At last, I managed to land a glancing blow on Anika’s shoulder, and she stumbled back, acknowledging my skill with a nod of respect. We paused, catching our breath, but the respite was short-lived. With renewed determination, Anika lunged, her staff whirling like a tempest. I defended with as much grace as I could muster, each strike and parry a testament to our respective years of training and the mutual admiration for each other’s craft.
As the sun rose in the sky, signaling high noon, Anika finally called a truce. We lowered our weapons, both of us worn out but smiling. Our onlookers clapped in appreciation, but my eyes drifted upward to Lord Vasil, still gazing down upon me with one of his inscrutable expressions.
“We’ll have to do this again soon," Anika said, wiping beads of sweat from her brow.
“I’d enjoy that very much,” I replied.
As we put away our wooden staffs and washed up with water from one of the basins, I said to Anika, “Have you any advice for me, in dealing with Lord Vasil?”
She paused and seemed to consider it. “You can trust him to do the right thing, the noble thing, even if it isn’t necessarily what he wants. His security protocol is paramount, so you must adhere to it. And you should avoid keeping secrets from him. The lord has endured much heartache and has been betrayed by those closest to him. If you wish to be truly intimate, then you may have to be the first to let down your guard.”
I appreciated her sound advice, which rang true based on what I knew of the man. “Thank you again for the sparring session. I look forward to training with you tomorrow.”
“We’re happy to have you, Cedrych. Good luck with our lord.”
Ourlord. A subtle reminder that he did not belong to me, not really. He belonged to his people–his guard, his guilds, and his loyal subjects. As for me, estranged from my lands, all but banished by my sovereign, and viewed as a disgrace by my own people, I belonged to no one.
Just as Lord Vasil had said, I was truly alone.
Chapter 7
Lord Vasil
The prince was acclimating to daily life in my fortress. He arrived at breakfast most days in good spirits, then spent the mornings training with Anika and the rest of the elvish guard before washing up and joining me for lunch. During the afternoons we’d discuss history, trade, or politics in my study. His curiosity was boundless and his insights made me think he’d been severely underutilized by the queen and her advisors, but her loss was surely my gain.
Most nights after dinner we’d retire with tea to the lounge where we’d play cards or I’d read to him from one of my many books of elvish customs and lore. He had a lot of questions about our culture and that of the vampyre. Sometimes we’d read independently, and I’d catch him dozing with a book in hand, blonde eyelashes fanned across his cheeks with boyish innocence. I’d rouse him awake and escort him to bed. Occasionally, he’d linger in his doorway, glancing back at me hopefully as though the words were stuck in his throat, but he had not invited me into his bedchambers and I’d not pursued it.
My conclusion was that the prince was shy, a revelation of sorts, and I wondered just how many sexual partners he’d had in the past. Perhaps the commoner was his first? It mightexplain why he was so attached to the relationship. I wanted to ask, to probe, but I refrained, because despite my own growing appetite, I’d resolved to let him come to me. And so, I would.
Roughly a half-moon into our betrothal, I was reviewing contracts in my study when the prince came barreling in, and I knew just from his scent that something was amiss.
“Cedrych?” I asked, glancing up from my very dull paperwork.
“What’s your game, Vasil?” he asked hotly.
“My game?” I said as I stood to match his height.
“Yourgame,” he growled. “Did you bring me here just to toy with me?”
Toy with him, no. Let the sexual tension between us simmer until it reached a boiling point? Perhaps.
“I’ve done no such thing, young man, and you know it. Now, explain yourself,” I demanded
He took a step closer and pointed at me. “You’re doing this to humiliate me, aren’t you?”
“I’ve done nothing of the sort, but here is some advice,brat.Rather than throw a tantrum and accuse me of untrue things, how about you take a deep breath and tell me exactly what is on your mind?”
His chest heaved and he blew out his breath in a mulish manner. “You haven’t touched me, not once,” he said, trying to mask his longing with anger. His arms were spread, highlighting the bulge of his biceps and the thickness of his thighs in his deerskin breeches. I touched him every time I shaved him, but that wasn’t what he meant.
“Do you want me to touch you?” I asked, secretly delighted that he’d made an overture at long last. But did I show it? Absolutely not.
“It’s beendays,” he said by way of answer. “We had that moment on the ship and then that first morning you….” Heswallowed and glanced up at me, embarrassed. “But nothing since.”
“I was giving you time to adjust.”
“I thought you wanted me, Vasil.”
“Idowant you.”
