by Shawn Keys
The windows of the room were thin, mere slits in the thick crystal walls when compared to the majestic style of the ones in Callistia’s apartments. But a band of sunlight was peeking through, heralding the dawn and telling Ajax the hour. Helleanna purred again in her sleep as the sunbeam caressed her. She stretched softly against him before settling into a new dream.
The silken movement of her skin against his aroused Ajax fully from sleep. Rolling her to her back, he tucked in between her legs. His knees crept under hers, urging them outward. The moon elf let out another soft purr, instinctively spreading her thighs. The purr became a moan as his plum-shaped glans glided through the folds of her sex. Stirring to awaken her desire, Ajax soon eased himself into her tightness as it began to drip with instinctive need. As much as her petite body would allow, he surged in deep and filled her.
Her long gasp was music to his ears, made better as her full breasts rose with her arched back and sudden intake of breath. Her nipples went hard as her racing heart pumped blood through her in a rush. Her fingers clenched into the sheets, and she moaned, “Ohhh, yessssss… I need to wake up like this every morning!” Her words trailed off into a throaty laugh, then devolved further into another sexy moan.
Leaning into her, Ajax lavished attention on her breasts, then reached further up to capture her mouth in a lustful kiss. As their tongues wrestled, he slammed the whole bed against the wall as he pounded into her with heavy, bear-like thrusts.
Needing more air, Helleanna broke off their kiss so she could scream wantonly into the air.
The door flew open, and two other moon elves bustled in. Both were other female servants who lived in the surrounding spaces. One blurted out in honest concern, “Helleanna? Are you alri – urrrk!”
She was cut off as she absorbed the image of the maid’s parted legs and the hulking human Errant between them, piercing her to her soul with crashing thrusts.
Helleanna’s head fell to the side, her grin wide and lost in pleasure. “Want a turn, Sabellala?”
Both of the other servants went beat red with blushes, hastily closing the door and fleeing.
Ajax boomed a laugh. “You are a wicked, devilish sort of woman, aren’t you?”
She grinned, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said, “Just the way you like it?”
He did his best to show her.
An hour and a few orgasms later, the two of them began to think about crawling out of bed.
He tugged and pulled his long braids back into a semblance of order. There was a reason he pleated his hair; mornings were bad enough without worrying about a rat’s nest of tangles. He loved the feel of a woman running her hands through the jumble of his locks, but there was a cost to pay. For now; he was best served leaving them in the interlocking braids he had now. One day, he would pay the toll for leaving them woven for so long – three or four days of combing or maybe just a set of shears and be done with it. But not today.
He chuckled deeply, “Now that we’re the scandal of the castle, time to think about what comes next.”
Helleanna pulled on a pair of soft suede shoes, the final element to her practical servant attire. Once more, she was dressed in simple beige garments with black trim, a dress that flattered her yet ensured she would fade into the background next to the glorious outfits of the sun elves. “Next? Next, you give the King his due and walk away before he decides to kill you for having defiled his sister. He is as variable as the wind and not to be presumed harmless. And for me? Next is comforting Callistia. We may have saved her virginity, but not her reputation. She’ll be the mockery of the court for some time to come. She’ll need her friends, and there will be fewer of those each day.”
Ajax finished lacing his own leather traveling boots. He agreed, “I won’t put anything past this King. Believe me, lass, I never expected to leave this place alive. If I give him the secret, he’ll delay, hoping he might drag more details from me. Then he’ll raise my hand in celebration to the court and the mob and play friends: long enough that he can claim he meant well in this whole nasty affair. Then when I’m done being his show pony, there’ll be a knife waiting for me in a dark room.”
The moon elf’s lips twisted into a mocking smile. “Seems you have been to an elfish court before.”
“Far too often. How can you stand the abuse? You’re not human, but I know the fate of moon elves in these courts is not much better. Why else do most of them choose to live out in the countryside as the noble rulers of humans? Lonely it must be, but better than being looked down upon by sun elves all day long. And forest elves take it further, refusing to be among the sun elves at all, keeping to their trees and policing any foolish human who dares to hunt under the branches. Yet you stay?”
Helleanna shrugged, finishing the buckling of her dress snaps. “In all dross, there is some gold. Callistia is proud and arrogant and even waspish at times. She is a sun elf princess, raised for centuries to believe she is special and afforded every luxury to prove it. But there is warmth and sunshine in her soul, and I long to soak in that radiance every day. When she praises me, my whole soul glows.” Her eyes grew a little enchanted.
Ajax grunted and smiled. “You love her.”
Helleanna let out a sigh. “I guess I do. All I know is that it’s worth it to suffer these daily insults for the chance to stay at her side and defend her.”
A morsel of a thought occurred to him. “Would you follow her if she were to go? Married off, for instance, to some sun elf lord in another land?”
“Of course.”
“It hurts me to think of you both here, among those who cannot see your value. I saw Callistia threaten Dassereen. That was no idle threat. She has power beyond her title, doesn’t she?”
Helleanna nodded. “All royal children train in many arts. Her skill with lightning magic is beyond compare. She could have seared his mind before he drew his first blade.”
“Useful for a life on the road.”
That caught the moon elf off-guard. She then laughed nervously. “Are you kidding?”
Ajax leaned forward in his seat, “Why would I? ‘Tis true.”
“We explained last night why she couldn’t leave!”
Ajax returned a cunning smile. “Last night she was a traitor if she failed to appear for the sunrise rituals. But the rituals are nearing their end. The questions will be asked and her answers will forever silence anyone who calls her traitor. As far as they know, she gave a most precious, personal treasure to feed the King’s command. What more could they ask?”
“He will not forgive her if she walked away. She is valuable to him, even broken. In fact, she might be more valuable broken if he thinks she can be manipulated more easily.”
It was a solid point, and set Ajax to thinking. His heart could not stand the idea of leaving Callistia behind. He had wanted her from the moment he saw her. Having possessed her for a single night, he knew it was nowhere near enough. Helleanna’s wellspring of life and energy was just as tempting. Knowing that the two would always walk the same path together, inseparable, only made him want them both even more.
A new idea rushed up to greet him. “Then I shall kidnap you both.”
The mad idea got Helleanna laughing. “Wh-what?”
“Think on it! If Callistia wishes to leave, she couldn’t. She’s trapped here for the sake of those who the King would hurt in order to punish her for leaving. Right? We can use that against him. If they believe her kidnapped by the very human your King gave her to, sympathy would win her even more friends. The King’s desire for power was why she was fed to me, which awoke my horrid lust and caused me to make off with her… and, of course, the maid which I needed to silence lest she tell everyone what I had done.”
The idea was crazy, and with a hundred ways it could go wrong. “I don’t know if they’d believe…” Helleanna drifted off, stopping herself.
Ajax could see the reason in her eyes. She wants this. She wants to be gone. To walk the world. And to do it with
Callistia at her side. She wants to free her mistress from the pain of this place. She wants to believe this could work, not convince herself that it is impossible. He pressed the idea, “Eventually the game will fall apart. But not right away. And her friends will understand what she did and why. By the time the story falls apart, they will have distanced themselves from her or left themselves. That will give them the time they didn’t have last night to get safe.”
Helleanna darted from her chair and went to her knees in front of him. She clasped his hands with her own, desperate to accept the idea but fearful of the danger. “They’d hunt us. No, they’d hunt you! Whatever they believe, they could never let you escape with their golden princess!”
Ajax huffed, once again reminded of the other secret he carried. He imagined the Lyvarress’s fury when he finally pierced the illusion surrounding the pendant and realized he held another fake. “The king will hunt me. That much is inevitable. His anger will be terrible. Adding one more reason won’t matter.”
The wheels turned in Helleanna’s mind. Then, she was back on her feet, tugging on his wrist. “Come. We need to see My Lady. You’re tempting me beyond all reason, my brutish Errant, and I need her wisdom before I help you kidnap her for real!”
Letting out one more deep laugh, he rose from his chair and followed. Together, they strode purposefully through the halls, evading any sign of the sun elves or their gendarme. For all Ajax knew, they were already looking for him. He was to provide the secret to the King at high sun, but that didn’t mean they would leave him untended and free to roam their castle. Considering what Ajax was talking about doing, they were right to be suspicious.
They slipped into the Callistia’s apartments unseen. She was already there, and had already removed her morning sunrise garments in favor of a flowing white dress that was equal parts beauty and airy for movement. The morning sun was streaming through the massive windows, reflecting off the ocean water brightly enough to make Ajax’s eyes sting.
Abandoning any decorum, Callistia rushed to Helleanna and embraced her in a warm hug. “Where have you been? I’d thought you dragged to the dungeons with Ajax or worse!”
Ajax felt a little touched by the sound of concern in her voice. It wasn’t much, but to hear even that much worry about a moon elf and a human from a sun elf royal was as refreshing as it was strange.
Helleanna hugged her back, asking, “What happened? Did the King accept your sacrifice?”
Tucked as they were into each other’s arms, Helleanna couldn’t see how Callistia’s eyes closed in suffering. Ajax could. The moon elf certainly felt the princess’s arms tightened even further around her. Aloud, the sun elf sobbed, “He was horrid. Yes, he believed me. So easily. He wanted me spoiled. Even if he thought I was hiding anything, I doubt he looked twice to find it.” Her voice trailed off to a whisper. “When we had a moment alone, he told me that since I have the taste of a whore’s life, he could use it as a weapon in his arsenal. With allies who will not meet his terms or for treasures he must possess, he can…” She shivered, remembering the King’s exact words, “…he can ‘get them into bed with him by using my eagerness in my own bed to sway them.’”
Not waiting for Helleanna to broach the subject, Ajax’s anger compelled him to speak. “Then don’t stay here!”
The princess’s eyes clicked open, unraveling a little from the embrace. “What are you saying? This is my home.”
Hearing the weight of sun elf tradition bearing down on her, Ajax fought against it. “Is it, Callistia?” He deliberately did not use her title, separating her from the court in his mind. “What family and what home is this, where they will use you as an unwilling whore to feed their greed? I am not saying humans are all that much better. I have heard of marriage deals where young daughters are given to lecherous old lords for the prize of gold and a few extra acres of land. This is no different.”
“Leaving would be a slap in the face of the King.”
“He would deserve one!” He rushed on to say, “But it isn’t necessary. You told me why you couldn’t openly defy him. But we have a way for to leave without being blamed for it.” He traded a last conspiring look with Helleanna, then said, “I’m going to kidnap you.”
Callistia’s mouth dropped open. “Are you mad?”
“Far from it. Don’t pretend your brother would ever let me leave alive. Even if he kept the magic, he could deliver my skull to Tyranthelam as a way of forgiveness and warning to any other human who dares defy a sun elf lord. It was inevitable that I would run. They are watching and waiting for me to do it. But they never expected that I would have the aid of two elves in my escape. Without you, I would likely die far short of the castle gate. With you, we could be miles away by the time they even realize I have gone.”
“But why would you take me? It would only serve to anger him more! He would see the ruse.”
“What does it matter? Perception is reality. All that matters is the story! Besides, there is a fine reason for me to take you away.”
Helleanna grew a lascivious smile. “Having tasted our flesh once, you can’t help but ravish us all the more?”
Ajax chuckled. “That wasn’t the idea.”
She pouted playfully. “Oh? What a pity.”
Callistia watched her maid, then rolled her eyes with a laugh. “He had you again this morning, didn’t he?”
“Such tales are for private, My Lady!”
Laughing softly, Ajax cut through their banter as time was short. “What I truly had in mind was my own safety. I will leave a note, written on your own stationary so there can be no doubt I had access to you. On the note, I will claim I have taken you as assurance of my own safety. I will claim that if he allows me to cross his lands and leave unharmed, I will return you to him.”
The princess laughed, “He won’t believe that!”
“Nor should he. After all, I made off with you to possess you again and again, right?” He let a little of his real desire for her show. It was enough to make her flush and Helleanna to smile heatedly. He went on, “But again, it doesn’t matter. He was always going to chase me. I dare not give him the magic secret. In the end, he will follow us. We need only reach a place his power cannot touch us.”
“I am not sure there is such a place,” Callistia warned. “His anger can be like a hurricane.”
“Then we’ll weather it.”
Callistia’s gaze went to Helleanna, searching for the moon elf’s feelings on the matter. She was clearly tempted, and knew the maid would follow her.
For her part, Helleanna merely nodded encouragingly.
Sensing her temptation, Ajax nudged her further, “The world is wide. I never knew how far it went until I walked to the horizon. Here, you are nothing but flesh to be fought over. But I can offer something more.”
Both elves opened their eyes at the curious statement. They sensed he meant more than just his affection.
Not daring to say too much, Ajax said, “I am a broken Errant for a reason. I carry a burden. I am at the start of a quest that I need to see through to the end. Trust me when I say that I am on the side of virtue in this tale. I know you have talent. Being hunted by your King is the least of my worries. Help me, and I promise I will share with you what I am fighting for. Perhaps, I can give you a new purpose. An honorable one.”
Callistia’s face brightened once more as he painted the portrait of a grand adventure. “Once again, my good Errant, you make it quite impossible for me to say ‘no’. I find myself uncertain as to what should come next.”
“Why, next, My Lady? First, you allow me access to your parchment and ink. I’ll pen the note. It may infuriate him even more as I will write it in elfish characters with my distinctly human flair.”
Helleanna covered her mouth to stop from giggling. “You really do want to die, don’t you?”
“What can I say? Being vile to his sister has earned him a black spot in my heart.” He tried not to notice the warm look Callistia favored him
with. “Then, Helleanna is going to describe for me the path I can take out of the castle. I am familiar with Sun Elf castles, but I don’t have time to get lost. I’ll need to know every twist and turn so I don’t stumble along the way. And I need to know of possible exit routes that the gendarme won’t expect.”
The maid nodded her ascent. “I know of at least one, perhaps two.”
Callistia asked, “And once free of the castle? What path shall we follow that the King’s horses can’t run? Or that the gendarme can’t track us down?”
“Any path we take is a risk. I’m going to bet on an old ploy. Hunters tend not to believe their prey will be bold. They expect prey to run. To make mistakes and favor speed and distance over cunning.”
“A fair assumption.”
He pointed out the windows toward the port-city of Dunsmuir. “So instead, we hide there. Use the sea as our means of escape.”
The idea sparked another in Helleanna. She grew excited, “I know of someone who can help! And who might need our help in return! We can exchange favors.”
Ajax approved, glad they would not have to resort to gold for payment. When one man could be bought, they could be bought by another with even more gold. Traded favors tended to last.
Callistia asked, “Anything else, then?”
Ajax grew more serious. “A weapon. They have taken mine.”
The princess’s eyes closed in pain. “I would not have my people hurt.”
He was touched by how much she cared, even for those so eager to see her fall. “I will not do so willingly. I am not here to be an assassin. But I would have fled regardless, Callistia. If I had to, I would have stormed the gates. Help me, and hopefully far fewer will die.”
Helleanna suggested, “The route from the castle could take us via the armory.”