“It’s just Susie, your maid.”
“Oh, I am already in bed. No need for your services right now.”
“I insist, your Highness.”
“Alright, come in.”
The door opens and the prettiest little dwarf ever walks in. Her blonde hair done up in a braid-bun. Her white ruffled top shows a bit of cleavage. Her leather corset shows that she has a very nice womanly shape. Her arms aren’t too muscular.
Right away Cornelius recognizes that she must be from the dwarf city itself. The dwarves bred up there are more humanlike when it comes to body shape and overall appearances.
“I don’t know what you can do since I am already in bed and I require no change of clothes or washing of them. I am staying here but one night.”
She starts taking off her clothes. As her breasts are freed, he gets out of bed immediately. His naked body causes her to blush. “You need to stop.”
“Why? Am I not beautiful to you anymore?”
“You are a lovely girl.”
“Why do you not want me?”
“I am in love with Princess Andrea. You will find that I am not aroused by any other woman.”
She looks down. “Nothing is happening.”
“I told you.”
“Maybe if I just touch you like I did before.”
“No. It won’t matter.”
“Even men in love can be aroused by another. You are a strange man. How are you not aroused by a naked woman? You were aroused before without issue.”
“I find it hard to understand as well. I have always known that I would be with Andrea when we grew up. It’s all I ever wanted. It’s all I was ever sure about. I would have left the fairy city for her. I would have lived in that other land with her.” He turns away. “I’ve even risked my soul to be here now.”
She touches his shoulder.
“Please, don’t try. And why do you keep saying before like we have been together already?”
“I understand your feelings. I should explain but I am very confused. Because I am sure that you made love to me a few nights ago.”
“Are you sure that it was me?”
“Yes. That is why Gretchen told me to come to you. She had you as well.”
Cornelius throws on his clothes. “Put your clothes back on.”
She starts dressing.
“This version of me that you had sex with, was it different in any way?”
“Different?”
“When fairies make love to someone, whether it be human, dwarf, fairy, or one of those horrible serpent witches, we often feel things on a deeper level than any other species. So when… I, the version of me, came to his…”
“Oh, I know what you mean. It was a bit frightening at first.” She sits down on a chair. “He insisted that he keep his daggers on.”
“Daggers?”
“Assassin daggers.”
“Go on.”
“When he reached his moment, the daggers glowed. I thought he was about to kill me. But then afterwards, he got up, dressed, and left. Gretchen said the same thing happened with her.”
“Right there proves that it wasn’t me. I’ve only ever been with Andrea and she can’t speak for herself right now, but I can tell you that when I reach my moment, my wings will pop out and my body glistens.”
Seeing his discomfort in telling this, Susie smiles. “I think you are very cute, fairy prince.”
“Thanks.”
“But then who did we have sex with?”
He can only think of one person. “The goblin king.”
Andrea has to make sure that her parents are still her parents. Her father is looking over a map of the Vale and her mother is going over the new strategy behind the upcoming war with their general.
“May I have a talk with you?” Andrea asks.
“Come here, Andrea,” Michael says.
Andrea looks down at the map. “I should have had one of these before. It would have come in very handy.”
“Unfortunately it wouldn’t have shown you to the core.” He uses a red feathered quill to draw an X over different spots. One of them is on the goblin city.
“What do you think about me marrying Cornelius now?”
“I’d say you need your head examined. You know that is not Cornelius. Wesley made sure to get rid of that part of him. Unless you have a plan that I don’t know about.”
“What about Mother and your general? Are they still them?”
“I have noticed a few of our people have been acting strangely. I have kept a close watch on your mother and my general. General Lane, come here a moment.”
Lane and Melanie come over together. “We believe we have agreed on our next city to invade,” she says.
“Mel, we are not invading everyone.”
“The dwarf city, Montego. We can set up base in one of the towns. Maybe one of the two seaports.”
“I agree with the queen. It’s a smart move, my king.”
“Yes, I know we need to secure the dwarves. Without their help, we will be cut off from a lot of our food supplies.”
“I intend to send a small envoy there first. A few of my most trusted soldiers.”
“If I may, why don’t we send one of the assassins and have them remain there as a spy. It’ll be less threatening if we just send one or two soldiers and an assassin disguised as an ambassador,” Andrea says.
Michael rolls up the map and ties it off. “I agree. But we already have an ambassador. We will send an assassin along disguised as a servant to Hans.”
Andrea raises her hand. “I’ll do it. I can disguise myself. It’ll look better if the servant is a woman.”
“Absolutely not. You’re the princess. The dwarves aren’t that stupid. They’ll recognize you,” Melanie says.
“Your friend, Emily.”
“She’s been through a lot. We can’t ask anymore of her right now.”
“I will ask her. As her king, I will determine if she’s fit enough.”
“Then may I speak of another plan that I talked over with Linus about?”
“Speak,” Michael says.
“I am going to expose this Cornelius as an imposter. But I need the help of Linus.”
“I think I should speak with Linus about this.”
“I have arranged everything, Father.”
“Alright. If you are sure that you can handle this, Andrea, then I will support you.”
“Thank you, Father. All I need is you to say in front of Cornelius that you must discuss some things with Linus. We will have dinner tonight and Linus will be our honored guest.”
Emily leans against the doors to the private chamber.
Cornelius is coming towards her.
“They are talking about things. I’m afraid you can’t go in.”
“We’ll see about that.” Cornelius opens the doors and walks inside.
“Cornelius? You can’t be in here,” Andrea says, rushing to his side.
“I grow tired of this promised moment of passion between us that hasn’t happened yet.”
Michael walks over. “I know I must be keeping Andrea from you, but we do have an upcoming war to think of.”
Cornelius examines each face in the room. Andrea hates his looks. She wishes she could find out who the imposter is. She’s already considered it being Jegorgon, but why would he continue this long pretending to be Cornelius? If he is to strike, why delay it?
“Father, let us prepare for dinner.” Andrea leads Cornelius out of the room. Shuts the doors behind her.
“I don’t want that man near my daughter anymore.”
“My king, say the word and I shall slay him.”
Melanie holds onto her husband. “We must be sure that it is Jegorgon. If it is one of our allies, even one who is traitor, it can still be bad for us to kill him.”
“Your queen has spoken, Lane. We must wait a little longer.”
The king and queen sit at opposite ends of the table. Andrea sits at her father’s r
ight while Cornelius sits at her father’s left. Linus sits in the middle opposite General Lane. A grand feast is before them. Turkey, fruit, breads, and wine.
“We are missing one person,” Michael says.
The doors open and in comes Emily wearing a pretty floral dress. Her hair is down and curly. Linus almost drops his turkey leg. Cornelius looks at her as well.
“Emily, you look beautiful,” Andrea says.
Emily sits down next to Andrea. She can feel Linus staring at her but she gives him no response.
“King Michael, may I ask why we have two assassins at our dinner table?”
“Prince Cornelius, I have business with these two. As soon as I am done with my meal I must speak to them in private. It was necessary to have them nearby so I asked for them to join us.”
“Business? About the war?”
“Yes. It’s no surprise that we use our assassins for spy missions or…”
“Assassinations?”
“Let us not talk about unpleasant things at the dinner table.”
“I want to be married to Andrea tomorrow.”
“As you wish.”
Cornelius stares at Andrea with uncertainty.
Andrea leans in to Emily. “You are not okay with Linus doing this for me. Don’t deny it. I can see the way he is looking at you.”
“Andrea, you are mistaken.”
“Nothing will happen. He is just meant to be found in my bed by Cornelius. You’re going to help me there. You need to tell him of your suspicions that Linus desires me and has come to my room to bed me.”
“I know my job.”
“After this is over and we hopefully find out who Cornelius really is, you and Linus - -“
“There is no me and Linus. I liked him for a time but that is gone now.”
Emily walks back and forth down the corridor where Andrea’s room is. “Come on, what is taking so long?”
“Emily?”
“About time,” she says under her breath.
“I am concerned about this mission that the king has put you on. Why are you pacing the hall?”
“I am conflicted.”
“About?”
“About Linus. You see, I overheard him telling one of the new recruits that he is madly in love with Andrea.”
“You love Linus?”
“I like him and thought he liked me.”
Cornelius looks past her. “And what does Andrea say of his desires for her?”
“I believe she feels the same. I saw them laughing and the way she looked at him—I know that look.”
He looks at Andrea’s room. “Maybe I should go inside and have a talk with her.”
“What would you say?”
“If Linus is in there, then I shall cut him down.”
Emily looks from side to side. She is frozen in her thoughts.
Andrea prepares the bed. Linus is in the closet. “You don’t think it wrong that we are in your parent’s bedroom?”
“No. It’ll be more suspenseful if Emily can convince Cornelius to go to the king. The guards have been instructed to say that the king has gone to lay down, so when Cornelius comes, he will bust open the door and find us in bed.”
Linus comes out of the closet wearing just his leather pants.
Andrea can’t help looking. His body is impressive. And with him only wearing leather pants, somehow he is even more attractive.
“You like what you see, Princess?”
She blushes and gets into bed.
Emily stands in the way of Cornelius. “Let me in that room.”
“I’m afraid of what you will find. That last anyone saw of Andrea was with Linus.”
Cornelius moves Emily out of the way and goes in. “They aren’t in here.”
Emily smiles but quickly frowns. “They must be somewhere else in the castle.”
“I am going to her father. No one insults me this way.” Cornelius storms down the corridor.
Linus gets into bed. “You need to take off your clothes.”
“I am suddenly scared.”
“May I help you? It’ll put you in the mood. You want to have an honest face of pleasure rather than a false one.”
“An honest face? What does that mean?”
“It means, “he slowly takes down the side of her dress, “that I want to see you satisfied. I want to serve you properly.” He leans in to kiss her.
She puts her hand up in front of his mouth.
“Andrea, this isn’t going to work if you can’t try to pretend that you like me a little.”
“I do like you.”
“Stop thinking about Wesley.”
“You’re right. I am not even married to him.”
“You’re not even dating him.”
She grabs his face and kisses him. It takes him by surprise but he reacts by grabbing the back of her neck and kissing her down her face, her neck, and onto her shoulder. He grabs the other side of her dress with his teeth and pulls it down. The dress settles just above her breasts.
“I will not take advantage of the situation and compromise your virginity.”
“I am not a virgin.”
“How many men have you had?”
“Only two. I had dated one man for a short time. And the other was Wesley. But at that point we thought we’d be married.”
“So I only have two men to compete with. Lovely.” He kisses her passionately. So much so that she can’t help but grab his hair and pull herself closer to him.
“Don’t hold back.”
“I don’t intend to.”
He pulls her dress down, exposing her breasts. He begins kissing down her chest, taking her breasts into his hands. He pulls her dress completely off and tosses it to the side. He kisses down her stomach but stops. He pulls down his pants and tosses them onto the floor.
Emily chases Cornelius to the corridor where the king and queen sleep. Cornelius stops in front of the king’s bedroom. The guards block it with their axes. “I demand to see the king.”
“The king has gone to bed.”
“It is of great importance. It involves his daughter.”
Moans come from inside.
“It doesn’t sound like the king is sleeping.”
“Let him in. Your princess’s life is in danger,” Emily says.
The guards move away.
Cornelius opens the door and goes in. Emily hesitates at first but then gathers her nerve.
They find Linus on top of Andrea just ending his thrusting. Emily looks away. Cornelius walks over and grabs Linus by the throat and pulls him out of the bed. Andrea covers up.
“Go to your princess’s side,” Cornelius says to Emily.
“Forgive me, Emily.”
“You ask for her forgiveness? What about mine?”
The guards come in. Then the king comes in. “Unhand him. He is one of my citizens.”
“This assassin has defiled your daughter’s body.” His grip on Linus tightens.
“Has he defiled you, Andrea?”
“No, Father. We did not make love.”
“Liar! I saw him on top of you and he was…”
“You came in before we could.”
Emily smiles. She goes to Andrea. “Thank you.” She walks into the closet and gets a robe for Andrea to put on. “I believe her. They did not make love. Andrea loves Wesley.”
Cornelius’s body shakes.
“If she loves Wesley why is she in bed with another man?” Michael asks.
“What is going on here?” Cornelius asks.
“Release Linus,” Michael says.
Cornelius lets Linus go. He hurries in putting his pants on. Cornelius notices the daggers. He reaches for them.
“Why do you want them?” Linus asks.
“Give them to me.” Cornelius’s voice is deeper.
“Fine, have them.” Linus cuts Cornelius’s arm.
Cornelius screeches and hollers like a banshee. He skin starts melting away. A flock of ravens appear. They
squawk and then fly out the window.
“Ravens. That is definitely Jegorgon,” Linus says.
“Lane, we need to gather everyone in the main courtyard. We need to find out who has been changed and who hasn’t.”
“I’m on it, sire.”
“Well done, daughter.” The king leaves the room.
“Thank you, both of you.” Andrea kisses Linus and then hugs Emily. She runs out of the room.
The awkwardness becomes too real.
“Were you really going to have sex with her?”
“I told Andrea how I feel. I am in love with her.”
“So you would have had sex with her.”
“Yes. I wanted to. But I will not cause her pain.”
“Doubtful that it would be painful.”
“She is in love with Wesley. I have to push my feelings down once more.”
Emily goes to leave but he brings her back. “Stop it. I don’t want you. I will not try to persuade a man to want me.”
“You look beautiful. I have to push down my desires for you too.”
“Desires?”
He nods.
“You desire me but you love her.”
“I cannot stab my heart to rid myself of these feelings for her.”
“If Wesley dies, consider yourself happy.”
Cornelius looks out at the sea. Gretchen walks over with a fishing net. “You heading out?”
“Yes. You still want a ride to the Scarlet Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Follow me.”
Cornelius follows her down the boardwalk. A small marina sits with tons of boats ranging from fishing to cruising. Gretchen gets into a fishing one. The fishing boats go from small to large, but mostly small because they are usually meant for one person. The cruising boats are always large and can accommodate at least twenty people. Cornelius jumps down. She grabs the oars and brings the boat out.
“You’re lucky that it’s my turn to go fishing.”
Relics and Runes Anthology Page 108
