The Emerald Prince (8 page)

Blaine kept his wrists crossed over his head after Elliot released them. The prince moved down his body, kissing and stroking, with a grin on his face. As long as Elliot didn’t stop, Blaine wouldn’t move his hands even if the tent fell down around them.

Blaine’s stomach tensed as Elliot ran his tongue across it, making his way further south. He paused when he reached Blaine’s manhood. Blaine crooked his neck to meet Elliot’s lustful gaze, his wrists still pinned by will, anticipation dripping from his skin. Elliot blew on his hardness making him tremble.

Elliot’s hand wrapped around him. The prince’s tongue ran from the bottom of his shaft to the top before taking him fully into his mouth.

Blaine lifted his hips, moaning in several different languages, ones he knew the prince wouldn’t understand. He shamelessly begged Elliot to keep going as he licked and sucked him in. He was so close, his sac tightening in Elliot’s hand.

At the point of no return, Elliot stopped, his finger pressed over Blaine’s hole, stopping the building pressure from being released.

“What are you doing?” Blaine snapped.

“We’re going to Storm’s Edge. Say it.”

He held Blaine’s orgasm hostage so they could run head first into danger?
That fucking brat.
Blaine reached helplessly for his hard on, but Elliot batted his hands away. All he wanted was to get off. “Fine, we’ll go to Storm’s Edge. But know this. I’m going to repay you in full for what you just did.”

Elliot seemed not to hear the threat in Blaine’s words as he smiled and then fell back onto Blaine’s member, eagerly sucking him off. Blaine’s hand reached down and gripped Elliot’s golden locks as his body tense. He exploded, shooting jet after jet down Elliot’s throat. Elliot swallowed the seed until he’d gone dry. Afterward, he cleaned the knight off with his tongue.

Blaine collapsed against the furs, panting. “Do you always use sex to get what you want?”

Elliot climbed on top of him, staring down with a self-satisfied grin. “Not always, but your wholly inexplicable devotion to me makes it the easiest course.”

“You know, I hate you a little right now.”

Elliot’s smile grew even wider. “Good. Hate just means you’re seeing more than your romanticized notion of me.” The prince cuddled against him. “Sorry that I wrecked your image of me with my actual personality.”

Blaine shook with laughter underneath Elliot’s warm body. “And now I love you even more, but you’re still a brat.”

Chapter Seventeen

Victoria’s first act upon reaching her room was to cover the naked man standing in it. She had no slacks he could fit, so she sat on her couch with a slave kneeling at her feet wearing one of her shawls tied around his waist.

“So, what should I call you?”

“Anything you wish, Mistress.”

“No. I mean what’s your real name?”

“This one has never been given a name, Mistress.”

“People must have been calling you something for all these years.” The man looked to be at least twenty; he must have had a name.

“Yes Mistress, they called me ‘slave.’”

Victoria gave an exacerbated sigh. “There must have been a time when they needed to distinguish you from other slaves. What did they call you then?”

“Yes Mistress, they called me lorr.”

Victoria had spent a fair amount of time studying foreign languages and while she wasn’t fluent in any Fezami language, she knew
lorr
meant
one
in several of them.

“One? Why did they call you one?”

“Because I was the first to be auctioned that day.”

Victoria’s heart broke for the man before her. She couldn’t imagine anyone being treated so callously. “Is there some kindness I can show you?” She realized the suggestiveness of her words and added, “within reason?”

“All this one wishes is to be allowed to serve you.”

“I know that’s what you’ve been trained to say, but there must be something you really want.”

“This one has always dreamed to serve someone like you, someone who is beautiful and kind. This one considers himself to be the most fortunate slave in all the world.”

For a moment Victoria was taken in by his words, then asked, “What makes you think I’m kind?”

“Because it is known throughout your kingdom. On the ship that brought me here, it was mentioned I was for you and the men spoke of you.”

Victoria tilted her head to the side. “What did they say?”

The slave bowed his head without answering.

“Tell me what they said.”

“They said, my Mistress, that you were a dove among vipers.”

The analogy bothered Victoria, but not because doves were pure, but because they were weak. A dove among vipers was little more than a quick meal. Victoria would never be taken so easily. The princess began to become heated at the thought, then she remembered. “Wait, we were meant to discuss you, not me. We have to call you something. What name would you like?”

“This one wishes to be named by Mistress.”

“
I
…I wish to be named.” Victoria corrected.

“I wish to be named by you, Mistress.”

Victoria tapped her finger to her chin. “How about Lorr? I know it just means the number one, but there are far worse things to be called, and I like the sound of it.”

Lorr smiled up at the princess. “It is a wonderful name, Mistress. I shall cherish it.”

From the look in his eyes, she could tell he meant it.

“Lorr, what would you say if I told you that in this country, slavery is illegal and you are as free as any of us?”

“I know, Mistress.”

Victoria hadn’t expected his answer. “If you know, why do you accept this? Want this?”

“It is who I am. If I left, where would I go? Who would I be? I could no more stop being a slave than you could a woman, even if the laws of some foreign land said differently.”

On some level, that made sense to Victoria, which made her even more uncomfortable. She wanted to condemn the entire business. There was no way anyone could be content with such a life. He was just telling her what he believed she wanted to hear. After all, in his homeland, he could be killed for saying otherwise.

But she saw such conviction in his eyes. It made her doubt herself. “What is it that you want from me?”

He looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “I want only to be allowed to serve you. Your happiness and pleasure brings me happiness and pleasure.”

Victoria rose from the couch, turning her back to him. “But that’s not possible. The only man I will ever take to my bed is my husband. If I ever have a husband.”

Lorr stepped in front of her. His near nakedness forced her to look into his eyes. He took her hand and slowly raised it to his lips, giving her ample chance to pull away. He softly kissed her fingers then said, “I would rather die than ever do anything to make you act against your conscience. I ask for nothing but to serve, in whatever manner you see fit.”

A cool breeze came through the window, making Victoria shiver. At least she hoped it was the breeze.

Chapter Eighteen

Blaine tried to ignore the insistent poking at his side. His mind still held the image of the prince’s soft lips wrapped around his member, and he did not want to open his eyes. But he knew it was time to go. He had promised, after all. Abandoning the army to sneak into a castle under siege—alone.

The prince was already dressed for travel. There were two full packs resting against the table.

Blaine sighed and glared at the traitor laying flaccid against his thigh. “This is all your fault.”

The idea of sneaking away from the army and going in alone sounded like a far better plan when he was on the verge of exploding.

After getting dressed, Blaine picked up the packs and handed them to Elliot. Even though he agreed to go, he wanted to be sure the army didn’t waste valuable time looking for them, so before he drifted off, he insisted Elliot leave a note. “Did you write the letter?”

“It’s on the table.”

“Head out back and make sure no one sees you as you leave the camp. I’ll grab a couple horses and catch up with you on the road.”

They ducked out a slit cut into the back of the tent, then without saying a word, Elliot darted off, vanishing into the darkness. Blaine, who was a skilled hunter, marveled at how little noise the prince made as he ran off.

The knight crept along the perimeter of the camp. He knew where the night watchmen were because he had posted them.

He grabbed the reigns of two horses and pulled them toward the road. Each step seemed so loud; he was certain he’d get caught. And what if he did? He was their superior. Could they really stop him? He could just order them back to their tents. But if the king found out, he’d might hold the men responsible for his son’s disappearance. It was best if the men had no knowledge of them leaving until it was too late to stop them.

Blaine had made it about a mile from camp with the horses when Elliot came from the treeline and handed him his pack. They rode at a steady pace throughout the night and the next day, stopping only for meals and to tend to the horses.

By the next night, they’d covered so much ground it was impossible for anyone to catch up with them.

They made camp, and Blaine went hunting while Elliot gathered wood. The knight returned to a blazing campfire with two hares in hand.

As the meat roasted, Blaine looked around. “We should be careful. This part of the woods is crawling with bandits.”

Elliot snickered. “Bandits don’t kill princes. The risk is too high. The gain wouldn’t be enough to justify it. Noblemen kill princes. Usually for their crown.”

Blaine’s heart pounded in his chest.
He couldn’t possibly know. If he knew, he would hate me.
Yet, he could see it in his eyes.
“You know, don’t you?”

“That Tannis worked for your family and was willing to arrange an unfortunate accident after you married my sister? Yes. My father told me.”

“Then why did your father agree to the marriage?”

“Because the alternative would have been an all-out war. A war both sides would have lost when either the Ghas or Enem swept in. If you had married my sister, Tannis would have been the one that had an accident, and you would have been made Governor of the colonies.”

“Ruler of nothing but three colonies between a desert and an ocean. No one could claim he was doing anything but honoring me with the position and I’d be very much out of the way. A good plan. Poetic even.”

Elliot nodded. “Thanks. I came up with it. But I have no idea why Father agreed to let you marry me instead.”

Zariya.
Blaine had no idea how she’d done it, but it was all her doing. She did the impossible when she got Blaine and Elliot together. His father said something about a new plan. He meant to ask him about it, but oddly enough, all concern had vanished until now. When he returned to Raven’s Flight, he’d find out his father’s new plan and if it included hurting Elliot, or anyone Elliot cared about, he’d put a stop to it.

Mother was right. For him, I’ll fight.

Blaine sat down next to Elliot. “But what I don’t understand is how you can forgive me so easily.” Elliot had recently equated hatred to passion. Did the prince’s ambivalence to his plans of betrayal mean he felt nothing for him?

Elliot shrugged. “It never really bothered me because it’s the way of things. Ever since the first king.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you were a kid, no one told you the story of the first crown and the first man to become a king?”

Blaine’s father didn’t believe in letting him learn unimportant things. He was busy studying tactics and combat while other children were playing games and listening to stories. The few times we was allowed to do child-like things were precious and far apart. “No, I’ve never heard of it.”

“My nursemaid used to tell it to me all the time. It’s one of my favorite stories.

“Back in the distant past, when the gods walked among men and no one grew old or sick. Niklas fell in love with a woman who was brave and bold and took her for his wife. They had a child together, a son name Laius.

“Laius was the bravest man the world had ever known. An unmatched warrior that crushed anyone that stood against him. He not only became the ruler of his tribe, but he conquered the tribes that surrounded his and forced their leaders to name him their better.

“But he was wise as well as strong, and under his rule the people prospered. There was peace and joy throughout the lands he claimed for himself.

“Niklas was so proud of his son, that he gave him a gift, a golden circlet he called a crown. When Laius asked what the crown was for, Niklas explained, ‘This signifies how you sit above all others. How no man that walks this earth is your equal.’

“Soon, people became envious and jealous of Laius’s crown. They had nothing nearly so fine and beautiful. And even though he had ruled over them for years, that ring of gold stated explicitly what they knew implicitly and couldn’t be tolerated.

“While no one man could defeat him, working together they could kill him and they did. But there was no clear ruler after that. So they fought and killed each other like animals, trying to decide who among them was the best.

“The Earth God came and saw what had happened to his son, and in his misery, he cursed mankind to wither and die. An eternal punishment for his eternal loss.” Elliot stared into the fire, distant and alone. “And even after all this time, when it comes to that stupid piece of metal, we’ve learned nothing from our suffering.”

Chapter Nineteen

Victoria leaned against her desk, throwing her arms up in disbelief. “How can you say that? Stryvor is the father of modern philosophy.”

“Forgive me, Mistress. It’s not that I disagree with his arguments on virtue. I just find them a bit derivative.”

“Derivative? Derivative of what?”

“Nari’s works. He was a Fezami philosopher who had made the same arguments five hundred years earlier.”