The Wildest Woods

by S. K Munt

  Cairo sighed and shook his head, hiding his hurt behind a sardonic mask. ‘Why do I get the feeling that the only binding spell you’re after, is one that’s going to keep your blossoming feelings towards me under control?’

  ‘Because you’re getting cynical in your old age,’ I returned, before I shot off along the promenade, turning my back on him before I could see the knee-melting smile that was sure to have accompanied his sexy chuckle.

  28.

  Eden Palace, City Of Arcadia

  Kohén Barachiel.

  I almost lost consciousness to the fire that was burning across my back, but the pain was too intense to grant me such a release and so I writhed on my stomach for what felt like hours in a dark room in a dark place, until I felt something hot begin to scrape along the edges of my raw, torn skin. Because I was sure that someone had let a feral cat into my room to gouge my wounds open before they could begin to heal, I bucked and screamed and sweated and cursed until the burning heat became a throbbing warmth and finally, a whisper like a summer wind. People were talking in low, urgent whispers- no, bickering- but I didn’t know either voice well enough to recognize anything except the fact that one voice belonged to a man and the other, a girl.

  Saul-Yin? I thought drowsily, as those swipes became focused strokes. Theodore? Did you take me back to the barracks? Have you medicated me? Or am I dying?

  I didn’t get any answers to my questions before I finally passed out from exhaustion, but when I awoke, the room I was in was almost pitch black except for the dull glow of a nearby candle, and the only voice I could hear was a young female one that was speaking to me in a soothing tone. She was using some sort of herbal ointment on me, and I knew that because I could smell lavender strongly enough to make me feel dizzy, and could feel it being slicked across my back in wet streaks while she talked to me as though we’d been actively engaged in a conversation for hours.

  ‘I had our resident healer come in for you… the one that fixed you up after Larkin almost killed you… we’ve needed him a lot. Yes… Karol is a healer, but he expends almost every drop of energy that he has on your mother. I told him that it’s a waste of time: if she hasn’t come to in these last two years of being seen to by him daily then she never will… but he rarely listens to me. He goes down to that god-awful dungeon every morning and night, holds her hand and wills her to wake up restored...’ The girl sighed, and I felt that across my back too. ‘I know he prays for her, as we all do, but what’s the point, I ask you? She was born a demon and she died one, even if Karol can’t bring himself to let her physical being go…’ More oily, fragrant, paste was spread across my back, and I flinched when I realised that my nurse wasn’t just applying it to my wounds, but rubbing it into them. I tried to protest, but when I moved I realised that although my back ached like I’d been sung-stung in the worst way, it didn’t actually feel like I’d been shredded anymore.

  ‘Don’t move,’ my nurse said, quietly but firmly as she pressed my head back down into a pillow sham that was so soft and slippery that it defied description, and that was when I finally groaned: not because of my injuries, but because I knew now that I was still in Eden, where fabric was luxe, and flames were often used for lighting now because the castle had lost its two largest transformers in one day: my father and I. ‘The healer healed your skin, but your flesh will still ache for a few hours yet, so it’s best if you don’t do anything to agitate it further.’ Several fingertips tickled a gentle, soothing path down my spine, causing my body to go limp again. ‘That might sound overly cautious because it seems as though the healer did his job- but your skin is so beautiful, Prince Kohén. It would be a shame to see it marred by your brother’s jealousy.’

  I licked my lips. ‘Amelia-Rose?’ my voice was so hoarse that I sounded more like my Uncle Ewan than I did like myself. Goodness… how much had I screamed? ‘What are you talking about? Where am I?’

  ‘You’re in your old bedroom,’ she said softly. ‘I brought you here the moment your punishment had been seen through, and you have been healing here since.’ Her fingers brushed over my tailbone, and I stiffened then because I realised that the only thing between her fingertips and my bare ass was a thin satin sheet. Where had my clothes gone? And why was a young, unmarried, saintly woman being allowed to tend to a naked and apparently sexually dangerous royal?

  ‘Karol allowed that? Why?’

  ‘Because he loves you and I told him that if he did not get you help, he would know my wrath.’

  I almost snorted, for Amelia-Rose’s ‘wrath’ was not dissimilar from a feisty puppy chewing on the hem of someone’s pants. ‘You have a temper, do you?’

  ‘A mild one, but more than that, I have been a great help to your brother over the years, and though he’ll never come right out and admit that or even thank me for all of my assistance, he knows that it’s in his best interests to let me get my way sometimes- especially when it comes to caring for God’s most kindred spirits.’

  I lifted my eyebrows. ‘And you think that I am one of them?’

  ‘Yes- all three of you are,’ she declared with conviction. ‘Satan has broken the bonds that used to hold you and this crown together and the kingdom is suffering for that and the sins that were committed under that Nephilim slut’s influence… but I don’t care what you did back then, Kohén: you were always divine and you will be again, and the only reason why Karol can’t stand to look you in the eye or call you brother now is because he sees his weaknesses reflected in you.’ The strange girl sighed again, and my eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of it against my skin. ‘He punishes you because he has run out of ways to punish himself.’

  ‘He punishes me because I cannot punish myself,’ I argued bitterly, turning my face to the side so that I could stare over at the opposite wall. ‘I cannot be adequately mortified by all that I did under Larkin’s influence because I cannot remember it-’

  ‘Don’t say her name,’ Amelia-Rose whispered quickly. ‘It is a grievous sin here. Better you call the flightless devil herself, than the winged beast that served her earthy works.’

  My brows drew together. ‘Since when?’

  ‘Since The Banished celebrated your father’s death last autumn out by the Tidal Falls. Karol had always flown into a rage whenever he heard her addressed by her Christian name- as though she were still deserving of such a thing- but after hearing it chanted like that on the eve of his thirty-second birthday…’

  ‘Oh.’ I swallowed hard, thinking of the amount of times I’d used it that morning, and wondering if that was what I’d been really whipped for. ‘I’ll try to remember that.’

  ‘Please do. It’s important that we rid her not just from our day to day conversations, but from our hearts, minds and memories. You have forgotten her completely, and Kohl is flourishing now that he is a safe distance away from the kingdom and his family’s misery… but if we are ever to know true peace and happiness again, then we must find a way to ease your eldest brother’s pain as well.’ She slid her warm, oily hand slowly up my back. ‘And that is why I healed you: because I saw that as he watched you be whipped through the window, he wept.’

  I widened my eyes, and saw the gallery of black and white photographs of my twin and I that had been framed on the opposite wall. ‘You believe that he feels guilty for punishing me?’

  The bed dipped a little as Amelia-Rose climbed onto it and straddled my lower back. I was about to protest that it was inappropriate, but then both of her hands were rubbing my shoulders and I couldn’t speak. ‘Of course he does. You were never as close as you ought to have been, because you had those awful Companions forced between you, but although you and Kohl looked alike, your nature was always more like Karol’s.’ She rubbed her hands further down my back. ‘You were both more ambitious, more outgoing, and more Godly than Kohl was. Don’t get me wrong- I know that Kohl has a good heart and has the ability to succeed at anything if he tries hard enough, but he has had an unhappy relationship with our make
r since he was taken from this place, and that has put a chill in his heart.’ She rubbed lower and my back arched. ‘But you and Karol… you were both so vibrant and alive. So full of conviction that you would both succeed and prove God’s Glory! I know that after the witch cast her spell on you, you started to grind on one another’s nerves, but there was no questioning the fact that you would work well together once you both had more official duties to occupy your idle hands and minds with, and that your people would adore you.’ Her fingers curled around to caress my obliques, and I felt my stomach tingle in warning. ‘And they will, yet, just as soon as we put that dark Nephilim behind us. Karol has been angry with you since you convinced your whore to turn down her freedom in favour of servicing you, but he envies you now because your lack of memories about her have made it easier for you to move on with your life. On top of that, I know that he was thunderstruck to see you waltz in here earlier looking the way you did, because everybody in the court realised the same incredible truth as he did: that by punishing you and depriving you of your golden spoon, the king has made you into a man.’

  So that was why people had gasped to hear my name? Because they hadn’t actually realised that the Guardian delivering correspondence from the General was actually the same adolescent kid that they’d chased out of their paradise? I actually smirked then, wondering how stark the differences were- differences I wouldn’t have noticed because I rarely used a mirror. One of my comrades Theodore had a weird ‘thing’ about mirrors, and every time anyone looked into them, he slapped it out of their hands and crossed himself. He’d even gone as far as to cover up the ones in the barracks, and even though people moved it to shave and check their appearance, they always covered it back up after to refrain from setting young Theodore off. I used them while shaving, but I rarely looked anywhere but at my jaw, and I’d be lying if I said that Theodore’s weird little superstition hadn’t rubbed off on me, because I felt uncomfortable whenever mirrors were in the vicinity now too.

  Not that looking myself in the eye had been a lot of fun before I’d met Theodore, either. And who knew how awful it was going to be if I ever got my memories back?

  Oh well, hopefully the next time I look in the mirror-really look- I’ll see someone other than my twin, right?

  Amelia-Rose reached my hips and kneaded them firmly then, shocking me out of my thoughts as the movement and pressure of the massage caused my naked cock to slide against the slippery sheets, generating a sweet friction. ‘But you shouldn’t worry yourself too much about it, your highness. Karol will find the demon soon, I know it. He’ll find her, then kill her, and then once that is done, his own personal demons will dissipate and soon enough, he will find a way to be a brother to you again.’ The girl slipped down so that she was straddling my thighs and pressed her thumbs into the sensitive joints at the tops of my ass, causing my body to hum with charged delight. ‘But until he does, I will make it my business to heal you both from the wounds that you inflict upon one another, so that there is less guilt and angst for you both to deal with after, and less frustration widening the gap between you until then.’

  I groaned lightly, enjoying the massage thoroughly. ‘I haven’t inflicted anything upon him since I left-’

  ‘You’ve prospered as he has withered,’ Amelia-Rose said, her voice softening. ‘He’s done everything to keep the kingdom stable that we could have asked him for so from the outside, this kingdom still glitters as though God created it yesterday... but success in the face of such adversity has a price, and Karol has paid it with his happiness. He barely sleeps, he never does anything recreational, he does not socialise, he rarely eats… it’s just work, work, work all day long, and it, along with the grief and the relentless monitoring of that damned tracking device has aged him.’ She tugged the sheet down my hips a little more, and moaned softly. ‘Whereas you… you have become so tall and proud, Kohén. Karol was once thought to be the most beautiful Barachiel heir there ever was but you have eclipsed him, and that has wounded his pride. Your eyes still blaze with conviction, and your physique…’ she moaned gently again and kneaded both of my butt cheeks with her hands. ‘Look at you. So tanned, so firm and muscular. Why, I’ve never seen such a perfect-’

  ‘Amelia-Rose!’ I reached behind me, grabbed the sheet and firmly ripped it up to cover myself before I rolled over and drew my knees up, forcing her to quickly hop off my thighs so she wouldn’t be thrown clear. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m healing you,’ she said, eyes earnest but somewhat glassy. She was wearing a nightgown like she was getting ready for bed, but her hair was still styled as it had been earlier that day so she looked more coiffed than comfortable. ‘I thought you would be grateful for that!’

  ‘I am,’ I said, sitting up a little and wincing when I felt that deep ache that was not only obvious beneath every muscle in my back, but also in my balls. ‘But you’ll get us both whipped if someone walks in and find you massaging me in your nightgown while I’m naked now that my lacerations have vanished!’

  Amelia-Rose’s hazel eyes flashed. ‘No one would dare make such an accusation, Kohén Barachiel- I am virginal and pure of spirit and everybody knows that I’d sooner kill a man than let him break through my hymen before marriage.’ She got up onto the bed and grasped my knees through the sheet while I reeled. Break her hymen? Who spoke like that? ‘But there is more to healing you then simply closing over your wounds, and I can lift your spirits and take some of your other frustrations away, if you let me…’ she began to tug down on the sheet, peeling it away from my knees so that I felt the cool evening air drift across my stiffening cock.

  ‘Wh-what are you talking about?’ I asked roughly, too shocked to do anything but gape at her and cling limply to what I still had of the sheet with one hand.

  Amelia-Rose’s eyes sparked. ‘I know that you have not been going to the whores, Kohén, and I know how that must pain you… to keep your charge and lust and energy and pain all bottled up inside you like that...’ With a firm jerk, she wrenched the sheet down my calves before reaching between my knees and grasping my hips. Her hands were warm and soft, as were her eyes, and because I was so stunned by the close contact, she was able to manoeuvre her way between my legs so that she was bowing over my thighs and abdomen before I’d taken another breath. ‘And I want to take your pain away, Kohén- desperately. You’ve been brave to resist temptation… but your will must be wearing thin by now, yes? Especially with that pretty little Asianan harlot in your face, day in… day out?’

  My entire body buzzed from scalp to toe, both with offence on Saul-Yin’s behalf and excitement. This had to be a dream right? Or some twisted nightmare? ‘I’m managing,’ I said hoarsely, watching with fascination as she began to open my thighs wider with her elbows. ‘You don’t have to do anything-’

  ‘God wants me to…’ Amelia-Rose breathed, and I felt her words glance off my cock, making it throb gently. ‘He wants me to kiss you, Kohén- to kiss you all better.’

  No, no this could not happen, and if she thought that kissing my manhood was as innocent as kissing my mouth, then she was in for a rude shock when the time came to meet our maker. ‘Amelia-’

  But something warm and wet wrapped around the head of my cock then, and I sagged back against the pillows behind me, the fight going out of me immediately. I knew this was wrong on many levels, but I groaned when she all but sucked me into her mouth and out of reflex, my hands grasped her hair.

  Shit! I thought, clenching my jaw and my feet as pleasure swept over me. This is like nothing else!

  ‘Oh, Kohén…’ Amelia-Rose’s voice was throaty and coloured with lust as she delicately licked me along my seam. ‘You’re so big…’

  I grunted in response, especially when I felt her little hand cup my scrotum and squeeze it gently. I was certain that I’d been kissed like this before, and I’d often daydreamed about how it would feel to have one of those beautiful Companions that were stationed at every barracks take me into thei
r mouths… but I’d had no idea that it would feel this good and I could not believe that the pleasure was being inflicted upon me by the purest girl in Calliel. It made me feel both powerful and dirty, like I’d somehow corrupted her, and I hated myself for enjoying both feelings. She was such an uppity little thing, especially on the subject of lust, so it was rewarding to see her gagged with, well- sin. Sin that she swore that God approved of!

  But you know better! A voice inside my mind pointed out. You know this is wrong and that it’s the power in you that’s she’d drawn to, not the man, so get out of here, now!

  ‘Mmmm…’ Amelia-Rose hummed, and that was when she moved so that she was straddling just one of my legs now. Her thighs squeezed around mine and within seconds, something slick and warm was grinding against my leg, confirming my theory that I wasn’t the only one feeling edgy due to my lust. Good lord, this girl was afflicted! ‘Oh, Prince Kohén… I could do this for you all week if you stayed here...’

  A shudder went through me to understand that I was being both serviced and used by a virgin that was wet for me, but although the light, wet pressure of her mouth against my genitalia felt like a delicious tickle that was radiating through every cell in my body, only a few more beats passed before I became aware of the fact that whatever it was that she was doing wasn’t enough, and that her actions were only enhancing my frustration- not taking the edge off it.

  Come on! I thought, growing impatient as the attentions started to feel monotonous and underwhelming. Come on!