by Naomi Lucas
He pulled her into his arms and cupped the back of her head, feeling her breaths fan his chest. “We will make camp and cure you this night. I do not wish to wait another day in case you lose something else tomorrow.” Aldora sagged against him and he pressed his nose into her hair, filling his nostrils with her female scent.
“I didn’t even notice.” She shook.
“The temperature is dropping and will continue to do so as we ascend the mountain path. You will notice it soon.” The way was rife with traps and boulders to climb. Vedikus rubbed a piece of her shift between his fingers. “Come now, we’ve made back some time this day, and there are stores stashed nearby.” He kept her in the crook of his arm as he passed the marker adorned with skulls and horns sculpted of stone. The bones piled at the bottom scattered with his hooves.
They quickened their steps, the cold bite of nightfall chewing at their heels as they crossed into Bathyr lands. It would be too much to hope for one of his brothers to be guarding this location seeing as they continuously traveled the paths, but he came across fresh tracks leading away. They were unhurried so he paid them no mind, his thoughts entirely on Aldora’s well-being.
The cliffs rose up around them, blocking out the worst of the wind. Vedikus veered to a nearby secret path that overlooked the trail. He had Aldora climb up first and wait for him at the top of the narrow path up a fissure. They were shielded on all sides by rocks and shrubbery, with a look out and ambush point beneath them if anything were to pass the marker. A quick death by impalement would be too good for any trespasser.
He let Aldora catch her breath and take in the view as he headed into a crevasse in the wall, turning his head so his horns would not scrape the stone. Inside lay a small pit with enough supplies to last a day. Vedikus checked for new traps and enchantments before starting the fire.
He heard Aldora come in and sit by his side while he unearthed a clay jug of water from within which he placed atop the embers to bring to a boil.
“Will this hurt?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know.”
“How come? I thought your mother—”
“We were not told everything. I would have preferred to wait until we were farther up the mountain but I will not linger now that we’re well outside of Prayer’s boundaries.”
“Maybe it is for the best that I have lost the sensation of touch,” she admitted, pinching her arm. “Funny thing is... every time I have lost something of myself, the only memory I have left of it is of you. The way you smelled that first night, the feel of you. It’s the only thing that remains after everything else is lost. I can’t remember apples and I’ve eaten them my whole life. I just know that they are sweet and tart but all I imagine is fire and sweat.” Aldora lifted on her knees and traced one finger along his horn.
“I’m honored,” he said.
“It wasn’t by choice.”
“And yet you have allowed me to fill you in every way that matters. If you weren’t in threat of your health, your life, then I would consider leaving you to be consumed by me. It is how it should be,” he grunted, putting some of the stored herbs into the water to help freshen it and ease Aldora’s throat when she drinks. “Regardless, you will have nothing in your future but me.”
“And you? Would you consume yourself with me?”
His hands clenched. “Do not make me give voice to my weaknesses.”
She sat back and withdrew her hand. “If I am a weakness then I am pleased,” she chuckled. “Weaknesses are the sole focus of a dedicated warrior.”
Her words rang in his skull. Vedikus watched as the water bubbled up from the tapered spout of the jug and pour into the fire, sizzling and steaming the small space.
“What do you,” he took the jug off the fire and let it cool, finding it hard to voice his question, “think of me?” He had the urge to press her into the ground and force answers from her lips, to taste them with his own even if it was not what he wanted to hear. Aldora canted her head and removed her boots. Wiggling her toes, she brought her gaze back to his.
“You’re my strength, minotaur, you could never be my weakness.”
Vedikus narrowed his eyes although her words made his chest tight. His strength was his most prized attribute. He had honed it since before he could utter a word, fighting with his brothers before he knew what a weapon was. By the time he could use a blade, he no longer needed it in his arsenal to defeat an opponent; his muscles were enough to take down any beast. His horns sharpened to gore any in his way.
“You care for me, female?”
He cherished Aldora’s lighthearted nature, and when she bowed her head and hid her growing smile under her hair, his fingers ached to brush the strands aside to see it.
“I can’t rely on my own power to survive here,” she said. “It was hard for me to understand that, but since we left Prayer... you could have hurt me for speaking to Calavia alone but you didn’t. You didn’t. You listened to me, and I’m more sorry about how you would react than I was when I was seeking to save myself. Call it magic, or the darkness of this place, but I care for you.”
He watched her idly pluck at her shift. “You have learned the hardest lesson there is to learn about living in this cursed place.” Vedikus pushed her hair back to reveal her face. “We do what we must to survive. There is no living beast or human who is not afflicted.”
Aldora grasped his wrist when he pulled back, bringing it to her cheek. “It’s not just those who are here but those on the other side who are equally affected.” She shuddered and he caressed his thumb over her skin. “I’m glad I was journeying home when I was, when I heard your voice. I blamed you at first for everything, but know now that it may have been fate.”
Fate. Vedikus rose to stand, pulling Aldora up with him. “What are we doing?” she asked.
He led her from the small cave and back out into the open. “I want to show you fate.” Vedikus searched the roiling, shrouded sky looking for the tiny bright orb of the rising moon. The mountain breeze curled the mist in spinning swirls overheard but he caught a glimpse among the clouds and pointed. “Do you see the moon?”
“Yes.”
“It was watching us that night.” But that was not why he showed it to her now. “The history of my people says we were born under a moonlit night. It was said that the first of our kind ruled the labyrinth, eons ago. She was the queen of all the winding paths and hedges that were meant to mislead others but she was trapped within, lost, because she could not leave it, and she was feared. The world feared her and her domain because it could not be claimed, though many had tried.
“There was a king who claimed the bull’s lands, the giant maze, and built his kingdom around it. The queen, stuck within, could do nothing but grow in hatred toward this weak man who dared to own such a magical place, and so, for years, she killed all who dared to trespass, and with her loneliness and anger, her kingdom grew. The walls split and expanded and rose from the dirt, and what was once peaceful in the daylight had become tainted.”
“Is this... Is this truth?” Aldora asked.
“It is truth to the minotaur. We are all descended from the first, under the guise of the moon. Come.” Vedikus led her back inside when the moon vanished overheard and the night deepened. He stoked the fire, and with a little bit of water, cleaned root stores to feed Aldora. When she was done eating, he handed her the wax vial from his pouch. She took it carefully and clutched it to her chest.
“What happened next in the story?”
Vedikus unsheathed his axes and placed them safely away. “The king sent men to stop the bull. Many, in fact, but none returned, and with each new attack, the labyrinth grew, and with it, the queen lost what little peace she had left. Eventually, the king retreated because his lands, and even his people had been taken from him. Those that still followed him, followed with renewed fear of the place and it became something to avoid. In a final effort, they brought fires to the labyrinth to burn it down. That night, under the
moon, his castle succumbed to the magic and the queen came for him. She had trapped him like he had tried to trap her.”
“Why didn’t the king flee?”
“He was a warlord and refused to be defeated. Men who have had power cannot easily relinquish it when there is still a chance to fight to keep it.”
Aldora peered at him curiously. “I would have fled, rallied, and then returned with a plan.”
“Would you have gotten into his situation to begin with?”
She hummed and pursed her lips. “No. I wouldn’t. I was always best at hiding. I would not make a great queen.”
“It is good you are not a character in this story then, female. Those who lead cannot hide.”
“I agree. The current king of Savadon does not hide...” She trailed off. “He is not a good man.”
“Rulers rarely are,” he agreed. “My sire was chief of our old tribe and was not liked by many. We followed him because we respected and feared him; he was the best warrior among all minotaur and no one, not even his sons, could best him in battle. He was more bull than man and those animalistic traits were apparent for all to see. You have feet where I have hooves, you have straight legs where mine are bent, but my father had more for his parents were both minotaurs. My mother could not kiss my sire for his face was not human. I was born with more of my mother in my appearance than my sire.”
“Your family does not all look the same?”
“We are all minotaurs but our differences are easily discerned. Do all of your family members have brown eyes?”
“I—” she started and stopped. “I can’t remember. I believe we all do. Why?”
“My mother had blue eyes,” he said.
“And yours are black. It is the same for humans. We do not all look alike.”
“Hmm...”
Vedikus lifted the jug and checked the temperature of the water with his finger. It was cool enough to drink and he offered it to her. “Use this to wash that down.” He indicated the vial. Aldora placed the water by her knee, taking a deep breath.
“I’m afraid.”
The light of the fire cast her soft features in gold and shadows. Her smile had faded and her expression grew pensive. He missed the quiet moment they shared now that it had passed. I do not want this to end. She looked at the medicine in her hand as if it were the only thing left in the world.
“Do not be, I checked it for ill magic and ingredients. The hag of Prayer would not offer you false goods for fear of bringing the Bathyr into her lands.” The hag would be dealt with, but in what way depended on her.
“She does not like chaos,” Aldora muttered.
“Sometimes it can’t be avoided.”
“Will you distract me while I take it?”
Confusion filled his head at her request. Distract her? Vedikus longed to have her sheathing his bull’s cock again, longed to expel the new seed his loins had created to breed her with, but to do so while she took the cure? He shook his head, his voice gruff and deep. “How?”
“Finish the story.”
The strain in his thighs eased slightly although his shaft remained semi-hard and twitchy. A tendril of steam escaped his nostrils. Vedikus tilted his head and forced the tension from his chest. He was not good at taking orders but he could not deny her. He licked his lips and nodded, reaching for one of his axes to trace his fingers along the blade.
“The king knew he had been defeated and that he had no choice but to face her in battle. The queen had all but won and the only victory left was to kill the leader of her enemies. She had him where she wanted him, but when the time came to gore his body, she could not do it.”
Aldora uncorked the top of the vial and sniffed the liquid, sighing quietly as her other hand rested on the clay jug.
“Be glad that you cannot smell it,” he paused. “It will be easier that way.”
“Is it that bad?”
“It’s not pleasant.”
She nodded.
“What was her life before the king came into it?” Vedikus continued after a moment, wishing he had more control of the situation. “She resided in a small world, alone, waiting each day for her enemy to attack her lands, but what would she do when it was over? The queen could not live with such a fate now that she knew there was more than just her labyrinth and its magic, so she offered the king a deal: his life and kingdom for a child.”
Aldora met his eyes and raised the vial again, posing it at her lips. He leaned forward, letting the axe go limp in his hand. The evening light faded to a deep grey, darkening the entrance of the cave, and the sounds of night critters sounded among the crackle of the fire.
“Did he accept?” she asked instead of swallowing.
“In awe of the queen, he did, but it was not at all what he had expected. The king was never able to leave the labyrinth with what the queen bestowed upon him, his rule was no longer over the land of light, of mere human men, but of all that resides in the maze he so desperately tried to conquer.”
She stiffened, inhaled, and tipped her head back, drinking the contents in one go. Vedikus leaned back, waiting for something to happen. Aldora dropped her hand and placed the empty waxen cylinder aside while rubbing her mouth. He indicated the water and she turned her attention to it, taking several deep swallows until there was nothing left.
“How do you feel?”
She rubbed her hands together curiously. “Nothing. I feel nothing. I wish I knew what to expect...”
“Expect it to work,” he reassured, reaching for her. Vedikus pulled her into his lap and pressed her head back against his chest, resting his chin atop it. “Rest now. I will guard your sleep.” She settled against him and he wrapped his arms around her, sealing her within the shell of his large body. His nostrils flared as the sharp smell of magic filled his nose, mixed with her sweet scent. It relaxed him, reminding him of a time when he was young. When he and his brothers would curl up together when his mother told them stories. When he last had something besides responsibility and bloodshed in his life.
“I hope it works,” she whispered, and he pressed his lips to her head.
“Hope is for the weak, female.”
“That makes sense.” Her voice softer still. “What happened next?”
Vedikus rested his back against the cave wall. “The first minotaur was born, not all bull nor all man, but with the abilities of both. The queen returned to her labyrinth with the babe, leaving the king to rule by himself in a desecrated castle of his own making. He resides there still, looking out over the world he would forever be trapped in, waiting, like all monsters here do.” Aldora mumbled weakly and he caressed her skin, feeling sleep take her from him.
He turned his eyes to the wax vial, now partially melted by the fire, the pale wax pooling. He watched it until it lost all its shape and returned back to its original form, and after a long while Aldora began to shiver slightly in his arms. Feeling, once again.
Chapter Twenty
***
Aldora wakened, feeling cold, yet burning up at the same time. Her eyes snapped open to shadows and low light and the sounds of night filling her ears. Sweat drenched her clothes and she shifted, finding herself secure in an embrace forged from iron.
“Vedikus,” she gasped, feeling his hold on her loosen enough to allow her to lift her head. “I’m... I think it’s working.” He squeezed her flesh as she met his eyes, not responding to her otherwise. “What’s wrong?” She gasped again, her skin rising in gooseflesh as she studied his face. It was still night, the shadows still deep.
She closed her eyes and inhaled, suddenly overcome with the smell of smoke and earthy musk. It worked.
I can smell. She took several more lengthy breaths just to convince herself it was true.
I can taste it in the air. I can taste the smoke.
“Are you well?” A hand cupped her cheek, warming her face, and she nuzzled it, meeting his gaze. His voice was as low and enthralling as it was the first night she heard it.
Her sex tightened in anticipation.
Without responding, she answered him by raising her lips to his. Softened by the silence and the enclosure of the cave, it was more of a lingering whisper, a touch of satin where she initiated. The feel of it filled her with excitement. His mouth moved under hers after a moment, responding with whispers of its own. She moaned, lapping at the taste of salt on the skin around his lips.
Hands moved up the back of her body, teasing like their tongues to lift her dress over her head. Aldora let out a short laugh when it caught around her long hair and she had to untangle herself from it. “Do not rip what I can’t replace. Not again.”
Vedikus grunted and pulled her back down to him, pressing her now-naked body to his. She moved her legs to straddle him, straightening on her knees to capture his mouth. The brief wonderment she’d felt was now gone, and she found herself battling the warrior minotaur once again. The kiss deepened and his hand came up to cup her head, holding her in place, forcing her acceptance. Aldora moaned and clutched him back, wanting more of his power.
His brutal seduction.
His tongue shot its way into her mouth, penetrating her, licking her teeth and rubbing against her own. Vedikus groaned and she felt its vibration straight to her core, strumming her desire.
He’s in me. His voice, his name, him. Her sex clenched and the heat built, leaving her wanton with need. The sudden burst of his smell, his taste, his feel overpowered every fiber of her being. She ground her hips, seeking the hard feel of his monstrous shaft against her. Her world spun as his mouth brutalized hers, ravaging in its intent, reminding her that he held all the control.
That any choices she made were because he let her do so, not because she had any freedom, that no longer bothered her. Instead, it heightened her desire.
Aldora dug her nails into his chest, feeling the coarse yet smooth feel of scars under her fingertips. She rubbed her sex over his leathers, covering it with her essence, and slicking the velvet feel of it. Her body begged for more.
