Your friend,
Prince Snow Flurris
Snow rolled up the tiny piece of parchment, took out his royal seal, which he always had with him, and grabbed one of the candles from the candelabrum that was sitting in the middle of the table. He dripped a glob of wax onto the parchment and pressed his seal to it. Snow replaced the candle in the candelabrum and handed the sealed note to Blue.
“I will deliver this message to Ashe Smoldris as quickly as I can,” Blue declared, executing a low bow, and then he flew off.
Snow watched the tiny male fairy fly out an open window at top speed, leaving a glittering trail of fairy dust behind him. “And now, we wait. More wine!”
***
Meanwhile, back at Doriana’s house in Apple City…
Eventually, Doriana grew bored with watching Ashe clean the floor on his hands and knees with a toothbrush, and had him make her lunch while wearing nothing but a pink apron. Humiliating him is such fun! Doriana thought gleefully to herself. The prideful ones are always the most fun to break.
After lunch Doriana told Ashe that she had important things to go do, and that Ashe was to dust all the bedrooms on the second floor. As soon as Doriana left the house Ashe made his way up the sweeping grand staircase to the second floor. He made his way down the hall and tried to open the first door on his right, but it was locked. Ashe shrugged and tried the next room, and found that it was unlocked.
Ashe managed to finish cleaning all of the rooms on the second floor (except for the locked one) before Doriana returned from her shopping trip. Ashe stared at the locked door with a frown on his face. Was this some kind of trap? If he didn’t clean that room would he be punished for being lazy? It seemed like something Lord Tremaine would have done.
Ashe decided that he needed to get in that room and clean it, just in case. He removed a hairpin from his hair and used it to pick the lock. Ashe smiled when the satisfying click reached his ears. He grabbed the doorknob, opened the door, and entered. There was a single lit candelabrum sitting on a dresser that was shedding an eerie, dim light around the room.
The room appeared to be for storage, and was filled with lots of random items. Most of the furniture was covered in dust. Ashe’s attention was drawn to the back wall where there were two long red velvet drapes that appeared to be concealing something.
His curiosity getting the better of him, Ashe made his way over to the drapes, grabbed a cord, and pulled. The drapes parted to reveal a single portrait. The portrait was of an old woman, who had red-rimmed, sunken gray eyes. Her face was covered in wrinkles. The Victorian-style dress she was wearing appeared to be moth-eaten, and the bird that was on the hat she was wearing had turned into a skeleton.
The old hag was hideous. And not only that, there was something horribly wrong with the painting. It had an evil, malevolent presence that felt alive. It was as if the painting were sentient. Ashe felt like the hag’s gray eyes were boring into him. He felt as though the old woman in the painting could see the real Ashe - his tainted soul. He felt exposed, ashamed, and vulnerable - at her mercy. Bile rose up Ashe’s throat, and he couldn’t help but wonder who this woman was.
Ashe was about to close the drapes when he realized that the condescending sneer on the woman’s face was strangely familiar. His gaze returned to the old woman’s gray eyes. They were the exact same shade as Lady Doriana’s. A relative, perhaps? Ashe mused. Evil must run in the family.
Ashe couldn’t stand the old woman’s stare for very long, and had to look away. When he did his eyes landed on a golden mask that was sitting on a nearby table. “It can’t be…” Ashe approached the table, picked up the mask, and inspected it. It was a golden snake mask with rubies for eyes. This mask belonged to a member of The League of Villains!
Shit. Ashe swore inwardly when he realized what this meant. Lady Doriana Gray was a member of the League of Villains. I have to get out of here before-!
“So, you’ve discovered my secret,” Doriana said in a chill tone. “Naughty pet.”
Ashe spun around to face Doriana, who was standing in the open doorway, dressed in a riding outfit. Ashe lifted his chin in a show of stubborn bravery and defiance, and held up the gold snake mask. “You…you’re a member of the League of Villains!”
Doriana let out a cackle. “That’s right. What of it?”
“The League of Villains is responsible for countless atrocities that have occurred in Fantasia,” Ashe started, his golden eyes flashing with anger. “They were also behind the recent monster attack in Rose City. Dozens of innocent people died in that attack. Including innocent women and children!”
“You’re angry about a few dozen people losing their worthless lives?” Doriana arched an eyebrow at Ashe. “It was supposed to be hundreds! But, of course, Aurelion just had to get in our way! Our leader wants Rose Kingdom for himself. And the only one that stands between him and his ambition is the hero Aurelion. Aurelion survived this time, but he won’t survive our next attack. Ours spies discovered something interesting about Aurelion. Apparently, he won’t raise a hand against a woman.” A sly, sinister smile spread across Doriana’s face. “I will seduce the naïve, kind-hearted Aurelion…and when he’s lowered his guard I will plunge a dagger into his heart! Or maybe I’ll just shoot him in the head. That would probably be easier. When I bring our leader Aurelion’s head…I will be greatly rewarded.”
“No.” Ashe shook his head in denial. “I won’t let you hurt Aurelion.”
“You won’t let me?” Doriana said in an amused tone. “You’re nothing but a slave. I have nothing to fear from you.”
“You’re wrong,” Ashe objected. “I’m not a slave. I’m a hero! And as a villain…you’re my enemy. Killing Aurelion would doom Fantasia. As a hero I must protect Fantasia…and that means protecting my friend. Even if that means I have to get blood on my hands by killing you myself.” Ashe had spotted a dagger lying on a nearby table earlier and walked over to grab it.
Doriana gawked at Ashe with a disbelieving expression on her face. “You would attack a lady?”
“You’re no lady,” Ashe scoffed. “You’re an evil bitch.” He charged towards Doriana, raised the dagger high, and tried to bring it down upon Doriana’s breast as he aimed for her heart.
Doriana had surprisingly quick reflexes, however, and she reached out to grab Ashe’s wrist and stopped him. “You would dare to raise your hand against your Master!” she snarled, gray eyes flashing with malice.
Ashe placed his other hand on the dagger’s hilt. “Lord Christian Tremaine is my Master - not you.” He started to use all of his strength in an attempt to overpower Doriana and stab her heart.
Doriana placed her other hand on Ashe’s wrist to stop him. It became a battle of strength with each one trying to overpower the other. In just a few seconds, Ashe was able to overpower Doriana, and he slid the dagger’s blade right into Doriana’s heart.
Doriana’s gray eyes widened and she gasped in pain. “Oh no…you’ve killed me! How could you be so cruel? I’m a woman.”
Ashe let go of the dagger’s hilt and stumbled backwards a few steps. The weight of his actions settled upon his shoulders like a heavy lead cloak. “I’m sorry,” Ashe apologized sincerely, his voice rough. “But you left me no choice. I couldn’t let you kill Aurelion. And he’d never be the same if he’d been forced to kill you. Fantasia needs him more than you or I.”
“Just kidding!” Doriana started to laugh maniacally as she saw the shocked, confused look on Ashe’s face. She wrapped her hand around the hilt of the dagger and pulled it out of her chest without so much as a wince. “That kind of attack won’t work on me. I happen to be immortal.”
Ashe gaped at Doriana as he watched the wound on her chest closing before his very eyes. She really is immortal. But, how?
Ashe didn’t notice, but a stab wound appeared on the breast of the old woman in the painting and started to bleed.
“Naughty boys should be punished,” Doriana said, throwing the da
gger at Ashe.
Ashe dodged instinctively and the dagger imbedded itself in the painting instead.
Doriana cried out in pain this time and covered her upper left arm with her right hand. Her gray eyes flashed with anger. “Damn you! Why did you dodge, you insubordinate male!”
Ashe shot the painting a bewildered look and took note of how the dagger was imbedded in the old woman’s upper arm in the exact same spot where Doriana was now currently injured. The painting! It can’t be…the secret to her immortality? A cursed painting. Ashe thought before he started to run towards the painting. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger, removed it from the painting, and prepared to stab the old woman in the heart. “This time you will die, Doriana Gray!”
“No!” Doriana reached into her jacket pocket, pulled out a gun, and shot Ashe with it. The bullet whizzed through the air and imbedded itself in the back of Ashe’s shoulder. Ashe’s shoulder exploded in pain, and he dropped the dagger. Ashe had never felt such excruciating pain before. He’d thought it had been painful when Picasso liked to carve circles into his chest, but this was far worse. He let out a cry and sank to his knees.
Doriana sashayed over to Ashe and kicked the dagger further away from him. Ashe stared at the strange weapon in Doriana’s hand. “What is that? What did you do to me? It hurts so much…”
“Oh, this?” Doriana held up the gun. “This is a gun. A forty-five. And I just shot you. It’s a weapon used to kill people. It’s from my world. A little something from the twenty-first century. Magnificent, isn’t it?” She placed a loving kiss on the gun’s barrel. “Mwha!”
The blood was draining out of Ashe’s face from the pain. “How long have you been immortal? That weapon…”
“Oh, Ashe, a man is never supposed to ask a woman’s age,” Doriana chided, waving her gun at him. “But since you’ve asked so sweetly, I’ll tell you. I’ve been alive since the Victorian Era. Not that you will know what that means.”
“How did you even gain immortality?” Ashe asked, deciding to take advantage of the fact that Doriana seemed to be in a talkative mood.
“I think the real question you should be asking is why I’ve gained immortality,” Doriana said, a smile spreading across her lips. “It’s an interesting story. Leader wants a certain someone dead, and cast a spell to find this man’s greatest weakness. That spell led Leader to me. Apparently, I’ll make the perfect weapon to use against this man. Leader is in the possession of a magic mirror that can travel to different worlds and times. He first visited Victorian England hundreds of years ago. Leader gifted a magic powder made from the horn of a unicorn to an artist named Miss Basil Hallward. Basil painted a portrait of me, which captured my soul. From that point on the portrait would age instead of me. Any injuries I sustained would show up on the painting, and I was left unscathed.”
“So the portrait really is cursed,” Ashe said.
“Cursed?” Doriana raised an eyebrow at Ashe. “It has granted me immortality. Eternal beauty. What more could any woman want? One day I will pay Leader back for this gift he has granted me by getting rid of the thorn in his side.”
“You mean…Aurelion?” Ashe asked curiously.
Doriana shook her head. “No, there’s someone that bothers Leader even more than that hero! But I’ve already said too much. You’re just so easy to talk to, Ashe. And I really hate keeping secrets. I’m horrible at it. You should also know that all the members of the League of Villains are immortal…you and your friends don’t stand a chance against us. Well, there is one whose immortality is pending.”
Is she talking about Lord Tremaine? Ashe wondered, a feeling of unease creeping over him.
“Oh, Ashe, you never should have come in here. Now that you’ve discovered my true secret you’ll have to be punished quite harshly. The only option I have now is breaking you and making you my loyal, obedient love slave,” Doriana said in a husky voice.
***
Fuck my life. For the first time in Ashe’s twenty-five years of life he had an erection. Normally, this would have been a good thing. Unfortunately, due to the circumstance of being tied down spread-eagle to a bed in Doriana Gray’s guest bedroom against his will, Ashe wasn’t all too happy about it.
Just to top things off he was buck-naked and his erection was pressing against his six-pack abs with a drop of precum glistening at its tip in full view of Lady Doriana. She’d tied Ashe’s wrists to the headboard and his ankles to the footboard using strips of black leather.
When Doriana had ordered Ashe to lie down on the bed he’d stupidly obeyed her. Ashe hadn’t resisted when she’d tied his wrists and ankles to the bed because he’d assumed she was going to torture him in a similar fashion to how Lord Tremaine and his sons tortured him: whipping, beating, or cutting. Also, Ashe really didn’t want to get shot again, and obeying Doriana seemed to be the best way to prevent that.
Doriana had removed the bullet from his shoulder, and had cleaned and bandaged his wound, but it was still throbbing in pain. Ashe never expected Doriana to open a drawer on the bedside table, and pull out a syringe filled with a pink-tinged liquid, which she called an ‘aphrodisiac’.
After Doriana had injected Ashe with the drug she’d explained how once the drug was coursing through his veins he would become incredibly aroused and the only thing he’d want to do is fuck. And more importantly, fuck her.
Ashe hadn’t believed her. He did now.
Doriana was standing next to the bed and staring down at Ashe’s flushed, naked body with a triumphant look on her face. Her gaze lingered on his erection and Ashe’s cock twitched as if sensing her gaze. “The drug appears to finally be taking effect. How do you feel, Ashe? Do you feel hot? Horny?”
Instead of responding Ashe started to struggle against his bonds. His body wasn’t really listening to him, however, and his hips bucked up, searching for…he didn’t know what.
“Are you feeling horny, baby?” Doriana teased, playfully quoting Austin Powers as she ran her index finger up Ashe’s throbbing length. Ashe’s hips bucked of their own accord into her touch, and a drop of precum dribbled down his cock. “I bet that felt insanely good,” she said, taking away her hand.
“Fuck you,” Ashe growled. “Don’t touch me, you crazy bitch!”
Doriana raised an eyebrow as she watched Ashe pant and buck his hips desperately. Her expression turned amused. “You’re not being very honest about what you want, are you? I know you’re dying for me to touch you right now. And if you ask nicely, I may.”
“Never!” Ashe said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, come on, Ashe, tell me what you really want?” Doriana urged.
“Please…” Ashe blurted out and flushed. He shook his head. “I mean…I’ll never want you, Doriana!”
“We’ll see about that, Boy Toy,” Doriana said flippantly. “Let’s see how long you can resist me. I’m going to leave you like this, Ashe. Your arousal will grow more painful as the hours tick by. By morning you will be begging for me to touch you. You’ll be like a beast in heat. I’m really looking forward to it because I’m going to have you fuck me and come inside of me when you’re in that mad, lust-driven state. Then, you will be mine.” Doriana let out an evil cackle.
Ashe gave her a look of disbelief. “You’re insane.”
“Once you’ve experienced the pleasure of coming inside a woman, you won’t want anything else. Only me.” Doriana cupped her breasts suggestively. “I will break you. And then I’ll train you until you are my submissive, obedient sex slave.” She reached out and caressed Ashe’s cheek in an affectionate manner.
Ashe turned his head away from her touch even as his entire body was screaming at him to lean into her caress. “Fuck you. You’ll never break me, Doriana. I don’t break so easily,” Ashe snarled angrily.
Doriana eyed the scars that covered Ashe’s entire body. “I suppose that’s true enough. Though I never said it would be easy. Breaking a proud man’s will is never easy, but I’ve gotten quite good at
it over the centuries. I’ve had a lot of practice.”
Pride? Ashe thought sullenly. My pride is already broken. But I don’t live for pride. I live for revenge.
Doriana ran a finger along one of Ashe’s scars, causing him to shudder. “It’s such a pity -these scars. You would be so handsome without them. With them you’re just…damaged goods.”
Doriana’s cruel insults shouldn’t have affected Ashe, but he felt ashamed and regretful in that moment that his body was covered in scars. She’s right. He thought morosely. I’m nothing but damaged goods. All those women I slept with…none of them saw my naked body. None of them saw my scars. Most women would run away from such a sight.
Doriana sashayed to the bedroom door, and Ashe noticed that the soles of her black stiletto shoes were red. Just as she was exiting she glanced over her shoulder to flash Ashe a sadistic smile. “Have a pleasant evening, Ashe Smoldris.” She cackled on her way out, and shut and locked the door behind her.
Ashe immediately renewed his struggles against his bonds. “Doriana!” he roared. He listened to the click-clacking sound of her high-heeled shoes as she stalked down the hall.
“Shit.” Doriana had really just left him there in his current state. Ashe had never felt this way before. He was so aroused it hurt. He needed to be touched. He needed Doriana to…no! Ashe caught himself in his thoughts. He couldn’t give in that easily. He couldn’t give Doriana what she wanted. He would rather die first. Die?
That’s right…I could still bite my tongue off and kill myself and end this humiliation! But as Ashe contemplated committing suicide his thoughts turned to his new friends: Snow Flurris, Aurelion Borealis, Rapuznel Solis, and Julie.
He still had to warn his friends that Doriana was a member of The League of Villains. Especially Aurelion…and Snow while he was at it. Both men seemed to have a weakness where women were concerned - Aurelion out of chivalry and Snow out of lust.
Ashe and the Glass Sword Page 17
