Chapter 42 Irena
IRENA
We pass through the courtyard draped in living thorns and now stand before the entrance to the Sorceress's domain.
I see that the stronghold is not a castle of stone and mortar but a colossal tree, wider than a keep, its ancient bark gnarled and silvered with age.
Thorned and flowering vines cling to its bark like living jewelry, their blood-red blooms pulsing faintly with an inner light.
High above, its leafy boughs stretch into the misty canopy, blotting out the sun, and its huge roots coil into the ground like vast, slumbering beasts.
The three knights step ahead, their footsteps making no sound on the moss-carpeted earth.
At a word from the black knight, a vast door of weathered oak, covered in flowering vines in the center of the trunk, creaks open.
The scent of jasmine and green things wafts outward.
Valen moves in front of me instantly, his broad shoulders tense, the muscles in his back flexing like an animal ready to spring.
I should feel irritated at being treated like a damsel in need of shielding… but instead, I feel seen—protected. As though we stand together, not as Mistress and her servant, but as a single unit.
We pass beneath the arched doorway and enter a vaulted chamber grown from the living tree itself.
Branches curl and weave into towering columns, and above us the ceiling blossoms into a canopy of glowing blue leaves.
The scent is rich and loamy, as though the tree breathes magic itself.
A carpet of soft moss cushions our steps and mutes all sound.
Vines hang like curtains, studded with tiny blossoms that glow with magical inner light.
And at the end of the hall, upon a throne that is half wooden sculpture, half living growth, sits the Sorceress.
She is tall, ethereal. Her honey-gold hair flows over her shoulders in waves, studded here and there with tiny white flowers.
Her gown is of light green gossamer so thin I can see the rise of her breasts beneath it, the slight swell of her nipples through slits deliberately placed to frame them.
A slit up the center reveals that she wears no undergarments, the bare curve of her sex clearly visible.
She is adorned with only a crown of vines and flowers, yet she wears her near-nudity like armor.
"Welcome, visitors," she says, her voice like silver wind chimes stirred by a breeze. "You must have traveled far to meet with me."
I step forward, head held high though my heart hammers in my chest. I’m trying to look royal despite my ragged appearance.
"That is correct. I am Princess Irena of Therevan and I have come to seek your aid."
The Sorceress inclines her head, her eyes luminous green and unreadable.
"Indeed. And please, do not trouble yourself about your gown, my dear. I see through to your essence. You possess not only nobility but also great magic."
"I… do?" My voice falters before I can stop it. What makes her think that about me?
The Sorceress smiles knowingly.
"How else would you have tamed such a protector?"
Her gaze slides to Valen. As she looks him up and down I feel a ripple of possessive heat pass through me.
"A Drake Shifter, no less,” she purrs. “Tell me, child… how did you bind him to you?"
I open my mouth but can find no words.
Valen answers before I can think of what to say.
"I stay with the princess of my own free will," he growls. "We have… an understanding."
The Sorceress arches one delicate brow.
"Ah. So you serve her for love. How quaint. My husbands serve me for the same reason." She looks at the knights and all three of them come to attention. "Come, my husbands, and pay your obeisance to me," she beckons to them. "But first—let's do away with this bulky armor."
She rises gracefully, her gown parting to reveal more pale golden skin. Then she snaps her fingers.
The three knights step forward. She speaks a word I don’t understand—but it sounds rather like the Old Tongue—and their armor vanishes in a shimmer of light.
I gasp softly at such a casual display of magic. Such power is kept secret in our Court—not openly flaunted and displayed. But the sorceress seems to be all about display.
Each man now wears loose, silk trousers belted low on their hips. The red knight has wavy auburn hair and a neat beard, his eyes the color of garnets. The green knight is lithe, with wild blonde curls and piercing green eyes. And the black knight is dark-haired and grave, his black eyes hooded.
“Come to me,” she says again. “I require pleasure.”
They move to the Sorceress without hesitation. The red and green knights each take one of her nipples into their mouths, while the black knight kneels before her and buries his face between her thighs. It’s obvious he’s pleasuring her with his tongue…licking her pussy.
I feel my pulse start to race and my forbidden area is suddenly feeling hot and wet. It’s the exact thing that Valen has said several times he wants to do to me, but I know I shouldn’t let him. It’s wrong—isn’t it?
The Sorceress doesn’t seem to think so. She moans openly, throwing her head back, her hands tangled in her husband’s hair.
“Ah, that’s good, my loves. Darrin…Fenric, suck a little harder, won’t you? And Horatio…” But whatever she’s about to say to the black knight with his face between her thighs ends in a moan. “Ahh…So good, my love!” she moans. “You have such a talented tongue.”
I shift uncomfortably, shooting a sidelong glance at Valen. He’s watching with heavy-lidded eyes and I can see a definite bulge in his trousers. I guess watching this makes him hard? Goddess above…
Why shouldn’t it make him hard—it’s making you wet, isn’t it? whispers a little voice in my head. And somehow my eyes return to the sight of the Sorceress being pleasured by all three of her husbands at once.
I want to look away. I know I should. But I cannot. I’m frozen—caught between shock and fascination. How can she do this right in front of us? And why am I still watching?
She takes her pleasure without shame, without fear. This is her throne room, her power. These men do not command her—they serve her. And she revels in their devotion.
Is this what red beard at the Slaughtered Lamb meant?
That here, in this place, women rule and men obey?
I remember him saying that the Sorceress believed that women ought to be in charge and how he laughed as though it was a silly notion.
But the three muscular knights bending to her will don’t seem to think so.
“Mmm, I love a woman who knows exactly what she wants,” Valen murmurs and gives me a look.
Heat coils low in my belly and my cheeks flame as I remember the things we did together last night. The way he touched me and made me come so hard…the way I sucked him. Goddess above, I shouldn’t be thinking such things…
At last, the Sorceress taps the heads of her lovers. The red and green knight both withdraw, letting her tight pink nipples slip from their lips but the black knight between her legs keeps licking until she tugs at his hair.
“Enough, Horatio, my love,” she says breathlessly. “For I must attend to our guests.”
At last, with obvious reluctance, the black knight pulls back and rises. His mouth and chin are shiny and wet. He steps back and I can see between the Sorceress’s legs. Her pussy lips are swollen and dark pink, opening to show the pearl of her clit—clearly the black knight pleasured her well.
All three of them take up places around her, like an honor guard and she smiles approvingly.
"Very good, my husbands," she says with a regal nod. Her cheeks are pink and her pale eyes are bright with pleasure. “Always so willing to serve. How did I get so lucky to have all three of you?” Then she turns to me. "And now… why do you not have your man pay you obeisance?"
"Oh… um…" I’m suddenly filled with confusion. I can’t let Valen do those things to me—especially not in front of stranger, can I?
Before I can answer, Valen steps forward.
"Indeed, my Mistress. I would be more than happy to pay obeisance to you,” he rumbles, his eyes dark with desire.
Panic surges in my chest. I can’t do this! Not here—not now!
"And I would welcome your, er, ministrations. Except I'm so very hot and dusty from the road," I say quickly, stepping back.
The Sorceress laughs. It is a sound like silver bells tinkling.
"Ah, of course. Forgive me. You must refresh yourselves. One of my husbands will show you to your rooms."
"Thank you, Lady…” I trail off uncertainly. What honorific or title would be correct? I don’t want to offend her by misnaming her.
“You may call me Lady Thornmere,” she says, smiling gently. “For the forest is my home and my heart and I am its guardian. Now go, and be renewed. We shall speak again soon of what you seek."
She gestures to Horatio.
"Take them to the Easternmost Bough."
The black knight bows. "Come,” he says to me and Valen.
Since there doesn’t seem to be anything else to do, we follow him.
But still, I feel the echo of the Sorceress’s pleasure humming in the air around me and I have to wonder…
What have we stepped into?