by M H Ryan
With shaky hands, she reached in and touched the edges of the leather bound, brown book. On the cover, it had an engraving of the seven kingdoms burned into the leather. Each kingdom had a symbol but only one she was familiar with, the Trench Kingdoms and her family crest. She ran her fingers over them and took easy breathes as she pulled the book from its velvety enclosure. She opened to the first page and then turned the few more pages and then in a panic, scanned through the book.
“I can’t read this.” She felt as if she was going to throw up. “Pop, tell me you know how to read this.”
She thrust the book toward him. He took a step back, eyes closed and hands up as if she was handing him a cobra.
“I’m not allowed to look at such things,” Pop said.
“I command you,” she said, still holding the book toward him.
“Okay, as you command, princess.”
Pop took the book and opened it. He spent a few minutes, scanning the pages with a narrow gaze.
“Well?” Barkly asked. “Freaking suspense much?”
“I can’t read it—”
“Oh, great,” Barkly said, throwing up his hands. “The book of everything that we can’t read.”
“I can’t read it yet,” Pop said over Barkly. “There are symbols and such that I understand and the front map tells us what symbols each region represents. With a bit of time, I think I can decipher this.”
“So we’re pretty much back where we started,” Bowsette said in a sigh. “Okay, we pack everything up tonight, get some rest, and then leave at first light.”
“I will work on this book with your permission,” Pop said, not looking up from the text.
“Yes, you have my permission and let me know the second you find something.”
“I will,” he said, running his old finger over the paper then he looked up. “Oh, one other thing. As suitors who pledged fealty, it is custom to lay with the person that night.”
Barkly coughed and looked at Bowsette. “For real?”
She smiled and it was the first good news she’d gotten of the night. The sun was low and darkness had already crept into the castle. Perhaps packing could come second. She wanted to make sure she stuck to customs. No reason to disrespect her elders.
“Yes, for real,” Bowsette said.
“Sounds like a good custom,” Soto said.
She stood and took both their hands and walked them out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom.
With the door shut, she marched them over to the bed and sat them down.
“So, how does this work?” Barkly said.
“Don’t question this,” Bowsette said, holding a finger near Barkly’s mouth.
Soto seemed content on not speaking.
She went over to the light globes and twisted them, dimming them down to a soft glow. She sauntered back to the boys, then lifted her shirt off and stood in front of them, bare-chested. They looked completely hypnotized. She ran her hands over her chest, feeling her nipples as they got hard.
“I only have one rule in my bedroom,” she said, covering her chest with her hands.
“Anything,” they said in unison.
“Never say no.”
“Yes,” Barkly said.
“Okay,” Soto said.
“Take your shirts off.”
They both fumbled with their shirts but got them off quickly and tossed them to the floor.
“Now your pants.”
They were both pantsless in a second. They stood next to her, with only their boxer briefs on. She could see that they were both ready for her, but she wasn’t about rushing it on a special night like this, she wanted to take her time with her men.
“You can touch me, slowly,” she said and they both went to different parts of her body.
Barkly went to kissing her on the neck with his soft lips and smooth face. It gave her the chills and she closed her eyes, enjoying his affection. Soto went to his knees and kissed her on her stomach as he unbuttoned her pants. Soon, Soto had them around her ankles and he slid his hands along her legs. He gave special attention to her stomach, sliding down lower on her with each lick.
She was glad they had applied the healing salve on her legs earlier. She liked a touch of pain from time to time, but it felt too good him just rubbing her along her healed calves and thighs. Her hands moved around in Soto’s hair as she turned to Barkly and started kissing him.
Barkly cupped her breast with one hand and reached the back of her head with the other. Already, he had become a much better kisser. Not just pecks and tongue thrusts like the first time, but he used his tongue around the edges of her mouth, almost teasing her and she wanted more. She felt the heat building below as Soto moved down her, kissing below the belly button.
She had never been with two men at the same time before. The first time she had been with Barkly and Soto in the same room, it was more of a rounding-third-base kind of affair, as Soto had said, this time she wanted a home run.
“Am I doing better?” Barkly whispered in her ear.
“Yes,” she moaned out.
She felt Soto’s hand pulling on the top edge of her panties. He slid them down to her ankles and she stepped out from them. Soto went down before her, kissing her inner thigh and working his way up until his mouth was on her, exploring the edges with his tongue.
She wanted a dick in her hand and she felt down Barkly’s stomach and into his underwear, pulling them down. She had him in her hand, stroking him as Soto’s tongue moved around her button, sending waves of pleasure through her with each move.
Barkly went behind her, putting his arms under hers as Soto went under her legs lifting her up with her legs straddled over his shoulders while Barkly held her by the shoulders. She let out a gasp as they both held her off the ground.
“I’m too heavy,” she said.
“We got you,” Barkly said, kissing her ear.
Soto kept his head and tongue right where she wanted it and she moaned with pleasure as they carried her over to the bed. They set her down and both took off their underwear. She almost came right then, but she bit her lip, holding herself back.
The look in both their eyes as they crawled around her, sent chills over her body. Want wasn’t the word, desire, longing, ache, burning and worshipping her equally wasn’t adequate for how they melted her.
This night would be special for two reasons though and she wanted to give it the attention it deserved.
“Soto, I want you so bad right now, but I am taking something from Barkly tonight and for this time, it should be just him and I, at least at first.”
Soto nodded and didn’t break her one rule. He kissed down her leg with a final kiss off the top of her foot as he stepped off the bed.
“Barkly?”
“Yes?”
“I want you to get between my legs.”
“Yes.”
He crawled around the bed, looking hungry and nervous as he got between her legs. She placed her heels at the small of his back. He held himself in his hands, staring at her entrance and not moving.
She knew his look, like a child at the edge of a lake that didn’t know how to swim. Well, sometimes you just had to push them in. She did exactly that with her heels, and applied pressure, pulling Barkly closer to her. She reached down, touching him, guiding him as she pulled him with her legs and feet. He looked as if his entire life was flashing before his eyes as he moved into her. His groaned and arched his back, going deeper.
She had taken and now she would give.
Chapter Fifteen
The next morning, their bags were packed, waiting in the entryway as they stood on the steps of Bowsette’s castle.
“What’s taking Pop so long?” Soto asked. “Is he okay?”
“I bet he’s going to the bathroom,” Barkly said.
A clatter of noise emerged from the door as Pop walked out. “I was going to the bathroom. Just wait until you reach my age, I doubt you will fare as well as I have.”
He had a backpack on or what looked like one with straps over his shoulders and a belt around his waist, but he had their bags attached to the side and above, making what he carried two feet to each side and four feet above his head.
“Dude, we can carry our own stuff and split up Bowsette’s among us,” Barkly said.
“You’re sweet,” Bowsette said. “But if any of us is up to the task of carrying extra weight around here, it’s me.”
“Enough, with the lot of you,” Pop said. “You think I’m some weak old man, but I bet I could carry all three of you and this backpack all the way there. This pack is light. Back in my soldier days, we carried full grown Arackmars on our backs and ran for miles, just for fun.”
Bowsette had to look away to hide her eye roll.
“Pop Master,” Soto said. “It would be our honor to carry our own stuff.”
“It would be a great dishonor to me and if I hear any more about me being weak or not able to do this, I will start carrying one of you as well.”
“Fine,” Soto said, raising his hands.
“Pop, we are in a rush here—” Bowsette said.
“If I slow you down, kill me first and then take the packaging from me second,” Pop interrupted. “Yesterdays potion has helped me a great deal. I won’t be a burden.”
“Okay,” Barkly said. “I believe in you, Pops. You can carry my stuff for me.”
“Don’t call me Pops, you sniveling little shit stain of a man,” Pop said. “It’s Pop Master to you.”
Barkly raised his hands and backed away. “Won’t happen again.”
“Well, since everyone’s expressed themselves this fine morning, I’d say it’s time to go,” Bowsette said.
Pop slid his thumbs under the shoulder straps and adjusted the pack. “Lead the way, Princess.”
She took in a breath, wanting to command him to lessen his load, but the look in his eyes of pure determination made her swallow those words. His pride would be hurt and she’d have a butthurt Pop to deal with for days. If they had to go a tad slower, so be it. They could walk into the night to make up for the difference.
Bowsette set out, taking the first few steps when she spotted an intruder to their journey. A magical eye flew about a hundred feet in the air above them. It wasn’t hard to miss against the brown cliffs. Great, so they were going to be watching her. As she walked down the steps, it fluttered away and she lost it as it went up and out of the Trench. Just a relay eye then, good. With it gone, she felt a little lighter in her steps and hopped off the last two.
The people of the Trench had been watching their progression with great interest and were starting to exit their houses. The elderly couples, widows, and children waved to her and she waved back, calling to some by name and others by trade.
They were smiling. Something she hadn’t seen her people do in a long time. While they couldn’t have known her destination, they knew she was on an expedition, and the company she kept should have given them enough to know she was out for blood.
By the time she was reaching the end of the houses, the entire town had taken to walking behind them, with a spattering of cheers and yells of encouragement.
“Go get ‘em!”
“For the Trench!” they shouted.
She smiled and waved, looking back at her people. When the crowd had reached maximum capacity, she stopped and faced them.
“Thank you,” she said with a slight bow. “Thank you for supporting me. If I had said the Grand Kingdom wanted to kill us all a couple days ago, most of you would think I was crazy. Now, after their obvious terrorist attack on the lifeblood of our economy, the lava flow, we know that is exactly what Cupcake and her kind are trying to do. But we stopped that plan cold.”
They cheered.
“And they blew up our warp gate and as a result, all the kingdoms warp gates, and they blamed it on me. But all of us have eyes and we saw what they did here. Shame on them.”
A smattering of boos radiated through the crowd.
“But they weren’t counting on these fine men coming in to save the very place they destroyed.” She motioned to Barkly and Soto.
A few claps here and there moved through the crowd.
“Now, I know it’s hard to forget, but they have taken the oath of fealty to me.”
“I trust them with my life,” Pop Master said. His voice echoed through the Trench.
“As do I, and together we will take back what they have taken from us and restore the great Kingdom of the Trench.”
The crowd cheered louder than before. Some grabbing and shaking each other in joyous celebration.
She waited for them to quiet down and then said, “Now, the coming days will be hard and my first order of business is to secure a trade route with the Grass Kingdom and bring in the food we will need. I will ask you all to start making things again. Things that the Grand Kingdom banned us from making, like weapons. Pop Master has given each of your stores an order form that I will use to negotiate trades. People, it’s time we get back to work!”
They cheered again. The blacksmith workers hugged each other with tears in their eyes. Good people just wanted honest work and it was the first step at making the Trench Kingdom what it once was, a vibrant hub of trade and culture.
“I may be gone for a long time. My journey is across many Kingdoms to places that not many have stepped in two hundred years. It will be tough and at times, and I am sure you will hear horrible lies about me in the coming days and weeks. Just know that what I do is for the Trench Kingdom and everything you hear from the Grand Kingdom is anything but reality.”
“Screw the Grand Kingdom!” an old timer said.
They laughed and cheered.
“In my place, Fremma will be taking care of the day to day operations. I will leave it to her to hire the staff that she needs and use the resources of my castle as needed.”
They applauded and yelled out Fremma’s name. The old woman, walking forward and took a bow.
“Great citizens of the Trench Kingdom, I leave you in good hands,” Bowsette said, bowing deeply before them.
Their chatter silenced and they all bowed as well, some even dropping to one knee and placing their forehead on the dirt.
She turned, feeling many emotions running through her and started walking. A part of her wanted to stay and help them, but she knew her path was now ahead and out of the Trench Kingdom. She could serve them well beyond their borders.
After a few minutes, she glanced back to the backs of a few people, but most of them had already disappeared into their homes or shops. The streets looked bare once again, but she heard the tinging noise of a hammer pounding steel. Trench people were no stranger to hard work, they’d just lost the motivation.
Further from the town, she slowed down as they neared the warp gate, or what was left of it. The explosion had utterly destroyed it, leaving it a pile of stone and the only remnants of the warp gate were two columns reaching up about ten feet.
A curiosity coursed through her. A powerful feeling of following the path untravelled. Growing up, she had loved exploring the Trench. Now, most of what had existed was under rubble and debris, destroyed as a display of power from Banana and Cupcake, save but one street.
“This is your family?” Soto asked, looking at the carvings on the wall.
“Yeah,” she said, bending down and touching the broken key panel on the ground.
Parts of the panel were scattered around it and the only thing that seemed unharmed were the first few steps leading up to the gate. It broke her heart, but it also gave her hope. The Grand Kingdom didn’t have soldiers this far out and in a chaotic, gateless world, she doubted they would send any.
“These are beautiful,” Soto said, walking along the carvings. “Is this one you?”
Bowsette stood up and walked to the carvings next to Soto. The woman on the engraving stood proud an
d tall and did have a resemblance to Bowsette, as she should.
“That was my mother.”
“I’m sorry. We didn’t…” Soto asked.
“No, she died long before you guys came here.”
He breathed out.
“I remember him,” Barkly said, looking at the man she called uncle.
She and Soto walked to the last image on the wall. Barkly looked at her with tears in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry for what we did here,” Barkly said. “You all say you have forgiven us, but I can’t forgive myself.”
Soto took a deep breath. “We will live with that for our whole lives, but we have a chance to make things right here. I’m so happy you found us, Bowsette.”
“I am as well,” Barkly said and touched her Uncle’s face. “Why aren’t you on here?”
Pop growled, but she put a hand on him, shaking her head.
“It’s the greatest honor we can bestow on a person of the Trench Kingdom. Each of them is on this wall because they performed an act of heroism in one of the big C’s: Combat, culture or community.”
“We’ll get you on this wall,” Barkly said. “I promise.”
She had never thought of her image being there. It was too big of a thought to have and she had plenty of big thoughts already.
Leaving the warp gate area, she walked in silence. Well, except for the heavy breathing of Pop. She kept the pace slow and he kept up, only slowing to adjust the pack from time to time. Barkly tried to help him at one point, but Pop nearly skewered him with his pole.
“You know,” Pop said. “As guardians of Bowsette, I find it my duty to train you in the art of combat.”
“You train us?” Barkly said. “We just pop a Berry and stay back.”
“And do we have any Huckle Berries left?” Pop asked. “I thought not. Plus, there will be times when it doesn’t make sense to use maximum destruction. There are times when you will have to use the bodies your momma gave you to fight instead of the potions of power.”
