Evston glanced at the bottle of strong drink sitting next to his right foot. The stout glass he’d just filled rested on his left thigh with his left hand steadying it.
“Duckworth has joined the stunning princess, who is staying in the royal suite in Lellis. She tells me the soldiers you sent to guard her are in attendance. Discreet men I take it?”
“Death before even a word is spilled. No need though. In the wig and gown, she appears herself. And you’re not there corrupting her, so what is there to be discreet about?” Rocurt asked.
“She’s still supposed to be a runaway at the moment.”
Rocurt nodded. “They know not to let it be known that she’s staying there. They think it’s for security reasons.”
“She’s so reckless. They should keep a close eye. It’s impossible to know what she might do next,” Evston said.
Rocurt shrugged. “Details can’t be known, but the general shape of things can be.”
“She accused me of recklessness too. Rightly so,” he said, taking a long pull of liquor and glancing at the wall of crops, floggers, and paddles. And at the cabinet full of toys. “Her entire life she has been impossible to contain. She was bitten by wanderlust in the cradle, I’m convinced of it. And yet, I tried to hold her as a prisoner in this small group of rooms. A girl who began sneaking out of her own palace at age ten. What does that say of my judgment with regard to this girl?”
“It says you’re flesh and blood. You’re a man who was overcome by the tempting possibility that he’d get what he’s secretly wanted for a long time.”
“I don’t have the luxury of being overcome, which I very well know. This part of Calex life has to be a carefully guarded secret, and she has no practice at keeping herself concealed or in check. So often, she is impulsiveness itself.”
Rocurt smirked.
“Yes,” Evston said in regard to what Rocurt had not said. “I love that spirit. And I admire her fearlessness, even when it threatens to destroy us.”
“She doesn’t want to destroy us. She’s not sure what she wants.”
“But it’s not this.”
“Isn’t it? Does she come when you fuck her?”
“Always.”
“Harder when you dominate her?”
“Yes.”
Rocurt made a hand gesture to signal the topic settled. Then he strode over and grabbed the bottle. “Come down.”
“I’m not fit company.”
“All right, but don’t dwell too long this way. You’ve lost your favorite toy, but the girl is more than that. Don’t let her wander too freely. She can’t be trusted to manage herself on her own.”
“I can’t keep her as a prisoner.”
“No, but consider where things stand. Shots have been fired. Nothing can change that. But a war is not lost in the first moments. It’s lost when the weaker side surrenders or is defeated. Is that you? Or her?”
“To characterize it as a war would make me her enemy.”
“You are the enemy of her freedom, Ev. That’s a fact.”
Evston tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling.
“But you can still salvage the relationship and enjoy having a beautiful wife. Give up on the temptation to keep her the way you would a purchased pet. You don’t have the right to do it, and you know it. Lure her back in the role of princess and future wife. Maybe that role will be one she can tolerate. You’d better hope so or the war of wills will never end.”
Evston nodded. He knew it was sage advice, but the craving to enjoy her as a plaything when it suited him was undeniably strong. She was so delicious as a pet. There would be plenty of time for her to act as a proper wife. He’d wanted to use this stolen time to share darker, deeper fantasies with her.
“Come down soon. It’s time to move forward,” Rocurt said, and then his footfalls faded to silence.
