“What are you doing here?” Hark asked.
“We need to talk.”
“Unless it’s saying good-bye, I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Someone poisoned your wine.”
Cax watched several emotions play across Hark’s face before he dismissed himself from the training pit and met up with him.
“Do you know by whom?”
“Not yet. But the person bent on killing you knows your weakness. That’s twice they’ve targeted you at Poro’s.”
“Three times,” Hark admitted quietly. “I was stabbed coming out of there.”
Hark took a deep breath, and Cax saw the clarity of his eyes without the drink. They were bold, brilliant, and something inside Cax made him want to keep this man clean and sober.
“All right,” Hark finally said. “What do we do first?”
“We take the poisoned wine to an apothecary,” Cax said. “We need to find out what type of poison was used. And you need to get sober.”
Hark shook his head. “I don’t know if I want to do that. I don’t know if I can.”
“Why do you drink? That is not a warrior’s way of dealing with issues.”
Hark looked behind him. “You see that down there? The men fighting? That’s who I am. I am a warrior. I’m not supposed to be up there, in the castle, ruling alongside my uncle, disputing merchant trades. But this province has been run by our family since the Dark Ages, and when my uncle called me to be his heir, well, what could I say? He’s Governor to the King, and I’m expected to one day take his place. To produce an heir even though…”
He trailed off, staring off into space.
“You whine too much,” Cax stated.
Hark looked at him fiercely. “You know nothing about me.”
“I know more than you think,” Cax said. “I have been hired by the King several times, so when this mission came up I asked him all he knew about this province. He told me Elric is one of his most valued Governors, but you … you’re young and unpredictable.”
Hark took one more step up, until they stood eye to eye, and much too close. And standing this close, Cax saw Hark’s violent hazel eyes shift as his nostrils flared. He leaned down until he was pressing into Cax’s shoulder and breathed deep. Cax felt the hot flush of air touch his skin, and he couldn’t help the flutter of his heart. Hark gave a soft, little moan, which made Cax’s cock swell with need.
“You have Alisander’s scent upon your skin,” Hark said.
“Yes.”
Hark pulled back, and Cax gasped at the sadness reflected upon his face. “You’ve had sex with him?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“And that’s my answer.” Hark seemed to wilt a little. “You plan on taking him with you, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I wanted to make him mine.”
Not much surprised Cax, but hearing that had his eyebrows shooting up in shock. “You … what?”
“It is forbidden, of course, falling for a servant. Because of my status. But I never thought Alisander would leave me.”
And then Cax understood everything Lord Hark could not say. He even understood the drink. “All three of us need to have a talk.”
“Somehow I don’t think talking will solve anything.”
“Or maybe it will solve everything. But first, we need to test the wine.”
Hark nodded. “I know just the place.”
****
The apothecary was only one tier down and served as pharmacy to the castle. The pharmacist took the bottle of wine and poured some of the dark red liquid into a several different beakers. One by one he placed each beaker over a flame and added different solutions until one produced a chemical reaction, causing the beaker to explode.
“The poison that was used was actually venom,” the pharmacist said, sounding surprised.
“Can you tell us what type of venom?” he asked.
“Ice serpent.”
“From up north?” Hark asked, sounding as flabbergasted as Cax felt.
The pharmacist nodded and reached behind him for a book. He flipped through it until he came to the page he wanted, and then he held it out for them to look at. The picture was of a large white flying reptile that had venom so poisonous that one drop could kill thousands of people.
“Do you know who sells this type of venom?” Cax asked.
“The closest apothecary that I know of is through the pass,” said the pharmacist.
“Thank you,” Hark said, paying the man for his time and expertise. Once outside they looked at each other. “A broolhorse could get there in hours. What would you like to bet they sold someone the venom.”
“I don’t think I’ll take that bet. I have a way for us to get there instantly, but right now we need to talk.”
Hark raised his eyebrows.
“All of us,” Cax said. “Ali, too.”
****
“Who are you, really?” Hark asked as soon as the door to his room closed behind him.
Alisander walked from the balcony, staring at both of them. Now that confession time was here, Cax shook with apprehension.
“You said you had abilities,” Alisander reminded him. "Is that why you became a Mercenary?"
Cax shook his head. "I didn't even know what a Mercenary was. My mother was a whore, and I grew up in a whorehouse, until I grew old enough to leave. For a while, I wandered. Then I got arrested and ended up in a prison cell in Vemundir, on my way as another no good criminal." He smiled. "The guards couldn't figure out how I was escaping from the cells. I never escaped, really. I simply would go out for a walk and be caught again. It was a game, but I didn't have anywhere to go and at least I got food in prison."
"How old were you?"
"Mmm, seventeen by then. The head of the Mercenary Guild had heard of the disappearing prisoner and came down to see for himself. He told me someone with my ability would fit in perfectly as a Mercenary." Cax shrugged. "It was the first time someone said I fit anywhere."
Hark’s head cocked. “How were you able to escape from the cells?”
“Unbeknown to me at the time, the man who sired me was a sorcerer. I simply thought I had an amazing ability to steal everything I ever wanted. When the Guild took me in, I learned to use my abilities for a better purpose.”
"And you never looked back?"
Cax shook his head. "To what? Life as a beggar? A thief hung at the noose? A farmer, perhaps, if I was reformed?" He scoffed. "I prefer my creature comforts."
"What are your abilities?" Alisander asked.
"I can make portals, that much you know, bend the space around where I need to go. And I can read emotions, which was how I knew the assassin disks were coming your way."
“Sorcerers are rare,” Hark said. A frown settled between his eyes, and he walked over to his nightstand and opened a drawer to grab a bottle. It was half empty, and he took a deep swallow.
“So is sobriety, it seems,” Cax said sarcastically. “You were almost poisoned today from the very same drink.”
“Here.” Hark held out the bottle. “Is this one poisoned?”
“A little late to be asking me that.”
Cax picked up the bottle and slowly ran it under his nose, tipping it a bit to inhale the full fragrance. "This is made with moon-ivy."
Hark didn't even try to deny it. "Makes a potent drink." He snatched it back and gave a mock salute.
"And a lethal one."
"Only if not prepared correctly."
"I wouldn’t trust my life on Poro's fermentation judgment."
“Stop it, both of you,” Alisander ordered.
They didn’t listen to him.
Harkr grunted and downed the rest of the drink. "I see the disgust in your eyes," he pointed with his index finger, "for a drink you've never tried. You shouldn't say you don't like something until you've tasted it."
"My disgust, Hark, is for the addiction you have for it."
"A
vice," he corrected. "Everyone has one. Even you."
"Do tell," Cax encouraged mockingly.
"A place like Eyvindar breeds all types of vices. Stuff you smoke, stuff you drink, things you see, things you do." Hark folded his arms across his chest. "It’s just a matter of time until I find yours. A man like you..."
Cax flexed his jaw. "A man like me what?"
"You keep everything inside, and you don’t let it out. Only a matter of time before it explodes." Hark shook his head. His eyes had become unfocused as the drugging effect of moon-ivy hit him. "I know the feeling of a man obsessed, and you have the smell."
"The smell?"
Hark nodded. "The smell of lust. Yes, you have lust."
Cax grabbed his tunic and pulled him nose to nose. “You’re disgusting.” He shook him once and then pushed him away, stomping out of the room. He should’ve known. The man was more drink than warrior.
****
There came a whisper through the dark, clouding over the bright moon, suggesting all was not serene. Hark looked out his bedroom window and frowned. He was still unsettled by all that happened that day, including the confrontation with Cax. Alisander had tried to talk to him, get him to go to the Mercenary and apologize, but he couldn’t do that. Cax had no idea how it felt to have the need course through his veins.
A scattering of bumps skimmed his arms, and he hugged himself, running his hands briskly up and down his skin to ward off the sudden chill. Unease swept up his back and prickled his scalp. Someone had tried to kill him. Three times. Would they succeed a fourth time?
He sucked in a deep breath and reached to close the shutters, latching them tight. He looked over his bedroom, large and heavily decorated, the furniture glowing from the fire's blaring warmth. Everything seemed perfectly fine, absolutely normal, yet he couldn't get past the unease that prickled his heart. Was it from the feeling of being the hunted instead of the hunter? Or was it more prosaic than that? Could it be because he was on the verge of losing the only person he thought he’d have forever?
Alisander had become his squire when he was fifteen, and at first he’d been amused at the little boy’s expense. But over time he’d come to admire the hard work and diligence that Alisander put into his duties. And then, once he’d come to full adulthood and had begun to understand the true meaning having a companion, well, there’d never been a doubt in his mind he wanted his young squire. However, for Hark being an Eyvindar Lord, in line to inherit the Governor title, certain rules and restrictions had come into play. But he thought he’d at least have Alisander at his side, and next to him was better than having to live out a barren life, like his uncle.
He stood evenly on both feet, legs slightly apart to balance his weight with hands linked behind his back. There came a knocking at his door, and Hark shook his head to clear it of tangled webs.
"Enter," he called out.
Alisander came in moments later and gave him a tentative smile before moving into the bathing room to run him a bath. He couldn’t help but watch him. Alisander may be younger, a little more undefined, but he was tall and sleekly muscled. When the administrative work was done, Alisander went to help Hark with his bath.
Hark held open his arms, and Alisander started removing the sash and belt from around Hark's waist.
"You need to apologize."
“Don’t start again, Ali. You’ve had sex with him.”
Alisander kept his eyes on his task and didn’t answer. “Is that any of your business?”
Hark stopped him. Alisander looked up at him with those sky blue eyes of his, and Hark felt the punch all the way to his soul. “Yes, it is.”
And this time, Alisander really looked at him, perhaps for the first time in all their years together.
“Lord—”
“No,” Hark said, shaking his head. “If I’m going to lose you then at least call me by my name.”
“Hark,” Alisander said softly.
“Say it again.”
“Hark.”
Hark reached out and traced a finger over his smooth skin. “Ali.”
“I thought you didn’t want me. I thought—”
Hark placed a finger over his mouth. “I’ve always wanted you. I just can’t have you. I don’t want you to leave my side, but I know it’s selfish of me to hold you back from something better.”
“Cax is going to train me to be a Mercenary. He’s a good man, Hark, even though I know he gets on your nerves.”
“If things were different, Ali, I would make you mine.”
“You would?”
Hark nodded. “Can I ask of you one thing?”
“Whatever you want I shall give you.”
Hark bent his head and brushed his mouth lightly over Alisander’s pliant lips. “I want you. If I can only have one thing, it is this night with you.”
He pulled Alisander into him, melding his lips against the younger man’s gently, starting out the kiss slowly. Already his heart pounded heavily in his chest and his hands were a little unsteady as he pulled Alisander’s hips into his. Hark’s knuckles glided over his stomach, and he felt the muscles contract against the ticklish caress.
Their tongues met, danced, twining together. He wanted to take things slow and learn his lover, what he liked, and what drove him crazy, but Ali was so damn sexy as his body undulated next to him that he was quickly losing his perspective.
Alisander’s hand clutched his shoulder as if clinging to Hark for dear life, and he loved how it made him feel wanted and needed. Slowly, Hark undressed him, first easing off the one armed button up shirt and then untying the drawstring to Alisander’s underpants. Then he slid his hands inside the pants to grab Ali’s ass, loving the firm rounded globes. He pulled him into more firmly into him, into his groin, moaning as he felt Ali’s hardness against his own.
Wild need surged through him, and for a second he was tempted to rip off all their clothing, turn him around and sink his shaft deep inside the younger man. The image was so sharp and clear in his mind that lust temporarily blinded him. He grabbed at his own clothing, intending to do just that, but Alisander halted his hand. The gesture cooled the fever in his blood, and he disrobed without tearing any clothing.
Hark turned Alisander around and bent him over the bed, pushing his legs wide open. He wet his fingers and ran them up and down Alisander’s back hole before he bent his head to run his tongue around the puckered rosette, licking and kissing the sensitive area, causing Alisander to moan long and deep. Hark reached around and grabbed Alisander’s shaft, using the leaking pre-cum as a lubricant so he could pump it up and down.
“Oh, that feels good. I’m going to come,” Alisander managed to pant.
“Do it,” Hark commanded. “Come on my hand.”
He went back to rimming Alisander’s anus, and seconds later, Alisander exploded. His essence burst forth as Alisander groaned and bucked his hips. Hark continued to pump him, letting him ride out the orgasm before pulling back and taking hold of his own shaft.
“Do it, Hark,” Alisander breathed. “Take me.”
Hark pressed forth until his crown popped through the tight ring of muscle. Alisander let out a hiss and tensed, and Hark immediately stopped.
“Am I hurting you?”
“No, not really. The stretch burns, but I love the stretch. Please don’t stop!”
Hark continued pushing forward until he was fully seated within Alisander. Holding still, he breathed through how good it felt, how right. He laid his forehead against Ali’s back, breathing deeply. He could feel his heart hammering, and it excited him that he was able to bring this much excitement to his lover.
And then he started moving, started thrusting. Pulling out, pushing in, lightly at first and then gaining in speed and intensity. He placed his palms on either side of Alisander until he arched his back, giving him better leverage as he started to thrust heavily.
“Oh!” Alisander moaned. “Harder. Please, go harder!”
Hark obliged,
working his shaft deeper, harder until he found that sweet spot inside Ali, each push hitting his prostrate making him writhe. Even though he’d already found release, Hark felt Alisander’s cock harden again, and he hoped that his lover would be able to come again soon because he wasn’t going to last much longer.
Hark felt his release rising, felt his shaft swelling, so he planted himself as deep as he could get before spasms racked him. Alisander came apart for the second time that night. After a few minutes, his shaft slipped out of Alisander’s body. He flopped on the bed and pulled Alisander with him. Together they slept.
Later that night, Hark awoke when the shaking became too much. Bile rose in his mouth, and he hurried to the bathroom to vomit.
"Are you all right, Hark?"
"Perfectly all right when I’m with you,” he murmured. He went to wipe his face with a washcloth, but his hand was shaking too much.
“You’re shaking,” Alisander observed, moving forward to grab a cloth and rinse it with cool water before wiping his face.
“I only had that small drink earlier. Usually I’ve had a whole bottle by now.” He grabbed a glass, but his hand was shaking so much that he dropped it and it shattered on the floor.
“I need a drink.”
“No, you don’t.”
Unexpectedly, rage rose through him as his legs almost gave out. No, this was not acceptable. He was better with the drink. Stronger. Someone was trying to kill him, so now was not the time to have the shakes.
“Go get me a bottle,” he ordered.
“What? No—”
“Listen, servant! You do as I command. Go to Poro’s and get me a bottle!”
Instantly, he wanted to take the words back. He saw Alisander’s face shut down and his eyes turn bleak. It made his heart hurt. But the need for the wine consumed him, and all he could think about was taking a drink.
Ali abruptly turned on his heel and left the bathroom, leaving him behind, shaking hard.
****
Alisander felt numb as he left the castle behind and hurried on his way toward Winemaker Row. He’d shared a beautiful moment with Hark, but he should’ve known better. He was just a servant, after all.
He didn’t even realize he’d been followed until hands grabbed him. Pain slice through his skull, and then he knew no more.
Dark Rider Page 5