18. Honour and Vengeance
HONOUR AND VENGEANCE
The Gladiator Games were the last major event before Damien’s Mate Selection Ball, which would conclude the entire mating season of the Nocturne court.
If the ball was the last chance for omegas and female betas to capture Prince Damien’s heart, The Games were a chance for the alphas and male betas from every clan to display their strength and fighting skills.
I had decided not to participate in it, even though it pained me to forgo such a good opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the North.
I just couldn’t risk having my mark exposed during the fights.
So instead, I ordered Sigurd and Thyra to sign up for The Games.
I’d spent the past two days training the two of them, making sure they were strong enough to thrash some arrogant southern royal brats.
I heard snickers flowing around me, mocking me for lacking the spunk to meet the other clans’ best warriors in the ring. I tried to ignore them, but some asshole just didn’t know when to quit poking the bear.
When I was doing routine daily training with Sigurd and Thyra in the training yard, Rydel and a group of aristocratic members in the Steel Legion passed by.
I heard him remark loudly to his friends, “Some northern dogs may look vicious, but they are all bark and no bite. Throw them before a pack of southern hounds and they’ll piss their pants! ”
I was training Thyra in axe fighting. Hearing his derisive words clearly targeting me, I suddenly swung around and threw my axe at him in a lightning-fast, fluent motion.
Rydel yelped, his face aghast in shock and fear, but my axe lodged into the stone pillar right next to him, merely inches away from his nose.
Their whole group froze for a few seconds, and then burst into a barrage of enraged accusations.
“Did you try to murder him?!”
“How dare you!”
“Guards! Guards! Arrest him!”
I raised my hands and feigned an apologetic smile, saying, “Ah, sorry, I thought I heard some annoying crows squawking. Didn’t know you were there.”
Sigurd and Thrya snickered behind me.
Rydel growled in rage and tried to leap over the fence, but his friends pulled him back. He continued to bellow, “You north coward! You were aiming at my head!”
“If I had aimed at your head, you wouldn’t have one now.” I sneered coldly.
The commotion drew the attention of palace guards, including the lieutenant of the royal guard, Sabelina. She glanced at me suspiciously, and her voice was stern. “It’s forbidden to use a training weapon to attack people who are not in the yard, Lord Fenris.”
“Fenris has said that it was but an accident,” Thyra said, stepping forward to defend me. “Are you going to take their side just because they are Nocturnes?”
“He was clearly doing it intentionally, we can all attest!” one of Rydel’s friends shouted.
Sabelina was put in a difficult situation, but before she could make a judgement, another authoritative voice interjected.
“If Lord Fenris said it was an accident, then it was an accident.”
All the bickering and accusations died down. The guards, Rydel, and his friends hastily bowed their heads.
I rolled my eyes before looking back to see Damien sauntering over, hands clasped behind him, a measured half-smile perched on his lips.
“My Prince, the northie tried to murder Rydel.”
Rydel’s friend had barely finished the sentence before Damien backhanded him with enough speed and strength that the man stumbled, and his head snapped to the side.
“I do not tolerate such language.” Damien spoke in a dangerous, icy voice. His dark gaze petrified the rest of the group. “If I hear anyone use that word to address our northern friends one more time, I’ll cut out the tongue that uttered it. Am I making myself clear?”
“Y ... yes ...” the group mumbled in compliance.
Rydel scowled at me, gritting his teeth, but never dared to say another word.
I didn’t need Damien to stand up for me, but a rush of satisfaction still buzzed in my chest, seeing him put Rydel’s lackeys in their place like that.
“Now, off you go. I have important things to discuss with Lord Fenris.” Damien flicked his right hand, as though shooing away annoying insects.
Sigurd and Thyra chortled smugly, watching Rydel’s group trudge off with their heads down, until I told them to leave us as well.
“I could have handled them myself, you know.” I pointed out once we were alone, trying really hard to keep a smile away from my face, though perhaps not entirely successful.
“I know, but I wanted to.” Damien gave me a dirty look. “A thank you would have been nice, you know.”
I scoffed and went to pull the axe from the stone pillar. Damien was close, but not too close, since there were still other soldiers training. Still, his scent tangled with my senses, compelling me to draw deeper breaths to suck in more.
It had been two days since our ... session in the attic storage. I wish I could say I hadn’t thought about him at all, but that would be a lie.
“Where have you been?” I asked, trying to sound indifferent.
“There was an emissary. I was sent to meet her outside of Erevos.” Damien paused for a moment, as though there was more he wasn’t sure he should say.
“Emissary? From where?” I asked. When he didn’t answer immediately, I waved it off. “Never mind. You don’t have to tell me if it’s a privileged state matter.”
“Lady Lenore. She is the emissary of the Vampire King Solomon.”
My heart skipped a beat. I snapped my head toward Damien, gawking at him, hoping my voice was steady. “You’re dealing with vamps?”
“No, but I think they’re worried Nocturne might aid the North if I choose Leif as my mate.
I suspect they have eyes and ears in our court, and they know I showed interest in your omega brother.
” Damien chuckled, stepping closer and brushing his shoulder against mine. “They got the wrong brother, though.”
I glanced at him, wondering if I could trust him. He didn’t have to tell me all this.
“What exactly did they want?” I asked.
“They didn’t say, but Solomon sent some very generous gifts to me as an early congratulations. I returned all of it, though,” Damien replied pointedly, as though waiting for my approval of his fortitude.
But I had other concerns. Even if Damien didn’t want to deal with them, what about the king?
And if Damien selected someone other than Leif as his mate, would that signal weakness to the vamps and tempt them to attack Winterthrope?
As though reading my mind, Damien took a step closer, surreptitiously using his index finger to scratch my palm playfully, and whispered, “Hey, don’t worry, I won’t let them slither their way into Nocturne.”
“ ... Thank you.”
“How do you plan to thank me?” A smirk flickered in his eyes.
He changed the topic so quickly that I could barely keep up, and the innuendo in the question made my cheeks warm. I cleared my throat. “I’m busy.”
“Have you been a good boy for me during these past two days, Fenris? Did you touch yourself?”
I almost choked on my own saliva. How could he just ... talk about our game in a public place with such a straight face?!
I probably should have just ignored him and removed myself from the embarrassing situation. But instead, I shook my head slightly, squeezed out several barely audible words. “You haven’t given me permission ...”
“Good.” He practically purred like a cat.
He leaned in closer and breathed into my ear, “Tonight, I want you to strip naked, pulling the full-length mirror in front of the bed so you can see yourself. Then, I want you to lie on your bed, keep your eyes on the mirror, and touch any part of your body above your waist, but not below. I want you to think about me, about what I have done to you, and what you want me to do to you.”
“That’s it?” I breathed heavily, verging on panic. “You promised to give me permission!”
“I promised no such thing.” A grin that could only be described as diabolical slid across his face before he turned on his heel and strutted away.
This was ridiculous. I mean, Damien was not even here with me, so why was I even doing this? Surely I had better things to do?
I looked at my reflection in the full-length mirror, which I had moved beside my bed per Damien’s “order.” I could barely recognize the man staring back.
My braids had come loose, hair mussed from tossing against the pillow.
My skin was hypersensitive, flushed from a building desire that had no outlet, and the two buds on my chest were red and swollen from my own fingers’ relentless pinching.
I had never seen myself in the middle of lust before, and it was... weird. I never knew I could make such ... vulnerable and longing expressions, similar to the expressions I’d seen on the omegas I bedded in the past. Was this the face Damien saw when he had me submitted beneath him?
The memory of Damien looming over me, touching me, made me tremble in desire, but I couldn’t touch the centre where all the fiery torrents gathered in, because Damien hadn’t allowed me to touch it ...
Yes, it was not like there was anyone in the room to stop me, but I still hadn’t touched it at all.
Something about obeying Damien’s command, even when he wasn’t watching, stirred something deeper and more exciting than simple fulfillment of the lust. Every minute I resisted the urge, I felt a rush of pride and accomplishment.
I sighed in frustration and yearning, futilely rubbing my legs together. But it wasn’t enough ... I needed Damien here, to hold me down and take everything he wanted from me ... rough and raw until I pleaded and begged him to show mercy. I didn’t even care about the mark anymore ...
But he was not here, and I couldn’t even touch my cock ...
Just as the frustration became too much, and my fortitude in following his order was wavering, suddenly I heard the door in Leif’s room slam shut, and then, after a few moments of eerie silence, I heard a sob.