4
Ramsay looked up in confusion as he heard the sound of roughly six horses coming toward his cabin. Putting down his book, he strode outside to greet the visitors, pulling his sword from its hook as an afterthought.
He stared in dismay when he saw six Tavamaran royal soldiers lined up neatly in his yard. "Can I help you?" he asked, relaxed but ready to draw and strike in a moment.
The guards seemed more than a little surprised by him. "We are looking for a man by the name of Ramsay Reid."
"You found him. What do you want?"
He almost laughed at the looks upon their faces. No doubt they had expected something else entirely. "Uh—" the guard who seemed to be in charge paused and recovered himself, then said more politely and with almost no trace of astonishment, "My Lord Ramsay, you have been requested by his Majesty the King to dine with him at his palace. My orders are to escort you if you agree or to take you by force if you attempt to refuse."
Ramsay snorted in amusement. Take him by force. As if six mere palace guards could handle him. "Very well," he said. "I'll come willingly. Give me a moment to gather my things. Wait out here." He slammed the door in their faces, then strapped his sword on and quickly grabbed all he would need to survive in the woods for a few days.
Why would Shafiq bother sending for him? He had no further use for Ramsay, even if he had saved Kaj. Especially since in saving Kaj, he had killed a man for whom Shafiq must have cared, traitor or not.
Ready, he glanced around his cabin to make certain all would be well without him for a bit, then strode to the back door and opened it—and immediately scowled. "What in the name of the Three are you doing here?"
Berkant smirked. "We were ordered to bring you home, Lynx. One way or another. I am here because I am the only one who stands a chance of doing it by force, hmm?"
Ramsay glared, furious. "There is no point."
"My King desires your presence," Berkant replied. "That is reason enough for me to deliver you. But there are others."
He would not go back. He wouldn't.
Berkant continued, "Shafiq was crushed when we realized you were gone. You will return, by choice, by force, even if I must get on my knees and beg."
That drew Ramsay up short. "No one is doing any begging," he said flatly. "If he wants to see me, then so be it, but I do not see the point."
In reply, Berkant only smiled and took hold of his wrist, dragging him outside and around to the front of the cabin, where his horse was already saddled and waiting. Though how they'd gotten her to cooperate, he did not know. "Feather, are you growing soft?" he hissed.
She gave him an impatient look and an even more impatient snort.
"Spoiled brat," he retorted without heat as he swung up into the saddle. He rolled his eyes when he was neatly boxed in by the soldiers, Berkant riding beside him, all to ensure he would not bolt. "I said I would come."
Berkant only continued to smile and ordered the soldiers to move out.
When they reached the palace a day and a half later, all he wanted was to turn and run. And never make this damned trip again. He was used to doing it every few weeks, not several times in a row. Dismounting, he followed Berkant through still more secret entrances, finally emerging in the king's chambers again. Berkant led him into the room in which he had slept before and bowed. "His Majesty will be free to speak with you shortly. Someone will come to fetch you. See you later." He winked then was gone.
Making a face, Ramsay nevertheless obediently stripped out of his filthy clothes and washed off, then put on the new clothes that had been set out for him. What was the point of all this, he wondered as he pulled on the fine clothes. Did they want him to resume his duties full time? That seemed the likeliest, but there was no way he could do it.
Not if it meant watching the five of them every single day, while always standing apart.
He'd just finished dressing when the door opened and Nadir—no, it wasn't Nadir. "You're Ender."
"Yes," Ender said, clearly pleased. "Most cannot tell, even with the jewels. When I first arrived, I looked different enough it was fairly easy, but not anymore."
"Yes, well, most think I am harmless."
Laughing, Ender motioned. "His Majesty awaits, Lynx."
Increasingly disconcerted at the way they kept calling him that, Ramsay followed Ender from the room, through a couple of hallways, and finally to a small dining room where the king already sat waiting. Ender bowed, smiled at them both, then left, closing the door quietly behind him.
"Please, sit," Shafiq said, motioning. "I am happy to see you again and hope you are not too unhappy." He poured them wine as Ramsay slowly sat.
Ramsay did not know much Tavamaran etiquette, but he was pretty certain kings were not supposed to pour wine. "No, Majesty. I simply do not see the point of my presence here. I returned your son. Past that, I serve no purpose."
"That is not true," Shafiq said softly, and took a sip of his own wine. He was dressed more casually than the two other occasions Ramsay had seen him. The collar of his robe was unfastened, and Ramsay tried not to think about slipping a hand inside and pushing the clothes away entirely. It was not his place to entertain such thoughts.
"You saved my son: that is a debt I can never repay," Shafiq continued. "If not for your presence, I do not know what would have become of him except tragedy. My wife died of illness only a year after he was born. Kaj was very dear to both of us, and he is all that I have left of her."
"He's a beautiful boy. He— He reminds me of my brother."
Shafiq's expression then was so understanding and kind, Ramsay could hardly bear it. "He died."
"He was killed by men angry with me and the throne," Ramsay said flatly. "I told them to protect my brother, and they said they would, but they were not there when the assassins came for my brother." It still hurt so Goddesses damned much. All his years of service, and they had done nothing to answer the one favor he had begged of them.
Shafiq's hand covered his own, squeezing gently. "Did you at least kill the men who did it?"
"No," Ramsay replied, and tossed back his wine, not particularly caring at the moment if he was being rude. "Empty revenge will not bring my brother back, and if my king had kept his promise, my brother would not be dead. I simply left."
"Hmm," Shafiq said, hand still covering Ramsay's. "I am sorry that the burden of killing Mazin fell to you. My council would have preferred he be taken alive, but I am just as happy to have him dead and the matter over. The rest of his family was arrested and executed yesterday."
Ramsay stared at the table. "I am sorry he betrayed you, Majesty. I am sorry that I had to kill him."
"Do not be. Mazin was… misguided and desperate, and he never quite fit. We tried, of course," he sighed softly, "but he never wanted to be in the harem, not really, and he never should have been. I made a poor choice in the hopes it would appease various persons, and instead it almost cost me that which I hold most dear. But Mazin put himself on his destructive path when he chose his family and their corrupt ways over everything else he was offered. You should not have been forced to kill him. That was not your responsibility."
"Any threat to His Highness was my responsibility the moment I chose to protect him," Ramsay replied. "It is hardly the first time I have killed men." Though he always hoped each time would be the last. "Please, trouble yourself no further upon it. I am honored my meager skills proved useful here in Tavamara."
Shafiq snorted. "Meager skills. My guards are all highly trained and rigorously tested—often. Those who guard me directly must meet the highest of standards. You finished them in a matter of seconds. Berkant, before he gave up his life to join me, was the best hand-to-hand combatant in the country. You draw even with him. I suspect that in a life or death fight, you would best him, and he has said the same himself. Everything about you leaves 'meager' far behind in the dust."
Ramsay jerked his head up at the words and their underlying heat. There was no mistaking the implication in that tone. "Majesty—"
"Let me put this to you plainly," Shafiq said, hand tighter on Ramsay's now. "You saved my son. Whatever you want is yours for the asking. I do mean whatever you want, regardless of cost or time or effort on my part. But what I hope you want is to join me, to be mine. Jankin has always loved you. Ender and Nadir are quite entranced by you, and Berkant is complaining that since fighting you, everyone else he spars with is too easy a fight. It can be a hard life, but if you want it, the life is yours."
"But— But Mazin— I killed him."
Shafiq smiled sadly. "Mazin never fit. We all tried, but the hard truth was that he never wanted to fit. I offered, and he accepted, but we both acted for the wrong reasons. You, however… from the first, I thought you would fit."
"I— But—" Ramsay stared at him in shock, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. "I don't know anything about… such things."
At that, Shafiq laughed. "So long as it is what you want, then you can be taught." He smirked. "Though, according to Jankin, you know plenty about such things ."
Ramsay's face went hot. "That is not what I meant," he muttered, dropping his head in embarrassment.
Shafiq laughed again, and the gentle sound of it made Ramsay want to smile despite himself.
"Jankin needs to stop telling tales outside of school," Ramsay finally said, dragging his eyes up. "I still don't understand why you would offer me such a thing. There must be better choices than me."
"There are not," Shafiq said, "though if you want practical, political reasons, the council approves of foreign additions. They say it makes me look even more powerful, to have captured pieces of foreign nations for my own pleasure."
Ramsay laughed.
"The simple truth is that there is an empty place, and I feel you are meant to fill it."
"I—" Ramsay looked at the table again, heart beating fiercely, skin feeling too tight for his body again, and real hope was so foreign a feeling, he only barely knew what it was. "I left because that's what I wanted, and I did not think I could have it."
The hand still on his took firmer hold and tugged until Ramsay looked up again. "It is yours, if only you say yes."
Ramsay looked at Shafiq, then nodded, scarcely believing this was happening. "Then yes, Your Majesty. I accept and gladly."
Shafiq broke into a wide smile and pulled more firmly. Ramsay went easily, looping his arms boldly around Shafiq's neck, eager to have now that it had been offered and accepted. Shafiq's kiss was hard, possessive—claiming. Ramsay could not believe this was actually happening, but he kissed back for all he was worth, determined to get what he could for as long as the dream lasted.
"Jankin was right," Shafiq murmured when they finally broke apart. "You know much about such things ."
Ramsay made a face. "I am going to beat him black and blue."
Shafiq laughed, breath warm on Ramsay's skin as he brushed it lightly with his mouth, kissing and tasting. "Now, I am certain you know there are much better ways to discipline him, my lynx."
Ramsay shivered at the touches, at the memories of the best ways to make Jankin suffer. "Yes," he agreed, words coming out a hiss as Shafiq bit with entirely too much awareness at a particular spot on his throat. "I'm not a cat," he added belatedly, though Lynx was far better than kitten.
That made Shafiq laugh again. "I am afraid you are stuck with it and not least of all because it suits you. My harem is often called after wild animals. They can be quite unruly, you see. People have taken to calling them my menagerie."
"Somehow, that does not surprise me," Ramsay replied, words trailing into a moan as hands slid beneath his clothing.
"Perhaps they will behave for a little while, distracted by petting our new cat?"
Ramsay tried to roll his eyes, because he really did get tired of being compared to cats, but it was extremely hard to think when Shafiq did some petting of his own, and maybe being a cat was not so bad a thing after all, so long as he belonged to Shafiq.
It probably made him a shameless harlot to spread his legs right there on the floor, but Shafiq's hungry eyes made him hot and reckless, and it had been so very long since he'd felt like this, like he was alive again. By the time Shafiq slid inside him, began to fuck him in earnest, panting his name in Ramsay's ear, he was so hot he half feared they'd knocked over a lamp.
He came with a cry in just minutes, and might have been embarrassed at how easy it had been to send him over the edge, but Shafiq followed almost right behind, and for several minutes after they simply lay there, sated and spent, on the floor.
Eventually, though, Shafiq withdrew, and Ramsay gasped at the emptiness.
Shafiq cleaned them up and righted their clothes, then kissed him again. "Come, Lynx, the others will be waiting in our chambers to greet you themselves. I have kept you from them long enough, but I could not help but be greedy."
Ramsay shivered at the hot hand that slipped inside his clothes to stroke his skin, achingly aware of how empty he still felt. "Be as greedy as you like," he whispered, and happily enjoyed another flurry of kisses before Shafiq finally drew him into the secret passages. "These are a stupid safety risk. Who allowed such an absurd thing to be built?"
"My ancestors," Shafiq said dryly. "They've been here since the palace was first built."
"So the builders could blab about it all to anyone who would listen?"
"I'm certain a few did, but most people simply do not care enough. It hardly matters now." They spilled out into the chambers he was already so familiar with—
And whatever he'd been going to say was forgotten as he watched Ender and Nadir, kneeling on the floor, twined together intimately as they kissed ravenously. Berkant sat watching as he sipped wine with Jankin's head in his lap.
"Ramsay!" Jankin said, rolling smoothly to his feet, the others right behind him. He threw himself into Ramsay's arms and kissed him ravenously, trembling faintly as Ramsay held on for dear life. "I told you to stay, you stupid bastard."
"Well, I'm staying this time, so stop yelling at me."
Jankin smiled. "I never thought I'd get to see you again, let alone like this, Ramsay." He trailed his fingers over Ramsay's mouth. "You always did look so very pretty thoroughly tumbled."
"Shut up," Ramsay said, face hot as he pulled Jankin's hand away.
Before he could say anything else, he was attacked by the twins, who dragged him over and down to the lounging area, where they'd just been all but fucking each other. "Am I allowed to ask now how brothers…"
"We'll tell you the full tale later," Ender said, "but suffice to say we did not even know the other existed until a few years ago, when I was summoned to the palace. We…do not really see each other as brothers." Ramsay listened avidly to the abbreviated tale. "I hope it doesn't…"
Ramsay kissed him, then Nadir. "If it concerned me, I would not be here. I admit I was taken aback, but I quit the rules and expectations of others when they left my brother to die. Anyway, I would be a hypocrite, because I enjoyed watching you together just moments ago."
Grinning in delight, eyes full of mischief, the twins withdrew and helped each other undress, until they were naked, save for their jeweled piercings.
Shafiq sat nearby, Jankin now sprawled with head in his lap, sipping at wine, his eyes dark and hot as he watched them.
Ramsay rose to sit properly and enjoy the view, and gasped as an unmistakable, large and muscled presence settled behind him. Berkant's bare, hard cock rubbed, making Ramsay gasp, but when he would have turned, Berkant held him in place, hands running hot and heavy over his body like he was sampling a possible purchase.
In the next breath, Ramsay's clothes were equally as gone, his face burning as he was put on all fours. His gaze shifted restlessly from the beautiful twins still ardently making out, to where Jankin had pulled out Shafiq's cock to teasingly fondle, and back again.
Hot, slick fingers breached him, and Berkant's smug chuckle made him flush even hotter. "I see our king has laid his claim. I hope he does it again very soon so I can watch. Can you take me too, Lynx?"
Mortified and aroused beyond all measures, lost in the delightful too much of it all, Ramsay moaned, braced on his elbows, as Berkant continued to tease him, fingers pushing in deep. "Let's—fuck—let's find out. Jankin once fucked me three times in one night. I can handle at least that."
All sorts of pleased noises filled the room then. The twins left off making out with each other and helped arrange Berkant and Ramsay to offer Shafiq the best possible view. Jankin grinned, more like a wolf than a peacock, before he bent to take Shafiq's cock in his mouth.
Fingers tangled in his hair as Berkant's enormous-feeling cock pushed inside him, and sweat stung his eyes so much that it was hard to determine which twin pushed their cock into his mouth. They teased him, all three of them, Berkant's movements slow and intermittent, the twins constantly swapping, only letting him suck briefly before one pulled out and the other pushed in. He had a fleeting thought of being blind-folded while the pair teased him, but it was gone as Berkant finally grabbed his hips and fucked him with greedy abandon. The cock currently in his mouth remained, fucking his face with the same eagerness.
Ramsay was dizzy with it. So long, for so very long, he had been entirely alone, and now here he was being glutted on pleasure. He might have cried if given a moment alone to let it overwhelm him, but all he could feel was the pleasure and ecstasy.
Berkant sank into him one last time and came, and the cock in his throat went still, pulling out slightly as though waiting to continue. Ramsay managed to clear his vision enough to look up and see it was Nadir fucking his mouth. He'd barely registered when Berkant gently withdrew and was immediately replaced by what had to be Ender.
Thankfully, the twins were not interested in prolonging the delightful torment. They fucked him in tandem, calling to each other, the other three, until they came with matching groans and filled him, and a hand around his cock sped him to his own much-needed finish.
He collapsed, sore and sweaty, to the ground, breath heaving. "I hope not every night is this intense, or I might expire by the end of the week."
They laughed, and Berkant helped him up—and then kept lifting him up, carrying him over to a bathing area, where Jankin washed him thoroughly. Almost too thoroughly, but thankfully Ramsay was too spent to embarrass himself.
After they were clean, they all slid into the enormous, steaming, mineral-laden bath. The palace must have access to hot springs, for water like this. Question for another day.
For the moment, he was happy to sit there soaking up the heat, settled between Shafiq and Jankin, the others close to hand. It was strange, to be the one feeling protected for once, but it was a feeling that Ramsay could so easily, and happily, get accustomed to.
If a few tears slipped out from the tumult of it all, the others were kind enough not to point it out. Shafiq only held him closer, and Jankin kissed the tears away, and the twins launched into the full tale of how they each had come to join the harem.
End