Chapter Thirteen #3
“Be it for good or bad, time will tell. I took the advice of my counsel, my friends, and my consorts. What happens to Jaska is now out of my hands. Few survive working in the dwarven tunnels who are not blooded dwarf.” Aelir rubbed at his temples with the tips of his fingers.
“This day is far too long, and it is barely midday. I wish to return to my solar, finish the discussion with the royal architects about sealing that miserable tunnel, then visit my grandfather and my children. Dinner be damned. I’m too sick of it all to eat. ”
Aelir rose, took V’alor’s hand, and exited the throne room. Raewyn glanced at me and then my cousin with a heavy sadness on her shoulders.
“His burden is a heavy one.” The queen sighed, linking fingers with Lady Merrilyn. The tall, robust blonde woman kissed the queen’s knuckles tenderly.
“Such is it for all who lead,” Le’ral said as I took my leave of the small group remaining to follow the king and his beloved to the solar to resume royal duties.
During the day spent with stonemasons and architects, an elderly elf with no remembrance of the people seated at his bedside, and a couple of rowdy twins, I found my thoughts darting to Teryn.
He’d left the throne room with the others, leading Masha and her son through the curious throngs to disappear from sight.
The day wore on, melancholy riding all within Avolire, for the knowledge that a family was to be torn asunder on the sunrise weighed us all down.
When my shift ended, I made my way to my room, life weary and hollow inside, unsure of what lay ahead for me.
Teryn would be leaving soon, taking Masha and her boy back to the arid beauty of the Black Sands, which left me experiencing a bereft feeling that I only knew how to handle in one way.
Find a pub, a whore, drink, and then fuck myself out of this malaise.
Only the thought of lying atop a man or woman who did not smell of sand sage or possess amber eyes did little for me and less for my cock.
Mayhap a night in my quarters, supping on barracks food and working on rosters was the better plan, I mused as I washed up at the basin, splashing water about the floor.
A tiny rap on the door sounded. I pulled on a clean shirt and opened it to find Tezen, black eyes round as coins, her breathing elevated.
“Captain, oh, Captain, come quickly to the stable! It’s Gwedel!
” she yelled, streaking in to tug on the collar of my shirt.
For such a small thing, she was incredibly strong.
I’d been told by the princess herself that pixies are much like spiders in that they are quite strong for their size.
Whether that was true or just Tezen making up fictions, I had no clue.
My heart leapt into my throat. “What is wrong with her?” I asked, shoving my feet into plain leather shoes as I darted out the door.
“I know little of horse ailments! Rush! Run! Hurry!” She flew about my head like a pesky fly as I thundered to the stables, pushing into the large barn on a dead run and skidding to a halt when I saw my mare and a dark roan gelding that belonged to Le’ral saddled and ready to ride, Teryn holding both steeds’ reins.
Gwedel nickered at seeing me and passed gas.
Chest heaving, I threw a dark look at Tezen flitting over to Teryn, who was dressed for a ride in trousers, a white blouse opened to show off his firm chest, and soft leather boots.
“Amazing! It seems the beast was just corked up. Now that she’s blown out a tubber, she seems right as rain!
” Tezen said, graciously taking a bottle of dark red wine from Teryn.
“Thank you, Mahouk! I’ve long wanted to try a bottle of this hot Sandrayan grape, and I know just the serving wench to share it with. Good eve, Captain! Oof.”
She nearly sank to the hay-covered dirt at the weight of the bottle but managed to stay airborne enough to zig-zag out the door, her wings beating furiously.
I looked from the imp to the ambassador. “You could have simply sent a note.”
“I thought of that but given the coldness you’ve shown over the past several suns, I felt that perhaps a ruse was in order. The royal ward guard was easy enough to persuade into my machinations.”
“Hmm, a bottle of wine and she’s bought,” I mumbled, walking over to run my hand down the long nose of my mare.
“Yes, well, it took more than that, but the sprite does have a weakness for a grand love story, it seems, under all her ribaldry.”
I glanced from Gwedel to Teryn, the smells of the stable soothing the slight irritation I’d just felt. “A grand love story?”
“Yes, well, I feel it to be. Let us ride out to view the stars from the cliffs that overlook the sea. Rumor has it that the sight has led many a lover to profess their deepest desires.”
I shook my head at the man yet found myself climbing into the saddle. The feel of a horse under me was grand.
“No offense, but your quadoth are far below a steed this fine.” I patted my mare’s neck.
Teryn chuckled softly as we trotted out of the barnyard, taking a right lane that led past the grand gardens, and out of the protected grounds of Avolire.
He sat a horse well. So far, I had found nothing that the man did where he did not look compelling.
The northern gate was closed, but we were granted passage with ease.
Once outside the grounds, we rode along a narrow band of thick trees that hugged the sea cliffs.
These were royal hunting grounds that were hopefully going to be opened to the people of Celear by Aelir to aid them in putting food on the table.
Umeris had been fighting the idea tooth and claw, citing ancient bylaws, but Aelir was standing fast against the upbraiding of his grandsire and many other rich elves who enjoyed the bounty of the small, wooded area but wished to hoard the wealth.
I suspected that would be made into law soon, but for now, we had the tract to ourselves.
“Jaska,” I said as we paused to admire a small pond after startling a small red doe and her fawn.
“I bring you to a remote romantic pond, and you speak another man’s name.
I am truly crushed.” Teryn sighed as he slid from his horse and strolled to the pond.
I did the same, letting the reins fall loose.
Gwedel would not run off, and if she did, we were close enough to home that she would return to the stables.
As I neared, the smell of sand sage slipped into my senses, warming my nose and lungs as I breathed it in.
“Perhaps my powers of seduction are fizzling away as I grow old.”
“Do stop,” I said as I stepped up next to him to look down on the white and gold fish paddling about in the pond.
Gifts from a foreign dignitary from a far-off land beyond the uncharted islands northwest of Knight’s Way called Sai Gayesh.
They were said to be magical fish that granted wishes if one spoke the language of their people.
No one here spoke that tongue nor had ventured to the unknown isles for several hundred seasons.
Perhaps with a growing navy that had a queen who loved to sail at the helm, our people would once more sail off into adventures to find the lands of the mystical pond fish. “You are far from fizzled out.”
“It does my ego good to hear that you think so. I would have hated to waste such a rare bottle of wine if this plan went cocks up, as the pixie princess has been known to say.” He dropped down into a crouch to drag his fingers along the surface of the water.
The fish swam up to him, sucking on his fingertips, which made him laugh.
“What amazing creatures. They seem to almost wish to speak to us.”
I squatted at his side, placing my fingers into the cool pond, his shoulder and mine touching. The brush of him against me made my cock swell in my breeches. Just the merest rasp of cloth to cloth had me stiff.
“I mentioned Jaska as a means to discover what was on your mind when you stood with him,” I asked, dropping to one knee to reach into the cool waters a bit further.
The fish were beautiful creatures with long flowing tails.
Their scales glowed under the bright light of the moon sisters.
“Many people are whispering that you’re now to be considered a traitor as you took the side of a treasonist.”
“Hmm, yes, I assumed the tongues would set to wagging,” he replied, sitting down to remove his riding boots with small grunts as each came free.
Then he moved to sit at the edge of the pond to soak his feet.
I watched spellbound as the fish nibbled softly at his toes.
Teryn giggled like a young miss getting her first kiss.
It was enchanting. I sat beside him, unsure if I wished to have fish tasting my toes just yet.
“They tickle,” he explained, fish now swimming round his bare feet as if to fan them with their elegant tails.
“I stood with Masha and an innocent boy, not a traitor, although I felt great sympathy for them all. His cause is just, but his actions horrendous.”
“Yes, that they were.” I toed off one leather shoe wary of any water creature.
I’d once been grabbed on the balls by a crab as a lad.
That was the last time I allowed a handsome young man to goad me into wading in the surf nude.
“I too understand the plight of the poor in our lands, perhaps better than most who sit in the throne room bedecked in jewels, finery, and slapping their imported Sandrayan fans.”