Chapter 11
T he rest of the day passed in meetings with Mother and the heads of all the major imperial administrative departments. There were many unfamiliar faces among the senior imperial bureaucrats, which only drove home the length of my absence from the palace.
Mage Armand busied himself with visiting the Imperial Collegium of Certified Mage-Practitioners. Mother had tasked him with recruiting new instructors for the improved Darkstone Academy for the Magical Arts.
After lunch, Mother and I met to discuss how I intended to balance my duties as Imperial Heir with my new ambassadorship. In return, I’d extracted her promise to repeal the old, unjust laws against relationships between humans and non-humans.
As a test of her sincerity, I’d insisted Menelaus be allowed to share my apartment as my official consort. She’d agreed with surprisingly good grace.
Meanwhile, Menelaus was kept busy with the first of many meetings to come with the imperial council, as they formalized the resumption of formal diplomatic ties with the Dragon Kingdom of Kappadokia, and discussed establishing the first Wind-Walker embassy at the capital.
After dinner, Menelaus and I were finally free to relax in privacy.
Jacinthe and her companions were staying a few doors down on the same floor of the palace’s family wing.
They’d been given the apartments that usually housed the imperial children. Since I’d been an only child, those apartments had been locked and unused during my childhood and adolescence. The always-efficient palace staff had quickly aired out and prepared them for their first guests in decades.
They’d also already moved my meagre personal possessions from General Clovis’ mansion to my old apartment in the imperial palace, and even restocked my clothes closet with a selection of new garments in my size. I wondered if someone had consulted Lady Livia’s seamstress for my current measurements.
It had been a day filled with high emotion, and I felt wrung out.
Changing out of my borrowed formal gown, I removed my corset and put on a loose, comfortable house gown with a warm robe.
Then Menelaus and I sat side by side on the antique brocade sofa that had been in my sitting room for as long as I could remember.
Menelaus draped his brawny arm around my shoulders like he usually did, but I felt a surge of apprehension when I noticed his unusually serious expression.
“We need to speak, my mate.” His usual exuberance was missing from his tone.
“Is it about me agreeing to become heir to the throne?”
He nodded. The guilt that had knotted my stomach all afternoon flowered into apprehension. In the heat of my reunion with Mother, I’d behaved like the perfect daughter instead of a true mate.
Did I ruin everything with my thoughtlessness?
“I should have consulted with you first before agreeing to Mother’s request.” I reached up to lace my fingers through his. “I’m so sorry.”
“Apology accepted,” Menelaus said, his tone still grave. “But I must ask you: are you serious about being my mate?”
His question took me off guard and made my face burn with shame.
I didn’t blame him for asking. After all, I’d married Baldwin during my exile, though that decision had been driven by desperation rather than love.
“Of course I am! I thought I made that clear when I told Mother I wanted to return to Kappadokia with you.” My heart began thudding painfully in my chest. “Isn’t that what we hoped for, when we first planned our lives together all those years ago?”
“I admit you salvaged a difficult situation, my clever mate.” Menelaus let out a long breath. “But it’s a short-term remedy, at best. You told me your father is in frail health. What happens when he dies? Won’t you become domina then and find yourself obliged to return to this place?”
I swallowed hard. I’d been wondering the same thing since seeing Papa this afternoon. He’d dwindled into a frail ghost of his former self.
I devoutly wished I had a better answer. “If Jacinthe is ready to ascend to the throne by then, I’ll abdicate immediately and continue serving as ambassador to Kappadokia. Or… if you want, I’ll resign my ambassadorship and become your queen-consort in an official alliance between our kingdoms.”
He nodded gravely. “And if Jacinthe isn’t ready to rule?”
He was asking the hard questions that needed to be asked. The answers weren’t easy, but I owed him the truth.
“Then I’ll have to rule as a stopgap measure until Jacinthe completes her studies. It would probably only be for a year or two. Three at the most,” I said. “Then I’ll abdicate and come to you in Kappadokia.”
Once again, I was expecting him to wait patiently for me. But I had no actual choice if I wanted to prevent the Dominion from tearing itself apart after Papa’s death.
The recent conspiracies against the throne by the dukes of Frankia and Norhas had showed me what happened when there was no legitimate successor to the imperial throne.
But it wasn’t fair to Menelaus, and I knew it. He deserved to come first in my priorities. Always.
My heart in my throat, I waited for his reaction.
Menelaus smiled at last. “I thank you for your honesty, my mate. If needed, I can live with coming second to our hatchling for a few years.”
I’d been so afraid my impulsive decision would make him think I wasn’t serious about our relationship. My relief now was so overwhelming, it made me dizzy.
He turned to me, cupped my cheek in his big, warm hand, and leaned in to kiss me. His touches since my first terrible panic attack had become soft, almost tentative.
Tonight, I wanted more from him. I drew his head down and returned his kiss with passion, pressing my lips fervently against his. His tongue tangled with mine, igniting a fire that sped through my entire body before settling between my legs with an urgent throbbing.
He lifted me onto his lap and fervently kissed his way down my throat. His touch was electrifying, each caress leaving a trail of warmth that lingered on my skin. Our kisses deepened, full of urgency and desire, as if trying to make up for the time we had lost.
The hard bulge of his arousal pressed against the side of my thigh with almost bruising intensity despite his trousers and my robe.
Maybe we couldn’t fully make love yet, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t do something for him.
As long as I’m in control, I’ll be all right.
My senses burning with desire for him, I slid off his lap and off the sofa. I landed on my knees before him, the thick carpet cushioning my knees.
Menelaus inhaled sharply as I began fumbling with the buttons on the front of his trousers. The fabric was stretched tight over the long ridge of his erection. “My love, are you sure?”
“Yes. Let me do this for you.” Desire curled low in my belly, mingling sweetly with nervous excitement. “I want you, Menelaus.”
Finally, I freed him from his tight fabric prison. His thick cock was even larger than I remembered. Menelaus, in human shape, was much larger than an ordinary human man, and all his parts were in proportion.
His erection was hot and stiff against my palm and curled fingers as I drew it out.
I remembered my shock and nervousness the first time I’d seen him naked, all those years ago. But he’d been so gentle with me our first time making love, as if he’d been afraid of breaking me.
Even now, as old and experienced as I was, I felt a twinge of nervousness. Then I gazed up into his golden eyes and saw my love and adoration for him returned in kind.
Slowly, teasingly, I licked my lips and leaned forward to taste him, savoring his deep groan of pleasure as my tongue swirled around the broad tip of his cock.
The pulsing heat between my legs intensified at his obvious enjoyment of my attentions. I opened my mouth and drew his thick length inside.
As I worked him with lips and tongue, I Iost myself momentarily in the memory of the first time I tried this. How worried I’d been about fitting his length into my mouth. And how careful I’d been with my teeth.
Then Menelaus groaned again, and his hips thrust upward involuntarily. His cock hit the back of my throat.
I gagged and fought to keep from throwing up. Then he put his hands on my hair in a reassuring gesture.
The darkness that had been waiting to ambush me surged up, dragging the memories I’d fought to bury to the surface.
“Highness, you’re so beautiful when you’re kneeling for me,” Beltrán’s mocking voice echoed.
I remembered how, caught in the compulsion charm’s delusion, I’d eagerly gripped his lean hips and parted my lips for him.
As the memory swept over me like a polluted wave, Menelaus’ gentle touch morphed into the late duke’s cruel grip on my hair.
At the time, I’d been flattered that his desire for me made him lose control. Now, freed of his black magic’s hold over my mind and my emotions, I remembered the truth.
Beltrán habitually twisted my braid around his hand to hold me captive as he ruthlessly raped my mouth. He’d enjoyed my squirms and whimpers of discomfort and my struggle to accommodate his length as he took his pleasure from me.
Revulsion ripped through me like a lightning strike. My breath caught painfully, lungs tightening, air refusing to fill my chest. Panic clawed at my throat, choking me.
I jerked away from Menelaus, trembling violently.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears, and cold sweat broke across my skin. My vision blurred, the love and safety I felt with Menelaus dissolving into a chaotic swirl of remembered fear and helplessness.
“Jonquil!” Menelaus’ voice cut through my panic, raw with worry and anguish. “Did I hurt you?”
“Divine Nemara, take Beltrán’s soul and torment it for all eternity!” I pressed my hands to my face. My body shook with deep, gasping sobs.
I’m in my room. Beltrán de Norhas is dead and gone. I’m safe.
I silently chanted this mantra as I struggled desperately to ground myself in the here-and-now.
Menelaus flung himself off the sofa and kneeled at my side. His powerful arms came around me, holding me close as I shook.
He whispered soothing words. His warmth and scent slowly penetrated the haze of mindless terror engulfing me. Whether wearing human skin or Wind-Walker plumage, he always smelled faintly of brimstone.
Clinging to him, I wept helplessly into his shoulder. I mourned the loss of our tender moment and felt an overwhelming sense of failure as his mate.
He’d already done so much for me, expecting nothing in return! I loved him with all my heart and soul, and I hated being so crippled I could offer him nothing more than kisses and chaste embraces.
“We—we can’t go on like this,” I said hoarsely once I’d gathered the fragments of my shredded composure around me. “I’m going to the Temple of Limnis as soon as I return from the Imperial Academy tomorrow, and I’m going to beg them for help. On my knees, if I have to. But—but it might take weeks or even months to cure me,” I added, with a qualm.
Menelaus kissed away the tears from my cheeks. “I’ll wait for as long as it takes for you to heal.”
“And if I never heal?” I didn’t want to hear the answer, but I had to ask.
“You will always be my mate. My one and only love. I’ll wait for you until the Unconquered Sun dims in the sky.”
Fresh tears prickled my eyes. I buried my face in his shoulder once more. “I don’t deserve you, my dearest Dragon. I’d go to the temple first thing tomorrow morning, but I need to see my other daughters first.”
“I’ll come with you,” he said instantly.
“Thank you,” I said, stroking his cheek, “but I think I should see them on my own.”
“You’re certain?”
“It would be too much for them.” I searched for the right words to let him know how nervous I was about facing my daughters. “So much has happened since we last saw each other. I don’t even know where to begin.”
I was already more nervous about my upcoming reunion with the girls than I had been flying into battle two days ago with Menelaus.
From what Jacinthe had told me about what had happened in the wake of my abduction, my daughters all thought I was dead.
How had they reacted to the note I’d sent them this morning? Did they know about Baldwin’s murder? Had they guessed I was actually the long-lost princess-royal who’d arrived on Dragon-back and defeated Duke Beltrán’s forces?
And that was just the beginning of the many tumultuous changes that had occurred since our parting. I could only imagine how shocked Talisa, Juno, and Mira would be.
How in the world am I going to tell them they’re now in line for the imperial throne?
And that Menelaus is Jacinthe’s father? Or that Menelaus and I plan to spend the rest of our lives together?
“Understood.” Menelaus nodded, his expression unreadable. “I’ll check on the Wind-Walkers who came with us and make sure they’re being treated with all the honors due to them. And then I have another meeting scheduled with the imperial council to negotiate a formal treaty of alliance.” He grinned at me with his usual confidence. “I’m sure I’ll keep myself busy here while you’re gone.”
“I’ll introduce them to you, in time,” I said. “Just not yet. I need to see them and talk to them, first, before I tell them that their new stepfather is the Wind-Walker king.”
“As you think best, my love,” he said. “Know that I’ll treat them like my own hatchlings. Now, come, and let me hold you. And tell me what changes you want to make to my aerie when we return to Hierapolis…”