I turned, wet cloth in hand, cock spent and soft, to find him sitting on the edge of my soft mattress, his tunic stained with his seed, his expression muted.
“Areyousure you wish to engage in a longer affair?” I tossed back to him.
“I am…willing, yes, but wary.”
“As am I,” I confessed, spinning back to rinse and rewetting the cloth for him. He smiled weakly at me when I handed it to him. “Your loss was a deep one. I understand that. I do not seek to replace Mirolar, nor could I even if I sought to do so, for my lineage is a soiled one.”
“You are a noble elf. Born to a lady of prestige.”
“A lady who lay with a human pirate,” I reminded him before tucking my prick into my breeches as the castle grew louder and louder. “I am a bastard. My brother’s commands aside, I amnotgoing to be welcome at court.”
“Many who claim the title of lord of a vills have far less noble blood than you.” He stood, washed between his legs, and passed the cloth to me. I threw it across the room into the basin, where it splashed into the bowl. “I shall have to change.”
I cupped his chin, bringing his gaze to mine from his soiled tunic. “Let us go forth from this day with an agreement of sorts. We shall find each other’s beds, have our joys and pleasures, and when my ship is ready to sail, we shall see where we stand.”
“That may be many passes of the full moons.”
“Aye, it might. I am willing to give my brother’s fantasy a go as long as I know you and your tight arse will be in my bed when we retire at night.” I gave him a wicked wink.
His reply came after a swollen moment of deep thought on his part. “Then I am willing to see where our fates take us as well.”
I pressed my lips to his. So sweet. And now mine for as long as I was here. Perhaps I could get used to being Lord of Renedith if he lay in my arms every—
A violent surge of wind blew out the windows, dousing the room with seawater and foam that rushed in to dampen our boots. We jumped apart with shouts of fright as glass exploded into the room. The seas were foul and dark today. An ill portent for a proclamation, any sailor with his salt would say. Perhaps, just this once, the old sea dogs were wrong…
I’d chosen the mustard for no other reason than I enjoyed mustard on my sausages.
If I did happen to dribble some of the yellow condiment onto my balls during the small state luncheon taking place after the proclamation reading, it wouldn’t stand out. A small state luncheon I’d not been informed of until I’d climbed into the king’s carriage a moment ago.
“You look dashing,” Aelir said after telling me about the luncheon, glancing at Raewyn for a nod that he got, but it was a grudging one. “Tezen came to us with the news of your night in the library. The castellan has been notified, and a locksmith is already in the castle placing locks on the doors. I do not know where my children have gotten this streak of wildness.”
Raewyn said nothing, but her cocked brow spoke volumes. “We’d like to thank you and your guardian for amusing them,” she said. “They woke briefly when we entered to check on them before leaving and were most exuberant about becoming pirates when they grew up, so they too could sail the green seas to meet the singing fish.”
I wiggled over a bit to make room for Le’ral. Prescott was given his own carriage with Lady Merrilyn and GuardCommander V’alor. He’d not been happy about the separation, but I told him Lady Merrilyn carried rum candies, so he agreed to ride behind us. I suspected right now a soaking wet page boy was toting rum candies to the second state carriage in line to depart the castle. The twins were running late. Cranky after a late night with their beloved new uncle in the library, they would arrive shortly before the proclamation or after. It depended on whether they threw any royal fits.
“As you know, Your Majesty, a life on the sea is a noble calling,” I parried, moving my cutlass to the left to keep it out of harm’s way. I’d not felt right carrying a royal blade. This was the cutlass of the Caderes, and so it belonged on my side.
“Agreed, it is, if the life is spent on the side of lawfulness and right,” the queen replied.
“Please, may we not fall into this tiresome argument this morning?” Aelir interrupted before I could rebuke the queen’s comment. “This is a joyful day for the realm. A missing prince has been found and returned to us. Let’s spend this morning without bickering, please?”
Raewyn nodded her intricately coiffed dark head then set to tapping her fan on her thigh.
“Sorry, I’m always a little fussy when I’m about to be foisted off to a temple filled with nobility who would sooner spit in my eye than shake my hand,” I blathered then fell silent.
“They would not dare spit in the eye of the elf who has been granted the lands and titles of Renedith. Nor will they speak out of turn to my brother, who has been bestowed a crown of Melowynn. Speaking of which…”
I frowned. “I’m not comfortable in a crown, Aelir. I’d rather just wear a little silver circlet if I have to wear anything on my head at all.”
“Hmm, well, I suppose that will work for this?” Aelir looked at Le’ral.
“This morning’s proclamation reading is surely a fine time for the new prince of the realm to be introduced in a circlet. The shock of seeing one of the holy crowns of Melowynn sitting on the head of a privateer who possesses blood that is not wholly regal might be difficult to swallow for the noble houses.”
I pointed at Le’ral. “That’s what I wanted to say. We don’t want to stuff me down their throats.”
The queen rolled her eyes. Aelir snickered. Le’ral turned a fine shade of plum. The carriage lurched forward. My guts were in turmoil. The lucent in my pocket was ice cold, pulsing with each thump of my heart. My magicks were tightly spun, the lack of sleep and tension wound inside me making the powers that normally sat softly inside my breast feel…
I couldn’t place the feeling, but it was as ugly as the weather. Rain poured downward, winds buffeted the carriage. Not for the first time this day, I wondered what kind of idiots would venture forth to a cathedral that sat next to a violent sea in courtly finery to welcome a prince who wished to be anywhere but in that fucking cathedral.
