History of Beauty

by Meraki P. Lyhne

  She frowned. “What is it?”

  “We had a few problems with a human Earl not long before I left. House Father sat us down and explained that peace is never lasting because once we start taking it for granted is when we stop appreciating what it took to make peace, and then the struggle to regain it will start over.”

  “A wise man.”

  “The humans are comfortable with their positions. They, too, will hear of a Prince. What will the human Kings think?”

  Mother nodded solemnly. She, too, looked like she’d already contemplated it, and Elakdon felt unprepared for the responsibilities that lay ahead because what he’d just shared with her was not even something he’d concluded by himself—he’d listened to the older Cubi debating it while he was lightly sleeping after having humped another Youngling silly. It had successfully ruined his night’s sleep. The dread of war he’d heard in the Cubi’s voices that night stayed with him, and he wondered how imminent the threat could be.

  “Do the humans even know that the Cubi people has awaited my rise?” Elakdon asked.

  “No. We keep that a secret.”

  “I don’t even know where to start.” He hadn’t intended on letting the hopelessness seep through to his tone.

  “Oh, Ela,” Mother said, pulling him in for a hug. “You’re not alone, remember that. You have more than two warriors by your side, you have an entire people with you, and all House Fathers and Mothers have experience and knowledge about the human powers in their areas, and we will all share what we know with you. But until Nil-Savadin has empowered you to the ranks of the Royals, then you will be a closely guarded secret allowed only to the ears of the Cubi.”

  That offered a sense of relief. At least it gave Elakdon a sense of having more time to get used to his new role and place in the world before the humans would act upon what they could perceive as a threat to their ways and place in a shared Kingdom.

  As much as they were the gifts from the gods to the common man, men with power didn’t like it challenged.

  He didn’t get to think more about it at that time because the others were saying goodbye to their close friends and loved ones. Only Elakdon hadn’t been there long enough to grow that close to anyone but Mother and the two men he’d be traveling with. The fact that the gathered people were mainly Cubi meant they all wanted to be in the eye of their Prince, and Elakdon tried to be as heartfelt as possible as he made his rounds.

  They finally got onto their horses and began the long and challenging trip back to Ladby.

  Traveling after having been empowered was not as easy as it had looked on the others as they’d taken him from Ladby. Either that or it was because Elakdon needed to feed more than they did.

  Styrk took his promise of taking care of Elakdon seriously, and he’d lost count on how many times the green-eye had called a halt, jumped off his horse, and waved Elakdon to lean against a tree, face first, before he’d gotten the clothes just out of the way and dosed Elakdon. In other words, sex on the move was boring, and upon nightfall, they were too tired from having sat on a horse all day.

  The others helped keep Elakdon satiated, too, but feeding with them was no less like a chore. They’d brought humans to feed on, too, so it wasn’t all on Elakdon. He had enough of an appetite to cover them, but it was boring! Over the first week, he craved intimacy to a point where he was miserable and moped for a whole day, not talking to anyone.

  Upon stopping to make camp, Elakdon needed to be alone with his thoughts, so he grabbed his bow and three arrows and trotted off into the woods, hoping that sitting around and scouting small game would give him the peace and quiet he needed. Plus, he needed food and not just sex. So did the humans.

  He found a spot with plenty of fallen logs and small shrubbery. Not being the most trained hunter, he wasn’t sure if what he saw further ahead was a game trail or not. Either way, shooting a buck or a deer was too much food for them now, and he wanted rabbit or pheasant or something.

  As good as place as any. First of all, he had to sit and listen and see what nature there had to offer. He needed a bit of goodwill, though, so he loosened the water bladder on his belt, knelt, and tried to connect emotionally to his surroundings.

  Finally, something resembling peace fell over him, and he took a sip from the bladder before spilling a bit on the ground for the nature spirits, hoping that him sharing would earn him the kindness he needed. He was just sorry he didn’t have anything more interesting on him than water, but he had left the campsite quickly. He knew they had wine there.

  A noise behind him made him look up. But he wasn’t the only one. Something to his left caught his attention, and he glanced that way, sitting very still. There was his rabbit. Slowly, almost holding his breath, he nocked the arrow and slowly turned the bow horizontally. Not ideal with a longbow, but that was the range of motion he had from his kneeling position behind the log.

  The rabbit began eating again, shuffling two hops forward to gorge on the next green thing. A deep calming breath helped keep the eagerness and fear of the rabbit suddenly taking off at bay, allowing him to focus. He released the string and swore when it hit his lower arm due to the awkward angle. The pain was intense, and he let go of the bow, grabbing his lower arm. For a second, he even forgot to check if he hit his pray—it was that painful—but he had. Not clean, and the limp rabbit set off with Elakdon on its tail. He caught up with it, drew his knife, and killed the rabbit.

  “Very nice, My Prince.”

  Elakdon gasped and turned, finding Styrk there. “You frightened me.”

  “I’m sorry, but I had to follow you. Until your Royal Guard is assembled, we swore to protect you. A Prince running off means one of us follows.”

  “I just…” Elakdon stood, pulling the arrow from the rabbit. “Needed to think.” He grabbed a stick and dug a hole in the soft soil of the forest bed and gutted the rabbit so that he could cover the scent of a fresh kill and not lead scavengers or predators to the camp.

  “You have been unusually quiet today,” Styrk commented as they made their way back to collect the bow. Elakdon sneered at it, still feeling the sting on his lower arm, slowly moving into a deep throbbing pain. Other than not considering bringing wine for the Vætter, he’d been too busy getting away from the others to contemplate an armguard since he didn’t shoot the bow enough to have a handle on it nor developed the leather skin at the wrist where it apparently always struck the less than capable archers.

  “May I see?” Styrk asked. Elakdon held up the rabbit. “I meant your arm, My Prince.”

  “Nah, no need for pity, it’s still attached.”

  Styrk chuckled. Still, Elakdon stopped and held out his arm for Styrk to pull up the sleeve. He grimaced, and Elakdon managed to suppress the urge to do the same as he saw the bruise taking color, and the blood vessels bursting from the swipe. It looked like a little bloody Yggdrasil growing from his elbow down the inside of his lower arm.

  “I have something to wrap it with.” Styrk then picked up the bow and remaining two arrows. “The humans are gathering greens.”

  Elakdon finally had the moment to be proud that he’d managed to get the meat. Considering his smarting elbow, he had every right to be proud of his deed, but he couldn’t help at grinning about how stupid he felt thinking it.

  “Meat. May I prepare it?” One of the breeders came over, reaching for the rabbit. Elakdon handed it over and set out to find the spring. Had to be close because their location had been chosen because of it.

  “Over here,” Styrk said. Well, it looked like Styrk was his bodyguard that night. Elakdon didn’t mind—he liked him a lot better than the purple-eye who kept looking like he hated being on the move. Elakdon washed his hands and refilled his water bladder. Styrk filled another two.

  “Now…are you going to divulge to me why you’re so quiet today?” Styrk asked as they headed back together

  “No.”

  “I see. I hope you trust your House Brother more and let him ea
se whatever weighs you down.”

  Elakdon stopped, hurt by the disappointment in the Incubus’ voice. “It has nothing to do with trust, and…if I’m really to share with anyone, the Incubus who helped empower me would be the one to turn to.”

  Styrk looked proud, as he turned his full attention on Elakdon. “I will do anything in my power, My Prince.”

  “And that’s just it.” Elakdon began walking again. “I’ve mainly been quiet because I have difficulties wording my thoughts. Or, more importantly, my feelings. So many things have changed since you fully empowered me, and I have…urges that I can’t explain.”

  “I see. I have only once met a Royal to be Royally Empowered. It was your predecessor, actually. That was many years ago. But I know your House Mother has been very close to one.”

  “Yeah. She told me a lot, but not this.”

  Styrk stopped again to face Elakdon. “Please try to word it. I really do perceive it a great privilege to aid you, and I will stay by your side for as long as you want me to.”

  “Give me the time until after we’ve eaten. Then we can talk.”

  Styrk smiled, nodding his head. “I look forward to it.”

  They returned in time to relax an hour before the fire was ready to roast the rabbit. Styrk didn’t press the matter during that time, and he even remained quiet while he smeared spiced lard on the sore spot and wrapped a big leaf around it—the same kind the breeders had used to wrap the rabbit in before covering it with embers.

  In the meantime, Elakdon had to try to put words to what he found so increasingly unsatisfying. One, his orgasms felt more and more flat, and it was like the one feeding him and feeding on him didn’t enjoy him. It made him feel…incompetent? No, not the right word, even though it was in the right end of the spectrum. Looking for words to match feelings that were in a jumbled heap wasn’t easy, so he finally tried to figure out just what he was feeling, and he’d have to figure out the words to use to explain it to Styrk later.

  Someone placed a bowl in front of Elakdon with meat and vegetable soup, placing a piece of grainy bread on the side. He looked up, finding a breeder giving a polite smile before she returned to the fire.

  “Thank you.” Elakdon rummaged through his stuff to find his spoon and began to eat. It wasn’t easy thinking anymore because the others were talking and laughing, and Styrk was telling a story about an old horse he had who’d refused to go the way he wanted, and it had finally trotted into the river to stop, leaving him with wet legs.

  “Let me guess,” Foldon said. “You sold that horse the moment you arrived in the next town.”

  “No, I killed it the moment I arrived in that town, and I invited everybody to feast on it, thus setting the mood for the celebrations of the Empowerment.”

  The story earned him a laugh and a few follow-up questions, one of which turned into an entirely different story about an Earl who got kicked out of his own town for refusing a Cubi party to stay at his house.

  Elakdon paid attention to that story, and it wasn’t the kind that ended with laughter. Of course, they all laughed at the fact that it was the Earl’s daughter who ran him out of his house and the rest of the town who then backed her up in insisting that the sons and daughters of Loke and Lofn were to be properly honored as the gifts of the gods.

  He’d heard only one or two stories like that before, but never about an Earl. “When was this, Styrk?”

  “Three years ago. I was traveling home from empowering my childhood friend’s Cub.”

  Having been Empowered by him, too, Elakdon figured the Cub had had as pleasant a ritual into the rank of Cubi as humping Styrk on the table had been for Elakdon. But it had been slightly different of course, and he remembered being a lot more nervous at the Empowerment ritual with Mother than he’d been when being allowed by Mother to choose whoever to have his way with. His first Incubus.

  He took in the sight of the man he’d pointed out from Mother’s lap, and Elakdon had wanted Styrk. He was handsome, and his beard was well-kept. The beard beads were from bone or horn, and all carved artistically. Styrk was an artist with a knife or an axe—Elakdon had already seen that around town.

  Elakdon’s gaze fell to the man’s hands, and they looked strong and weathered. When having his body caressed by him, Elakdon could feel that the man used his hands a lot, but the way he could alternate touches was what set him apart as an artist, he guessed.

  His dick rose at the remembered feel of his touch, and he looked back up at the handsome man. Pine needle dark eyes were on him, and Elakdon’s stomach fluttered. He wanted Styrk to look as lost in ecstasy as he had in a comfortable bed when they had plenty of time to feed. He wanted him to lose himself and moan with abandon and writhe underneath Elakdon as he took them both to the threshold of where conscious thought would slip away and the body tip over into all-consuming pleasure.

  Styrk dug into his pack and produced a piece of linen that he dropped in a clay pot with water. He then placed it close to the fire, the muscles in his arms quivering. Elakdon loved the sight of muscles jerking and quivering, mainly because that’s what a body looked like when he manipulated it until the Cubus lost control.

  He loved how Styrk looked when he lost control, and his memories took him back to getting thoroughly humped on a table.

  Styrk pulled his linen cloth from the jar and washed his face, beard, and hands, then turned his now even darker green eyes on Elakdon. Oh, that look gave Elakdon hope for more than a quick and effective hump, and his stomach did a summersault as Styrk climbed over onto Elakdon’s mat to claim his mouth in a hungry kiss.

  Elakdon’s hunger ignited immediately, and he wrapped his arms and legs around Styrk, pulling him to the ground and deepening the kiss. Styrk groaned as he blindly fumbled with Elakdon’s clothes. Elakdon, in turn, pulled at Styrk’s, not at all satisfied with only getting to his cock. He wanted to feel the man’s skin touch as much as his own as possible. He wanted to feel the prickly sensation travel from where they touched to caress his entire body and finally to accumulate at the spine and then crash to his groin and send him off in an intense orgasm.

  He wanted nothing less than to cause the same level of ecstasy in the body he would be pleasing, and he wanted Styrk to lose himself completely in everything Elakdon’s body could offer of pleasure.

  Finally, he got the man all but naked and on the pelt on the ground near the fire. One side of his body had the cool evening air competing with the lovely sensation of feeding energy on his skin, while the other side was warmed by the heat from the fire. It caused for a lovely combination and added to the slick sensation of Styrk’s cock sliding into him, the fullness coaxing a shuddering moan from Elakdon.

  “Feed me, Styrk, feed me your dose,” Elakdon whispered, groaning loudly again when the heat of it spread in his ass.

  Elakdon grabbed the back of Styrk’s head, locking gazes with him as he rode him harder, needing more to make the spread on his body change direction for the spine. A loud groan tore from Styrk’s mouth along with a dose that splattered across Elakdon’s chest. That was it for Elakdon, and he threw his head back and cried out as the orgasm claimed him, his own moans joined by Styrk as a spasm tore through him and his cock pulsated in Elakdon’s ass.

  Elakdon heaved for air, enjoying the quivers running through his body and the body he’d just caused an orgasm powerful enough to leave the Incubus with dose all over his face.

  He leaned closer to look into Styrk’s eyes. “Now I know how to word it because I don’t need words. This is what I’ve been missing. If I have to bed every Cubus in my Kingdom, I will never leave you feeling like I take this time with you for granted. I will never have my people feel like I don’t care, don’t appreciate you, or don’t want to take the time to make sure you know exactly where your place is in my heart and soul. I will never leave you feeling like you weren’t the very center of my world for the time we have together.”

  “I don’t doubt, My Prince,” Styrk gasped. “I de
finitely don’t doubt that.” Styrk pulled Elakdon down to hold him, and the empty feeling that had grown inside Elakdon as he’d lived on quick feedings without the intimacy, faded.

  Elakdon slid off Styrk and landed next to him, happy that the old Incubus didn’t let go. It allowed Elakdon to look around the campfire, though, and dark eyes were turned on him. It made him smile.

  Foldon, on the other hand, looked irritated.

  “What is it, Foldon?” Elakdon asked, propping his head up on the still heavily rising and falling chest of Styrk.

  “Even unempowered Cubi gets horny watching a Royal hump so the tree tops shake. I have all of five!” Foldon held up his hand, fingers spread wide. “Count them, one, two, three, four, five! Little helpers, and you have.” Foldon spread his arms as if to include everyone.

  “I so look forward to empowering you, you know. You will not want, ever.”

  Styrk chuckled. “I will attest to that.”

  Chapter Nine

  Once back in the flat landscape of Denmark, Elakdon could finally see his birth village. He felt jitters. His mom didn’t know that he was returning yet. No one knew. Well, the rumors had been spread with riders to make sure Elakdon’s allies would be told that a King was rising, and all House Mothers and Fathers were being told in the process, but Elakdon got to tell his own House Father.

  “Hold your horse, My Prince,” Styrk said.

  Elakdon noticed that he, in his eagerness, apparently encouraged his horse to speed up.

  “I’m excited to see my mother,” Elakdon said, her expected expression already clear to his mind’s eye.

  Styrk smiled, nodding. “I understand, I do. But for the horse’s sake, it has been a long trip for them, too.”

  They rode on in silence for a few minutes, but then Foldon rode up next to Elakdon, smiling. “From here, it looks like a cute little village.”

  “It is,” Elakdon said, grinning.

  “Do you have siblings here?”