“Where is that guard of yours?” Ereon's smooth voice spooks me from my thoughts.
“Last I remember, you sent him to take a bath.” I smile at him. “Siphonie here is a perfectly good guard.”
“Yes Prince Ereon, I may not look like much but I think I could protect our Naxa if I needed to.” She pretends to show off her limited muscles. My face lights with joy and she smiles at us both. “See, perfectly capable.”
He smirks as he replies, “While I am sure you can protect her, I somehow managed to have enough time to walk with her until we ran into you,BêlitSiphonie, bathe, and find you both again, all before he finished washing up. You should never be left alone Carnaxa, especially in a place in which you are a stranger.”
We walk toward a tavern, the smell of roast meat filling the air. While I feel the pit of my stomach churning, if he is to be my husband I must learn to speak up during moments worth speaking up for. I bite my lower lip before inhaling quickly.
“You underestimate me Ereon – I might also be capable of taking care of myself. I have found no reason to fear anyone here. We couldn’t find Thylas before we decided to leave, although we did leave a note. He is most likely searching for us now, but it might take him some time to find us in such a busy marketplace. He is just as much a stranger to this land as I am.”The words spill from my lips in a quick and hurried manner making me sound less confident than I feel.
Ereon’s lips turn up in almost a smile, but not quite; a low chuckle escapes him. He slides his hand along his baldric that holds his two curved swords against his back, and runs his other hand in his brown hair. I catch myself wondering what it would feel like to run my fingers through the mahogany curls. The thought shocks me. Perhaps the moment Thylas initiated but never finished, has my body frustrated. Soon however, I will know exactly what it’s like to have Ereon’s hair between my fingertips and his body on mine. It’ll be my marital duty.
“I would never underestimate you, Princess. Regardless, I will speak to your guard,again.Not only is he your guard, but he is an ambassador. He should take his duties more seriously or I will have to take action.”
“There is no need for any of this. Let’s not rehash old conflicts —again.”
“There is no need for you to constantly protect him when his job is to protect you. You will need protection when we reach Shaston.” He looks ahead of us and smiles, nodding toward a vendor. “I think the two of you will enjoy these.” He stops to purchase, what I assume is a treat, something that smells like chocolate, and hands each of us one.
I accept the food and take a bite, the sweetness overtaking my tongue. “Will I need protection in Shaston because I'm to be your wife or is there something else I should fear?”
Using his thumb, he wipes off a crumb from the corner of my mouth. “Because ... I didn't expect to actually enjoy your company and I'm starting to. I would prefer nothing nefarious happens to you, so I’ll need your guard to protect you when I can’t.”
twenty-three
THYLAS
Iturn the silver door knob and walk through the rounded doorway into my room. It's sparse but not uncomfortable. A fireplace sits in the middle of the room with a large hearth attached to it, and a bed with a large grey comforter is at the far end in front of large, square windows. A private washroom is attached to the room as well.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, untying the laces of my boots, I place them under my bed. My toes curl and uncurl asthey relax and I inhale deeply. I take off my cotton tunic which smells of dirt and sweat, and throw it on the floor. I need to make this quick, I'm sure Carnaxa will be looking for me.
Water is waiting for me in a basin in the private washroom, it's still warm and I quickly pour some into a wooden bowl beside the tub and begin to rinse my face. I’d like to take a bath, but I'm simply too tired. I take a cloth and begin wiping down my body. Running the cloth across my tattoos, the language of the Goddess revealed across my skin. It's stated that when the Goddess created the first Antalians they spoke the language learned from the Mother. Over time, the language changed as the population grew to what is used today, but I'm one of few who is fluent in the original language, trained by Rhenor. It’s something I take pride in, being once a child no one wanted and now having a gift that unveils so many things.
The words that swirl around my arm and across my shoulders tell of my story, my hopes, and my dreams. They portray a small happy boy, who was torn from his mother, and drifted away on the sea, who eventually found his way to the shores of Antalis. The words convey my struggles of trying to cope and learn who I am. The last of the words is the story of my whipping and even now I don't regret it for one moment. I did what I did for Carnaxa, and I will always sacrifice myself for her, to be her safety.
A soft knock on my door startles me. I open it to find the same woman who escorted me back to the castle, along with two other women who stand just behind her.
“I need you to follow me, Captain. You have been requested for a special meeting.”
When a woman finds her lips around my cock I am usually happy, even excited. But here I am in such a predicament and wishing to be anywhere else. I need to get to Carnaxa. Their note was delivered stating they were going into the village. I don't like the thought of her alone in this kingdom. I don’t know what I have to do to get her to understand, not everyone has her best interest in mind. I roll my eyes, I'm sure Ereon is with her, the one who fanangled this situation, probably so he could play the savior and blame me once again.
Lanie is on her knees in front of me, her hand wrapped around my base, her head bobbing up and down on my length. My hand slightly rests on her dark curls that have come undone from the updo she had on display earlier.
Two of Ereon's soldiers stand behind her, each with their own female for companionship. “A gift from Prince Ereon,” I was told as they all came to me outside my chambers when summoned by Lanie to follow her. A gift. I laugh under my breath and she stops for a moment, before returning back to the duty before her. I'm more like a hostage at this point.
He sent her to keep me away from Carnaxa and the two soldiers here are meant to keep an eye out and make sure I don’t send her away. I'm not dumb to the games of high-borns, I've played them before. I tried to pass off Lanie’s advances as best I could. Lanie, nor the soldiers, wouldn’t hear of it, reminding me it is rude to ignore a gift given from their prince. I've been stuck with the two of them and the women for a while now and I'm just ready to get this over with. Lanie isn't unattractive, and if this was prior to having had a taste of Carnaxa, I would be inMohasha,but right now ... she’s not who I want.
“Captain,” Lanie's soft voice pulls me from my thoughts as she subtly rubs at her jaw. It's taking me forever, which is something I normally pride myself on, because I would give the women agreat night to remember. However, right now, it's just annoying both of us. “Would you rather us do something else?”
No ... Goddess, no. She’s hoping it would speed things up, but I just can’t. No fault of hers of course, but after knowing how Naxa felt beneath me, I’ll wait forever to have her again if I have to. The guards across the room, one plunging into a woman with large hips and auburn hair, the other man’s face deep into the blonde, they both take a moment to stare at me.
“Looks like Antalian men can't finish the job,” one mumbles before going back to the feast in front of him.
I shake my head at Lanie and she wraps her plump lips around me once again, but this time I close my eyes and imagine it's Carnaxa. I imagine her hands being the ones wrapped around my thickness. I imagine her tongue, the one licking the tip before swallowing me. I imagine her throat being the one that I now pound into.
“Thylas!” I hear Carnaxa's voice calling from the hallway.Kosæ!I try to push away from Lanie, but she doesn’t realize that and insteads digs her fingers into my thighs pulling me closer. A tingling at the base of my spines has me wanting to moan at being so close to release.
Just as my hand's fist in her bark-colored hair to pull her away, my release finds its mark down her throat, the creaky door opens and there, myNohæstands. Her beautiful ocean-colored eyes staring right into mine before her eyes dart from my eyes to Lanie on her knees, as she drinks me up. Carnaxa stops, her hand still on the door.
