“Sometimes it can’t be avoided.”
“Will you distract me while I take it?”
Confusion filled his head at her request.Distract her?Vedikus longed to have her sheathing his bull’s cock again, longed to expel the new seed his loins had created to breed her with, but to do so while she took the cure? He shook his head, his voice gruff and deep. “How?”
“Finish the story.”
The strain in his thighs eased slightly although his shaft remained semi-hard and twitchy. A tendril of steam escaped his nostrils. Vedikus tilted his head and forced the tension from his chest. He was not good at taking orders but he could not deny her. He licked his lips and nodded, reaching for one of his axes to trace his fingers along the blade.
“The king knew he had been defeated and that he had no choice but to face her in battle. The queen had all but won and the only victory left was to kill the leader of her enemies. She had him where she wanted him, but when the time came to gore his body, she could not do it.”
Aldora uncorked the top of the vial and sniffed the liquid, sighing quietly as her other hand rested on the clay jug.
“Be glad that you cannot smell it,” he paused. “It will be easier that way.”
“Is it that bad?”
“It’s not pleasant.”
She nodded.
“What was her life before the king came into it?” Vedikus continued after a moment, wishing he had more control of the situation. “She resided in a small world, alone, waiting each day for her enemy to attack her lands, but what would she do when it was over? The queen could not live with such a fate now that she knew there was more than just her labyrinth and its magic, so she offered the king a deal: his life and kingdom for a child.”
Aldora met his eyes and raised the vial again, posing it at her lips. He leaned forward, letting the axe go limp in his hand. The evening light faded to a deep grey, darkening the entrance of the cave, and the sounds of night critters sounded among the crackle of the fire.
“Did he accept?” she asked instead of swallowing.
“In awe of the queen, he did, but it was not at all what he had expected. The king was never able to leave the labyrinth with what the queen bestowed upon him, his rule was no longer over the land of light, of mere human men, but of all that resides in the maze he so desperately tried to conquer.”
She stiffened, inhaled, and tipped her head back, drinking the contents in one go. Vedikus leaned back, waiting for something to happen. Aldora dropped her hand and placed the empty waxen cylinder aside while rubbing her mouth. He indicated the water and she turned her attention to it, taking several deep swallows until there was nothing left.
“How do you feel?”
She rubbed her hands together curiously. “Nothing. I feel nothing. I wish I knew what to expect...”
“Expect it to work,” he reassured, reaching for her. Vedikus pulled her into his lap and pressed her head back against his chest, resting his chin atop it. “Rest now. I will guard your sleep.” She settled against him and he wrapped his arms around her, sealing her within the shell of his large body. His nostrils flared as the sharp smell of magic filled his nose, mixed with her sweet scent. It relaxed him, reminding him of a time when he was young. When he and his brothers would curl up together when his mother told them stories. When he last had something besides responsibility and bloodshed in his life.
“I hope it works,” she whispered, and he pressed his lips to her head.
“Hope is for the weak, female.”
“That makes sense.” Her voice softer still. “What happened next?”
Vedikus rested his back against the cave wall. “The first minotaur was born, not all bull nor all man, but with the abilities of both. The queen returned to her labyrinth with the babe, leaving the king to rule by himself in a desecrated castle of his own making. He resides there still, looking out over the world he would forever be trapped in, waiting, like all monsters here do.” Aldora mumbled weakly and he caressed her skin, feeling sleep take her from him.
He turned his eyes to the wax vial, now partially melted by the fire, the pale wax pooling. He watched it until it lost all its shape and returned back to its original form, and after a long while Aldora began to shiver slightly in his arms.Feeling, once again.
