Chapter Fifteen #2
Without another word, he pulled me back and pushed up my knees until they fell open.
He bent over to taste me, putting his whole mouth over my shaft.
I yelled out, because I couldn’t be quiet or still as his mouth moved over me.
Why did I react so strongly to him? I already felt as if I couldn’t be without him.
He whispered, “Shhh…” in my ear. “You’ll have your parents knocking my door down soon.”
I thought he was probably right, so I tried to be quieter.
The prince bent to his work again, sliding his tongue over me and even licking me over my entrance again.
I started shaking so hard I was afraid I’d pass out.
Nothing had ever felt like that before. Nothing.
He lavished his attention on me, and I loved every moment of it.
I may have screamed a little as I came again and fell back on the pillow, feeling totally drained. He kissed me on the inside of my knee and then leaned up to whisper in my ear.
“That should keep you for a while. At least until I finish packing. Then we can take up the subject of your faithfulness again. I think I haven’t quite made my position clear to you. But don’t worry. I’ll be back and we can go over it for you again and again. As many times as you need.”
****
Kirstos
Later, I took him with me to my room and kept him there all night.
I didn’t leave him until early the next morning, waking him before I went and after making love to him again.
I reminded him he needed to get up and be ready to travel.
We’d probably be leaving soon after first meal.
I left my bag packed and ready to be picked up and made my way downstairs.
As usual, the Imperials were at the far end of the table, and I joined them there after filling my plate.
I glanced around at all of them consideringly.
I hadn’t forgotten that one of them could be the one who had arranged all these attempts and didn’t much care who else got hurt along the way.
It was a shocking suspicion. It would be a serious crime, if proven.
An egregious dereliction of duty, not to mention dishonor in the extreme, and not just for one individual, but for the entire Imperial corps.
Could it really be one of my men, or one of the king’s men?
It was hard to believe, but it was a logical conclusion, and perhaps the only one.
The only other possibility was that the co-conspirator had been one of the servants or a member of the royal family, neither of which was at all likely. I still couldn’t rule it out.
Most members of the royal family were there in the dining room as I entered, except for the consorts.
I didn’t see Prince Larz either. The king and the other princes were there, however, standing around the long serving table as I arrived, filling their plates and speaking to each other in rapid Tygerian.
They all seemed to be in a good mood, as they should be, I suppose, since some of them were going home, and the king had gotten his way.
King Stefan and two of his sons, Larz and Mikos, filled their plates and then sat near Prince Vannos and Bryos, one of his boys who was making a rare appearance at first meal.
It was my understanding that Vannos had another son, Prince Rylan, who had married not long ago and moved off planet.
I wondered how that had made Bryos feel, the oldest brother who had been disappointed in love and more or less jilted by his intended groom.
I received a message on my communicator from the captain of Prince Mikos’s ship, saying the shuttles would be arriving soon.
The prince’s star cruiser, along with one of the smaller but faster vessels the king and his consort had arrived in, were both in orbit around Moravia, so it wouldn’t be long until they arrived.
Once we were enroute, King Davos and his consort would be heading back to Tygeria a few days ahead of our ship and could thus have time to prepare for our arrival.
Besides that, the king and the Royal Prince only rarely traveled in the same ship if they could help it as precaution against an attack or anything else unforeseen that might occur.
A separate, larger shuttle would be taking Prince Mikos and his consort, to the star cruiser, along with Prince Vannos and his family and me. But I planned to make a change to those plans, one that no one else knew about just yet.
I firmly believed that one or perhaps more of the Imperials were involved in a plot to kill Larz’s consort, Janos.
Since they had so far shown a complete disregard for any other lives, this would be a perfect opportunity to kill Janos, along with his entire family and some of the more loyal Imperials.
That could mean the shuttle they would be traveling on had already been sabotaged in some way.
It would be interesting—and would narrow down the field of suspects—if there was delay or trouble in getting the guards to get onboard once I made an announcement that I’d be changing things around a bit.
The shuttles began landing in the courtyard by the time I arrived on the front steps.
I saw the king and his consort walking out to board theirs, along with their guards.
Just arriving behind that one was the craft taking Prince Mikos, his consort and Prince Vannos, whose family had opted not to come on this trip.
They were, however, standing on the porch to see Vannos off on his trip.
Prince Mikos’s personal guard would also accompany him and that included me.
Finally, the shuttle for the remaining guards was waiting to land. This was my cue to step in.
There were three shuttles in all, and I believed that one of them—the one Janos and his family would be on—had been sabotaged and would likely explode enroute to Prince Mikos’s star cruiser. That one was meant for Prince Larz, Janos and Taran, and the guards assigned to them.
There was also King Davos’s shuttlecraft, which had just taken off; and Prince Mikos’s shuttle, which I was now standing beside.
I boarded Mikos’s shuttle and had a quick word with the pilot, then turned to speak to Prince Mikos.
I explained what was happening and told him I had asked the pilot to cut his engine so I could make an announcement.
Prince Mikos was shocked but betrayed nothing except for the fact that his eyes grew darker and began to glitter.
The Consort Ryan gripped his hand tightly, as the pilot began to power down.
I jumped down and turned to face the ones waiting to board the two shuttles now on the ground.
“There has been a slight change in plans. This shuttle, which was to take Prince Mikos, his consort and Prince Vannos up to the ship has had some slight difficulties. Nothing serious, but the result is a short delay in takeoff. Since the royal family doesn’t need to be kept waiting, The Princes Mikos and Vannos, along with the consort and I will all join Prince Larz and his family on their shuttle.
Then the guards can all take this last one once it’s been repaired. ”
I heard someone give a loud gasp, but with so many people standing around, I wasn’t sure exactly where it came from. “Prince Mikos,” I called out. “Would you please transfer to this new shuttle, sire?”
Prince Mikos inclined his head and began heading toward the one I gestured at.
Larz and his family followed, and I didn’t look at Taran, though I knew he was trying to catch my eye as if to ask what was going on.
Finally, Prince Vannos came along behind the others.
Suddenly, from the porch came a loud commotion, and Vannos’s son Bryos jumped down and ran toward him, shouting.
“No, Omak, you can’t get on that shuttle! No! Come back!”
Vannos whirled around, his face shocked. “Bryos, what in the world? What are you doing?”
“I-I’ll tell you later,” he said, pulling on his arm. “I’ll explain, I promise, but just please come inside with me. Don’t get on that shuttle!”
I was beside them both by then, taking Bryos’s shoulder and turning him to look at me. “Explain yourself!” I growled at him, and Vannos quickly pushed forward to try to put himself between us, terribly upset by what was happening, but still not about to allow me to yell at his son.
In minutes, we had a crowd of people all around us, including King Stefan, but I still kept hold of the boy, though he had now sunk to his knees.
“Why don’t you want your omak to get on that shuttle, Prince Bryos? The one meant for Prince Larz and his family?”
King Stefan tried to knock me away from his son, but Mikos had arrived too, and he stepped in between us to ensure there wouldn’t be a fight.
It was touch and go for a few minutes, but I was furious, both at the boy and at his father for protecting him.
This boy had been about to let Prince Mikos, the Consort Ryan, Prince Larz, Janos and Taran, not to mention an innocent pilot and me all die.
And he’d been perfectly fine with it, until he thought his omak was going to die too, and then finally, he objected.
I meant to see to it that he paid for that, Moravian prince or not.
I admit I was a little out of control, but I think there was ample provocation. It took Taran taking my arm and pulling me away to get me to let Bryos go. In the end, it wasn’t up to me at all, though I was told I’d be allowed to have my say at Bryos’s hearing, for all the good it would do.
King Davos and his consort, as well as Prince Mikos and his, delayed their return to Tygeria for a few more days, and we all stayed on Moravia for the investigation, conducted by King Stefan’s own people.
King Davos oversaw the interrogation personally, along with Bryos’s parents.
It was a thorough one, and it was a sad time for everyone involved.
It was upsetting to some, I guess, to see how much Prince Vannos and King Stefan were suffering.