by Clare London
Behind him Edrius made a soft noise of protest, like an exhalation of breath, but Zander was his commanding Gold Warrior and he wouldn’t argue with him. I’d not expect him to.
I breathed in deeply. “I’ve never been found guilty of anything,” I said to Zander, slowly and clearly. I knew the others were all listening. “I’ve served my Mistress as required, and she’s the only one who can command or chastise me, not you. I don’t have to take any orders from you, whoever you are, whatever you think you should be. I don’t have to take anything from you—”
He moved quickly, but not so quickly I wasn’t prepared for his strike. His sword slid from its sheath with a glint and a sound barely above a hum, but I was still ready to meet it with mine, parrying it to the side. Soldiers cried out and shuffled back, clearing a new space around us. There were calls from the cage where the procured soldiers were watching, startled by this shocking behavior from their new Guard. We fought almost silently, apart from our panting breath, careless of anyone else around us, our gazes locked and our remaining strength carrying us through each thrust. I knew his style, and it seemed he knew mine too, despite his protestations of having barely tolerated me on the training ground. At one point I slipped in a puddle of fresh blood, and his sword cut through the side of my belt. I struck back at him, catching him distracted by a medical officer’s call from the other side of the enclosure. I took a slice of hair from his head, my sword nicking the edge of his ear lobe on my downward strike. My blade came away spattered lightly with his blood. It wasn’t the ear with his gold earring in place.
We staggered on through the crowd of soldiers, all eyes on us. He pressed me back against the wall of the corridor running from the arena into the enclosure, where only we could pass. His sword braced against mine, our faces close and straining with the effort to break the other’s grip. I tried to knock his feet out from under him, but he stood firm. He leaned to one side to push me off balance but I was ready for it, and leaned with him. We were well matched in this too.
Suddenly Seleste’s voice cut through our madness like a sword itself, high and clear and furious. “Cease this at once!”
Soldiers dropped to their knees in a body around her. She stood tall and straight, despite the shadow of pain in her eyes and the bloodstains on her gown. I didn’t even glance at Zander. I wrenched away from him and knelt swiftly. Seconds later, he did the same. Seleste stepped toward us, more of her Ladies having now rushed in from the arena, hovering in panic and worry around her.
“This is ludicrous,” she hissed. “Such stupid lusts, such pathetic argument when you are all my servants, none better than the next!” She looked around at her soldiers, all of them awaiting her wrath, then glared back at us. “You are both acting like idiot children, and I should have you executed for such irresponsible behavior.”
There was a ripple of movement from the Guard, tired and breathless men, nerves still thrumming from the day’s combat, yet now shifting with nervousness and horror.
“Mistress,” I murmured, knowing my words would make little difference to whatever she wanted to do. “Forgive me.”
Zander looked up at her, his eyes fierce and pained. She glanced at me, then back to him. “I will speak to the men,” she said sharply. “After that, you will call the carriage and I’ll go back to the Household. I can be attended just as well there. Then Zander, consider yourself confined to barracks until I call for you. And Maen….” I felt Zander tense up beside me. “Maen,” she continued, her voice hoarse, her gaze now directed at me. “You’ll come to me in two hours’ time, bathed and without arms or uniform of any kind.”
I LAY in bed with Seleste, the new Queen, both of us naked, spooned up against her slim back. Our skin was slick with sweat, though it was drying slowly. The sheets were in a crumpled heap on the floor, along with a pile of discarded plates, covered with crumbs and fruit peelings. We’d eaten well and coupled enthusiastically—the two very often went together for Seleste. Only a few hours after the conclusion of the battle, she’d still been excited and passionate. I’d come to her as ordered, but she’d required neither apology nor explanation from me about the fight with Zander. Instead, her robe had slipped to the floor at a touch, and she pressed her soft, nude skin, flushed with desire, against me, making me dizzy after the exercise of the day. She’d demanded to be taken, fast and fiercely, no holding back the strength of my arms around her or my legs against her. We’d tumbled over a table and several ornaments, then spilled most of the contents of a wine flask over the rug. Seleste was a strong, greedy lover and a match for my stamina most of the time. She’d clung to me, crying alongside my own groans, exhorting me, provoking me to be fiercer until she’d climaxed underneath me. Then she allowed me my own satisfaction, laughing softly as my climax spilled out of me with hot, desperate relief.
Now we lay quietly, gathering fresh breath, the scent of our bodies still lingering in my nostrils and her skin sticky against my own.
“Your speech was inspiring,” I murmured tiredly.
Directly after Zander had proclaimed victory in the battle, Seleste had spoken to the men for a full half hour, praising their fighting, reliving the spectacle of the tournament and imprinting it in their memories. She’d stood in the dusty, filthy arena as the remaining spectators gazed down on her from the stands and her men clustered around the Horse, all of them with eyes only for their beautiful, magnificent new Queen. I couldn’t remember her mother having done as much, although I had been very young at the time of that battle. “They worshiped you.”
She sighed beneath me. “I’ve had months to refine the words,” she said, wryly. “Two scribes have worked on it day and night, sworn to secrecy on my thought processes and struggles, and yet still terrified to this day as to whether I’ll have them executed for their confidential knowledge.”
I laughed with her, though I decided to spend some time the next day in the Royal Library, finding those scribes. I’d thank them myself, but also discover some way of releasing them from their dread. Seleste could be magnanimous to her servants. As a typical example, in the barracks this night, the soldiers of her Guard were enjoying fresh food and plentiful drink, supplied by her without restraint.
“The men are celebrating their victory tonight, I believe,” she said as if she’d somehow heard my thoughts. I remembered how, when I was younger, I’d believed that Mistresses had magical powers and could do just that. I’d been young in many ways then, not just in years.
“You’ve been very generous to them,” I said, for it was true.
I stroked at the top of her thigh, just under her hip, my fingers touching gently around the place where Flora had stabbed her. The medics had been all but hysterical when they saw her blood, but I was right in my assessment of only a flesh wound, though on such pale, privileged flesh as the Queen’s, it was still a very significant matter. But they’d sewn the sides together with their cleansed thread and the skin was already knitting itself together. The bruises would fade, and perhaps there’d be a scar in the shape of a curved knife cut, but nothing more. The House of Physic had strong ointments for battle wounds; I knew that from my own experience. Now I pressed my lips against her shoulder. “They have more ale and food than they need, and time to enjoy it.”
“And each other,” she whispered back. “Am I right to know all of my soldiers’ lusts?” She pushed my hand away as if she disliked me touching the cut, but there was mischief in her voice. She didn’t seem weakened by Flora’s attack and arched against me, enjoying the press of my half-erect cock against her back, maybe stimulated by her imaginings. “There are many new recruits in the barracks, the best of my sisters’ finest soldiers, mixed with an excess of male excitement and the aftermath of battle and bloodiness. They won’t be gentle with each other tonight, will they?”
I didn’t think she required an answer. I was used to the way fighting men’s passions would be high and greedy. The Ladies had called many of them to their beds, but for those left
behind, there’d be their companions in the barracks to satisfy their sexual needs. And Seleste was right—they’d not be gentle. When she nudged back against me, I stroked myself to full hardness, parted her legs, and slid back into her. Her flesh was hot; her skin shuddered underneath my fingertips. I knew Seleste didn’t want to be gentle tonight, either.
“You and Zander,” she muttered. She was a little breathless, but her anger could still be reawakened. “Fighting in front of the men and your Queen, so soon after victory against all others. Appalling behavior.”
I frowned. “It won’t happen again. I don’t know what madness came over us.”
She wasn’t listening to my apology. I moved inside her, cupping my hands under her smooth buttocks, seeking to rouse her again. She gasped with pleasure. “Do you wish you were with them, Maen? In the barracks with your men?”
“I’m honored you called me,” I replied, as my duty demanded. “I’m pleased to be here. And they are not—”
“Your men,” she interrupted. “No, indeed, as Zander so thoughtfully pointed out to you.”
I tensed briefly, and she hissed. I pulled out of her a little way and pushed back in with more enthusiasm. She moaned softly.
“But I meant as something other than as their Gold Warrior, Maen. I wondered if you wanted to be with them as a man. To couple with them.” She moaned again as I rocked inside her, increasing the pace of my thrusts.
“I’m honored to be here, Mistress,” I murmured into her ear. “I’m here to serve you, first and foremost.” I knew the best way to bring her completion, and it wouldn’t be long in coming again tonight. The battle had excited her beyond anything, and victory—though always her expectation—was a trophy she carried with pride. I slipped one hand around her waist and tangled the other one into her dark silken hair. I tightened my grip, pulling her head back against my shoulder, baring her throat until she gave a grunt of excitement. Then I let my hand at her waist slip down between her legs to caress her. It was no hardship to couple with Seleste, for she had always been the most arousing of women. And it was my training, after all, to pleasure my Mistress, whoever she may be.
I owed Seleste a great deal, not just my duty as a servile man. Over the last year, she’d provided my place in her Household, and issued me with comfortable quarters and a purpose. And I couldn’t deny that—whatever her intention—she’d given me something much more precious. My life. I would always remember that, though not always with gratitude. Now she twisted in my grasp, straining, and she shuddered as she climaxed again. I held her tight, touching my lips to the edge of her jaw, as her body gently slowed its shivering. Sometimes her mouth formed words as she came, but she never spoke them aloud. It was often like this.
She relaxed at last, though still cradled in my arms. “Tell me how it is,” she gasped, gathering her breath again. Her neck was flushed; her heart beat fast. Her hips still ground gently back against mine. “Tell me what it’s like to take a man. How different is it from this? Or are you taken? Do you prefer that, in the dark of night, in the barracks where men like you sleep and complain and laugh and weep, and thrust into each other’s bodies for release when their sexual desires can’t be kept in check anymore?”
I’d been asked this before by a Mistress. I never answered it, for I couldn’t have put it into words, nor did I think it a rewarding subject for either my Mistress or me. “This is good for men like me,” I whispered into the pale skin of her neck. Strands of her dark hair tickled my cheek and her perfume was heavy, an intoxicating scent. “There’s nothing like this, Mistress. No one like you.”
But she knew that was only the flattery I had learned over the years, and she was suddenly angry again; I recognized her body language. She twisted underneath me, pushing me out of her and rolling me over onto my back. Then she slipped to the side of the mattress and reached for her robe. I lay there, taking deep breaths, my swollen cock lying heavy and glistening on my belly. She knew I hadn’t had my own satisfaction this time, but that was her right to control, as well. I could bring my body’s reactions back under my command in a minute or so—I often needed to.
“I’m your servant, Mistress.” My voice sounded hoarse. “You know that.”
She shook her head, just once, as if to clear her thoughts. There were small drops of sweat still at her throat. “Do I? I wanted more from you, Maen. I want more.”
I swallowed carefully. “If you feel—”
It was the wrong thing to say to her. “Am I now meant to tell you how I feel?” she snapped back. “Is that now a matter of concern for mere soldiers, a gossip in the barracks?”
“No, Mistress. Forgive me.”
She frowned. “That slides too smoothly from your lips. Everything does nowadays. I don’t hear the man I used to know—the man I chose to be beside me. The man I saved from a death sentence for treason.”
“Alleged treason,” I said before I could stop myself. The defense was not only on my behalf.
She stared at me. “That was all in the past, Maen.” Her eyes looked slightly unfocussed. “We’ve all moved on. Haven’t I changed things in the city already, even before becoming Queen? Haven’t I made life better for so many of its citizens?”
She had indeed made changes, and kept me beside her as she did so, as if I were the one she wanted to witness those changes and to praise them. Over the last year, although she still awaited the battle to claim her position as Queen, her role as Queen-Elect had allowed her significant influence. Her mother, the Queen, had passed on a great deal of her responsibilities, conscious, perhaps, that her days of rule were coming to an end. To the outside world, it seemed the Queen herself made the changes, even if Seleste had initiated them, but that smoothed the way for Seleste’s own schemes. There had been major domestic improvements, such as the conditions in the barracks for her soldiers and the refurbishment of many of the Household public rooms. She took more interest in the research and development of products inside the House of Physic and insisted on seeing the plans for any large projects from the House of Construction. She’d begun to change things politically too—she now allowed Gold Warriors to attend meetings that related to military matters and had extended their powers of discipline and punishment for their own soldiers, rather than bringing all such matters to the Mistress.
She’d touched on the lives of the Remainders too, the men and women who never achieved a position in the Household except as servants, but who were essential to keep the city’s utilities running. She’d instituted training schemes and insisted on more equitable education. Maybe she’d always known that the Central School operated a divided system, with its main focus on children of Household blood rather than those who were pure Remainder. But whether she already knew, or had listened to my occasional comments, she’d taken notice of the situation. The word in the city was that the Remainders were deeply grateful for the Queen’s bountiful attention, although I knew few enough of them to ask for honest confirmation. I could see her own Household had benefited from better-educated, better-skilled servants, so her intentions may have been purely selfish.
But then maybe I was one of the most obvious and anachronistic examples of her changing attitude: a mere man who had no formal position in her Household, yet stood beside her at official events and was called to her bed more often than many of her younger, more virile soldiers. A man who’d been under a sentence of death only a year ago, accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable. A man who was—and probably always would be—viewed with suspicion and contempt by most of her other servants.
“Brooding on the past, Maen?”
I stared back and shook my head slowly. I didn’t point out that she herself had taken our conversation there. She had no interest in the reality of my daily life. My heartbeat was steadier now, my voice stronger. “You’ve shown me leniency, Mistress. You’ve always shown me fairness. You’ve shown me favor.”
She stared at me. I couldn’t identify the look in her eyes, but it was dark. “
And you’ve shown me….” She paused and frowned. “You’ve shown me obedience. You’ve shown me duty and commitment and good work whenever I’ve commanded it.”
I sat up, the muscles tightening in my belly. “I can’t show you any more than that. A Mistress isn’t supposed to require more than that—”
The fire in her eyes flared and her voice rose. “How dare you tell me what a Mistress does or doesn’t require!”
I shifted quickly to the side of the bed, reaching for my trousers. “Forgive me, Mistress. I didn’t mean offense. There’s a strange discord in me tonight. Maybe it’s due to the excitement of the battle. I’ve been rash. Too easily baited by Zander, insolent to you.” I had other apologies ready on my tongue, but I was speaking the truth. I felt unusually unsettled and my heart beat erratically, as if I were still in the heat of battle.
Then something about Seleste’s silence alerted me. I’d been waiting for her punishment for my loose tongue, but it never came. I looked up into her eyes and saw… fascination.
My heart skipped a beat.
“The battle for Queenship,” I began carefully. Her eyes flickered, her expression wary. “I’ve heard tales of your mother’s battle before you. The Queen’s accession, only ten years ago.”
“I am now the Queen,” she said sharply, but she didn’t demand I stop talking.
I nodded but continued. “There were tales she used magic to help her win. To make her soldiers fight more fiercely, more viciously.”
“Nonsense.” Seleste’s voice was low and soft. “Magic would not be used for such things, nor would it be needed if the Guard were well prepared. Where did you hear such tales?”
I couldn’t tell her, for the same reasons I kept the whereabouts of one of her mother’s exiled sisters secret. I stood to face her. “You say the Guard should be well prepared. I helped you do that this time, with training and swordsmanship and battle strategy. I’d thought that was enough for you.” Maybe I should have been more cautious with my suspicions, but my thoughts raced. “Are there—were there—other means used?”
