Revel: Twelve Dancing Princesses Retold (Romance a Medieval Fairytale Book 4)

by Demelza Carlton

  "And what of this man?" The king pointed at Vasco.

  Brenna shrugged. "He is some fool the Lord Steward employed to amuse us at dinner."

  The king began to laugh. "A fool who sees true while my own daughters are foolish enough to fall for the lies told by demons?"

  "Not all your daughters, sire. One fought them, and very nearly escaped, too." Vasco smiled at Bianca. "Perhaps I am a fool, but I was once a soldier. And I would defend your daughters with my life, even from demons."

  "A soldier who shot one of the demons, too. Where is the monster's body?" the king asked.

  "It seems the demons took the body with them when they left, your majesty," one of his personal guard said. "We saw the bird fall, but they gathered it up. Perhaps they are cannibals."

  Bianca's stomach churned. She did not want to think of the princes' eating habits. She would have nightmares about blood-smeared beaks until the day she died.

  Efe started shouting about liars and traitors and whores.

  The king unsheathed his sword and set it at the bastard's throat. "You dare to call my daughters whores? You, a lying traitor who sold them to demons?"

  A pained gurgle was the last sound Efe made before the king silenced him forever. Bianca turned her eyes away from the blood staining the sand. She had seen enough blood and death to last her a lifetime.

  "So, after punishments, we come to rewards. It seems I owe you a reward, soldier. You saved my daughters' lives, yet the demons were allowed to escape. What will stop them from returning?" the king asked.

  Vasco stepped forward. "I will. I shall set up camp on the island and should they ever return, I will slaughter them all."

  "It seems to me there's a perfectly good house here. A fitting reward for a hero. I shall make you Lord of Raven Lake Estate, and you and your heirs will hold it against all enemies, demon or human," the king declared.

  Vasco's mouth dropped open. Bianca almost laughed. Had he truly meant to camp on the island?

  It was Bianca's turn to step forward. "That is not enough. He deserves more reward than just the house. He came to the Summer Palace to solve a mystery. You promised that anyone who could discover where the princesses went at night and danced their shoes to pieces might have both the house and a bride."

  The king stared at her. Bianca knew she should bow her head, as any woman in his harem would, but she had endured too much from men tonight to bow to any of them.

  "I made no such promise, and I have heard of no such mystery," he declared.

  Bianca opened her mouth to protest.

  "But I will honour it, all the same," the king continued. "Lord Vasco, in addition to this estate, you will need heirs to maintain the vigil when you are gone. For that, you will need a wife. I give you your choice of my daughters to be your bride."

  Vasco's eyes met Bianca's, and it seemed like there was no one else in the world but the two of them. She wished with all her might that he would choose her.

  "I am but a soldier, though you honour me with more than I deserve," Vasco said carefully. "Your daughters are jewels indeed, worthy to be the brides of kings and princes. To them, I was but a fool at their table, not worthy of a princess for a wife, as I am sure they will tell you, if you but ask them. I will not marry a woman against her will."

  The king glared at the girls. Several of them, already overcome by their ordeal, cringed away from his gaze.

  Bianca stood firm. "I volunteer." She met her father's eyes once more. "He saved my life, and that of my sisters. I, Princess Bianca, would be honoured to be the wife of Lord Vasco." This time, she forced herself to drop a deep curtsey, first to her father, then to Vasco. "I've had my fill of princes and I will be happy never to meet another. Soldiers have far more honour than any prince."

  Muffled laughter came from the assembled soldiers, which quickly died when the king held up his hands for silence.

  "What do you say, Lord Vasco?" the king asked.

  "The honour is mine," Vasco replied.

  Bianca wasn't sure whose smile beamed brighter – hers, or Vasco's.

  Thirty-Nine

  Vasco and Bianca were married that day, so the king could return home safely with his daughters. His guards kept a close watch on the traitorous steward, as if they thought his corpse might spring back to life again, and stuck him in a cart alongside the barrel of poisoned wine.

  The girls huddled together in a second cart, barely saying a word, aside from a listless farewell to Bianca as their own cart rattled off down the road.

  Leaving Bianca alone with her husband. A man she suddenly didn't know what to say to.

  "Oh, good. I caught you before you dragged him off to bed," an elderly voice cackled.

  Kun. Of all the things to say…Bianca felt her face grow red.

  Vasco curled an arm around Bianca's waist and bowed to the old woman. "So you have heard our news, then. I couldn't have done this alone, and I will be forever grateful. You will be welcome in my home whenever you wish. Without your help – "

  Kun laughed. "Without my help? You mean her help." She pointed a wrinkled finger at Bianca. "The invisibility cloak was her doing. She wanted answers, and she knew you stood a better chance of getting them than she could. After a few days of watching you work, she was itching to be your prize."

  "My…prize?" Vasco stared at Bianca, before understanding dawned on his face. "So you truly did want to marry me? Not out of pity, or duty?" His eyes held so much hope.

  No matter how brightly her face burned, Bianca forced herself to tell him the truth. "Every day you worked on Kun's house, I watched, invisible," she confessed. "Until one day when you were outside, I asked Kun to send you up to the palace to solve the mystery. I cast the spell on your cloak that rendered you invisible. I hoped that if I helped you, you might choose me." She frowned. "I had no idea that Kun didn't tell you that part of the reward."

  Kun cackled. "It would have distracted him. Thinking about his house and which girl he wanted for his wife. That's what killed the others. Distracted by a pretty girl who brings him a cup of wine, sending him dreaming of all the things he might do to her when they are married…" She flashed a gummy grin. "Oh, but I forgot. You two are married, and ready to do something about those dreams, I am sure. But humour an old lady for a moment. I have something to show you." She led them through the house to the room where the girls had once slept, now home to their discarded finery that would have to be sent up to the capital after them.

  The trapdoor creaked open, moving without anyone touching the lever that normally worked the mechanism.

  "How did you…" Bianca began, but Kun waved her into silence, beckoning them to follow her down the steps. Swallowing, Bianca did as she was bidden. It was daylight now, and there were no raven princes to attack or attempt to seduce her, but she couldn't suppress the thought that last night, she'd almost…

  Vasco's arms wrapped reassuringly around her waist as if he could read her thoughts. "Don't you worry at all. If those accursed birds come anywhere near us again, I will pepper them so full of arrows, they'll look like they've grown a second set of feathers. I might not be accustomed to owning lands and being the lord responsible for them, but I have plenty of experience in defending them. I promised to keep you safe, Bianca, and I will."

  She relaxed into his embrace, for she believed every word. And it felt good to be in his arms, his hard body pressed against hers, his breath on her neck…she wanted to turn around, take him back up the steps and do all the things married women did to the husband they loved. Maybe even let him do some things to her, too.

  "I don't have all day!" Kun said. "You have all night to get naked, and the rest of your lives to work out what to do with each other. Can't an old lady ask for a few minutes of your time?"

  Red-faced once more, Bianca continued down the steps with Vasco not far behind.

  Kun led them down the path to the lake. Bianca didn't feel self-conscious at all as she grabbed Vasco's hand. After last night, she neve
r wanted to walk this way alone. He squeezed her fingers gently and limped on at her side.

  They reached the spot where Vasco had tripped that first night, almost giving himself away, and Kun stopped.

  "This is it," she muttered, biting down on her lip. She waved her hands, an intense look of concentration on her face as she stared at the pile of rocks.

  To Bianca's surprise, the topmost boulder rolled down, settling to the side of the road. The pile that had stretched higher than Bianca's head now arranged themselves in a rough ring. Around them, a small stream of water trickled, which had been hidden by the rocks before. As she watched, one of the tall, narrow stones toppled over, forming a natural drawbridge across the stream into the small fort.

  Kun settled on a rock by the side of the path, a satisfied look on her face. "Go in and see."

  When Bianca hesitated, Vasco stepped forward. A heartbeat later, she followed. Inside the stone circle was a pool, which was rapidly filling with water. Water that sent up wisps of mist or steam. Magic, surely.

  "It's a hot spring," Kun said. "The earth has spots like this around, and if I'd left it alone, this one might have built enough pressure to blow some of the rocks off one day. Maybe not this week, but when your children take over the estate. Or their children. If you ever get around to having any."

  "I have heard of places like this," Vasco said slowly. "They say the hot water works miracles. Healing old wounds, taking away stiffness and pain…"

  "Yes," Kun said. "It relaxes you, too. Consider it a wedding present to the two of you." She bit her lip again. "Which reminds me…seeing as that new cloak was really a gift from your new bride, I still owe you a bonus for the service you did me." She bent over before Vasco and made a mysterious gesture with her hand beside his injured leg.

  Vasco gave a cry of pain and Bianca's heart leapt into her throat. "What did you do to him?" Bianca demanded.

  Kun turned her hand palm-up. Nestled among the wrinkles was a barbed arrowhead, glistening with blood. Vasco's blood, judging by the way he clutched at his knee. "I am no healer, for my talents lie with the earth. Yet what is metal but the bones of earth? Without the arrowhead buried in your knee, your body should heal itself. You may lose that limp and have no need to lean on your lady, as you do now."

  Vasco straightened. He stayed that way for barely a moment before Bianca managed to get under his shoulder to take some of his weight off his injured leg again. "I am his support as much as he is mine," Bianca declared.

  "A little pain wouldn't stop me from protecting my princess," Vasco added, gazing into Bianca's eyes.

  It seemed she stood with him in the underwater ballroom again, drawn to one another like moths to the same flame. Yet Vasco's eyes seemed to burn when he gazed her at her, in a way that kindled a strange heat in Bianca's chest.

  "Vasco," she breathed, reaching a hand up to his cheek.

  He pulled her hard against him, and kissed her. The fire in her heart blazed, shooting down to curl at her toes. It could burn her to cinders, and she wouldn't care, as long as Vasco didn't stop kissing her.

  Several minutes later, Kun's coughing became too alarming to ignore, and they broke off their kiss to stare at the old woman.

  "Now, I have other things to take care of." Kun straightened, and it seemed to Bianca that she stood taller all of a sudden. Her hair darkened, too, so that instead of white with strands of black, her hair now looked as sleek as a raven's wing. When she turned around, Bianca barely recognised her. Why, Kun looked younger than her own mother – not much older than Bianca herself. This strange, young Kun laughed, her voice rich and full, without any of the tremors of old age. "Did you truly think me just some weak witch, girl, like your queen? I am an enchantress, gifted in elemental magic, though my affinity has always been with the earth. At the queen's request, for she is my god daughter, for good or ill, I kept those princes prisoner here. I fed them those foolish enough to fall under their spell, or the spell of greed, in the case of those silly boys who saw an easy way to win a wife and property. But they have flown, and my vigil is ended. So, while I thank you for your kind invitation, I will not accept your hospitality at this time. I am needed elsewhere. Perhaps we will meet again, far into the future. My best wishes for your health and happiness, both of you, because I think you two truly have a good chance of living happily ever after."

  With that, she traced a fiery circle in the air, stepped through it, and vanished.

  Forty

  Bianca stared after Kun, barely believing her eyes. Then Vasco's arms snaked around her waist, and she could think of no one else but her husband. She turned around. "Kiss me again, just like the first time."

  The moment his lips touched hers, desire ignited her whole body once more, and she was surprised to hear her own voice moaning in pleasure.

  He broke for breath and grinned at her. "You taste of paradise, princess. But you are wearing too many clothes for my liking." He tugged at the lacing of her gown, which had somehow come undone as they kissed.

  She glanced around. "We should go inside for that."

  He laughed. "Why? It would be a shame not to use Mistress Kun's wedding gift. And for that, you must be naked."

  The hot spring. How had she forgotten?

  Vasco stripped off his own clothes, laying them on a rock, then stepped into the pool. Just as she remembered it, his body was all muscle. Once again, she couldn't help staring.

  "You may come and touch me instead of just looking if you take your clothes off," he teased.

  Her mouth suddenly seemed dry as she fumbled to finish unlacing her gown. She laid it beside his clothes and stood before him only in her shift. "But what if someone sees us? Out here, naked like this?" she asked.

  He laughed. "Then you will use your magic to make us invisible. Or I will tell them to go away. This is our estate now, and I am the lord here."

  Lord Vasco. She liked the sound of it. Bianca dropped a curtsey, flaring out the hem of her shift. "My lord," she said, pulling the shift off entirely.

  Now she found Vasco's eyes on her, devouring her like a starving man might with his first meal. Yet in his eyes, such hunger only inflamed her own.

  She stepped cautiously into the water, which now reached just past her knees.

  Vasco settled on a natural stone ledge that seemed a perfectly formed seat for two. He patted the place beside him. "Come sit with me, princess. I want you close enough to kiss."

  But Bianca wanted more than a kiss. For a girl who'd lived in a harem all her life, she'd never actually touched a naked man, and she wanted to. She took a deep breath as she crossed the pool, then climbed into his lap and kissed him.

  Bianca gasped as she felt him hardening between her thighs. In the harem, the women whispered that if you rode a man just right, he could make your soul take flight. More than anything, she wanted to know what that felt like. She'd tried it on one of the statues in the palace once, but all she'd experienced was pain as she left a smear of blood on the statue's nethers. She hadn't wanted to try again, but with a living, breathing man between her thighs who could turn her whole body to flame with a kiss, she knew it would be different.

  She rocked against him, and Vasco groaned. Perhaps they could fly together. She reached down and guided him inside her as she rocked again.

  One moment she was empty and aching for him, and the next she was so full of the hard heat of him that she could scarcely breathe. All she knew was she did not want to stop. "More," she gasped.

  "Bianca…Bee…" he groaned. "I do not wish to hurt you. This is your first time. Perhaps we should…"

  "You're not hurting me. I want more," she insisted. When still he hesitated, she opened her thighs wider, sliding down his shaft until her knees touched the stone beneath him. She cried out as he filled her completely, revelling in the sheer pleasure of having him inside her as she rode him to heights of pleasure she had only dreamed of before.

  All at once, he shuddered into stillness, her name on his li
ps until she kissed him. Then there was silence, except for their shared breathing and the bubbling of the spring around them. The water had reached her breasts, buoying them up before her.

  Vasco stared at her in wonderment. "I feel like a king. No man could ask for more."

  Bianca laughed. "Ah, but I am just a princess. As long as you are my husband, I will always want more."

  "And I shall always give you what you desire, though perhaps not right away." Vasco kissed her again, long and lovingly, setting the pattern for the first of many nights in their long lives together.

  Wondering where the raven princes flew off to?

  Find out in the next book in the series:

  Silence:

  Little Mermaid Retold

  which you can get HERE.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

  She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

  Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

  The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by her suspense thriller Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.

  Want to know more? You can follow Demelza on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or her website, Demelza Carlton’s Place at: