The Priestess and the Thief

by Evangeline Anderson

  They said he must have killed himself within the hour after I left, Roke thought, remembering his first and last vid-call home, when he had learned of his father’s suicide. He did his duty by me and then went to meet my mother the moment I stepped out the door. He simply couldn’t live without her anymore.

  Was that what he wanted, Roke asked himself? That constant vulnerability to endless, heartbreaking, debilitating grief? Because that was what he would be letting himself in for if he bonded the little priestess to him. He would live with her, happy in the euphoria of her love, but always in the back of his mind would be the knowledge that if something happened to her he would be driven mad with the agony of loss…

  It’s better to let her go—safer, he argued with himself. And she doesn’t want to bond with you anyway. She’s a priestess—she has another life aboard the Mother Ship.

  A life he might have ruined for her forever.

  And then the guilt came back and he was right back where he had started, having come full circle. It was maddening.

  I’m a fool, Roke told himself. An indecisive idiot.

  Forget going back in time to stop the events of the night before—he wished he could go all the way back to the human’s Christmas party aboard the Mother Ship and stop himself from drugging the punch. Maybe even stop himself from meeting Ellilah in the first place!

  If only it was possible to do that—to go back and stop himself from meeting her—to stop himself from falling in love.

  But it was too late for that, Roke admitted to himself. Too late to do anything but call himself a fool and try to live with the consequences of his actions.

  Forty-Four

  The parade was long and tiresome, winding as it did through all the long cobblestone streets of Capital City. Elli was glad she’d decided to wear her riding boots under her long red dress. If she’d worn the thin satin slippers that went with it, her feet would have been horribly sore long before the splendid spectacle was over.

  At least Demon was behaving himself beautifully. Elli had explained to him before the parade what was expected of him and though he didn’t like carrying the Crown Prince, he was docile and quiet because she was at his head, leading him through the cheering crowds.

  Elli was well aware of what destruction the big zorel could wreak if he wanted to, and she was glad that Demon had adopted her as his person and was willing to obey her. However, it made her sad to think of leaving him behind and going back to the Mother Ship.

  He’ll miss me, she thought and brushed away a tear that rolled down her cheek. And I’ll miss him, too!

  He’s not the only one you’ll miss, whispered a little voice inside her head. It’s too bad you let Roke into your heart, you know. You should have tried harder to stop yourself from loving him—then parting wouldn’t hurt so much.

  But it was too late for regrets now. All she could do was get through the parade and then receive her piece of the Healing Lattice so she could go back to the Mother Ship and try again to live the life of a chaste priestess.

  I’ll drink from the cup of Mortem Amore the minute I get back, she promised herself for the hundredth time. Surely it will ease my pain.

  She had heard that the elixir within killed not only the desires of the flesh, but also the regrets of the heart. And that was what she wanted right now—she wanted to feel numb to the pain that was tormenting her—the pain of losing the big warrior who had come to mean so much to her in such a short amount of time.

  At last the parade was over and she was able to lead Demon back to the palace stables. The last mile or so the big zorel had been growing restless—he really disliked the Crown Prince and having a person who he detested riding on his back for so long was a trial to him.

  But it wasn’t like the Prince could get off early—he needed the mounting block to get off and on any zorel, let alone one as big as Demon. So Elli coaxed the big animal along, promising him sweet biscuits and plenty of krispers as long as he behaved himself.

  “It’s all right, Demon,” she murmured, stroking the big zorel’s long muzzle as she led him at last to stand restively beside the mounting block. “You’re a good boy—just hold still so His Majesty can get down.”

  Demon snorted smoke and pawed at the ground with one foreclaw but held still enough for the Crown Prince to clamber stiffly down from the ornate, jeweled saddle which had clearly been crafted more for style than practicality.

  “Well!” he said, straightening his golden riding cloak, which glimmered richly in Pok’s weak sunlight. “That was quite a success if I do say so myself!”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Elli said dutifully, trying to smile. “You and Demon looked magnificent and all the people were amazed by your bravery and gallantry.”

  She had a hard time making her face match her flattering words, but the Crown Prince didn’t seem to notice.

  “Yes, I was rather splendid, wasn’t I?” he exclaimed, puffing out his chest. “And of course, no one but me could have ridden this big brute!”

  He slapped Demon on the side, which caused the big zorel to shy. He swung his head towards the Crown Prince and hissed menacingly, blowing a large cloud of black smoke in His Highness’s face.

  “I say!” The Crown Prince jumped back quickly, coughing and choking from the smoke. He looked around to see if anyone had noticed his moment of cowardice but all the grooms and stable hands were wisely keeping their eyes down and had become suddenly very busy with their various tasks.

  Elli acted quickly to defuse the situation.

  “You were amazing, Your Majesty, but I think I’d better put Demon in his stall now. It’s been a hard day for him, with all those flapping flags and banners and the crowds who came to see you, cheering in his ears. He needs a little time to himself to recuperate.”

  “Yes, just as well, I suppose.” The Crown Prince nodded stiffly. “Well, then, I dare say I’ll see you when you get him safely locked away.”

  Elli felt hope swell in her heart.

  “So you’re going to wait for me, so that you can give me a piece of the Healing Lattice?” she asked. “As we agreed, Your Highness?” she added, reminding him of his promise.

  “Yes, I did agree that a good showing in the Grand Parade would earn you a chance to earn a piece of the Lattice, didn’t I?” He looked at her musingly, his bulging eyes raking over the tight-fitting red dress in a way that made Elli feel as naked as she did when she was wearing the see-through Tenebrian dresses all the Court ladies favored.

  “Yes, you did,” she said, standing her ground and resisting the urge to cover her breasts with her arms.

  “Very well then—I shall wait for you here.”

  The Crown Prince started to sit on the mounting block, then examined it more closely and frowned. He removed a gold lace handkerchief from his inner cape pocket and spread it fastidiously over the dirty wooden block before sitting gingerly.

  “I shall wait for you here,” he said again. “But don’t be long—I’m not accustomed to waiting.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.” Elli bowed quickly and took Demon by the halter. “Come on, sweet boy,” she told him. “I think I promised you some sweet biscuits and krispers so let’s get you unsaddled and settled down.”

  Forty-Five

  By the time Elli had locked the heavy jeweled saddle back in its special case and given Demon a quick rub-down, she was completely exhausted. She left the huge zorel contentedly munching the pile of krispers she had given him and shut the heavy stall door securely behind him.

  Demon’s stall was reinforced in order to keep him in—otherwise he doubtless would have kicked the door down and escaped long ago. Because of the weight of the door, the latch was stiff and tricky to get right. Elli spent a moment fiddling with it, trying to make it latch securely. She almost had it when a heavy hand fell on her shoulder and someone spun her around.

  “Oh!” Elli gasped. Looking up, (though not very far, since he wasn’t much taller than her) she saw it was the Crown Pri
nce who had grabbed her.

  “Did I not tell you to hurry, girl?” he demanded, glaring at her. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her out of the stables. “I’m not accustomed to waiting, you know!”

  “Forgive me, Your Majesty,” Elli exclaimed, stumbling after him. She was flustered by the quick trip from Demon’s stall to the outside of the stables. “I just had to see to Demon—he worked hard for you today, you know. I couldn’t leave him without at least a quick rubdown!”

  “As to that, I wouldn’t mind a ‘quick rubdown’ myself.” The Crown Prince leered at her. Then he grabbed her hand and put it on the meager bulge under his golden breeches.

  “Ugh!” Elli made a face and yanked her hand away. All her honeyed words of flattery deserted her and she could only demand, “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “What I’ve been doing is sitting out here with my cock as stiff as a tree branch waiting for you to finish with that big brute so I could fuck you!” he snapped. “But you have the nerve to keep your Monarch waiting!”

  “What are you talking about? You said you’d wait for me to give me a piece of the Lattice!” Elli exclaimed, staring at him. “You said that I would earn it by helping you make a good showing in the Grand Parade today.”

  “I said nothing of the sort,” the Crown Prince said coolly. “I said that if we made a good show in the parade today, you would earn a chance to earn a piece of the Healing Lattice. Which you have and your chance is here—I will fuck you now so that you may earn the Lattice. So pull up your skirts and let’s get on with it!”

  “No!” Elli gasped, when he reached for her again. “I won’t do that, no matter what you say!”

  “You will too, you little whore!” The Crown Prince’s flat face turned an ugly shade of purple. “I saw how eager you were to take your lover’s cock last night.” He leaned forward, taking Elli by the throat before she could get away. “Only think how much more you’ll enjoy being plowed by a royal cock, my dear,” he purred, shoving his face into hers.

  His breath smelled like rotten eggs, making Elli want to gag—but she could barely breathe with his fingers wrapped around her throat.

  “Help!” she gasped, trying to push back from him. “Someone help me!”

  But her voice came out weak and soft and anyway, as she looked around, Elli realized that all the grooms and stable hands who had been around just a little while ago were now gone.

  “I sent the servants away, my dear,” the Crown Prince murmured, giving her an ugly smile. “I prefer to take my pleasure in private sometimes—does that surprise you?”

  “Leave…me…alone!” Elli gasped. Things might look hopeless, but she hadn’t been raised with four older brothers for nothing—ever protective, they had taught her how to defend herself.

  Putting her hands to her throat where the Tenebrian monarch was holding her, she managed to grab one of his fingers and bend it sharply backwards.

  “Ouch!” the Crown Prince yelped and jerked his hand away. “How dare you lay a finger on my royal person?” he demanded, shaking his wounded hand.

  “Well, you were laying more than a finger on me!” Elli pointed out, backing away towards Demon’s stall. She hoped the Crown Prince wouldn’t follow her further into the abandoned stables, but His Majesty was clearly used to getting what he wanted and unfortunately what he wanted right now was her. He followed, glaring at Elli.

  “Listen, you little whore,” he snarled. “You’re going to give me what I want or you’ll never get a piece of the Healing Lattice! This is your one and only chance to earn it so you’d best behave!”

  Elli felt sick.

  “You’re disgusting!” she said, her voice shaking. “And ungrateful! You never could have gotten near Demon—let alone ridden him—if I hadn’t helped you!”

  “Ah, Demon—you really care for the big brute, don’t you?” The Crown Prince sneered at her.

  “Of course I do!” Elli exclaimed. “He’s got a lot more honor than you,” she spat, glaring at the man advancing on her. She was still backing away, though there was really nowhere she could run. The back doors of the stables were locked and only the head groom had the key.

  “Well if you really give a damn what happens to him, you’ll give me what I want,” the Crown Prince snapped. “Otherwise I’ll have him shot right in front of you. How do you like that?”

  “You wouldn’t!” Elli was filled with horror. How could she have so misjudged the Tenebrian monarch? She’d thought him a fop—a foolish man who cared more for his vanity more than anything else, but harmless nonetheless. Now she saw he was a monster—but the realization had come too late. He had her cornered and there was no way out.

  I’ll fight him! she thought fiercely. I’ll never let him do what he wants!

  But even if she fought the Crown Prince off, then what? He was holding the life of the old Priestess Superior and Demon’s life over her head like a threat. Both of them would die if Elli didn’t give him what he wanted. But she couldn’t just let him rape her, could she?

  “You know I would,” he said now, advancing on her again. “I’ll kill the big brute and you’ll never get a piece of the Healing Lattice unless you raise your skirt and spread your legs like a good girl to earn it!”

  He lunged for her again and Elli gasped and tripped backwards, knocking into Demon’s stall door. The loose latch rattled at the impact and Demon snorted from inside.

  Before she could right herself, the Crown Prince used Elli’s moment of weakness to his advantage. Gripping her by the shoulders, he smashed her to the ground, right outside the huge zorel’s stall, and climbed on top of her.

  “No! No, stop!” Elli shouted at the top of her lungs. Now that it came to it, she found that she simply couldn’t let herself be raped. She kicked and fought, screaming for help as loud as she could—help that she knew would never come because Roke was back in the palace and everyone else was too afraid to stop the Crown Prince from taking whatever he wanted…

  Suddenly Demon’s stall door rattled alarmingly and then banged open with a hollow boom as it hit the door beside it. One good kick had broken the loose latch and given him his freedom.

  Out of his stall, charged the huge zorel. Pawing the ground with his long foreclaws, he roared his displeasure at seeing Elli in danger.

  “Demon!” Elli gasped. “Demon, help me!”

  “What? What’s all this then?” The Crown Prince looked up.

  He had been so busy trying to push Elli’s voluminous skirts up and get his own stubby member out of his golden breeches that he’d barely noticed anything until Demon roared. Now he looked up at the immense zorel, his bulging eyes going wide with alarm.

  “Steady now, boy,” he said, holding up a hand to fend off Demon, who was glaring down at him with red eyes. “Just go back in your stall now, there’s a good fellow.”

  “I think you’d better get off me now,” Elli told him, her voice shaking with emotion. “Demon isn’t one of your servants you can order around. He won’t like it if he thinks you’re hurting me.”

  At her words, the huge zorel snorted menacingly and took a step forward, pawing the ground again.

  “How dare you!” The Crown Prince looked both frightened and angry as he glared from Demon to Elli and back again. “How dare you threaten me with my own beast?”

  “Demon isn’t yours,” Elli said clearly, glaring back at him. “And neither am I. Now get off me before I tell him to flame you, Your Majesty.”

  “You little bitch!” His fury overcoming his fear, the Crown Prince struck her, hard across the face. “How dare you deny me!” he shouted in Elli’s face as she gasped and clutched at her hurt cheek. “How dare you—”

  And that was when Demon roared with fury and a stream of flame hit the Tenebrian monarch squarely in the chest.

  Forty-Six

  “Warrior, the one I sent you to protect is in danger! Go to her now!”

  The urgent words caught Roke by surprise. For the past half
hour he’d been having a nagging, worried feeling about Ellilah but he had pushed it away and kept packing. He was sure it was just his own conscience telling him that he had treated her wrong and he told himself she didn’t want to see him any more than necessary. So he had ignored the feeling, though it continued to grow until at last the Goddess—for it must be her—actually shouted at him.

  “Goddess!” he gasped, looking around for the deity’s unseen presence. “What…where…?”

  “Go to her!” the Goddess repeated, and then she was gone.

  Galvanized into action at last, Roke rushed from the room and ran through the palace as fast as he could. He knew without asking where his little priestess was—she would be down at the stables, saying her last goodbyes to Demon.

  Has he attacked her? Roke thought, his heart in his mouth. He had always felt uneasy about Ellilah getting so close to the monstrous, vicious beast. Had he turned on her and flamed her as he had his favorite groom the first time they saw him? Would Roke see her shrieking and wreathed in flames when he finally got to the stables?

  Fear spurred him on as he rushed through the courtyards, heading for the stables. Would he get there in time? He knew now that the uneasy feeling he’d had must have been sent by the Goddess. And yet, like a fool, he had ignored it. Would he be too late to save Ellilah?

  As he burst out into the open space before the stables, his heart leapt into his throat. There was, indeed, a figure screaming and burning right out in front of the stables. Like a human torch it shrieked and writhed as it staggered to and fro, drunk on pain and fear.

  “Ellilah! No!” Roke roared.

  Putting on another burst of speed, he reached the flaming figure and grabbed it around the middle. Heedless of the flames licking at his own arms, he heaved it into the water trough, extinguishing the fire with a great hiss of steam and smoke.

  “Roke! Roke, in here!” a voice called from behind him.