by Cole Denton
“What are you two still doing up?” I asked.
“We thought you would be home soon and we wanted to be awake in case you needed us,” Sean explained.
Sweet boys.
“I am home, now and I am tired as well. How about the four of you come to wake me up in the morning. But, not until sun up,” I clarified.
“Yes, my Queen,” Sean and Liam recited.
“Douse the lantern and go to sleep, loves.”
Chapter Seven
During my stroll around the castle grounds with Klyn, I saw Sean in the distance sitting at the base of a tree. He was slumped forward, and his head was tilted down. He looked upset about something. Ethan was walking toward him.
“What do you suppose is on his mind?” I asked Klyn.
Klyn often had answers to most of my questions, even to the questions that surrounded my gentlemen.
“He is nervous about the pageant that is coming in a few days,” Klyn informed me as our pace slowed until we stopped.
“Why would he be nervous?”
“Sean is a very young man, Octavia. He is uncertain of his future here.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“He is afraid that room will need to be made for a new lad. He is concerned that you will replace him,” Klyn explained.
“I have given him no indication that I am replacing anyone, Klyn,” I huffed.
I was taken aback by Klyn’s comments. I was not replacing any of the young men. I adore Sean and could not fathom why he was worried.
“Have you given him any reason to think that you will be retaining him?” Klyn asked.
“Klyn—” I began.
“Octavia, these are young men. Two of your young men would have places to go if you were to replace them. Liam and Ethan would be fine. Michan and Sean have nowhere to turn to. Try to understand where their worries are at.”
“Klyn, we can stop this conversation. I will not dump them out on the streets. I am not replacing them!”
Klyn turned to look at me and said, “I know that, and you know that. But that young man leaning against the tree does not. Show them a little compassion. Whether you want to admit it or not, you have a heart. Showing it from time to time to them would not be a sin.”
“We have had this discussion before, Klyn.”
“I am aware. Several times, in fact.”
“Yet, you keep insisting that I have a mushy, caring, heart.”
“You do.”
“I lost my heart the night my family was murdered,” I reminded him.
“You are wrong, my Queen,” he said under his breath as we watched and listened to Ethan.
“What are you doing, Sean?”
“Just thinking,” Sean replied.
“You look like you are doing some heavy thinking,” Ethan said.
“What happens when the Queen selects a new man?” Sean asked.
“We welcome him. We accept him. We take care of him too.”
“But, does she replace one of us?” Sean asked.
“No. She did not replace anyone with you,” Ethan explained.
“Okay, good. I have nowhere to go if she were to replace me. I thought that if she did replace me that I could ask Sir Klyn if I could stay and just tend to the stable and carriages. I could even sleep there too.”
“Sean, you are not sleeping in the stable. You have a place with us. You are one of us.”
Ethan pulled Sean off the ground, and they headed to the stable. I purposely did not say anything to Klyn, but I knew what was coming.
“As you were saying, my Queen,” Klyn prodded.
“Shut it. I will remind the gentlemen tonight that they have nothing to fear,” I promised.
“And?” he pried.
“And you were right,” I sighed.
Klyn said no more on the matter, but a proud smile was draped across his face. Our walk continued, and he brought up the pageant.
“We have looked into all of the young men that have signed up to enter the pageant so far,” Klyn offered.
“Very well. Anything that I should be concerned about or know?” I inquired.
“Thankfully, the ten places filled quickly, and we had enough time to look into the gentlemen. Of the ten who have entered, nine of them check out with one wild card. They are all healthy. There is a blend of economic and social statuses among the entrants—”
I interrupted Klyn, suddenly concerned about whatever he meant by a wild card.
“What is a wild card? What do you mean by that?” I asked him.
“It means he is somewhat of an unknown. We have tried looking into him and his background, but it has been somewhat difficult.”
“Why?”
“He seems to have no footprint. He is transient—”
“Klyn, Sean was transient too. But you were able to look into him,” I reminded him.
“It was a bit easier with Sean. He was a very young man. He traveled to Drishane with his father. I spoke with his father before his passing. I will admit that while we could not locate much on Sean’s prior time in Stonebridge, I always had a good feeling about him.”
“Do you have a good feeling about this year’s entrants?” I asked.
“All but the one, as I mentioned. It is not that I feel something is wrong with him, I simply do not have enough information on him.”
“If you have no solid evidence that can point to a reason for concern, then you should not rule him out, Klyn.”
“Octavia,” Klyn stopped walking and took hold of my forearm. “Your safety is my number one concern and priority. It has been that way for over two hundred years,” he said and smiled. “If I do not feel completely at ease with an entrant, regardless if I have anything on him, then that concerns me. I simply cannot get a read on him.”
I found this a little peculiar because Klyn has always been a very good judge of people. But I will admit that I found it odd that he could not say anything good, nor bad, about an entrant. I was pretty sure I knew which entrant he was talking about, but I had to be sure.
“Which entrant do you not get a good feeling about?” I asked.
“Octavia, it is not a matter of me not having a good feeling about him, it is a matter of me not having any sort of read on him,” Klyn clarified.
“Who, Klyn?”
“River Kulver.”
I knew it.
“Interesting. River is the one I am heavily considering,” I admitted.
“Of course, he is.”
“Klyn, what is wrong with him?”
“I just explained that I cannot find anything on him. We know nothing about him!”
“Perhaps that would be a good thing,” I said sarcastically.
“I find no humor in that, Octavia. All I am saying is to be cautious with him because I have no read on him. No one knows him.”
“Someone knows him, Klyn. He works somewhere.”
“He works at the apothecary. They said he is a good worker and often will work when others cannot.”
“Well, see, someone knows him, and someone said something good about him.”
“That may be very well, but that alone will not permit me to sleep well at night. Especially while an unknown gentleman is behind a closed door with you.”
“And four other gentlemen,” I added.
“Not all at the same time. Not always, Octavia.”
“Have you spoken to Kaspar?” I asked after a few moments had passed.
Kaspar Trevil was a warlock that moved from location to location in the woods, but Klyn was always able to locate him. He was a friend of Klyn’s sister, and he had the ability to see into the immediate future…if the right questions were asked. I suggested him because if Klyn could not get a read on River, I thought that perhaps Kaspar could. Or at least, Kaspar might know why Klyn could not come to a conclusion regarding River.
“I have not, but I have given it thought.”
“I will go with you.”
“Y
ou will do no such thing, my Queen. The last thing we need is you traipsing through the woods looking for a future seeing warlock,” Klyn said.
“Please, my Queen,” Sean begged to be swatted with my crop, along with my other gentlemen.
Liam, Ethan, Michan, and Sean all knelt on the featherbed with red and pink bottoms as I had been having some pre-festival fun with them. Each of them had stiff cocks, and poor Michan’s cock head was a deep crimson. I tapped the underside of Liam’s balls with the crop until he squirmed.
“Ethan, love, push that thick cock of yours in Michan. Sean, wrap your mouth around Michan’s cock. Mmm, look at how hard he is,” I shook my head and then swatted Michan’s ass.
“Thank you, my Queen,” Michan chuckled as Ethan lined his husky cock up.
Michan grunted as soon as Ethan was all the way in. I laid on the bed and propped myself up on my side to watch the gentlemen play. I loved watching them play at my direction. As I watched, Liam licked my pussy. Every now and then, I swatted Sean or Ethan’s ass with my crop.
After the gentlemen came, I sent them to get ready for the festival. I sat in the bath for a while and thought about what the day would bring. Tonight, it would bring a new gentleman.
In my head, I ran down the list of the contestants. They all had something to offer and were unique. They are all handsome, but there was something about River. River was tall, muscular, and had a look about his body that was unlike my current gentlemen. River had dark chest hair and a strong jawline.
But there was something beyond the physical stature that drew me to River. I felt like River would be able to do all the things that I tell my current young men to do, without being told to do so. I thought that he was definitely more alpha male than any of my current gentlemen. While that excited me immensely, it also concerned me. If I selected River, would that put a damper on the other gentlemen?
I got out of the bath and began dressing. My thoughts were still on the candidates. I slipped on the dragon ring that had been in my family for many generations and drifted back to when I was a little girl…
“Daddy, I do not like that ring. It is scary,” I said as my father tucked me in.
“Why not, darling?” he asked and sat down on my bed. “This ring has been in our family for ages, Octavia. It is the Darick Dragon.”
“It has scary eyes,” I explained.
“The dragon’s eyes will protect you.”
“How?”
“Long, long, ago there was a powerful witch that could see the future. She could see…” My father paused for a dramatic effect, “Vampires,” I jumped. “She would warn our kingdom when vampires were coming. Then our family could warn the town, and everyone could get inside their homes for safety. We had someone in our family a long time ago, that thought what the witch said she could see, was rubbish. So he sent her away from Drishane.”
“Where did she go?”
“She lived in the woods. But what she was able to see, was not rubbish. Her heart was still kind even though she was sent away. She truly wanted to help watch over Drishane and keep the vampires out. So, she made this ring and had it delivered to the castle. The dragon’s eyes became a warning from what the witch could see. Since she was not welcome in the town, she still passed along her vision. The ring would get warm and tighter on the finger if she were warning us.”
“Have you felt it get warm or tight?”
“No, my little princess, I have not.”
“What happened to the witch?”
“It is unknown, but I believe she is still out there somewhere.”
“Why do the vampires want into the castle?”
“Because of our mint under the castle.”
“What is that?”
“That is where the Royal Darick coins are made.”
“Why do the vampires want it?”
“Royal Darick coins are worth more than the forest chips. It is not just the coins they are after, they want our machinery and everything used to make the coins.”
“We cannot let them in, Daddy.”
“They cannot get in because of the Darick Halo around the castle, remember? The witch put a protective spell on the castle that would protect all the people on the castle grounds. And as long as a member of the Darick family is alive and has this ring, the halo stays intact.”
“What is the matter?” Klyn’s voice from the doorway pulled me from my memory. “You look to be deep in thought, Octavia.”
I shut the small chest that I kept some jewelry in and turned to smile at Klyn. I gestured with my head for him to follow me outside where the breakfast had been set up already. Klyn poured me some tea before pouring himself some. I could still hear my gentlemen in their room getting ready, so I knew we had some time before they joined us.
“I had been thinking of my father and the stories he would tell me about the ring and the halo around the castle.”
“Do you believe it?” Klyn asked quietly.
“I do not know. I want to believe in it,” I said.
“But?”
“But every year of the festival, I cannot help but think that there was no truth to it at all when the entire town was wiped out.”
“Your father believed in the ring and the halo very much, Octavia. He knew something was wrong that night. I remember talking to him on the steps as you and your mother got into the carriage.”
“Do you recall what he said?”
“Of course, I do. That day will forever be burned into my memory. Everything changed. He told me that he felt that something was different, but he did not know what.”
“I specifically remember him touching and rubbing the ring in the carriage,” I recalled. “Do you believe the legend about the Darick Ring, Klyn?”
Klyn leaned back in his seat and looked me in the eye and nodded.
“I do. Without a doubt, I believe.”
“Why? A whole town was lost. How can you believe in it, Klyn?”
“Because. Moments before the attack, your father summoned for me. You remember? I had been outside talking with you when he sent for me. He pulled me aside and told me that he did not know what was going to happen, but he had a terrible feeling. He reminded me of my oath to protect you. He knew something was coming moments before it happened, Octavia. I tried to usher him and your mother to safety, but your father said his place was among his people.”
I stared at him, stunned.
“He knew, Octavia. The only way would have been with the ring.”
I definitely needed to pay attention to the ring, though, in over two hundred years, I had not had any indication of any warnings.
“Klyn, do you think that since I am a vampire now—”
“You are not a complete vampire, Octavia. You have a heart,” Klyn interrupted.
I was not going to start the heart talk with him yet again.
“Fine, part vampire. Do you think that there is something now that will prevent me from feeling a warning from the ring? I know shortly after my parent’s death that Lochlann Mortas and his Carpe Noctem gang had made many attempts to breach the castle. But in those instances, I do not believe that I had any indication they were coming.”
Klyn squinted and tilted his head up as if he were considering what I had said. Then he looked out over the balcony to the town below.
“Perhaps there is something in you now, that would interfere with the ring’s ability to warn you. After all, the ring was meant to warn others of what you are now.” Klyn took a sip of his tea and then quickly pulled the charger away from his lips. “Well, what you partially are now,” he quickly added.
I sipped more tea and turned my head to look at the town below. I no longer wanted to drone on about old things. Today was the annual festival, and I was excited about selecting a new gentleman.
“So, are you going to get some new books in town today, Klyn?” I teased.
“Of course. I will also get some sugared bread.”
“You and your bread and books,�
�� I commented.
“And you and your young men,” he teased back. “Any more thoughts on your selection, Octavia?”
“I have been thinking a lot about it. All of the candidates are handsome, but there is something that draws me to River. I know how you feel about him, though.”
“Octavia, it is not how I feel about him, but rather that I have no read on him at all. That is what concerns me.”
“I have been trying to think of which young man would fit in the best among my current gentlemen,” I admitted.
“Ha!” Klyn laughed out loud and almost spit his tea out.
“Why is that funny to you?”
“I find it rather amusing that you are concerned about which young man will fit in with Liam, Ethan, Michan, and Sean.”
“Why? I want peace and harmony. I prefer the boys do not fight. If they are to receive bruises, I want them to come from my paddle or crop.”
“If you truly did not have a heart, you would not care,” Klyn grinned and looked toward the inside as my gentlemen appeared for breakfast.
“For God’s sake, Klyn. Drop the heart talk.”
“You have denied it for years. Hundreds of years, to be exact. I cannot wait for the day when you realize you have been wrong,” Klyn sang and smiled at the boys as they sat down.
“Well, since you are looking forward to it, I shall make sure you are around when I supposedly realize it,” I teased him back.
“Such a shame,” Klyn began and then took a bite of his bread. “Even with your hyper vision, you are still blind.”
Klyn leaned back in his seat again and smiled at me in a taunting way.
“Prove it, Klyn,” I said under my breath and began to eat.
“Sean,” Klyn caught Sean’s attention.
“Yes, Sir Klyn?”
“What does the Queen do to show you that she has a heart?” Klyn inquired.
“Not fair, Klyn,” I murmured. Klyn and I both knew that out of my gentlemen, Sean was the one who needed the most; therefore, even a kind smile told Sean that I cared.
“Oh, loads of stuff. She picked me. Gave me a warm place to sleep,” Sean began and then pointed to the table. “I am full every day and get to eat meals with her. I have a family again because of her kindness and heart. Oh, and she lets me touch her and stick my dick in her.”
