword. Skies above!” I had raised my head off the pillow but now I flopped back down.

  He leaned over me now and smiled slowly. “But I know you. You won’t stop with holding it. You’re going to want to take a few swings.” He started to kiss my face and then went for my hand instead. “I’ve never gotten to spend the night with you before. We might have bad breath.”

  “Leave it you to think of that.”

  “Well, someone should.”

  “I would kiss you anyway.”

  “Then, you are gross,” he teased. “But I know all your secrets. If you weren’t a queen, you’d be a mess.”

  “True. I should’ve been the boy. Rin should have been the princess. He likes dresses more than I do, I like horses more than him, and we both like cocks about the same.” I giggled.

  “Yeah, he was afraid of horses for a while! Poor Rin, he might be the emperor but you can never escape your sister’s memories.” Now we were both laughing. “Still, I don’t think I’d benefit from that situation,” he said.

  “Oh, so you only like me for my gender, Oszin?”

  “I’m already too conservative for what you’re putting me through! Don’t make me think about what I’d do if you were a boy. Anyway, I should probably go. This is his room. Are we meeting in the garden later?”

  “Maybe…”

  “Then, I’ll see you later.”

  He didn’t even pick up on the slightly annoyed tone of my ‘maybe’. I guess I wasn’t very good at sounding annoyed at him. I was so happy when we were laughing together, but I was starting to feel like he preferred me kept in my place because I was safe there.

  I sighed. Last night seemed like a crazy dream now, even if the bed was still covered in flower petals.

  Aurekdel came in to light the candle and begin the day. Raia would be in any moment now that the King’s Hours had begun. Aurek always looked so awake and composed in the morning. My hair was a disaster and I rubbed crust out of my eyes. Kajira stirred and chirped at him. He held out an arm and she flew to him like a trained hawk, at least until she started nuzzling his face. I flushed a little, getting out of bed and straightening out the covers.

  “How was last night, my lady?”

  “Good.”

  “Is something wrong? You don’t need to make the bed. The ladies will do that.”

  “It was a wonderful night. Thank you. It’s just that Oszin won’t teach me to even hold a sword correctly. I know I can’t do much, but…he doesn’t want me fighting at all! Not even for fun!”

  Aurek crossed his arms. “Why didn’t you ask me when I gave you the sword?”

  “Well— I just—figured you were busy. I can see that you know how to use a sword.” He had totally caught me. I didn’t think a blind person could teach me to use a sword.

  “I’ll forgive you,” he said. “Seron pointed out to me that I don’t spend enough time with you outside of sex and royal obligations. I have treated you like a consort and a queen, but not a companion. I’ll remedy that immediately. Get dressed and meet me in my practice room. It’s the door just before the baths. Leave your sword here; you’ll use a practice weapon.”

  “Yes! Gladly!”

  A little later I made my way down the stairs, wearing a plain shirt that usually went under more formal clothing and a knee-length leather skirt Raia dug up, with my boots. I was so used to wearing long, elegant gowns that I already felt more warrior-like.

  Aurekdel was waiting for me. Practice dummies made of straw clad in old armor looked spectral in the torchlight. This room was particularly cave-like, the rock ceiling close to our heads. Hanging on walls were practice swords made from bamboo-like reeds with blunt tips, and some real swords as well. He handed me the smallest of the practice swords and positioned my hands on the handle.

  “How does that feel?”

  “Good!”

  “You have compasses in the sky world, correct? Well, you’re going to think in terms of the compass. Face the wall with the dummies. That’s north. You have four quadrants and four sub-quadrants—northwest, northeast, and the like—for a total of eight points.”

  “I understand,” I said, gripping the sword, ready to get on with it before I got too tired to hold the damn thing anymore. My arms were already a little shaky.

  “Now, you want to lead with your right foot. Your left is back…” He put his hands on my hips as I tried to position myself. “No, not too fair either. Your left foot is angled out left.” He took the proper stance just behind me, his legs brushing mine. My skin heated, but for once Aurekdel seemed too focused to flirt.

  “Pivot to the northwest, like so…” He stepped away to demonstrate and then came back to me. “Turn, then draw your right foot back now.” His hands glided over me, trying to check my movements. “Do it again…but keep your shoulders back. Hold the sword up.”

  I was breathing hard already. The sword was pretty heavy for me.

  “Are you tired?” he asked.

  “I don’t care if I’m tired! I’m always tired, so what?”

  “Do you want to sit down just for a minute, and have some water?”

  “Not really!”

  He laughed. “Then, try it again. Let’s keep going through the eight points.”

  I turned, waving my sword. “Hah!”

  “Not yet,” he said, catching my hand.

  “But I want to learn to hit things!”

  “I think you already know how t
o hit things. Are you here to hit things? Or to learn Irandal-Ranu sword technique?”

  I made a face. “That one, I guess.”

  “It takes patience. You’re going to have to do the same movements literally a thousand times until they’re written on your bones. Otherwise, there’s no point, and you might as well just whack things as best you can. Now—pivot. Pivot.” My hips and knees ached. I gritted my teeth through the pain, determined not to show any of it to him. The pain felt like the enemy I was fighting. “Now reverse. Then we’ll try a slightly different technique.”

  The harder I fought the enemy, the stronger it was.

  I soon stopped to catch my breath, my arms sagging with the weight of the sword. My entire body was screaming. “Damnit…!”

  He took a water-skin off his sash and handed it to me. “Take your time.”

  I snatched it from his hand and drank. My body, my unbroken curse, and Oszin not wanting me to fight—frustration at all of it bubbled up inside me, and I didn’t want to give in. “Let’s keep going. Can’t I learn at least one fighting move?”

  “All right, all right. Sheath the sword and then you’re going to draw, like this…look at how my hands are positioned.” He demonstrated and then put his sword back in fluid gestures before checking my hands again. “Good, but make sure your hands are apart when you grip.”

  “Seron fights differently, doesn’t he?”

  “That’s right. He uses the southern technique, with a heavier sword. Irandal-Ranu is…more graceful. Even if you aren’t very good at sparring, the forms are like a dance and can be performed solo.”

  “Can I see you?”

  He looked flattered, and nodded. He urged me a few steps back and then drew the practice sword, the blade arcing out, up, sideways as he gracefully turned and mimicked slashes and parries in a graceful choreography. He made it look so easy, but I could also see the countless hours of practice it must take.

  He moved toward the dummies. The sword grazed one of their straw necks and then he slashed back, one foot sliding backward, to cut another one across the chest, before dancing to the third dummy and bringing the sword down as if to cut him in two down the middle. There was control in every movement as he blunted his force before damaging the practice dummies. He must know the parameters of the room like the back of his hand, because I had never seen him move with so little hesitation. He turned to me and returned the sword to its sheath. “My lady.”