Chapter 3 #2
Emperor Tarim had sworn the damn thing off years ago, so it had been a shock when he had announced that it was to go ahead, that he would essentially sell his daughter to the strongest and richest Fae who dared enter the tournament.
It was fucking barbaric and made my skin crawl to even think of watching the princess end up married to whomever won that twisted game.
But there was nothing I could do; I was only as useful as my sword.
A man forged into a weapon and given a singular task in life - to protect the Lunarelle royals.
I just wished I could protect her from that fate.
“I can hardly breathe in all this silk,” the princess protested.
“Don’t be so pathetic, Austyn. You can handle a little sunshine. Are you of Osarian blood or not?” Magdor asked dismissively and I had to stop my upper lip from curling at her brash tone with the emperor’s daughter.
“You look beautiful, child,” the emperor spoke in a bland tone, one void of the vibrancy and love of life which used to fill every corner of his being. I missed that man. The one I used to look up to, the one who wasn’t influenced by his black hearted empress.
I moved to stand beside the wall as the emperor approached his wife and daughter, embracing Magdor first, before placing a single hand on Austyn’s shoulder in greeting. It was an insult to the way he had once shown her affection and it made my teeth grind together.
What has happened to the man you once were? Can you not see that Magdor has changed you?
The princess was clad in white, close-fitting silk with her veil over her face and gloves on her hands.
It was far too hot on any normal day in Osaria for such clothes, but today of all days it was practically a danger.
Unfortunately, even though it was my duty to protect that girl, it was also my duty to obey the emperor, so if he deemed this acceptable, I was going to have to go along with it.
“Father, tell her this is ridiculous,” Austyn demanded, placing a hand on her hip.
She had always been feisty, never biting her tongue on words which got her into trouble, and I was eternally grateful that Magdor had never managed to bring her to heel. Her defiance was all the more heart-breaking though, because in the end, she was going to be forced to do as she was told.
Magdor treated her as nothing more than a symbol of beauty, a goose that would one day lay her a golden egg when she was forced to marry.
Because I knew of Magdor’s plans to have her son, Kahn, seize the princess’s hand in marriage by winning the pageant, therefore securing herself a more permanent position of power within the kingdom of Osaria, with heirs of her own to lay a true claim on the throne.
I was only glad she had never gotten pregnant herself.
If she had, I would have feared for the life of the princess.
As it was, she was clearly aiming to see a grandchild on the throne via Kahn’s marriage to the princess.
It made me want to draw my sword and drive it into Kahn’s heart to ensure he never did any such thing.
He trained often, his size seeming to increase with each passing year, and his Affinity for strength obvious by the brutality he used to defeat his opponents.
Yes, I could see Magdor lining up all her ducks in a row, and I was helpless to stop it, my emperor’s ears deaf to a single bad word spoken about her, and my princess powerless to take a stand against her.
My only hope was in proving that Magdor really did hold some ancient power which she was wielding to manipulate the ruler of this land, but so far, I had nothing to go on but my own suspicions, and with each passing day, I was running out time.
I will expose her before you are forced into that pageant, Princess. I swear it.
“The people wish to see their princess,” Magdor said firmly. “You will do your duty to them.”
“Father?” Princess Austyn looked to him through her veil, a note of desperation in that one word.
“It’s important you are seen in public. It will offer a morale boost during this drought,” the emperor said with a nod then turned his head halfway towards me.
“Cassius will escort you today. There has been some unrest in the west quarter, I want my best men out there with you for your protection.” His tone had softened slightly and a glint of his former self shone in his eyes.
I was one of the few guards the emperor referred to by name instead of by number, and since the first time he had done so, I had been filled with pride.
These days, it seemed more out of habit than familiarity - or what I had once hoped was something akin to fondness.
Nowadays, he looked through me more often than not, and I had become the invisible creature in these walls that my captain had always encouraged me to be.
I bowed to my emperor then moved to stand at Princess Austyn’s side, the sweet scent of honey and cocoa caressing my senses and making my breathing hitch.
I had never smelled anything like that enticing scent and I took a side step away from her, feeling as though I was crossing a line by taking a single breath of her, yet finding myself hungering for more.
I clasped my hands at my back, facing forward, chin high as I supressed the illicit thoughts racing through my mind. But it became almost impossible to concentrate as she turned her veiled face towards me, and I felt her gaze burning into my very soul.
She was looking at me. Me. A fucking guard who held no more use in this world than the skilled swing of a sword in my hand.
If she were to command it, I’d drive that very same sword into my chest and bleed out at her feet.
I was owned by her, and I would give my life for her without a moment’s hesitation, without reason or cause.
I was an entity built to serve and protect, a weapon made of flesh and bone, and I held no more value than that purpose, only as present in this room as a vase upon a plinth. So why in Osaria was she looking at me?
“Come on then, Austyn,” Magdor encouraged. “I will ride in the carriage behind you with Kahn.”
“What about you, Father?” Austyn asked, her gaze falling from me and leaving me able to breathe again.
“It’s too hot for your father, foolish girl,” Magdor said, speaking for the emperor as she so often did, and my fingers twitched with the desire for a blade to run across her throat.
You fucking witch, I’ll have you burned, buried and forgotten when I prove what you are.
Austyn let out a sound close to a growl and though I kept my features neutral, the urge to smile burned at my lips.
If you ever lose your spirit, Princess, I’ll mourn it for the rest of my days.
Magdor led the way down the corridor and I walked one step behind Austyn, her scent drifting to me again, though there was little I could do to stop it this time unless I placed more distance between us.
I had been ordered to her side by the emperor and I took that role incredibly seriously, so I was forced to accept it even though it felt like stealing something that wasn’t meant for me.
Maybe a better man would have held his breath intermittently to lessen the amount of time he spent with her scent, but it seemed I was not a better man.
And if anything, the longer it went on, the more sin-filled thoughts ran through my head.
If only I could see beneath that veil, watch her mouth move around the rebellious words she threw at Magdor…
I blinked hard to clear my mind of that thought which would see me stripped of my sword if ever I voiced it.
Sometimes, I forgot I was just a man. Weeks would pass without me giving in to a single lustful urge, then eventually, I’d crack, head into town and buy a night with a whore who’d fall at the mercy of every wicked and infernal thought I’d had during that time, becoming nothing but a merciless beast as I purged the animal in me.
Then, when I was sated, I’d do it all over again.
Day after day without release, my sins saved for my breaking point.
It was the only time when I was bowed to, the only time I could be powerful in a life confined by rules, and during that brief period that I allowed myself to let loose, I dominated.
For the most part, it worked. It kept my inner needs under control, but it seemed lately that breaking point came swifter than I’d have liked, the gap between those nefarious nights growing shorter and shorter.
We walked to the palace gates where a chariot awaited Magdor and her son.
Kahn was already there, showing off to the guards as he puffed out his chest and showed them the bruises on his knuckles from some unsuspecting drunk he’d beaten in a bar brawl.
His features were more deserving of a misshapen vegetable and his bald head gleamed beneath the bright sun as he flexed his swollen muscles.
He was meaty and all brawn, and any sign of intelligent life seeming absent from his small, round eyes for the most part.
The platform Princess Austyn would be carried on was a shallow trough built of wood and filled with cushions for her comfort.
Wooden poles extended from the corners of it for four guards to rest on their shoulders as they carried her, making sure she could be seen from all around by the people of her city, while the veil made certain she couldn’t actually be seen at all.
Magdor and Kahn entered their carriage and Austyn sighed as she got onto the platform, sitting down on the cushions and folding her legs.