42. Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Two
Zalen
“ Y ou stay right there. Don’t move,” I said to Maera quietly.
She nodded her head and stayed in the Vord compound with me after she handed me the coercion potion.
Pouring a few drops down each of the remaining Innon guards throats, the effects kicked in quickly, and they answered any question I asked without hesitation. The most I learned from them before slitting their throats was that their King had left for a few days—alone—then returned one day without explanation. They found his and the Queen’s remains the next morning in the Innon throne room.
It was like listening to a recount of what happened to Makkor, almost the exact same story. No trace of the murderer, no clues as to who it could be or what spell was used, no one claiming the Kingdom. Nothing .
Convinced I had all I could gain from the guards, I killed off the last one and left their bodies chained to the posts in the compound. Maera watched the entire time, expressionless. She hadn’t even flinched.
I walked over to where she stood. Her eyes were trained on the bodies, yet she didn’t run. Not from their corpses. Not from me.
“Maera,” I said firmly, trying to draw her attention to me. It wasn’t until I hooked a bloody finger under her chin and lifted her head that she finally looked at me. “It’s done. Why don’t you return to the castle? I need to write some orders for Thane, then I’ll meet you there.”
With distant eyes, she gave a shallow nod.
“What are you thinking about, love?” I tilted my head to the side.
She swallowed and glanced back at the bodies. “How many people have you killed?”
“Not as many as I’m going to.”
Her eyes slowly dragged back to mine. “Why?” she breathed.
“Because there’s someone out there that poses a threat to you. And I won’t stop until I find him.”
Maera returned to the castle while I met with Thane at the Vord headquarters and gave him orders to find out where the Innon King had gone just before he was killed. I didn’t know if it had any correlation, but since Makkor had also just returned from being away for several days before his death, it was too similar to be a coincidence.
Thane agreed and assured me he would find out.
And my orders for Thane served a secondary purpose, allowing him to briefly study the Kingdom he was about to hold the magic for once he was able to go through his Drehiri.
Returning to our rooms, I found Maera in bed, clean and wearing a nightgown. Her deep, even breaths let me know she was asleep.
Satisfied she was sleeping, I went into the bathing room and stripped off my bloody clothes to get into the bath, washing away the stench of death.
I returned to the room after throwing on a pair of loose pants and crawled into bed next to her. I brushed back a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and found her eyes were open, staring into the darkness.
“Minn astir, are you alright?”
She didn’t say anything for a few moments.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I think so.” A tear fell down her cheek, and she wiped it away.
I stayed quiet, allowing her time to gather her thoughts.
“It’s just… A lot has happened, and I’m not really all that upset about any of it. I don’t recognize myself. I don’t recognize my life. I’m not unhappy, so please don’t think that. Everything is just so unfamiliar.”
She needed someone she could connect with—someone other than me—that she could relate to.
“I think I’m just tired. I need sleep,” she added.
I smiled down at her. “Then sleep. You’re here. You’re safe.”
“Am I?”
“You are when you’re with me,” I said, kissing her softly.
I lay on my side and pulled her to me, her head nestling against my bare chest. So long as she was with me, nothing would happen to her.
Maera remained distant the next day. She went to her alchemy room and worked on her experimental potions, practicing to perfect them. A few more days, and I’d have her test them out. She needed to see them work firsthand rather than rely on theory alone. And I wanted her to have a surplus of them on hand as well.
If something were to happen and she needed to defend herself, I didn’t want her scrambling for herbs or tools to use. But that was also a skill she needed to learn—how to take what you could get and make it into a weapon. I planned on taking her out west where she had never been and having her practice foraging and brewing only with what she could find and using it to her advantage.
But today was reserved for something else.
I awoke the following morning with Maera still in my arms, but her eyes were open. They were distant, deep in thought and somewhere else. I leaned my head down and placed a kiss on her hair.
She startled slightly then looked up at me. Her eyes flashed with delight upon seeing me looking at her, but that lasted for only a moment before they began to dull.
“Good morning,” she said so softly I barely heard it.
“It is when I wake up next to you,” I said quietly.
She gave a tight-lipped smile.
“Hey,” I tilted her chin up. “I have something for you today. It’ll help get your mind off things.”
“More brewing?” she asked.
“Better. It has to do with lace.” I bent my head down and kissed the column of her neck. “And silk,” I said, kissing lower and lower.
Her breath hitched. “Zalen…” she breathed. “I’m not feeling…”
“Are you unwell?” I lifted my head and looked her over.
“No, that’s not it.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Are you upset?”
She leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to feel.”
That’s just unacceptable .
“You should feel good.” I slowly trailed a finger down the middle of her chest. “Let me help with that.”
Her skin pebbled beneath my touch as I moved lower and lower, slipping my hand beneath her undergarment and dragging my finger lightly over her slit.
“Zalen…” she said breathlessly, bucking her hips. “I don’t want to do this right now.”
I held her stare with hard, unrelenting eyes but didn’t move. “Then tell me to stop.”
Her lips pressed together firmly. She gasped when I pushed a finger inside her.
“You don’t want this or you just think you shouldn’t? You think it’s wrong that you’re wet and writhing for me even after seeing what you did—seeing who I am.” I pumped my finger in and out with torturous slowness, and my little witch couldn’t help but move against me. “You may think you don’t want it, love, but your body sure fucking does. And I intend to worship it.”
I pushed another finger in and curled them forward, watching her react to my touch. She pressed against me, letting out a breathy moan.
“You’re…scary,” she said through panting breaths.
I crawled over her, grabbing her wrists in one hand and pinning them above her while keeping my fingers pumping in and out of her. “Monsters are supposed to be scary.”
I removed my fingers and pushed them against her lips.
“Open,” I said darkly.
Maera’s eyes widened, and she hesitated for a moment before tentatively parting her lips. I shoved my fingers in, pressing them to her tongue as she closed her mouth around them.
“I want you to taste your pleasure,” I said, watching her through hooded eyes as she swirled her tongue around my fingers. “And now I’ll have a taste for myself. ”
Releasing her wrists, I removed my fingers from her mouth and leaned down to kiss my way down her body. Tugging at the hem of her nightgown by her waist, I nodded for her to take it off.
She sat up, crossing her arms over her and pulled it up over her head, tossing the material to the floor. Her bare breasts were too tempting to resist.
I took one in my mouth, biting her nipple lightly before licking the sting away. Her head fell back with a soft exhale.
But this was about her, not me.
I released her breast from my mouth and pushed her down on her back before moving between her legs. Gripping the lacy fabric around her hips, I ripped it down her legs and threw it across the room.
Her perfect cunt was glistening, wet and ready. The sight had my skin trembling with desire to bury myself in her.
Tenderly, I roamed my hands up the inside of her thighs and parted her for me, seeing just how slick she was. I couldn’t wait any longer.
“Stay still for me, love.”
My tongue darted out, licking up from her entrance and keeping my tongue soft as I lapped at her clit. I flattened my tongue against her opening, then pushed inside her, groaning at the taste of her.
Fuck, she was the best thing that ever graced my tongue.
I wanted her to come on my mouth. I wanted to taste her pleasure and have her begging.
I nipped at her clit, causing her to flinch and catch her breath. Then I took her clit between my lips and sucked. Hard.
She let out a scream and gripped my hair, but I was relentless.
My cock twitched at the sound. I wasn’t stopping until I’d had my fill .
She squirmed as if she was trying to get away but couldn’t fight against the ruthlessness of my mouth.
“You can take it,” I told her, my voice husky and breathless, yet still commanding.
I ravished her like a starving man, licking and sucking and fucking her relentlessly with my tongue over and over. Her breathing came quickly, and I felt her muscles tensing.
“Do I seem scary now ?” I teased, my voice rumbling against her.
Her head shot up, piercing me with a glare. “No! Keep going!”
She pushed my head back down, smothering me against her.
I chuckled, and resumed fucking her with my tongue while watching the pleasure on her face.
There would never be a more beautiful sight than this—seeing her unravel, gasping for breath and writhing because of what I could do to her.
She threw her head back with a scream as she clenched around my tongue in pulsing waves of pleasure.
I nearly came in my pants from the sensation. The taste of her coming on my lips would be the end of me, and I wanted it every day.
I languidly licked her through her climax until she was too sensitive to bear it any longer. I sat back on my heels and licked the remnants of her arousal from my lips. She grabbed for me, trying to pull me down on top of her, but I stopped her.
Her brows creased. “You don’t want—”
“No,” I shook my head with a grin, pleased I was able to satisfy her. I would always satisfy her. “This was about you.” I leaned forward and kissed her, letting her taste herself again.
“Now,” I said, pulling back and helping her up to a sitting position. “Go get ready. I’ll have Riva escort you to the seamstress. ”
“Who’s Riva?” she asked.
“She’s to be your handmaiden, as befits a Queen. Hurry up. We have a wedding to prepare for.”
And I had a human to inform about her new status as handmaiden to the future Queen.
With a wide grin, Maera leapt out of the bed and squealed a giggle when I smacked her ass on the way to the bathing room.
I adjusted my uncomfortably hard cock, debating on stroking it but deciding I’d rather wait until later when I could put it down Maera’s throat instead.
While she bathed, I put on a shirt and rushed out of the room until I found one of the servants heading toward my rooms with a tray of food.
Riva. Just who I was looking for.
She froze in place, her dark red hair swaying with her abrupt stop. I looked her up and down. She was average for a human, but I had known about her for weeks and had determined she wasn’t a threat to me or Maera. Riva’s past made her the perfect choice for Maera, seeing as they would be spending a lot of time together, and my hope was they make a connection.
“King Zalen,” she greeted with a deep bow. “I was just bringing your breakfast to your rooms.”
“I can see that, Riva,” I said.
Her eyes widened at her name.
“I know everyone who walks these halls,” I said flatly. I knew everyone in my home, everyone who had access to Maera. But I never spoke to any of them.
“Right. Of course.” Her voice was even, and I gathered she didn’t fear me like most did. I think Maera would enjoy being around someone brave.
“You may rise,” I said in an authoritative tone, and she stood straight. “Why have you come to serve me?” I knew her past, but I also wanted to know her reasoning.
“Because I believe that you can be a better ruler than any King in all the Kingdoms before you,” she said firmly.
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”
“I wasn’t being flattering,” she stated simply.
Yes, she’d be great for Maera.
“And where were you born?”
“Aedum, King Zalen. I moved here—to Kanth—when I became of age. It wasn’t until after Makkor was killed that I pledged my loyalty to you and came to work here. I swear I hold no fealty to the late King Erix.”
She took a risk telling me she was from my previous enemy Kingdom, but she told the truth anyway.
“Good. You won’t be working in the kitchens any longer,” I said.
Her eyebrows bunched in confusion.
“You’re to be the personal handmaiden to the Samanya heir—soon to be the Queen of Damanthus. You will give her whatever she asks for and do anything she says. You will serve her and only her. Do you understand?” I tilted my head to the side, gauging her reaction.
She was speechless, her mouth opening and closing, trying to come up with words.
“Do you understand?” I clipped.
“Y—yes,” she stammered.
“Alright then. After Maera and I have eaten, you will escort her to the royal seamstress and assist with any wedding planning she wishes to be part of. She also intends to work in her alchemy room, and I assume that is where she will spend most of her time. Your ultimate duty is to serve her, but you may befriend her if she allows it. Do not disappoint me, Riva.”
She swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
I took the tray from her and went back to the room, leaving Riva wide-eyed in the corridor.
My morning activities had made me late, but it was just the thing I needed to subdue my temper for later. I needed to get Maera to the seamstress quickly so I could meet with Thane. We had a lot to discuss if I was about to start a war.