“What you feel couldn’t be compared to what you will experience when we join, beloved.”
“Goddess.” What he told me made me think that maybe accepting their claim wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. The thought brought shivers of thrills all over my body. Being loved and protected by two men, living in this summer paradise away from Erodan, the hunters, or my duty to the dead duke.
The promise sounded wonderful.
*
Intoxicating fragrant aromas welcomed me as I sauntered to the village center. The night was young and the air was heavily perfumed with the scent of merai flowers that had been enchanted to bloom all year long. Ashanie gave me a task to bring freshly baked bread to the tables, serving the warriors’ dinner.
The bonfire crackled merrily. The warriors were already in their seats, drunk and joking. Several of them eyed me with great curiosity. Some made jokes about me being too thin. And some said that my claimers must take extra precautions not to split me in half. They roared. I pouted. As I was about to withdraw, a hand caught me in my tracks. It was Ronen.
“Dine with me,” he said.
“Ashanie needs me in the cookery. There are plenty more bowls to carry out.”
“I’m sure Ashanie won’t mind if you stay and dine. I miss you.”
I blushed. “How about later? I still have chores to do.”
Ronen got up from the bench. “Fine. Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me away.
“Where are we going?
“Privacy.”
Ronen took me to the cookery.
Ashanie greeted us. “Ronen and Elyra. How lovely. Is there something you need?”
“Give me some of that ramentha, Ashanie.”
“Ah. Thought you would ask for it sooner or later. Here we go.” Ashanie handed him a basket containing orange oval-shaped fruits. “Enjoy.”
“Oh, we will.” Ronen grinned.
I tottered beside him as we headed to the Lembanyu spring. We sat on the grass.
“Have you taken your fill this eve?” he asked me.
“What is that?”
“Ramentha, Aesterneum rare fruits. Do you mind having your evening meal with me?”
“No.”
A sound of splashing caught both our attention. Callarn was bathing in the spring. He waved at us, continuing his bath.
“Have you sampled this before?” Ronen asked.
“No. Is it any good?”
Ronen grinned mischievously. He took one fruit from the basket and split it in half. “Taste it.”
I ate it. It was delicious. I smacked my tongue, relishing the tangy-sweet flavor of the fruit. “I’ve never tasted anything like it before.”
“Surely not. Ramentha only grows in Aesterneum.”
“How come?”
“It’s a Khimerian treasure.” He fed me the other half. I accepted it ravenously.
“Has Callarn bespoke about the claim?”
I nodded. My mouth was full.
“And?”
“I don’t know. I can’t risk you over my brother’s wrath.”
“Then I need to offer more persuasion to convince you.”
“You could try,” I taunted.
“I will. Here have another one.”
“Mmm.”
Callarn decided to get out from the spring and join us. He didn’t bother to get dressed. Water dripped from his body as he sat next to me.
“Ah, ramentha, the forbidden fruit,” Callarn said, taking one from the basket and eating it.
“Forbidden?”
“Aye, forbidden.” He winked.
“Why?” A second later I found out why it was called forbidden. The effect from consuming the fruit hit me. My heart beat faster. My face heated. My nipples hardened and my cunt ached, thrumming and wanting to be filled. I moistened luxuriously.
“It’s an aphrodisiac,” Ronen said. He smeared the fruit on my shoulder and licked it.
I shivered. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“Why? Khimerian males use ramentha on our women in many different ways during love-making, thus our women could accommodate us until we are fully sated,” Ronen said.
Callarn removed my bandeau top and my pareo. Before long, I was bare before them. “Ah.” He licked his lips. His eyes brightened. “Who doesn’t want to dine in such a delectable fashion?”
“Agreed,” Ronen said. He took another ramentha, split it in half and squeezed the juice against my nipple. He lowered his head and licked me. “Mmm. Scrumptious.”
“I have to try then,” Callarn said. He smeared more ramentha on my other nipple and sucked it. He took his time, circling around my areola before he sucked me hard.
I moaned. The pleasure was overwhelming.
“Delicious, isn’t it?” Ronen asked Callarn.
“Most delicious. Bend her over on your lap. I wish to dine on her precious.”
Before my brain could register what he meant, Ronen snagged my waist, rolled me over on my stomach and pulled me on his lap. “Ronen!” I protested.
Callarn shushed me quiet. “Be still sweet thing. How could I possibly dine in peace if you keep squirming?”
I whimpered. What were they going to do to me?
Callarn purred as he spread my thighs to reveal my sex. My ass thrust up in the air. He spread my sex lips to reveal my entrance. I felt Ronen lean on his side to look.
“Beautiful,” Ronen said. “I bet it tastes as scrumptious as it looks. Sample it for me, would you?”
“My pleasure.” Callarn dipped his tongue into my entrance, swirling slowly as he lapped me.
I moaned quietly.
“How was it?” Ronen asked.
“Simply delicious. I bet ramentha would make it better.”
“Of course. Plenty of it.”
I felt the cold juice of fruit squeezed over my sex. Callarn also smeared the pulp on my folds. I gasped again. Callarn’s tongue voraciously danced on every part of my cunt. I cried from the unbearable pleasure. He fingered me.
“I bet you are eager to fill this one, are you not?” Ronen asked.
Callarn groaned. “She’s tight.”
“She’ll take you all the way. Sample it with your finger.”
He stroked me in and out. More morsels of pleasure burst out in my depths.
“And I can’t wait to claim this,” Ronen said. He caressed my ass.
Goddess.
“Squirt more ramentha. I’d like to feel her dark passage.”
More liquid of the juice dripped on my anus. My heart hammered hard. A finger traced my puckered hole. I stiffened as the finger sought entrance inside my nether orifice. I tightened involuntarily, my body trying to refuse the intrusion.
“Ah. Too tight.” Ronen made an impatient noise. “Please, Elyra, relax. Does it hurt?”
“Nay, it can’t be hurting her,” Callarn said. “Look, her cunt is dripping. Just go slower.”
Ronen followed his advice. He pushed his finger into my depths in agonizingly slow motion. Each time he wriggled around my smooth back passage, pleasure ebbed like a never-ending wave.
“Vasyel said the area between the woman’s ass and cunt is most sensitive,” Callarn observed.
“Lick it. See if she likes it.”
I screamed when a tongue swirled in that area. I never thought it could feel so good.
“Oh. She likes it.” Callarn’s voice was full of triumph. “Look, she drips again. I have to dry her.”
My breath lodged in my throat as Callarn withdrew his finger from my cunt and licked my swollen sex. My anal passage clenched Ronen’s finger as Callarn devoured my juices.
“Tight,” Ronen said. “I can’t wait until my shaft is inside her.”
Callarn hummed. “She is simply delicious. I can eat her all night long. Do you know I found her womanly secret as well?”
“Show me.” Ronen sounded excited.
“Callarn!” I protested.
“See? I haven’t touched her yet and she’s alrea
dy screaming.” He slipped a finger into my cunt and stroked me with expertise.
I clawed my fingers on Ronen’s thigh and squeezed my eyes shut. The overdose of pleasure made me float in oblivion. When the tide ebbed away, I found myself lying on Ronen’s lap shivering like a heap of leaves.
“Well, sweet, will you accept our claim?” Ronen asked.
I slowly scrambled up from his lap and pushed the stray hair from my face. My heart told me to say yes, but my mind told me otherwise. I’d grown to love them and the people in Aesterneum, but I couldn’t risk their safety.
The Jakael hunters Erodan had hired to get me were ruthless. They had already killed the family of a farmer who sheltered me for the night. I didn’t want more innocent blood on my hands. I just couldn’t have that on my conscience.
I gathered my clothes and looked at my claimers with regret. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
I could feel their burning stares on my back as I left.
Chapter Five
Ashanie caught me daydreaming while I shelled peas in the cookery the next day. “So,” she asked me with curiosity. “Did you accept their claim yet?”
I sighed. “No. I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
I told Ashanie of my predicament. She listened attentively.
“I think you worry too much. Have a little faith in your claimers. They are warriors, not mere farmers. They know how to defend themselves and you.”
“I don’t want to take a chance.”
“Don’t you fancy Ronen and Callarn?”
I faltered. “I do.”
Ashanie clasped her hand on mine. “You just need more time to decide. Once you are settled in here, you can see how safe Aesterneum is. I’m going to harvest ramentha. Why don’t you help me with it? A little trip to the grove will clear your mind.”
“Harvesting ramentha?’
“Aye. In Deln’yir vale, our sacred ground.”
My curiosity piqued. I would love to see the Khimerian sacred ground. Did they bury their dead there too? “I’ll go with you.”
“Splendid. Let’s make haste while the day is still high.”
We carried big baskets and walked to the village border. A centaur who guarded the gate gave us a pass. He stood before the enchanted hedge and murmured a spell.
“Tanae Dreknaar Sli’l Vanelie.”
The hedge suddenly shifted, revealing a tunnel for us to pass through. As soon we walked through it, the hedge behind me enclosed.
“The bushes are alive,” I uttered in amazement.
“Aye. They’re enchanted.”
“What happens when people try to sneak in?”
“The bushes eat them.”
I shivered.
We walked further north until we arrived in a small valley. It was surrounded with merai hedges. The path to its entrance was steep. The gate was barricaded with a heavy oaken door.
“We’re here?” I asked.
“Deln’yir vale, where we grow our ramentha.” Ashanie murmured a spell that caused the gate to open by itself.
Ramentha grew in the vines on the tall trellises. The blade-like leaves were lush and in the shade of deep green. Its flower looked like little bells, white and very fragrant. Ramentha fruits grew in abundant clusters. The goose-egg-sized oval fruits turned reddish orange when they were ripe. Sweet, tangy, and tasty.
We chatted as we picked ramentha. I couldn’t resist sampling one as I filled up my basket. Ashanie laughed when she saw me doing that. She commented about my claimers and something else, I wasn’t really paying attention. Ramentha was the most delicious fruit I had ever tasted in life.
I was wondering whether I should have another one when I heard the ear-splitting shrieks. Ashanie and I traded gazes.
“What was that?” Ashanie paused.
“It’s coming from up there.” I looked at the sky and was startled. There was a giant eagle soaring in the sky. The beast lurched toward us.
“Merciful goddess, run!” Ashanie grabbed my hand.
We made a beeline towards the gate. Before we could reach it, something grabbed my arms and I was airborne in a heartbeat.
“Ashanie!”
“Elyra!”
The eagle flapped its enormous wings and spirited me away from Aesterneum.
*
It was almost dark when the giant eagle dropped me in the middle of a clearing, right in front of my brother Erodan’s scowling face. I sprawled on the ground. My arms were hurt and deeply bruised from the eagle’s talons. Beside my brother stood the Jakael hunters with matching scowls.
The eagle soared away, leaving me alone in front of the people who wished me dead. I quickly stood. Panic rushed within me.
Erodan’s face flashed with disgust as he examined my appearance. I was clothed in the Khimerian fashion; the savage people my kin always looked down on.
His nostrils flared. “Look at what you have become. Running away from your honor-bound duty and consorting with the beasts. Whore.”
He backhanded me. My cheek stung from the blow. I willed myself not to cry. “I don’t want to die,” I said in a shaky voice. “I didn’t know the duke and I didn’t love him.”
“A Drorknar doesn’t run from duty. A Drorknar upholds his honor beyond everything else. You have tainted our clan with your insolence.”
“Please,” I sobbed. “Don’t force me into the duke’s pyre. I want to live.”
“Silence!”
Erodan hit me again. I fell on the ground.
My brother gestured to the hunters, barking orders. “Tie up this whore. We shall ride home at once.”
*
We rode for a day and a night before we entered the stronghold of Thiebes, the duke’s homeland. The servants, guards, and staff of the castle gathered in the courtyard when we arrived. They regarded me with dark glares as I dismounted from the horse. Here I was, the traitor. I ran away from my duty as my lord husband lay dead waiting for the pyre. My sin was unforgivable.
Among the spectators was Duke Gavin’s family. Erodan bowed his head and addressed them. “Lords and ladies, from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely ask your forgiveness for what my sister has made you suffer. Nonetheless, she is here and the long-delayed pyre can commence so we are able to send Duke Gavin into Paradise.”
The sea of people parted as Erodan dragged me into the mourning chamber. With a glare of hatred, he slammed the door on me.
I coiled on the floor, looking at my surroundings. Cold stone walls. Cold floors. All windows were shut.
Weeks ago, I came to this place as a bride. I didn’t know Duke Gavin, but people said he was a nice and honorable person. Later, I found out he was old enough to be my father. Nevertheless, I accepted my fate without a protest. The duke was an influential person. And my clan would benefit from this alliance. Four days after my arrival, I was a widow. The guards escorted me into this mourning chamber to be burned on the pyre with my husband.
I was so scared to be burned alive, I ran.
And now, I was back here again, waiting for my demise. I thought of my little hut in Aesterneum. I thought of Ronen and Callarn. The prospect of not being able to see them again devastated me. I had grown to love them. Would they miss me?
The door opened and my maid Neney entered. I saw Erodan had placed two guards to watch me. It seemed he didn’t want to risk me fleeing again.
“Lady Elyra.” Neney bowed. “Look at you. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
Neney studied my face. “Did he hit you?”
“He’s an ass.”
Neney looked at me with tear-filled eyes. “You didn’t deserve this. The wedding. The funeral. It’s all a sham.”
“It’s my fate. There’s nothing you could do. What brings you here?”
“Lord Erodan wanted you to be fitted for the funeral procession. Hence this gown.” Neney nodded at the clothes she was carrying.
“Of course.”
“My lady…” Neney’s
voice lowered into a whisper. “There will be a wedding for Lord Erodan and Lady Aine after the pyre.”
“Wedding?” I frowned. My brother was about to wed Duke Gavin’s youngest sister? He just met her when he delivered me to the duke. Had love sparked while I was on the run?
“Lord Erodan will resume Duke Gavin’s position after the wedding. Do you not find this strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your husband drops dead on the eve of your wedding night. You’re about to be sacrificed with him. And conveniently, your brother will wed the duke’s sister and take over the reign. People talk, my lady.” Neney’s eyes rounded.
Then it dawned on me. This whole wedding arrangement was nothing but Erodan’s machination. My brother was a very ambitious man. There were talks when our father took ill and died all of a sudden. Some said Erodan was behind it. He coveted power. I didn’t believe the rumor until now.
I felt foolish. He had deceived me and taken advantage of me. Was Duke Gavin’s death orchestrated by him? The healer said that Duke Gavin had a weak heart. He had died from natural causes.
My gaze strayed to the door a few feet away; the separate chamber where they lay Duke Gavin on his deathbed.
Neney took my hands and squeezed them. “I will say no more, my lady. There might be ears within these walls. My heart weeps for you. You’re too young to die. You don’t deserve this.”
I schooled a brave smile. “It’s my fate, Neney. Cry no more.”
She left me alone with the white gown; —the gown I must wear in the funeral procession. In the dark, I lamented my soon-to-be demise.
*
The door of the mourning chamber opened at early dawn. I saw the sunlight creeping between the cracks of the window. Four priests came in. One of them bowed.
“Your Ladyship, we have to ready you for the procession.”
So here it was; the day had finally arrived.
Some servants came and prepared my bath. After I was cleaned from yesterday’s grime and dust, they helped me dress and arranged my hair. The priests blessed me with myrrh and aromatic oils. Afterwards, I was given a fancy breakfast. I had no desire to eat. My thoughts wandered to Ronen and Callarn. Did they know I was missing? Did Ashanie tell everyone about me being snatched by a giant eagle? I felt foolish to have believed that I would be safe in Aesterneum. My brother’s treachery knew no bounds.
Kidnapped and Claimed Page 4
